My mention of Michael Jackson on my Facebook status startled many, especially as I invited them to pray for him. Within minutes dozens of friends were commenting on my status, most of them were fans. More personal messages were dropped in my mailbox or emailed directly, and these were messages from my annoyed friends: "What have you got to do with Michael Jackson, a child molester, blah, blah, blah?"
This is a very big question, a huge question, since it can be rephrased in innumerable ways. What have I got to do with you? What have I got to do with the publisher of this paper? What have I got to do with President Obama?
Or, what have I, or you, got to do with this world? Perhaps the best answer is: "Because I live in this world." This is the point. The fact that you and I live in this world connects us to all other citizens in the world.
I remember the great Sufi mystic poet Saadi: "Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain."
But human pain and suffering cannot connect me with my fellow human beings, if I do not have some kind of "feelings" for them. I have an emotional tie with my family members, so I can easily feel their pain. But, I may not have such a tie with you, and therefore I may not feel the same way about you, your pain and your suffering.
Not so with Michael Jackson, he could feel the pain of a suffering humanity. He raised and donated millions of dollars for humanitarian causes. He was not compelled to do what he did. Indeed, there are people much richer than him that did not do anything to alleviate suffering.
Michael Jackson differs from them because of his "feelings". We can still hear the echo of his compassion through his songs and writings, such as this passage from his album "Dangerous":
"Consciousness expresses itself through creation. This world we live in is the dance of the creator. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye but the dance lives on.
"On many an occasion, when I am dancing, I have felt touched by something sacred. In those moments, I felt my spirit soar and become one with everything that exists.
"I become the stars and the moon. I become the lover and the beloved. I become the victor and the vanquished. I become the master and the slave. I become the singer and the song. I become the knower and the known.
"I keep on dancing and then, it is the eternal dance of creation. The creator and the creation merge into one wholeness of joy. I keep on dancing...until there is only...the dance."
Such feelings are indeed very "dangerous", for then you can no longer shut your eyes to what is happening around you. Michael was in a very vulnerable condition, even before penning such thoughts, he was already singing: "We are the world...the world must come together as one.. It's time to lend a hand to life."
He felt connected with the world not just physically, but also spiritually. He did not stop at recognizing and acknowledging the pain and suffering of people; he wanted to make a change.
In "Man in the Mirror", he actually saw the reflection of his soul and sang with an added fervor: "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change." It was an advice given not to you or to me, but to himself: "I'm gonna make a change, for once in my life it's gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right..."
His realization that he had "been a victim of a selfish kind of love" made him all the more obsessed with the idea of spreading the right kind of love to heal himself and "Heal the World" to "make it a better place for you and for me". He dreamt of a world where "Black or White" either did not matter at all, or mattered equally.
In "The Earth Song" he wept together with Mother Earth: "What have we done to the world, look what we've done." Frustrated with all the happenings around him, he continued: "I used to dream, I used to glance beyond the stars; now I don't know where we are, although I know we've drifted far."
Back in the late 1970s, I had the rare chance of meeting philosopher J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986). He suffered from a similar frustration too. Later, in a documentary made on his life, those who were close to him during his last days discussed his frustration.
Both, philosopher J. Krishnamurti and artist Michael Jackson spoke of change, of the ultimate freedom from bondage, from the old-rotten old paradigms. And, as rightly put by Mahatma Gandhi, both realized the necessity of "being the change" that they wanted to see in the world. Yet, both of them died frustrated, as did the Mahatma. Gandhi who could not accept the idea of India's division based on religion.
J. Krishnamurti let out his frustrations through his writings and discussions with people around him. Gandhi let out his frustrations by withdrawing from political life and going back to his commune in Gujarat. Michael Jackson, the star, let out his frustrations by experimenting with his body. He turned his body into a laboratory.
From a strict diet to several plastic surgery operations and his involvement in unpopular "ventures", his love and sex lives - can all be seen as manifestations of his innermost desire to change. Change was both, his dream and his obsession. When he "felt" that he failed to bring about change, or at least it was not the kind of change he desired, he withdrew and shut himself away from the outer world. This was a grave mistake. By doing so, he closed all the outlets to let go of his frustrations. And, he died a lonely man.
Yet, a man, a star like Michael Jackson is too big to die. Indeed, he is too bright a star to fall. He shall shine for many, many years. His legacy of songs, his unfulfilled dream of the world to come, and his obsession to change shall be remembered by generations to come. Michael's dream shall remain alive, for his dream is not a loner's dream, his dream is the dream of all those who are capable of dreaming something big.
Jackson, we share your frustration and we will turn this into a source of energy to realize your dream, to "make a better world for you and for me". I shall not bid you good-bye my friend, for in your dream our meeting continues..
Anand Krishna, Jakarta Sat, 07/04/2009 1:04 PM Opinion
Note: This article was also published on Jakarta Post
ANAND KRISHNA - Spiritual Activisthttp://www.aumkar.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anand_Krishna
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Michael Jackson's Video
Fans and contemporaries have been paying tribute to the king of pop - who has died at the age of 50. But what did Michael Jackson think of his own life and career?
There are no captions with this slideshow.
Audio from Harpo Productions - The Oprah Winfrey Show. Photographs from AP, PA, AFP and Getty Images. Slideshow by Paul Kerley. Publication date 26 June 2009.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" - Album Review
People often talk about how the amount of copies Michael Jackson's 1982 albumThriller has sold. People often bring up that it's the biggest selling album of all time. They bring up all of the awards it's won.
All of that stuff is great for the trivia nerd in all of us (and I've certainly got one in me) but what really makes Thriller remarkable is the music itself. While most pop music from 1982 sounds positively dated today, I believe most of the tracks from Thriller still sound just as fresh in 2009 as they did 27 years earlier.
The album opener "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is the most over the top song on the album and it says something that he opens the album with this one. There's so much packed into this song, it's bursting at the seams. These days most hit songs have about 1/3 of the imagination that this song has packed into it (and that's being generous.)
The three most known songs on the album are "Thriller," "Billie Jean," & "Beat It." In fact these are arguably the three most well known songs of Michael Jackson's entire career. Amazingly they come one right after the other on the album. How many albums have three songs that memorable one after the other?
It seems the music video for "Thriller" is talked about all the time. But what about the song itself? The video wouldn't have been so great if there wasn't an awesome soundtrack for it.
"Billie Jean" is so great that it really doesn't even need me to say anything about it here. It's the ultimate dance pop song. It demands you to the dance floor but it also has an irresistible melody and interesting lyrics that beg you to sing along.
"Beat It" featured rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. When you think about it, that's quite an interesting move to make for an R&B pop artist like Michael Jackson. People forget what an original idea it was for him to do such a rocking tune at that time. His groundbreaking ideas were so influential that it's difficult to see them in their original context now.
Those three songs are fantastic but it's some of the others that really tickle me these days. "PYT (Pretty Young Thing)," "Human Nature," & "Baby Be Mine" are all wonderful songs that were not huge hits so they sometimes get overlooked by casual fans. These are great songs. Forget the "Greatest Hits" albums because they don't include great songs like these. You need to get Thriller.
Even the album's lesser songs have their moments and their charms. "The Girl is Mine" is a silly duet with Beatles legend Paul McCartney but it's actually quite enjoyable once you accept it for what it is. "The Lady in my Life" takes awhile to get going but once the groove sets in, it's a cool song.
One thing that I definitely feel is too often overlooked with Michael Jackson is his songwriting ability and Thriller was really the first proof that he was a great songwriter (although he did write one song, the #1 hit "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" for Off the Wall.)
Michael Jackson has the sole songwriting credit on four of the nine songs on this remarkable album: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," & "The Girl is Mine." Writing four songs for Thriller was just the beginning, because from 1987's Bad through 2001's Invincible Jackson would write about 90% of his album's original songs (I'm not counting his covers of "Smile" & "Come Together" in my quick & dirty estimate.)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Jackson probe deepens with anesthetic/sedative reports
The slow-moving investigation of Michael Jackson's death inched forward Monday with word that the pop superstar died from an injection of a powerful anesthetic, possibly compounded by the administration of at least two sedatives. | ||||||||||
The Los Angeles County coroner has determined that Jackson's death was a homicide, the Associated Press reported Monday. If so, that makes it more likely criminal charges will be filed against Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with the pop star when he died June 25 and injected him with several drugs.
USA TODAY could not confirm with the coroner or the Los Angeles Police Department that a ruling of homicide has been made; the AP's law enforcement source spoke on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.
But in a search warrant affidavit, dated July 23 and unsealed Monday in Houston, L.A. chief medical examiner Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran revealed that preliminary toxicology results indicate Jackson's cause of death was a result of lethal levels of the hospital-only anesthetic Propofol. According to the affidavit, Murray said he administered Propofol around 10:40 a.m., hours after injecting Jackson with two sedatives in an attempt to help him sleep.
"Jackson remained awake," the affidavit read. "After repeated demands from Jackson, Murray administered 25mg of Propofol (Diprivan), diluted with Lidocaine (Xylocaine), via IV drip. Jackson finally went to sleep."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Michael Jackson | Rolling Stone
Jackson referred to Propofol as his "milk" because of its milky appearance, the affidavit said. But it is not meant for home use nor for the purposes of battling insomnia.
Doctors use the drug only in hospitals before procedures such as heart surgery, says Christopher Gharibo, medical director of pain medicine at New York University-Hospital for Joint Diseases. It's used in roughly half of the 25 million surgeries each year, says David Zvara, chair of anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Jackson's family reacted mildly to the news; some of his relatives, such as his father, Joe Jackson, have been saying for weeks that Jackson's death was the result of foul play.
"The Jackson family has full confidence in the legal process," a family statement said. "The family looks forward to the day that justice can be served."
Murray's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said he would not comment on reports from anonymous sources saying the coroner's office ruled the death a homicide.
"We will be happy to address the coroner's report when it is officially released," Chernoff said.
According to the affidavit, Murray told investigators that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for about six weeks with 50mg of Propofol every night via an IV drip. But he said that he feared Jackson was developing an addiction to the anesthetic and that he was attempting to wean his patient by lowering the dose to 25mg and adding the sedatives Lorazepam and Midazolam.
That combination helped Jackson sleep two days before his death, so the next day, Murray told detectives he cut off the Propofol — and Jackson fell asleep with just the two sedatives.
Then around 1:30 a.m. on June 25, starting with a 10mg tab of Valium, Murray said he tried a series of drugs instead of Propofol to make Jackson sleep. They didn't work.
After Murray finally gave in to Jackson's "repeated demands/requests" for the drug and the singer was asleep, the affidavit said, Murray remained with him for about 10 minutes, then left for the bathroom. No more than two minutes later, he returned — and found Jackson had stopped breathing.
"There's no surprise there" that death could result from such a combination of drugs, Zvara says.
Chernoff disputed the accuracy of portions of the affidavit.
"Most egregiously, the timeline reported by law enforcement was not obtained through interviews with Dr. Murray, as was implied by the affidavit. Dr. Murray simply never told investigators that he found Michael Jackson at 11 a.m. not breathing."
In the days immediately after Jackson's death, Chernoff vigorously denied that Murray had injected Jackson with Demerol or OxyContin, but he did not say anything about Propofol. Chernoff has said repeatedly that Murray did not administer anything to Jackson that "should have caused death."
But a ruling of homicide could be contrary to that claim; Murray could face criminal charges of second-degree murder or reckless homicide, says Jody Armour, professor at the University of Southern California School of Law.
Charges of criminal negligence also could be brought, he says. "For criminal negligence, you need basically what you need for ordinary malpractice negligence, plus an extra indefinable gross negligence. And gross negligence is whatever the jury says gross negligence is," Armour says.
If a jury concluded Murray was grossly negligent in the way he administered the drugs to Jackson, he could be criminally liable at least for manslaughter, Armour says. Evidence that other doctors administered similar drugs to Jackson previously would not be a full defense, he says.
"It's still going to be a question of whether he contributed significantly to Michael Jackson's death," he says. "He doesn't have to be the only cause. He just has to be a significant or contributing cause to be criminally responsible."
Michael Endelman, senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine, says reports of Jackson using anesthetics to sleep have circulated now for weeks.
"There's little surprise an accident, at the least, could have happened — it's not shocking or surprising," Endelman says.
"And I don't think it'll have any effect on what people think of Michael Jackson. The number of strange things in his life never seemed to touch his image as a performer, and this (latest news) is certainly not the strangest thing you could associate with Michael. "
J. Randy Taraborelli, a Jackson biographer and a longtime friend of the singer, says he has spent enough time with Jackson's doctors over the years to understand how they could be manipulated by Jackson.
"It's not to excuse any of them in any way, but when you have Michael Jackson staring you in the face, with tears in his eyes, in pain, it's difficult to make the right decisions," Taraborelli says. "And sure, for a lot (of doctors), there was financial reward involved, but I also think many really did want to help him."
Contributing: Liz Szabo and the Associated Press
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pyl16349 (17 friends, send message) wrote: 6m ago
Another drug addict overdoses.... too bad but it happens all the time. Jackson was responsible for his own health and well being. With a patient who lies, it's impossible for any one of his dozens of doctors to know exactly what drugs he was taking.
goodgulf (8 friends, send message) wrote: 9m ago
Rich junkies, like Elvis or Michael, have doctors for pushers. Poor junkies have gangsters for pushers. Having a medical degree doesn't make a man any less of a drug dealer.
spacedust (0 friends, send message) wrote: 10m ago
its prolly ruled a homicide so people can collect insurance money. somebody paid somebody off. maybe insurance didn't cover suicide. which this clearly is, he's addicted to prescription meds. and thats what nobody wants to hear. everybody should just let him rest in peace. instead everyone around him are still trying to milk him for every dime they can. what a bunch of bottom feeding parasites. its sad.
SunnyCalGal (0 friends, send message) wrote: 10m ago
We support vindication of MJ by mainstream media. MJ was exonerated by a jury of his peers. Not good enough. For his children’s sake, mainstream media must become more responsible. We discuss how truth can compel mainstream media to publicly admit it wrongly accused MJ of despicable crimes. Many people still believe MJ was guilty. They were influenced to believe the allegations by a biased mainstream media. No links allowed here so search at Yahoo Groups for "vindication better than tributes."
TexasFreeman (32 friends, send message) wrote: 11m ago
The chimp did it with help of the ghost of the elephant man, now can we move on???
opinions_r_funny (10 friends, send message) wrote: 14m ago
We got rid of John and Kate and the Octomom, why can't we let the coverage of Wacko Jacko go too???
Bluestar (7 friends, send message) wrote: 23m ago
Good now we know what caused Chester the Molester's death. How about discontinuing the news coverage? There are more important stories to report.
HomerSentional (34 friends, send message) wrote: 36m ago
Homicide? Doesn't that have to be intentional?
JeffNW (0 friends, send message) wrote: 37m ago
Looks more like pill popping and better life through pharmacology by a pedophile who could not sleep because of what he has done to countless children than a homicide.
PublicVOICE (0 friends, send message) wrote: 37m ago
If Dr. Murray was an ethical physician, he would have said "NO" to Jackson's demands for Propofol. Jackson probably would have fired him, but at least the doctor wouldn't be facing homicide or manslaughter charges.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
MP3 Downloads Including "Thriller" and "Man In The Mirror" Etc.
"CLICK AND LISTEN" to whole playlist of M.J. Songs - For Free
Sunday, April 26, 2009
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