Napolean Dynamite is one quirky comedy starring the amazing Jon Heder. He acted so believably as an ultra-nerd that the twist at the end where he breaks into a dance with super confidence and ‘coolness’ surprises everyone in the movie, and of course, the ones watching it too – especially those [...]

Pic: Mug at Dharma Drum Mountain’s Bookshop at Jinshan
OMG!
Oh my God?
Ohmigosh?
OMB!
Oh my Buddha!
My own Buddha-nature… too.
Next Taiwan Adventure:
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/07/taiwan-adventure-7-heart-sutra-in-binary-code
Previous Taiwan Adventure:
http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/06/taiwan-adventure-5-more-more

Int he movie ‘Marie Antionette’, she quotes Rousseau in the open fields to her friends, after ‘breaking free’ of the palace:
If we assume man has been corrupted by an artificial civilization,
what’s the natural state.
The state of nature from which he was removed?
Imagine wandering up and down the forest without industry,
without speech and without [...]

If you really think you and I can’t change,
you don’t really believe in Anicca.
If you really think you and I can’t change,
you don’t really believe in Anatta.
If you really think you and I can’t change,
you don’t really believe in our Buddha-nature.

Best words of wisdom from the third Shrek movies, by Arty:
Just because people treat you
like a villain, or an ogre or just some loser
doesn’t mean you are one.
What matters most
is what you think
of yourself.
If there’s something you really want,
or someone you want to be,
the only person standing in your way is you.
There’s no need [...]

I don’t understand how any deity
is invoked by excitement,
by songs, yells and cheers.
Won’t overwhelming emotions get in the way?
My Buddha-nature however,
is invoked by calmness,
by mindfulness, contemplation and realisation.        .
Peace of mind paves the way.

In the latest movie depiction of the most turbulent years in the life of ‘Confucius’, there was a scene where Confucius spoke up for a sacrificial bird in court. There was a discussion over whether the bird, who bit off its main tail feather, ought to be killed as scheduled for the [...]

I used to be quite a severely unforgiving person. (Fortunately, things have improved greatly since.) The slightest bit of evil that I see others do I would condemn so greatly that I would slap a label of ‘evil-doer’ on the person for life. I would shun this person for indefinite time till [...]

A Tit for a Tat (100)
Tit: Everyone should see someone as special.
Tat: Only one?
Tit: If not, that person wouldn’t be special.
Tat: Isn’t it more special to see two or more than one to be special?
Tit: Sounds like promiscuity!
Tat: What if everyone is seen as equally special?
Tit: Sounds like equanimity!

While the unenlightened seek special ’someones’
for [...]

Seeing a cleaner dusting a stupa that housed the Buddha’s relics.
I wondered what would happen,
should it be left neglected?

It will become buried,
swallowed by the sands of time,
forgotten and lost in history.

Like a precious relic that is the Buddhadharma,
or our Buddhadhatu (Buddha-nature) too,
it will be obscured by dirt and such.

As stupas stand for the peak of [...]