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 all disappointment,
and the realisation of [...]

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 appear bigger than Buddha?
If I [...]

A Tit for a Tat (109)
Tit: What is True Love?
Tat: That which does not become hate.
Tit: Huh?
Tat: Love that is not true enough easily becomes hate.
Tit: How can love become hate?
Tat: Because it is based on attachment, when it is unrequited, it can become aversion!
Tit: What about True [...]

A Tit for a Tat (93)
Tit: Our boss is becoming more of a stickler for punctuality…
Tat: What’s wrong with that?
Tit: … while he disregards the extended hours we voluntarily work!
Tat: What you mean is that he should give and take?
Tit: Exactly! Because we do give much more every day, even if we are a [...]

Was writing detailed notes for a Dharma@Cinema session
for NTU Buddhist Society’s anniversary celebration
when I came up with the below (as part of the notes):
We too are like wandering spirits
in the flesh, with flesh,
lingering in Samsara
with attachment,
which if we do not relinquish in time,
will bind us here,
or to be wandering spirits in our next lives.
Importance of Communication [...]

A Tit for a Tat (92)
Tit: I don’t like him.
Tat: How well do you know him?
Tit: Not very well.
Tat: Then what you don’t like is just your incomplete and possibly wrong perception of him.
Tit: So?
Tat: Since you don’t like your perception of him, why cling to it?
Tit: Huh?
Tat: Why not keep your mind open to know [...]

There is a view that horrible scenes from films which get imprinted onto human minds will be fleshed out accordingly if one goes to hell. Because of this, such films should not be seen. However, here are some alternative views:
1. If one watches horror films to rejoice or relish in suffering of others, despite them [...]

In one of the stories within the movie ‘New York, I Love You’, we see a very old couple bickering all the way as they made their way towards the beach – just to see it. At first, the audience is likely to have empathy for them. Well, it is more sad to see the [...]

In ‘Highlander: The Search for Vengeance’, Colin the ‘immortal’s’ attachment to his lost lover drives him on a vengeful streak to stalk and kill her ‘immortal’ murderer… over the course of 2000 years. In the process, he fights in various wars of many eras in different lands to pursue him. Too blinded by hate to [...]

Taj Mahal tells of a very sad love story. It’s sad not because two who were deeply in love were separated by death, but because of the great attachment it embodies. The Mongol king spent 17 long years, much wealth and labour to build this extravagant monument to fill the voidness of his heart after [...]