A rat in the house

A rat from nowhere have been very aggressive and biting my wooden windown panels as well as the wooden skirting in my study room, the tapper wares and  food plastic containers.  I do not understand why this rat is so aggressive and despite setting several traps , it has managed to evade these traps. Finally,yesterday,  I have to call in the pest control guy to do something about this rat.

Just now while I was about to sleep, I heard a scream and there was a few shouts of the word "rat" and my maid can down from her room to assist my wife. I thought that was the end but my daughter who is back home on holidays with her girlfriend, came to my bed room and ask me to go down stairs. I quickly get out of my bed and ran down the stair case  to my study room where I saw my wife holding on to the study room door  and I could see the  back half of the rat jerking from the gap of the study room door. When the rat was running into the study room from my living room, my wife was trying to close the door and the rat was caught sandwiched between the door. Its head in the study room and his back half on the outside. She was screaming as I told over to hold on to the door and I could see and sense her fear of the rat.  I could not open the door, otherwise, the rat would run into the study room and it would be difficult to catch it again.  So, I ask my daughter's friend to  take a string and help me to tie one leg of the rat and I tie the other end of the string to the door knot, letting it hanging in the air when I open the door. I presume this will happen unless the string was not tied tight enough. So, I open the door and it happens just the way I figured it will happen.  The rat was hanging in the air and we took a plastic beg to put the rat in and my maid took over from there by throwing it away.

I was now wide awake and feeling guilty about holding on to the door and kept the rat sandwiched  and I could sense the discomfort and pain of the rat. Buddha says be kind and compassionate to all living beings  and here, I have done something wrong. I could let the rat off and let it continue to bite my wooden window panels and the rest of the items and treat it as if it is a normal routine in life or take action on this matter. The forest monks who live in the jungles have been bitten by the mosquitos and they do not kill this mosquitos and here, I kill a rat which is so many times bigger in size. There is so much guilt in me. I have make a choice to kill the rat and I will need to take responsibility for it.

The question here is whether my action is right or wrong?  Should it be killed or let off? In India, some Hindus live with the rats as if they are like dogs and cats. They even feed them with milk.  But, in this part of the world, the rat is considered as a dirty creature and it could spread disease and sickness. So, our culture here is to kill the rats before it kill  or harm you and the people around us.  Letting the rat go may reduce our guilts but it will continue to destroy my home furnitures and food containers and allow these creatures to spread disease and sickness to us, our family members and the people living around us. If we cannot help others , we should not harm them. In this aspect, I have to kill the rat before it harm others.  

In our daily life, we are faced with alot of such questions and dilemma. Is it right or wrong? It is either be compassionate or do no harm to others. It is a difficult choice at times but for this case of the rat. I need to kill it because it is harming my family and possibly, it will also harm my neighbours.  This is a clear cut choice but there are other more difficult choice in our life.

Whatever happens and if we need to make a choice. We should make the choice acoording to our own internal  intuitions and be responsible for it. There are so many interpretations and perceptions of  other people and we have to look for the inner voice which is generate by our wisdom.

Lets not judge others, lest others will  judge you.

Namaste.

The Carpenters - Yesterday Once More (INCLUDES LYRICS)

Yesterday once more

A few days ago, I receive a phone call from a friend. On and off, we have communicated but because of our busy routines, we only managed to communicate a few times a year. She likes to read but cannot find the time to pursue this hobby as she has a job and a son to take care at home.  The few topics we have talk about is about life and its purpose.  She is reasonably well off and she is married to a doctor and in her limited spare time , she is seeking spiritual truth and hope to have a purpose driven life. She is a christian and yet she reads motivational , spiritual and religious books.

The call from her was to seek for my recommendation of a good book for her as she was at the book store in Gurney Plaza. I asked her why suddenly she remember me and she told me that she was abit depressed and was looking for a good book. When she sees books , she remembered me.  It is ok, I am just like one of her books in her book shelf. Ok, this is really no big deal. At least , I am so much of a use to her. I used to read alot of spiritual books  but now, my eyes are getting tired easily and I am going for the audios to rest my tired eyes.

What she is going through at that moment is very common to all of us. I have done it and millions of you have also experienced this lapse of weakness and let our emotions takes over.  It was like yesterday once more, all over again. Memories keeps coming back from our mental library to prick at our thoughts and unleash our emotions.

When I get up in this morning, the song " yesterday once more" just came into my head and I just cannot shake it off.  The lyrics becoming more and more vivid as I become more awaken. Then, another song " Yesterday" also float up.  One of the main lyric in " yesterday once more" was how we long for yesterday and in song Yesterday, the lyric love was " yesterday, love was such an easy game to play, and now , I have to find a place to hide away".  Both these two songs, depicts the changes we have gone through in our life and how we can re-live the good years which we have gone through. It is quite natural for all of us to hide behind the good times that we have when we go through an emotional patch.

In life, we have the good times and the bad times. But, each different moments have a lesson for us and it also test the dharma in all of us as well. Treat each experience as a test and a lesson and this will be permanently stored in our memory and it will be re-live at the appropriate moments in our journey through life.

Namaste.

With a simple twist of fate, life will change.

When we are young, most of us think that we will remain healthy and will live for ever. The remember the story of former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Although he is not popular now, I would like to relate an event in his life. When he was a child , he used to play rugby and during one of the game, one of his opposite team member accidentally grope into both of his eyes.  He was sent to the intensive care unit and the doctors was able to save one of his eyes and the other was blind forever.  If the doctors were not able to save one of his eyes, he would not be the Prime Minister of UK. This is a happy ending for him but in most cases, it is very sad and unfortunate.

This morning, I met a friend during breakfast and he invited me to sit with him. He told me that his second brother have suffered a stroke while his third brother have been bed ridden for one and a half year already. The second brother was hit by a motorbike and have seriously injured his spine.  I was very shocked to hear the news. I know both of them very well but have not been able to visit them because of my tight routine. Both are very hardworking and honest men carrying on his bfather's gas business.  I could remember how they lift the heavy gas cylinders on to their bikes or their lorries. I saw their business grew from a one lorry business to a few lorries and they also got the agency for the Penang state. 

My friend kept reminding me how fragile life can be and I should east lavishly and travel  when I am still able.  He also said that there is no use to keep so much money and if something happen, it will be pitiful and we will not be able to do what we want to do. Yes, he is a good fellow trying to wake me up.

I remembered my trip to China three years ago, when the tour guide keep telling us that we have to spend our money. Otherwise, our money will be in our bank and we will be in heaven. We cannot bring the money with us when we say goodbye.  This is the true hard fact but we are not awaken. We continued to work hard and keep our money for our future which may not come.

 Now I remembered a sad story about this women who was very thrifty.Each time her husband buy new pairs of undies for her, she will tell the husband that she will keep it for a later date. One day, she died suddenly and her husband found that all the undies he has bought for  his wife have remained unopen in her drawer. This analogy applies to most of us when we expect to live beyond our expectation. We will live today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and so on and so on.  This is our mind-set and we cannot be wrong.  We have live with this expectation for so many years and it cannot be wrong.  Lets pray that our good karma will make us realize our wishes.

Anything can happen anytime.  Even if we decide not to go out and even if we make all the preparations, exercise regularly and eat a proper diet, anything can happen. We do not own tomorrow and what we have is today. So, folks use your now wisely and do whatever you want to do and do procastinate it.

Be compassionate and kind to your ownself and all beings around you.

Great Compassionate Heart Dharani - 5 Repetitions

In deep thoughts

Now I am sitting in the corner of my yoga room and in a mood for comtemplation. I could see the trees and plants through my glass panels as well as the flat in the vicinity.  I feel so relax as I kept my glaze at nature.  My thoughts went back to my younger days while I was in college studying for my professional exam.  I was a young man then  and during my spare time, I have attended some christian retreats as I have so many christian friends  who was ever willing to persuade me to accept the lord. 

There is nothing wrong with them as they have such strong believe in Jesus and I have tried to open my heart to the religion and during my growing up, I have also attended certain prayer sessions and there was this particular session which I could still clearly recall.  My mother-in-law, Maggie have accept the faith and I, together with my wife have accompanied her to a prayer session when she was suffering from the big "C". In that session, it was lead by an American lady paster and it was well attended. The paster was very strong in your prayers and kept asking us to open our heart to receive the lord. It became so emotional that the people standing besides me just fell down flat on their back as if in a trance. It was amazing and electrifying.  I try to open my heart to receive the lord but the connection was not there.  I could not tune to the frequency and was not able to receive the impact. Perhaps, I am destined to be a Buddhist.

If there such a thing as destiny ? One of my learned friend told me that in Christianity, everything is fated but in Buddhism, it can still be adjusted through prayer and karma.  I do not know what is the interpretation in Islam. Nevertheless, I believe that it is up to us to decide our fate and exercise the various choice in our life. Nobody would know the outcome, so any guesses could be right.

There are so many billion of people who have passed before us and in this universe, we are only a tiny speck of dust, so basically, we are not so important.  It is only our limited vision and our choice of seeing things around us, that we make ourself important.  Do you think anybody can remember your name after you are gone ? We cannot even remember the billions before us, so who are we ?

Well, I can continue to get connected and keep writing but have to stop now.

Good day to all of you and deep compassion,

Sitali yoga breathing - for refreshing and cooling effect

http://www.spike.com/video/sitali-advanced/3059976

Folks, I had a session of yoga breathing technique yesterday with my yoga teacher , Michelle.  One of the breathing technique is the stiali breathing  which helps to cool down our body and refresh it.  In yoga, we have been taught that  breathing through the right nostril has a warning effect while breathing through the left nostril , it has a cooling effect. on our body .We need to alternate the breathing between the right and the left nostril to keep a balance temperature in our body which will relax and re-fresh it.

All you need to do is to sit comfortably on the floor and keep your back straight.  Fold your 2nd and 3rd finger on your right hand  and use your 4th finger to close your left nostril and breath in through your right nostril. Hold it and use your thumb to close your right nostril and let the breath come out from your left nostril and breath in again through the left nostril and move your hand  and use the 4th finger to hold the left nostril and let the air come out from the right nostril . Repeat the process by breathing in through the right nostril, After 30 times, you will notice that you will be more relax and the breathing have  slowed down your body.

Another variation is the sitali yoga breathing for cooling effect. If you body is heaty. this technique will provide a cooling effect  balance your body temperature .  Please click the website link above for a vedio guidance.

Namaste.

Another TGF

Folks, there is a chinese saying : time is like a flying arrow while the sun and moon is changing like flowing water. Today is another Friday. A day which is used to last like a week when we are young and carefree is now like a week passing like one day. What have happen to us ?  I believe everyone of us have this similar feelings upon reflections.

Is the day getting shorter? or the globe is revolving faster around the sun, changing the day and night faster ? If that is the case, we can live longer because two days now is equivalent to one day in the past. Is this the reason that we live longer ? A big personal dilemma.  Have we slow down to reflect on this matter and be awaken by the phenomena ? This question have been bothering me on every Friday as our body relax for the coming rest days.

I am no expert in this matter except based on my limited knowledge. No, the day is not getting shorter nor the globe is revolving faster.  Our mind is so involved with so many things that our senses are dull as we rush on with our life routine  doing much for nothing. We are taking things for granted and we have lost our awareness. The more we study , the more we experience and the more things we are looking forward to do, have quicken our pace and confused our thoughts. We are dancing faster and faster, no time to be aware or appreciate the things around us.  We are like a marathon run, pre-occupied with the winning point , not realizing the beautiful trees and plants by the road side, the fresh air we breath or the beautiful land scape and building on route to the winning point. Not realizing the pain in our body, our joints and the friction on our body as our mind set to complete the race.  We will be running for two or three hours and not realizing the passing moments.  We push the seconds to an hour to finish the race.

This is the pitiful stage we are in.  Gone are the young mind which is aware and appreciating as we do the slow dance.  We enjoyed the seconds for the second , the minutes for the minute and the hours for the hour.  We stretch the day , the week and the moment and we enjoy every moment. Now, we push the day to week and weeks to month and always on the move with the fixing mind.

Slow down , Folks. If you persist, it is like eating without knowing what you eat  and living as if you are not living and when you awake, it will be the end of the journey.

Once again, life is not a destination but a journey. Slow down and take time to appreciate the passing seconds before it is too late.

Namaste.

10 golden rules for good health.

Apart from exercise , diet is also very important and these are some basic rules for your consideration to keep good health and to complement your exercise and meditation :

1. Less meat, more vegetable.
2. Less salt, more vinegar.
3. Less sugar, more fruits.
4. Less food, more chewing.
5. Less clothes, more baths.
6. Less talk, more action.
7. Less desire, more charitable.
8. Less worries, more sleep.
9. Less vehicles, more walks.
10.Less anger, more laughter.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow w/lyrics

I Believe I Can Fly - Arthur Manuntag, Music and Lyrics, Marlo Sanchez

Blowing in the wind . Katie Melua

Slow dance - A wonderful poem

Slow DanceThis is a poem written by a teenager with cancer. 
This poem was written by a terminally ill young girl in a
New York Hospital. It was sent by a medical doctor -

SLOW DANCE
Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
In your haste, Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,Let a good friendship die Cause you
never had time To call and say,'Hi'
You'd better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last..
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

What goes around , comes around.

Winston Tye


One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but
even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he
pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still
sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stoppe to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't
look safe; he looked poor and hungry.
>
He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold.
He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.
> He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car
> where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'
>\
Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad
enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the
>ack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change
> the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.
>
> As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and
> began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was
> only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to
> her aid.
>
> Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she
> owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already
> imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not
> stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a
> job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were
> plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole
> life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.
>
> He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time
> she saw someone who needed hel p, she could give that person the
> assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.'
>
> He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold
> and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home,
> disappearing into the twilight.
>
> A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to
> grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last
> leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were
> two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress
> came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a
> sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day
> couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months
> pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude.
> The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving
> to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan .
>
> After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill.
> The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill,
> but the old lady had slipped right out the door.. She was gone by the
> time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady
> could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.
>
> There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You
> don't owe me anything. I have
> been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you.
> If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let
> this chain of love end with you.'
>
> Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.
>
> Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to
> serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when
> she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the
> money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how
> much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it
> was going to be hard....
>
> She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to
> her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low,
> 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'
>
>
> There is an old saying 'What goes around comes around.' Today I sent
>you this story, and I'm asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine.

Simon & Garfunkel - Sound Of Silence

The sound of silence

I remember this song very well and it has great impression in my mind. This is also a theme song for the movie with the same title. It must be in the 80's.

There iwas a scene in the movie whereby Dustin Hoffman was stting in the park alone in the very early morning . It was a complete silence and still with a healing feeling, There is a saying "silence is golden".  I must agree with this wisdom because I have experienced the power of silence  on many occassions during meditation or justing sitting there in silence and let your body heal by ifself.

During the slience, we will be able to listen to our heart and our body and go deep into our mind to know and understand ourselves. This is also to allow our body to communicate with our mind or vice versa.

We can just close our eyes and concentrate on our breathing . Feel the freshness of each breath and be aware of its movement.  Just even in breath and the out breath and gradually slow it down ie from a four count in and out breath to a 10 count breathing, Get in touch with the feeling and feel the peace and the freshness of the air, Try to emerge yourself with the surrounding and eventually, enter into a phase of non existence and feel suspended.  Enjoy this feeling for sometime.  Now, you are in meditation, Empty your thoughs or just watch it go by without doing anything. Just stay still and be aware,

In the movie, it progress by showing gradually more and more people came to the park as the day progress and finally, the actor was surrounded by many people and the whole scene became so noisy , polluted and cramp,  So, it is time to go on with our routine and our journey in life .

Namaste,

Do you feel burnt out ?

It is a lost of appetite and lost of passion. Feeling tired and bored and going to work is a drag. Not wanting to do anything and getting away from all that you are going through. Hey, friend, you are burnt out.

You need to take a break, relax and re-focus your life. If you persist, you have reach your breaking point and could hurt your health and your mind. You could feel depress and may sink or withdraw inwards and stay away from social life and become a recuse.

To avoid this breaking point, we have to balance our life and our work. We should have a programme to have a healthy body and a fresh strong mind.  If we fail to realize this trigger point, we will become less productive and be become negative in our thoughts and outlook and it will appear in our face or behaviour.

Knowing yourself and making a decision to start afresh is nothing wrong and it is healthy. However, if we like what we do but feeling a temporary burnt out , a short break from your work could do miracles to boost your positive sentiments. A short retreat or a programme to still your mind or learn meditation or yoga, could chase away the blues and lift your emotions and sentiments.

Work is a rubber ball and it bounced back if you drop it  but health is like  a glass ball , once you drop it , it will be broken forever.  Hope this simple analogy can awaken you and provide you with a fresh direction.

Once Buddha was walking down a street and somebody asked him , Buddha , are you a god ? No, asswered  Buddha , I have awaken.  Don't slip over the line and be awaken before you hurt yourself.

Namaste.

Westlife - I Have A Dream (With Lyrics)

What is Happiness ?

Subject: "RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE"

Happiness...... What is Happiness?
One on the most convincing pieces on happiness.

Khushwant Singh at his best.

The rationale applied to each preference is absolutely top class.
EIGHT CLUES TO HAPPINESS

By- KHUSHWANT SINGH

Having lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for the readers' appraisal.

1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH. If you do not enjoy good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness. 

2. Second, A HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into billions but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures, traveling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one's own eyes. 

3. Third, A HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.

4. Fourth, AN UNDERSTANDING COMPANION, be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bicker all the time. 

5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in life; risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be very corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others. 

6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gossip. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.

7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal waste of time. 

8. Eighth, every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to INTROSPECTION. In the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do. 
RICHNESS is not Earning More, Spending More  Or Saving  More, but ...

"RICHNESS IS WHEN YOU NEED NO MORE"

I have a dream

My SYT staff told me that I am trying to show off in my blog and in Hokkien, she call it " Hao Lian" but I told her that she has mistaken my intention.  I am just following my teacher"s guidance that is to touch at least one person's heart per day. It is like in the song , I have a dream and in its lyric , a song to sing. 

Most of my article is like a monologue and a self searching insight into myself and thoughts. I hope what I have writen have not offended anybody as it is how I see the world in my mind.  Like I say before in our minds theatre, we are the composer and the director and it all depends on how we tell the story.

There is a wise comment which says that we can give a person  a gift and money and they will forget it ., But , if you care for them and touch their heart , they will remember you forever.  Such wisdom is very true and we just need to be there and your presence will be felt.

During our sleep, we can have alot of dreams and sometimes , it is very difficult to seperate reality from dreasms,. There are instances whereby sometimes, we felt that we have been to a place before although it is the first time or certain events is a re-run of our past experience.  It is all so strange and to some teacher that explain this phenomena as vision from previous life or a reflection of what we have gone through in our dreams.  Like I mentioned before, we are in a transit moving from one dimension into another or one life into another or one platform into another.

Most important is at the end of our journey, we have live our life to the fullest in our own way and for ourself.  Some wise man says that in dream we transcent time, space and dimension and we are selfless and in a non-existent stage., Limitless , borderless and aimless., Not going anywhere and yet we are moving and finally, all ends.

Namaste.

A strange happening

I was leaving G-hotel after a seminar this evening and I pays for the parking fee at the counter. After that, I went to pick up my car at the basement and upon reaching the car, I could not find the parking ticket. I seach high and low for it but it was not there. Just in a matter of minutes, I lost the ticket and could not re-call where I put it. Strange. It just happen.

Many a times, such things happen. For a moment or so, we could have short lapsesA of focus and things just happen and it is just beyond our control,  Zeap... some lapse happen. I read an article today, that enlightenment also happen in certain lapse, It just happen that for a moment ,you felt deep peace and bliss. At that moment, you are enlighten. If we can prolong this feeling, we are getting more enlighten. These are moments of deep awareness as if we are in the know and everything fall in places.

On the reverse is what happen to me, fa total eclipse of my consciousness. Blank. Life have flips of such on and off radar system. Switching between feelings of consciousness and non-consciousness.

This morning I heard a radio talk about mental theatre which process what we see and record it down in our memory and generate its own interpretation of what we see. Editing and focusing the scenes based on our choice of own story line. Nothing is real but it is only our interpreation and our focus. Different people see things differently and a same scene but with different storyline.

Live for yourself beofre living for others. Your intention or your thinking did not have the same understanding to another person.  You have to accept an uncontrollable outcome.

So, live and lets live.

Namaste.

Yiruma - Moonlight

Letting Go of Fear

Crap mentality

Why do we use this phase ? and why not other things but crap ? It is because crabs walk side ways and when you put them all in one container, the crabs will try to pull each other down when they try to climb out of the container.  In other words, it depicts a set of negative mentality and it is used to define people's character of backstabbing each other and pulling down each other to prevent one from getting a promotion in job or success in a project.

For the Japanese, they have a similar phase and that is to hammer down any protruding nails especially in a culture where  everything is based on seniority.  THe culture do not allow meritocracy or bright ideas to gain prominence.

This mentality is very strong especially the older generations but in the current scenario, this mentality promotes inefficiency and kills creativity.  Those organization having this culture have either closed shop or on the verge of closure because market competition and needs for creativity  for sruvival.

Applying this concept to our way of living , this negativity attitude suppressed talent and communication.  People will be scare to share their ideas or speak up because of mass pychology of people with the crab mentality.  We should eliminate this fear and mind set to promote frank discussions and communication to make this world a better place to live.  By promoting and recognizing creativity, technological advancement will be faster and new products and concepts will make our life easier.

Buddhism promotes self development and discipline and allow us to grow internally and gain wisdom through self intelligence and wisdom. Never fear because fear manifcest fear. Do what we think is right and live for yourself, rather then for others.

Namaste.

The Movie " unthinkable"

It is a film about a terrorit attack on US and how the hero , Samuel Jackson try to extract out the location of the nuclear bombs which the terrorist have planted in the different sites in three US cities. THe film showed the cruelty and inhuman nature to the different characters in the flim.

This show pitch the basic human goodness against the bad until extreme circumstances whereby the good turns to evil and use evil to fight evil to win the battle in the name of saving the mankind.  I have read an article which illustrate the limit of fear. When we do not fear death, what is there to be fearful. The article illustrate an example of two person challenging each other and to test who is more brave by each character driving a car each and driving against each other. Who turns the car away first will be the loser and if both of them do not fear death, then their car will clash and both will die.

This is exactly the theme of the story to preserve the live of the innocent and in the name of goodness, we will use evil to fight eveil  and do death, shall we know who is the winner.  It is very subjective to decide who is right or who is wrong because different person have different standards, perceptions and belief. To a muslim, there have different cultures , different life style and upbrings and influences and for a christian and buddhist, their views , background and upbring is also vastly different.

Hence, to change the world is impossible due to the billion of years of history and it also need different religion and cultures to provide for the vastly different people on earh. What all of us need to manage ourself , have peaceful thoughts and pray for peace on earth. It is unthinkable that there will be a universal religion or culture , language ,etc.

:Like what your holiness, The Dalai Lama have said : Which is the better relgion:? The answer is the religion that makes you a better man.  We are not to judge others , not let others judge us. We are accountable to ourself and to those that we are responsible.

There was an song " Oh shella, shella " Whatever will be , will be. The future is not ours to see , oh, shella, shella. You may say that Buddhism is very passive but is an art and way of living bu managing oneself. If we cannot manage ourself , how can we manage the country or the world.

Namaste.

Thousand-Hand Guan Yin

Listen to your heart

I like this song because it has very good dharma in it although it is a love song. Alot of time , our emotions gets the better of us or control us and we behave very irrationally. We feel down, tired , confused and disillusion and don't know what to do. The answer lies within us and  all we need to do is to  listern to our heart and search deep within us and there will be an answer. There is alot of intelligence and strength in us and we really need to keep an open heart and let our intelligence control our emotions and not the other way.

I have a few yoga teacher and one of my yoga teacher is Jack , a 60 years old man and teach mystic yoga. He believes in the universal force and a strong believer in re-incarnation. He told us that we are evolving from one universe to another universe through time and  it depends on what we do in this life and if we have good karma, we will move up the realm  and finally return  as light back to the light source n the universe. Apart from doing the normal yoga pose, he will lead us to a session of meditation which starts with opening our chakra  and  drawing the universal force from above into our body. Before we can receive the universal power, we will need to open our chakra and  our heart  to receive it. Once the power is in our body, we will be able to cleanse and  detox our body, revitalize and repair our body. 

After each session, he will asked us whether we feel the light source or not. Most of the time , I feel nothing except internal peace, quiet , bliss and de-stress.  Slowing down our breathing and motion in a meditative trance can make us totally relax. One of the dharma teach us to  slow down ourself and  we will be able to learn more of our body and ourself.  If you do things very fast, you will not be able to  realize and understand our actions and its impact on your body. To be slow means you become more aware and concsious of each moment and motion.

So, to reap the maximum benefit is to open your heart and listen to it. It will tell you alot about your body.and your capabilities. Just like the lyrics in the song, you don't know where you are going and you don't know why. So, go deep within and listen to your heart.. There is always an answer.

Loving compassion.

Roxette-Listen to your heart

Imee Ooi - Green Tara Mantra

My staff called "Jolly"

Yes, no play and all work makes Jolly a dull girl.  Yes, she is a SYT and she told me that she is talking annual leave to go  jolly , jolly this weekend.  Well, she did not have a balance life style as most of the time, she has to work very late almost everyday.  However, when she goes on leave, she is totally looking forward to it and will be completely relax.  When you are young, you are able to adjust well and recuperate very fast but when you are in your years, you will feel the grave difference.

When I was young, I do not need to sleep the whole nite and next day, I am still as strong as a bull but when come to my fifties, you start to fell the strain and each year can make so much differences.  It is like a step up speed as if pushing you towards your end.  Perhaps, this is the way, nature works. Hence, the right strategy is to play hard and work hard during your youth but  you will need to work slow and work smart in your later years.

One comedian, Mr Iskandar. Yeah, a bald chap with an english-malaysia mix parentage. He said that Malaysian always say the obvious.  If we meet our friends at the coffee shop eating, we will greet them by saying " eating arh ?" . Whatelse , do you think your friend is doing if not eating. But , in the case above, it is logical to slow down when we aged but we cannot control our habit and our re-action to events or incidents. For 35 years, we have been a fixer and suddenly, we can change and watch the water flow by ?  It is just not possible , so the obvious is not so obvious unless we attempt to change our life style.  To unwind a 35 years habit , will take another 35 years  as we need to unlearn to learn new things.  But , do we have so many years ? But , again, if we don't change, we will die faster because we behave like a 30 years old person in a 60 years old body.  Have you try to drive a car with a PA plate and try to dash it at 100 KM per hour.  It will explore or catch fire.

My friends and fellow faith believers. We have to wake up to this obvious fact and adjust our life style accordingly  and perhaps by so doing , we can live a few more good years.  If we want to complete a marathon, it is better we pace ourselves well.

To all Malaysians who speak the obvious, please watch up soon to this obvious fact and pace yourself.

Namaste.

My Friend ,SL

Today, after a seminar , I drop in to see a friend and she told me that she only has 15 minutes for me and it was also acceptable to me as I need to rush back to my office.  When I saw her, she look so tired and  stale. So, I open the convesation With a "How are you" greeting and from that moment, she pour out all her problems at work and so many of her good staff have gone on to another place of work with a much higher pay. It is the world o globalization and it is no more a local problem.  People are more mobile and travelling is easy.

I know how she feel because in my 34 years  of working life, I have seen it all and felt it all. We have to be prepared to  pick up all the pieces when someone leave for greener pastures.  She told me that the bosses always think that the problem can be solved easily and without any constructive compensation and that is how frustrating it can be ,not been able to offer or counter offer to keep the good satff with us.

Yes, everything evolves and changes every fast. In our pure heart , we always hope that everything will remain as it is and we can live happily ever after but there is no such perfections. Nothing is static. We have to accept changes and be part of the changes. People will come and go and for a reason. If a person is not with you today, there is a reason to it and you have learn to acccpt it.

In Buddhism, this is the test of your dhrama , so if it is not now , then when. Everything that happen is also for a reason  and we may not know what is the reason.We should happy for  our friends or our former staff if they can get a better offer elsewhere becasue they will be happy and if they are happy, why don't  you feel happy. It is for our selfish need that we feel sad and we are sad not because they leave but because we will be in trouble having to pick up the pieces.
 things

Hi , friend, you need to relax and take  things as it comes and as long as you have done whatever you can in the process , you should not worry about the outcome, Having try your best in the process is already a creditable task.

Yes, the show must go on and why worry over the things that you cannot change . It is done for the day and the next day is another new beginning and with new friends.  That is life.

Namaste

Vanessa Williams- Colors of the wind (with lyrics)

Feeling for others

It has been really bothering me for a whole week now since I came back from Bangkok. The uneasiness stays with me after seeing BiL J in pain and sitting there wondering what have happen to his health.  I just don't know what to say initially and just sitting there quietly near to him. Strangely, I could feel the pain he is going through and the struggle in his inner self to seek for an answer to his illness. Three months ago, he was well and now, he is gravely ill,

He has gone for his medical check every three months, checking all the sign of the big "C".  It just happen, Boom! It struck after he lost his taste and appetite,  Life is so strange and misterious. The whole episode bring back the memory of my MiL Maggie, who have died from the big "C".Memories flow back about how my wife and myself taking turns to bring her for treatment in Singapore and how she suffer during the treatment. But, she was a strong lady although there was moment of weakness.

I could remember that when my wife was in China for business, I went over to visit her and saw her sitting by the window , looking far away into the Ocean from her Condo, I just pull a chair and sit next to her, lost for words.  After greeting her, I sat there queitly by her side , also staring into the far horizon and blank in my head. We sat in this way for quite sometime  and suddenly, she asked me , "why is this happening to me ". I  just don't know how to answer her and I just sat there remaining  silent.  She is a good lady except that she is fond of mahjong. She told me that she has not done any bad to anybody  and  in fact, she has  been very helpful. Why?  I just don't know , perhaps the bad karma from her previous life.  Hard to be sure.

To be able to feel the pain of others, we need to be passionate and compassionate at the same time. The air they breath in and out and the thoughts going through their head seems to carry their pain and aspirations with them  and just by sitting next to them, you can receive these waves  through your natural radars. If you stare at them, the pain in their face and body  could be transmitted  through the sight and convert into the feelings in your body,  Just let yourself go  and feel for them.  We are one way or another inter-connected and wired,

All the above is just my feelings and my thoughts and it may not happen to you , just like when some people can feel the universal power from above if they focus on it and they do receive it. These are the blessed ones. 

Namaste.

Four Ways of Letting Go

A swine is always a swine.

Once, I happen to read this quote somewhere and it has been repeatedly floating up in my mind. How true it can be.  When a person has bad character, he is bad to everyone. There is no exception, so if he behaves like a swine, he is a swine. If out of 10 people, majority of the people think that a particular person is bad, it cannot be that he is right and the majority is wrong.

It is very funny that a particular person want to behave this way. Don't he realize that he is been dislike by the people around him? Why do a particular person want to be in that position ? I have try to understand their stand and by putting forward such a bad image what do they get.  Confidentially,  I came to understand that it is part of their survival strategy. Been nasty to people is to protect themselves from been hurt or cheated.  Perhaps, in their life journey, they have been cheated or ill-treated by certain peers or family members and they have been influenced wrongly as part of their up-bringing.

Basically, everybody likes to be loved and worshipped but it is very unfortunate that there are people who lacks confidence in life and have to resort to using a bad image to protect themselves.  To these people, I hope they can have inner peace and take care of the people around them. Be restless and fighting every step of the way can only bring bad karma and chaos to their live.

Wake up now and change for the better.

Namaste.

Relaxing Meditation Music with Inspiring Quotes - A Peaceful Moment

Chasing daylight

This book is written by a former CEO of KPMG International who have passed away.  He was diagnosed with brain tumor when he was at his prime days and this book describe how he handle his last days on earth.  How he closed chapters with his friends, associates and family members and how he learn to stretch time by appreciating the little things in life  and re-living his fond memories. He also seek solace in quietness and silence as  his health get worst and how he try to keep conscious during his last moment  and predicting his final hour of death.

I am not trying to promote his book but to draw an example to awaken all of us and to impress that with a simple twist of aate , life will change.  We don't have to wait for some dramatic incidents to wake us up before we realize the importance of health  and the preciousness of time. We have to realize that it is within our power or decision to live our life to the fullest , enjoying inner peace and appreciating the beautiful breath and living in the present moment and not to be trapped in the daily routine of life and rat race.

By having more money, more famous and more power , will these achievements make us more happy? Nothing is permanent and everything is like a passing smoke. Well, if you feel happy making money, then it should be the right thing for you or if you are happy when you are famous, then by all means, search for it. But, if we lost track of ourself in the pursuance of these achievements, then we have to re-think and make the right choice to change.
There is no such thing as been too late or too early, there is a time for everything. The moment of realization will come if it is fated to come but sometimes, it just happen and you can reach your inner bliss and peace.

Namaste.

Conflict of intentions

The day's work is finished, yet there are many pending matters to resolve.  How can we say it is finished when there are work to be done.  In the dharma, we are taught to focus on the present moment and we have to shut off what needs to be done tomorrow as what can be done today is finished.  This understanding is very important as it is no point carrying along the problems when nothing can be done to resolve it.  Stay in the present.

The topic above have been bothering me for the whole day as I struggle with my outsource partner during my working time. I have requested for  a cost down but he persistently reject the request citing that he needs the additional profit for his business.  My persistency to draw him into this discussion, finally draw an angry rebuke from him.  He has become my friend since the day he accepted the outsourcing job from my Company and it  has been a long time. I felt abit agitated because he do not want to talk about the topic and continued to cut me off from the topic. We have to be professional in handling our work but at the same time, we have to take care of the relationship ,so that at the end of the day, we are still friends.  This is a very delicate balance and sometimes, our emotions gets the better of both of us. We have our own employer to answer to and there is a conflict of our interest and intentions.

To have a win-win situation is very important to keep a good relationship going but at the same time, we have to be transparent with each other.  For one side to get agitated and the other side to give in is not good for relationships.  An understanding is very much needed to sustain the relationship going forward.

Another issue which is bothering me is an invitation to a official dinner which clash with my earlier personal appointment. Which appointment shall I go ? One party is my close business friends and another is my teacher.  I have missed my teacher's class a few times now and he is getting upset and if I do not go to the dinner with my friend, they will be upset. What shall I do ? Well, the day is done and finished and I have decided.

Life is full of conflicts.  Conflict of interest, intentions and behaviour.  Whatever, we have to decide and once it is done.  It is done.

Namaste.

Inner Enemy

I heard the Dharma talk of  inner enemy by your holiness , the Dalai Lama and realized that this is the greatest enemy of oneself. We can avoid our external enemy but for the inner enemy , it is always with us all the time and we have no choice but to live with it.

Sometimes, we call this inner enemy as our internal demon or the bad side of us or the other side of us and no matter what we label it, it is part of us.  This demon is the negative side of us.  This is the demon which undermines our confidence, confuse our mind and hurt of health. It blurs our wisdom and our understanding and turn us to vice and making bad judgements and turn ourself against people besides us.

We need to realize this point and its ca;pability and work untiringly to gradually reduce the strength of this inner enemy and eliminate it from our life if possible.

There is a body -mind combination. This means that we need to strengthen our health and our body and promote a healthy mind. One  of the tools of the demon is to use our emotions against us. If our body is unwell, we feel lousy and the emotions will gain control. Hence, we need to exercise and have proper diet to strengthen our body  and If our mind is clear , peaceful and have a good understanding of the Dharma, the combination of these two factors will be enable  us  to control our emotions by pursuing the eight fold path ie right speech , action, intention and mindfulness, etc.

Another good combination is the combination of emotions and intelliegence.  If we can realise and use these emotional intelligence in life, it will promote creativity and realization.  We will understand ourself more deeply and be more aware and conscious what we are , what we have and what we are capable of. If we can achieve this level of self realization and we would be able to actualize our thoughts through our actions.

This analogy is actually a monologue within my inner self  and using this wisdom to control my inner enemy.
Kind compassion and loving kindness.

Yoga Poses

Dalai Lama - Conquer your "self"

How to handle difficult people.

Today was the last day of the 9th Heavenly Emperor's festival and I decided to go to a vegetarian restuarant for my breakfast. Upon reaching there, there was a long line of customers waiting to pay for their breakfast and after choosing my food, I just join in the quene. After a while, a women complain that one old man did not quene. The old man try to explain but turn naggy. The man infront of me shouted at the old man to stop the nagging and the old man just say that he is not eating and just walk away.  This incident prompted me to suggest some improvement in the cash collection arrangement and the owner responded without thinking and say that this is the best way and it is not easy.

In such holy festive timing, all of us should try not to impose inconvenience and difficulty on others. We should be more accepting  and tolerance. I am not taking sides or passing judgement on others although it is clear on who is right or wrong. So many factors contributing to this outburst. It could have ended peacefully, if the women did not protest or the old man did not nag or the owner have another person to collect the money  or have a more friendly way to collect the cash.  A simple incident but a complex combination of varying factors. 

In one of the TV programme " Numbers", one fo the professor told his student, we can use complex mathematic equations to project an outcome  but the outcome involving human being are not controllable. This means that human being's re-action is not predictible and varying.

There was this analogy in one of Ajahn Brahm's dharma, he told a story of this man who was requested by his wife to go to the market to get some eggs for her. Upon reaching the market, he was trying to enter a shop selling eggs and one man outside the shop keep shouting and scolding him.  He was so upset that he turn and go back home. Upon seeing her husband's return and knowing that he did not get the eggs for her, she asked him to go back to the shop as she really needed the eggs. So, the man have no choice, he went back to the shop and upon reaching the shop , the same man started shouting and scolding him again, he ignore him and went into the shop despite been very upset. Once in the shop, the owner told him that the man outside scolded at everyone and he is mad because of some illness. Suddenly, the man feel relieved and become peaceful instead of been upset. So, there is a reason for everything.

If your friend try to be difficult to you or scold you or upsetting you, there is a reason, He is angry because he is unhappy or upset at home or he is having some personal problems or something is bothering him or her. Basically, everyone is good and love to be like by others. If you meet difficult people and he or she scold you, all  you need to do is to keep silent and quiet. Hold your re-action for 10 seconds and answer in a positive tone. Just remember a  strong action only will result in a stronger re-action. A shouting match is not the only way to resolve an arguement, there are many outcome and choices.  Not to re-act and staying quiet is a very strong response.  Remember to be angry is to hurt oneself over other people's imperfection.

In Buddhism, we always use the peaceful way to avoid a conflict and some people think that this is very passive and do not do justice to a solution and result in been abuse by others. Is winning or losing so important?  What is the end result to boost one/s own ego or to save a face. So, it is to win a war and the end result is that everyone is killed. The concept of impermanance comes in here and the end is the same. We will vanish from this earth,

The writing of this thought evolves from the breakfast experience , my daughter's unhappiness over her friend and my wife's uneasiness over the bad attitude of his superiors. My advise is to ignore the imperfections and try to be more tolerance. This wisdom can be attainable by finding peace from within and have a more loving and kind heart. We should pray the well being of these people and move on with our lives.

Namo , namo...

Wisdom from Buddha

The Posibility of being fulfilled

Appropriate behaviour

Good morning. silent, as the driver look dazed as he  wait for me to get up on the car to the airport. Yes, I was going to the airport and my company have arrange a driver to pick me up. My mind was wondering why he has not wish me back? Is it because he having some problem waking up or some matter bothering him. But , whatever it maybe, it is appropriate for a person to greed me back, This is basic mannerism. Well, each day is a new begining and we have to be thankful for each day. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is uncertain and what we have is today or now  We have to make good use of each day and left the past behind. The greeting of a good morning is a reminder to all of us that a good day have started and we have to move on and so whateer we are set to do.

Coming back to the basic mannerism, I was in Bangkok recently and my wife and me visited a very sick BiL together with some close relatives. Well, it was a very nerve wrecking visit  and it is a struggle to manage our emotions. One of my relative choose to read a book during the whole visit while we sit around or watch TV with my BiL. After the visit and at the dinner table, I could not hold back my emotions and I asked my relative, why he choose to read a book during the visit.  I find this unacceptable and inappropriate, He replied that there is nothing wrong with it and he did not even finish one chapter, Well, I think he got it all wrong. It is not a matter of right or wrong but whether it is appropriate or not. The visit to my BiL could his last moment with us,  The worst thing is that the book is about Dr Mahatir, a former Prime Minister of Malaysia . It is totally irrelevant and mischevious.

Well, the confrontation did not went well and we parted from the dinner table disillusioned with each other,  He was upset with me for embarrassing him. But , this was never the intention but the wish is that he will not do it again.. But , my wife was right. Two wrongs don't make one right. I should have chosen a more appropirate moment , that is at the right time and the right place. I was wrong despite his inappropriate act.  I cannot do anything about it now until the weather is better to do some repair work.

In the Buddhist teaching, one of the dharma is to have the right speech and right action. My experience is a reminder  to all that we have to follow the eightfold path  and do the right thing.

Peace to every step,  Have to check in now to KL. Will be in touch soon.

Why are we so angry ?

Folks. Why are we so short temper or easily gets hurt by another person's word or action.  I have read this phrase over and over again and yet at times,  I can scrumble to anger.  My friend, Lindy always tell me that I have read widely on self management books but I am still unable to practice the wisdom profess in these books.  Yes, I agree with her statement but to be able to have self control and not to re-act to external triggers needs a deep understanding our self  and the discipline of our mind.  But, I wanna tell her that I am working on it althought the progress is slow.

There is a good advise which I came across and I wish to share it with all of you :" To be angry is to hurt yourself over other people's imperfections".  Sometimes, these people want to irritate you and yet you fall for them and get irritate as expected.  The more angry you are, the happier will be that person as he or she have attained her objectives.  Frankly, why do we need to re-act to these external triggers when we can control our response from within.  The choice is ours.  To be angry or not. We don't have to dance to another person's music if we don't like it.  However, it is very easy to say then done.  We have to discipline our mind and let things go by while watching  instead of responding to it.

Ajahn Brahm in one of dharma session explain how to handle anger. It is like putting your fingers on the candle light fire, you get burn. If we get hurt and burn, then why do we do it . Why do we need to be angry ? In the law of karma, if a person do something bad to another person, they are only accumulating bad karma and one day, these bad karma will punish these bastards anyway. Yes, this is the correct response to such person. Get them out of your mind and move on with your life.

If certain events or actions is not within our control then leave it alone. There is no need to find fix for it. Learn how to accept imperfections and live peacefully within it. Sometimes, our re-action arises from our ego and we have to learn how handle our ego and let it go.
If you get hurt, then make it the shortest hurt you ever experience. Don't let it linger in your mind as the longer, it stays in your mind, the longer will be the hurting feeling inside you. If you understand this point, you have to exercise that choice to get the trigger out of your mind as soon as possible.  After that, you will feel relax and relieved.  Train your mind to expunnge the niggering thoughts  but don't force your mind.  Relax , let the events roll and not re-acting to it.

One pychologist said that how we re-act to a certain trigger depends on the vocabulary in our brain. If we know more good and positive words then negative words, it is more likely that we will response positively. In the book " the secret" , if we mix with happy people , we will be happy but if we live among miserable people, we will miserable.  This is very natural as we are influenced  by our surroundings, our  peers and our family members. To learn more about the mind, you have to know, mix , explore and learn from people of similar interest. By so doing, your wisdom and thoughts will deepen faster and you will achieve your realization sooner.

Wishing you a pleasant journey into your mind and understand where the anger is coming from and exterminate the source.

Namaste.

Thich Nhat Hanh Surrender Yourself to the NOW

With so much Love ....

I had the opportunity to  read the eulogy of Singapore's Mentor Minister LKY's for his late wife.  It was very touching and sincere. In Buddhism, the most bitter moments are  seperation at time of living or departure upon death. In our life time, it is very difficult to find a perfect match and it is really a blessing if such partnership occurs.  The question of good or bad for such strong attachment does not arise as there are so many different perceptions about this issue. The most important criteria is that as long as you are happy, why not. Happiness is the final criteria of it all.

Nothing is permanent including an everlasting love or relationship or wealth for that matter. In the end, we will lost it all after we vanished from this earth. There is a chinese saying: The dead will die straight but living cannot stand straight. This saying  means that there is no more suffering for the dead as all the suffering will be transfer on to the living. My Guru told me that the living is not crying for the dead but actually is crying for themselves as they will be the one living through the past fond memories and missing the companionship of the dead. Yes, human being is a very complex creature especially relating to their feelings and emotions.  It is a daily chorus having to manage their six senses ie the sense of sight, hearing, smelling , taste, feeling and decision.  Man is the only creature that have this ability to decide what is good or bad or knowing that there are so many options and exercising the choice of choosing.
Such intelligent creature will also have its curse as the saying goes " For every blessing , there is a curse". Just remember that is no absolute advantage or goodness in anything. What goes up must come down or when there is a head, there is a tail. A begining must have an ending and finally, everything must end.

Namaste.

Heart Sutra (Music by Imee Ooi) - Lyrics Sanskrit and English

Heart Sutra (Sanskrit)

Stress Relieving, Calming, Relaxing Music

Spa Music - relaxing music from Malimba Records

Our restless mind, our monkey mind

I just touch down in Penang from Bangkok and on the flight, there was this man sitting behind me snoring all the way from the departure from Bangkok until the announcement of arrival in Penang. The snoring was so disturbing and I was tempted to ask the air steward to wake him and make him aware of the disturbance that he is creating around him. But, I hesitated and bear it all the way. Thinking deeply, it was not his fault as he has no control over how his body will react  unconsciously when he fell asleep. I was so disturbed is beacause of my restless mind , wondering and jumping from one scene to scene. The image of my sick BiL was  just lying on the surface of my mind, proping up every now and then sending my mind into a turbulent and unsettling the peace from within.

Ajahn Brahm have taught us to do nothing when we are angry because  what we do or say will be wrong, Just be aware of our fixing mind and restrain from taking any action to make it right. The more we want to patch up the problem, the problem will get bigger, Just let it be as it is  for awhile until the appropriate time to do something about it,  Whatever is said cannot be retrieve back and whatever pain we have caused others cannot be repaired immediately. There is a chicken story which is often cite by Ajahn to illustrate this teaching,

One day, a follower of Ajahn came to see the great teacher and told him that he had said something bad to his wife and she was very hurt and he felt bad about it, He asked Ajahn for a solution, so Ajahn asked him to go to the market to buy a dead chicken and on the way to see him, he asked him to pull out the feather from the chicken and throw it on the road side until the chicken is naked and he will bring the chicken to Ajahn,  His follower did just that and when he bring the dead naked chcken to Ajahn , the teacher asked him to put it in his refrigerator and bring the chicken to see him tomorrow.  The next day, he brought the chicken to Ajahn and Ajahn asked him to go back to collect back all the feathers and put it back on the chicken, His follower was amused and tell Ajahn that it cannot be done. Then Ajahn told him, whatever is said is like the same condition of the naked chicken, there is no solution to the question, So, before we speak, we have to be very careful of what we say or do,  Remember not to do or say anything when you are angry and getting angry is hurting yourself through other people's imperfection,

Our restless mind is like a monkey mind having a party, jumping and poking fun at our mind,  We know that we need to still our mind and control our emotions but many times, we are the loser as we have not discipline our mind properly. It takes alot of effort and training to be a master of our own mind but nothing is impossible. A thousand mile journey starts with the first step. We can do it through meditation and we need not hurry but doing it gradually. Learn to let go and relax and follow the meditation steps as mentioned in my earlier article. Start now to have a healthy and a beauty mind to enjoy life to its fullest,

Namaste.

Impermanence: Everything Will Be Allright

Two nights in Bangkok

There was this song , one night in Bangkok and it is mend to be a pop song with a sexy tone but my trip to Bangkok was for two days and it was to meet another BiL, who is seriously sick. As I have expected, it was an image which I dread to see and it re-cap the memories of my MiL, who have passed away since.  I was shocked and speechless as the conversation about his health went on among my relatives. I sat there quietly and try to steady my feelings and my thoughts. He has lost 20 kgs and his condition is deteriorating. I could only utter a. few words of encouragement and asked him to be positive to face the process of the battle ahead. I hope the best for him and wish that he will win over the big "C".

As I lay back to think, I reflect back to Ajahn Brahm's advise that if we are physically sick, it need not mean that we should be mentally sick. In other words, we have to control our thoughts and actions and learn to dance in the rain, It is a difficult thing to do but his advise makes sense. Why do we need to torture ourself mentally if we are already physically sick? These are two separate part of our body and need not need to be linked together.

 There was this short story of a lady with joint pains and it was very painful for her to walk but she continue her life as usual and later she commented that it is very painful  but she do not want the joint pain to control her life. She  and her Doctor have done what needs to be done but it cannot be cured, it is beyond her control and if it is beyond her control, she have to live on with the best that she can. This analogy tells us that we do not need to cry in the rain.

Yes, we cannot do anything about it as well except to pray  for my BiL and encourage him to be positive and preserve his energy and let the Doctors take care of him  while also leave everything to our creator, if there is a creator. In time like this, we always hope for a miracle but again, the appropriate measures need to be done as well.

Well, it bring us to the fact that everything is impermanent, ever changing  and evolving around us. One day, it could be sunshine and another day, it could be raining.  With a simple twist of fate, life will change. There is the reason, in Buddhist teaching, we always say , the past is gone, the future is uncertain and what we have is the present moment, Lets focus our attention on the present moment and live life to its fullest, It may be even more precious and fruitful if we can focus on our each step or each breath. Impossible is nothing, so lets move in small steps to make ourselves more aware and conscious. If we cannot help others, lets not do harm to them and we pray for sick and needly including my BiL.

Namaste.....

RELAX Song #15 - The Deepest most relaxing music and video ever - Air

Song #11 - The Most Relaxing Music Ever!- Slow down -by Paul Collier

TGF : Thank God , its Friday.

Wo! the next two days will be rest days over the weekend. I could see the young people rushing off for a good friday nite outing but for the older folks, it will another two days to rest their tired body and mind. So much have changed over the years ie our desire, objectives, outlook, thinking and expectations. It is like an evolving mother nature. Flowers grow and die off and another cycle starts and run through its nature course.  What have happen to us ? Some people call this monopause as  a mellowing phase.  It is very difficult to understand why our thinking change with our aging body.  To some people, age is a number and we eat, dance and live as usual.

Some great teachers have taught us that life is a journey , not a destination and I saw an advert using this slogan. How funny, it is actually for a car advertisement.  It is true, we should maintain our vigour in life and move on with the same youth in us. I was very impressed with one of my Yoga teacher , she was already in her sixties but she have such a flexible body and power energey as she performs her routine. What a 20 something person can do, she can do it if not better.  It blows my mind to see this phenomena. Again, I was re-enforced by an article by another Yoga teacher, who says that he will practice Yoga until his last breath. Frankly speaking, Yoga is to prepare for our gradual and graceful death due to old age but during the process it will help us to prolong our youth and preserve our energy on a slow decline. It is not strange and very logical as the exercise keep us agile, flexible and youthful.  I was told that Nicole Kidman did her head stand for 30 minutes very day to keep  her youthful look and beauty.  Each difficult move is like a meditative stance and keep us in a cosmic balance.

There are also other forms of  self healing exercise like Tai Chi and Gigong and this is an art of breathing that helps to detox  and revitalize our body and mind. There is a belief that there an electro force in our body and through this breathing exercise, we can control our chi and convert this electro force into energy. Whatever complicated it is, the basic concept is to promote the art of breathing and living.

So, folks, don't sit back in your home during this weekend and let time fly by.  Get yourself in the mood and persuade yourself to try out some of the exercise recommended above or any exercise will be good for the body including brisk walking.

Namaste.

OSHO: Don't Use this Planet Like a Waiting Room

Open your heart and touch someone's heart each day

Folks. One of my Yoga teacher taught us " mystic yoga" about one year ago and in during his class he will ask us to open our chraka and our heart to receive the universal power from above.  He will put on a CD with a light music back ground  and will repeat his chanting " open your heart , open your heart to receive the cosmic power while we are sitting in a lotus position with our right hand placing against our heart. At the end of the session, he will ask us whether we can feel the power coming down through our chrakas  and into our body. Most of the time, I could feel nothing except the peace and serene feeling as we sat focus on our breath but at times, we could feel re-energize and connected to some source. However, nothing for sure what it is but it is definitely good for the heart as we de-stress and go into a meditative mood.

Frankly, we have to open our heart and mind, not receive mystic powers but to see things more clearly and to be more aware of our surroundings. We should feel the inter-connectedness between our fellow humans and our environment and not only that but also to the whole universe.  We should feel the pains of our fellow human and re-joice with their joys. In this way, we emerge with the reality of life  and do not become illusional based only on our thoughts and understanding in life. We do not live to live alone but to live as a whole.  Hence, we need to touch the life of other people. If we give them gifts, money or materialistic things, it will be forgotten  but if we touch people's life, they will remember it for the rest of their life. Not only that, we will move on to touch other people's life.

Life is a journey and we only pass through this life but once. Since, we are here, lets live well and have a meaningful passage. Furthermore, it is not who long we live but how well we live our life. Make each day a blessing and each second a bliss. Yes, it is very difficult to control our emotions and our feelings but the process of trying is very important and the result is secondary.  The real success is trying to make ourself a better person and do things that do not hurt ourself or others.

Open your heart and walk with us through this same passage in life.

Thank you to all the great teachers that have touch my heart in the past.

Namaste.

The Power of Silence

Which is the best religion? Why me?

Which is the best religion?

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetian Buddhist semi-god replied : "Any religion that can make you a better person". This is an incredibly intelligent reply and it impressed me very much. Each person have their own backyards, their unique roots and their upbringing. Some religion influenced you when you are young and some is by virtue of their parent's religion and applying the rule , once in, always in. Sound like the Socso Act of Malaysia.  Everybody should be given the chance to choose or change to suit their personality and character and to exercise their intelligent quest.  There should be a freedom to worship by each individual and by choosing a religion that makes them a better person.

Sometimes we wonder, is religion is so important ? My answer would be No. Religion is not important and how we live , behave , talk  and think is of upmost important.  The basic belief is that if we cannot help others, we should not harm them. We can do anything except that we cannot harm ourselves or others. We should do good, be good and goodness with be with us always.

Alot of people asked why me when something bad happens and this is a very difficult question  and all the religion have their own ways to explain it. But, I would say that there is no answer to this question because it just happen.  The Buddhist have the law of Karma to explain these happenings. If you sow good seeds, the plants give good fruits. But, sometimes, you sow good seeds and nothing grow. So, we should not hope for good rewards for every good deeds.  Just do it out of our heart and expects nothing.

This thought have been bothering me and I just want to share it with you, folks in transit.

Namaste.

Our quick fixing mind..... go, go, go!

Folks. Our thoughts are never ending , ever flowing , always changing and ever ready for the next action or the next step. Just like when we are eating. We will scoop another spoon full while we are eating the previous scoop and this is a continous process like a moving conveyor belt. While we are eating , our eyes will either be roaming around or we are talking with our friends. We do not know what we are eating nor we know how is the taste, or  are we conscious of its process.  The proper thing to do is to slow down our chewing process, feel the breaking up of the contents in our mouth  and enjoy each bit and let  the contents melt inside our mouth while we feel the taste intensely.

Precisely, this is what all of us should be doing. Not always chasing after something , either a dream or a rat race or for wealth.  We do not have time for ourself but yet we have time for other people who will help us to get what we want or who make us happy.  Why can/t we be good to ourself and give  more time to ourself to make ourself happy. Why can't we be alone and  we always need people beside us ? If we are alone, we are 100% with ourself won't it be better?

All this is happening is because of our fixing mind, We are a natural fixer, always trying to provide a solution to all the problem we are facing, Always thinking about a problem and persistently searching for a solution, If we fail to find a solution, we are not contributing and we are useless. It hurt our ego, This is the wrong thinking, Why should we be always trying to fix things? We can't we be still and watch things go by? Just do nothing  and watch the  thought unfold itself, slow down our breathing and be aware of what is happening.  All of us look for a quick solution when a problem arises .We learn nothing from the fast process or experience, If we slow down and go through the process at a slower pace, we could learn more and a better solution can be found.

The faster our action and the faster will be the re-action and the harder the punch, the more your hands will be hurt as the rebouncing force will be stronger. When a punch is thrown at you, you should recieve it softly , pull it towards you a little and slowly push it away with a stronger force. Similarly, for your fixing mind. Just watch it , keep still  and let it slip by or flow away. As for our ego, it is a measurement of our ability against other people's standard or expectation. Why do we need to do that ? We should satisfy ourself and only ourself.

There are different types of meditation  and one of the method is the walking mantra, You slow down your walking pace,. Just move and beware of your leg lifting up, stepping down, sole touching the ground  and follow by the next step, I have the experience to see a young european yogi walking  10 meters over a period of half an hour, This exercise will slow down our body and mind and making us aware of the movement of our whole body and relaxing the fixing mind and make us more aware,

Ommmm...... peace to all,