Who Are We?

Started off by a series of SMS with a friend when i related to her some simple exercises on how she can gain a little insight to who she really is. If you are interested, you can try these 2 simple exercise to help you settle into the present moment and gain a little insight to the workings of your mind.

Hear More with Silence

Breathing Mindfully

Now back to the topic proper - she mentioned that she is struggling to find out who she really is. If we all recall, most of us probably heard or came across this famous quote, "I think, therefore I am." sometime in our lives. I replied to her something similar ~ We are what we think we are. We are also what we think we are not. She got a little baffled at this and since it is difficult to explain via sms, i promised to write a short note on this and hopefully it will help.

First of all, we must understand interdependency and how we can relate it to our daily lives. Every single phenomena can only exist the way it exist now because of all other phenomena that exist exactly the way they were, they are and they will be. Any condition lacking and we will not know the world exactly the way it is now.

Imagine if any of the events that led you up to this stage in life did not happen, what will it be like? And also contemplate along this line, for all that did not happen - they also helped to shape the world exactly the way it is now. Once we are able to relate in such a manner, we will appreciate why Buddha said these exact words, "When this is, that is. From the arising of this comes the arising of that. When this isn't, that isn't. From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that."

This is why i replied that we are what we are and we are also what we are not. Every single person and event enable us to define exactly who we are in this very moment and yes when i mentioned event, it includes our very thoughts as well. So when we are also defined by what we think we are and in the same spirit we are also what think we are not, for it allows us to set the boundaries and define what we think we are.

Afterall, we cannot know long without knowing short, we cannot know joy without sorrow and we cannot also know happiness without suffering. So, the same reasoning applies, we cannot know who we are until we know who we are not =)

Erinne The Little Ballerina

Activities may not always go with plan but even so, life is full of surprises and many of them can be pleasant if we learn to live in the present moment and not dwell on the past. Sunday was one of them.

On Sunday, i planned to go over to Winson's and pay a little visit to Erinne, my god daughter so she can her birthday present that was purchased on the 9th when i was at the Mickey's Mouse concept store at the newly opened Tampines 1. It's a nice little pink watch with Walt Disney's Princesses =)

Her birthday falls on 29th but i was working the afternoon shift for the past weeks. Coupled with the fact that exams and Mark's wedding were just over 22nd, i wasn't able to afford time in the evenings to visit her till the weekend where we can have the entire day at our disposal. Haha, talk about long awaited present.

The initial plan was to pop over, see the kids, pass the presents (yes, there is more than 1 present cos i couldn't resist buying Erinne and Etienne some books during the MPH warehouse sale), spend some time with the kids for the afternoon and meet Qin in the evening.

Like i mentioned earlier, things didn't exactly go to plan but still the day went pleasantly. Received a sms from Qin that she's not gonna be able to meet up and so that freed up the entire evening for me. And guess what, Bud mentioned that Erinne's has a open house for her ballet lesson and maybe i could join him if i'm free. It's meant for the parents to see how their children are progressing and also for a quick sort of teacher meet the parents session.

So there we are, with the rest of the parents watching all 12 little gals practice their basic ballet moves. Haha and those gals don't seem to be too happy or enjoying themselves. I can't blame them, there were more adults than kids in the room and their instructor, Tricia Tan, kept poking fun at them, "Are your parents so scary? Girls, come on, let's smile."

Not all were lost. There were moments when the girls giggled and smiled ~ although its probably not as much as the rest of the times when the parents were not around. A quick note to Bud that i should try to come again the next open house and capture some shots with a proper DSLR and he was in total agreement. So, let's hope that the next time i post something on the Erinne The Little Ballerina, its with pictures. =)

Marley and Me (not me, but john grogan)

Finished the read more than a week ago but its only today that i really managed some time to write a quick review on this lovely title.

I have to admit that this is probably one of the books that i would never have imagine picking up at full price from our usual bookstores and i didn't ~ got it at about near 50% off during the MPH warehouse at Expo couple of weeks back.

It's sometimes how wondrous things worked out. My usual genre of reads are along the lines of fantasy or buddhist philosophies and you can see that this was way out ~ its non-fiction.

During the sale, i couldn't help but remembered David's recommendation (with Pearlyn's seconding it) on how good the film was (oh yes, there was a recent film adapted from this book starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston). So much so that i decided why not, go ahead and give it a try, it may surprise me. A book in most respects, is usually more detailed than the film and if a film is already so enjoyable, the book shouldn't be a disappointment.

Surprise it did. You don't need to be a dog lover to fall in love with the book. Afterall, its not a book just about the life of Marley. It's more than that. It's about the connections and the events that Marley shared with John and his family. The connections between them were so strong that Marley is a more a family member than just an ordinary pet. This is despite Marley providing them with so much issues and problems throughout his living years.

But it is through accepting each other's faults and issues that we endear to one another because with the faults comes along the love and joy shared. Like what we often hear but do not realise ~ It comes in a package =) So, go ahead, try this package and feel the connections with Marley, John, Jenny and their 3 lovely children.