The James Bond movie franchise had its 50th anniversary recently. Despite many themes of death in their titles, say, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘Live & Let Die’, ‘A View To A Kill’, ‘The Living Daylights’, License To Kill’, ‘Tomorrow...

‘Wu wo’ (无我) means ‘non-self’ (Anatta), which means that as there is no enduring (unchanging) entity in our body and mind (which are nothing other than the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness – each in constant change),...

I think Charlie Chaplin’s movie, ’The Great Dictator’ is really just his excuse to deliver what is one of the greatest inspirational speeches in movie history. The film is filled quite evenly with comedy and suddenly, at the end, the comedian turns all serious with his...

From the 1957 movie ‘The River’directed by Jean Renoir - Same But Different Nan: Why can’t you be good like Elizabeth? Harriet: It’s easy for her to be good because she is good. Comments: We all have Buddha-Nature, the potential to be pure within. In this sense, it is...

There is no soul, as in an unchanging mental entity. If it is there, why did we change to be the way we are? If it is there, how can we change to be better? There is however, Buddha-nature - the potential to become enlightened, perfect in compassion and...

A:I find 老实人 (honest; forthright persons) irresistible. S: A very 老实 comment! We all prefer 老实人. Ironically, even the 不老实的人 prefer them! Actually, 不老实的人 are very tired of other 不老实的人, that’s why they prefer 老实人. Sadly, they forget...

As they have perfect and immeasurable compassion, and as we have Buddha-nature like them, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will never give up on us. Why then, should we give up on ourselves and others? - Stonepeace...

In the trailer of ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this was uttered - ‘Everything will be alright in the end. So if it’s not alright, it is not yet the end.’ While this might sound like typical ‘look on the bright side of life’ possibly blind and unfounded...

The worldly admired tend to be more imperfect than hoped upon a closer look [because defilements are there], yet more perfect than expected upon a deeper look [because Buddha-nature is there...

我不敢轻于汝等， 汝等皆当作佛。 - 常不轻菩萨 (法华经) ‘I do not dare to belittle you all, for you all will become Buddhas.’ - The Bodhisattva ‘Never Underestimate’ (Lotus Sutra) Who Became Shakyamuni Buddha Related Articles: The Bodhisattva Who...

I’m interpreting ‘You’ve Got The Love’ by Florence + the Machine my way, with ‘Lord’ standing for Lord Buddha, and even Amitabha Buddha (Amituofo). Electric ‘spiritual’ beginning to the song at the concert in the video above! In a way, the...

I came across two strange sentiments about eating animals: 1. ‘As long as the Buddha is in my heart, eating animals is okay.’ 2. ‘I think it’s my karma to eat animals.’ What’s wrong with the above? 1. If one truly keeps the Buddha in one’s heart, as...

From Chester Brown’s ‘Paying for It’: Jealousy is natural, but that doesn’t mean that not feeling jealous is not natural. It’s probably better to frame the matter in relation to maturity. It’s immature to be jealous, it’s mature to not feel...

‎ S: Otto von Bismarck said, ‘When you say that you agree to a thing in principle, you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out.’ Let’s agree with our convictions in action too! N: If I agree to something in principle, it must mean that certain ...

Here, Edward Monkton gets his ‘Zen’ right, though he doesn’t use the word ‘Zen. But Zen is Zen whether you call it so or not! Zen is indeed about living truly and happily in the moment, from moment to moment, with a sense of joy and wonder, taking nothing for...

Amituofo! I chant this for you to hear, not to condemn you for the evil you do, but to urge you to awaken to your Buddha-nature. Amituofo! I chant this for you to hear, not to flatter you for the good you do, but to urge you to align it to your...

Question: How does the concept of the Collective Unconscious (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_unconscious) fit in Buddhist philosophy? Answer: Commenting based on the definition of ‘collective unconscious’ in the Wikipedia link, Buddhism would see that the collective...

One of the methods to ‘combine’ Pure Land and Zen practice is that the one who practise mindfulness of Amituofo’s (Amitabha Buddha) name also asks oneself ’Who is the one mindful of Amituofo?’ Who is the one who practises mindfulness of Buddha? One who is...

Below is a passage I helped to translate to Chinese for Buddhist Library’s newsletter: Brightly shining, luminous is this mind, but it is defiled by the stains which visit it. This the unlearned common folk do not really understand; so for them there is no development of the...

To empathise is to civilise. To civilise is to empathise. - Jeremy Rifkin As mentioned in the video, ‘We are soft-wired to experience another’s plight [or joy] as if we are experiencing it for ourselves.’  Interesting. The monkey experiment illustrates the power of empathy...