Last Sunday, I attended a refresher lesson on meditation. I was pleasantly surprised and reminded of the powerful benefits of simple meditation. Once again I was brought down to earth with the very basics – on how to breathe mindfully. Breathing is one of the most basic ‘instincts’ of all beings, thus most often taken [...]

For supper last night, I reheated a prepacked naan using a microwave oven. To my shock, when it was ready, it was puffed up but crispy hard like a biscuit. (I ate it anyway, with some vegan mayonnaise to make it less dry.) I was baffled, not knowing how it turned out this way, while [...]

This life, this suffering, this Samsara, is nothing but a springboard to Pureland. Pureland is nothing but a springboard to Bodhisattvahood. Bodhisattvahood is nothing but a springboard to Buddhahood. Buddhahood is nothing but a springboard to [re-manifestation of] Bodhisattvahood [out of endless compassion].

Here is an analysis of the poll question ‘What Kind of Buddhist are You?’ As of today, the results are: 35% : Mahayana 19% : Theravada 14% : Multi-yana 13% : Don’t know 12% : Don’t care 07% : Vajrayana It’s interesting to know the traditions that the readers of moonpointer.com belong to. Actually, it’s hard [...]

A friend remarked that he was feeling angry during the day, but when he arrived at the temple in the evening, where we were having our Pureland class (http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/06/understanding-amituofo-via-the-amitabha-sutra), his anger seemed to have mysteriously dissipated. Replacing the trouble in mind was not just the absence of frustration but peace of mind instead. He wondered [...]

Chanced upon this elegantly simple yet classic neo-retro Penguin book cover – ‘On the Suffering of the World’ by Arthur Schopenhauer. If you can’t read the quote above, it says ‘A quick test of the assertion that enjoyment outweighs pain in this world, or that they are at any rate balanced, would be to compare [...]

From ‘X-Men: Messiah Complex’ by Ed Brubaker et al, are these files by Cyclops – File 27: The X-Men – The X-Men have always defended both mutants and humans, so that humans could see that, like them, there were good mutants, as well as bad… Comments: As many X-Men fans know, the ongoing theme of [...]

I saw the dual-version single(s) of Depeche Mode’s ‘Home’ (from the album ‘Ultra’) from some years back selling at Gramophone (a CD & DVD shop). It was a little of a shocker because they were selling at the 5 for $3 section. Of course, when they were first released, they cost substantially more. If, back [...]

While peeing into the ceramic urinal, I saw a small black dot near where my stream was going. I avoided it, and watched it intently – so as to check if it was a small insect. It struck me that if it was an insect, and if I were to leave it in the lurch [...]

An Awareness Place (Well-being Centre) customer wanted to have a copy of The Daily Enlightenment Book 1 and 2 each. Since I have some copies left, I arranged for them to be sent there via a colleague (1), who will deliver them with other items to AP next week. I then emailed the AP colleague [...]

Finally got some of the Buddha’s images from Borobudur ready. And a few hundreds more to go… Will keep you folks updated! Meanwhile, simply enjoy! http://moonpointer.com/new/album-borobudur

While attending a psychology workshop, all the participants did an exercise in mindfulness together. I was one of them. At first, when we were all given a single raisin, I jumped to the conclusion that it was going to be a cliched ‘taste the food’ thingie. I was right about the nature of the exercise [...]

On my way to the bus-stop just outside my work-place, I saw a distant familiar figure hobbling on the pavement. I paused for him to approach, while waiting to cross the road. As he drew closer, it became more and more clear that he was who I thought it was. An acquaintance from about 12 [...]

A Tit for a Tat (33) Tit: You ought to eat these (pointing to meat dishes on table). Tat: Why? Tit: Because God created animals as gifts for us to eat. Tat: Well, I don’t believe in God. Tit: (Astonished) You don’t? Tat: But that’s not why I’m vegan. Tit: Why then? Tat: Because I [...]

English version of ‘The Daily Enlightenment 1′ in Flash: http://www.buddhanet.net/flash/the-daily-enlightenment/index.html German version of ‘The Daily Enlightenment 1′: http://kaikensho.blogspot.com/2008/01/ber-daily-enlightenment.html Indonesian version of ‘The Daily Enlightenment 1′ (‘Cerah Setiap Hari’): http://www.ehipassiko.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2 Mandarin version of ‘The Daily Enlightenment 1′: Awaiting translation! (Please contact me if you’re interested to help.)