A long time ago in a living room far far away … … ok, it was not so long ago, more like 7 to 8 years ago, and it’s not really far away, if you happen to live in Singapore. There was a time, before I became a monk, when I owned a car, a green Mazda 323. Decent car, got me around. After the company transport allowance, I only had to top up $200+ monthly for the car loan. Life was good. Until The Dent. Or The Scratch. Read More …
Category: Buddhism
What Is It That Vexes You?
Someone recently used logic and reason to refute a statement I made. What she said about it (potentially) vexing me got
me thinking about whether that actually vexes me.
Logic and reasons do not vex me. Absence of it and denial of its absence, potentially … .. escapes and perhaps vex me to a certain extent. 😉
So what vexes you?
Making the Choice to be Happy
It’s interesting when we think about how we often talk about pursuing happiness in life bla bla blah, when in real life, no one will quite answer “I’m pursuing happiness” when asked “What are you pursuing in life right now?”.
When I meet some new people, I like to ask them “What do you do?”. They would then tell me they are in whatever trade or profession they are in. When I ask them “What you are doing these days?”, they would reply with a gist of whatever projects or activities they are currently engaged in.
When you ask them what they hope to see happen in their life 10 to 20 years later, maybe some will say marriage, a good career etc etc, depending on their age, direction in life and so on. I’ve yet to meet someone who would tell me, they are “pursuing happiness” right this moment.
Maybe it’s because you cannot just go to the mall to get it. Or that it’s so intangible. While you are experiencing it, you barely think about it, when you loose it, then you realise its absence! Nevertheless, I would like to suggest this, for you and everyone to do this for yourself: Make a choice to be happy!
Now I am not suggesting for us to start making yet another wishlist of “If I have XYZ I would be happy”, but to start making a different list this time. This time, make a list that says “Whether or not I get XYZ, I will choose to be happy!”. 🙂
Later on, I’ll suggest some ways for staying happy regardless of outcome XYZ, in the mean time, feel free to share your thoughts and comments.
See also The Mathematics of Happiness
Daily Exercise II
Daily Exercise II
From the earlier Daily Exercises (Vesak Exercises), one should have determined certain traits about oneself. One should become aware of certain patterns in one’s life that may be beneficial or harmful. With that in mind, it is then time to move to the next stage: Practice!
1.Practice Day
2.Practice Week
Read More …
Human Rights vs Human Responsibilities
The one place you would not expect to find demand of “Human Rights” would be in a college, a Buddhist College I mean. One would think that 1) a Buddhist College would be extolling values above and beyond mere human rights and 2) students (monks in this case) would not really care much about human rights (HR). Afterall, Buddhism as a whole seem to point towards an attitude of non-attachment and non-self (no-self or not-self if you will!), it seem strange that they while working towards these ideals, would be so concerned with human rights. After all, without a self, who is to enjoy the rights or suffer their absence?
But this article is not about that. This article is about what I think Human Rights is and its place in an Asian society vs the role of Human Responsibilities. Read More …
The Shrink Is In … Letting It Out … … Your Anger I Mean
You know what they say, in some therapy, in some movies, or some TV shows, where the patient is advised to just let out their anger? Or in some cases, yourself or a friend who actually sees a “shrink” and you are told to acknowledge your anger (or whatever emotions you are dealing with! … rarely is it happiness!). Some of these scenes (not sure in real life) would further include the patient shouting out “I’m angry! I’m flabbergasted! I’m so f**king pissed!” … and in some cases even throwing things, and the good doctor would then say “Good good! Acknowledge your emotions. … ” etc etc …
I’m just wondering if anyone who tried this realise that the mere acknowledging or more rightly, the identifying with emotions in such manner, serves also to strengthen them. The mere “I am angry”, reinforces that well, I am angry. But where’s the I, as they would say? There’s probably a letting go part that some of these movies or real life accounts are missing, or maybe I didn’t watch the right ones or the persons I hear it from didn’t go to the right shrink. But is it just me or isn’t it harder to let it go later on after we have identified with it saying “I am angry” like a gazillion times?? Read More …