Monday, May 30, 2011

The Talk



What if your future self were to call you today when you are going to make a major decision in your life?

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Somewhere Over The Rainbow




This is one of my favorite song sung by Mr Schultzer from Glee.

Enjoy!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Murky Water in our Minds



Once Buddha was traveling with a few of his followers.

While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Please do get me some water from the lake."

The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink."

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake.

The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, "See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own -- and you have clear water.

Your mind is like that too ! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless."

Having 'Peace of Mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process!

___________________________________________________________

What the Buddha also meant was that all of us are Buddhas.

We are all enlightened, with the Buddha seed already inside us.

Because of our egos, ignorance and karmic hindrance, our Buddha lights do not shine forth naturally.

If we just let go of all attachments and tame the monkey-mind, then our Buddha essence will arise naturally...

Heart to Heart



Do good and be joyful...

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Taking Refuge in the Dharma




Be islands unto yourselves,
refuges unto yourselves,
seeking no other refuge;
with the Dharma as your island,
the Dharma as your refuge,
seeking no other refuge.

- The Buddha


Shortly after the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi (Enlightenment) Tree, and having surveyed the entire universe, he reflected thus – 'It is not a good thing to live without anyone to look up to, follow, or take refuge in. But there is no holy teacher or brahmin [noble person], no one in this world, who surpasses me in [the Threefold Training of] discipline [morality], meditation [concentration] or wisdom, whom I could honour and venerate.

All there is for me to honour and venerate is the Dharma, the holy teaching [that leads to enlightenment] that I have discovered myself… That is good. I shall place myself under that. The enlightened Buddhas of past ages of the world also lived honouring and venerating the precious holy Dharma.' If even all the countless Buddhas saw the Dharma to be so good for taking refuge in, it must be all the more beneficial for us unenlightened beings to look up to, follow and take refuge in as well – for it leads to the perfection of the Threefold Training, culminating in unsurpassable Buddhahood!

The Buddha's thoughts above form a remarkable teaching, which expresses the humility of the Buddha despite his obvious spiritual greatness, of how he sees the need to check one's position with what is above oneself, which in his case, similar to ours, is the Dharma – the truth itself, and the path that leads to the realisation of it.

Even the Buddhas are not above the natural and universal laws of the Dharma, which is why even after the Buddha had attained supreme enlightenment, he continues to take refuge in the Dharma. In fact, still under the Bodhi Tree when recently awakened, he spent time to fully reflect upon and relish in the marvels of the Dharma. Becoming one with it in totality of body, speech and mind, he meant it literally when he uttered, 'One who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha.'

The Buddha is the living embodiment of the Truth and one who walked the path to it perfectly, who unceasingly honours and venerates the Dharma by practising and sharing it out of boundless compassion for all who have yet to realise it. Without the Dharma, there would be no Buddhas or Sangha!

The two earliest lay Buddhists could only take refuge in the Double Gem of the Buddha and the Dharma due to the absence of the Sangha then. Thereafter, Buddhists take the Threefold Refuge in the Triple Gem – of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

This is so with the exception of Buddhas. Though also perfect members of the Sangha, they take refuge only in the Dharma. Even the Sangha community of monks and nuns founded by the Buddha takes refuge in the Triple Gem (including the Sangha itself).

However, the central aspect of refuge in the Triple Gem for all monastic and lay Buddhists is always 'the Dharma taught by the Buddha' (Buddhadharma). This is so as unless the Sangha members we take refuge in are of the Arya (Noble) Sangha, who consist of those who are enlightened to some extent, the ordinary and thus somewhat worldly Sangha is realistically imperfect, still a work in progress towards enlightenment. The tricky thing is that we can't, with our limited wisdom, readily differentiate who is a member of the Arya Sangha, who can range from the young to the old, men to women, laypeople to monastics. It makes sense then, to respect everyone – even if they are not Buddhists by label!

The true Triple Gem never disappoints
as the Buddha, Dharma and Arya Sangha together
is a perfect teacher, a perfect teaching
And its community of perfect practitioners.

- Stonepeace


Extracted from The Daily Enlightenment

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Don't Give Up



When you are faced with problems so big that you think are insurmountable, it is important to know that "This too will pass".

Therefore, it is important not to lose faith and give up.

It is when you persevere that you will find the beautiful sunrise at the top of the mountain.

So, take a deep breath, enjoy a cup of hot coffee and then resume your battle with the problems that you are facing.

Never give up. Why? Because you are loved...

Loved by your loved ones, loved by your friends and loved by the Almighty...

You are loved by more people than you know...

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Sydney Harbour

3513 A view of the Sydney Opera House from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.



Here is a time-lapse video of Sydney Harbour.

You can see how busy it is, with all the ferries and boats in the Harbour.

There are also a view of the traffic conditions on the iconic Harbour Bay Bridge.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Life Lessons



Here is a very good site that talks about Life Lessons - lessons that you wished that you had learnt and that if you could do it, you would go back to the past to give these advices to a younger version of you.

In the old days, many of these life lessons were passed down and inculcated into the younger generations through the parents, grand-parents and other older, wiser relatives.

It took a whole tribe to raise a child and therefore, the child benefited from the collective wisdom of the tribe, each member sharing her memories and lessons that she had learnt to the small child.

However, with the advance of civilization and technology, our society has started to loss this collective wisdom.

Many children are now raised in a small family, with limited access to the grand-parents and other relatives.

So many children are now the product of divorce or come from single family due to the untimely death of one parent.

Even when both parents are there, it is tough to find the time to spend with children given the pressure of daily life, the long commute and the challenges of earning a living.

Therefore, it is good that there is a web-site that collects all the collective wisdom of the people so that they can be passed down to the younger generation.

Check out the web-site : -

Everyday Life Lessons

You may also learn something and pick up some gems of wisdom youself too.


Here is a sample of what you can find : -


What has life taught you?


Think about all the things you would love to tell yourself if you could travel back in time to give your younger self some advice about life.

Here’s a sample of 111 life lessons that were recently submitted to the site:

1. Spend more time with those who make you smile and less time with those who you
feel pressured to impress.

2. Never tell someone their dreams are impossible. You’ll feel like a fool when
they prove you wrong.

3. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still
way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.

4. Pursuing happiness by acquiring material things (fancy cars, expensive
jewelry, designer clothing) is like jogging to the grocery store on your
treadmill: it won’t get you anywhere.

5. Laugh at stupid jokes. Apologize. Tell someone how much they mean to you. It’s
the small moments that make life grand.

6. At 79, I regret the things I didn’t do far more than the things I did.

7. Life is way more enjoyable when you stop trying to be cool and simply focus on
being yourself.

8. Start by asking yourself whether each of your relationships drags you down or
lifts you up. Surrounding yourself with positive, loving people is half the
battle of living a happy, successful life.

9. When the ‘want’ gets stronger, the ‘how’ gets easier.

10. Too often we judge people on too little information. Instead of judging
someone for what they do or where they are in their life, figure out why they
do what they do and how they got to where they are.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Virgin Australia



Love this ad!

It communicates everything about the Virgin brand...

Saturday, May 7, 2011

First Kiss



The innocence of first kiss...

Do you remember your first kiss?

Did it occupy a special place in your memory?

This is one of life's journey that you will always remember...