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!!