Sometimes, the key message of a film is right at the end (or maybe I missed subtler messages along the way). Such is the case, so it seems, for ‘The Marc Pease Experience’, where Marc sings Joe Jackson’s ‘You Can’t Get What You Want’. Then everything falls into place, and the way you hear the [...]

Saw an online chat between Buddhist friends about the possibility of doing a Dharma project. One said, to ‘make aspirations’. But why not just do it? To say, to ‘make aspirations’ means the intention is half-hearted? Guess that was probably the case, or enough aspirations would lead to action already. So, ‘make aspirations is probably [...]

A Tit for a Tat (302) Tit: How do you know there are enough clues, to use reasoning to solve the puzzle? Tat: I don’t. Tit: How do you know when to stop using reasoning, and to use trial-and-error instead? Tat: I don’t. Tit: How do you solve it then? Tat: Somehow, in some way, [...]

An interesting saying shared by a friend: 道心之中有衣食，衣食之中无道心. There is (spiritual) clothing and food (shelter and sustenance) within the heart that seeks the way; there is no heart that seeks the way within (physical) clothing and food (per se).

Venerable Faxian is one of the great pilgrim translators who travelled from China to India to retrieve many precious sutras. King of Bi: Have the Venerables come to be in Bi or are you just passing through? Ven. Faxian: Faxian and these few Venerables are neither staying in your esteemed country or going to any [...]

A delightful short dialogue from the movie ‘Spanglish’: Dad: (Open’s son’s door) You don’t have to get up yet, but are you thinking seriously about it? Son: Yes. Dad: Okay. (A few minutes lapse, before he opens door again) Son: Now? Dad: Yes, actual up. Being lazybones myself, I like the idea of being preempted [...]

‘The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch’ by Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli and Todd Klein is a fantasy tale that cautions us to ‘be careful what you wish for – because you might get it’. Many might dismiss this ‘law of attraction’ concept to be nonsensical, but it’s not exactly so [...]

From the movie ‘Fanboys’ is the dialogue below. The guys were planning to steal a copy of Star Wars Episode 1 before its release – to fulfill their friend’s last wish of watching it before he dies of cancer. Hutch: You gotta find your Death Star. Eric: Okay, I’ll bite. Hutch: Greatest deed Luke Skywalker [...]

A friend remarked that he was feeling angry during the day, but when he arrived at the temple in the evening, where we were having our Pureland class (http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/06/understanding-amituofo-via-the-amitabha-sutra), his anger seemed to have mysteriously dissipated. Replacing the trouble in mind was not just the absence of frustration but peace of mind instead. He wondered [...]

Reflections on Shinran’s Pure Land Teachings I just finished viewing an animated film titled ‘Shinran-sama: His Wish & Light’, which is a summarised biography of Shinran, the founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism (True Pure Land School – the most widely practised Buddhist tradition in Japan today). It was created in commemoration of the 750th anniversary [...]

At 2 am of new year’s day as part of a post ‘Spiritual Countdown’ to 2009 celebration program, I helped to lead a chanting session at the largest temple in Singapore. We practised mindfulness of Amitabha Buddha (Amituofo) by reciting his name. For the occasion, I wrote a short aspiration prayer, which was read for [...]