K: Hi Laoshi, I think it is the first time I saw so ‘emotional’, and very rightly so. It is a blessing for us to have you as our teacher guiding us on this difficult path. Many thanks. Amituofo S: Oh dear, looks like I became too agitated… One of my weaknesses is that I get...

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...

Different from the run-of-the-mill concept of there being a supreme and extreme good guy versus a supreme and extreme bad guy, who keep the forces of good and evil in balance, the ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Day Watch’ movies suggest that there is a powerful leader of...

I went too see ‘The Last Exorcism’ because I thought the premise of the story was interesting. But it was quite a letdown. The ‘scene’ in the above poster doesn’t even appear in the film. Is that a form of lying in marketing? Still, while seeing the trailer on...

From the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln260/Vimalakirti.htm) are lesser known but some very surprising and illuminating teachings: ‘… Then the Licchavi Vimalakirti said to the patriarch Mahakasyapa, “Reverend Mahakasyapa,...

Dit: Look at his greed! I think he’s ‘possessed’ my Mara! Dot: Don’t be daft! Of course he is! Dit: Huh? Dot: By his inner Mara at least. Anyone one is overcome by greed, hate and delusion, one is...

As long as there is an ego, there are demons. When there is no more ego, there are no more demons either! - Machig Labdrön The chief demon is not Mara; The chief demon is your ego. - Stonepeace You may think that gods are the one’s who give you benefits, and demons cause damage; but it...

A deal with the ‘devil’ appears good, so that it will be tempting enough to sign it, but will never come to any long-term good, because it is a deal with the ‘devil’ after all, with the ‘devil’ in the missed details, the fine print of guaranteed long-term harm. Any agreement with...

In ‘Hellboy: Darkness Calls’ by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fregredo, Igor Weldon Bromhead invokes the demonic Ilsa Haupstein, binding her to his command. Knowing that name gives him power over her. I used to be fascinated by the concept how naming the evil is able bring about control...

‘The Broken (Reflexion Trouble)’ is an unconventional thriller. I was interested in it as it seemed to be about doppelgangers, of how some seem to see doubles of themselves, which foretells of something unfortunate going to happen. It’s hard to comment on whether this...

‘…Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.’ - Stephen King Monsters are empty, and ghosts are unsubstantial too - when they are realised as so, vanquished within us. That is how we win them all – inside out, conquering...

I saw her holding the catalogue like a new found treasure. As she sat down in the train, happily, she started to flip through the catalogue of Death. But Death is cunning, he portrayed death in the nicest way possible, with no blood or gore, but with utmost exquisite beauty. Death (another...

In the movie ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’, it was suggested to Saya (the half-vampire human) by her teacher that (vampirical) demons have no souls (in the sense that they have no conscience and are thus not redeemable or worth sparing), that ‘heaven’ put them in our world to test our...

As featured in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’, through of human birth as brothers, Wolverine and Sabretooth were mutants with opposite inclinations. Wolverine was more slanted towards human-nature – in the humane way, while Sabretooth was more slanted towards animal-nature...

Pic: Mahakala Re: You cannot always be an ‘angel’. Sometimes you have to be a mara. Me: The constant ‘angel’ might be a mara! (Even the Buddhas and the best Bodhisattvas need to manifest greater wrath to the wrathful at times – albeit free of...

Something simple happened a couple of days ago, that upon hindsight, seems more significant than not. I was seated at a coffeeshop eating with a friend. Some distance ahead was a table with three or four schoolgirls. I happened to look in their direction when they stood to leave. To my...

After picking up Buddhism, I found my threshold of being able to withstand seeing others in suffering to have reduced significantly. I can’t sit long in front of the television watching people scheming against each other, even though I know it’s just a show. Well, scriptwriters...

‘Go’ (围棋) is not an ordinary board game, but one that involves much wits and strategising. Unlike it’s counterpart Chinese chess (中国象棋), Go is a very minimal game with simple rules and only two different pieces (black and white). The objective is to conquer a...

The Stuff of Monsters I must admit I’m pretty fascinated by monster lore – not so much because the creatures are fantastical… but more because I find it fantastical how these monsters became to be taken seriously in the first place. If they are not real in some way, what...