May All Beings...

May all beings be free,
May all beings be happy,
May all beings be free from the causes of suffering.

May all sentient beings in the ten directions be well, happy and peaceful

Today is the last day of 2010. It has been an eventful year.

Goodbye and thank you so much for all the blessings that you have given us...

Cheers!!

Life is Sacred

The world is facing many challenges as the 2010 draws to an end.

There are climate change, inequality, poverty and starvation, religious and ideological persecutions, mass migrations and war.

How did we end up in this reality?

Perhaps, it is because each of us, individually, is so caught up in our selfish and relentless pursuit of happiness.

This is manifested by our need to accumulate material things, in the greed that we see in Wall Streets and in our desperation to keep up with the Jones next door.

Faced with the clear consequences of our choices, many of us justify our decisions and increase our denial by saying that there is little that we can do to change the world.

That is not true!

Each of us have to step up to save the world. We have to start seeing that everything in life is sacred, each with its own holiness.

It starts with each of us making crucial changes in our attitudes and behaviors, through being open to our spiritual selves, supporting and encouraging each other.

We have to begin seeing all of life as sacred, starting with ourselves and our fellow human beings. It also extends to other species and the very planet earth itself.

Respecting and protecting the gift of life unconditionally is an inclusive path. It does not reject people who are different from us, who have different values from us or with ways of living different from us.

There are no excuses of violence and social injustice like racism or misogyny.

It is a path of love where we appreciate our own gift of life.

So start today. Begin with yourself by resolving to appreciate all that life is manifesting in front of us.

Make little steps to practise compassion and to love all sentient beings.

Inspiring Speech from Charlie Chaplin

Listen, ponder and act.

Life Priorities

"More than ever,
We have big houses and broken homes,
High incomes and low morale,
Secured rights and diminished civility.
We excel at making a living,
But often fail at making a life." - David Meyers, pyschologist


As the year comes to an end, perhaps it is a good time to pause and reflect how we have lived throughout 2010.

We some times forget to consider what exactly are our needs instead of our wants.

We chase after what we desire rather than be grateful for what we already have in front of us.

The happiest people are those who need the least, not those who want to have the most.

Don't make the mistake of spending money buying stuff to impress people, to make yourself feel important. These are transient.

Thousands of people work long hours to earn a big income to pay a big mortgage on their beautiful house. They do not really enjoy the house because they are not home much as they have to work hard to pay for it.

Yet, life is actually very simple when you priorities on your needs.

Your personal, financial and emotional safety should be your first priority.

All other things are just your wants that cannot make you happier than you already are.

Celebrate the simple things in life - spend time with your love ones, watch a beautiful sunrise or stop to smell the flowers.

These experiences are priceless...

It's Christmas Time

It is Christmas, the happiest day of the year...

It is a magical time for the innocent children who still believe that Santa Claus will deliver presents to them because they have been good.

It is a stressful time for adults, who rush about doing last minute shopping and preparing for the usual feast.

It is a time to be grateful for all the blessings that we have been given throughout the year.

And it is a time to think about the less fortunate who are suffering during these holidays, still struggling with the results of the Great Financial Crisis, the impact of foreclosures and the depth of bankruptcy.

Spare a prayer for the poor mother who has no money to buy a present for her child.

Help someone who has to spend the holidays in the bitter winter cold.

Be generous and donate what you can to those who are less fortunate than you.

It can be money, it can be your time and it can even be a simple kind word for your fellow-man in need.

Have a blessed Christmas - may you all be blessed with peace, prosperity and happiness during the holidays.

Winds of Change

'The winds of grace are always blowing, but to catch them we have to raise our sails'
- Sri Ramakrishna (Indian Mystic)

Yes, opportunities are all around us. It is only when we recognize the winds of opportunities and take concrete actions would we be able to reap its rewards.

It is up to us to accept that changes comes into our lives everyday.

We can neither deny it nor reject these changes.

We just have to have the grace to accept these changes and believe that we will reach a better place because of what we did.

So, do not be afraid of the winds of change.

Instead, welcome it, rejoice in it and be thankful for the new opportunities that comes with it.

Cats Playing

Amazing!! These cats are so intelligent and aware.

Hallelujah by Opera Company of Philadelphia

The Opera Company of Philadelphia had an impromptu performance at the city's Macy store.

What a beautiful presentation of the sentiments for the Holidays!! Everybody is so moved that they spontaneously join in the joyous singing. Glorious!

Enjoy!

Listen For The Quiet

With the holiday seasons upon us, many of us are busy making plans on how to celebrate the coming Christmas and New Year.

There will be many presents to buy, parties to plan and invitations to send.

There will also be the worries of how much money we can afford to splurge during these holidays. And of course, you are also faced with the various challenges of shopping for presents in the crowded malls.

It is at these times that we feel very stressed - stressed with the lack of time, the crowds everywhere, the difficulties finding a parking space.

And also wondering how to maintain the holiday cheers amidst being frazzled with all that needs to be done.

There are unspoken expectations to fulfill - from your spouse, from your children and from your family; expectations that everything will be perfect - the perfect present, the perfect party, the perfect good cheer.

When you are stressed and tense, go somewhere to find 30 seconds of quietness. Spend the time to gather your thoughts and calm yourself.

Let calm thoughts permeate through your mind. Picture calm scenes that you have previously encountered, perhaps a favorite holiday.

Listen for silence in the midst of all the Christmas carols.

Listen for the quiet that you find in unexpected places.

And find your sanity in all these madness.

Awaken to the beauty that money cannot buy in the shopping malls...

The Purpose of Life

I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy.

From the very core of our being, we desire contentment.

In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.

Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter.

It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone.

The key is to develop inner peace.

~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

All About Gold

Don’t have enough money to buy gold? Start saving your money into Online Savings Accounts. [Source: Money Hacker]

Some Insights into the data on our infographic:

All Gold Ever Mined – The total amount of gold ever mined is estimated to be worth around US$5 trillion.

How Gold is Used – You might have though (like me) that most of the gold in the world stored in bank vaults and lock-boxes? Actually, 78 % of the worlds’ gold is made into jewelery. Other industries, mostly electronics, medical, and dental, require about 12%. The remaining 10% of the yearly gold supply is used in financial transactions.

Producers and Owners – The starkest contrast is South Africa: number 27 on the list of nations that own the most gold list despite producing the most gold in the world per year from its mines.

Gold production in the United States – The State of Nevada has the world’s lowest cost and most profitable gold mines. The mines average output is about 7 million ounces per year.

The Fed’s Vault – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has the largest accumulation of monetary gold. The vault is 25 meters (80 feet) underground and holds $147 billion worth of gold bullion.
Current gold price trading on Wall Street:

If the value of gold on the New York stock market is anything to go by then you can see how much its been a safe haven for investors:
And now for some facts and factoids about gold:

Gold Discovery – The first discovery of gold in the USA was an 8 kg nugget of gold found by the son of a farmer. He and his father were using this stone as the support for a door until the local jeweller noticed it. And the owner sold this stone for $3.5. Finally the farmer understood this piece was very valuable and opened the first gold-mine in the country.

Largest Gold Nugget Ever Found – The largest gold nugget ever found was in Australia in 1869. It was named “Welcome Stranger,” It weighed 78 kilograms. After it was melted down 71 Kg of pure gold was left.

The US Gold Drain – When the American dollar was first pushed as the world de-facto currency it was backed by gold. One ounce of gold was worth $35. After 25 years of the American’s continual printing of money however, $35 was no longer worth an ounce of gold. In actual fact one ounce of gold was worth $105. As a result foreign countries, beginning with France in the late 1960’s, started to buy gold at $35 until the United States Government stopped selling its gold, thus removing gold backing from its dollar.

Private Gold Ownership Banned in the USA – Private ownership of gold was banned in the United States for 41 years. It lasted from 1933 to 1974.

Gold Refined and Rare – If all the gold that had been refined in the world was put into a cube, its sides would be roughly 20 metres long but would only weigh 1/10 of the Washington Monument.

Gold Nugget – Gold nuggets are actually quite rare. A gold nugget can sell for up to 4 times the worth of the amount of gold in it.

Gold Leaf – Gold leaf is commonly 0.18 microns (seven millionths of an inch) thick. It’s so thin that a stack of 7,055 sheets would be no thicker than a dime.

Largest Gold Nugget Still in Nugget Form – The ‘Hand of Faith’, is the largest gold nugget still in existence. It weighs 27 Kg (60 pounds) and is currently on display at the Golden Nugget hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Gold and Medicine – Thousands of rheumatoid arthritis victims have chemically liquefied gold injected into their muscles. It is said that the treatment is successful in seven out of ten cases.

The Heaviness of Gold – Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton.

The Malleability of Gold – A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long.

Gold in Water – The worlds’ largest stock pile of gold is actually in the oceans. For every cubic mile of sea water there is 25 tons of gold! That’s a total of about 10 billion tons of gold in the oceans; unfortunately, there’s no known way to recover it economically.

Artificial Creation of Gold – Gold can be transmitted from platinum by nuclear reaction. But, because of the rarity of platinum, it is far too costly.

Gold in Space – The visors of astronauts’ space helmets receive a coating of gold so thin (0.00005 millimeters, or 0.000002 inches) that it is partially transparent. The astronauts can see through it, but even this thin layer reduces glare and heat from sunlight.

Gold in the Bible – You may be interested to know that gold is mentioned 417 times in the Bible. And, the last book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation states that in the New Heavens and New Earth the streets will made from pure gold!

The 4 Standards of Truth

The Four Standards of Truth (Siddhanta) are another guide to help us understand the Buddha’s teachings

The First Standard is ‘the worldly.’ The teaching is offered in the language of the world so that those in the world will be able to understand. We have to take into account the contemporary cosmologies, arts, philosophies, metaphysics, and so forth and deal with them. For example, we call the days of the week Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. We divide time into days, months, and years to express truth relatively, for our convenience. When the Buddha tells us that he was born in Lumbini, it is in accordance with the First Standard.

The Second Standard is ‘the person.’ We must remember as we read the Buddha’s discourses that his words varied according to the needs and aspirations of his listeners. When the Buddha taught, he was deeply aware of the particular assembly, and what was specifically addressed to them.

The Third Standard is ‘healing.’ When the Buddha spoke, it was always to cure the particular illness of those he was addressing. Everyone has some illness that needs to be healed. When you speak to express healing, what you say will always be helpful.

The Fourth Standard is ‘the absolute.’ The Buddha expressed absolute truth directly and unequivocally. He said there is no self even when people did not believe or agree with him. He said it because he knew it was true. Fifteenth-century explorers said the world was round even when the community threatened to imprison them for saying so. We can use these Four Standards of Truth to understand the Sutras as we read them.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Difference Between Having and Living

Every year, there are huge sales everywhere in USA stores, where merchandises are marked down by 50% - 90%.

This usually happen the day after Thanksgiving and that day is known as Black Friday, as it is the one day of the year that retailers may have so much sales that it can help them stay in the black (profit)for the rest of the year.

The above is a video of people rushing through Walmart when its doors were thrown opened. Many people stumbled and got trampled in the melee.

Below is another video of another Walmart location where shoppers are tearing down the store in their greed to grab the best deal.



What is it with human beings that we behave like animals just to save some money?

What is the compulsion to accumulate material things?

Would getting a flat-screen TV for 50% off make you feel fulfilled and happy? Is getting the Wii or IPad like achieving nirvana? Can wearing the latest branded clothes with a 90% discount make you feel better and more adequate as a person?

Hey, people!! Take a step back from your madness.

Look at other God's creatures big and small. Each is happy with what the Universe has provided for them.

You do not see any animals scavenging for food and stock-piling it some where because of greed? They just eat what they need and when they are satisfied, they stop.

And the animals are so zen and peaceful about their lives.

Realize that there is a big difference between having and living.

Having too much material things will only clutter your life and waste your energy accumulating them. These things will only weigh you down

Better to live simply and enjoy the Present now...

Questions in the Heart

“I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.

Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.

The point is to live everything. Live the questions now.

Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903


The above philosophy resonates a lot with me.

A lot of times, we plan, we scheme and we act because we want to attain some goals, to reach some objectives or to realize some achievements.

And in the process of doing that, we face failures and inadequacies because we force the outcome that we desired and the results that we want.

However, your time-table for certain things to happen in your life is not the time-table that the Universe is following.

The Universe, in its infinite wisdom, will unfold the events when the time is right.

Therefore, when you feel that things are not going well in your life, perhaps, it is time to step back and put the questions into your heart.

Accept that the timing is not right now for you to realize your ambitions.

Accept that the Universe knows that you are not ready yet to accept the outcome yet.
The Universe knows that, perhaps you do not have the necessary life experiences or skills to deal with the situation now.

So, surrender to the unknown and live your life now, in the Present.

And know deep in your heart that the many questions and yearnings that you have in your heart will manifest the solutions and answers to you when you are at the right place in life and the timing is right.

Feel the freedom of surrendering to a higher power.

And be awaken to all the possibilities...

Baby Moved By Song

Even a 6-month old baby can be moved by the sadness of this song, "Legend", sung by Faye Wong.

Here is a translation of the song : -

王菲- 传奇
Faye Wong – Legend

只是因为在人群中多看了你一眼
Just because the one more glance I took of you in the crowd

再也没能忘掉你容颜
I haven’t since been able to forget your face

梦想着偶然能有一天再相见
Wishing for another chance encounter someday

从此我开始孤单思念
From then on I began to think about you alone

想你时你在天边
When I’m thinking about you, you are far far away

想你时你在眼前
When I’m thinking about you, you are before my eyes

想你时你在脑海
When I’m thinking about you, you are in my heart

想你时你在心田
When I’m thinking about you, you are in my mind

宁愿相信我们前世有约
I’d rather believe that we had a past life promise

今生的爱情故事不会再改变
And this life our love story will not change

宁愿用这一生等你发现
I’d rather spend my whole life waiting for you to realize

我一直在你身旁从未走远
That I’ve been always by your side and never away


Perhaps this song has a special meaning to the baby in her previous life...

Buddha Chanting

The chanting of Amitabha Buddha's Name can be practiced by both the young and old, and those in the prime of life. It is suitable for everyone.

When Amitabha Buddha achieved buddhahood, he made 48 magnificent vows to benefit all sentient beings. These vows involved the manifesting of the Western Pure Land and the saving of all sentient beings.

Amitabha's 18th vow is the most significant - He vow to save all sentient beings who called upon him and chant his name and bring them to the Western Paradise : -

"Provided I become a Buddha, if the beings of the ten quarters who after having heard my name, and thus awakened their highest faith and aspiration of re-birth in that country of mine, even they have recollected such a thought for ten times only, they are destinated to be born there, with the exception of those who have committed the five deadly sins (Anantarya), and who have blasphemed the orthodox Law (Dharma), otherwise may I not attain the enlightenment."


Sick people can recite the Buddha's name. These people suffer from the pains of disease because of karmic obstacles. You should hold the Buddha's name in order to lessen these obstacles.

Those who are healthy should take advantage of their health to recite the Buddha's name and dedicate their recitation to insure their perpetual good health.

Old people who are approaching the end of the road should follow the good path to the end. They should recite the Buddha's name.

Young people whose road ahead is filled with limitless light should recite "Na-mo A-mi-tuo-fo" to make the light appear.

Thus, the Dharma-door of Buddha Recitation is suitable for every type of person.

You can chant while walking, standing, sitting, or reclining.

The busiest people can recite the Buddha's name, and people who are the most at leisure can also recite the Buddha's name.

How do you practice recitation when you are very busy?

You practice the Morning and Evening Dharma Method of Ten Recitations. In the morning and the evening do ten recitations. Recite for the length of a single breath, "˜Na-mo A-mi-tuo-fo" repeatedly and that is one recitation.

Ten such breaths are called ˜ten recitations.

In the morning when you get up, wash your face and brush your teeth. Then face the West, or better still face an image of Amitabha Buddha, join your palms together very respectfully and bow three times. Chant "˜Na-mo A-mi-tuo-fo" for the length of ten full breaths. Do this ten times in the morning and ten times in the evening.

Don't deliberately stretch out the length of your breath or cut it short. It should be very natural.

Do this every day without interruption; it will only take five or ten minutes.

Can you recite at other times during the day? Of course you can. The more you recite, the better. With the skill derived from your practice of this Dharma you can be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Suppose someone says, "I'm very stupid. Probably it's useless for me to recite."

In using this technique, the more stupid you are, the better! The wiser you are, the better! No matter how wise you are you cannot exhaust the method of Buddha Recitation. No matter how stupid you are, you are still included within it and it can be your guide.

This method of Buddha Recitation is one of the most expedient Dharma door.

Amitabha Buddha, in his infinite wisdom, know that a lot of sentient beings may not have the necessary skills, mental faculties, time or a guru to teach them the various Sutras. Therefore, He has opened up this Dharma door so that every sentient being can rely on His Vows to achieve enlightenment without having to go through endless rounds of reincarnation.

This is the expedient way to attain enlightenment.

Beauty From the Heart

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
~ Helen Adams Keller

A lot of beauty that surrounds us cannot be readily seen by our eyes.

Why? Because, seeing beauty requires you to be present, mindful and awaken.

Only the heart sees genuine beauty.

It can be as simple as an act of kindness that the heart registers.

It can be a small gesture of generosity accorded to our fellow human beings.

It can be a smile for a stranger that we encounter in the streets.

These are things that the eyes may not register as it is too busy seeing the world around us.

Yet, it is the 'unseen', the little, quiet acts of beauty that the heart instantly recognizes.

Therefore, be silent and let your heart listen and see all the kindness and beauty that surround you every where.

And smile from your heart...

The Lotus

The lotus (padme) is an important symbol in Tibetan Buddhism and is commonly associated with the process of becoming a buddha.

In Tibetan Buddhist iconography, buddhas are often seated on lotus thrones, indicating their transcendent state. A lotus is born in the muck and mud at the bottom of a swamp, but when it emerges on the surface of the water and opens its petals, a beautiful flower appears, unstained by the mud from which it arose.

Similarly, the compassion and wisdom of buddhas arise from the muck of the ordinary world, which is characterized by fighting, hatred, distrust, anxiety, and other negative emotions. These emotions tend to cause people to become self-centered and lead to suffering and harmful actions.

But just as the world is the locus of destructive emotions, it is also the place in which we can become buddhas, perfected beings who have awakened from the sleep of ignorance and who perceive reality as it is, with absolute clarity and with profound compassion for suffering living beings.

Just as the lotus arises from the bottom of a swamp, so buddhas were former humans, immersed in the negative thoughts and actions in which all ordinary beings engage: the strife, wars, petty jealousies, and hatreds to which all humans, animals, and other creatures are subject.

Through their meditative training, however, buddhas have transcended such things, and like lotuses have risen above their murky origins and look down on them unsullied by the mud and mire below.

The symbolism may be extended still further, because buddhas do not simply escape the world and look down on others with pity or detached amusement; rather, like the lotus, which has roots that still connect it with the bottom of the swamp, buddhas continue to act in the world for the benefit of others, continually manifesting in various forms in order to help them, to make them aware if the reality of their situations, and to indicate the path to the awakening of buddhahood, which can free them from all suffering.

- Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (John Powers)

I Still Call Australia Home

Well, it has been nearly 6 months since we moved to Sydney.

We have settled down here comfortably and these videos reflect our feelings very well.

Enjoy!!

Do Not Stand at My Grave

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep,
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain,
I am the shining star at night,
When you awake to the morning light.

My time has come, I am at rest,
I am the sunset in the west,
I am the clouds that race above,
Where I watch over those I love.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I do not die,
So hear these words that here I say,
I am the love that guides your way.

- Author unknown


It is normal to grieve when a loved one dies.

In the cycle of life, birth and death is as natural as the breath that we draw in.

Without darkness, we would not delight in the sunlight.

Without the exquisite pain, we would not be uplifted by joy.

Without loss, we would not be able to treasure love.

Only when there is duality, can we appreciate the infinite beauty of our lives.

So, when someone departs from our lives, the beautiful memories remain to guide us through our remaining lives.

From a Buddhist point of view, there is no death. We just discard this body that we possess and go to another plane of existence.

So, awaken and live in the present... for that is all we have.

Thoughts

"We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts, we make the world."

- The Buddha


It is through our thoughts that we manifest reality to arise.

If we think happy thoughts, we will find that we live in a state of happiness.

When we dwell on negative and dark thoughts, we find our world become more depressing.

The Buddha said that there is no heaven or hell. Heaven or hell is manifested through our mind.

If you think that you are in hell, you will feel that way even though you may be surrounded by beauty, luxury and abundance.

If you think beautiful thoughts, you will find that even in the worst environments, you will feel that you are in heaven.

So, heaven and hell is actually now on earth. It is how you perceive it through your thoughts.

Therefore, focus on your thoughts and know that you can control how you think and how you feel.

Ultimately, awaken!!

Firework and Buddha Light

There is a beautiful message behind Katy Perry's song Firework.

Yes, regardless of your outer appearances, all of us have "fireworks" in our beings.

All of us a unique individuals with different gifts.

It is usually when love is around that the "Buddha light" will shine out from our hearts. It is when we feel love that the light is manifested for all to see

And what a beautiful sight it is...

So, awaken and let your light shine out to all..

Oneness

These days, with the inevitable decline in fertility, with families growing smaller and moving away from where they are born, many people are increasingly finding that they are spending more time alone.

With more people facing stress in their daily lives, making a living and finding that they do not have enough time to squeeze in all the things that they have to do, we find that we sacrifice the spending of time with our families, friends and other people.

And many people suffer from depression as they no longer have the support of their tribes to help them in terms of need.

A sense of loneliness can engulf you if you are not resilient enough.

However, being alone is not a bad thing.

There is a great difference between being alone and being lonely.

You can choose to be alone and still be happy.

With more time by yourself, you can indulge in your passions. Listen to music whenever you want, read a book all night, invest in the many dreams that you had when you were young - dreams that you have postponed because you have no time.

Nourish your spirituality. Find what brings you peace of mind. The Buddhist believe that the resting place of the mind is in the silence of the heart.

Feed your soul by surrounding yourself with an atmosphere of appreciation of all that is good with your life. Your eyes must see beauty. Turn away from ugliness - people who behave badly, fashion victims who have no sense of style and places of decay and deterioration.

Connect with the people whom you come across. Have a kind word or a smile for the many people that you come across everyday. It is through these connections that you thrive in a village.

Most important of all, love yourself and treat yourself with kindness, respect, understanding and patience. Get to know yourself - what you enjoy, what drives you and what brings you immense pleasures.

Be one with silence - in the nothingness is where everything exists...

Be still... and awaken

Hand Dance

Here is another way to communicate, without words.

Cat Slaps Dog

Even animals can display human-like characteristics.

The little puppy was just looking for someone to play with.

However, the cat was not interested and got so irritated that he slapped the puppy.

Look at the puppy's expression - it displayed surprise, hurt and disappointment.

So, all sentient beings share the same thing - to be happy and accepted.

Awaken Your Dreams

"Logic can bring you from point A to B;
But imagination can take you everywhere"
- Albert Einstein

We exist in a mundane world where we live our lives very logically, with each action and decisions taken in a practical way.

We see our daily routines as simple as setting goals, figuring the way to reach it and then just taking the action to get there.

However, our lives would be very much richer if we just take some time to dream and let our imagination soar.

It is during these periods of silent, of "Me" time that we can set our minds free and just think about the "What Ifs" and the "Why Nots".

It is these dreams arising from our imaginations that allows for breakthroughs and inventions that changes our lives as well as affect the lives of people around us.

Apple was just an idea that Steve Job imagined in his mind and brought to reality in his garage.

And Facebook was just a big dream of making connections with everybody that has grown to more than 500 million friends around the whole world.

So, do not be afraid to use your imagine. Dream big.

And most important of all, take the necessary actions to awaken your dreams, and manifest a beautiful reality here on earth...

Life's A Mess...

Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it.

Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end.

Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies.

Just live.

Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.


What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: Do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: Be wary of the truth.

I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.


I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: Be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions.

It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: Fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false.

Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

- Extracted from the speech given by Adrian Tan to the graduating class of 2008.

The Highest...

The highest skill lies in the realization of selflessness.
The highest nobility lies in taming your own mind.
The highest excellence lies in having the attitude that seeks to help others.
The highest precept is continual mindfulness.

The highest remedy lies in understanding the intrinsic transcendence of everything.
The highest activity lies in not conforming with worldly concerns.
The highest mystic realization lies in lessening and transmuting the passions.
The highest charity lies in non-attachment.

The highest morality lies in having a peaceful mind.
The highest tolerance lies in humility.
The highest effort lies in abandoning attachment to works.

The highest meditation lies in the mind without claims.
The highest wisdom lies in not grasping anything as being what it appears to be.

~ Atisha

The 59th Minute

David Suzuki, the world-renowned environmentalist from Canada was at the Sydney Opera House last week to talk about his passion - the environment.

He presented a case that our Mother Earth is in the 59th minute of a suicidal path of economic growth.

Mr Suzuki asks us to imagine putting 1 bacteria cell, which divides every minute, into a test tube full of food. This is the exponential growth, which is the path of humanity when it believes in unlimited economic growth.

"At time zero, you have 1 cell; one minute later, you have 2; two minutes you have 4; three minutes, you have 8; four minutes later, you have 16."

"That is exponential growth," he said "And at 60 minutes, the test tube is completely full of bacteria and there is no food left - a 60-minute cycle."

"When is the test tube half full?" he asked. "Well, the answer, of course is at 59 minutes; but a minute later, it is completely full."

"So at 58 minutes, it is only 25% full; 57 minutes, it is 10 1/2% full. At 55 minutes of the 60-minute cycle, it is only 3% full."

"Therefore, if at 55 minutes, one of the bacteria said to its companions that they had a poplulation problem, the other bacteria would be incredulous because 97% of the test tube would be empty and they had been around for 55 minutes!"

"Yet, they would have only 5 minutes left..."

"How do we add even a fraction of 1% more of air, water, soil or biodiversity?", Mr Suzuki asked.

"We cannot!! The biodiversity of our planet Earth is fixed and finite!!"

"And every biologist I have talked to agrees with me - we are past the 59th minute", he said.

The above conversation was really scary. It seems that in our greed and self-absorption for relentless consumption, we are all rushing towards the path of mutual destruction.

We never really think that each of our actions affect the eco-system and the biodiversity of Mother Earth. We delude ourselves that She can provide us with unlimited resources, for us to use, consume and discard with no consequences.

Well, as the recent news about hurricanes, wild weathers, droughts, long winter storms, volcanoes and earthquakes around the world is showing us, Mother Earth is struggling to maintain its equilibrium amidst all the damages that we are doing to Her.

So, please help Mother Nature and ultimately, your loved ones and yourself.

Cut down on your blatant consumption. Ask yourself if you really need more material things to be happy. Pause and consider before you splurge on the latest "In" thing or fashion. Can you live without buying any of your "wants" and still be happy?

Something for you to think about as you go through your life every day.

Remember, we are at the 59th minute already...

Wisdom of a Mother

Over two thousand years ago, during the Warring States Period in China, a simple old woman had the common sense to realize that people need to be decently fed.

Zi Fa was a general in the State of Chu. In a battle with the State of Qin, his food supplies were running out and he had to dispatch one of his men back home and asked the King of Chu for fresh supplies.

While he was there the subordinate paid a courtesy call to the mother of General Zi Fa.

The mother asked, “How are the conditions of the soldiers?”

“The food situation is very tight. The men could only have some beans and grains,” the subordinate said.

“How about your general?”

“Don’t worry ma’am. Our General has Braised Meat to go with his fragrant rice.”

“Oh“ the mother said, shaking her head.

Not long after, General Zi Fa scored a decisive victory over the Qin army and he returned to his country a hero.

However, when he went to his own house, he found the gate locked and he was not allowed in.

His mother then sent a messenger to relay him her message:

“When Gou Jian, the King of Yue, was fighting the State of Wu, someone donated a cask of excellent wine. He poured the wine into the river and together with his men, he drank from the river. Would there be any taste of wine left? Of course not! But the morale of the men had increased five-fold.

Later somebody donate him some bags of grain. He divided them among his soldiers. Would the grain be enough to lessen their hunger? Of course not! But their battle resolve has increased ten-fold.

“In your case, while your men starved, you feasted. Why?

Did not the Book of Songs advised, “Don’t enjoy yourself too much, only then can the good man be peaceful and relaxed.”

Is your behaviour at the war-front something to be proud of? You sent your men to die and yet you live in comfort. Even though the war was won it has nothing to do with you but your men’s valour.

You are not my son. Don’t come home.”


The moral of the story is: all leaders who can influence the life of others must always think of the lowest denominator. No matter how rich we feel, there will always be a group of people struggling to survive. This is especially so when the income gap keeps widening more and more and the lower income group’s wages fall lower and lower.

By Dr Wong Wee Nam

Lucky Dog

Even a dog has feelings...

After he has undergone so much trials to get home to his owner with the winning ticket, he felt really betrayed to see him adopted a cat instead!!

So, he turn around and give the winning ticket to the homeless man who showed him a little kindness.

One of the best advertisement that I have seen. Enjoy!!

Living a Five Star Life

Excerpt from: Living a Five Star Life,
by Betty Mahalik

In this day and age, we are surrounded by messages that virtually scream, "Your life would be perfect if..." My life would be perfect if I had a different job, a different house, car, nose, spouse, bank account (fill in the blank). Or my life would be perfect if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears so well-ordered and perfect-o. This week I encourage you to stop playing "my life would be perfect if," and start playing "my perfect life." What's the difference? Three things: being in the present, an attitude of gratitude, taking action with what's available now.

When we're caught up in the "my life would be perfect if" trap, we've lost touch with the present. And the moment we detach from the present, we can no longer practice gratitude. Think about it: it's difficult to be grateful for what you don't have...and what you don't have is always somewhere out in future-ville.

Look around you right now. Think of 10 things you're grateful for. Do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? I'm guessing the answer is yes. Do you have at least a few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them too, right now. Keep going, and practice being in the present and being grateful for what is here and now at least a couple times a day.

You're also probably sitting there thinking "yes but." Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier or whatever. It's one of the great mysteries I'll never figure out. The minute you stop focusing on what you lack, start focusing on what you've already got, and add the "magic" ingredient of action, you actually begin to attract more of what you want. It's an amazing formula for really living your perfect life!

Let's say you want to lose weight or get in better shape, but you don't have an hour a day to spend exercising at the gym. Therefore, you've pretty well resigned yourself to not losing weight or getting in shape. What if you had five minutes though...just about everyone can find five minutes to exercise, stretch, walk around the block or walk the dog. Would you be willing to be grateful for five minutes and make the best possible use of it? Therein lies the beginning of your perfect life!

A simple formula may help you remember how to apply this principle:

The present + an attitude of gratitude
+ positive action
= my perfect life.

Try it for a day.

Each time you start dreaming about how perfect your life would be if...come back to this moment, give thanks for what is, and do one thing to perfect what you have and who you are right now. There's a saying that "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." If you're ready to start perfecting your life, your teachers are all around you.

What are you waiting for?

Do Re Mi - Sound of Music

Ah, it always takes the spontanity of young people to really be Present.

And live in the Present moment.

This took place in Central Station Antwerp, Belgium.

Really makes your day...

Disconnect To Connect

Beautiful and meaningful video from Thailand.

How true it is - technology can make you disconnect from reality.

So, switch it off and be present to the beauty and the people around you.

Be Mindful

What If God Was One Of Us?

How would you treat God if He exists in every innocent children out there in the world?

Anthem - That's How The Light Gets In

Beautiful song by Leonard Cohen.

There is no perfection in the world.

It is because of imperfection that the beauty is revealed.

Therefore, do not strive for perfection.

Strive to live fully alive now, in the present.

Breath In, I Smile

If you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.


"At the moment of waking up, before getting out of bed,

Get in touch with your breath.

Feel the various sensations in your body.

Note any thoughts and feeling that may be present,

Let mindfulness touch this moment.

Can you feel your breath?

Can you perceive the dawning of each in breath?

Can you enjoy the feeling of the breath freely entering your body in this moment?

Breathe in I smile,

Breathe out I calm my body,

Dwelling in the present moment,

It is a wonderful moment.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

A Violin With Three Strings

A Violin With Three Strings
Jack Riemer
(Source)

On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap - it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage - to either find another violin or else find another string for this one. But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.

Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing, re-composing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.

When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said - not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone - "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life - not just for artists but for all of us.

Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.

So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:


If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:


If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

We Are What We Think

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak of act with an impure mind
and trouble will follow you,
as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak of act with an pure mind
and happiness will follow you,
as your shadow, unshakable.

- The Buddha (Dhammapada opening verses)

To Be Mindful...

To be mindful of a Buddha without
Is to align with one’s Buddha-nature within.

– Stonepeace

He Who Knows...

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not;
He is a fool - shun him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not;
He is simple - teach him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows;
He is asleep - awaken him.

He who knows and knows that he knows'
He is wise - follow him

The Gift of The Truth

"The gift of the Truth exceeds all gifts; the sweetness of the Truth exceeds all sweetness; the delight in the Truth exceeds all delights; the elimination of craving overcomes all suffering."

- The Buddha

A Beautiful Love

This video is made by Kristian for his beautiful wife, Rachel.

It speaks so much with its silence.

It the end, the most important thing is the Love...

Become the Master

"To follow the path,look to the master,
Follow the master,walk with the master,
See through the master,
Become the master."

- Zen

A Solid Rock

"As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise man does not waver before blame or praise."

- The Buddha

What the Buddha meant was that we should not allow the ego to be affected by praise or blame.

It is the ego that feels very happy when you are praised by someone.

And it is also the ego that feels hurt when someone expressed displeasure or blame on you.

Since both praise and blame are external to your ego, why should you allow your ego to feel anything at all?

You need to maintain a watchful mind and know that it is the ego that is feeling what you are feeling.

Maintain equanimity and just watch what arises in the ego.

Whether it is feelings of happiness because you are praised or feelings of hurt because you are blamed, just observe it and do not have any attachments to it.

Let it go and you will feel free - free from being driven by your ego.

And that is the path to true freedom...

Being Present

Here is a very courageous surfer going down a huge wave.

Even when Mother Nature is fearsome, there is so much beauty in it.

And She teaches you to be very present, in the moment, to really live fully..

Dog Playing Pool

Watch the above YouTube video.

It shows a dog playing pool.

Isn't that amazing? It shows that some animals are more "aware" than many people.

3 Most Powerful Words

Here are the 3 most powerful words that can change your life, lead to better heatlh and heal you emotionally :

History of the Internet

We take surfing on-line so for granted today. We cannot imagine life without Google. How did we live without information at our finger tips not so long ago?

Here is a history of the Internet and how it has impacted our daily lives.



Via: MBA Online

Voice of an Angel

Jackie Evancho is only 10 years old and yet she has been blessed with an angelic voice that commands your attention.

The above video is taken from her participation in the American Got Talent show.

That is the way the Universe manifest the divine so that we will all take a pause and be Present to listen to it...

Finding Zen

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen disciple who approached his Teacher, and asked the Master, "How long will it take for me to find Zen?

The Master replied immediately, “Ten years...”

The disciple then said, “But if I work hard and really apply myself to learn fast — how long then?”

Replied the Master, “Twenty years.”

“What if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the disciple.

“Thirty years,” goes the Master.

“I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “Each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?”

The Master said, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the Path.”


Not many people realize what actually Zen is. It is the Truth. It is really everywhere. It is where you are right now.

Many of us are so goal oriented that we forget that the joy is in the journey itself, not the destination.

Wherever you are, if you are present and mindful, you have found Zen.

There is no need to go up to the mountain top to meditate. There is no need to go to church and subscribe to all the rituals to find God.

It is within you... it is there, now.

It is in every moment. It is in the silence, in the stirring of the breeze, in the singing of the birds.

The Zen is already there... you only need to awaken to it.

Bad Romance

I enjoy this video very much. So much creativity and energy...

The Courage of a Sage

There is a story written by Zhuang Zi （庄子）in his chapter “Autumn Water” （秋水） about Confucius:

When Confucius was traveling in the State of Kuang, he was surrounded by the troops of Sung. Nevertheless, he continued singing and playing his lute, totally unfazed. Zi Lu, his disciple, asked, “Master, why are you enjoying yourself?”

Confucius said, “For a long time, I’ve tried to stay out of hardship but failed. This is due to fate. I’ve tried to succeed but failed. This is due to the times.

“During the times of Yao or Shun, there was no hardship. This had nothing to do with a person’s wisdom. During the reign of King Jie and King Zhou, people did not achieve success but this was not due to lack of wisdom. It was due to time and circumstance.

“To travel across the water and not shrink from the sea serpent or the dragon is to have the courage of a fisherman. To travel on land and not be afraid of the rhinoceros or tiger is to have the courage of a hunter. To meet clashing blades and face death unflinchingly is to have the courage of martyr.

“To understand that hardship is a matter of fate and success is a matter of the times; and to able to face enormous difficulties without fear or terror is to have the courage of a sage.”

知穷之有命，知通之有时，临大难而不惧者，圣人之勇也。

The "Middle Wife"

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself,but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands mimicking water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe.
They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat.
I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ' Middle Wife' comes along.

Now you have two choices....laugh and close this page or pass this along to someone else to spread the laughs. I know what I did!!!

Live every day as if it is your LAST chance to make someone happy!!!!