What is the difference between an actual flower and a dream flower? That’s the only difference… The first is an actual flower and the latter a dream flower. That’s all. All conditioned dharmas are like dreams. The actual flower is dream-like, though not a dream. Both flowers are of emptiness: they are impermanent, and lack [...]

If you believe everything is predestined, there is no need to convince me so, because whether I believe it or not is ‘predestined’ too. If you believe you are predestined to try to convince me, go ahead, but don’t be appalled at any ‘predestined’ (lack of) disagreement.

In ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’, Johnny Depp plays a character who says this to a lady in her imaginary world: Prepare to be reborn. And remember: Nothing is permanent. Not even death. Sounds like the stuff of the Heart Sutra, which goes a step further and says that there is no birth and death [...]

From afoottoo: Reminds me of this, “Fools try to contradict every teaching, as if they are wiser than every teacher, while they have nothing wiser to teach. If one is already so wise and so kind, why not teach perfect wisdom with perfect compassion to benefit countless like the Buddha now?” Hope no one will [...]

Some Stonepeace ideas related to teachings from Geshe Dorji Damdul’s talk yesterday ‘The Secret of Joy’: ‘If we all dislke suffering, why should anyone give it to anyone? If we all like happiness, why should everyone not give it to everyone?’ ‘Though there are 1001 ‘good’ reasons why others behave badly, there should be no [...]

True Happiness arises only with Right Effort based on realistic optimism. – Stonepeace A hungry father decided to abandon his children to starvation. Before he left, he tied a bag of sand on a high beam, telling them that it contains food that should not be touched till he returns. For five days, the children [...]

When one trips and falls, it’s easier to look for someone to blame, than to realise one was unmindful, as one’s ego looks for a scapegoat. Even when there is no tripper to blame, it’s easier to look for something on the ground to blame, than to realise one was unmindful, as one’s ego looks [...]

Put your left hand in cold water. How cold! Put your right hand in hot water. How hot! Put both hands in normal water. Strange! Your left hand feels hot! Your right hand feels cold! What we feel in this moment is relative to what we felt in the previous moment. It is not an [...]

To know if your moves happened to be right due to unmindful beginner’s ‘luck’, keep practising them, to repeat the right moves mindfully. To know if you have perfected a Dharma practice, keep practising the Dharma perfectly. – Stonepeace

A Buddhist friend shared a mystery with me. For twenty years, he had offered an oil lamp, that uses a lit wick. Whenever the wick gets cluttered with carbon, he would put it in a bowl of water to clear it, so as to reuse it. One day, something strange and unprecedented happened. The wick [...]

Question: I think I will still attend my friend’s gathering [at what is considered a cult by orthodox Buddhism] but I will not take part in any prayer sessions. Answer: To be frank, the group’s fellowship might be very persuasive. The more you stick to them, the more likely it is to be brainwashed eventually. [...]

Question: I was having a practical test and there was a candidate who did very badly. Immediately, I chanted silently, dedicating it to him, hoping it will help him calm down and do better. But no matter how hard I tried, I just could not focus. My thoughts strayed, and out of the blue, two [...]

Anxiety inspires. Angst inspires. Pain inspires. Dukkha inspires. 烦恼即菩提 Afflictions are Bodhi Related Article: Troubling-ness http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/12/troubling-ness

Tips are abound these days… on how to make your eyes look ‘more expressive’ using various make-up techniques. But… ‘more expressive’ of what? Of one’s make-up skills? Of illusion and disguise? Of willingness to trick the beholder?

The best Dharma lessons don’t always sound the most pleasing to one’s ears. For what you already know you don’t really need to hear and agree with. The best Dharma lessons might sound the most jarring to one’s ears. (忠言逆耳) For what is against your grain of thought and habit might be what you really [...]