How Many Horses Do You Need?
By shian under Odds & Ends |
Your Comment | Tags: contentment, domestication, greed
Retelling of a Tibetan folk story:
Brother One has 99 horses.
Brother Two has 1 horse.
None feel they have enough.
Brother Two thinks:
If only my brother would give me 1 horse,
my horse would have company!
Brother One thinks:
If only my brother would give me 1 horse,
my horses would number 100!
How many horses do you need?
None for me.
I support wildlife [...]
The Delusion of the Masses
By shian under Current Affairs |
4 Comments | Tags: delusion, finance, greed, wisdom
In a ‘post-Lehman Brothers’ world, an investment ad in the subway ironically reads, ‘Be humble, the stock market is probably smarter than you.’ This seems to speak of the so-called ‘wisdom of the masses’. But are the masses necessarily wise? What about the ‘delusion of the masses’? If the masses are so wise, why is [...]
Brace Yourself for Truly Direct Marketing
By shian under Movies/TV, Odds & Ends, Photojournal |
Your Comment | Tags: mindfulness
In the movie ‘Minority Report’, the featured world of the near future is such that wherever you go to, your identity is readily picked up by detectors that read your unique iris pattern. Technology becomes so advanced that the meaning of ‘direct marketing’ is redefined. Say, when you walk by a dynamic billboard… It detects [...]
All We Have is One Another?
By shian under Movies/TV, Photojournal |
Your Comment | Tags: Buddha-nature
Great still above from ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with wonderful colours and composition.
(I snapped this off the TV while preparing notes for the screening.)
All we have is one another,
while we can’t really ‘have’ any ‘other’…
than our Buddha-nature.
All we have is one another,
to show one another our Buddha-nature…
with our Buddha-nature.
Related Articles:
Don’t Miss Little Miss Sunshine
http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/03/dont-miss-little-miss-sunshine
Sunshine After Rain
http://moonpointer.com/index1.php?itemid=1263
You Can’t Walk the Path that’s Too Smooth
By shian under Odds & Ends |
2 Comments | Tags: enlightenment
Ever since I read somewhere, that spiders cannot crawl out of bathtubs, I kind of looked out for them regularly in the tub at home. For years, I never saw one.. till one morning, when I saw a tiny young looking spider walking on the base of the tub. I watched patiently, to see if [...]
An Ancient Universal Religion?
By shian under Odds & Ends |
10 Comments | Tags: Anatta, illusion
A friend sent me the above with this question:
Bwahaha… i wonder what’s the teacher’s religion?
I replied:
Oh, haven’t u heard?
It’s an ancient ‘universal’ religion called ‘egoism’,
which most of us subscribe to, albeit to different extents!
(Buddhism teaches the truth of the ego being an illusion.
Any religion that involves egoism is liable to be problematic.)
By the [...]
Like Fish Running Out of Water!
By zweiya under Odds & Ends |
Your Comment | Tags: Amitabha Buddha, practice, Pure Land, retreat
是日已过命已随减,
如少水鱼斯有何乐,
大众!
常勤精进如救头燃,
但念无常慎勿放逸。
The above verse was chanted just before we concluded our 1-day Pureland retreat at Dharma Drum Singapore yesterday. For the first time, it was really an admonition to me.
Yes indeed, a day has passed and my lifespan had decreased by a day.
Yes indeed, I felt like a fish in an ever more shallow pool, which [...]
Do You Owe the Earth An Hour?
By shian under Environmentalism |
6 Comments | Tags: merits, Pure Land
Sadhu to those all over the world who participated in Earth Hour. May all be mindful of the importance of caring for the Earth from hour to hour! During Earth Hour last night, I was teaching a class on the Amitabha Sutra at Kong Meng San. When the lesson began at 7pm, I flashed a [...]
Our Wants Vs Our Needs
By shian under Photojournal, Quotations |
Your Comment | Tags: attachment, meditation
Pic: Pureland Retreat at Dharma Drum Singapore
Sometimes, you don’t really need a meditation cushion.
Sometimes, you don’t really need a blanket from the cold.
Sometimes, you can just sit, make do and make peace.
需要的不多,想要的太多
Our wants are many; our needs are few.
- Ven. Shengyen
The 10,000 Things You Can’t Bring Along
By shian under Movies/TV |
5 Comments | Tags: generosity, karma
Pic: Dharma Drum Singapore
During the Dharma discussion portion after the screening of Groundhog Day at Dharma Drum, Kee Yew brought up an interesting point… There was a scene where Phil (played by Bill Murray) attempts to get a lesson to learn how to play the piano. Because he relives the same Groundhog Day, he [...]
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