I: In case you are not aware, has G passed you an envelope with your name on it this morning? There is a packet of snack and a card inside. See you next time. Thank you.

S: Thank you for the gift :-] Aiya… no need for gifts in future la… It’s my pleasure to answer Dharma questions! Good to know the answers are helpful. Rejoice from knowing the gift of the Dharma is well received is already a reward!

From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DharmaNews/message/5373 :

This mail is to inform Buddhists of two serious cases of Buddhism being misrepresented in the context of Singapore, and what you can do about it. Please be assured that the featured  persons and their confused views in the videos do not represent proper Buddhists or Buddhist teachings. Thank you for standing up for religious harmony. May all co-exist in peace and happiness. (This mail was sent via a Buddhist mailing list for those who subscribed to it for Buddhist news. If you received this via another channel, it might not be meant for you.)

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A Tit for a Tat (93)

Tit: Our boss is becoming more of a stickler for punctuality…
Tat: What’s wrong with that?
Tit: … while he disregards the extended hours we voluntarily work!
Tat: What you mean is that he should give and take?
Tit: Exactly! Because we do give much more every day, even if we are a little late on some days!
Tat: You will notice something interesting soon…
Tit: What’s that?
Tat: The more bosses want staff to be punctual in arriving, the more they will they be punctual in leaving!
Tit: Why is that so?
Tat: The calculative attracts the calculative.
Tit: Yeah… when bosses lose appreciation for staff’s extra efforts, these efforts will lessen!

Previous aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/just-your-perception

Related Article:
Time to Clock Out of Samsara?
http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/06/2364

One of the most poignant poems I ever read, followed by some related sentiments:
(The above is a scene from ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral):

Funeral Blues (Stop All the Clocks) by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

It is Not the End

It is not the end of the world,
when it is the end of a life;
it is the beginning of another life,
in ‘another’ world.

The best way to honour a relationship
is not by despair that it is lost,
but to be grateful for what it was worth.

It is not the end of a relationship,
when it is the end of a life;
it is but the temporal suspension of it,
till another time.

Was writing detailed notes for a Dharma@Cinema session
for NTU Buddhist Society’s anniversary celebration
when I came up with the below (as part of the notes):

We too are like wandering spirits
in the flesh, with flesh,
lingering in Samsara
with attachment,
which if we do not relinquish in time,
will bind us here,
or to be wandering spirits in our next lives.

Importance of Communication in Relationships

The movie (The Sixth Sense) is about the need for communication in various relationships and the lack of it on many levels. Without communication, there would be no meaningful relationships. But most of all, the story is about how earnest communication heals all involved.

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In ‘A Scanner Darkly’, undercover cops wear a ’scramble suit’ which covers them from head to toe. Now, this suit does not just make you look like someone else – because it can endanger someone who really looks that way. Instead, it has the ability to let its wearer look like anyone and everyone – by constantly ’scrambling’ everything on its surface, which changes appearance is every aspect – from the hairstyle to face, and from clothes to shoes.

It becomes impossible to identity who is the one in it. Put two or more of these cops side by side and it becomes more confusing as to who is who. Sounds clever and high tech? Suddenly, it struck me that we all already wear scramble suits. This is not so apparent because our appearance scramble or change more gradually (in this life and from life to life) than readily observable! This is just the truths of Anicca (constant change) and Anatta (non-self) at work!

Related Article:
A Scanner Clearly
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/a-scanner-clearly

Question: My company was asked to give a quotation for a project in a resort with a casino. Would I create bad karma if I get involved?

Answer: It is ideal to stay clear from supporting gambling in any way, as greed and loss of wealth via gambling is a potential great source of suffering for many. But perhaps you might want to check if the work needed is at the casino area. Could it be somewhere near but not exactly there? Some might view this issue this way… Since someone will be employed to do the job, it might as well be you, as you can use part of the earnings to do charity to benefit those in need and create positive karma instead. This is better than someone else taking up the job and not doing any charity at all. However, we need to note that this applies only to where there is no direct harm of any being. For example, it would be wrong to open a live seafood restaurant on the pretext of using its earnings for charity, as such profits are based on the opposite of charity and compassion; being based on cruelty instead. The direct killing involved in the business means the ‘charity’ based on it is very spiritually hypocritical.

We also need to note that the Buddha advised against trade involving weapons, humans (e.g. slavery), meat, intoxicants and poisons as unskilful or Wrong Livelihoods. However, this list of five unskilful trades might not be exhaustive as times change. As a general guideline, our occupation should be as disconnected to harm of any being as possible. Although gambling is not listed above, the Buddha did advise against gambling, saying it is a source of downfall. (See http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2184) From this, we can infer that just as the Buddha does not support gambling, he would not support gambling or related trades.

Related Article:
Gambling or Investing?
http://moonpointer.com/new/2008/11/gambling-or-investing

The 1994 classic ‘Bodhisattva Vow’ by Beastie Boys:

As I develop the awakening mind
I praise the Buddha as they shine
I bow before you as I travel my path to join your ranks,
I make my full time task
For the sake of all beings I seek
The enlightened mind that I know I’ll reap
Respect to Shantideva and all the others
Who brought down the Dharma for sisters and brothers
I give thanks for this world as a place to learn
And for this human body that I know I’ve earned
And my deepest thanks to all sentient beings
For without them there would be no place to learn what I’m seeing
There’s nothing here that’s not been said before
But I put it down now so I’ll be sure
To solidify my own views and I’ll be glad if it helps
Anyone else out too

If others disrespect me or give me flack
I’ll stop and think before I react
Knowing that they’re going through insecure stages
I’ll take the opportunity to exercise patience
I’ll see it as a chance to help the other person
Nip it in the bud before it can worsen
A change for me to be strong and sure
As I think on the Buddhas who have come before
As I praise and respect the good they’ve done
Knowing only love can conquer in every situation
We need other people in order to create
The circumstances for the learning that we’re here to generate
Situations that bring up our deepest fears
So we can work to release them until they’re cleared
Therefore, it only makes sense
To thank our enemies despite their intent

The Bodhisattva path is one of power and strength
A strength from within to go the length
Seeing others are as important as myself
I strive for a happiness of mental wealth
With the interconnectedness that we share as one
Every action that we take affects everyone
So in deciding for what a situation calls
There is a path for the good for all
I try to make my every action for that highest good
With the altruistic wish to achieve Buddhahood
So I pledge here before everyone who’s listening
To try to make my every action for the good of all beings
For the rest of my lifetimes and even beyond
I vow to do my best to do no harm
And in times of doubt I can think on the Dharma
And the enlightened ones who’ve graduated Samsara

A passage from Philip K. Dick’s science fiction (graphic) novel and movie ‘A Scanner Darkly’, which I arranged into the following stanzas:

What does a scanner see?
Into the head, down into the heart?
Does it see into me? Into us?
Clearly or darkly?

I hope it sees clearly,
because I can’t any longer see into myself.
I see only murk.
I hope, for everyone’s sake,
the scanners do better.

Because if the scanner sees only darkly,
the way I do,
then I’m cursed and cursed again and will only wind up dead this way,
knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.

Yet, however clearly a scanner does see,
so long as we do not see what it sees clearly,
we still cannot see into ourselves clearly.
It will still be murk.

What matters more, then,
is that we be the key scanners who see clearly first.
I hope, for everyone’s sake,
we scanners do better, by minding our minds.

Related Article:
Our Scramble Suits
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/our-scramble-suits

A Tit for a Tat (92)

Tit: I don’t like him.
Tat: How well do you know him?
Tit: Not very well.
Tat: Then what you don’t like is just your incomplete and possibly wrong perception of him.
Tit: So?
Tat: Since you don’t like your perception of him, why cling to it?
Tit: Huh?
Tat: Why not keep your mind open to know him better?

Next aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/come-go-on-time
Previous aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/01/supposed-to-be-enlightened