Shakespearean English, unless spoken at plays, sounds like bad English in our times. Modern English, unless spoken in our times, sounds like bad English too. Even the rules of grammar change along with vocabulary, as words are dropped in and out of dictionaries. Only the Dharma remains unchanging, only the letter and spirit of the [...]

In ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, the first emperor of China (Qin Shihuang), after his conquest of the whole of China, felt compelled to conquer what he perceived to be his last enemy – death, because he wanted for more than the span of a single normal life to fulfill his further ambitions. [...]

Here is an analysis of the poll question ‘Should All Taking the Three Refuges Commit to the Five Precepts Too?’ As of today, the results are: 66% : Yes 20% : Doesn’t matter 07% : No 07% : Dunno In the Theravada tradition, the 5 precepts are taken with refuge. In the Mahayana tradition, the [...]

< Movie poster for Singapore The award-winning movie ‘School Days with a Pig’ tells of a teacher’s special project for his class of grade 6 students to learn more deeply about the connection between life and food – by raising a piglet together, before eventually eating it. This premise is actually rather disturbing (though there [...]

Pic: Dharma Hall at Kong Meng San After lunch, just before the next round of the Pureland retreat recitation, I realised I had a piece of vegetable wedged between two teeth in a corner of my mouth. I tried to extract it with the tip of my tongue, but to no avail. I took a [...]

Catch the new single from Depeche Mode’s new album ‘Sounds of the Universe’ (performed live in Berlin). After the lyrics below are my reflections on them. Wrong I was born with the wrong sign In the wrong house With the wrong ascendancy I took the wrong road That led to the wrong tendencies I was [...]

We were there among the some 12,000, and it was truly fantastic. (Yes, I said it before.) Many say it was one of the best gigs Coldplay had for this season. Above is an unofficial video from the March 23 2009 Viva La Vida concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium. (Not filmed by me though. See [...]

Received my cert for the MA in Buddhist Studies in the mail recently. Ironically, it reminded me of how little of the Dharma I know, not how much I’d ‘mastered’. ‘Master of Arts’ in Buddhist Studies? Hardly a master! Though three years were spent, with lots of midnight oil burning for study of the various [...]

You can change the side of the road that you walk down every day. Even if the road is the same, you can see new things. Isn’t that enough to live for? Or does that mean that it isn’t enough? – Kannam, one of the kildren From the makers of ‘Ghost in the Shell’ comes [...]

During my college days, I had to learn to cook to survive the grey days of England. I remember telling myself, ‘ What’s so hard about cooking? All I need is to be able to get the seasoning right and everything will taste perfect!’ Well, it wasn’t at all perfect for the first few rounds. [...]

In the ‘Final Destination’ thrillogy (pun intended), you see ‘creative’ ways through which death creeps up gradually yet surely upon its victims. Each of the movies are about how a group of youngsters have some vision of their impending deaths, who thereafter try to evade it, though few (if any) are really successful. Hey, death [...]

The only dialogues I found interesting in ‘Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ are as below. I wished there was an infinite number of them. Norah: … reminds me of this part of Judaism that I really like. It’s called Tikkun olam. It says that the world’s been broken into pieces and it’s everybody’s job to [...]

In Mahavaipulya-mahasanni-pata Sutra, a verse says: In the Dharma Ending Age [which we're about 10% into now], when 100 million [times] of 100 million people practise the Dharma, it is rare that one will realise the way [at least Arahatship]; Only depending on mindfulness of Buddha [a Pureland practice], is there be liberation from life [...]

When I walked along Orchard Road early this evening, while there was still daylight, the newly added decorative frosted glass panels looked ‘pretty’ lame and redundant, taking up space on the walkways while not really beautifying the place. I thought, ‘What an utter waste of public money!’ I next entered a mall to get some [...]

There are many Buddhist-themed movies in the market. Some are packed with the Dharma, while some do not do justice to Buddhism at all. If you are filmmaker and decide to use Buddhism as the theme of your film, please have the heart to make sure the right Dharma is infused. While you might have [...]