Sunday, April 20, 2003

You Your Judge & Jury



No one can judge you if you do not judge yourself.
Am I saying we should not judge ourselves?
If you do not judge yourself,
how do you better yourself?
Your standards of judging yourself must be higher than yourself,
or even that of everyone else's,
or you will never outgrow yourself. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Feelings



Z: Feelings... nothing more than feelings...
S: Wrong! Changes, nothing more than changes. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Technology



zL: How reliable can technology be? Train broke down, leaving us in distress...
Z: Only the Dharma is reliable and does not break down. Only the Dharma frees us from distress. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Cling



Suffering or Dissatisfactoriness (Dukkha)
is wanting to cling on,
is not being able to cling on
the moment past, to come, or now.

This is the First Noble Truth, the Second Universal Characteristic. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Run



Inspired by "Easier to Run" on Linkin Park's "Meteora"-

It might be
easier to run
now.

But it might only mean
it might be
harder to run
in future.

It might be escapism,
not escape. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Adantages



It has its advantages...
and disadvantages...
which can be transformed into advantages. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

Love After Love



Do you believe in love after love?

Do you believe in holding on,
only to let go,
again and again?

Do you believe in living,
only to die,
again and again? JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
True



When you are true to yourself,
you are true to everyone else.
This is true honesty-
no self-rationalisation and no pretense.
Truth will be everywhere. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Last Notch



The last notch of my battery may die anytime.
I may be at the last notch of this life.
Uncertainty uncertainty uncertainty.
Use this last notch carefully.
Treasure every moment it brings. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Ourselves



We got in all this by ourselves-
and are all by ourselves.
Essentially, we save ourselves from our "selves". JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Nihilism



I think it is hypocritical to think and say that one subscribes to nihilism in terms of not believing in any form of morality at all. Because for the discussion you have with this person to be possible, he has to observe all the basic universal guidelines of morality- he should not kill me, steal from me, lie to me... Yes, moral guidelines are just guidelines- but we need guidelines as long as we are unenlightened. We need guidelines to guide us to transcend guidelines. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Ghost



Not seeing oneself clearly in the physical and mental mirror,
I am a vague ghost to myself.
But then again,
everything is ghostly in that all is shapeshifting. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
SARS



Ours is the world of Samsara- there will be disease- even if cures are found for old ones, new diseases and mutant viruses will evolve into existence- unless we turn Samsara into Pureland together by mental cultivation. SARSmsara is here. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Friday, April 11, 2003

Ghost in the Shell



Some thoughts on the manga movie-

~ She's a cyborg who questions her "consciousness"- which is called "the ghost in the shell" of her body.

~ "Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you"

~ There is a sentient being attached to the non-sentient being that is too life-like (the cyborg).

~ The cyborg was reborn/ revivied with child cyborg's body by transfer of program.

~ Interesting idea of a superconsciousness (likened to the Dhammakaya- body of Truth that pervades all space and time) and growing consciousness- evolution of mind to embrace all.

~ Makes us question what is precious- violent humans or peaceful robots? About high technology bringing high hopes yet much fear.

~ At the end of the day, we should ask- What is this ghost in our shell?

~ Our mind is a ghost because it can't be grasped or seen properly, always flitting.

~ The ghost is an illusion- but a "real illusion" as opposed to "real reality." "Real illlusion"- REALLY an illusion. But we cannnot ignore the ilusion- we need to use it to cultivate to go beyond the illusion. Mental cultivation at the end of the day is for the relinqishment of the mind itself... exorcism of our ghosts- Enlightenment. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Wednesday, April 09, 2003

Stubborn



A: You are stubborn.
B: No I don't think so.
A: You are entitled to your view, and so am I. I think you are stubborn. You ought to reflect.
B: I reflected- and still do not think so. But you are right...
You are entitled to your view, and so am I.
______________________
Who is the stubborn one?
He who insists he is not?
Or he who insists the other is?

Are you A or B?
If you are A or B, do you see yourself as stubborn?
Why not?
Stubborn?

Beware!
The stubborn do not grow spiritually.
The stubborn think they are grown spiritually.
The stubborn have their hearts and mind closed.
Open up now! JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
For Who You Are



I love you for who you are, seemingly imperfect.
I love you for who you are, innately perfect (with Buddha-nature).
And there is no contradiction.
For as much as you appear imperfect,
you are actually perfect.
I love you for who you are. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Foot



Lin: About "The foot feels the 'foot' when it feels the ground." Would appreciate some enlightenment! Should it be 'ground' or 'foot'? Curious. Shouldn't it be "The foot feels the 'ground' when it feels the ground." Somehow, that feels easier to feel and understand.

Z: Foot :-] When the foot feels the ground, the foot feels the foot too. In awareness of that (object of awareness) we are aware of, we are aware of our awareness (that which we use to be aware). JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Weakest



"Our opinion is the weakest authority of all."

-Ven. Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa

"Our weakest link is our smallest delusion about the smallest matter."

-Stonepeace JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Butter



Frank Abagnale Sr/Jr (Christopher Walken / Leonardo Dicaprio) in the movie "Catch Me If You Can" told a little story- "Two mice fell into a bowl of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse fought and struggled until he churned that cream into butter and he crawled his way out. I am that second mouse."

While it's a neat story of unrelenting hope and courage, there is a problem with it... I don't think the second mouse knew it was in cream, and that it can be churned. In this sense, he was lucky. What is it was just plain water? It would have clung on dearly for its life right to the very last moment- so much so that it would have died an agonising death. By this perspective, well, the first mouse might have died a more peaceful death. Yes, it's extremely tricky indeed- we should treasure our lives, yet not be attached to them. Find the Middle Path and strike the golden mean of balance- and let go at the right time.
__________________________________________
Incidentally, here are a couple of quotes on butter...

"Churning and churning water, doesn't produce butter." -Anon

"The great master Shantideva said that just as we churn milk to extract its essence, butter, we should extract the essence of the 84,000 heaps of teachings given by Buddha Shakyamuni - this essence is Bodhicitta (the aspiration to seek liberation for one and all)." -Ribur Rinpoche JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Strange Nirvana



Dedicated to the late Kurt Cobain & Leslie Cheung

The "Strange Nirvana" of some is not Nirvana at all.
It is not exactly a death wish.
Suicide is just a wish for release,
for the sweetness of nothingness.
But nothingness is not sweet.
And nothingness cannot be grasped in this way, if at all.

Ending the body does not end the mind.
It is the mind that needs release, not the body-
only achievable through REAL Nirvana-
by giving up attachment and aversion to both life and death.
(Wanting to live forever and wanting to be gone forever.) JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
The Five Wonderful Precepts ~ The Key to Moral Happiness



The First Precept
Respect for Life
Not to Kill ~ To Protect
I abstain from taking life.
I shall practise compassion to protect and benefit.

The Second Precept
Respect for Personal Property
Not to Steal ~ To be Generous
I abstain from taking the not given.
I shall practise generosity to share my material and spiritual wealth.

The Third Precept
Respect for Personal Relationships
Not to Indulge ~ To be Content
I abstain from misconduct of sexual and sensual nature.
I shall practise contentment to channel my energy for spiritual development.

The Fourth Precept
Respect for Truth
Not to Lie ~ To be Truthful
I abstain from false, divisive, harsh, and useless speech.
I shall practise positive communication to bring harmony.

The Fifth Precept
Respect for Mental and Physical Well-being
Not to Take Intoxicants ~ To be Mindful
I abstain from taking intoxicants.
I shall practise mindfulness to safeguard the precepts. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
The Essential



Those who mistake the unessential to be essential
and the essential to be unessential,
dwelling in wrong thoughts,
never arrive at the essential.

-The Buddha (Dhammapada 11)

Before we agree to this piece of the advice by the Buddha,
Before we believe we do not mistake the unessential to be essential,
Before we believe we are dwelling in right thoughts leading to the essential,
Let us ask ourselves-
Do we know what is essential?
This is the essential question that leads to the Third Noble Truth- Nirvana. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Timeless



Juan: Is time permanent? There's an argument that it is for us to be able to tell when the seasons will change and prepare ourselves in advance

Zeph: Time does not have a purpose. Neither do the seasons nor the elements, rain or shine... No- time is not timeless. Nirvana is beyond time- it is timeless. The Buddha said time is a measurement of change (yes, of the seasons too). JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Tuesday, April 08, 2003

Let the Earth Dance



When the Buddha attained Enlightenment,
He realised oneness with the world.
Touching the Earth, He asked it to bear witness.
Touched, the Earth shook and danced with rejoice.

The living Earth bears witness to all we do.
Caring for the Earth is living the Buddha's teachings.

We breathe the air that all breathe.
We breathe with the Earth.
We breathe the Earth.
Where do you begin or end
in this web of interdependence?

Taking care of the Earth,
We take care of ourselves,
We take care of all.

Let every day be Earth Day. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Not a Matter of Taste



There is nothing tasteful or distasteful, agreeable or disagreeable.
Not even this line above.
There are only people with different tastes disagreeing on the same things.

Truth is no a matter of taste.
Having preferences is delusion,
clinging to one is rejecting another.

Truth is everything-
it neither clings nor rejects anything. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply
Management



When managing becomes
a matter of mediating and helping two opposing parties to compromise,
it might lose its meaning and purpose-
it might become unreal management;
a compromise of real management.
Sometimes what you see to be a win-win situation is a lose-lose one.

Sometimes,
the fist has to be put down hard on matters which cannot be compromised.
Sometimes, that is the best management-
even when there is an unhappy party at the end of the day.

One cannot always please everyone all the time,
but one can always do the wisest thing we are capable of in the moment,
while we continually increase our wisdom best we can. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Saturday, April 05, 2003

Carefree



"Feeling nothing is the best feeling"

-"Carefree" panty liner ad on tv's slogan.

Haha- somewhat applies to deeper meditation. See how it links? When you feel no feelings, you are more carefree haha. But of course, meditation is not for numbing of our compassion. We have to be careful not to become stone cold by balancing with Loving-kindness (Metta) meditation. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Hopefully Somewhat Enlightening & Entertaining Thoughts... Stuff discovered on the path to the natural unshakable peacefulness of a stone...