moonpointer 2

Moonpointer.com Revamped

2005-08-26T03:01:00.000+08:00

Hi folks, Please click www.moonpointer.com to see the revamped version. Yes, this is just a "buffer blog" for the "real thing" over there :-]

Buddha's Cave

2005-07-02T18:19:00.000+08:00

Buddha's Cave
Originally uploaded by moonpointer.

Space is relative. This is not a huge Buddha image in an empty room. This is a small palm size Buddha image on a shelf.

Not A Diary

2004-12-24T11:12:00.000+08:00

This is not a diary of fleeting worldly concerns, but of timeless truths and discoveries relevant to the general unenlightened one, especially myself.

Responsibility

2004-12-24T11:05:00.000+08:00

It is irresponsible to bear too much responsibilities for the individual's salvation. Yet it is your responsibility to wake them up to their responsibility of bearing their responsibilities. This is called compassion.

Test

2004-12-24T10:56:00.000+08:00

Had a nightmare last night of me taking a test and fretting I will fail it. Never thought I would face exam stress again. When I woke up, I wondered what that meant. Then it struck me that life still presents countless tests, though of the non-academic nature. Even the dream was a test of sorts - and I didn't do well. It was a measure of spirituality, even in handling the worldly. Nothing we experience does not pertain to the spiritual dimension.

Happy Birthday

2004-12-24T10:49:00.000+08:00

Never had so many friends remember my birthday - not that my friends increased a lot. Maybe as we get older, we are more aware of dates, of the passing of days. Maybe that's why they remembered more readily. Star messaged to my phone "Hey! Happy recycling (rebirth) day. Yu are here to make a difference to yourself and all who are connected to you! With Metta." San messaged this, "How much have you cultivated today? And how much time or merits have you shared with your Mother, who suffered a lot to bring you to this world __ years ago? Happy birthday my friend."

Perfect Picture

2004-12-24T01:54:00.000+08:00

Why are the white-washed walls of my big and spacious home bare without any decorations? So hard is it to put up even a single perfect picture that the best decision was to put up none... till I come up with a perfect picture, or when I am able to see perfection - by a change of mind, by perfecting my mind. The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra says, "When the mind is pure, the land is pure." When the mind and land are pure, will I need any picture to decorate the walls?

What Does It Mean?

2004-12-24T01:52:00.000+08:00

But what does it mean?
Nothing at all.
Nothing specific at all.
There is no clear answer.
But learn what you can from it.
For what else can you do?

Trembling

2004-12-24T01:49:00.000+08:00

I thought I saw the platform doors trembling
as the train rushed passed.
But it was me trembling at the rushing train,
which caught me unaware.

Laughed Enough

2004-12-24T01:47:00.000+08:00

A life laughed enough,
laughed with wisdom and love.
Not too much or little, but enough.
I want such a life.
A light-hearted one,
a big-hearted one.
One with a lot of heart.

Self-Love

2004-12-24T01:43:00.000+08:00

He was interested in her because she was interested in him. She also thought he was interested in her. And that aroused her interest. Sadly, neither he or she was mindful of that... of the truth that their mutual love for each other was based on self-love - it was not true love.

Results May Vary

2004-12-24T01:34:00.000+08:00

I think Limp Bizkit's 2003 album "Results may vary" is a good title. The cover is a face of a man's face in green, screaming, seemingly going berserk - rock angst-style of course. Those are his "results" from the music? Why is that a good title? Because it rings true. In fact, results "will" vary. It's not just their music that may have results that vary to different audiences. Is it loud messy music or good music? Everything has results that vary for the individual perceiving it. Life - results may vary. How are you taking it? It's not life's fault you know? It's you and your perception.

Seaside

2004-12-24T01:28:00.000+08:00

There is a sea on every side of you. The question is how far away and whether you want to go to the seaside. Likewise, the shore of liberation is all around. The question is which path of practice is the shortest for you and whether you want to reach it.

Financial Freedom

2004-12-24T01:20:00.000+08:00

Will I have enough money to practise in peace or will I spend too much time making momey and not practising for peace? This is a classic Samsara versus Nirvana dilemma, as we fret about not making money fast enough to retire fast enough. I don't have an easy answer. All I know is we are running out of time, and that better spiritual liberation than merely financial freedom. One can be bought and the other not.

Thing

2004-12-24T01:18:00.000+08:00

"The thing is..."

Idle Days

2004-12-24T01:13:00.000+08:00

Some days are just whiled away without doing anything significantly meaningful. While many look forward to idle days, I find them wasted. Real "doing nothing" should be in meditation anyway. Idle days are usually filled with idle thoughts and actions - which are somewhat the opposite of the silencing of the mind.

Is Meditation Difficult?

2004-12-24T01:09:00.000+08:00

Meditation is only as difficult as your mind is difficult. Its purpose is to make the mind "easy", to bring ease to your mind.

Happy Birthday

2004-12-24T01:03:00.000+08:00

Phone Haiku

2004-12-24T01:01:00.001+08:00

A ring tone
That goes buzzing
Vibration mode

Few Duties

2004-12-24T01:01:00.000+08:00

In the Metta Sutta, the Buddha said that

"This is to be done by one skilled in aims who wants to break through to the state of peace: Be capable, upright, & straightforward, easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited, content & easy to support, with few duties, living lightly, with peaceful faculties, masterful, modest, & no greed for supporters."

Life when it is a string of endless worldy tasks (self-imposed duties especially) which keeps us from the nobler task of training our mind and helping others. We have to be careful not to be bogged down with stuff like worrying in excess especially about money matters and save and scrimp as we fret about the outcome of our investments. We must not forget that while we do that, other beings are suffering true and intense suffering. The real investment is always in compassion and wisdom.

Critical

2004-12-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

Rather work hard and be criticized than do nothing but only criticize.

-Dharma Master Cheng Yen

Even the Buddha was criticised. What's critical is not to give up doing what is critical.

Plus & Minus

2004-12-23T23:58:00.000+08:00

Hmmm.... Not right to do wrong at one end and right at another - plus and minus becomes minus in maths.

Vuja De

2004-12-22T11:17:00.000+08:00

Vuja De: The uncanny feeeling that something has never happened before; the opposite of Deja Vu

What keeps us coming into Samsara?
What keeps us going in Samsara?
Vuja De experiences of pleasure in this life,
As we forget the Deja Vu experience of the pain of death.

But not pain really -
which comes from attachment,
refusal to let go when it is time.

Case by Case

2004-12-22T01:04:00.000+08:00

The more I try to generalise, the more I realise it is impossible. It's a disease really, trying to stereotype the masses and in the process dilute the individual's needs. Case by case. Everything and everyone has unique causes and conditions. Compassion refined has to work at the micro-level.

Impatience

2004-12-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

Your impatience does not make Enlightenment come any faster. It is an aspect of aversion that pushes it at bay. If impatience is not an attribute of the state of Enlightenment, why hurry impatiently? The perfection of diligence is to have optimum practice without increasing any impatience.

Time to Kill

2004-12-21T23:57:00.000+08:00

When you kill time,
you kill youself,
you kill life.

My resolution not to surf aimlessly.

Piracy Karma

2004-12-21T23:52:00.000+08:00

Video and music piracy presents a simple and compelling case of karma's vicous cyclic workings to me. When you support piracy, you do not support the very entertainment industry whose works you are stealing to enjoy. The more good works the world steals from the industry, less good works will be produced due to decrease of revenue. When you steal that you love, you might appear to get more for now, but you will eventually lose the equivalent and more.

Falling Short

2004-12-21T23:47:00.000+08:00

We might always be falling short of perfection in our thought, word and deed at the moment. But we can fall short less and less. This is the meaning of "perfecting" - it is not perfection itself yet, but it perfects in good time. And what is "good time"? It is the rate of improvement which you are at ease with without any hint of regret of not being diligent enough.

Ripples

2004-12-21T23:41:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, when strangers sit with a heavy thud on the seat next to me on the bus, I imagine ripples of air and dust radiating from the seat. A mild but definite disturbance to the physical universe and my mental universe, unnerving me slightly. When we are mindful, we send good vibrations of peace and loving-kindness to the world. When we are thoughtless, even in the little things we do, we send rude shockwaves to others. What ripples raditate from the epicentre that is you?

Identity Change

2004-12-21T23:31:00.000+08:00

Just changed my identity card. Surprises me when I juxtapose the old and new cards and compare the photos. I have changed considerably. I did not just change my identity card; I changed my physical and mental identity, and it happens moment to moment. But some things change more subtly, probably inconceivably in this life time - my thumbprint and blood group printed on the cards. Funny that that's almost all that the country uses at the moment to recognise me as me. Our individual identity is so fragile. But I like it this way - the possibilities of infinite change is most welcomed. How else we we evolve to be better?

Displaced from the Present

2004-12-21T23:20:00.000+08:00

When you gaze at the stars in distant space, you are looking at a universe of the past. For the stars' light can take up to thousands of light years to reach your eyes. The very stars you see might already be cosmically snubbed out by now. If you think of it more immediately, everything you see with your physical eyes is delayed light reflected from whatever they are looking at. Our senses thus always betray us to some extent by receiving and processing belated input. We are thus physically displaced. This worsens when we are not mindful of the "present." We displace ourselves mentally too. We are already losing too much. Come back, come back... to the present.

Falling Into Place

2004-12-21T23:17:00.000+08:00

There is only falling into place,
even when things are falling apart.
Because nothing is out of place.
A place for everything and everything in its place -
both the physical and the mental.
Cause and effect.

It's For The Best

2004-12-21T23:02:00.000+08:00

"The power of certainty is without limits. In life there will be many tests you have to face. You must hold on to the belief that everything that happens is for the best."

-Eli the wise old man in "The Adventures of Abdi" (By Madonna)

The power of uncertainty is also equally powerful. In fact, it can give boundless hope. Interestingly, one can also see what happens in life not as tests, but simply as situations, neither meant to test or not test, but faced squaredly and dealt with appropriately. Because each situation lead to alternations of "good" and "bad" situations, you can see each situation as empty of any fixed characteristics. In this sense, each situation need not happen for the best - yet each situation is appropriate as your just karmic deserts here and now. Yet in another sense, everything does happen for the best since given enough time, experience and practice, we will all become Buddhas. In the mean time, ours is an open-ended universe of experience till we are enlightened.

Micro-Novels

2004-12-21T22:59:00.000+08:00

Too many good books to learn from. Just tell me the storyline and the learning points. I'm running out of them to relish the novel. Maybe more micro-novels should be written of actual ones.

Oneness of the Universe

2004-12-21T22:48:00.000+08:00

I offer this food to the Buddhas,
the ones who realise oneness (and emptiness) of the universe and teach all.

I offer this food to the Dharma,
the universe itself and its manifested phenomena which teaches all.

I offer this food to the Sangha,
the ones on the path to realise oneness of the universe, who teach all.

I offer this food to all other beings,
the ones yet to be on the path to realise oneness of the universe, who teach all.

A World Without You

2004-12-21T10:44:00.000+08:00

Read the following from a book excerpt, "A Pain in the Neck", written by a recently deceased blogger, Grace, who blogged during her last days:

"The world was going to go on without me. It is a strange thought. Echobelly sings, "I can’t imagine the world without me." They’re right. Try imagining the world without you. You can’t. As Descartes realised a couple of hundred years ago, the world exists because of you. That is the only certain knowledge that we can ever hope to have."

Her blog: www.dyingis.blogspot.com

My thoughts on the above:

I can't imagine a world without me - because the world revolves around me. This is not a heliocentric or geocentric universe; but a egocentric one. I think, therefore I am... trapped... by my ego, trapping the world with it, making it ever so small. The bigger my ego gets, the smaller the world - because of the way my limited and inaccurate perception force-fits it into my world view. The world does not exists because of me alone; the world exists because of everyone. But my faulty world exists because of my faulty perception... of my self and the world. To imagine the world without me, I need to displace, or rather, remove 'me' from the centre and be one with the world, and let the world be its own centre.

In your end of days, what can you do, but to let go, when it is all you can do? Before your end of days, what can you do? Hold on to everything tightly? But that will only make the end of days so much more unbearable, when you are forced to loosen your grip of attachment - gradually or suddenly. May I be able to live life lightly, but not unseriously. Properly, but not uptightly. Graciously, not grudgingly. A matter of grace from moment to moment. Yes, grace. Thank you, Grace. I trust you will have a good rebirth... if any.

Greatest Magic Trick

2004-12-07T13:03:00.000+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen!
What you are witnessing is the greatest magic trick ever.

Everything is here in the moment
but not really here in the moment.
Because everything is changing,
so quickly that everything looks real,
so quickly that everything looks solid.
But it's all fluid motion!

Clear

2004-12-07T11:23:00.000+08:00

On a clear day, you can see forever.
With a clear mind, you experience forever.

Amber Light

2004-11-28T17:04:00.000+08:00

While crossing roads, I don't look at pedestrian traffic lights face on - I see the lights facing the oncoming traffic. When it turns amber and I see the cars slowing down, I start crossing. Sometimes I see fellow pedestrians bewildered, looking at me crossing when the lights they see say "Don't cross." But it's simply because they don't see what I see. Likewise, we are amazed when those with clairvoyance. But all they are doing is read signs ofthe future earlier. Red lights for the cars will come after amber lights - it's just cause and effect in a way- though it can be argued that the amber lights do not exactly cause the lights to turn red. But it's programmed that way - lest there are faults in the system.

Worth

2004-11-28T17:00:00.000+08:00

Whatever is it you plan to do, first ask yourself this - "But is it worth it, now that I'm dying?"
Is it worth your investment of time and energy? We all live as we approach an invisible finishing line - which can be closer than you think.

No Retailiation

2004-11-28T16:56:00.000+08:00

Just deflect blows and clarify your stand. There is no need to retailiate. Then the person will know you have no intention to fight and thus can never win you. This is the way of spiritual warrior - who wins without fighting.

Good Work

2004-11-28T16:37:00.000+08:00

Work is good
only if
you work for the good,
for the betterment of one and all.

Streaming Distraction

2004-11-28T16:20:00.000+08:00

Discovered Yahoo Launchcast - free online streaming music which can be rated and thus tailored to your taste, with track skipping allowed. This is amazing. One's auditory sense desires can almost be fed endlessly. Pay for Launchcast Plus and you get ad-free music with unlimited skipping. Is this heavenly? Yes, but it's Samsara indeed - it doesn't get you out of Samsara. Now you can have live streaming Samsara, offering you distractions unlimited - if you are willing to pay for it.

Flash Flood Karma

2004-09-01T02:54:00.000+08:00

Flash floods are hard-to-predict destructive floods that suddenly happen - but that doesn't mean there is no cause and effect involved. An important lesson flash floods teach us is that our physical blessings, such as houses and possessions and even lives, can be swept away in one clean merciless swipe of nature without warning. L'ife is fragile indeed. Have you got real insurance yet? Not the monetary kind, but spiritual - prevent flash flood bad karma by building a strong dam of good karma. It's near impossible to ever know how much is enough - lest you are enlightened.

May the Poetry

2004-08-23T00:27:00.000+08:00

May the poetry you read and write
not be frivolous musings
over the frivolous,
or worse still,
that trivialises the serious.

May the poetry you read and write
be the least fancy way
of conveying a truth,
or at least,
a path to the truth.

May the poetry you read and write
focus more on reason than rhyme,
for sometimes reason is without rhyme.

May the poetry you read,
that is the poetry I wrote above
be meaningful to you,
that is,
if you consider it poetic at all,
poetry at all.

Mind Olympics

2004-08-23T00:26:00.000+08:00

All the physical Olympics is actually mind Olympics too. Will power, perseverance... you get the idea. But what is all this geared to? For what should we break world records? What does it really prove? That our ego is never satisfied? Does competition through sportsmanship really make the world a better place? Those who win get proud and the losers feel sad. Not sure. But what I'm sure is that the ultimate mind Olympics is in training the mind to increase in Compassion and Wisdom, to win Enlightenment.

Treasure Without Attachment

2004-08-17T23:34:00.002+08:00

Treasure everything in the moment
because everything changes from moment to moment.

Do not be attached to anything in the moment
because everything changes from moment to moment.

This is the middle path -
To treasure the fleeting is to practise compassion.

To not be attached to the fleeting is practise wisdom.
Perfecting the duo is to become enlightened.

The Buddha treasures and cares for his disciples,
but he is not attached to them when they pass away.
Can you love like He does?
Not yes or no - but that you try.

Dishes for the Dishes

2004-08-17T23:34:00.001+08:00

There's always time for housework... and meditation. It suddenly struck me that

Work is work.

Spirtual practice is work.

Housework is spiritual practice too.
No two minds needed.
Life is one single practice ground for perfection of the path.

"You can wash the dishes to have clean dishes,
or you can wash the dishes to wash the dishes."

-Paraphrased from Thich Nhat Hanh

Working on Off

2004-08-17T23:34:00.000+08:00

I had to go to office to do some work on one of my retreat days. Strangely, working seemed more efficient with a renounced mind - a mind with minimal involvement in office politics, idle chat... a mind with less greed and hatred. I feel a sense of floating - like I'm not really there, yet I was grounded in the moment. Not really there because with a retreat attitude, I was not "involved" in worldly matters, yet I was mindful. Somewhat in the world but not of the world.

The Lost Man

2004-08-17T23:33:00.001+08:00

One day, a man, no one in particular (well, he could be you) took a wrong turn somewhere and found himself lost thick in the middle of nowhere. As there was no one he knew or anyway to contact anyone he knew, he found himself a stranger in a strange land.

He had to depend on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter to survive. It was pure compassion that kept him alive because he wasn't anyone very important to anyone. He was literally just a man on the street.

He could no longer relate to anyone the way he did. He wasn't particularly a friend or enemy to anyone, or a son, brother or husband of anyone... In fact, he wasn't anyone - he was nobody.

It made him panic... till he realised there was no need. In fact, this is his new life. He could be anyone. He could be the person he really wanted to be - without the burden of the past, without anyone's expectations of his future. In fact, he was forced to re-evaluate the worth of his own attachment to his past and his prior expectations, since there was no way he could return to his past life.

From the strangers that now became his friends, he learnt compassion. And he learnt to befriend other lost strangers. From realising the importance of being at home in the here and now, he learnt wisdom.

One day, he looked back and realised that he did not really take a wrong turn in the first place, to end up where he was. In fact, it was the "right-est" turn for the better he ever made. He realised that there is no such thing as a wrong turn, that all that matters is how he "turns" himself for the better. The man who lost his identity has no found himself. The man who thought he fell into a terrible trap discovered great freedom.

But that's him. What matters is, as mentioned in the beginning of the story, is that... "he could be you". You don't have to be lost physically. Just lose your "self" mentally now... let go of your self-definitions, for they are illusory anyway. Re-read this story and put yourself in the man's shoes. Who are you? Who will you be? Welcome to your new life. It begins from right here and now... as always.

Friendship

2004-08-17T23:33:00.000+08:00

How to be a spiritual friend?
Be a friend first.

How to be a friend?
Befriend yourself first.

How to befriend yourself?
Understand and be kind to yourself.

Be compassionate and wise to yourself.
So that you know how to be so to someone else.

The Delusional Fix

2004-08-17T23:32:00.000+08:00

If not knowing how our delusion arose is part of our delusion, what a fix we are in? But knowing how to rid delusion is more important than knowing how it arose.

For example, knowing how the sun rises does not mean you know how to make it set. In fact, thinking the sun rises and sets is itself a delusion! Trying to know how to make the sun set is thus a delusional pursuit, just as trying to discover how we became deluded in the first place. Knowing how a tree bears fruits does not mean you know how to harvest it. Yet, having harvested the fruit, one can discover how fruits come into being. Thus, knowing what to do with our delusions - practise to diminish them with the arising of wisdom is always the prority and anything otherwise is never the priority.

Nausea

2004-08-16T18:31:00.000+08:00

I woke up last night at about 6 am feeling somewhat nauseous for reasons unknown for a few minutes. I went to the loo in the dark, and spat out some semi-vomit in small portions. There was no diarrhoea. I think I was somehow living out the following passage that I read at about 7 pm, about 12 hours ago before an audience, based on the topic I chose - "What the Hell am I Doing Here? : An Existential Investigation into the Meaning of Life."

I wrote that 10 years ago. Strange... was I hit by a stray remnant wave of a past existential crisis? Haunted by the past? Or my mind playing a trick? Or a "Freudian-Satrean Nausea-Slip", revealing my underlying dissatisfaction with my life? Maybe I woke up in the night and was shocked that I still existed! This is what I wrote and read:

"A feeling of nausea welled up in him and subsided - it reminded him of taking a train when he was a child with his family. He had felt a devastating wave of travel-sickness. He was sick of everything - even the beautiful scenery and his Mother's gentle coaxing did not help. He wished he was dead then. He wished he was dead right now. It wasn't exactly a deathwish - he only wished he never existed."

Today I'm observing the 8 precepts. Maybe the answer to the mystery will come to mind. Life is of much dissatisfactions - the First Noble Truth experienced rawly and suddenly. It's humbling - I don't know what form of suffering my karma can throw at me next. It's better to believe there are more waves of suffering about to hit me and cultivate my spirituality well. I know I still wish "I" didn't exist - but not in a suicidal way, but by death of my ego - Nirvana.

Free Trap

2004-08-12T00:06:00.011+08:00

Like a bird flying in a limitless sky above a boundless sea with no land in sight, all the physical freedom in the world had become his trap. No purpose, no refuge, no home, no resting place.

"You can travel all the way around the world, but where does it get you to?"

-Pet Shop Boys (West End Girls)

Fortunate

2004-08-12T00:06:00.010+08:00

Oh how fortunate is the one... who sees his misfortunes as fortunate lessons from which he can learn from to be stronger... who is glad that things are not worse... that he is able to take it in his stride.

Hallucination

2004-08-12T00:06:00.009+08:00

The problem is not just that we hallucinate...
but that we ARE our own hallucinations,
while we hallucinate that we are hallucination-free.

Retreat

2004-08-12T00:06:00.008+08:00

Every spiritual retreat is an opportunity to renounce, even if for a while, worldly matters, the world, and your greed, hatred and delusion involved in them.

But

2004-08-12T00:06:00.007+08:00

The sun is just a star among zillions.
But every star is a sun.

You are just a sentient being among countless ones.
But you are a Buddha too,
"sleeping" though,
hopefully "awaking" though.

Moving

2004-08-12T00:06:00.006+08:00

What are the essentials to move from my old home to my new? I find myself doing filtering of my possessions big and small at many levels, with many categories... with hesitation now and then as to what is worth keeping. I gather lots of stuff for recycling and for giving thr needy. We don't need a lot really. We want and keep too much really. It is what we can renounce that brings us character, not what we gather.

10 Minutes

2004-08-12T00:06:00.005+08:00

Get up 10 minutes earlier...
Slow down 10 minutes of rushing.
Live 10 minutes more.
Savour life 10 minutes more.

Take time to see more clearly.
Take time to hear more clearly.
Take time to smell more clearly.
Take time to taste more clearly.
Take time to feel more clearly.
Take time to reflect more clearly.
Even if it is only for 10 minutes.

In Stereo (Where Available)

2004-08-12T00:06:00.004+08:00

We are more clogged up in the senses than we think... much more to say about our clarity about our thoughts and how we perceive. In the train after going down a high storeyed building, my ears went pop and suddenly I am experiencing surround sound.

Seamless Changing

2004-08-12T00:06:00.003+08:00

One thing after another,
after another...
so closely,
that there is no definite one thing,
or another.

Better

2004-08-12T00:06:00.002+08:00

"Okay....
So...
Does that make the world a better place?"

-zlyrica

Middle Path

2004-08-12T00:06:00.001+08:00

Doing the right thing feels extreme for the extremely evil. Where is the middle path in doing a seemingly extreme thing that is a right thing to do? Just practise it till it feels like a moderate and balanced thing; not an extreme thing.

Real Myth

2004-08-12T00:06:00.000+08:00

Myths persist because there are certain truths (and morals) in them despite the fairy tale element. The wise see the first while the foolish just laugh at the latter.

Anticipation

2004-08-12T00:05:00.007+08:00

Do you anticipate the world to prove you right or wrong? Is either right or wrong? I think both are wrong. Let's not expect anything from this world, for to expect is to expect dissapointment - and it doesn't do anyone any good. Let me expect myself to prove those waiting for the world to disappoint them wrong instead. Let me touch the world with compassion and wisdom best I can.

"Life is already so difficult. How can we be anything but kind?"

-Buddha's Little Instruction Book

Grey

2004-08-12T00:05:00.006+08:00

Under a grey sky,
grey navy ships
on a grey sea...

No...
just grey thoughts
from a grey mind.

Horizonless

2004-08-12T00:05:00.005+08:00

How is it that there is this apparent flat horizon on our rounded Earth? Silly question. For there is no horizon in the first place. How often do we wonder about illusory truths about illusions?

Write Therapy

2004-08-12T00:05:00.004+08:00

Write yourself into a story of yourself with your real life dilemmas. Analyse with fictitious mentors, and write yourself out of your problems. The Four Noble Truths in the story of your life... at the moment.

Just Them

2004-08-12T00:05:00.003+08:00

The sky is all calm cloudlessness.
And the sea is choppy murkiness.
But that's just them.

Lighthouse

2004-08-12T00:05:00.002+08:00

Seeing the lighthouse perched on the largest crop of rock that made it definable as a small island, I realised how a big obstacle or problem can itself be a solution - for the rock is fortunately big enough to build a lighthouse upon it - so as to warn ships of itself, and more importantly, the many other smaller chunks of rock jutting around it randomly.

Hands-Free

2004-08-12T00:05:00.001+08:00

Observation of a friend driving -
You need your hands free
to fix the hands-free kit on the phone.

Want freedom?
Spare some free time first.

Good or Bad

2004-08-12T00:05:00.000+08:00

I don't know whether this is good or bad,
it is just like that.
The good can turn better or worse.
The bad can turn worse or better.
Is this thing I'm experiencing good karma or bad karma?
I think it is just karma at play -
no need to label -
just be at ease.

Which Floor is Better?

2004-07-21T12:42:00.000+08:00

Does a white floor get dirtier faster than a black floor?
No - it is just that specks of dirt on it are more obvious.

Is a black floor easier to clean then a white floor?
No - it is harder, as specks of dirt on it are less obvious.

Brickbats and Bouquets

2004-06-23T14:51:00.000+08:00

To improve anything, we need both sincere and accurate brickbats and bouquets-
Brickbats to know where we can improve.
Bouquets to know what improvements worked.

Fengshui

2004-06-23T14:50:00.000+08:00

Where would there be leather enough to cover the entire world?
The Earth is covered over merely with the leather of my sandals.

-Shantideva

When the mind is pure, the land is pure.

-Vimarlakirti Nirdesa Sutra

[The Buddha's message is in essence mastering the mind; not the environment. Being attached to fengshui (geomancy) is in a way trying to cover leather everywhere.]

The Buddha did not teach many things for a simple reason-
they are unnecessary for the path to Enlightenment.
While there are 101 things seemingly helpful for Enlightenment,
they are still essentially unnecessary.

-Stonepeace

Does Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva (Dizang Pusa) experience hell in hell?
No - or he would simply be another being suffering in hell.
His purified mind sees even hell as a pureland, a perfect place to practise.

-Stonepeace

Perfect fengshui is the experiencing of pureland everywhere.
It comes from minding the mind perfectly;
not by minding the environment perfectly.

-Stonepeace

Impact

2004-06-23T14:44:00.000+08:00

Too much mere positive but superficial Dharma IMPRINT here and there through this and that "skillful means". We need Dharma IMPACT.

Suffering Self

2004-06-23T14:36:00.000+08:00

It is the self who suffers. When there is no self, there is no suffering. And since there is actually no self, there is actually no suffering. We do not suffer from having a self; we suffer from having the delusion of having a self. What is worse than attachment to something is attachment to "nothing" - an illusion. I am still deluded, so there is self and the self is suffering.

Best

2004-06-23T14:30:00.000+08:00

There you go again... ranting about another manic Monday around the corner. Zen Master Ummon says, "Every day is a good day!" Zen story - man asks butcher to give him best meat from a pig and he replies, "Every part is the best."

Simple

2004-06-23T14:24:00.000+08:00

All beings by nature are Buddha,
as ice by nature is water;
apart from water there is no ice,
apart from beings no Buddha.

-Hakuin Zenki, Song of Zazen

It is so simple, so so simple. But we are so complicated, so so complicated. Zen is too simple for most of us - that we need the complicated, in order to simplify, in order to see Zen.

-Stonepeace

Why Not Die Now?

2004-06-23T14:21:00.000+08:00

Albert Camus said that the first question we should ask is why we should not commit suicide. I think the first question we should ask is why we need to ask anything at all. The answer is because we are ignorant or deluded about the nature of life and death. So we should seek answers about life and death - and not just ask "Why don't we die now?" That is just too abrupt, though existentially, I can see where Camus was coming from. He was questioning the worth of life and living. But should we not question too, the worth of death and dying? In Buddhism, life and death is like dawn and dusk, cyclic in nature. So there's no need to be hung up on either life or death alone - they are two halves of a whole puzzle.

Sleep Away

2004-06-23T13:57:00.000+08:00

Waking up everyday to life is a recurring nightmare to some. To me sometimes too. Maybe that is why the homeless and the aimless sleep so much... attempting to sleep away life? Nothing to do and wanting to do nothing, they prefer the tastelessness of nothingness - though they are not there to taste it when asleep. They don't exactly have a deathwish - though they are not enthusiastic about life either. Maybe they just want to get it over with "naturally" - and die and unite with the bliss of nothingness forever without waking up. Theylive like ghosts flitting randomly in the background - not really alive and not realy dead. The sad part is all they want is True Happiness, and it is obvious that it eludes them, whether sleeping or not. The "pleasure" of sleep is only fleeting - we have to wake up. If sleep is for rest before we wake up, then perhaps our waking up is for waking up more and more to life's lessons - till we attain Enlightenment.

-Zeph's Journal

Second Nature

2004-06-18T01:18:00.000+08:00

It is easy for the good person to do good deeds,
but for the evil one it is difficult to do good deeds.

It is easy for the evil person to do bad deeds,
but it is difficult for the good one to do bad deeds.

-Udana (The Buddha)

Avoid evil and do good till it becomes your second nature,
until you realise your second nature is your first and original nature,
which is none other than your Buddha-nature.

-Stonepeace

Who Are You?

2004-06-18T01:05:00.000+08:00

When we say, "This is MY mind and body", it means YOU are not YOUR mind or body. It means YOU are different. Similarly, MY house is not me. What then is YOU? Can YOU point your SELF out?

Reaction

2004-06-18T01:02:00.000+08:00

Different reactions arise from different people when experiencing the same thing. The element that differentiates is the state of mind. There is prior habitual perception that urges one to to experience something in a certain way, and the choice that one takes to do so. What we have to be aware of is the faultiness of our perception and the availability of choice.

Direct Path

2004-06-18T00:51:00.000+08:00

I have this knack for seeing the most direct or shortest path between point A and B (without stepping on grass or crossing anywhere illegally). In the mean time, I see many others following laid pavements blindly, looping loops, even though they walk through the area day in and out. I'm not just encouraging others to take the path less travelled, but the path untravelled, by seeing possiblities beyond that laid by convention.

Moving House

2004-06-18T00:46:00.000+08:00

Amazing how few are essential items one needs to live with. I discovered this when I was moving house. There's this saying on how to design a Zen-styled house - take out everything and put in only what you need. I daresay my place is quite Zen now. It's a new stage of my life - of filtering out the unnecessary and focusing on the essentials - not just in terms of physical things, but spiritual stuff too.

Ultimate Trap

2004-06-18T00:36:00.000+08:00

The ultimate trap is the one that one creates by refusing to let go of the delusional clinging that causes oneself suffering. An imprisoned bird might not wish to fly out of an opened cage when it has gotten too used to the trap being home.

Buddha Picture

2004-06-18T00:29:00.000+08:00

Look at a picture of the Buddha and ask yourself - "What is it that makes it a picture of the Buddha?" Is it the eyes, or the hair, or... It is your mind.

Traffic Jam

2004-06-18T00:27:00.000+08:00

A traffic jam ceases to be one when your mind stops defining the traffic as jammed, but perhaps as slow-moving instead. A jam is all in the mind, not a real solid thing out there.

Oversleep

2004-06-18T00:26:00.000+08:00

It is not always laziness that leads one to oversleep. Sometimes it is a result of being more restful or needing more rest than expected; not resting too much. Isn't this common sense? Yes maybe - but we often tend to see only one side of the picture. Every seemingly useless or "bad" thing can have a useful or good side.

Staples

2004-06-18T00:20:00.000+08:00

I respect people who do as much as they can to safeguard the environment - down to the little details. I try to do the same. I try not to use staples when putting papers together which will later be taken apart. Yes, even though they are "tiny pieces of metal". I use paper clips instead. And I collect used or removed staples for recycling under "metal."

Perfectionist

2004-06-18T00:14:00.000+08:00

I find it funny when fellow Buddhist friends call me a perfectionist and overly detail-minded. I mean... aren't Buddhists supposed to be spiritual perfectionists? Thus is there the practice of the Six Perfections (Paramitas). In fact, they can take a long time to perfect - it is thus never too too early to be picky... on yourself. But forgive yourself too, after repentance - when you fail to meet your standards. Only so can you move on and improve yourself.

Window Scenery

2004-06-18T00:07:00.000+08:00

The windows laminate the scenery, sealing it tightly such that I can only see, but not touch, hear, smell or taste it. A view is just a view. A room with merely a view is overrated if you are stuck in the room - not unlike seeing the world on TV. I am not there yet - not in the scene of the scenery, not in the thick of it all. I need to get through the window that divides. The view is supposed to guide me to my destination; not trap me. I am looking at what is more than that that can be seen. I need full experience. I need the truth that will set me free.

No Self

2004-06-17T01:40:00.000+08:00

Oh we can play with words all day long...
"self" discovery is the discovery of no "self".

Purify

2004-06-17T01:35:00.000+08:00

Avoid Evil.
Do Good.
Purify the Mind.
This is the Teaching of All Buddhas.

-The Buddha (Dhammapada)

To avoid evil and do good is to practise self-improvement.
To purify the mind is to realise there is no self to improve.

-Stonepeace

Virus

2004-06-17T01:29:00.000+08:00

Dear Ast,

Viruses work in a complex way these days. If my email address sits in person A's computer, which is infected, the virus can impersonate my address to send a virus file. The virus mail apparently from me has nothing to do with my computer, which has virus scan updated every time before email is turned on. All we can do is ensure we ourselves are not infected and that we are not infecting others. This runs parallel with our spiritual practice. May we not spread our spiritual viruses (three poisons of greed, hatred and delusion) to others by ridding ourselves of them.

Amituofo,Stonepeace

Improve

2004-06-17T01:26:00.000+08:00

Do not speak
unless it improves on silence.

-Anon

Do not do anything
unless it improves something.

-Stonepeace

Peace & Quiet

2004-06-17T01:23:00.000+08:00

Silence is not the absence of sound,
but the absence of self.

-H.W.L. Poonja

Real peace is of the mind,
not the environment

-Stonepeace

Responsibilities

2004-06-17T01:16:00.000+08:00

One should not wish fewer responsibilities for an easier life,
but better strength for more responsibilities.

-Dharma Master Cheng Yen

Just when I was contemplating shirking responsibilities, this came in the mail. Reminds me that the Bodhisattva path to freedom is in picking up the task of helping more and more, yet with a freer and freer mind, not one more and more burdened by thoughts of exhaustion and giving up.