In this article I recount my experience in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during DFRWS USA 2024 – a conference on digital forensics that I have now attended for the third time. I pepper the story of this experience with the idea of the unreality of the waking and dream states, and how both are actually dreams, much like the Butteryfly Dream parable from Zhuangzi.
DFRWS USA 2024: A Butterfly Dream Read More »
In this article I elaborate a recent experience where I witnessed a dispute between an Uber Eats driver and waitress at a diner on St. Catherine street. I use it to explain the causal link between desire and anger, but further raise and respond to the question of “why does unfulfilled desire lead to anger?”
Fork in the Road of Desire-Fulfillment Read More »
As you read this article, I want you to reflect on all those moments where you or someone you know has acted out of control. You will be able to trace back each of these to some underlying expectation and desire. To deliver the message that the seed of discontent is desire, the Gita describes the “ladder of fall” that explains how through desire one “achieves” for themselves a state of anger and further, complete mental dissolution.
Anger; Objects in Disguise Read More »
After years of observing the suffering in myself and those around me, it has become abundantly clear that that which causes this unending calamity is a fundamental lack of spiritual perspective. When one mistakes the difference observed in the physical manifestation between “I” and “that” as an all-encompassing separation, the spiritual life is severed and thus begins suffering.
This article is a retelling of my experience at DFRWS EU 2024. It tends to focus on my internal dialogue and thoughts as opposed to the academic and scientific lessons (which I believe the attendees have all been exposed to already). My target audience is the spiritual-leaning who have a taste for dark and dry humour, and thus the article has been so written. For the first time, I’ve decided to include excerpts written by my newfound companions Antonia, Charles, Dominique, Olivia, and Lux.
DFRWS EU 2024. Zaragoza, Spain Read More »
In hindsight, this event nearly exactly follows the “Hero’s Journey” as outlined by the late Joseph Campbell that was later abstracted to a more cohesive structure. This article will delineate the event’s planning and execution through the guise of Hero’s Journey in 12 distinct steps as seen in the diagram below. Call to Adventure and
@Hack 2024: The Timeless Meta-Narrative Read More »
A few days ago I dreamt a nightmare involving my late mother. In this dream, my mother left her heated iron on our black table for two and a half weeks. I returned home one day to find the entire home burnt, walls blackened by consequence of the fire lit by the iron. I woke up around 3:30 AM with my thoughts soaked by the dream, like an all pervading fog. I inspected it from its various facets of interpretation, and extracted the abstracted lesson.
Don’t Leave the Iron On Read More »
Eventually I fully arise and entered a warm bath. I asked myself, with purpose this time, “Why does this mechanism exist inside you? Why did you once need it? Why do find little enjoyment in fun? Why is it so difficult to untense your body and enjoy the full breadth of being?” Without forcing any thought processes or lines of reasoning, I let the thoughts come as they please… like waiting on the wind to arrive. It may have been 15 minutes to an hour later that a particular memory vividly presented itself from nothingness; an aged memory that I believe came with answers.
Discomfort “Permits” Disengagement Read More »
On Saturday, June 10th, 2023, just weeks ago, I had the honour of attending the official screening of the documentary The Professor: The Man They Call the King of Teaching. The film follows my mentor, Dr. Aiman Hanna, in a heartfelt exposé of the twisted twin-headed duality between career dedication and its downstream effects on
The Pangs of Time Lost Read More »
