Question: About these words… ‘Seeing Form itself as Emptiness produces great Wisdom so one does not dwell in birth and death; Seeing Emptiness as equivalent to Form produces great Compassion so one does not dwell in Nirvana.’ - Stonepeace If we are not going to dwell in...

Some discomfort is good. That from recognising Dukkha drives us to Nirvana. Some discomfort is not good. That from denying Dukkha keeps us from Nirvana.- Stonepeace Some reject the Dharma due to discomfort with its reality check on Dukkha, that life is prevalent with dissatisfactions, which...

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiparticle : … This leads to the question of why the formation of matter after the Big Bang resulted in a universe consisting almost entirely of matter, rather than being a half-and-half mixture of matter and antimatter. The discovery of CP violation...

If you focus only on the bad things in your life, you’ll miss the good things in your life, and you’ll experience endless bad things because after the bad things comes the good things. Yet, to focus on the bad things is to recognise the First Noble Truth of Dukkha, in order to...

To my aghast, I once heard a monk say that the path of attaining Nirvana is like pushing a button on a box which opens and extends a mechanical arm which shuts the box. This is surely one of the most unproductive, useless and erroneous ‘definitions’ of (Pari)Nirvana ever, as if...

Q: I have always thought that the Buddha’s Parinirvana was the end and that he would not be subjected to rebirth upon achieving it. I was surprising that you mentioned that the Buddha still exists. And that he and all other Buddhas are still working hard to guide beings to Nirvana A:...

A letter sent to the press: I refer to the 2 June 2010 article in The Straits Times, ‘Pray, let’s live and let live’ by Lee Wei Ling, which defined Vesak Day as the celebration of ‘the birth, enlightenment and death (or passing on to Nirvana) of Buddha’. ...

Form is emptiness; (色即是空) Emptiness is form. (空即是色) Form is not different from emptiness;（色不异空） Emptiness is not different from form.  (空不异色） So says the Heart Sutra, but what do these lines really say? They speak of that which cannot really be put ...

From ‘Essex County’ by Jeff Lemire, Annie the nurse says, ‘I lost a patient today… Humph!… I know what you’d say if you could. You’d say, “It’s part of your job, Annie. Won’t be the first, won’t be the last.” But I… well...

Anicca… is the truth of impermanence. From the perspective of time, nothing is unchanging, while Nirvana is timeless. Dukkha… is the truth of dissatisfaction. From the perspective of experience, nothing is truly fulfilling, while Nirvana is bliss. Anatta… is the truth of...

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...

Jen: Your ‘imaginary funeral parlour notice’ [see below] is well written, seemingly depicting dying. Is it due to the way Buddhists view death, that there are no Buddhist obituaries in the papers? Shi’an: Actually, there are Buddhist obituaries in the papers locally (in...

There is a full page in ‘Invincible: Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1′ (by Robert Kirkman) which seems to accidentally portray the nature of an existential crisis. The young and new superhero ‘Invincible’ was told to fight an alien in Earth’s orbit. He takes a deep...

If we do not try, we will not know. -Ayya Khema (Be An Island) Is there Nirvana or not? Can it be realised or not? No point speculating. No point doubting. As it is worthy, just advance towards it. The more you advance towards it, the more will you know if it is real or not, the more will you...

If you are invulnerable to harm, seemingly able to live forever, what would you do? Would you become a great villain [e.g. Octopus] who goes all out exploit and harm others? Since there are no apparent consequences? The ultimate harm has to be the harming of others - that which does not lead...

Japan Adventures [8] : Up to be Buddhas, Down to be Bodhisattvas After climbing a tall and steep flight of stairs towards a hilltop temple, while panting for breath… Z: Gasp! Is enlightenment as tough as climbing these stairs? S: Maybe! It might be harder or easier! But no worries,...