Q: I have always thought that the Buddha’s Parinirvana was the end and that he would not be subjected to rebirth upon achieving it. I was surprising that you mentioned that the Buddha still exists. And that he and all other Buddhas are still working hard to guide beings to Nirvana

A: Yes, you can see this recorded in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta. (See the main article at http://thedailyenlightenment.com/enewsletter/42.php) It is impossible that the Buddha spent so many lifetimes cultivating for eons just for the sake of teaching for 45 years, since he has infinite compassion and wants to help all beings. Also, if there are no Buddhas around, who do we take refuge in (in the Triple Gem)? There would be no enlightened answers to our prayers too.

Q: However, I thought there was going to be an end to Samsara?

Q: We continue to have delusions, and fail to see the truth, because the truth hurts.
A: This is why it does take courage to see the truth.

Q: While delusions will hurt eventually, they provide brief moments of joy. Isn’t this what life is about?
A: This is the problem exactly – settling for less, when there is True Happiness that can be attained, that it permanent and without hurt.

Q: We often go through cycles of reaching the tipping point when delusions hurt so much that we see the truth.
A: The problem is that delusions can hurt so much for some that they give up. In other words, delusions do not always lead to truth. One must want to transform delusions to see the truth. Truth does not really hurt a bit. It seems to hurt only as much as we choose to cling to delusion, when we refuse to accept the truth. The truth liberates instead, as we become free from suffering due to delusion.

Q: What I really want to ask for some practical advice – some quick fix to see the truth fast.
A: There are many levels of truth. For the average being, the fastest way to realise the whole truth is to go to the best school, to be guided by the best teachers – in Pure Land.

Q: I have heard countless people saying the way to see the truth is through steadfast practice. But still I do not see practice as the solution, because it will be futile if we fail to experience the unexpected spark of ‘realisation’.
A: It’s the other way round actually. With practice, the spark of realisation will happen. It’s true!

Sometimes, ‘the others’
whom we demonise
are really harmless,

while the really harmful ‘demons’ are us,
because we demonised them.
Sometimes, we are ‘the others’.

Q: If one is reborn as an animal, say an ant, how would the ant be able to practise the Dharma, so that after death, it gets reborn as a human being? An ant does not have the mental faculty to practise, does it? Maybe your answer will give me more motivation to practice harder in this lifetime.

A: Here is how hard it is to be able to be born human again, after being born as an ant… First of all, when one gets reborn in the lower realms, it is often due to great negative karma, which also means it is usually not for a single lifetime (as animals’ lifespans are generally short) but for many. That is to say, for example, one becomes an ant for 50 or more lifetimes. As an ant, as you mentioned, due to lower mental capacity, it is mostly a matter of ‘burning up’ negative karma, instead of creating positive karma. In other words, it is mostly suffering. Yet, it is still possible to do some good. Which is why you see in documentaries at times, animals helping out one another.

When one breaks free of the animal rebirth, it is usually a slow ‘crawl’ to the higher realms. For example, one might be reborn as a ‘better’ animal first, before becoming human again. And here is the scary part – when one becomes human again, one is unlikely to recall, at least not immediately, much or any Dharma learnt in the past – because if one was already very mindful of the Dharma in the first place, one would not fall to the lower realms. In other words, it’s almost like being back to square one! In short, it is wise to reach Pure Land as the best means to prevent the potential messy problems above.

A student asked a Zen Master,
‘If I work very hard,
how long will it take for me to realise Zen?’
The Master replied,
‘Ten years.’

The student replied,
‘If I work very very hard,
how long will it take for me to realise Zen?’
The Master replied,
‘Twenty years.’

The student replied,
‘If I work very very very hard,
how long will it take for me to realise Zen?’
The Master replied,
‘Thirty years.’

The student replied,
‘But, I don’t understand…
why does it take longer when I work harder?
The Master replied,
‘When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.’

Q: Why eat plants? Don’t plants feel pain too?

A: Plants are life forms but not sentient life – in the sense that the are not complex enough (e.g. have no nervous system) to feel pain. For example, a chicken that is about to be slaughtered feels fear and suffers under the knife, but this does not occur to a carrot being uprooted and chopped. Even if the carrot feels pain, it is obvious that it it much less than that of a chicken.

Q: But what if plants really do feel pain?

A: If plants and animals both feel pain, which might feel more pain? Here are three possibilities, with conclusions based on them:

(1) If animals feel more pain, we should eat less animals. But if some plants are eaten for a single meal instead, will the amount of total ‘pain’ caused be equivalent to the pain caused by eating a single animal? No – because the single animal ate many plants in his lifetime, which means eating him is linked to even more ‘pain’. We should thus eat plants directly, to reduce harm to plants and animals.

(2) If plants feel more ‘pain’, we should eat less plants. But if less plants are eaten, more animals will be eaten instead. Since each animal ate many plants in his lifetime, this means eating him is linked to even more ‘pain’. We should thus eat plants directly, to reduce harm to plants and animals.

(3) If the ‘pain’ of a plant being killed is equal to the pain of an animal being killed, each animal still ate many plants in his lifetime, which means eating him is linked to even more ‘pain’. We should thus eat plants directly, to reduce harm to plants and animals.

Fruits are best eaten when they are ready to fall from the tree, i.e., ‘die’. So, why not eat more fruits? Mean while, no animals die willingly. The ‘plant feel pain’ smokescreen is just saying, ‘Since no one can be perfect in preventing, I am absolved from doing anything to prevent pain at all.’ It’s like saying, because if I donate money to help starving people, I won’t be able to help all starving people, so I don’t need to donate anything at all.

More Good Points from a Vegan Friend:

[A] Of course plants have life and intelligence. So do bacteria and cells. Even if we eat or drink nothing at all, the body kills millions of germs every second. Absolute non-killing is non-possible and non-existent. The ethical issue is about the unnecessary pain/suffering infliction and the intention.

[B] Plants do not experience pain in ways animals do. They have neither nerve cells nor a nerve centre. Pain would not serve any purpose for plants because they aren’t able to remove themselves from the pain-inflicting elements, unlike animals [who are forced to be unable to move away by imprisoning them].

[C] Animals need to eat many portions of plants to produce one portion of meat. When we eat meat, we would be killing a corresponding multifold amount of plants. By eating plants we’d kill the least.

[D] Eat fruits… it would be the most ethical diet. The fruit is the part of the plant which it ‘wants; to give. When edible fruits ripen, they change their colours or scent which appeal to humans, to ‘invite’ us to take them. In taking the fruit, we help the plant sow its seeds. The nutrients in edible fruits are what we need. Mutualism. There is no taking of life of the plant… if that is the concern.

[E] Fruit-eating is aligned with the “nature of joyful abundance”… ie, the more fruit you eat, the more fruits you tend to have when we scatter the seeds of the fruits we like. Its structure of abundance is inherently there. Unfortunately, our social practices are not in line with that beauty when we incinerate our “trash”. In contrast, meat-eating is aligned with the “nature of abundance in suffering”. The more meats we eat, the more the suffering multiplies [for animals, human health and the planet].

Related Articles:

Other irrefutable good reasons to go vegetarian/vegan
http://viva.org.uk/goingveggie/index.php
The Plants-Feel-Pain Argument is Faulty
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/sorry-meat-eaters-the-plants-feel-pain-argument-is-faulty
The Other Side of the Coin
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100715091654.htm

(Thank you, Scorpio East, for the premiere tickets!) Though ‘Aftershock’ retells the terrible tragedy of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake which killed 240,000, it is not a typical disaster movie. Its focus is on its tear-jerking aftermath – of the subtle yet sure spiritual aftershocks, of how it tore one family apart, before reuniting them. Bereaved of her husband, a mother faced the dilemma of whether to rescue her young son or daughter – both of whom were twins trapped under the opposite ends of the same slab of concrete – in a manner such that to tip one end is to crush the other.

The turmoil in deciding is reminiscent of trying to solve an ‘impossible’ koan (Zen ‘riddle), trying to swallow a red-hot iron ball, that is just as difficult to spit out. Torn but forced to choose due to the race against time, the mother painfully asked for her son to be saved. Unbeknownst to her, the daughter heard her decision, and miraculously survived – waking up beside her father’s body, with her mother and brother nowhere in sight among the chaos.

Imagining herself to be unwanted, the daughter chose to hide her broken heart alone for 32 years. Even when adopted by a loving couple, she pretended not to remember her sorrow, though she could not forget it. Her new parents even urged her to search for her family, but she decided against it. Perhaps, as hinted, it was due to the little acts of what seemed like favourtism her mother did for her brother, which made her doubt her mother’s love for her. Unbeknownst to the daughter too, her mother suffered from overwhelming guilt over the years, for thinking she sacrificed the life of her daughter.

A serious case of misunderstanding indeed, that led to three decades of needless heartache on both sides. This strongly reminded me of how open-hearted communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. The daughter’s wrong assumption was clung to till she put herself in the shoes of her mother while witnessing another mother needing to make the heart-wrenching decision to amputate her daughter’s leg to rescue her in another earthquake, so as to prevent the remnants of a building from collapsing to bury more. Sometimes, we have no choice but to choose… a way out, that is almost as devastating as the alternative.

Despite being widowed for so many years, the mother felt that there will never be another man, who is able to sacrifice his life for her like her late husband did. Yet, paradoxically, she seemed to have made ‘peace’ with this attachment. Who or what do we take refuge in? Is any house truly stable? Is any worldly love truly lasting? So fragile the world is, with its people too. So easily can it all shatter in a sudden quake. So important is it that we ought to have an unshakable spiritual anchor. I choose the Threefold Refuge in the invincible Triple Gem. What about you?

In a scene with fatalistic humour, the grown-up son and his staff were experiencing slight tremors in his company office when he remarks that there is no need to flee due to a minor quake, and that if it is major, it would be useless trying to flee. Sounds pretty pessimistic! What if it turned out to be a medium quake? One wouldn’t know if one had any chance of surviving till it’s over or too late? What would I do? I would nianfo (recite Amitabha Buddha’s name) mindfully to remain calm and clear, while accessing the best course of action. Decisions! Decisions!

What would I do, I wonder, if I were the mother caught in the situation that started the story? I wouldn’t know how to decide who to save… assuming that I truly have equanimous love towards the two children. I would probably pray fervently to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for a clue as to what to do. If time is ticking too quickly away, I might even flip a coin to decide. Call it frivolous if you will, but after praying hard, would it not become a desperate but divine lot of sorts? But how to decide who is heads and who is tails? The burden of choice is always ours. May we then, diligently cultivate greater compassion and wisdom from moment to moment, so as to make the best of decisions from moment to moment.

The exit song for the film is a rendering of the Heart Sutra. A prayer of blessing for the many deceased and the still grieving survivors, as it offers soothing solace, reminding us that even life and death is ultimately empty of substantiality, as all is but constant transformation. Just as Tangshan is now reborn into a modern city, even lost loves are never really gone forever.

If I were to summarise our mini pilgrimage to Taiwan, it would be 悲欣交集 (intertwinement of sadness and happiness). The Dharma is still strong and flourishing in Taiwan. Could it be because they have strong Dharma leaders who not only lead, preach but walk the talk too? Basically, there are four shining gems in Taiwan who are popularly likened to the ‘Four Heavenly Kings of Taiwanese Buddhism. They are:

* North (Jinshan, Taipei): the late Master Sheng-yen (聖嚴, d. 2009) of Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山)
* South (Dashu, Kaohsiung): Master Hsing Yun (星雲) of Fo Guang Shan (佛光山)
* East (Hualien): Master Cheng Yen (證嚴) of the Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟基金會)
* West (Nantou): Master Wei Chueh (惟覺) of Chung Tai Shan (中台山)

What exactly do I mean by intertwinement of sadness and happiness? Well, I felt kind of sad that I don’t live in Taiwan, where the Dharma and vegetarianism flourish well and is more widely accepted by its people. I can only console myself that Taiwan is only four and half hours flight journey away Singapore, though it’s not cheap to fly. But for those who truly see the need to purify the mind, it is worth it. This reminds me of one of the seven parables in the Lotus Sutra, where a clueless beggar lived life in utmost poverty when he had this precious gem sewn into his sleeve all along. Of what use is this gem if it was not even noticed?

Nonetheless, I’m truly happy for Buddhists in Taiwan. They do not lack spiritual advisers or places to cultivate and nurture their spiritual callings. As we took our time to walk through the monastery premises with experienced guides, it filled our six senses with Dharma bliss. What more for those who are very fortunate to be able to totally immerse in this great Dharma atmosphere often.

We know that everything is a fleeting illusion, while what can really stand the test of time is none other than Buddha’s Dharma. Taiwan has not only one major gem but four! And it is very touching and rejoicing to know that these four organisations are doing their utmost best, which is packed with great compassion to spread their wings all over the world to reach out to you and me. So have you caught the Dharma draft yet?

Next Taiwan Adventure:
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/07/taiwan-adventure-13-paradox-of-rules
Previous Taiwan Adventure:
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/07/taiwan-adventure-11-artefact

A reason why I write a lot
is to record my ideas to share with others,
and even myself.

If I return in a future life,
may I stumble upon my words,
recollect and ‘revise’ whatever is worthy.

May I then have no need to re-write
to record my ideas to share with others
because it’s already all there.

Then again,
when I reach Pure Land,
I’ll be able to recall all these!

Q: I was not aware that the purpose of life is to realise True Happiness (via enlightenment). I thought all along that our purpose here is to work out our karma and to aspire to go to Pure Land.

A: Actually, karma doesn’t really need working out in terms of living it out totally (which is impossible, since we keep creating new karma). We just need to create the right conditions (which include creating positive karma via cultivating compassion and wisdom) to facilitate exit from Samsara. This postive karma helps to lessen the effects of past negative karma too. Even going Pure Land is ultimately for attaining True Happiness after training there – for one and all.