From ‘Wonderland’, which is a spin-off story based on ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew are some interesting dialogues – Feather: You’re late because you spent so much time bleaching, starching, and ironing this apron! Mary Ann: There was a spot! Feather: It was a shadow. Comments: Some things, which protect [...]

Here is an analysis of the poll question ‘Would You Marry Someone of Another Religion?’ As of today, the results are: 39% : Hmmm, I don’t think so! 30%: Of course, why not? 15% : Does it really matter? 10% : I’m not sure… 04% : Already! And regretting it. 02% : Already! And loving [...]

In the whimsical tale of  ‘The Eternal Smile’ by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, a mercenary frog craves to have a swimming pool that is so deep that it can hold all the gold coins he has, such that when he hops into it for a swim, he wouldn’t hit his nose at [...]

From http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=22,8733,0,0,1,0 : The once most famous Buddhist monk in a small country is now its most infamous. Then again, he doesn’t seem very fit to be called a monk now. Here is a summary of his misdeeds, as gathered from press articles, in no particular order, with commentary. For the background story, please see [...]

Watch the early morning sun Drip like blood from the day See the crazy people run So many games to play See the blue suburban dream Under the jet plane sky Sleep away and dream a dream Life is just a lullaby Ah Ah Ah And everything will flow Watch the day begin again Whispering [...]

He who, depraved, devoid of truthfulness and self-control, puts on the ochre [monastic] robe, doesn’t deserve the ochre robe. But he who is free of depravity, endowed with truthfulness and self-control, well-established in the precepts, truly deserves the ochre robe. – The Buddha (Dhammapada) I appreciate the custom in Thailand, so I’ve heard, of how [...]

There has been a email circulating for years already. Its subject header reads: ‘Siddharta [sic] Gautama Buddha (First Buddha) [sic] saw the Light of the World (Jesus Christ) at the End of Meditation’. The information in the email is so choked full of errors that I shan’t reproduce it here. Below are point by point [...]

An easy way to clean dirty potatoes is to put them in a tub of water, and jiggle them about, such that they rub the dirt off one another. An easy way to purify defiled humans is to cultivate the Dharma together via group practice, such that they learn about themselves via interactions, such that [...]

At what point is technology too much? It seems inevitable that technology will not just be extensions of our bodies but gradually internalised too, literally. The movie ‘Vexille’ tells of the future, when the Japanese government and its leading corporation asks its people to take a vaccine, which secretly infects them with a gene-altering virus [...]

A Tit for a Tat (64) Tit: Why did you tell the cabbie ‘Great service’? Tat: What do you think of his service? Tit: Definitely not great. Tat: What do you think he thinks of his service? Tit: I wouldn’t know. Tat: So, maybe I gave him something to think about. Tit: As to whether [...]

A Tit for a Tat (63) Tit: What do you think of her? Tat: Oh! She IS a …… person! Tit: You seem very sure. Do you know her very well? Tat: That was from my experience a few years back. Tit: Maybe she has changed since? Tat: I guess it’s possible, but I wouldn’t [...]

In the ‘Sutra of the Eight Realisations of Great Beings’, this is taught – ‘Wholeheartedly, day and night, disciples of the Awakened One [Buddha] should recite and meditate on the Eight Realisations discovered by the Great Beings. The First Realisation is the awareness that the world is impermanent. Political regimes are subject to fall. Things [...]

What I learnt from the movie ‘The Informant!’, which is a true story, about lying… dramatised of course! (Is it lying?) When you tell a lie, you might feel compelled to tell another to cover it up, and another, and another… When you tell a truth later, you might feel compelled to tell a lie [...]

Question: How do we discern if a self-improvement program is reliable or not, in line with the Dharma or not? Answer: It’s not always easy to discern if a self-improvement system is reliable or not – but looking at the available materials helps – provided they are detailed and accurate enough in reflecting it. However, [...]

A Tit for a Tat (62) Tit: Why didn’t you thank the waitress? Tat: Why should I? Her service was atrocious! Tit: Well, you can thank her for serving you, while telling her she should improve her service. Tat: But to serve is her job. Tit: Yes, which is different from serving well, which would [...]