Taj Mahal tells of a very sad love story. It’s sad not because two who were deeply in love were separated by death, but because of the great attachment it embodies. The Mongol king spent 17 long years, much wealth and labour to build this extravagant monument to fill the voidness of his heart after [...]

When we were younger, our dreams to save the world was huge. But as we grew up, we easily find ourselves distanced from our ‘heroic’ ambition. Had a chat with an old friend recently about our supposed big dream, about how we drifted so far apart from what we wanted to do. Now, we are [...]

B: You know, you look like you need a ‘best friend’.
Z: How so?
B: You have no blings (diamonds) on you – not even a tiny stud!
Z: Well, I have the best friend (the Dharma), who is around 24/7. What’s more, this spiritual friendship is priceless yet free! On the contrary, you might have to shed [...]

Went to the library yesterday. To my great disappointment, there aren’t many English or Chinese Buddhist books to borrow. I heard it’s the same for the central National Library’s borrowable collection. Am wondering if it’s the same case islandwide. I wasn’t expecting an entire room of Buddhist books but two rows on a single shelf [...]

In ‘Timbuktu’ by Paul Auster (illustrated by Julia Goschke for an abridged graphic novel), the author explores human homelessness via the vision of a vagrant dog. Ostracised by society, as Mr. Bones the dog put it, ’He would have to keep on moving, even if he had nowhere to go.’ There is no true lasting refuge [...]

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 was put on trial [...]

Shakespearean English,
unless spoken at plays,
sounds like bad English in our times.
Modern English,
unless spoken in our times,
sounds like bad English too.
Even the rules of grammar change
along with vocabulary,
as words are dropped in and out of dictionaries.
Only the Dharma remains unchanging,
only the letter and spirit of the truth lasts,
only the Dharma is refuge.