Some interesting quotes below to share from ‘Stillness Speaks’ by Eckhart Tolle. The book’s ideas are not totally about Buddhism, but not really not totally not about it either. There are some parts I disagree with, while I appreciate its occasional acknowledgment where some ideas are clearly inspired by Buddhism – because this would lead [...]

If there is an almighty perfect creator, the universe would be a perfect work of art. If the universe is not a perfect work of art,  there is no almighty perfect creator. – Stonepeace Some see the universe as a completely perfect work of art, but they are only looking at the goodness in life - beautiful [...]

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 [...]

Whenever I got bumped into by unmindful and unapologetic pedestrians in the past, the natural tendency was to give rise to some resentment. It’s as if the world is totally at fault, while I’m perfectly blameless. Nowadays, I have a different take. I realised that most of these bumps are the results of my own [...]

Pic: Dharma Hall at Kong Meng San After lunch, just before the next round of the Pureland retreat recitation, I realised I had a piece of vegetable wedged between two teeth in a corner of my mouth. I tried to extract it with the tip of my tongue, but to no avail. I took a [...]

We were there among the some 12,000, and it was truly fantastic. (Yes, I said it before.) Many say it was one of the best gigs Coldplay had for this season. Above is an unofficial video from the March 23 2009 Viva La Vida concert at Singapore Indoor Stadium. (Not filmed by me though. See [...]

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 the story ‘The Maggies’ in ‘American Splendor’ by Harvey Pekar – Harvey: (Detecting untruthfulness) When you talk about dishonest men, do you have to be dishonest? Interviewee: (Shrugging) Why not? Even Socrates was dishonest… Harvey: (Confronting) Socrates?? What does he have to do with it? Interviewee: (As-a-matter-of-factly) Socrates said all men are dishonest, so [...]

In ‘Marvel Zombies 2′ by Robert Kirkman, it continues the adventures of key Marvel comics’ ‘deceased’ heroes, who have become ‘insatiable’ flesh-eating zombies. Of course, they do not totally lose their mindfulness. If they did, they would be just another typical bunch of mindless zombie ‘clones’ – there would be no interesting stories to tell [...]

After reading ‘Wolverine: Origins and Endings’ by Daniel Way, it struck me that Wolverine (of the X-Men) needn’t be such an infamously grouchy and angsty guy. The main source of his suffering lies in his constant existential puzzlement about his painful past, of the half forgotten and mostly fragmented ‘former’ life that he led before [...]

Photography as Skilful Means for Those ‘Born into Brothels’ Winner of the Best Documentary Feature (for the 77th Academy Awards), “Born into Brothels”, despite its seemingly depressing tite, is really a rather uplifting film, of how a bunch of poor Indian children, who were otherwise subject to a future of poverty and even prostituition, were [...]

Some sayings on emptiness in the Buddhist sense, from Stonepeace – Emptiness is the nature of being empty of permanence. Emptiness is the nature of being full of change. ~ Sunyata [emptiness] is Anicca [impermanence] and Anatta [insubstantiality]; Dukkha [suffering] due to Sunyata is optional. ~ If you cling to emptiness, it becomes a form. [...]