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Stonepeace Old Archives Page 22 of 27

Re-Birth-Day




SMS Dialogue earlier-
Sophie: Time check- 10.50am. Happy Birthday! You have another 13 hours 10 minutes to celebrate your birthday. And another 364 days to celebrate your __th year. haha.
Zephie: Just woke up. Resolution- sleep normally. Nay! Wee hour writing is the best! Blogged 18 articles last night! You guest-star here and there! haha.
Sophie: Birthday celebrated in a haze and daze of sleepiness. haha. Well up and at it! Time's a wasting!
Zephie: Everyday is re-birth-day. Every moment is re-birth-moment. Every moment is good for waking up! haha.


Self-cology



Zephie: I am going for a series of personal counselling sessions to help unravel the hidden depths of my personality iceberg and to vanquish my inner demons!
Sophie: Don't go with your preconceived ideas! Keep an open mind.
Zephie: Of course! I dislike liars- even if it is me. How to seek truth if we lie to ourselves? What's the point of counselling if it is a rationalisation session? Haha... an open mind also means the possibility that the counsellor mis-diagnoses! In the end, it is always self-reflection that will save oneself. It is the First Noble Truth of acknowledging the reality of a problem when there is one. If we listen to shrinks all the time, we are at their mercy! If one sees psychiatrists, it might be worse! Medication and all... that can alter your moods! On the other hand, no shrink can help one who refuses to see a real problem as one! It is like the Buddha showing us the path to Enlightenment- shrinks can only point the way- we have to walk it!


About Mr Tortoise



Zeph: How's Mr Tortoise? Help me chant Three Refuges for them! And Amituofo too!
Zhen: Mr and Mrs Tortoises (4!) have actually been my pets for a long time. I find myself lacking time to take good care of them. Still considering whether to liberate them.
Zeph: I think it is better to keep them from the hazards of the wild since they are used to being reared. Chant regularly before them and give them Metta (Loving-Kindness)!
Zhen: Metta + me put in more effort to clean and feed them... hope that will convince Mum to keep them. Ha... :p Must buck up and take good care of them. I will chant for them.
Zeph: Sadhu! May tortoise family and your family be one big happy family!


Reverse Psychology for Seeking Birth in Pureland

Usually, we imagine it will be difficult to let go of our attachments on our deathbed, even when we aspire to seek birth in Pureland. I propose considering the situation the other way round. We should realise here and now that clinging as much as we might during our last moments, there is nothing that we can hold on to from our present life as we pass away; our karmic energy is our only possible check-out luggage. Knowing this clearly, we should not be spending a iota of mental energy trying to grasp the ungraspable. If we see this clear enough, we should gladly and easily put all our attention to chanting Amitabha Buddha's name to seek birth in Pureland instead.

Vice versa is true; there are loads of stuff readily for us to cling on to while we are alive. In this sense, it is harder to put all our attention to chanting Amitabha Buddha's name to seek birth in Pureland now while alive and kicking, and not dying! This is what I mean by reverse psychology for seeking birth in Pureland- the harder it is to let go now while alive should logically be equal to the easier it will be to let go when dying! Of course, this is no excuse to forgo everyday practice! Disclaimer: Forgo regular practice at own risk of not being born in Pureland!


Sunday, September 22, 2002
Reply 1 : Birthday Boy's Blues

Email Exchange-

Uen: Zeph, Don't just pay lip service to practise. In your earlier article One Good Glimpse you correctly pointed out that meditation practise was the way to enlightenment. And yet when I asked you yesterday how often you practise. I get the idea that regular meditation practise is not part of your routine. It is time to wake up, Birthday Boy! Put your money where your mouth is. Words are easy but practising what you preach is more important. And in this case the ultimate challenge and reward.

Zeph: Wo! This got cc-ed to Hong and Lynn... I liao already! (It's over for me!) Haha. ok la I know! And gimme pressure when I slack ok? That's what spiritual friends are for right? Hehe

Uen: Haha. I know. It was done deliberately. They are closer to you and see you more often, it was a pressuring tactic so they can also remind you ; )

Zeph: Wicked but kind- thanks. Haha

Zeph: (later, after 2 hours of meditation at Awareness Place Meditation Centre) I am quite happy with my meditation today! Hehe


Debunking the Myth of Randomness

Was thinking of writing a final entry for the night but had no topic in mind. I wanted a random topic, so I went to google.com and keyed in the word "random", where I came across something interesting...

This following paragraph is from http://www.random.org/sform.html

The true random numbers are generated using atmospheric noise which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random numbers typically generated by computer programs. If you want to know more, read the introduction to randomness and random numbers or go back to the random.org main page.
_______________________
I find this amusing because this webpage seems to scientifically objectively generate randomness when it does not! It assumes atmospheric noise as random, when it is an exact science! Exact in the sense that even noise occurs accordingly as specific effects subject to the coming together of other specific natural causes and conditions, which are in turn subject to other causes and conditions. Randomness does not exist in the universe! Even the results of rolling dice can be calculated from the die shape, weight distribution, the way it was thrown, the energy is was thrown with... Okay, calculation of the results might be near impossible- it seems as if the whole universe is involved in such a simple act, but the idea is there- there is nothing that occurs by chance in the physical world of mechanics.

How does this relate to us? A lot! If the physical world, which is very complex, does not operate by chance, we have every reason to believe that neither does the mental and moral world, which is much more complex. In fact, the more complex something is while having the ability to be stable means there are proper laws at work. Cause and effect on the physical plane is called the law of casuality. On the mental plane, we call it Karma! And yes... since the physical and mental laws of cause and effect operate simultaneously in this world, in this space-time continumn, they inevitably interact. Thus, physical events, such as windfalls or strokes of misfortune that happen to us are not accidents, but the operating of the law of karma. Vice versa, we can generate mental intentions to create, say, a paradise on Earth, and indeed effect it upon the physical world through collective green efforts.
_______________________
For fun, here's a sequence of numbers randomly generated from the website above-

24
97
71
87
43
44
39

What does it mean? Given the fact that it is not by chance that you deserve to see this very string of numbers? What can you do with it? Buy lottery numbers? Haha... Do drop me a mail if it appears to have significance to you! No convoluted theories please!


Unfaithful

Something I wrote on 17/8/02. Some parts are no longer relevant!
Went to see "Unfaithful" alone last Thursday.
Felt a little strange- like a secret rendezvous with a stranger on the silver screen in the dark.
No one else knowing I'm here watching an affair in action seems to be an affair in action!

I needed to see it somehow.
Needed to see how someone becomes unfaithful to her significant other.
Needed to reflect on whether I might ever be unfaithful.
(I'm not married though)

The conclusion I have is that
it is so easy, so "natural" to unmindfully become unfaithful.
As easily as how it easily leads to so much suffering.
A lie that can lead to the chain-breaking of all other precepts!

I have never been unfaithful and do not intend to be.
In fact, I am thinking of not ever possibly becoming unfaithful
by not ever being faithful to one person by committment of love.
Not so that I can flirt,
but so that I can befriend many,
without ever feeling answerable to one person,
without ever fearing one person's jealousy.

I want to have faith that this can be done.
"Reach out, touch faith- Your own personal Jesus."
So sings Depeche Mode in their One Night in Paris concert DVD on this notebook now.
I want to be my own personal Jesus, personal Messiah, saviour.
But I also wish to be others' personal Jesus, Bodhisattva, best I can-
should they need one.

Before we can have faith in anyone,
we need to have faith in ourselves-
to trust that we are worthy of the Bodhisattvas' kindness.
Do not ever be unfaithful then-
to yourself, someone, or the Bodhisattvas-
for it would be a matter of letting the whole universe down.

Out of 5 stars, I give "Unfaithful" * * * * 1/2
http://www.unfaithfulmovie.com


Discomfort

Ky: If I am having my period, can I visit a temple... and also pray for it? Especially when it feels uncomfortable? Is it disrespectful?
Zeph: No problem :-] But maybe what's more important is that you do not feel uncomfortable in any way doing so. It might be difficult to feel respectful when you are uncomfortable mentally and/or physically. Remember! Mind over matter! May you be well and happy.


Why I am Not Sleeping!

Well... it's because I want to write the following-

If you are reading this blog at wee hours when you should be in bed, you can...

1. Meditate- you get to rest and practise Dharma at the same time!
2. Read Dharma Books or the rest of the Dharma blogs below.
3. Write a Dharma blog by hitting this reply link!
Here's a topic on what you can write on if you can't think of one-
"Why I am Not Sleeping!"

Haha- no prizes for guessing why this blog is entitled as it is!


Meaning in an Empty Relationship

It's weird... when wanting to be in a love relationship is often wanting someone to acknowledge ourself, wanting someone to take us to be the most important person to him or her in the world. It is trying to use emptiness to affirm something to be unempty when it is just emptiness too.

What do I mean? Learnt something in sutta class... something I already knew, but never thought of that way... We are just a bunch of five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness) which are empty of any self. And so is the person we love the same! Thus, the only meaningful love relationship is a spiritual one where each person helps each other to realise each other and "oneself's" emptiness of self! Any ego-boosting of "self" or any dependency on another "self" makes it a worldly love relationship!


Another Email Joke

Replied to fellow Buddhist who forgot to attach files he should:

Congrats! You have no attachments!
Oops! You have merely forgotten your attachments for now!
I see them coming back!
(Send them over!)


Oneness

To light a candle is to cast a shadow.
-Anonymous Zen Saying

What is meant by non-duality, Mahatmi? It means that light and shade, long and short, black and white, can only be experienced in relation to each other; light is not independent of shade, nor black of white. There are no opposites, only relationships. In the same way, nirvana and the ordinary world of suffering are not two things but related to each other. There is no nirvana except where the world of suffering is; there is no world of suffering apart from nirvana. For existence is not mutually exclusive.

-Lankavatara Sutra (Leng4 Qie2 Jing1)

This relates to the Heart Sutra entry below. Form and emptiness are one and not different. Samsara and Nirvana are not ultimately not conflicting and do not exist independently in order to have meaning. This realisation of ultimate non-duality is why Buddhas who have attained Nirvana can re-manifest as Bodhisattvas with great ease in Samsara. This is possible only when there is no attachment to either Nirvana or Samsara. This reminds me of the following quote I read in a book by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. Not sure if it is attributed to the Buddha, but it does sum up the essence of the Buddha's teachings in terms of liberation. It has the same meaning as the literal translation of the Heart Sutra mantra-

"Nothing whatsoever, should be clung to."


Don't Wobble

Do everything
that you have to,
that you want to,
whether you like it or not,
no matter when or where,
mindfully, sharply, gladly, nicely.
There is no smarter way to Enlightenment.

This reminds me of Zen Master Yunmen's admonition,
which must have somehow inspired the above-
When walking, just walk.
When sitting, just sit.
Above all, don't wobble!


The Resolution Solution

This birthday thingie today set me thinking about setting spiritual resolutions and about how they can easily be ineffective once one loses mindfulness of them throughout the year. The idea struck me that it might work better if a bunch of spiritual friends, after "celebrating" the birthday of one of the gang, do the simple "ritual" of witnessing the birthday boy or girl's setting of resolutions. They should do likewise for each other's birthdays ... and help each other periodically, say every one or two months, to review, remind and renew each other's set resolutions- or even set "upgraded" ones! In other words, everyone in the spiritual circle makes the Bodhisattva resolution of being each other's resolution Bodhisattva! This simple exercise does seem to neatly sum up the essence of the value of spiritual friendship, doesn't it? Let me suggest this idea to my friends tomorrow!


Reality of Unreality

To attain True Happiness,
you have to truly
see,
understand
and accept
the reality
of the unreality
(emptiness in terms of Anicca & Anatta)
of everything.

We call this
Enlightenment,
or liberation,
or Nirvana,
or emancipation...
you get the idea!


The Meaning of Life

Life is meaningless-
which is why the only meaningful thing to do
is to get out of life... and death.
This is the Arahant ideal of saving yourself.

When you help all beings do the same,
the meaningfulness of your life is multiplied infinitely,
and it becomes the Bodhisattva ideal towards Buddhahood.


The Job!

Sophie: Have you ever had your palm read before? Do you have a career line?
I was wondering if Dharma work is a career :p
Zephie: It is the ultimate! The Buddha's only job!


Pride & Prejudice

Uen: Only at the feet of the Buddha am I completely humble, without pride and pretensions.
Zeph: But that should be before everybody! Prejudice!
Uen: That is my failing, but also my beginning to try to extend it to all beings.
Zeph: Sadhu!


Birthday Boy's Blues

It's about an hour an a half past my birthday...
the first tendency is to think of celebration,
but the second tendency is to ask what is there to celebrate about.

I then reflect...
and it is always the same conclusion...
I don't think I progressed fast enough in the past year
to save myself,
so as to save others
from suffering.

My birthdays
have the solemnness of a wake.
A wake where I wake up,
from lying too dead too long
in my spiritual life.

In this sense,
this is not exactly a happy birthday.
But I wish myself still,
"Happy Birthday! Next time!"
May my next birthday be happy indeed,
without this annual lamenting,
without these blues so blue.


Great Responsibility

One amazing thing happens when one practises insight meditation well enough-
one sees crystal clearly that the mind directs one's matter (body) in terms of speech and action...
and realises he is TOTALLY responsible for his thoughts, word and deed,
TOTALLY the creator of his own karma in every second.
He sees that he is not at the mercy of external factors such as people or environment.
He makes no more excuses for "bad behaviour"!

In Spiderman, Uncle Ben tells Peter Parker that
"With great power comes great responsibility."

Stonepeace says,
"With great mindfulness comes great responsibility and great power!"


Saturday, September 21, 2002
Are You Loving a Stranger?

Something that happened a fortnight ago-
this is a good zen-like lesson on the importance of continual communication in relationships
and Anatta (non-self or the constantly changing and thus unreal "self")
Sid was seeing Lo home one night...

Sid: (with arms wide open)
Lo: (pushes him off gently)
Sid: Didn't you remind me to remind you that we should hug every time we meet?
Lo: But you seem like a stranger! I can't hug a stranger.
Sid: What do you mean? We'd been together for years!
This reminds me that Freud, the founder of Modern Psychology once said,
"I do not know what women want!"
Lo: Don't you see? We havn't been seeing each other or communicating for about a week already.
So I don't "know" you well enough at the moment!


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