From ‘The Art of Meditation’ by Matthieu Ricard

We have all, to varying degrees, had the experience of profound altruistic love, of a feeling of all-encompassing benevolence, of intense compassion for those who are suffering. Some of us are naturally more altruistic than others, sometimes to the point of heroism. Others are more turned in on [...]

A Tit for a Tat (100)
Tit: Everyone should see someone as special.
Tat: Only one?
Tit: If not, that person wouldn’t be special.
Tat: Isn’t it more special to see two or more than one to be special?
Tit: Sounds like promiscuity!
Tat: What if everyone is seen as equally special?
Tit: Sounds like equanimity!

While the unenlightened seek special ’someones’
for [...]

I still remember the crisp air and clear stars.
From that night under the Kent’s wintry sky.
This night, under India’s sky in the same season,
I see mist and dust clouding lives of the poor.
I always thought that we share the same sky.
How could that night be so different from this one?
Tonight, I yearn for a world [...]

Didn’t he proclaim her to be his ‘one true love’?
How could he love someone else after her passing away?
But do we expect him to mourn for the rest of his life?
Would his ex ‘one true love’ want that?
If she would, would her love for him be true?
Seems like something’s terribly wrong with the ‘one true [...]

Literally using ‘illegal aliens’ for addressing multiple socio-political issues such as xenophobia (irrational fear of strangers), ‘District 9′ is a thought-provoking film indeed. A private military contractor (MNU: Multinational United) is tasked to police and forcibly evict 1.8 million aliens from their District 9 slums to District 10 – a new refugee camp some 240 [...]

From yesterday’s news, a headline (and sub-heading) reads – ‘A star to the end: (Michael) Jackson mourners kept waiting as casket arrives late’. It finally arrived 90 minutes after the scheduled time. An interesting question came to mind. If it arrives even much later, will the mourners feel more sorrow or less sorrow? With no [...]

Here are some lyrics in part from Moby’s bittersweet song ‘Slipping Away’ from his album ‘Hotel’:
Open to everything happy and sad
Seeing the good when it’s all going bad
Seeing the sun when I can’t really see
Hoping the sun will at least look at me
Focus on everything better today
All that I needed I never could say
Hold on [...]

During a Dharma discussion at Awareness Place (after screening of ‘The Woodsman’), a participant remarked about how difficult is was for her to express the same compassion for those she comes across in a class. She was struggling to practise equanimity for all. I answered that having equal compassion does not equate to treating all [...]

Something written for an interreligious publication…
A Buddhist charity was giving out aids to the needy in terms of cash and kind for disaster relief. What was surprising to reporters was that various individuals from all walks of life were helped despite differences in race or religion with no questions asked. Most pleasantly surprised were [...]

I once had an acquaintance in school. She had long straight flowing hair and big round eyes. The usual attributes that would make one a classic beauty, as many might feel? Within my clique, many would call her Miss Candy (Xiao Tian Tian), and that would please her very much. Little did she know, they [...]