Archive | February, 2013

Salamat Ely Buendia

23 Feb

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Josko. Josmo. Josnatinglahat. Wag ka mag-alala, gusto ko lang sabihin yan pero hindi tungkol sa relihiyon ang gusto kong talakayin ngayon, halata naman siguro sa litratong nasa taas di ba? At sa totoo lang, yung huli kong blog tungkol sa relihiyon e medyo kontrobersyal na kaya di ko na muna susundan yun. 

Pag-usapan na natin ngayon ang larawan sa itaas. Kung hindi niyo kilala yung lalakeng nasa gitna na naka-army like jacket e maghukay na kayo ng sarili niyong libingan. Pero syempre joke lang yun. Ang gusto ko lang naman talagang ipunto e kilala siya ng lahat kaya kung hindi mo siya kilala, ewan ko kung matatawag ka bang tao o Pilipino. Siya si Eleandre Basiño Buendia o mas kilala ng lahat bilang Ely Buendia. Isa siyang musikero, gitarero, bokalista at kung ano pang salita ang maiisip o maiibento ko para lang masaklaw ang husay niya pagdating sa musika. Sobrang hinahangaan ko siya simula sa katotohanang UP alumni siya (grabe, ni hindi ko tinangka kumuha ng entrance exam dun) hanggang sa punto na halos ibuwis niya ang buhay niya tuwing magpeperform siya dahil may problema siya sa puso. Sa kanya ko nakita na totoong may mas kaya kang mahalin kesa sa sarili mong buhay, at sa kaso niya yun ang musika. 

Nagsimula ang kanyang alamat sa Eraserheads, nagpatuloy sa The Mongols at Pupil at ngayon ay patuloy pa ring nadadagdagan ng kabanata sa The Oktaves. Yung litrato sa taas, yan ang bandang The Oktaves, at kuha yan nung minsan kaming maligaw ng boyfriend ko sa Glorietta para bumili ng sapatos. Nakita niya yung poster at ang sabi sakin, “Si Ely yun di ba?”. Tiningnan ko naman at ang nasabi ko na lang “Shit! Si Ely nga! Nood tayo!”. At yun ang dahilan kung bakit biglaan kaming bumili ng ticket at nanood ng album launch nila. Habang nasa kalagitnaan ng performance, tumatak sakin ang sinabi ni Ely “Maraming Salamat sa pagpunta! Kayo ang bumubuhay ng OPM!”. Pakiramdam ko, may ginawa akong tama sa araw na yun dahil sa sinabi niya. Hindi ko naman na siguro kailangang sabihin kung gano kataas ang tingin ko kay Ely dahil sigurado ko kanina niyo pa nahulaan yun. Buti na lang at may kasamang photo session  with the band yung ticket na binili namin, yun nga lang in groups of six. Kaya ayun, kahit di namin kilala yung ibang taong kasama namin sa litrato, ok na rin dahil kahit papano nakalapit ako sa idolo ko. Naiinis man ako dahil talaga namang saksakan ng suplado si Ely, ok lang din. Naiintindihan ko kung bakit siya ganun. At hindi yun dahil mataas na ang narating niya, kung yan man ang iniisip niyo. 

Si Ely nung araw na yun ay isang panaginip na naranasan ko ng gising ako. Hanggang ngayon hindi ko pa rin maipalawanag gamit ang kahit anong salita ang naramdaman ko nung mga panahon na yun, na sa wakas napanood ko siya tumugtog sa entablado at nakita ko kung gano niya talaga kamahal ang musika. Nangangarap pa rin akong kahit saglit makausap ko siya sa hinaharap, ilang minuto lang ang kailangan ko para maitanong ko ang isang bagay na matagal ko ng gustong malaman tungkol sa kanya. Pero sa ngayon, hanggang pangarap lang muna yun. Malay niyo sa susunod naming balik sa Glorietta, yung ticket na bilin ko yung may backstage pass naman para mas makalapit sa kanya. Pero dahil wala namang sigurado sa buhay ng tao, masaya na ko na nakita ko siya, narinig ko siya tumugtog at nakalapit ako sa kanya. 

Gamit ang lahat ng uri ng respeto at paghanga na umiiral sa mundong ito, Ely, salamat!

An Opinion on Faith

10 Feb

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I want to share with you my perspective with regards to religion, God and the bible. But first off, I want to be clear with the fact that I’m not writing this in opposition to what most people believe in. And trust me when I say that I wouldn’t want the pope nor the vatican kicking my ass for this. I’m just writing this out of free will which I believe God has given me so please no judgin’, no hatin’, just give me plain, old readin’,

Religion for me is a human invention made to make people’s lives better. How? By giving humanity a variety of choices with regards to our so called “salvation”. Other religions would say that to eat meat is sinful or to have your hair cut is sinful or to agree to a blood transfusion is sinful. To keep things short, every religion has their own standards for you to be considered a sinner and to therefore believe that your soul will burn in hell in the afterlife. And of course, they also have a different set of standards for one to be considered holy or at least safe from the fiery depths of hell and welcomed into the lofty arms of heaven. The shallow, trivial rules set by different religions are of no significance to me because no matter what happens and no matter how many centuries go by, people will still tend to believe in different things and would therefore come up with a thousand different methods of conducting religious ceremonies or a million different ways of interpreting their faith. So what use is religion if people won’t be unified by a single belief anyway? That’s why to me, religion is just a different form of government with a different set of rules and a different set of  sanctions built for a different purpose and based on what a certain group of people think is right.

As for the bible, it is a really popular book with a whole lot of different versions like torah and koran. Well at least that’s how I see it. I have the utmost respect for the parables inside it because they do give people good examples to live by. As for the author/s, which in the catholic bible are mostly saints, I want to clear something first. It’s not that I don’t believe in saints, I mean I do, it’s just that for me, saints are not holy beings. They’re just really good people who at one point may have committed a mistake but had the courage to turn their life around. So technically, since everybody is capable of change and rightful behavior, everybody could be saints. So now going back to who wrote the bible, how can we be sure that what’s written there is 100% true? What if some things that were written there were just a collection of rumors running around at that time or probably just stories that a person wrote and  thought would be  a good basis for a widespread belief? I mean what if JK Rowling was alive during that time and wrote Harry Potter then. Will Jesus be known today as Harry Potter? I know I’m being too skeptical but I’m really just trying to bring a different perspective on this issue. As I said, my purpose is not to attack the church and I’m not saying that the bible is a fraud. I’m just opening my mind to other possibilities. And for the purpose of sharing, these thoughts all came to me when I heard someone say that if you don’t read the bible, your soul will burn in hell. And I was like, “Oh is that so?”. ‘Cause I just don’t see myself relying everything I am as a person in a book. Because the bible, in my concept, lies in the same row as Purpose Driven Life, Chicken Soup for the Soul, etc. which are written to inspire people not to make them think that reading it will mean your soul is safe or you have extra credits in heaven. Because in the end, your life will still depend on the things you choose to do and the direction you take while doing them.

And lastly about God, I do believe in him/her. I do believe that his/her power supercedes all other and that he/she makes things happen for a reason. I typed he/she because I don’t know for a fact if he/she is a man or a woman. I know that men have always been superior but does it follow that God is male too? I don’t know. And I probably never will. But it’s okay. And as for his/her name. I don’t think he /she is specifically Jesus Christ, Buddha, Allah, Jehovah, or whatever name people has come up with over time. He/She doesn’t need to have a name for me to believe in him/her. And if he/she happened to be married and actually had kids, I wouldn’t mind. I’d still believe in his/her power all the same. Because falling in love is not a sin and will never be one. And besides, my father/mother is married and have kids (me and my brothers) but that doesn’t mean that he/she doesn’t love me or he/she won’t be there for me. So what difference does it make if it’s with God? All I’m saying is that God is such a complex concept that’s too broad for our human minds to understand. So why are we forcing ourselves to comprehend his/her existence? Can’t we just believe that there is someone out there more powerful than any of us who gave us a life along with free will for us to live in the way we deem right? If I were you, I won’t engross myself with the things that society tells me will get me into heaven. Just live your life the way you’re supposed to. Free and full of spirit and love. That way whether you end up knocking in heaven’s or hell’s door in the afterlife (if heaven and hell really do exist), you won’t have any regrets. And to me, that’s what’s important.