Something simple happened a couple of days ago, that upon hindsight, seems more significant than not. I was seated at a coffeeshop eating with a friend. Some distance ahead was a table with three or four schoolgirls. I happened to look in their direction when they stood to leave. To my surprise, I saw a [...]

Maybe the occasional smoker is already addicted to the occasional smoking.

Q: If a child makes a mistake out of ignorance or delusion, that he is not aware of as wrong in the first place, the child will suffer from negative karma to a lesser degree, right? A: Whether driven by ignorance/delusion or not, the intensity of (un)wholesome karma created is determined by the intensity of [...]

I seem to be having a strange problem. But really, this problem has been there all along, only aggravated by the expansion in my jobscope, which made me busier. What is this problem? Because I do Dharma work, I’m particular about not spending work hours dwelling on even the littlest of non-work matters. Since I [...]

Who would not like to travel around the world? I would! When we have friends sharing their travel experiences and photos, most of us would be enviously thinking of our next trip. Each year, we would try to go different places, out of the claustrophobic office cubicle into the vast world full of cultural shocks [...]

While chatting with Sophie over dinner at Yes Natural (a healthy vegetarian food restaurant) this evening, she asked if it was okay to dedicate non-vegetarian food to all beings. I replied, ‘Hey, I blogged about this recently. I’ll email my answer to you.’ (The link’s below.) To summarise, I felt that continually dedicating some dead [...]

Leaving Kong Meng San monastery in the evening, I happened to turn around and saw a rainbow arching towards the Bell Tower. (At least, it seemed so.) I felt compelled to whip out my phone to snap it… and so I did. Then as I walked on, I wondered… What now? So what? What do [...]

The Middle Path is… not to sit on the fence, neutral, not to be ambivalent, uncertain, not to be apathetic, indifferent. The Middle Path is… to not be extreme in sensual indulgence,* to not be extreme in asceticism,* to not be extreme in grasping any views.** * These are opposite physical extremes away from moderate [...]

Here is an analysis of the poll question ‘What do you wish to attain by the end of this life?’ As of today, the results are: 38% : Go Pureland 20% : Be a Bodhisattva 11% : Don’t know 10% : Return a Human 08% : Be a Buddha 06% : Be a Stream-winner 05% [...]

‘Scold! Scold! Scold!’ Listen… listen… listen… Gosh! He’s right! May I accept the fault-finding graciously. No need to get mad myself. ‘Scold! Scold! Scold!’ Listen… listen… listen… Gosh! He’s wrong! May I clarify the misunderstanding graciously. No need to get mad myself.

Reflections on Shinran’s Pure Land Teachings I just finished viewing an animated film titled ‘Shinran-sama: His Wish & Light’, which is a summarised biography of Shinran, the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism (True Pure Land School – the most widely practised Buddhist tradition in Japan today). It was created in commemoration of the 750th anniversary [...]

The bones from our bodies of our past lives would pile higher than the highest mountain. Why am I still being reborn? The blood from our bodies of our past lives would fill deeper than the deepest ocean. Why am I still being ‘redeathed’? The hair from our bodies of our past lives would join [...]

The water gun shaped as a sentient being made me think… What do I load myself with? Just water (and food)? Dharma I hope! How do I process what I am loaded with? Just go through the motion? Mindfully I hope! What do I project from me? Just whatever I fancy? Dharma I hope! Related [...]

Busy hands with multiplied actions. Busy with extended compassion. Calm palms with collected stillness. Calm with unified wisdom. (In each helping hand of compassion is the all-seeing eye of wisdom.) When I bow lower myself is when I see higher beings with a stronger sense of awe with a greater sense of humility (Picture snapped [...]

Maitreya* Bodhisattva, the loving one, contemplates how to guide beings with love… reminding us not to dread helping others, that there’s no need to frown** when wondering how. *’Maitreya’ (Sanskrit) or ‘Metteya’ (Pali) means the one with Metta (Loving-kindness). ** Frowning here is a sign of fret or aversion, which is the opposite of Metta.