The best short video so far, from http://www.mercyforanimals.org/dairy
on the dark truth behind the dairy industry.
Please seriously consider giving up any food that has dairy content.

Evidence gathered during the investigation reveals:

~ Cows with bloody open wounds, prolapsed uteruses, pus-filled infections, and swollen joints, apparently left to suffer without veterinary care

~ “Downed” cows – those too sick or injured to even stand – left to suffer for weeks before dying or being killed

~ Workers hitting, kicking, punching, and electric-shocking cows and calves

~ Calves having their horns burned off without painkillers, as a worker shoved his fingers into the calves’ eyes to restrain them

~ Calves having their tails cut off – a painful practice opposed by the American Veterinary Medical Association

~ Newborn calves forcibly dragged away from their mothers by their legs, causing emotional distress to both mother and calf

~ Cows living in overcrowded sheds on manure-coated concrete flooring

~ Workers injecting cows with a controversial bovine growth hormone, used to increase milk production

Thankfully, compassionate consumers can choose to withdraw their support of these abusive industries by adopting a vegan diet. Each time we eat we can choose kindness over cruelty.

From one of the last page of David Small’s autobiographical graphic novel ‘Stitches: A Memoir’:

‘My mother died in 1970, age 58. Maturity, reflection and some family research have unearthed a few facts, which gave a slightly different picture of this taciturn and difficult person. Her physical problems were beyond what I could imagine or understand as a child. Because nothing in our family was ever discussed outright, I only became aware of some of them years after her death.

Born with her heart on the wrong side of her chest, she suffered multiple heart attacks toward the end of her life. She also had only one functioning lung. If this had been her story, not mine, her secret life as a lesbian would certainly have been examined more closely. I keep recalling a line from the novelist and poet Edward Dahlberg:

“Nobody heard her tears.
The heart is a fountain of weeping water
which makes no noise in the world.”‘

Throughout the earlier pages of the book, Small’s Mother was depicted as an idiosyncratic and unpleasant person, someone loveless he struggled to live with when Small was… very small. The true story with its hindsights as above reminded me, that behind every person’s seemingly unkind or difficult nature is great suffering. The more loveless and misunderstood a person seems, the more that person needs love and understanding. If we ought to be compassionate even with the less compassionate, compassion is indeed for all. Together with wisdom, it is what will truly save us all!

We often want too much love, while we give too little love.
When others are loved too little, how can they love us much?

- Stonepeace

In the ‘retelling’ of ‘Beowulf’ by Gareth Hinds, King Hrothgar tells Beowulf the following after they slays Grendal and the monster’s Mother:

‘Take thou, therefore, good heed, O Beowulf,
against pride and arrogance.
Choose the better path: profit eternal.
Now, indeed, thou art in the pride of thy strength and the power of youth;
but there will come of a surety, sooner or later,
either sickness or the sword;
fire shall consume thee or the floods swallow thee up.
Be it bite of blade or brandished spear, or odious age,
or the eyes’ clear beam grown dull and leaden.
Come in what shape it may; death will subdue even thee, thou hero of war.’

Grendal and his Mother too assumed they were invincible, just as Beowulf did. Often, we become great monsters or great heroes when we think we are undefeatable. Yet, unless one is a true conqueror, a Buddha, no one can conquer ageing, sickness and death. The path of spirituality, that quells pride and arrogance is the one that profits eternal. Of course, like all good cautionary tales of old, Hrothgar’s prophesy-like warning did come true in time, according to the legend.

Related Article:

The Dharma of the ‘Beowulf’ Myth (Movie Review)
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,5517,0,0,1,0

Read more

From ‘Essex County’ by Jeff Lemire, Annie the nurse says, ‘I lost a patient today… Humph!… I know what you’d say if you could. You’d say, “It’s part of your job, Annie. Won’t be the first, won’t be the last.” But I… well sometimes wonder if I do any good at all. Do I make any difference in these people’s lives?‘

We are all patients of Samsara who lose one another while trying to nurse one another towards Nirvana that is True Happiness. There are two kinds of doing good – good that benefits another for this life and good that benefits another for good – for the next life too, for advancement towards Nirvana – the end of being caught in the cycle of life and death. The latter is the true way to make lasting differences.

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From ‘Essex County’ by Jeff Lemire,
‘You know, there are only two ways
to be completely alone in this world -
lost in a crowd… or in total isolation.’

But there is a better way to be alone, be we in a crowd or isolated.
From the ‘Sutra on the Better Way to Live Alone’:

Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.

Looking deeply at life as it is
is the very here and now,
the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.

To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?

The sage calls a person who knows
how to dwell in mindfullness
night and day
‘one who knows the better way to live alone’
[in only the here and now; instead of anywhere else].

A Tit for a Tat (104)

Tit: I had better place the vase out of the way.
Tat: Why?
Tit: I don’t wanna accidentally break it!
Tat: Of course you don’t ‘wanna accidentally break it’? You should purposely not wanna break it!
Tit: Which is why I’m placing it out of the way!
Tat: But if you already ‘purposely not wanna break it’, you would never break it accidentally – wherever it’s placed!

Next aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/03/groundless-fear
Previous aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/speak-up-or-hang-up

(pic:http://www.1designperday.com/2009/04/27/onion-vase)

As many of you know, I run a mailing list with over 28,000 readers (TheDailyEnlightenment.com), which helps to disseminate news of Buddhist activities free of charge. Recently, a relatively new organisation asked me to distribute news of an upcoming activity. As I was uncertain about one of the teachers, I asked a Dharma friend about him, who voiced some controversies about his unmonkly behaviour, which I then sent to the centre asking for their views. The reply I got was ‘We are sorry that we are not in the position and capacity to comment on the information…’ This is my reply to that:

I hope you will ask the Master to clarify the issue.
If it is baseless, it’s good to clear his name.
If it is not baseless, it’s good to let him know he should change his ways.
Do let me know his response in writing.

If your organisation is not enthusiastic about such potential problems,
I will more carefully consider posting any of your programs in future.
Thank you for understanding the need to protect the Dharma and its practitioners.

If students do not check their teachers, and if the teachers of these teachers are out of reach, who should do the checking? Surely, the students themselves.

Guru devotion means looking out
for the spiritual welfare of the teacher too.
If not, it is hypocritical and blind devotion.

- Stonepeace

Guru devotion does not forgo devotion to the truth.
Guru devotion arises from devotion to the truth.

- Stonepeace

In ‘The Waiting Place’ by Sean Kelley McKeever, Scott says, ‘Do you know what new year’s day is? It’s just another day. Everyone thinks, like when the clock strikes midnight, you’ve suddenly entered a new chapter in your life, but it’s nothing like that, you know? You still have the same bills to pay, you still go to the same job. You still have to look at the same you in the mirror. Life isn’t made of nice neat little chapters. Not really. It’s like, if you believe in it, new year’s day is the greatest letdown in the history of letdowns.’

Today marks the last day of the Chinese New Year season. Has your new life arrived in this new year yet? What Scott said is right – if we expect new year’s day to bring miraculous changes after a string of hard celebrations – without any relevant effort. Days don’t let us down – we let our days down. What we need is not a change of time or year but a change of mind to change our lives. Time for resolutions again.. with real action this time! Happy new year!

I came up with 20 multiple-choice questions for a quiz given at the end of a course I give for guides from Singapore Tourism Board on Buddhism. Some of these questions have two possible answers – to urge them think deeper. They are all reviewed and explained at the end, even though ample clues were already given during class. In a way, the availability of more than one answer for some questions paradoxically makes them easier and harder at the same time… just as they are also paradoxically more fun while challenging too!

(pic:http://fakeexpressionsoftheunkown.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/paradox)

In ‘Batman: Gotham After Midnight’ by Steve Niles and Kelley Jones, Batman says this to Comissioner Gordon, ‘This is the second time she [a police officer] took credit for my work. I don’t like it. You know how important it is for criminals to know that it’s me taking them down.‘ Sounds like an egoistic statement? It’s really quite the opposite.

There’s no ego involved because no one (okay, few) knows who is behind the cape and cowl. What Batman wanted was to live up to his reputation of being a relentless vigilante whom all criminals should fear and thus think twice before perpetuating lives of crime. It’s great compassion! Reminds me of Bodhisattvas who work selflessly and thanklessly in disguise.

A friend once asked me
to never forget her,
to remember to ‘save’ her,
to lead her to Pure Land,
should I reach there first.

I didn’t promise her
because me being mindful of her
cannot bring her to Pure Land,
while it is her mindfulness of Amituofo [Amitabha Buddha]
that can lead her to Pure Land.

Amituofo is already her best friend,
instead of me,
whether she knows this or not.
He already made unshakable vows to help all.
Who am I, an unenlightened fool to compare?

I might not reach there faster.
Please don’t place any ‘bets’ on me.
I won’t place ‘bets’ on her either.
Let us all just be mindful of Amituofo,
And he will do the rest!

(pic: http://cafepress.com/+amituofo_ringer_t,16932044)

From ‘Prince of Persia’ by A. B. Sina et al:

Guiv: (Injuring a lion that almost killed him in defence; without killing him) No one gave me the power to take life.
Peacock: (When lion pounces on Guiv again and is slashed dead) No one gave you power to spare life.

Comments: We give ourselves the power to take or spare lives from moment to moment. Choose mindfully!

Peacock: Why open [the door]?
Guiv: Because, Peacock, that’s what a door is for. (Forces it open and almost falls into a pit)
Peacock: A door is also to be closed.

Comments: A door is for opening and closing at the right time in the right way, and may or may not hide something. Open and close mindfully!

Man 1: Why is he veiled, anyway?
Man 2: They say he’s too ugly to show his face.
Man 3: I heard he’s too beautiful to show his face.

Comments: A veil can hide ugliness or beauty, but why must it hide only ‘extremes’? It can also conceal plainness or something else. But why speculate at all? Why not just unveil the truth mindfully if you can?

Please feel free to…

1. Send this link http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/02/operation-bogus-bust-part-2 to share this article with your friends.
2. Download the above A3 poster at http://moonpointer.com/downloads/bustbw.pdf (Colour version at http://moonpointer.com/downloads/bustcolor.pdf) for pasting at hotspots and giving to shopowners where bogus monastics frequent.
3. Download the above as A5 flyers at http://moonpointer.com/downloads/bustflyer.pdf to circulate at the same hotspots.
4. Translate the poster to other languages applicable for the Singapore context.

Below is a related unpublished letter to share, that was sent to press.

More Policing Against Bogus Monastics Needed

From the complaints of various friends, the appearance of bogus monastics or so-called ‘Buddhist monks and nuns (in white)’ is clearly still a recurring problem in Singapore. They thrive partly due to the still prevalent ignorance of the public that they are unholy confidence tricksters in disguise. As such, it would be good if the Singapore Police Force (SPF) regularly reminds the public via various media that such criminals should be reported and not supported.

This is especially so as under the Miscellaneous Offences Act, ‘anyone who collects alms or solicits charitable contributions under false pretences can be fined up to $2,000 or jailed up to three months, or both.’ Educational posters created by SPF in various languages put up at public places of worship and housing estates could prove useful in stamping out bogus monastics too.

In the past, bogus monastics usually stood stationary at busy public places to solicit for money (instead of food or basic non-monetary daily requisites, which is what genuine monastics would seek locally). However, after some legal scares, these criminals are much smarter nowadays, by being mobile with their bowls, moving from place to place. With this change in their methodology, it is much harder to apprehend them, even when the police are called for.

If the police wish to more conscientiously trace and weed out these increasingly cunning illegal elements, they ought to respond to calls upon sightings of bogus monastics by arriving swiftly in plain clothes to tail bogus monastics to their headquarters. From personal experience a few years back, I once called the police for investigating the identities of two bogus monastics, who were standing outside the popular temple at Waterloo Street. To my surprise, they had informers. Upon sighting two uniformed policemen some fifty metres away, the ‘monks’ fled, while the police arrived puzzled at the empty crime scene.

Related Article:

The below article was published in the January-March 2010 issue
of Nanyang Buddhist (Singapore Buddhist Federation’s quarterly magazine)

Operation Bogus Bust (Part 1)

http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/09/bust-the-bogus

Presenting the logo for Moonpointer.com’s
‘A Tit for a Tat’ series!
If you have ideas for a better design, do let me know!

There are now more than 100 aT4aT entries,
all of which aim to be pithy dialogues
of contradictions and complications,
marrying quirky wit with unconventional wisdom.

If you havn’t seen them yet,
you can read them beginning from entry #1 at
http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/01/interview-whos-who

From http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=22,8959,0,0,1,0 &
http://kmspks.org/download/clear_misconceptions.pdf (slightly different version)

[This is a concise version of the article at http://tinyurl.com/ronytan]

With regards to the article at http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=57,8912,0,0,1,0 on Pastor Rony Tan’s misconceptions on Buddhism, this article hopes to rectify the misrepresentations of Buddhism in his online videos. (The videos can be seen at http://youtube.com/user/miraculoustv)

1. Last Words of the Buddha: The Buddha’s last words were ‘Subject to change are all conditioned things. Strive on with diligence.’ He was urging us to strive on the way (the Noble Eightfold Path) to liberation (Nirvana; enlightenment) that he already discovered, walked and shared.

2. Definition of Nirvana: Nirvana is the perfectly blissful state of liberation from all causes of dissatisfactions, that the historical Buddha personally realised and taught. How swiftly it is attained depends on how diligently one practises the Noble Eightfold Path to realise the necessary wisdom. As Nirvana is eventual with practice, many have attained it in history. It is a state of awakening led to by the awakened.

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