Question: Someone claims to be a student of a certain teacher. This student claims to have some great attainment. What do you think? Answer: If you are doubtful, you can ask that student to verify with that teacher his attainment. Question: That person refuses to do so. Answer: If the teacher...

Your karma is [or 'will be'] truly bad only when you take it badly, by not truly acknowledging your mistakes and the need for repentance. Once you acknowledge your mistakes, your karma is not [or 'won't be'] so bad after all. One who keeps saying sorry over the same matter is not sorry...

S: Sometimes, the most agreeable teacher is the worst [or least appropriate] – because you learn nothing new from him or her, that challenges your delusions, that spurs growth in your compassion and wisdom. (If everybody thinks alike, many might not be thinking enough. Groupthink!) C: I...

The gently humourous yet very touching official ‘Paradise’ video from Coldplay, which speaks of animal liberation. Worth a post in itself, without me needing to comment much. (My review of the...

I’m interpreting ‘You’ve Got The Love’ by Florence + the Machine my way, with ‘Lord’ standing for Lord Buddha, and even Amitabha Buddha (Amituofo). Electric ‘spiritual’ beginning to the song at the concert in the video above! In a way, the...

心不老实即行不老实。 老实至心即老实修行。 When the mind is not earnest [forthright; honest; frank; straightforward], the practice [action] is not earnest. When the mind is earnest [and sincere], the practice is earnest. -...

A strange man gesticulating wildly, almost hitting some but never really, somewhat intimidating but not really. Seems a little mad but not exactly, seems like us, you and yours truly, with our bizarre stuff done bizarrely. We cannot be truly mad. We cannot totally escape responsibility. We...

Once a strand of hair falls off, it is totally disregarded, no longer cherished, even deemed as disgusting and useless. This is how fickle we are, in our ‘love’ to the body. Will you readily let your whole body go when dying...

Question: There is this organisation headed by a lady who is said to be able to connect to the Jade Emperor (a Taoist god) and Maitreya ‘Buddha (or rather, Bodhisattva), and direct their light of blessings directed into mineral water bottles. What do you think? Answer: Sigh…. such...

Question: I am not very clear about equanimity as the last of the Four Immeasurable Minds. Does it mean being neutral, ‘not affectionate’ and ‘not averse’,  being calm and not feeling much? Answer: Equanimity means a broad encompassing mind that sees all beings as...

Question: My friend’s business partner cheated her of her money. She wants to send him to jail. Answer: If the culprit is unrepentant, this might be the only way. Question: As an alternative, my friend could consider settling the matter privately than go to the police. Answer: If...

Question: How do I cultivate loving-kindness for someone I dislike? Answer: It helps to remember that just as you suffer from disliking the person, the person might suffer from being disliked, not just by you, but by many others too. Since no one wants to dislike or be disliked, both you and...

Question: I’m impatient who say ‘nonsense’ as I have a strong sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Answer: If you know what is right, then all the more you should be patient, so as to deliver the message clearly. Often, we we deliver a message with...

A lesson learnt from ‘Anya’s Ghost’ by Vera Brosgol. There is an unseen ghost behind every seen or unseen ghost - the real ghost, the real ‘demon’ behind the ghost, that ghost of attachment or aversion that binds the ghost, keeps the being being a ghost. Every...

An unnerving passage by Steven Grant, in Warren Ellis’ ‘Scars’. ‘If they weren’t there and I saw them, there’s something drastically wrong with me. If they were there, and I saw them, there’s something drastically wrong with the universe.’ Such...

A cylinder seen from the top is just a circle, but just a rectangle when seen from the side. Only when seen three-dimensionally, is it a cylinder. If even such an ordinary physical object can trick our perception, what more to say of subtle ideas, that we are likelier to misunderstand? May...

To fret over doing what has to be done many times before doing it is to suffer that many times unnecessarily, when you can just do it to get it over with, without any suffering. A: Hahaha….yeah that is anxiety! Not so easy to ‘just do it’ with all thoughts out of the...

May I be free from enmity and danger May I be free from mental suffering (e.g. fear, hatred, jealousy) May I be free from physical suffering (e.g. discomfort, illness) May I be well and happy May I take care of myself happily May my mother and father (brothers and sisters…) be free from...

H: There is this guru in town (Geshe Michael Roach) who claim to use Buddhism to teach people how to make money. Do you know anything about his guy? Is he orthodox? J: Actually, he has been kind of denounced by HHDL’s office, partly because he proclaimed some level of enlightenment....

Struck me that Muhammad Ali’s boxing philosophy of ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ seems somewhat aligned to the Diamond Sutra’s philosophy of ‘Not being attached anywhere, yet giving rise to the mind [of Bodhicitta].’ The difference is that...