Soap (Themes- Purification, Buddha-nature, Emptines)



Is there such thing as a dirty bar of soap?

1. The dirt stuck to the surface the bar is not the soap itself- it is just dirt on it.
2. The dirt embedded within the bar is not the soap itself- it is just dirt in it.

Thus, the soap cannot be dirty or dirtied. That which has cleansing or purifying abilities cannot be impure or putrefied. It is purity itself. This is an analogy for our Buddha-nature. When you break the soap, you cannot find anything within that is not soap itself. There is nothing in the soap that is not soap. It is itself, in itself. But when you further break down the soap to its molecular level, you will discover it to be composed of various elements, each of which by itself is not soap. In fact, these elements can be found in various places in nature. This means soap is empty of a fixed self-nature- there is no one thing that is soap by itself. Likewise, Buddha-nature is emptiness itself- it is not a dead unchanging thing- it is dynamic yet still- it is the truth of constant change itself- the truth that does not change. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Share with the World



The more you share with the world, the more the world shares with the world- because you are part of the world. Because of the illusory ego, we segregate ourselves from the world and see ourselves as separate entities. This is why when we mention the word "world", we tend to think of "the rest of the world"- something mutually-exclusive from us. Due to this illusion, we become selfish. The end of this illusion is the realization of selflessness. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Fragments



You see fragments of yourself in the world here and there, in facing the people and matters you encounter. Think of the world as a giant broken mirror. Every intepretation and reaction reflects your personality. Through every experience, you see a facet of yourself, as if catching a glimpse of yourself in a fragment of a full body mirror. The more you see the world, the more you see yourself. In this sense, you can run from yourself, but you can never hide. Everywhere you go, you bring your personalised set of karma with you- what you experience is karmic, and how you react will be the creation of fresh karma. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Confusion



If you believe the world to be confusing, you will confuse yourself and see it confusing. Seek instead the essence that lies unchanging within this confusion. The confusion is the swirling storm and the unchanging the calm eye of the storm. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Movie Review - 15



If you observe 24 hours or a complete day in the life of the seemingly most evil person in the world, you might see the sad side of his life, and suddenly realise that his misgivings are forgivable, and that he is the person most lacking love, most deserving love, in the world. It is because we see only bits and pieces of a person that we pass judgment unnecessarily, wrongly. As long as we are unenlightened, our judgment will always miss the mark, and no one is absolutely good or evil. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Connecting the Heart & Mind



A friend could not practise Loving-kindness for a whole... His heart felt numb. His meditation teacher discovered that his heart and mind were disconnected. He knew about Loving-kindness and wants to cultivate it, but his heart was too hurt to send love.

Connect your heart and head (mind), feel what you know and know what you feel. Only then are your reason (Wisdom) and emotion (Compassion) in sync. In the Chinese language, "heart" and "mind" are represented by the same character- "xin". Perhaps the ancient were wise enough to know that they are one, or meant to be one.

Interestingly, the term for happiness is "kai xin"- which can mean "open-hearted" or "open-minded". When either heart or mind is closed, it ceases to be connected to the world, to others' hearts and minds. This rings true as since we are all interdependent, how can we be truly happy if we do not connect to the very ones whom we are dependent upon? JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Infinite Crisis



Prince Siddhartha's (the Buddha-to-be) existential crisis was infinite- it was the sum of infinite beings' existential crisises. Yet His life was full of meaning before and after Enlightenment- as He multiplied the meaningfulness of His life infinitely by wanting to find and share the meaning of life with infinite beings. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Cab



There might be a last train
but there is no last cab-
unless you can't catch one.

One way might not work,
but there might always be another way,
which always works-
following the Dharma. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Immersed



zL: Loaded with work... bored.
Z: Get immersed in the work! Work super fast- treat it like a game- see how fast yet mindful you can be! Challenge yourself! It's not boring at all! Ready! Steady! Go! JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Fools



Those who come to the world for all beings are Bodhisattva.
Those who come to the world for themselves are ordinary people.

-Dharma Master Cheng Yen

Only fools and Bodhisattvas rush into Samsara-
the latter to save the first.
Why are YOU rushing?

-Stonepeace JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Treasuring



Here is the best example I can think of relating to being in a relationship, treasuring it, yet without attachment- The Buddha Himself- treasures His disciples, wife and child,
but He is not attached to them. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Desirable



Q: What is the most desirable thing?
A: What you want NOW is the most desirable thing. And because what you want NOW keeps changing, there is no single truly desirable thing. The unenlightened keeps desiring endless things to be happy; missing the truth that the bliss from the stopping of desire is real lasting happiness. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Grasping



When there is grasping, the grasper
Comes into existence.
If he did not grasp,
Then being freed, he would not come into existence.

-Nagarjuna, "Mulamadhyamaka-Karika"

When you let go of everything,
including letting go of everything,
you free yourself from everything.

-Stonepeace JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

The Way You Are



You are the way you are....
for now...
only. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Then



That was then; this is Zen.
Then again, it's always Zen. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

"I"



Because "I" am your strength,
"I" am "my" weakness-
for "I" depend on an "I" which does not really exists.
"My" life is not even a fragile house of cards-
it is a castle of cards built in the air-
with no solid foundation-
as dreamy, as ethereal as a cloud, a dream. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Pigeon-hole



When you most unfortunately pigeon-hole people,
people might also most unfortunately pigeon-hole you
as one of those unfortunate ones who pigeon-hole people.

We are all as unique as no two snowflakes are similar.
Our kamic imprints are as unique as our thumbprints. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Direct Path



Do you see the direct path from point A to B,
or do you see only the indirect paths leading from A to B?
How conditioned are you by the paths drawn out "for" you?
How often do you see THE path within paths? JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Crave



I craved pizza
but i was too full.
But i still craved pizza though the craving lessened.
Then I realised I craved craving for pizza.
I did not crave to enjoy pizza-
how bizarre. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply

Sorry



I feel sorry more than rage
for those who do not feel sorry for what they had done
when they should- for they ARE blind.

I feel rage more than sorry
for those who do not say sorry
when they know they should- for they are NOT blind.

But most of all, I feel sorry and rage for myself
for feeling rage, for wanting "sorry" from others...

Just say my piece in peace, and let go-
for the rest is beyond my control...
till a better time,
till Compassion is increased,
till Wisdom is increased,
to help all truly see,
to help all truly repent...
including the sorry self who wrote this. JoinMailingList4LatestUpdates/Reply