In the movie ‘Werewolf: The Beast Among Us’, Daniel reads this from a book, ‘But just as the beast lives inside the man by day, the man may live inside the beast by night.’ Kind of true but then again, our bestial nature can reside in us by night, and humanity in...

They call you extremist because you don’t eat flesh. They believe humans should decide the animals’ fate. Yet they forgot the story of young prince Siddhartha (who became the Buddha) and Devattada fighting over a wounded swan. They have forgotten the moral of the story –...

A Dharma friend passed me a book. Here is my revew of it… On the book ‘Meetings with Remarkable People’, unfortunately, it is, as experienced before, one of those books by Osho who misrepresents the Buddha. Not that all he writes is downright wrong, but he habitually mixes...

C: How I wish I can be born during the golden days when the Buddha is around, when there are many pure practising Buddhists. S: No worries… That is just one lifetime away. In Pure Land, ‘得与如是诸上善人俱会一处!’ (‘attain being with all such beings of...

L: Is the so-called Buddha boy in Nepal really ‘Buddha’ or ‘Buddha-to-be’? Q: According to a report, a French journalist saw that at night, the boy is shielded from the public, and he eats in secret. If so, the perception created that he doesn’t eat is an...

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 best teachers must eventually teach ultimate Compassion and Wisdom. To encourage perfect Compassion, they must eventually advocate veganism, which is not just a way of consumption, but a way of life, of being helpful and harmless. To encourage perfect Wisdom, they must eventually advocate...

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...

Here is the original Hippocratic Oath taken by ancient Greek doctors, from which modern versions of doctors’ moral conduct is derived: I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my...

For someone (or anyone) suffering from bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia: To be frank, it is tedious reading your mails which swing from one end to another due to your condition. Just before responding to one mail, another mail comes in with another swing. The previous mail becomes not so...

Rāhul was raised by his mother and grandfather, King Suddhodana. When he was seven years old, the Buddha returned to his home city of Kapilavatthu at the request of his father who missed him dearly. On the seventh day of his return, Yasodharā took Rāhula to see his father, the Buddha....

How do we recognise a Buddha image to be a Buddha image? Is it the twirls of hair? But where is the ‘Buddha-ness’ in that? Is it the calm smile, or the kindly look in the eyes? Is it the posture of the body, the gesture of graceful hands? Is it all of that together? Perhaps it...

Not that it is definitely possible, if humans create a robot that is unerringly humane, in comparison to the average human, will that robot be a Buddha? But if the above is possible, the humans who create such a robot would already be Buddhas, for being able to program it to be...

In the first ‘Gantz’ movie (see trailer below at around 46 seconds), a Vajrakumara (Dharma Protector guardian diety), a thousand arm Guanyin Bodhisattva and a Buddha statue in a museum were revealed to be aliens in disguise, who were disturbed by the Gantz corps, leading to a...

RJ: Look at http://kooky.com.my/chinese/node/4324 – Buddha images speaking? SA: Hmmm… It’s a mixture of amazing and amusing…. Not sure if it’s real. Sometimes cameras’ changing pixels can play tricks on the eyes. If you see the Buddha (image) blinking,...

He spent $200,000 to change his kidneys via the black market. He spent 1 second to fall and die. What bitter irony! Wealth is no true refuge. Health is no true refuge. What is your true refuge? Amituofo… Amituofo… Amituofo… Amituofo is the name of the Dharmakaya of all...

Open-hearted communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. Without the Buddha’s communication of the Dharma to the Sangha, of the Sangha to us, we would have no spiritual relationship with the Triple Gem, and no spiritual friends...

Maybe we are imperfect, which is why we love the imperfect. [1] Is this a sickness or a virtue? Maybe we love the perfect, [2] though those already perfect don’t really need our love? [3] Is this a sickness or a virtue? The truth is, we love the imperfect [4] but  we love the perfect...

The Buddha is also called ‘The Blessed One’. But who blesses the Blessed One, who blesses us with the Dharma? The Blessed One blesses himself perfectly with perfect realisation and practice of the Dharma. The Blessed One is thus infinitely blessed with boundless merits and...

As generally defined, seven kinds of refuge. Which one are you? Generally, any form of refuge missing Dharma is spiritually unsafe. In the absence of Buddha and Sangha, is refuge in Dharma enough? Refuge In The Single Gem 1. Refuge in Buddha: Faith in Buddha without learning Dharma from...