The Buddha once explained how the feelings we have can be classified in many ways, and how we can have as many as 108 kinds of feelings, as follows… 2 feelings: Bodily and mental feelings 3 feelings: Pleasant, painful and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feelings 5 feelings: Feelings of pleasure, pain, gladness, sadness and equanimity 6 feelings: 6 [...]

A mountain casting a shadow on a mountain A mountain in the light ‘creating’ a mountain in the dark Reminds me of the Buddha’s light of purity, that is so strong that it shows us our unseen darkness of defilements. (Scenes of Wutaishan’s Taihuaizhen village) Next China Adventure: Previous China Adventure: http://moonpointer.com/new/2011/06/china-adventures-2-tipping-enlightened

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 [...]

I haven’t watched ‘Rain Man’ yet, though I know it’s a classic film for understanding the nature of autism. Knowing the synopsis roughly, it stuck me that we are all, so long as not fully enlightened, defective in various ways. Tom Cruise plays the ‘normal’ guy, yet he is defective in terms of being impatient [...]

In ‘The Question: The Five Books of Blood’ by Greg Rucka, Renee Montoya, who takes on the persona of the masked yet faceless (vigilante’s) persona called ‘The Question’, hunts for the legendary ‘Crime Bible’ to uncover its secrets, so as to better understand how criminal minds tick. But in the process of knowing the nature [...]

From ‘Wonderland’, which is a spin-off story based on ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew are some interesting dialogues – Feather: You’re late because you spent so much time bleaching, starching, and ironing this apron! Mary Ann: There was a spot! Feather: It was a shadow. Comments: Some things, which protect [...]

< Dust of the X-Men An SMS conversation with a friend: Sophie: Monday… Arghhh… Shi’an: How about this… Monday might be the last day of your life. Might as well make the best of it. Sophie: Then I wish I didn’t spend my last moments sitting at this dusty bus-stop waiting, while getting covered in [...]

Eyes glaring. Fists clenched. Brows frowning. Muscles rippling. What are the Vajrakumaras ‘mad’ at? Not you, or me, or himself, for there’s no self. Just a strict outer reminder, to be unrelenting, To not give way to our inner defilements. When you guard your mind, You guard your Dharma practice. When you guard the Dharma, [...]

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 [...]

There is a full page in ‘Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1′ (by Robert Kirkman) which seems to accidentally portray the nature of an existential crisis. The young and new superhero ‘Invincible’ was told to fight an alien in Earth’s orbit. He takes a deep breath and flies up up and away… Yes, the superheroes super-hold [...]

The Stuff of Monsters I must admit I’m pretty fascinated by monster lore – not so much because the creatures are fantastical… but more because I find it fantastical how these monsters became to be taken seriously in the first place. If they are not real in some way, what perpetuated their persistence across the [...]