Empty? Full? Part 1

Holding up a bowl filled with water, the Lord asked his disciples, "Is this bowl full or empty?" One of them replied, "Lord, it is full."

Emptying the water, the Lord asked his disciples again, "Is this bowl now full or empty?" The same disciple replied, "My Lord, it is now empty."

The Lord exclaimed, "How can you say that! You should know better."
Seeing the perplexed faces of his disciples, he explained, "It is not empty, it is now full of air."

The dialog reminds us how misleading our perceptions can be. How our minds can be trapped by past perceptions, notions, dogmas and doctrines if we are to be too attached to what was in the past instead of being mindful of the present moment.

Non-duality is the true face of reality. To hold on to a view that it is or a view that it is not, can be erroneous. Reality needs to be experienced, it cannot be described by words or signs alone. Just like the bowl, it is experiencing reality fully without attachments, thus be it empty or full, it is in full contact with the present moment.

Heehee, maybe oneday, all of us will become bowls. To experience reality fully without attachments. =)

C & C ~ My Takes =)

C & C ~ Clarke Quay and Changi Boardwalk. Two very different sides of Singapore.

One's a bustling colourful street that comes to life as the sun sets, enchanting us with its beautiful lights. It's almost seems that it is requesting us to live life in the most colourful way we can ever be.

The other, however exudes a sense of peace and calmness among our hectic schedule. Somewhat reminding us to slow our pace down and to enjoy our life journey filling it with simplicity and joy.

Here's my take on them (links are below). Hope you'll enjoy the photos as much as i enjoy taking them. =)

Clarke Quay

Changi Boardwalk

潘嘉丽 - Love Me, Kelly

I did not follow the competition Project Superstar, pretty much did not know what to expect from 潘嘉丽 first debut solo album. Only time i heard her sing before this album were the numerous promotion clips for Project Superstar aired during TV commercial times.

It's definitely an album worth listening to. She carried the songs well. =) Hmm, i felt that there's a tinge of sandy lam in her voice. Sweet and soothing, excellent type of vocals for singing love ballads. Can't say much for her album cover and the pics provided. Pretty sure that she could have been made to look better in those album shots. Haha, it's pretty alright. Afterall, it's the songs and the voice behind them that really matters. =)

Just a bit of nit picking. The last song, 关于爱情, duet with 洪俊扬, does not fit into the overall theme. Sort of broke the tempo.

Recommended Tracks :
Track 2 爱, 无力
Track 3 答案
Track 5 有些爱
Track 6 非爱不可
Track 7 那一秒说的话
Track 9 美丽笨女人

The Art Of Happiness

A book where the east meets west, combining Dalai Lama's eastern spiritual tradition with psychiatrist Dr. Howard C. Cutler's western perspective.

It covers most areas of our human experience with the application of Tibetan Buddhism to everyday problems and how one can achieve peace and harmony. It is further augmented by Dr Howard's own observations and commentary.

As the basis of the book was on the numerous meetings that Dr Howard had with Dalai Lama, the book virtually comes to life as Dr Howard recounts their dialogs. It gives the reader a feeling that he or she was in the very room acting as a third party observer.

In the book, one underlying principle of the Dalai Lama was constantly stressed upon ~ that all of us have the innate desire to be happy. We know that people only hurt us because they want to be happy but due to their igorance, they have instead caused hurt. Knowing everyone around you shares the same innate desire to be happy, it makes it easier for us to forgive one another since we are all same in this fundamental manner. =)

One point in the book struck me ~ the subject of self-hatred. A well-known sickness of the mind in the field of psychiatric. Quite unknown to Dalai Lama at the time when this was first brought to his attention. As the book progressed, Dr Howard realised that self-hatred has its roots in our innate desire to be happy, to self-love. Acts of committing suicides, abusing themselves are the ignorant ways of people to escape suffering, to be happy.

Thus it is important that we understand love must come hand in hand with wisdom for us to lead a loving and meaningful lives that will benefit both ourselves and the people around. Think i'll stop here and sincerely wish that all of us will proceed with our lives with self-love and wisdom. =)

郭美美 ”不怕不怕”

Owned the album for sometime. Been wanting to write a quick review on it but just couldn't find the time to do so till now. So, here goes ~ I did not take a fancy to her first two singles, 老鼠爱大米 and 不怕不怕. It just didn't feel quite right and most likely, due to the songs themselves. It wasn't her, not quite her style.

If you have the same opinion as me, then i'm quite sure you'll be pleasantly surprised by her current album. Of course, her two singles are found in the album. What's more important are the songs that can be found within this album that truly showcases her talent. Her strong and distinct voice that wonderfully fills the sense of hearing of the listener. =)

Overall, a joy to listen to if you can bear with that 2 singles. =) Haha, there's always that skip button around, isn't it?

Recommended tracks:
Track 1 愛是你眼裡的一首情歌
Track 2 大聲說愛
Track 4 剪刀石頭布
Track 8 兩難
Track 9 回家真好

Broken Marriages

Met MM a couple of days back for dinner. After dinner, we had a nice cup of coffee at Dome Bishan. I still think Dome serves one of the most excellent hot coffee around (haha, can't say the same for their cold drinks though). =)

It was a nice evening chat, updated each other on our recent happenings. Among the topics and updates, we happened to touch on broken marriages. I supposed the topic popped up since all of us are at the common age for chancing upon such things, be it through ourselves, friends or any other mediums.

Why are there broken marriages? Of course, each case is unique to the circumstances and conditions that finally leads to the breakup and there are so many different factors involved. However, it is usually not a single factor that leads to the breakup. More than often, it is an accumulation of several factors over a period of time.

There is however one factor that i like to highlight. The factor of failing to recognise the transformation of love. First we have to understand that most of us fall in love, get together for a while before we tie the knots. More than often, such love is what we know as passionate love. Love that gives you excitement, makes your heart flutter everytime you see your sweetheart and puts you to heaven, above the clouds. Very nice feeling, a feeling that most of us yearn for.

After tying the knots and living with one another for a number of years, the couple realised that all the passion they felt during their courtship days and early days of marriage is no longer there. Life becomes somewhat peaceful and calm. They start to ask themselves what happened. Has the flame of love gone out? Does my partner still love me? Do i still love my partner? Finding no answers and unable to feel the passion anymore, they start to tell themselves that love is no longer there. From there, begins the downfall of the relationship. Sometimes, ending in divorces.

What they did not recognise was the very fact that the passionate love of a couple had transformed into a much more endearing type of kinship love between husband and wife. Instead of nuturing such love, they weaken and destroy it by looking elsewhere for passionate love once more. To feel the excitement once again.

Such kinship love is not easy to come by, it can take years to develop and nurture. It is the touching type of love where both partners come to accept each other truly as part of their life. Such love can create great understanding, trust and bondage between the couple. The problem with us it seems, instead of exploring the wonders of such love, we look and crave for past feelings. We stop living in the present where happiness can be truly found.

With all sincerity, i wish all of us will never fall into such blindness. To my all friends out there, may your marriage (for singles, that will be your future marriage lah) be filled with bliss in every moment. =)

Kamma

Had a conversation over msn with Su a couple days back and we briefly touched on the topic kamma. Decidedly to write something on it. If anything deviates from the teachings, then it is solely due to my limited understanding. Please let me know if that's the case so that i may deepen my understading. =)

Kamma, commonly known as the law of causes and effects. However, it is more than that. The law of causes and effects only form part of kamma. The word kamma implies volition meaning action with intention. Action here will encompass all three aspects, mental, speech and body. With every deed, it is naturally followed by an effect and this is how kamma came to be commonly known as the law of cause and effect.

Kamma itself can be a very broad subject but i'll try to touch on as much as to my limited knowledge. At the same time, i'll try to present it with an alternative view and how it may be applicable in our daily life. There are four main types of kamma. They are kamma that rippens in this birth, kamma that rippens in next birth, kamma that rippens in successive births and kamma that is ineffective due to a lack of auxillary conditions.

Some of us may find the notion of re-birth hard to swallow but why not look at the notion of re-birth to mean as seeing each moment anew. Or maybe you can think of it in such a way, each time you wake up, you are re-born as a new person. In that case, it is not so hard to relate to kamma. =)

As such, the first type of kamma can be looked upon as kamma that rippens immediately, e.g. the action of throwing a ball out of the hand, the effect is immediately seen as the ball flying away from you. The second type of kamma can be treated as kamma that rippens only in the next moment. e.g. the ball hits and breaks your neighbour's window after it is flung out of your hand. While the third type of kamma are those that bear fruits much later. e.g. your neighbour is out of town and doesn't know about the matter till he or she gets back. As for the last type, as the name suggest, kamma that doesn't rippen due to a lack of conditions. e.g. without a security camera, your neighbour may not find out who broke the window.

As mentioned kamma starts with intention. If we entertain certain thoughts long and often enough, it will leave an imprint powerful enough to materialise itself as speech or even physical actions. That is often why habits are hard to kick and also the reason why certain people keep repeating certain actions. As such, it is not hard to understand that all things are what we willed them to be with our kamma. Haha, reflecting on this fact, i think we should be honest enough to own up. A matter of conscience and also to refrain ourselves from making a habit out of lying and cowardice. =)

Kamma is then further divided into the following categories. Kamma that produces their own resultants, kamma that supplements (supports) the resultants of another, kamma that alters the resultants of another and kamma that destroys the resultants of another.

These kamma can be easier understood if we look at it using the examples of marble balls. Making use of one ball to hit another, it produces a direct effect of the second marble rolling in the direction that it was hit with earlier (own resultants). If we were to throw another and hit the second marble, mentioned earlier, in the same direction, it will help the marble to roll even further (supplement kamma). However, if we were to throw another from the side, it will alter the direction of the marble (altering kamma). But if we were to scoop the rolling marble up with our hand, we have stopped its rolling effects (destructive kamma). How it affects your daily lives, i leave this bit for you to contemplate. =)

Now that we understand that kamma is a natural law, it is just, it does not love nor hate. Life is conditioned the way it is being moulded by our very own actions. It is important for us to be mindful of our actions. Do bear this in mind that we are not due to receive our kamma in just proportion, we always have the choice to change them if we make the effort. A good example is in the earlier example of rolling marble. Without interference, it will continue to roll in that straight line. However, if we are quick enough to throw out another ball, then it can be enough to hit the first ball and alter its original course or even stop it in its track.

Actually kamma is more much more than what i have written but it's late in the nite. Think I'll just stop here. Yawnzz, nite nite. =)