From ‘This is a Bad Time’ by Bruce Eric Kaplan:

But why do we choose to be attached to the idea
that we are really our poor ’selves’,
since we do change and can change at will?

What’s terrifying about negative karma
is its compounding effects if left unchecked!

But enlightenment is also the end of all disappointment,
and the realisation of [...]

Seeing a cleaner dusting a stupa that housed the Buddha’s relics.
I wondered what would happen,
should it be left neglected?

It will become buried,
swallowed by the sands of time,
forgotten and lost in history.

Like a precious relic that is the Buddhadharma,
or our Buddhadhatu (Buddha-nature) too,
it will be obscured by dirt and such.

As stupas stand for the peak of [...]

A Tit for a Tat (76)
Tit: I’m supposed to get this…
Tat: Ya ya…
Tit: And that…
Tat: Ya ya…
Tit: And I’m supposed to get enlightened too!
Tat: Ya!
Next aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/12/we-are-unwell
Previous aT4aT: http://moonpointer.com/new/2009/12/cat-suspect

A Dharma friend sent me this Youtube link on meditation. He felt that it’s a very good way to introduce Non-Buddhist friends to meditation, although ‘we all know the trainer uses Buddhist techniques’. I agree it’s skilful not to use Buddhist labels at first… lest there are erroneous preconceptions that impedes open-mindedness to learn meditation [...]

Recently, we visited a friend’s house, and noticed that he bought a new TV. Teasing him, I said that from a guy who used to have no TV, he now has a big and branded one. Sheepishly, he smiled and replied that since he’s not net-savvy, it’s his window to connect to the world.
At first, [...]

A delightful short dialogue from the movie ‘Spanglish’:
Dad: (Open’s son’s door) You don’t have to get up yet, but are you thinking seriously about it?
Son: Yes.
Dad: Okay. (A few minutes lapse, before he opens door again)
Son: Now?
Dad: Yes, actual up.
Being lazybones myself, I like the idea of being preempted to wake up first, before needing [...]

It is partly due to the ‘endless’ clinging to self-delusion, to constant wondering about the nature of the ’self’, which is really an illusion, that perpetuates our rebirths in Samsara (via attachment to this non-existent ’self’). The subtlest attachment we have to the idea of ’self’ will lead to rebirth because rebirth is due to [...]

In the plot of the movie ‘Ploy’, the characters seem to live their interconnected dreams as alternate but believable realities, before they wake up to actual reality – albeit not that realised in enlightenment, but the usual samsaric reality. The dreams experienced are not portrayed to be technologically fantastical in the Matrix style, but are [...]

JX: I think these days, it’s okay for monastics to handle some money (but not too ridiculously much to spur greed) for what’s needed (unless they absolutely don’t need to, which cuts the hassle) – but all accounts in terms of pay and funds should be made transparent to the public. Hey, even an electronic [...]

A colleague I sat near apologised for her work desk being messy. I grinned and replied that it doesn’t matter, as long as one’s work output is not messy. She agreed. It doesn’t matter if one’s life seems relatively messy (physically; not mentally), as long as there is a happy ending – the best of [...]