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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Received my cert for the MA in Buddhist Studies in the mail recently. Ironically, it reminded me of how little of the Dharma I know, not how much I’d ‘mastered’. ‘Master of Arts’ in Buddhist Studies? Hardly a master! Though three years were spent, with lots of midnight oil burning for study of the various [...]

In the ‘Final Destination’ thrillogy (pun intended), you see ‘creative’ ways through which death creeps up gradually yet surely upon its victims. Each of the movies are about how a group of youngsters have some vision of their impending deaths, who thereafter try to evade it, though few (if any) are really successful. Hey, death [...]

Ever since I read somewhere, that spiders cannot crawl out of bathtubs, I kind of looked out for them regularly in the tub at home. For years, I never saw one.. till one morning, when I saw a tiny young looking spider walking on the base of the tub. I watched patiently, to see if [...]

Are you in the shadows or are you a silhouette on the brink of illumination?

< click to enlarge Bodhicitta (Productions) has just released a compilation of their ‘greatest hits’ for free distribution, and will be giving a free anniversary performance (as above) soon. One of the group members passed me a copy of the CD recently, reminding me that I contributed lyrics to a couple of their songs years [...]

While selecting films for a Buddhist film event, we sampled some movies. A friend wondered why many of the shortlisted films seem to end with some form of death. Someone else in the audience remarked that we all have to die anyway. Hmmm…. only half correct… some of us might be able to transcend life [...]