As featured in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, through of human birth as brothers, Wolverine and Sabretooth were mutants with opposite inclinations. Wolverine was more slanted towards human-nature – in the humane way, while Sabretooth was more slanted towards animal-nature – in a savage way. While Wolverine was haunted by recurring nightmares of the brutal wars he [...]

It is partly due to the ‘endless’ clinging to self-delusion, to constant wondering about the nature of the ‘self’, which is really an illusion, that perpetuates our rebirths in Samsara (via attachment to this non-existent ‘self’). The subtlest attachment we have to the idea of ‘self’ will lead to rebirth because rebirth is due to [...]

Shortly before the screening of ‘Handsome Suit’ this year was ‘Penelope’ last year – another real gem of a movie with an alternative but equally brilliant take on the ugly duckling theme. What’s the moral of the ugly duckling story? Sometimes, one is not a mere ugly duckling, because one can grow to be beautiful [...]

Pic: 4ocima Taking refuge in the Buddha, may I be with the awakened Taking refuge in the Dharma, may I be on the path to awakening Taking refuge in the Sangha, may I be with those on the path to awakening – Stonepeace A Dharma friend was rationalising for her refuge master’s legal allegations, who [...]

Yup, Depeche Mode does slow and sentimental songs too. The above is the moving studio version of ‘Come Back’ from their new ‘Sounds of the Universe’ album (which some say is better than the album version). It is angsty yet calming at the same time, with the element of dark majesty that DM is renown [...]

Catch the new single from Depeche Mode’s new album ‘Sounds of the Universe’ (performed live in Berlin). After the lyrics below are my reflections on them. Wrong I was born with the wrong sign In the wrong house With the wrong ascendancy I took the wrong road That led to the wrong tendencies I was [...]

Great still above from ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with wonderful colours and composition. (I snapped this off the TV while preparing notes for the screening.) All we have is one another, while we can’t really ‘have’ any ‘other’… than our Buddha-nature. All we have is one another, to show one another our Buddha-nature… with our Buddha-nature. [...]

Last Saturday, after giving an almost full day course to guides on guiding in a Buddhist temple, I had about two and a half hours’ break before teaching lesson two of a Pureland class. At first, I was apprehensive of how my voice might be affected, by how tired I might be when it’s lesson [...]

For the second time this week, I was at St. Joseph’s Institution International, invited to give an hour’s presentation to introduce Buddhism to Form 7 school kids. During the Q&A session, I got what’s probably the strangest ‘Dharma’ question ever. A girl raised her hand and asked rather seriously – ‘Are you a Buddha?’ I [...]

Above: [Stele with a Buddha & two Bodhisattvas, Eastern Wei (534–50 CE), Limestone, overall height 310 cm, Collection of the Qingzhou Museum, Shandong Province, China] Hmmm… a ‘smuggled’ shot from the exhibition? Who’s the naughty one!? Anyway, the museum’s shop sells a nice coffee table book with much better detailed shots of the images in [...]

Jen: Your ‘imaginary funeral parlour notice’ [see below] is well written, seemingly depicting dying. Is it due to the way Buddhists view death, that there are no Buddhist obituaries in the papers? Shi’an: Actually, there are Buddhist obituaries in the papers locally (in Singapore) – but usually only the Chinese ones (because most Buddhists here [...]

Are washing machines by default the cleanest machines in the world, given that they are fed detergents regularly? Turned out that the front load washing machine at home had an unexpected deficiency. There is a ring of rubber tubing that prevents water from seeping out of the latching door when it closes. Around this ring’s [...]

It struck me that the Hannya mask (left picture) I bought in Japan resembles Batman’s mask (right picture: DVD box of ‘The Dark Knight’). That said, the Hannya mask is essentially not a mask. It’s supposed to be the terribly anguished (more than horrifying) face of Hannya. Likewise, when Batman wears his cape and cowl, [...]

From ‘Chandni Chowk To China’, Delusion to Realisation http://buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,7665,0,0,1,0 In the first Bollywood-Hollywood action-comedy ‘Chandni Chowk To China’, an Indian cook (Sidhu) who was disgruntled by his humdrum life sought hope in the possibility that he might have had an remarkable previous life, one which he would be able to magically relive, to chase his [...]

As inspired by the film ‘The Dhamma Brothers‘ , here’s a simple poem, in tribute to those who seek spiritual freedom within their physical prisons: More than just a killer… More than just a thief… More than just a liar… More that just a rapist… More than just a junkie… More than just convicts… They [...]