Four Agreements for Sustainable Personal Development

On November 29th, 2007 Zeynep Kocasinan gave a seminar titled "Four Agreements for Sustainable Personal Development" at the Istanbul Technical University. The seminar was the first of a series titled "Taşkışla Meetings for Sustainibility - Sürdürülebilirlik için Taşkışla Toplantıları." The Seminars will continue until December 28th, 2007 at the Taşkışla Building of ITU at Meeting Hall 134. Topics such as permaculture design, life cycle of buildings, ecological foot print and ecological design will be discussed in the seminars.

Reiki Seminar in Istanbul

On November 26th, 2007, Usui Reiki Master Zeynep Kocasinan gave a Reiki Initiation Seminar with Usui Reiki Master Moshe Abudaram in Istanbul, Turkey. Initiations at the Reiki-I and Reiki-II Levels were given.

Seminars on Global Warming in Fethiye

The Fethiye Lions Club organised seminars in four high schools in Fethiye (Mugla) on the 15th and 16th of November, 2007. The seminars were for the 9th graders of eight high schools of Fethiye. Industrial Engineer Zeynep Kocasinan, Bioligist Deniz Dincel and Agricultural Engineer Kerziban Arikan discussed various aspects of "Global Warming" and "Ecological Footprint".

2nd EFT Training in Fethiye

On November 13th, 2007 Zeynep Kocasinan, together with Kerziban Arikan gave a second training on EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). The training was organised by the Personal Growth Club of the Akdeniz Dostlari Association of Fethiye.

EFT was taught to beginners and various application techniques were discussed. Books and related materials were also introduced to the participants.

All for a Piano?

It is 06:05 am and I am sitting in my apartment in Fethiye with a boarding card at hand. The Havas airport shuttle bus passed in front of my house about 45 minutes ago. I told the driver Ramazan that I will not be able to come.

It has been raining in Fethiye for a day now. After a very hot summer, finally rain is here.

Well, why I am not able to go to Istanbul? Because of the rain. Not because of a storm, for I am sure that the flight will not be cancelled. I am sitting in my living room in Fethiye writing because my roof and windows are leaking!

In Fethiye I live in a new building that has been built less than two years ago. Last winter was my first winter and I had many leakage problems. Since I do not live in Fethiye all of the time, I need to say that some of rugs were damaged since they “floated” in the house as we say it in Turkish due to rain waters. And it happened several times. I had informed the builder who has kept an apartment in the building to also partly live in Fethiye.

During the summers, I usually live in the Sovalye Island right across Fethiye. And this summer, although I did not see it, I was sure that the roof was repaired. As I woke up this morning to get ready for the plane at 5 am, I stared walking on a wet floor and started hearing the drippings from the ceiling. The water was dripping from the light bulb in the bathroom (and unfortunately it still is.)

So instead of taking a shower and getting ready to go, I found myself trying to clear the water from the upper floor of my apartment. Of course, I was thinking: “I am leaving for a week, how should I leave the house that the water does not accumulate, and also damage my furniture and paintings. The water drips from the wooden ceiling, which was beautiful when I bought this apartment, but now with huge bumps and discoloration due to the leaks. Then I decided to go to the lower floor to the living room to close up. It was then I realized that I was stepping on a wet floor again. This time water was leaking below my windows. The whole living room was wet. For a second I was very happy that I did not have wood flooring.

Before this apartment of mine in Fethiye, I had always had wood floorings and I still do in Istanbul. When I had bought this apartment in Fethiye, I had seen the tiles next door and decided to have wooden floors. Yet, before I could tell the builders, they had put the ceramic tiles and the topic was closed before I could interfere. This morning I was glad that it happened that way.

I like my furniture, but I have learned that what cannot be taken away from us, ourselves, is what gives us true value and makes us happy. I have one treasure, at least for me, in my apartment in Fethiye, my piano. It is a Schimmel Classic. I do have 2 pianos in Istanbul. A Russian piano, a Lirika, my father bought me when I was seven. That piano waits in my mother’s house. At home in Istanbul I have an electronic piano, a Roland, that I am able to play day or night without bothering the neighbours. So this Schimmel is my third piano.

Actually I was planning to buy another Roland for Fethiye. As I said, using the piano with headphones is very convenient and the sound quality is rather good. I remember the day, which was about approximately a year ago, that I went looking for a piano for Fethiye. I looked at various Rolands, and then suddenly I saw this shiny black piano sitting at a corner with a black baby grand Yamaha and another black Steinway grand. I was planning to spend a certain amount, but I could not resist going to that section. I played just a little, actually very little. The sales rep kept saying “you may play as you wish you are our previous customer”, since I had bought a Roland from them and a few guitars for Fethiye and Istanbul. I loved the piano, but it was expensive. Then the sales rep said “this is a lovely piano, and something your grandchildren can play.” That phrase hit me. It made me feel wonderful. I was choosing a piano for Fethiye and this made me feel as if I was going to grow roots in Fethiye with this piano. I left the shop to have a coffee and to think about it. After I ordered my coffee, I could not wait to finish it and when to the shop, told them I was buying the piano and gave a small amount as a down payment, and told that I would be back on Monday with the rest and asked them to arrange for the transport to Fethiye. This was on a Saturday.

At around Monday noon I was at the store again. The sales representative was there, and even before saying hello he said: “You will not believe it, a gentleman came on Sunday. He wanted the piano and said he would pay in cash and take the piano right away and that he can arrange for the transport. He was so insisting. But you had given us a down payment. We could not believe it. We sell many pianos, but these kinds are not asked for this frequently and so quickly. You and him- so similar.” I smiled to myself. I knew what made me not finish my coffee on Saturday. And my friends know I love coffee.

Well, back to the rain in Fethiye. So it is around 6 am. I am walking on a wet floor in my living room. My piano is in a corner that is surprisingly not touched by the water. So I had to decide. Would I leave it; should I be leaving my apartment with a dripping ceiling in the top floor and a floating floor at the bottom floor? I had planned to be gone for a week and had not checked the weather forecast. And apart from that I needed to clean and clear this water on my floors and furniture first. I decided not to go. I had talked with the Havas yesterday and had asked him to pick me up from my apartment which is on the Havas route. I did not want to keep him waiting; I got my umbrella; waited for him to come; and when he did, I told him that I would not be able to go due to my leaking ceiling. He said “be in health” and left for Dalaman.

I had a few meetings arranged for this afternoon. What will I do now? First, I will sleep a little at least until the office hours. Before starting to write, I more or less finished my cleaning.
This does not happen to me very much. I think this is the second time in three years that I am delaying going to Istanbul due to rain. And the first time with a boarding card at hand. I know and accept that there is a reason for everything and we will see what that may be.

May the abundance and fruitfulness of Rain be always with us.

With love to you all.
Z.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“ I pay attention to thoughts and ideas that come to me as answered prayers.”
By Doreen Virtue
Quote of the Week:
“Impulses of intelligence create you body in new forms every second. What you are is the sum total of these impulses, and by changing their patterns, you will change.”
Dr. Deepak Chopra
Zeynep’s Book Recommendation:
“Positive Thinking” by Vera Peiffer. The Turkish translation of this book may be found under the name “Çekim Yasasının Temeli”.

EFT Training in Fethiye, Turkey

On October 30, 2007, Zeynep Kocasinan,

together with Kerziban Arıkan, gave an Emotional Freedom Technique

(EFT) Training for the Personal Growth Club of

the Akdeniz Dostlari Association in Fethiye.

In the training, detailed information on EFT has been given,

as well as information on the various application methods.

Personal Growth for Sustainable Living

On October 18, 2007, Zeynep Kocasinan gave a seminar at the Fethiye Ali Sıktı Mefharet Koçman Vocational Institue of the Mugla University, Fethiye Ali Sıtkı Mefharet Koçman Meslek Yüksekokulu. The title of the seminar was "Personal Growth for Sustainable Living". Teachers and students from the Institute attended the seminar. The studies done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Middle East Technical University (METU - ODTÜ) were discussed, as well as personal development and growth methods and techniques for the social aspects of sustainibility.
http://www.mu.edu.tr/departments/fethiye/images/sem/index.htm

Moshe Abudaram Invites You To Think Differently

When I was in high school, I was the head of the English newspaper club. Computers were new. Actually I believe we only had one in the whole school at the beginning. The name of our newspaper was “Bonus” and the logo of the paper was a cute dinosaur as I remember. We also had a Turkish school magazine which was called “Serçe”, the sparrow. I used to write for both. I also remember that I was a part of a few interviews in my senior year, with the deceased author Duygu Asena, with the famous actor, director and author Haldun Dormen, and with the famous author and journalist Zeynep Oral. That was in 1988. 19 years later I will attempt to start my interviews this time with a very dear teacher of mine Mr. Moshe Abudaram.

***

Zeynep: I am glad that this interview is in English. As you know I have problems calling with your first name using the informal you in Turkish. Why do you insist that people call you with your first name, even small kids?
Moshe: I also grew up in a formal environment. I was born in 1945 in Istanbul as you know. Yet, formality does not fit; especially in the field that I am in. We need to be open and honest to each other. That is how progress in made. If you call me Mr. Moshe, there is a barrier. In the US or in Switzerland or Israel being informal easier than in Turkey. There are so many barriers in life. I do not want to add any. Let’s be respectful, but also let us be open and talk from the heart – soul to soul. I am not necessarily greater or wiser than a kid just because I have lived longer in this life time. At the soul level we are all equal.

Zeynep: You have been teaching energy therapies and methods for years and giving consultancy as well. A very typical question – but how did it start? Are you exceptionally talented? Is this a God-given gift? What do you do? Where does this come from?
Moshe: I use and teach various complementary healing modalities and methods. Reiki, which more widely known around the world, is one of them. I also teach bio-energy and emotional energy clearing methods. Reiki is very easy to teach, but also is very effective. You are one of my students; you are able to tell how it works. You walked all the way. I use various methods in helping people to improve the quality of their lives. I use crystals, flower remedies, colour therapy, meditations in addition to the energy methods. When it is needed I do regressions to heal past traumas. Some people call what we do life-coaching.

Zeynep: Yet, you do a little more than life-coaching. You are able to look into the past and the present and I will dare say the future. You are known as the character Ari in the Turkish bestseller “Ben 44 Yaşındayım Oğlum 53”, which for our English readers translates as “I am 44 years old and my son is 53”. So are you a medium as told in the book? How we can describe what you do?
Moshe: You know how I feel about some of these concepts. I understand that you want me to clarify it. OK. First of all, why do you need to label? We label everything and everyone. Do we have the adequate information to do so? Most of the time - we don’t. Actually we rarely have enough information in advance. We need go about living in the now. There is a very good book called “The Power of Now”. If you can stay in the present, you can receive a lot of information. Everyone is able to receive information about themselves and their life issues. We have forgotten to listen, to see. Do you know what the temperature is today? How warm was it when you came to my office this morning? How was the sun, were there clouds?

Zeynep: Well, you know that I was driving to come here and in the traffic, I admit that we are driving with our minds elsewhere in Istanbul.
Moshe: You are smiling, so you know what I mean. You are a very aware person, you also teach this. I just wanted to point out that we are most of the time either planning for the future, for the moments to come, or we are worrying about what we have done wrong. Stop it. Move on. Now is where the information is and given. So that is what I do. I look into the now to collect the information given to us. That is what I teach.

Zeynep: So we are able to know the past, the present, and the future?
Moshe: Have you not had experiences were you knew exactly what you needed to do? Archimedes jumped out of the bath to shout “Eureka”. When you are able to tap into the now – that silence- that being in the moment- you connect. Find you method to connect. Some meditate, some take a shower, some listen to music, some play an instrument. Try and see. Most of the time, it is not the information coming to you. You tap into it. There are also times of course when the world of angels whispers in your ears.

Zeynep: So do we have angels? What and who are these beings?
Moshe: Everyone has guardian angels to protect them. Let’s rephrase. We human beings are energy. And there are many other forms of energies. What we call angels is also another form of energy. Some stay with us during our life time. Yes, all of the time.
Sometimes you may feel the need to help a person, to do something for a person who is not in a position to talk to you. Where did that urge come from? ... What happens is that when a person asks for help, their angels call out to all the angels to find out who can be of help. When that person is found, the angels whisper the message. You may be on different continents, yet if you are the person who can be of help, you will know. There is excellent communication in the universe. The point is do you listen?

Zeynep: About the future – you know that we have the habit of reading coffee cups, for the fun of it most of the time, but in life we would like to know about the future. Can we look into the future? Is it possible?
Moshe: Now everything is possible. Do you or should you want it to be possible? The future is a word we use, actually there is no yesterday, today and tomorrow. The movie is all there on the DVD. It is you who needs to watch it in a certain order.

Zeynep: What about creating our future? If it is all determined, what is the point in living a predetermined thing then?
Moshe: You do create your future. You chose to come here, to be born in Istanbul, Turkey, at the specific date in May, within our family. You decided a path and you came down. How well you will act your part – you decide and choose, a second time. When you create something now, the past and future, everything can change. And remember that it is not only your actual actions, but also your intentions that have an affect on your life.
For example, in a healing I see a situation where a patient had a trauma in the past or even a past life time. We have different choices. We may go back and re-write that script as you also do in your inverse wave healing. Or we may clear the emotions attached with that event. The event had passed, yet the energy of the negative emotions stayed with you causing your claustrophobia for example, or fear of the sea and most commonly seen your allergies.

Zeynep: I know that I was able to get rid of most of my allergies in the last 3,4 years. It is possible for everyone?
Moshe: A very big portion of allergies are due to emotional reasons. For instance, a lady patient has rashes every time she eats chicken. As I look at the time this allergy started, I pointed out a time when she was a kid. I looked deeper to see what happen. Here again either I can go into that time period to see what happened, or we can together with the person in a hypnotic like state to remember. In her case, they were at a dinner table, yes eating a meal of chicken. The phone rang and the news of the death of a beloved grandmother was given. She attached the feeling of deep loss and grief with chicken without even realizing. So when we clear this connection and the emotions attached to it - Surprise she is not allergic to chicken anymore.
Every illness has very very different reasons. It is all about the person. We can not say, this is good for this illness. From the energy perspective, we need to look into the person and the specific tools. Every person is different and needs to be looked into in that way. So we have the tools, Reiki or Bioenegy or IPEC. We may also use reflexology, or aromatherapy or colour therapy. When a person comes, I ask the soul of the person, the energy of the person what is wants and needs. Our souls, our energies know everything. The difficulty is making our mind and body cooperate. When we help the body, mind, heart and soul to act together, magic happens.

Zeynep: I am running out of space. I feel as if I have not even started. What will we do?
Moshe: Well, you are welcome anytime. To begin is a thing much greater that what we imagine…

Zeynep: Thank you very much. Hope to continue with this conversation soon.
Moshe: Thank you Zeynep. As I always say, always stay in the positive. Remember the reiki principles. Respect your elders, make an honest living, do not worry. And also remember that everyday we are given the energy we need for the load of that day. What we need tomorrow, we will have tomorrow. Stop looking into the future. It will come anyway. And would waking up to a known tomorrow as much fun? You know Paul Arden says “Whatever you think, think the opposite.” Think differently; think out of the box, break your old moulds, and then your life will light up.

***

I wish all of you a wonderful and exciting week. With lots of love.
Z.
______________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I feel tolerance and compassion and love for all people, myself included.”

By Louise L. Hay
Quote of the Week:
“When you do a thing, do it with the whole self. One thing at a time. Now I sit here and eat. For me nothing exists in the world except this food, this table. I eat with the whole attention. So you must do – in everything. ”
George I. Gurdjieff

Book of the Week:
“Public and Conversational Speaking”; By Dale Carnegie.
The Turkish translation of this book is sold under the name “Özgüven Kazanma Yolları II.”

About Zeynep Kocasinan

The author is a graduate of the Uskudar American Academy in Istanbul, and afterwards has received her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Cornell University. Zeynep Kocasinan works in the construction sector. Since 2004 she has her own art studio and works also as an artist. She writes for and prepares articles for various Turkish and English magazines and newspapers, and also gives lessons and seminars on creativity and personal growth. Zeynep Kocasinan speaks English and Spanish in addition to her native language Turkish, and introductory level French and German. She is also a Reiki Master. Zeynep Kocasinan lives in Fethiye and Istanbul, in Turkey.

For her blog in Turkish, please check out: http://www.zeynepkocasinan.blogspot.com/

Orhan Pamuk and His Father's Suitcase

Today is a Sunday and it will be a while before this piece will get published. But I could not wait. I read, for the first time, the speech Orhan Pamuk gave when he received the Nobel Prize for literature last October. I was travelling a lot those days, so I had not had the chance to hear his speech. Yesterday, I was in Remzi bookstore in Akmerkez, Istanbul and bought the book that contained both this speech of his and a few others.

Actually, the story begins yesterday morning when I was at a printing press to prepare the invitations and posters for my exhibition at the Fethiye Cultural Centre. There I had seen this book on the desk of one of the owners of the place. I knew that for the last 3 or so months, I had been meaning to find the text to read. So much was told about it, and me who is supposedly very interested in literature had not read it.

Most of my friends know that I love to read. I really do. And I cannot help buying books. I feel as if their presence in my environments makes life feel full and secure. And also, when I buy a book I usually do not wait all that long to start reading it. Ok, there are some books I bought years ago and have not read yet. However, when I bought them I was aware that I had no idea why bought them. These books wait until their time come. Yet, this was not the case for “My Father’s Suitcase.” In a way I wanted to wait for the morning.

I woke up. It was around 10:30. I had been meaning to open my eyes maybe for the last 2-3 hours. This morning I was not in a rush. I had no programs for the early hours of the day. A Kabbalah course in the afternoon, but that was after 4 p.m.

The book was by my bedside. It was not a planned move to bring it there, yet I had done it unconsciously. I got up, washed my hands, drank a glass of water and a bit more, and went to bed, this time to read the book.

Pamuk was talking about a suitcase of notebooks his father gave him 2 years prior his father’s death, and at the time Pamuk gave this speech in Stockholm, it had been 2 years since his father had passed away. It had been almost exactly 2 years since my own father had passed way when Orhan Pamuk received the prize. Maybe that was why it took me so long to be able to look at what he had to say about his relationship with his father, and what he had to say about his own life under these lights.

I realized that it is not easy to touch what we are afraid of. Yet, what good does fear do when it causes us to watch our life go by? There are many things I do even if I fear them a lot. However, I was also to see that there are so many other things that I do not do, because I am just afraid. Maybe that was the cry of help of these desires and wishes that do not want to be buried inside me anymore. We’ll see what new days will bring.
…

Anyway,
I believe that the English translation for this speech is also available for you to read. I really do recommend it. I have only been able to find a piece of the speech to share with you. The translation for this speech and many of Orhan Pamuk’s books are done by Maureen Freely.

“What literature needs most to tell and investigate today are humanity's basic fears: the fear of being left outside, and the fear of counting for nothing, and the feelings of worthlessness that come with such fears; the collective humiliations, vulnerabilities, slights, grievances, sensitivities, and imagined insults, and the nationalist boasts and inflations that are their next of kind ... Whenever I am confronted by such sentiments, and by the irrational, overstated language in which they are usually expressed, I know they touch on a darkness inside me. We have often witnessed peoples, societies and nations outside the Western world – and I can identify with them easily – succumbing to fears that sometimes lead them to commit stupidities, all because of their fears of humiliation and their sensitivities. I also know that in the West – a world with which I can identify with the same ease – nations and peoples taking an excessive pride in their wealth, and in their having brought us the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Modernism, have, from time to time, succumbed to a self-satisfaction that is almost as stupid.”

***

Orhan Pamuk’s first novel was out in 1983 and as I remember that was around the time that I read it. I was 13 and maybe the book was a little of my league, yet I remember being very moved by it. It was called Cevdet Bey and His Sons. The second book that I read by Pamuk was White Castle. After that on, Pamuk became a very well-known and popular novelist in Turkey and abroad. As I look back at those times when I was a kid, I remember that I loved my Turkish and English literature classes at my American High School. I loved writing. And I could read for hours. Sometimes I would buy a book on a Friday and almost spend the whole night up and finish the book before I would go to bed. I loved being a part of the adventure of the stories and I loved the feeling of being alive that those books gave to me. The books made me feel, as if they were opening my heart – they made me feel.

My father was an engineer. He was a true, smart, genius engineer. I believe I wanted to be like him. I became an engineer and although I never stopped reading, I stopped writing for a quite a long time, for almost ten years to be exact. When, why and how are not questions that I will discuss today and here. Then, it came back. Slowly at first, but a part of me that was lost came back to me.

I feel prisoned if I do not have a notebook and a pen and a book or two in my bag. I buy books not by ones or twos, but by tens. I feel safe when I have more books than I can read at a time. I feel safe when I have more empty notebooks and pens than I seem to be able to fill. Why? I do not look for the reasons anymore. I go with the flow. Maybe it is true that deep inside I know that the fear of not being able to say the thoughts and feelings that bottle up inside me is one the reasons. And maybe the fear of missing out on all the adventures that the world whispers through the writers of this world.

***

If and when I do have a kid of my own, I wonder what kind a mom I will turn out to be? Will I have a suitcase to offer? Will I be a parent like Orhan Pamuk’s father or my own father or mother? Will I know what it means to let a child be who he or she truly is or allow him or her to be the person he or she came here to be for? Hard to say. So we will let the time show what it has in store.

With love to you all.
Zeynep Kocasinan