Super Short Story (199): Saved By God? He saved her because he believed they are children of the same God, who would wish him to save her. She does not believe there is such a God, who could save her, but she is now a believer that even an illusion might indirectly save. She does believe...

Super Short Story (173): Placebo Having heard that a certain food is supposed to be chock-full of nutrients, it has become his placebo, eating it when on the brink of any sickness. He imagines it might have the right ingredients to allay it. Of course, sometimes it (appears to) works, and...

Super Short Story (146): Arguments After The Predictably Uneventful 21.12.12 He claimed it was those who believed there was likely to be an disaster, who prayed hard due to this ‘truth’, who prevented any natural disaster. She claimed it was those who believed there was unlikely...

Interesting dialogues from the movie ‘Verbo’: Sara: Our history teacher told us something. A big mess in the Church a long time ago. He said there was this debate about the digestive process and holy wafer. Stercorism or something like that. One side said the wafer stopped being...

Why be a homewrecker, she thought, by being a third-party? And why risk being with him, who wrecks his own home? How can she trust two homewreckers’ faithfulness to each other? If none of them are committed to leaving their spouses first, how committed can they be to each...

Q: How do you know that the Buddha’s teachings is the truth? A: Through active learning, practising, testing and questioning the teachings. There is no world religion or philosophy that confidently advocates as much diligent intelligent doubting  with clarifying, and personal...

From the graphic novel ‘Americus’ by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill is this amusing frame. According to the Bible, everything arose less than 6,000 years ago, while modern science points to fossils dated back to the Archean Eon, some 4.6 to 2.5 billion years ago. When Creationists...

This is a chat on the article ‘Whose Buddhism is the Truest’ at http://www.tricycle.com/feature/whose-buddhism-truest : J: Who cares? These scholars are forever digging and probing, and end up confusing themselves. Like scientists who upon one discovery claims A, and upon...

In the movie ‘Priest’, the heroes are the denounced priests who go against the church, despite the repressive ones in charge continually reminding them of this self-concocted ‘mantra’ - ‘To go against the church is to go against God’. Yes, as usual, the...

Q: Some Buddhists like to cast lots, e.g. at Guanyin temples. Are these lots’ words from Guanyin Bodhisattva? A: There are a few divination systems worldwide ‘associated’ to Guanyin Pusa. They are not Guanyin Pusa’s words per se, but out of great faith that Guanyin...

‘A Serious Man’ is a seriously quirky yet enjoyable award-winning black comedy that centres on the nature of faith in a man’s life, which became chaotic in multiple ways for no apparent cause on his part – despite trying his best to be a ‘serious man’....

Here is an analysis of the poll question ‘Would You Marry Someone of Another Religion?’ As of today, the results are: 39% : Hmmm, I don’t think so! 30%: Of course, why not? 15% : Does it really matter? 10% : I’m not sure… 04% : Already! And regretting it. 02% :...

In the graphic novel version of ‘Kidnapped’ by Robert Louis Stevenson (adapted by Alan Grant, illustrated by Cam Kennedy), the protagonist gets… yes, kidnapped. For most of the story, he is portrayed as severely disturbed by having been betrayed by his only uncle. Even after...

I don’t have faith that there is an all-forgiving God because the last time he lost faith in us… he sent a flood. I do have faith that there are all-loving Buddhas because the recent one had faith in us… he said we have...

Venerable Faxian is one of the great pilgrim translators who travelled from China to India to retrieve many precious sutras. King of Bi: Have the Venerables come to be in Bi or are you just passing through? Ven. Faxian: Faxian and these few Venerables are neither staying in your esteemed...

In ‘Superman: Redemption’ (by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza and Walt Simonson), Superman hears the desperate prayers of an old lady (Barbara Johnson) with his super-hearing and saves her from being hit by a car. She was calling out to God for help and when Superman swoops down from...

A Tit for a Tat (15) Tit: I don’t think anything is definitely wrong or right. Tat: You really believe that is right? If you do, something is definitely right. Tit: I don’t believe anything is definitely wrong or right. Tat: You really believe that is right? If you do, you...

The Million Dollar Question… Q: How do you admit how you cheated if you did not? A: You don’t – or you would really be cheating – yourself and the world! The hero of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a story of the power of integrity, of how it truly shines despite...

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...

< Sri Lankaramaya Temple When it comes to the stuff that requires faith, most of us are naturally skeptical. Modern folks like us want to be seen as a logical intellectuals instead of irrational superstitious ones. When one claims to have faith without any substantial evidence, it’s...