PY: Art is too abstract. No wonder I always failed at art. SA: The trick is being able to justify your creations as art! Exactly because art can seem abstract, it is easy to pass if you can come up with a more exact and thoughtful philosophy about your ‘abstactly’ done pieces. The...

Should you warn others of the presence of speedcams at certain places? It might save them from getting into trouble with the law, but it might mean they might speed and get into accidents elsewhere instead, harming others and themselves? Would it be better to let them get caught naturally by...

I asked him why he doesn’t seem very concerned for the spiritual well-being of his parents. He replied that since we have been reborn so many times, we have all been one another’s parents at some point in the past, and that if so, he doesn’t see why he should be too...

If the second hand is fleeting moment to moment, the minute hand is also fleeting moment to moment, with the hour hand also fleeting moment to moment. A past moment fleets to become a present moment. A present moment fleets to become a future moment. A future moment fleets to become a past...

Zeroing a gun is to realise the relative truth of how you can shoot well. Even if it is not a absolute truth (or universal principle), that way you use the sight and aim, your zeroed gun still works for you. If, however, you try to use the gun in an absolute way, it is harder to shoot...

The past affects the present a lot… but… The present affects the future a lot too. So… How about resolving the past in the present and… How about changing the future in the present...

PB: At the moment, I am failing to understand the ‘good’ part of ‘good morning’. SS: Good to have survived the night? PB: What do you mean? SS: Good to be alive? It’s more of a wish methinks – ‘good morning’. Make it...

He beseeches an imaginary friend, a deified almighty being to ward off an imaginary enemy, a demonised almighty being… who ironically was supposedly created by the first, who strangely is unwilling or unable to vanquish the second. Is the first really a true friend then? Is the second...

Question: About these words… ‘Seeing Form itself as Emptiness produces great Wisdom so one does not dwell in birth and death; Seeing Emptiness as equivalent to Form produces great Compassion so one does not dwell in Nirvana.’ - Stonepeace If we are not going to dwell in...

Question: A friend sent me a video documentary of the historical battle of China against the Japanese’s invasion during WWII, saying every Chinese ought to watch it. What do you think? Should I watch it? Answer: Different parties have different ways of portraying different facets of...

‘Wu wo’ (无我) means ‘non-self’ (Anatta), which means that as there is no enduring (unchanging) entity in our body and mind (which are nothing other than the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness – each in constant change),...

Is a dog with one leg less a lesser dog? Is a dog with two legs less a lesser dog? Is a dog with three legs less a lesser dog? Is a dog with no legs less a lesser dog? What about the tail? What about the wag? What about the bark? What about the name? When is a dog no longer a dog? When is a...

Question: I’ve heard of how Lao Tze and Confucious tasting vinegar with the Buddha together, and how the Buddha declared the vinegar as bitter, as the material world needs to be shed for liberation. What do you think? Answer: Hmmm… historically, the Buddha didn’t meet the...

Does seaweed smell fishy or does fish smell seaweedy? Are you like your life conditions, or are your life conditions like you?

We are born empty-handed come, and we die empty-handed. Yet, most of us are born with clenched fists, and some die with them too. Perhaps this symbolises clinging from life to life, our futile grasping at slipping...

It is there when not noticed. When noticed, it is not there. It as if fluctuates in and out of existence with your mindfulness and...

The richer tend to pay too much for too little for branded goods, though they do generally get stuff with better quality too. This makes some sense. The poorer tend to pay less for what is already good enough. This makes adequate sense. But there are those whom despite their wealth or...

Why are many amazing things made of clouds? From the dragon to the mystical what-not… Is it because we try to see the amazing in the clouds, and sift out anything that seems ordinary? Or can the extraordinary only manifest ‘cloudily’ to...

Ten always meet in a bar. One day, one came with a gun. There were six chances (for a six-shooter) of being shot. Fearing this, the next day, all came with guns. There are now 60 chances of being shot… when it could had been no chance. Insecurity breeds insecurity. The real security...

Super Short Story (114): Forgiveness She decided to quickly forgive him, in case she dies suddenly, with regret for not being forgiving, while feeling hatred. And in case he dies suddenly too, with regret for not being forgiven, while feeling...