‘A cheerfully likeable manifesto for lifestyle change.’ – Guardian ‘A liberating and wry take on the treadmill of modern life.’ – Daily Mail ‘Instructional and inspirational.’ – The Times Book blurb: For millions of years, humankind has used a brilliantly successful survival strategy. If we like something, we chase after more of it: more status, [...]

A group of friends went lunching together at a food court. As they sat to eat, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world, everyone’s tongue begins wagging, instead of mindfully munching their food. A bonding session some would say this is, where the like-minded gather to often vent their displeasures on particular [...]

I used to wonder why most movies featuring Buddhist monks show them going astray – at some point… Then it struck me that a story of a perfect monk will inevitably end up being a feature of the life story of the Buddha! Because the Buddha is a perfect monk! Then again, we can do [...]

Here is an aT4aT contributed by fellow vegan reader Louche. It’s probably the briefest so far, yet super punchy! Thanks! A Tit for a Tat (37) Tit: Why did you become vegan? Tat: Compassion, love and understanding. So… why did you become a carnivore? Next aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/08/thank-you-for-everything Previous aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/07/doubly-unfounded-agitation

Hi readers, you know… moonpointer.com is meant to be Buddhist blog community, though over the years, there are few contributors. I guess it’s natural, since it’s easy to start your own blog. Featured today are are couple of Chinese contributed links from a fellow reader (Jetty). Hope you like them! (You can contribute by using [...]

In ‘The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck’ by Mark Waid et al, ‘The Book of Destiny‘ from DC comics’ universe makes another prominent re-appearance. I’m ambivalent about the purpose of it cos it’s much ado about nothing to me. It’s a mythological book with the past, present and future written in it. [...]

Am recalling some of the songs I grew up with… Above is the video for ‘You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk’ (from the album ‘Nightlife’) – a poignant song on the problem of alcoholism, which seems to make people toggle between love and hate for their victims, which confuses loved ones [...]

Nic: What’s worse than having a lousy big boss? Nac: Er… a lousy middle management boss? Nic: Yup – the kind who are just messengers. Nac: Yeah – they just pass messages to and fro without question from the big boss. Nic: Utterly useless ‘managers’ – they are just fit to be messenger boys. Nac: [...]

When I was younger, during my adolescent years, there was a period of time, which felt like two years, when I diligently avoided looking into any mirror – because I didn’t felt like the person I saw in the reflection. There was a bizarre sense of disconnection, as if my face didn’t represent or express [...]

< click to enlarge Received a rather uplifting email… “Dear Mr. Shen, I am a translator and currently I am translating a book entitled “Enough” by John Naish. A quotation from you appears in the book as follows: The moment we are content, we have enough. The problem is that we habitually think the other [...]

Went to the library yesterday. To my great disappointment, there aren’t many English or Chinese Buddhist books to borrow. I heard it’s the same for the central National Library’s borrowable collection. Am wondering if it’s the same case islandwide. I wasn’t expecting an entire room of Buddhist books but two rows on a single shelf [...]

On Tue, 28 July, at 7pm, a Vegetarian Society Singapore representative will appear on a panel to discuss the documentary Food, Inc. The exclusive preview screening takes place at Cinema Europa, GV VivoCity. Tickets are $10 (students at $8), and the public is welcome: http://media.gv.com.sg/Booking/GVCinemail/foodinc/foodincblog.html See you there!

The end lines of ‘Batman: Night Cries’ by Archie Goodwin and Scott Hampton read: ‘In the night, he listens. “Two million cases. Two thousand deaths. Too many cries. Someone else has to hear them.” In the night, he listens. And only the sound of his own voice comes to him, screaming in frustration. The cry [...]

During the Pureland retreat today, I noticed that the old man in front of me didn’t chant about half of the time, while he looked left and right at whatever and whoever in the hall… other than at his own mind. That he was distracted distracted me to some extent. I thought of telling him [...]

I became serious in my Pureland practice after attending classes and doing in-depth research into the subject. For a couple of years now, 24/7, I will try my best to be mindful of Amitabha Buddha whenever I have any free moments. At first, my intention was to train my mind to response with mindfulness of [...]