A Tit for a Tat (142) Tit: Swear that you will do the chore! Tat: Don’t worry – I will. Tit: If you will, why not swear? Tat: Isn’t it more interesting to see if I will do it without swearing? Tit: Huh? Tat: It’s so common that people swear and follow-up or fail their...

Here’s my Dharma interpretation of a song by Coldplay to share: A Message My song is love Love to the loveless shown And it goes on You don’t have to be alone Your heavy heart Is made of stone And it’s so hard to see you clearly You don’t have to be on your own You ...

Q: As Amitabha Buddha has 48 vows and Medicine Buddha has 12 vows, when one practises either teaching, must he or she make the same vows? A: As the Buddhas made and fulfill the vows to help us, we don’t have to make those vows (unless we want to be exactly like them). What we need is...

A friend once asked me to never forget her, to remember to ‘save’ her, to lead her to Pure Land, should I reach there first. I didn’t promise her because me being mindful of her cannot bring her to Pure Land, while it is her mindfulness of Amituofo [Amitabha Buddha] that can...

The 1994 classic ‘Bodhisattva Vow’ by Beastie Boys: As I develop the awakening mind I praise the Buddha as they shine I bow before you as I travel my path to join your ranks, I make my full time task For the sake of all beings I seek The enlightened mind that I know I’ll...

An imaginary verse on how a Bodhisattva might think: The only reason my heart is broken is because so many hearts are broken. There is no time to indulge in being heartbroken, when there are so many broken hearts to heal. From the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra: Manjusri: Householder, whence came...

‘The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch’ by Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli and Todd Klein is a fantasy tale that cautions us to ‘be careful what you wish for – because you might get it’. Many might dismiss this ‘law of attraction’ concept to be...