Meet Death and return

Raining heavyly this morning when I was driving to work at Kerinchi Link . When I just abt to reach a tol, approaching me was a very fast BMW. With a split second, the BMW lost control and spining 360 degree and ALMOST hit my tiny litte kancil. Without hesitation, I accelerate to over take the spining car. And I survived the "crash". "Thank god" the rest of car managed to break on time. No one hurt and no major accident.

Bhante Pema said those that practise dhamma is protected by dhamma. I guess I still have more work to do to end all my karma contract

Sick Sick Sick

I been sick for the past 2 weeks ....

fever.... gastric .... diarrhoea .... I didn't even go to gym ...

I been feeling hopeless, aimless and weak for the past 2 months ...what happening to me ?

My bro said I am potraying a bad image .... I am weak ....

what happen to me ?!!!!!

Dana & I

Generosity in Pali called DANA...

my agreement with bro and my self is to buy rice and food to offer to Sangha (monk). At the same time, we signed up pledge form for our organs. I promised my self to donate blood every 3 months. Of course, I introduce this practise to bro but he is afraid of needles.

BUT I wanted to do more .... I hoping to get better and stable job to donate 10% to 20% of my nett salary to charity and temple. At the same time I was hoping to pay of some of bro PTPTN loan so his mind can be at peace to be a novice or ordained as monk. Bro rejected my offer.

But bro not very determined to be a monk. I hope he is not venting.

Why I willing to do that? I really treat bro Sumitta like family. He is like a family that cares abt me (which my own family don't). And deep down in my heart, I know bro Sumitta treat me like just friend, that why he has reserved.

Oh well I hope good intention counts.

Drifted away ... far far away

I felt so disoriented .... I felt so far away from every thing ... Buddhism, work , family, friend, Bro ... every thing .. I just had a sudden feeling of don't know what to do with my life ...

I am not in middle age yet ... it shouldn't be midlife crisis

I am dying to have a good sleep ... and rest ..

I am dying to have a good career advancement ... (which I don't it now, but I am contented and grateful I still have a job)

So how ? Brown cow?

lonely, lonely, lonely !!

What do lonely means ? Not sure for others, for me lonely is a feeling that i need to overcome !

We came to this world (existance) alone, we got old and sick by our self and we pass away alone Nothing and no one can follow you or even experience what you going thru. Of course except your Karma and merits will be following you every existance you are in.

I was sick for 2 weeks, see doctor 3 times, yet my family didn't even notice I am sick. I practically been having difficulty of breathing, vomitting and upsad stamoch. And the problem doesn't stop there, my menstrual cycle is late. My weight keep going up. :(

Buddha taught us not to have attachment , but he didn't teach us not to take care of our health. I guess this time I really screw up ! I need to stop and recollect my self.

When I am sick, I feel even more lonely! Cook porridge by my self. Go to clinic by my self. The "best thing" is I can get up and do my work! Workaholic! What to do?!

I remember few years ago, I drove my self to the hospital for 2 times. I was really sick, I cannot breath, lips and nails turn blue black. I was admitted 5 days, can't even talk (cannot breath mah!).

Where is my family and friends? Not sure where are they. Well I used to be very very angry with the way they treat me. But now with Buddha teaching, I forgive my self and others.

Don't even ask me to get a boy friend or some thing like that, this being called "Boy friend or Husband" is only another hopeless being that can't help me. WAIT! Don't get me wrong. When I said hopeless means he can't help you, he is not you , no one can help you except your self. No one can replace you being sick. Therefore getting a being called "Boy friend or Husband" doesn't resolve my sickness nor resolve my loneliness.

The loneliness is originated within "me", because I "existed" that why I have so much of suffering. Other solution is just temporary. The only way is strike to the non-return path.

ya ya ya ...... it all come back to Buddhism .....

Disoriented

It is 3am NOW!!! and I just woke up for no reason .... my life is so disoriented .....

I don't sleep well....... I don't eat well....... I keep vomitting ....... stamoch upsad ..... bloated.... Menstrual cycle is late ...... again....... constantly angry with my self and my weight

Frequently feel tired. Even feel too tired to go temple......... constantly managing anger and stress when my colleague keep asking me to do their work .

Weekends ? Even worst .... stuck in a situation that I have to help my friend every week .....

How now ? brown cow ? ...... Oh well every thing will be gone .... Non-self ... there is no me ....

Eightfold path to the only way to liberation – 30 may 2008

By Bhante Kassapa

I hope I get Bhante's talk correctly:

The heart of the Buddha's teaching lies in teh Four Noble Truths which he expounderd in his first sermon to the five ascetics, at Isipatana Near Benares.

4 Noble Truths:
1) Dukkha - Suffering
All compounded things are subject to Dukkha and it is universal. Birth, decay, sick and death.
2) The arising of Dukkha
From craving springs grief, froom craving springs fear, For hm who is wholly free from craving , there is no grief, whence fear?
3) The End of Dukkha
Eliminate it at its root, namely, craving (Tanha)
4) The Path Leading to the END of Dukkha
Noble Eightfold path - the MIDDLE Path

What is the Noble Eightfold Path?

The path to Nibbana is like taking a train to KLIA.

The KLIA (Nibbana) was not built because we are taking the train but it is built because we need to arrive KLIA to get out (of suffering). The Train is like the Eightfold Path. This train has 8 compartments, each link with mindfulness. We are sitting in this train, "driving" the train to the destination. This is a one way train, no return. Who wanna return to Suffering ?!

Mindfulness is like an action of unveil the curtain (confusion / ignorance ) of your mind to see the right or wrong of matter. Mindfulness do not decide the action but your mind (thoughts) does.

1) Right Understanding (Panna - Wisdom)
What is right view and wrong view?
Wrong understand of 4 noble truth, 3 charactor of life and dependant of origination will lead us further from Nibbana.
Overcome from wrong views. Going through all noble truth to experience and exam to gain perfect understanding.

2) Right Thought (Panna - Wisdom)
What is the wrong thoughts? Indulged in the sensual pleasures the is wrong thoughts.
The right right way is to renounce from sensual pleasure.
What is Right view?
Anger view is wrong view. Loving –kindness is the good view – right thought. Unkindly – violent way is also wrong thinking. Hatred can be over come by Loving -kindness.

3) Right Speech (Sila - Morality)
The word has much power. If not use it in proper way, it will harm people.

4) Right Action (Sila - Morality)
Psychological disaster is an attachment to sensual desire. Wrong view is inwardly developed by thought and outwardly become disaster. Inwardly developed compassion and outwardly be come loving action.

5) Right Livelihood (Sila - Morality)
5 percepts is a management system to manage your word and action. Observing this SILA – moral discipline is like having flower in the present and your heart became sweet and light.

6) Right Effort (Samadhi - concentration
Essential factor. When unwholesome thoughts is arise, you need the right effort to manage it. And right effort to maintain the wholesome thoughts. Caltivate the Effort to arouse wholesome thoughts.

7) Right Mindfulness (Samadhi - concentration)
Pretending we are mindful is wrong mindfulness. What is right mindfulness? To present your mind to mindfulness; Mindfulness is wholesome thought. It guard to your mind. Any thought it comes and mindfulness reminds you what is there before it occurs. Mindfulness don’t tell you what is right or wrong but it reminds you .

8) Right Concentration (Samadhi - concentration)
To bring the mind to tranquility. To be focus.

Cultivate the Samadhi to gain Panna (Wisdom). But Sila is to ensure Samadhi to be cultivated.

This is a very inspiring talk . To end the suffering, we need number of different effort,

To avoid evil - 5 precepts
To do Good - DANA , caltivate good karma
To purify your mind - Meditation

If "train" break down, you will never reach "KLIA"

Suffering .....

I been helping my friend at their shop during the weekend. It is more of a repayment act to thank them for their assistant during my tough time. So, what they sell? They sell Crystal Healing!

A pick from www.crystalandhealing.com :
How does Energy Healing work?

Energy healing works upon the electromagnetic field around our body, known as the aura. This field has been discussed and contemplated within the realms of healing and philosophy for thousands of years. Kirlian photography has been used to photograph it and science has proven that it must exist around every physical object and organism. An in-depth look at the aura reveals that it consists of several layers called the subtle bodies. These contain further energy systems, all interconnected and affecting each other as well as the physical body. The auric field directly relates to our emotional, mental and spiritual makeup and so, when we are well and healthy, the energies flowing through it are clear and balanced. Any form of disharmony in our lives, however, can cause blockages or other disturbances in our aura and when not addressed, they may eventually manifest as physical illness.

How does Crystal Healing work?

Crystals have been used for healing since ancient times by many different cultures and in the last twenty odd years, there has been a great revival of this art. Crystals are highly powerful and effective tools for healing as they contain a number of special properties and interact with us in many different ways. One of these properties is the unique vibration of each crystal. This is a result of its colour frequency, chemical composition, inner atomic structure and outer form. Not only does this property make a crystal indispensable in altering electromagnetic waves for medical machinery and quartz watches, but it can also modify ‘healing energy’. Another property of crystals is the distinct orderly structure which enables them to absorb, reflect, transform, transmute, balance, direct, amplify, clear, focus etc. energies. Essentially, a crystal can adapt healing energy in any way imaginable. Since crystals and minerals make up most of the earth’s crust and also reside within the human body, it can be said that, in a sense, we are all part of and living on a crystal.

So thru them I learned about crystal healing and aura reading. And I observed when I am in the shop. Frequently customer comes to seek " impermenant happiness" , eg. money, love, career and health. When they got a job, they want a highier pay. When they got the money, they want love(s). When they have love, they want babies. When they have babies, they want to resolve their marriage problems. When they resolved all that , they seek for cure or preventive for health.

Is that happiness? Or that going around and around of the Wheel of Samsara?

Dharma is thought of the mind with is purified. If I get Bhante Punaji word correct. Attaining any level of sainthood is happiness. Even be able to get in touch with Dharma is happiness. Let go of ignorance, craving and ill-will is happiness.

I am doing my best to understand the Dharma . As Buddha said :

Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

I experienced the above mentioned (cycle of samsara ) that why I can tell you, learning Dharma is happiness.

Wheel of Life

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

In Buddha teaching, Greed, Hatred and delusion will bring suffering to life. This can be explained with The Wheel of Life.

At the centre of the wheel showed that Beings are not free from Ignorance (Boar), Craving (Rooster) and ill-will (Snake). And they are destined to roam forever within the 6 Realms.

" Rare is birth as human being
Hard is the life of mortals
Hard is the hearing of the sublime truth
Rare is the appearance of the Buddhas" - Dhammapada 182

Only one with diligent effort and unswerving determination will breaks through the fettter of ignorance, craving and ill-will that will one attains the state of Nibbana.

Do good;

Avoid evil;

Purify your mind

Buddhism starts with :

• Ti-ratana - taking refuge in triple Gem -
  The Buddha,
  The dharma and The Sangha.
• Knowing the Four Noble
  Truth
• Understanding the Eightfold
  Path
• Practising Five Percepts
• Meditation
  

Detach yourself with delusions (perception caused by 6 senses - see, smell, taste, touch, hear and thoughts).

Detach yourself with existence. There is no "I"!!!!

Nothing more peaceful than the MIDDLE PATH.

To be continued ........

Eightfold Path by Bhante Punaji

While listening to Norah Jones - One Fligh Down ...


I am transcripting this : - Teaching of Buddha : 8 Fold Path by Bhante Punaji.


I hope am able to give you all accuriate information. For any question you may visit Brickfield Buddhist Maha Vihara to enquire. :P ... just don't quote my name .. >:)



From Bro Sumitta : My Spiritual Journey about 4 Noble Truth . I continue with 8 fold path.


It is important for us to know the correct path and right effort to follow to lead to Nibbana.

This pick is from Bhante Punaji Meditation Retreat Booklet:

The aim of retreat is to purify the mind. The reason is simple - by purifying the mind one becomes GOOD, HAPPY AND WISE. The Individual creates society, and society creates the world. Therefore, we begin with the individual, and that is : - YOU. The impurities to be eradicated are the self-centred emotions.

Very often, in the West, we hear people raising doubts, when we speak of purifying the mind. This is partly due to certain concepts prevalent in the West. It is partly due to some Western religious beliefs and partly due to some concepts in Western psychology adn biology.

Some religious beliefs have maintained that human beings can never be pure. for only God is pure. There is a common saying in the West, " To err is human, but to forgive divine." In addition, there has been a historical reason for this Western attitude of mind. A religious community called Puritans, who were also supposed to purify the mind, had created some negative feelings in Western Society.

Some modern Western psychologists such as Sigmund Freud have thought that emotions are natural and instinctual, and that emotional arousal is built into our system, and therefore emotion cannot be eliminated. Even modern biological thinking supports this concept. They think that emotion is necessary for the preservation of life in animals, including humans.

It was Buddha, 25 centuries earlier in the East, who showed the way to attain a perfectly pure mind. Many of his disciples achieved this mental purity thought the natural human technique taught by the Buddha. There is this oft quoted saying of the Buddha : " The mind is essentially pure, it is polluted by adventitious impurities. Ignorance of this fact keeps people suffering, by preventing them from purifying their minds. " Here the mind is obviously compared to water. For water is a pure substance, which get polluted due to foreign matter falling into it. It is due to this reason that water can be purified thought a proper technique of meditation. It is this saving technique of the Buddha that you will learn during retreat.

By following this technique conscientiously, you can verify it in the crucible of your own experience. This special Technique of the Buddha is called The Sublime Eightfold Way (Ariya atthangika mangga). It is a supernormal technique because its aim is to bring normal unhappiness to a supernormal level of happiness, unlike modern psychotherapy, which can only bring abnormal suffering to a normal level of unhappiness.

1) Right Thoughts / Harmonious Perspective

2) Right Understanding / Harmonious Orientation

3) Right Speech / Harmonious Speech

4) Right Action / Harmonious Action

5) Right Livelihood / Harmonious Life style

6) Right Effort / Harmonious Exercise

7) Right Concentration / Harmonious Attention

8) Right Mindfulness / Harmonious Equilibrium

It begins with the Harmonious Perspective. It is based on a principle discovered only recently in the West by Cognitive Psychologists. This important principle is that our views determine how we feel, and how we feel determine how we act. when our views are changed, our emotions change; when our emotions change, our behavior changes accordingly. This principle may also be stated as :

As we think , so we feel; as we feel, so we act

To change our behavior, we have to change the way we think and feel. This is important to remember when we study the Sublime Eightfold Way, and also when we want to change any habit.


Meditation will be understood as SELECTIVE thinking, or choosing the thoughts we think. Normally, thoughts come into our minds unconsciously. The moment we become conscious of them, they STOP. If we are carried away by whatever thought that comes into the mind, we remain unconscious. This is what is called day dreaming. Mediation, on the other hand is being awake and noticing the thoughts that come into the mind. It is also consciously selecting the thoughts we think.

Oscar Wilde

I thought that I will continue writing about BUDDHISM. Than this Poet catched my eyes.



There is famous quote by him that me and Bro Sumitta loves is " A true friend stabs you in the front"



Here is some stories about him:



Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. Known for his barbed wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. As the result of a famous trial, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years of hard labour after being convicted of the offence of "gross indecency."



Quotes by him :

"Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be
wrong."

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest
intention."

"There is luxury in self-reproach.... When we blame ourselves we feel
no one else has a right to blame us."
Quotations

"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing
in life; now that I am old I know that it is."
Money

"Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are
infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you."
Money

"How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being."
Marriage

"A man who marries his mistress leaves a vacancy in that
position."
Men

"There is luxury in self-reproach.... When we blame ourselves we feel
no one else has a right to blame us."
Miscellaneous

"Bigamy is having one husband or wife too many. Monogamy is the
same."
Marriage


"True friends stab you in the front."
Government, Friends

"History is merely gossip."
Economics, History

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they
go." Success, Insults

"Science is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon
eternal truths. Art is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon
things beautiful and immortal and ever-changing. To morals belong the lower and
less intellectual spheres."

Find more at http://www.quoteworld.org/authors/oscar-wilde