http://moonpointer.com/new Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:49:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In the movie 'Cop Out', a cop goes all out to retrieve his robbed valuable baseball card for the sake of cashing it in to foot the bill for his daughter's $48,000 dream wedding. The card gets accidentally shot through in the end though - in a dangerous shootout. He ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/why-not-cop-out/ Talking about compassion, how can we not mention how Acharya Asanga had carefully licked the maggots out of a dog's wound with his tongue and moved them safely to his freshly sliced thigh flesh? For many of us, we would have chosen to kill the maggots in order to save ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/from-asanga-to-maitreya-shantideva-to-nagarjuna/ Though a large organic farm I visited doesn't use pesticides, it uses fly paper and blue UV light insect-killers to keep insects away from the crops. Truly vegan food is always organic, but organic food is not always truly vegan. Tricky indeed. But less insects are killed on the farm... I hope... than on non-organic ones, as ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/how-vegan-is-your-organic-food/ Thus have I heard, the below poignant and hilarious accounts are based on actual concurrent incidents... The old abbot of a temple had a terrible toothache. So bad was it that it was debilitating... affecting his nerves literally. The hospital stay was humbling to him. It made him reflect about the importance of spiritual cultivation before his ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/two-monks-too-different/ To avoid all evil, To do all good, And to purify the mind - These are the teachings of all Buddhas. - The Buddha (Dhammapada) How readily you say 'Sorry' reflects how well you recognise evil. Because you can see your inner 'badness', you can see 'badness' expressed by you too. How readily you say 'Thanks' reflects ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/an-easy-gauge-of-your-good-evil/ 'A Serious Man' is a seriously quirky yet enjoyable award-winning black comedy that centres on the nature of faith in a man's life, which became chaotic in multiple ways for no apparent cause on his part - despite trying his best to be a 'serious man'. Here is ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/a-serious-man-with-serious-doubts/ From 'This is a Bad Time' by Bruce Eric Kaplan: But why do we choose to be attached to the idea that we are really our poor 'selves', since we do change and can change at will? What's terrifying about negative karma is its compounding effects if left unchecked! But enlightenment is also the end of ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/this-is-a-bad-time/ From 'The Color of Earth' by Kim Dong Hwa, a young monk poignantly thinks to himself when he realises he has a crush on a girl. Night after night, I embrace Buddha and sleep. Morning after morning, I embrace Buddha and wake... Hour by minute by second I always believed I'd spend every moment with Buddha, but... Why does Ehwa ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/the-invisiblecolour-of-attachment/ Some wordplay below on a string of words that stand for what might arise sequentially while one practises mindfulness of Buddha: ...念佛念佛念佛念杂念杂念杂念佛念佛念佛念佛念佛... 念佛: Mindfulness of Buddha 念杂: Mindfulness of stray thoughts 杂念: Stray mindfulness 佛念: Buddha mindfulness http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/buddha-astray/ A Tit for a Tat (110) Tit: I forgot to remind you something. Tat: About what? Maybe I can help refresh your memory? Tit: I forgot what it's about entirely! Tat: But you didn't forget you were supposed to remember it! Remember to forget what you should; Don't forget to remember what you ... http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/forgot-what-to-remember/