Beauty and the beast. I believe it's the best description that I have ever heard about the emotions accumulating from the experiences within the depth of our lives.
I am not talking about the drama or Disney fairy tale we used to watch during our childhood into our adolescence or even into our adulthood, I am talking about the universal beauty and darkness we all have accumulated and are still accumulating like it or not through our very own rich life experience as long as we are still breathing, till death does us apart.
The Lady in a Wooden Box
Friday 16 July 2021
A Buddhist's Reflection
Time flies and I just realized I have not been writing since 2019. I took sometimes to reflect upon what I have been doing since 2019 until now and to be honest, I couldn't recall a single thing in 2019. Perhaps subconsciously I chose to ignore something painful that could have happened? Anyway let it passes as we cannot undo whatever had happened in the past - the past causes!
However 2020 until now I realize this global pandemic has really shaken the humanity. No doubt it has taken a lot of lives unfortunately and it has a toll on most of the businesses, it also makes me realize our life can be bigger than this and we can still be happy amid the unprecedented difficulties surmounting life and livelihood of most of the world population including ourselves.
It is also an opportunity for me to reflect, to re-learn new things and to explore what I had not done in the past. I feel devasted, angry and empathy at the same time reading the news everyday and I choose to limit myself for watching the news only at night for an hour, but at the same time I realize as humans we are capable of creating something of value every single day in our life, be it to create new menu for our basic meals, or just a phone call to check on a friend or to offer mental support for someone. Words are free, in time like this kind words can alleviate someone else's suffering and offer another person the courage to move on despite the situation.
Deep down it also makes me question about the world systems at large and I am reminded of what Buddhism describes about the Saha (mundane) world, especially in this Latter Day of the Law - the third of three periods after Shakyamuni Buddha's passing, as an age of conflict, confusion and corruption, exactly the age we are living!
We can complain about anything as it is the human nature not to be satisfied. Human's hunger or greed also knows no boundary, some describe human greed as bottomless pit. It's irony we can't even take good care of our mother earth and we want to conquer the outer space and other planets, resulting in waste created in the space. Do we even think before we act? Is our ego bigger than our life?
I am sure a lot of sane people are tired and sick about the existing issues such as crony capitalism and cronyism; institutional, religious organisational, non-governmental and governmental corruption; institutionalized and systemic discrimination, environmental destruction and climate change; widening gap of wealth distribution; human right and white supremacy; and the list just go on and on and on! The moral decay and ethical issues are surfaced at large through this pandemic. Are we collectvely as human race not to be blamed?
A Buddhist sutra quotes: "If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present". Isn't all we experience today the results of the causes we collectively created in the past? Our actions or inactions, repeated over the times have created the world we are living today. If we are not happy with the world situation or in our immediate environment, do we still want to repeat the same expecting a miracle to happen? Or are we taking full responsibility from now on to create the life and the world we want? Start with our own immediate environment.
It's so convenient and easy to point fingers at others but not ourselves as we can't even see our own eye brows without a mirror. Blaming a situation on others is the most easy solution as we don't have to take any accountability. We see this in the corporate world and in the political world, hence the production of scapegoats. Let's pause and think when we are blaming someone for our misfortune, isn't that what we complain when we see the medias zoom in to the lack of coordination among the various governmental departments in handling the pandemic S.O.P and thus the blame game started? The fundamental is the same - no accountability for one's action.
Another common everyday example we know since the start of the NEP (New Economy Policy) aims at "equal" wealth distribution among "all" Malaysians. Politicians have since been playing the 2R (race and religion) games. Now with this pandemic, the people themselves are the ones who involved in the same nature of discrimination, to quote examples floating in the world wide web since the beginning of March 2021: attacks from individuals from both sides or among countries such as vaccines vs ivermectin; vaxxers vs antivaxxers; western approach vs oriental approach; vaccine war and vaccine passport, to name a few. Aren't we also creating the division among ourselves, friends and family members included due to different values? Aren't we fighting among ourselves? Why are we only see what is happening in the political arena everyday but fail to see this one great evil lies within the depth of our own life? What value are we creating? What benefit do we get by sharing all the bias information we gather we claim to be valid?
Let's realize one single truth: the impermanence of life! No one nor an entity is infallible, nothing in this world is absolute and everything is in a constant state of changing, evolving - likewise the science and the medicine. Poison used to kill rat yesteryears is the medicine to thin the blood today! Just like a quote by Nichiren: "Blossoms turn into fruit, and brides become mothers-in-law" in his Letter to Jakunichi-bo. The only absolute things are the sun will continue to rise everyday, and birth and death!
I hope with this little reflection of mine can help the readers in awakening to the law of cause and effect as I wish to see a better world and systems for our next generation. They deserve a better world; and as responsible adults, we must stop creating the same negative causes over and over again but resolves to create positive causes from this moment onwards if we want to see a miracle to happen. The ingredient we need to start with is the basic respect for life and recognize life is precious regardless of social position, wealth and status. If we can't even respect our own life, learn to respect our own life first!
Lastly, I would like to end this essay with a quote from Daisaku Ikeda, "When we change, the world changes. The key to all changes is in our inner transformation - a change of our hearts and minds. This is human revolution. We all have the power to change. when we realize this truth, we can bring forth that power anywhere, anytime, and in any situation." In short, change the way we look at things and the things you look at change! Let's all be the agents of positive change, in our own environment. Stop dividing and start uniting! The power is in our hands.
Saturday 24 August 2019
Energy vs. Blockage
Received an enlightening audio sharing in Mandarin on ENERGY and BLOCKAGE yesterday from my cousin, listened to it many times in the car on the way to work to grasp the profound meaning in it.
I shared with a friend who felt very down yesterday, could really tell from his face and spoke few words to encourage him. Hopefully he would feel better after listening to the audio sharing too.
I have been thinking over the sharing this morning and trying to grasp the essence just a little bit better. I remember two weeks ago I met a friend and we shared about the technology and world. We lamented that our next generation will face tough time in future as technological advancement has created a new competition, human race will not only face competition with human race but also Artificial Intelligence (AI) in no time. China already has the AI broadcaster, professional jobs are replaced by AI in certain sectors. However we still believe in the beautiful human bond and human engagement on the daily basis. To be able to share even with another human being is wonderful, don't you agree?
I remember in the early 80's, the third president of the Soka Gakkai International, President Daisaku Ikeda proposed to United Nation to shift the competition from economy to humanity. Key index in the measurement is human happiness. Later, I read Finland (west) and Bhutan (east) have very high Happiness Index and rank top 10 in the world. Are we able to have a genuine paradigm shift looking at the world today?
In an ideal world, each and everyone is happy. Basic necessities are met, there is no hatred, no conflict, no war, no famine, no poverty, everyone shares the resources equally. It's a wonderful world, isn't it? Therefore if everyone is awakened to a greater good through this sharing, the good energy and vibe will also be expanded, I will explain how this is possible through my understanding and realisation.
When one is full of compassion, embrace and joy from within, energy from space-time will ceaselessly flow into one's body. When one's door of wisdom is opened, one is filled with joy and it will be emitted to the surrounding, in return one will receive unlimited energy. When one initiates true benevolent desire, one's energy is beyond one's imagination.
On the other hand when one is full of grudges, jealousy, fear, worries and helplessness, one's energy will be drained away rapidly, follows by aging and premature death. Fear especially causes the lost of energy completely in an instant and thus the lost of life. Once we are awakened to this truth, we should know how to be truly healthy. To be truly healthy we must eliminate disease (dis-ease: not at ease), this must come from our own initiative from within, not on the superficial level. When one is having vanity or when one is telling lie, one's energy is largely consumed. Therefore it's important to have self-awareness and constant reflection is a must.
Have you ever experience harmony or conflict when you are visiting a family? In a small space of a family, mindfulness of each and every member is accumulated in this space, good or bad. This is not only affecting your mood but also your health. Have you ever felt comfortable or uneasy when you meet with strangers? Some people just make you feel warmth and comfortable and you would want to spend more time getting to know them while others make you feel you want to run away instantly the moment you meet them. This has to do with the people's mindfulness too. Auspicious and peaceful energy field has healing function indeed, individual or family, first and foremost must understand the importance of mindfulness. Benevolent mindfulness attracts peace and health while unkind mindfulness attracts disaster and disease. This is similar to the law of attraction.
The quality of the energy we attract corresponds to the capacity of our mind. In other words the capacity of our mind and the capacity of the energy we attract is on par and completely in sync. The larger the capacity of mind the larger the energy is attracted. The larger the energy is attracted the larger is one's capability. There is a price to pay in term of energy to be successful in life. The process of life and how we live our life is equivalent to the process of gaining and emitting the energy.
How then can we gain energy? Besides taking food and beverage everyday, energy can be gained from the void (empty) of the space (universe). It's important to eat and drink healthily, it's also important to know how to leverage on energy in the cosmos. However I am not going into detail on how to gain energy from the cosmos as it requires high level spiritual practice which different people have different capacity. I will focus more on training ourselves to have good thoughts constantly by explaining why this is important. Good thought attracts true happiness over the time and this requires consistent practice, endurance and persistence.
Everyone wants to be happy, no doubt about this and without any discrimination regardless if one is a janitor, a manager or even a president. What is true happiness then? A person's life is determined by three aspects of energy - the mental, intelligent, physical. Mental energy is like the roots of a tree, intelligent energy is the stem of a tree while physical energy is the branches and leaves of a tree. All these will determine his or her own life and happiness. The happiness here refers to true happiness, it's unconditional and it does not depends on one's circumstance, in contrast to pleasure which most people pursue and mistakenly think as happiness, such as physical pleasure, materials, wealth, fame, status, position, promotion and etc. True happiness derives from within one's life and it is indestructible while relative happiness is conditional as it is subjected to external circumstances, such happiness is temporary and can be robbed in an instance such as when one is stripped of everything, i.e the lost of job, wealth, family, love, health and etc. this relative happiness will be gone immediately.
True happiness starts from strong desire to change, all it takes is courage to take the first step. First start from one's health and ensure the balance of yin and yang. Health here refers to both physical and mental aspects. Genuine health practice includes the practice of mastering one's blood vessel, meridian and nerve which aligns with traditional Chinese medical practice. Blood vessel is the transmission passage of power source, meridian is the transmission passage of energy while nerve is the transmission passage of information.
The mind mainly controls the information, information and energy are inseparable. Therefore if the transmission passage of energy is blocked, the transmission passage of information will be blocked too.
Any blockage in the meridian creates physical pain and suffering. In order to eliminate the pain and suffering, one needs to identify the root cause of the blockage which is mental disorder. Each and every physical pain and suffering corresponds to a sin. To remove the pain and suffering, first and foremost one has to remove the sin in one's mind (thought).
What are blocking our mind? The answer is very straight forward, they are the poisons of life, namely arrogance, selfishness, greed, anger, jealousy, ignorant, fear, grudge and worries. They are the main culprits of our blockage. Therefore it's important to spend sometimes to observe one's mind every day religiously. To eliminate the blockage it's important to be aware about one's mind, all it takes is a consistent practice, replace the poisons with a sense of gratitude, joy, embrace, selflessness and compassion. The key action here is first to be aware about one's mind only then replacement can take place. Make this a habit.
When there is no blockage there is also no missed opportunities, that explains why some people seem to be lucky all the times and others are not, some people have strong capacity to identify opportunities and make the right decision while others keep making the wrong decision. It's all in the capacity to attract the right energy.
If everyone realises and practises this in his or her daily life, I am sure all of us will live a truly happy life. Isn't this a wonderful learning and realisation? There will not be any hatred, conflict, war, famine, poverty and other negative sides. Let's keep spreading the positive energy to our surrounding and back into the cosmos.
Keep creating a better world for all human kind!
I shared with a friend who felt very down yesterday, could really tell from his face and spoke few words to encourage him. Hopefully he would feel better after listening to the audio sharing too.
I have been thinking over the sharing this morning and trying to grasp the essence just a little bit better. I remember two weeks ago I met a friend and we shared about the technology and world. We lamented that our next generation will face tough time in future as technological advancement has created a new competition, human race will not only face competition with human race but also Artificial Intelligence (AI) in no time. China already has the AI broadcaster, professional jobs are replaced by AI in certain sectors. However we still believe in the beautiful human bond and human engagement on the daily basis. To be able to share even with another human being is wonderful, don't you agree?
I remember in the early 80's, the third president of the Soka Gakkai International, President Daisaku Ikeda proposed to United Nation to shift the competition from economy to humanity. Key index in the measurement is human happiness. Later, I read Finland (west) and Bhutan (east) have very high Happiness Index and rank top 10 in the world. Are we able to have a genuine paradigm shift looking at the world today?
In an ideal world, each and everyone is happy. Basic necessities are met, there is no hatred, no conflict, no war, no famine, no poverty, everyone shares the resources equally. It's a wonderful world, isn't it? Therefore if everyone is awakened to a greater good through this sharing, the good energy and vibe will also be expanded, I will explain how this is possible through my understanding and realisation.
When one is full of compassion, embrace and joy from within, energy from space-time will ceaselessly flow into one's body. When one's door of wisdom is opened, one is filled with joy and it will be emitted to the surrounding, in return one will receive unlimited energy. When one initiates true benevolent desire, one's energy is beyond one's imagination.
On the other hand when one is full of grudges, jealousy, fear, worries and helplessness, one's energy will be drained away rapidly, follows by aging and premature death. Fear especially causes the lost of energy completely in an instant and thus the lost of life. Once we are awakened to this truth, we should know how to be truly healthy. To be truly healthy we must eliminate disease (dis-ease: not at ease), this must come from our own initiative from within, not on the superficial level. When one is having vanity or when one is telling lie, one's energy is largely consumed. Therefore it's important to have self-awareness and constant reflection is a must.
Have you ever experience harmony or conflict when you are visiting a family? In a small space of a family, mindfulness of each and every member is accumulated in this space, good or bad. This is not only affecting your mood but also your health. Have you ever felt comfortable or uneasy when you meet with strangers? Some people just make you feel warmth and comfortable and you would want to spend more time getting to know them while others make you feel you want to run away instantly the moment you meet them. This has to do with the people's mindfulness too. Auspicious and peaceful energy field has healing function indeed, individual or family, first and foremost must understand the importance of mindfulness. Benevolent mindfulness attracts peace and health while unkind mindfulness attracts disaster and disease. This is similar to the law of attraction.
The quality of the energy we attract corresponds to the capacity of our mind. In other words the capacity of our mind and the capacity of the energy we attract is on par and completely in sync. The larger the capacity of mind the larger the energy is attracted. The larger the energy is attracted the larger is one's capability. There is a price to pay in term of energy to be successful in life. The process of life and how we live our life is equivalent to the process of gaining and emitting the energy.
Everyone wants to be happy, no doubt about this and without any discrimination regardless if one is a janitor, a manager or even a president. What is true happiness then? A person's life is determined by three aspects of energy - the mental, intelligent, physical. Mental energy is like the roots of a tree, intelligent energy is the stem of a tree while physical energy is the branches and leaves of a tree. All these will determine his or her own life and happiness. The happiness here refers to true happiness, it's unconditional and it does not depends on one's circumstance, in contrast to pleasure which most people pursue and mistakenly think as happiness, such as physical pleasure, materials, wealth, fame, status, position, promotion and etc. True happiness derives from within one's life and it is indestructible while relative happiness is conditional as it is subjected to external circumstances, such happiness is temporary and can be robbed in an instance such as when one is stripped of everything, i.e the lost of job, wealth, family, love, health and etc. this relative happiness will be gone immediately.
True happiness starts from strong desire to change, all it takes is courage to take the first step. First start from one's health and ensure the balance of yin and yang. Health here refers to both physical and mental aspects. Genuine health practice includes the practice of mastering one's blood vessel, meridian and nerve which aligns with traditional Chinese medical practice. Blood vessel is the transmission passage of power source, meridian is the transmission passage of energy while nerve is the transmission passage of information.
The mind mainly controls the information, information and energy are inseparable. Therefore if the transmission passage of energy is blocked, the transmission passage of information will be blocked too.
Any blockage in the meridian creates physical pain and suffering. In order to eliminate the pain and suffering, one needs to identify the root cause of the blockage which is mental disorder. Each and every physical pain and suffering corresponds to a sin. To remove the pain and suffering, first and foremost one has to remove the sin in one's mind (thought).
What are blocking our mind? The answer is very straight forward, they are the poisons of life, namely arrogance, selfishness, greed, anger, jealousy, ignorant, fear, grudge and worries. They are the main culprits of our blockage. Therefore it's important to spend sometimes to observe one's mind every day religiously. To eliminate the blockage it's important to be aware about one's mind, all it takes is a consistent practice, replace the poisons with a sense of gratitude, joy, embrace, selflessness and compassion. The key action here is first to be aware about one's mind only then replacement can take place. Make this a habit.
When there is no blockage there is also no missed opportunities, that explains why some people seem to be lucky all the times and others are not, some people have strong capacity to identify opportunities and make the right decision while others keep making the wrong decision. It's all in the capacity to attract the right energy.
If everyone realises and practises this in his or her daily life, I am sure all of us will live a truly happy life. Isn't this a wonderful learning and realisation? There will not be any hatred, conflict, war, famine, poverty and other negative sides. Let's keep spreading the positive energy to our surrounding and back into the cosmos.
Keep creating a better world for all human kind!
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