As am currently teaching the Dharma 5 evenings a week, and 6 for this one, I end up training myself to have less and less differentiation between modes of learning and resting, teaching and not teaching, and I think it’s a good thing, this getting in sync. Feeling more and more aligned...

Question: What do you do if you don’t know whether to give up or hang on to something? Answer: How about listing the pros and cons as detailedly as you can and assigning value upon 100 marks for each item in terms of gravity and see which column add up more? Next, show a person who...

I like the scene of reviving the old book – simply by reading it. Just as books give us a richer inner life, we give life to books by reading them too. Indeed, a book and its reader make sense in themselves only when relating to each other. Reminds me of the teaching that sutras can...

I came across a someone who is supposed to teach the Dharma via video clips online. I say ‘supposed’ because he also adds in unscientific doomsday information that has been scaring the masses for some time and continue to do so. Some of the stuff mentioned has been officially...

Like a cloud that shapeshifts, the object, issue or person we perceive changes too, along with our angle of perception, and our perceptions themselves, from one moment to the next. As such, what perceived, just as the perceiver and perceiving are, is never fixed and timelessly true, just like...

Q: How to overcome anger? A:  Look deeply for the reason why you are angry. If the reason is external, from others, it doesn’t make sense to let them disturb your peace of mind. Why let others’ mistakes punish yourself? You just need to recognise them and ask them to make...

I don’t know if there is already a term for the receiving end of Freudian slips, but I have been using the self-created term ‘Freudian (h)ear’ for a long time, to the extent that a friend thought there is ‘officially’ such a thing. While Freudian slips are...

S: It’s funny when some claim that you don’t resemble your pseudonym, because the very point of using pseudonyms is to mess up perception of the writer in the eyes of the readers. J: I have an ex-colleague who didn’t even like to have her photo being shown to readers, so as...

A: I feel that I am very different from others. B: Everyone feels they are different from others. A: Er… I am different… I feel that I am exactly the same as others! Us unenlightened beings are similarly egoistic, yet to different extents. Related Article: Tom, Dick &...

If one is constantly apologetic, one has never been truly apologetic. If one keeps saying sorry, one is simply not sorry enough. If one wishes to be respected, one should first be...

You cry when you are born. Because returning painfully is suffering. How much more tears? You cry when you are here. Because living unhappily is suffering. How much more tears? You cry when you are dying. Because leaving fearfully is suffering. How much more tears? (The irony? Your parents...

If you are more gracious to the more wealthy and powerful, even if you are not also wealthy and powerful, you are already caught up in wealth and power, already lacking in equanimity for both the rich and poor, the strong and...

‘Never mind, I’ll find someone like you…’ who I will fall in love with again, who will break my heart like you again. After which, I will sing this song again… ‘Never mind, I’ll find someone like you…’ who I will fall in love with...

As the company failed her stringent interview, she sacked it, boss and all, to interview another. She might not be the boss, but she’s the...

A good child-actor ‘acts maturely’ like a child.

While attending a Pure Land retreat, it struck me that there is a wide variety of differences in what participants bring along. Flanking the sides of the Buddha hall, they would put their bags, but usually first bringing one or more items from them, to put beside their meditation cushions for...

How ‘Elmo’s Song’ can be yours too. A simple song that epitomises being Elmo as the opposite of being ‘Emo’. The nonsensical Mah Na Mah Na ‘Mantra’ of zany joy for no particular reason. An actually sensible yet funny analysis of Yankee Doodle by Don...

It is sad, but true, that some teachers (monastics or laity), having gathered some fame and status, become less active in participating in Dharma retreats, talks and classes, especially those conducted by others (monastics or laity) with less fame and status than them, even if the Dharma they...

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Unique Valentine’s Day flower offering from Depeche Mode’s Facebook group, a virtual rose from the Enjoy the Silence single’s cover. Beats real flowers any time. (I noticed the flowers getting bigger in bunches this year.) If we love...

Related to ‘A Vegan Challenge’: http://moonpointer.com/new/2011/12/a-vegan-challenge, this got reflected in VSS’s (Vegetarian Society Singapore) latest newsletter - ‘So Frail and...