IS-NESS 13 April.

The sky is blue.

The grass is green.

The sky never said it is blue.
Neither did the grass say it is green.

So is the sky blue and the grass green?
Neither did the sky say it is sky nor the grass that it is grass,

So what is the "sky" or "grass" really?
The "sky" and "grass" just IS.
IS-NESS.

The moment you define it, you are wrong --
that is conceptualisation.
Reality is to be experienced -- not conceptualised.

THOUSANDS 11 Apr.

Here are verses hard to find amongst thousands of others-

Better than a thousands hollow words
Is 1 word that brings peace.

Better than a thousand hollow lines
Is 1 line of the law, bringing peace.

It is better to conquer 1-self
Than to win a thousand battles.

- The first four verses of the chapter
"The Thousands" of the Dhammapada (The Buddha)

潘美辰 - SO EASY [如此容易].

潘美辰 - SO EASY [如此容易]
当你对生活感到疲倦
你必须做些改变
许多从来没有做过的事
不妨就尝试一遍
日子会变得新鲜
当你对爱情感到危险
你需要时间考验
或许暂时离开他的身边
给自己换个空间
也不要苦苦相约
SO EASY
只要你放开自己
把一切当作游戏
不要说什么道理不要怀疑
FOLLOW ME
唱一首快乐的歌
来一段轻松摇摆
给心情一个彩旗把烦恼全部抛弃
SO EASY。。。。。
FOLLOW ME。。。。。
.
This is very nice song.

INSIGHT 5 Apr.

Never assume, or be proud, when you realize a certain truth, that you alone had arrived at a unique spiritual insight. The Truth is not presented. There is only one reality and there are countless Buddha�s who had realized it already.

Be glad that you are one step closer and continue stepping forward. Do not think that you are one step ahead of others --- that is your ego playing tricks --- you are not out to win others in attending Enlightenment first. Your Enlightenment is for the others --- we are all one body. Your one big step to your personal Enlightenment might be just a small step to the Enlightenment of all.

FAULTS 4 April.

I realized only recently how easily I dismiss my own misgivings. The major misgivings I tone down, telling myself inside, “Nay --- it’s not that bad --- get over it, In no time, I forgive myself. It is so easy to fool myself that that is being compassionate to myself when actually it is a spiritually unhealthy suppression of healthy conscience. When roles are reversed, our attitudes often reverse. When someone lets us down in some way, we might magnify this misgiving and hang on to it, grumbling and cursing then inside. Forgiving, not to say forgetting, becomes hard. It seems that he who forgives himself the easiest is sometimes one who forgives others the hardest. This twisted attitude pivots upon the ego. It makes us too quick to judge others and too slow to check ourselves. The path to perfection would be to give ourselves no excuses when we go wrong while keeping an open mind, “giving reasonable excuses” to why others go wrong.

This reminds me of the often quoted Dhammapada verse 50: “Look not at deeds left done undone by others; but look at the deeds left done and undone by oneself.” This means holding a mirror to oneself, constantly reflecting on one’s conduct; not holding it out to face others all the time to show then their misgiving. I feel that there is much meaning in this verse because we are already too often unmindful to check our own thoughts, words and deeds. The more time you spend having your vigilant eye on others, passing unconstructive judgement of contempt, the more you are not being mindful of yourself. Then are few ways to go off track so easily.

If we already have trouble holding impure thought about others? So do we keep quiet when others are “obviously wrong?” Not necessarily, the moment someone else presents before us a misgiving, we should reflect whether we make the same mistake before correcting him. And any “correction” should be apt and constructive, compassionately offered with no hatred or grudge. Remember --- no one is faultless (as long as unenlightened). It is the continual seeing of faultless on others, missing one’s own, that become a fault in itself.

BOWING 3 Apr.

Why do some Buddhists not bow when they come across a Buddha image? Do they not remember the significance of bowing? It is to pay our homage to the Supreme One while humbling ourselves so that we can be more willing to learn. We all know well that that is just a block of wood, ceramic or metal. However, in the moment of bowing, the Buddha image is envisioned to be the Buddha Himself. It is taken to represent Him because the Buddha is not visibly around now, and humans are creatures that need images for remembrance. Why not bow when it takes only a little time and a little effort? There are the two common causes (besides sheet laziness) why one does not:

One is attached to the ego and thus detaches from ceremony, as bowing helps to reduce the ego.

One is already detached from the ego and thus sees no point in bowing.

Don’t ever overlook this simple gesture of devotion. It is often not enough for us to just understand the observances in Buddhism; we need to do them to truly benefit from them.

It should be noted that it is still possible for a Buddhist to bow with lots of pride in his bowing, bursting with ego!

Which category do you belong to?

KNOWING 1 Apr.

The Truth is what you know. If you do not know, you only choose to believe in something that might, or might not be the Truth. Be without choosing. Why play the guessing game? A correct guessing is still only a guessing. To the Enlightenment is to be "choicelessly knowing," with no alternative knowledge or doubt. Be in the light. Know the Truth. Don't just agree with the Enlightened: become Enlightened.

Angels [天使].

I spotted this short mandarin blurb in my friend’s
blog and thought it was really meaningful.


世间每个男同志都是天使 ,
生活在天堂 , 无忧无虑
当他决定去爱一个人 ,
便会折断翅膀 , 堕落在人间
所以不要让爱你的男人伤心 ,
因为他已没有翅膀再回天堂 …..

Here’s my wimpy translation.

It is said that all gays are angels
who led a carefree life heaven with no worries
Once they decided to love a human,
they will lose their wings to be on earth
Remember not to hurt the man you love.
Without his wings, he can no longer return to heaven...

LIGHT 31 Mar

Do you see the myriad colours in white sunlight?
Do you see the white light in a rainbow?

Unity lies in diversity.
Diversity lies in unity.

It is the same and at the same time it is not the same.
It is different and it is not different.
How different are you from another?
How similiar is another to you?

Are we one or are you one?
Us all sentient beings collectively is the Dhamamakaya,
the universal body of Buddha,
the omnipresence of Enlightenment, of reality.
This is the white light of us, the rainbow colours.

SPIRITUAL IMPROVEMENT 30 Mar.

Don't think of spiritual improvement as something abscure.
If you think of it as something obscure,
ignorance is obscuring you.

So what is spiritual improvement?
It is becoming a kinder person.
It is becoming a wiser person.

To improve spiritually is
to be knid enough to want to help all,
and to be wise enough to be able to help all.