Review of ‘Walking The Tiger’s Path – A Soldier’s Spiritual Journey in Iraq’ By Paul M. Kendel The war genre for books has never been my cup of tea. To me, there is just too much stupidity and hurting in war. My first contact on the subject of war was through history class. I got [...]

At a Buddhist temple, there were prayers… that ended with the wish for all beings to be well and happy. This is followed by the emcee announcing that they are organising a charity dinner, that it includes two special tables, catered for vegetarians. Wow! Amazing stuff… when, with the mouthing of wishing all beings to [...]

He believes his meat-eating teacher can ‘deliver’ the beings eaten to Pure Land. If this is true, shouldn’t he eat as much meat as possible, out of compassion and wisdom? If this is true, why not eat a bite of him, out of compassion and wisdom?

A name I came up with some years ago. Happy to see it still being in use… MaitriPals – Pals for friendship, with universal love and compassion. ‘Maitri’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘friendship of universal love and compassion’ (Think ‘Maitreya Buddha’ – The friendly enlightened one) ‘Tri’ can also be short for ‘triple’. ‘MaitriPals’ [...]

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

‘If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?’ So says a joke, betraying the greed for reciprocation. Well, helping others helps ourselves too, as thia leads to True Happiness. We are here to help one another by choice. There is no ‘we’ versus ‘others’, but [...]

E: Perhaps, what Prince Siddhartha’s (the Buddha-to-be) Father did was right! Provided him only with the best of best things since young. Thus, when he saw the extent of suffering, he became so disturbed that he sought the truth out of compassion. S: Interesting take on how the Father’s fear unwittingly urged his son to [...]

A friend remarked, ‘It is depressing to know that many suffer from depression.’ This is surely nothing to joyous over, but should we grieve along? The Buddha would empathise, but not lament or even sigh, and simply contemplate skilful action. If we become depressed too, how can we help the depressed? May our passionate grief [...]

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 the Pure Land teachings, as the most efficient path towards [...]

This sums it up perfectly, as to how, if there is a creator God (which there isn’t), he is surely not perfect in compassion and wisdom. to give free will to his imperfect creation, who also lacks perfect compassion and wisdom, who thus make a mess of so many things. And that things remain imperfect [...]

S: Most who like to eat meat ironically don’t want a single animal killed for them. Strange isn’t it, to miss the cause and effect of supply and demand? In existentialism, this is called ‘bad faith’ – not being true to what one already knows :-[ Maybe vege advocates should try this trick in public - [...]

He, a stone-cutter, saw a rich man gathering many luxuries, and wished to be like him. Suddenly, he became him. He saw a high official getting much respect, and wished to be like him. Suddenly, he became him. He saw the hot sun making him sweat, and wished to be like it, Suddenly, he became [...]

Q: Is there a need to find an enlightened teacher? A: No, but it makes sense to find teachers who are more enlightened than us. Q: Why not just find an enlightened teacher? A: It’s not easy to discern who is enlightened as we are not enlightened ourselves. Q: How do we find teachers who [...]

S: A relative commented of another relative being very traditional, of waiting to first wear recently bought new clothes during Chinese new year (CNY) celebrations. I commented that I’m more ‘traditional’ – because I usually buy clothes only when old ones are torn, whether it’s a new year or not. A: I guess it depends [...]

He believed her to be hopelessly stubborn, not knowing that it is he who is hopelessly stubborn in his opinion about her. Since people can change, and people do change, let’s be less conclusive about one another, and more enthusiastic in helping one another to change for the better. She believed him to be very [...]