From ‘The Art of Meditation’ by Matthieu Ricard We have all, to varying degrees, had the experience of profound altruistic love, of a feeling of all-encompassing benevolence, of intense compassion for those who are suffering. Some of us are naturally more altruistic than others, sometimes...

The ingenious film that is ‘Inception’ begins with the assumption that it is possible for multiple persons to enter someone’s dream, that can even be designed without that person knowing, thus digging out deep secrets from his sub-consciousness, or even implanting ideas...

A Tit for a Tat (155) Tit: I don’t like the world generally. Tat: Why? Tit: Because it is crappy. Tat: But you’re here because you probably deserve the crappy! Tit: What crap! Tat: But you surely deserve better too. Tit: How so? Tat: You can make the world less crappy…...

The film ‘Monga’ is unnerving because it is realistic – as what featured could really happen in real life, if not already… many times over. Of how innocence can easily become deviousness. What happens when a group of boys befriend one another with a strong sense of...

The HP printer at home starts printing pictures mysteriously, from apparently ‘nowhere’. How does it do that? Via my iPhone’s iPrint app with Bluetooth. There is invisible but still present cause and effect at play. Nothing arises from nothing. This is a after all universe...

‘Hulk not monster!’ So yells the Hulk, as he slams stuff… monstrously… In ‘Hulk: Gray’ by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, we’re reminded of how the Hulk was first featured grey (not green) in the comics, of how anger, as embodied by him is not really...

Above is a vegetable bun (bao) bought at an airport in Taiwan. I love it when stuff like these surprise me, helping me to appreciate the value of being unconventional. A bao need not be round. A bao need not be small. A bao need not be just a snack. A bao can also be of an odd shape. A bao...

In ‘Secret Invasion’ by Brian Michael Bendis, it is realised that the alien Skrull race, which is capable of shape-shifting has infiltrated Earth in every major sector of life. Thus began the difficult dilemma of deciding who is friend or foe – even among the superheroes....

A scene in Taiwan’s Danshui’s Starbucks: A student’s T-shirt reads, ‘There is no rule without exceptions.’ (E.g. Most but not all crows are black.) But if that is a rule, that rule too is without exception, which means there are rules which are with...

Q: I have always thought that the Buddha’s Parinirvana was the end and that he would not be subjected to rebirth upon achieving it. I was surprising that you mentioned that the Buddha still exists. And that he and all other Buddhas are still working hard to guide beings to Nirvana A:...

Q: We continue to have delusions, and fail to see the truth, because the truth hurts. A: This is why it does take courage to see the truth. Q: While delusions will hurt eventually, they provide brief moments of joy. Isn’t this what life is about? A: This is the problem exactly –...

Sometimes, ‘the others’ whom we demonise are really harmless, while the really harmful ‘demons’ are us, because we demonised them. Sometimes, we are ‘the...

Q: If one is reborn as an animal, say an ant, how would the ant be able to practise the Dharma, so that after death, it gets reborn as a human being? An ant does not have the mental faculty to practise, does it? Maybe your answer will give me more motivation to practice harder in this...

A student asked a Zen Master, ‘If I work very hard, how long will it take for me to realise Zen?’ The Master replied, ‘Ten years.’ The student replied, ‘If I work very very hard, how long will it take for me to realise Zen?’ The Master...

Q: Why eat plants? Don’t plants feel pain too? A: Plants are life forms but not sentient life – in the sense that they are not complex enough (e.g. have no nervous system) to feel pain. For example, a chicken that is about to be slaughtered feels fear and suffers under the knife,...

(Thank you, Scorpio East, for the premiere tickets!) Though ‘Aftershock’ retells the terrible tragedy of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed 240,000, it is not a typical disaster movie. Its focus is on its tear-jerking aftermath – of the subtle yet sure spiritual...

If I were to summarise our mini pilgrimage to Taiwan, it would be 悲欣交集 (intertwinement of sadness and happiness). The Dharma is still strong and flourishing in Taiwan. Could it be because they have strong Dharma leaders who not only lead, preach but walk the talk too? Basically, there...

A reason why I write a lot is to record my ideas to share with others, and even myself. If I return in a future life, may I stumble upon my words, recollect and ‘revise’ whatever is worthy. May I then have no need to re-write to record my ideas to share with others because...

Q: I was not aware that the purpose of life is to realise True Happiness (via enlightenment). I thought all along that our purpose here is to work out our karma and to aspire to go to Pure Land. A: Actually, karma doesn’t really need working out in terms of living it out totally...

Q: How do I convince my father to observe the Five Precepts, when they don’t ‘buy’ karma readily? A: The ‘simple’ solution is this. You must learn and practise the Dharma better, so that you will be able to touch and influence him more deeply through your...