On Judgment Day

Whether one is a believer of God, a proponent of the Doctrine of Karma or simply an atheist, Judgment Day is very real or in the least, to the human mind. Normally, one has a negative connotation of this day of reckoning, but it does not necessarily lead to an unhappy ending. Here’s the gist of an easy to understand example.

Appraisal time - the customary year-end ritual of most corporations. Recently two of my colleagues, not of my department and on separate occasions approached me, lamenting about their unsatisfactory appraisals and inquired whether I could help them to resolve some issues before they sign the appraisal forms. Instead, I gave them something to mull about.

My opening statement was, “You should understand that what you underwent was certainly not a self-appraisal. Agree?” They nodded. “Then you should accept the results which in fact, sum up to a judgment of your year’s performance”. Before they could react, I added, “First, rightly or wrongly it is how your work quality has been perceived and rated by your ‘employer’. Under such circumstances, you cannot certify yourself unless; you are self-employed in which case your success certifies you. Agree?” With an apprehensive reluctance each agreed. “Therefore, why are you fighting it? It has already come to pass.”

After a short pause, I continued, “So, is it about your dented ego that refuses to accept the results that point out your faults for you to correct? Instead, you are faulting the appraiser for being unfair which in verity, it is more for causing you to get a lower forthcoming salary increment and bonus. If so, you should awake to the reality of things and not wallow in a delusion contrived by a stubborn mind that is shackled by avarice.

May I then recommend that you take a step (or two) back in order to move forward to a more fruitful win-win situation for yourself as well as for your department (which includes the appraiser)?” There was an air of uneasiness as I concluded. A few days later, I ran into them and they each wore a smile of relief. I smiled back.

In life, we are constantly appraised and judged by others, but our egos tend to suppress, if not conceal the positive benefits that these invaluable tests can accrue. To be endowed with the ability to experience such trials and tribulations is a blessing. These are mini Judgment Days that allow us to practice and rehearse for the final event. As for the non-believers of Judgment Day, the results of each ‘appraisal’ they go through in life should awake them to what their minds cannot see of themselves, in the least …

On Conflict

Most of us think we know what “Conflict” is, but don’t realise that it is one of the significant causes of our unhappiness, dissatisfaction and misery in life. Conflict is an affliction of the mind that creeps in silently, unsuspectingly and unknowingly as one becomes attached to one’s values. It is a byproduct of knowledge and intelligence; and it increases in intensity directly proportionate to the advancement of these two faculties.

When values (doesn’t matter whether right or wrong) are steadfastly and dogmatically held and used as references, anything that is not in line becomes conflicting; for example, in the explosive expressions of conflict caused by religious fanaticism. The “Mind-conflict” is readily translated into “action-conflict” and becomes a scourge of suffering and “unsatisfactory-ness”.

Maturity of thought, the deep understanding of our mind’s nature of attachment to values, and the conscious ability to dwell in the “Now” are some of the ways to mitigate this affliction. However, it is saddening to note that a great many minds dwell in and thrive on conflict.

No conflict? … You can’t argue with a person with a conscious mind. (Tolle, Eckhart – A New Earth, Penguin Books, 2005)

On Coming and Going

I use to have a spiritual guru who indulged me in metaphysics. One day while we were having a casual tête-à-tête in his quiet ashram he asked, “Where did you come from and where would you be going to?” My uninitiated response was of course; from a biological source, and to Heaven or Hell attempting to speak his language with due respect.
He chuckled.
I gave him a skeptical look and quipped, “Then where?”
“From Nowhere, to Nowhere” he replied.
“Wow!” I muttered, “that’s profound’. He didn’t respond and we sat in deafening silence for 20 minutes. Then he whispered barely audibly, “Did you notice the stillness?”
“Yes”, I blurted in relief.
“That’s the primordial nature of the Universe which is equated with Nothingness, where all phenomena take birth when the causative conditions arise and return to when the conditions dissolve. Coming and going are only labels given by our minds to imply movement which is actually an entity’s repetitive occupancy of a point in space and time. If you look at the bigger picture, when the causative conditions dissolve, all matter (which is in fact energy) will come to rest in this state of stillness”.

Hearing that, was when I re-evaluated and revamped my ideas of The Providence, Heaven and Hell, Birth and Death, and the Purpose of Life ...

On Karma

Much has been said and written on the subject but to the uninitiated, the misconception and confusion continues.

“Karma” is simply “cause and effect” redefined for the human mind’s consumption as, “Any thought (formed, conceptualized), word (uttered, written) or deed (performed) intentionally committed by someone whose mind is not free from greed, hatred and delusion(1)” It is just like saying, all bacteria are germs, but not all germs are bacteria. It is also one of the natural laws and there’s nothing mystical, supernatural, spiritual, divine, unmentionable and taboo about it. As such, it’s not totally correct to say, “I believe (or don’t) in Karma” or “I believe (or don’t) there is Karma” which implies that one doesn’t know. In a broader sense, if one knows one does not have to “believe”(2). Therefore, it is more appropriate to say, “I subscribe or I don’t subscribe to the concept, doctrine or law of Karma”.

“Karma” per se does not have a mind of its own as laymen tend to believe i.e. it does not decide what or even when to take effect. It just unfurls when the appropriate conditions arise. So in itself, it is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong and positive nor negative. It is an ancient Sanskrit word (Kamma in Pali) that originated from a rich Indian subcontinent culture and as it is defined today, there is nothing religious about it. It‘s only the human mind that thinks otherwise ...

(1) Ven. Henepola Gunaratana; Understanding Karma and Rebirth.
(2) Chief Rev. Ven. Dr. K Sri Dharmmananda

On The Ultimate Truth

The Truth that we know of is only difficult to find if we don’t know where to look. Philosophers, gurus and cultivators claim that the Truth can be found within us and when we find (or understand) it, we need not look elsewhere or any further. They'll also not hesitate to say that whatever we take to be the Truth belongs to us – i.e. how our mind perceives and interprets it at a certain point of time. Therefore, the definition of any Truth will depend on the levels of our knowledge and where the frontier of our minds' understanding lies. But then again, they’ll be quick to point out that these are contemporary Truths and not ultimate since they are subject to our minds’ capability to change definitions. So what is the Ultimate Truth? They define it as, “The Truth that cannot be changed”. If so, then the right answer should be “Nothing”, because no Truth can be ultimate as long as the mind is involved in giving it a definition and a label (name), or that it even has a definition and a label. All so called "Truths" are created by the mind, for the mind.

Thus, we enter the realm of “suchness” …

On Saints and Millionaires

You may have heard of the saying, "It is easier to make a saint out of you than a millionaire". It's true if you think about it and consider the amount of resources required. How come? Well, not many people seriously want to be saints, and certainly not many millionaires in this world either. Most of those who started out wanting to be saints changed their minds halfway and most of those who started out wanting to be millionaires went most of the way and still kept on going despite the odds. Only those aspiring millionaire wannabes who have failed miserably might give sainthood a shot. The reality is that all saints can become millionaires but in their wisdom they chose not to. Similarly, all millionaires can become saints too, if they wake up to the same wisdom that they have been blinded from. There are indeed more saints up there than millionaires down here and yet we human beings are oblivious to this Truth. That's the sad part of it ...

On Reciting Prayers

Once upon a time there was a holy celibate and self-made preacher who traveled far and wide to teach the proper way of reciting prayers. Perchance, he heard of a small island in the middle of a large lake where a secluded place of worship stood. There, were monks of high order who have practiced their own method of reciting prayers from time immemorial.
So, the preacher made up his mind to pay them a visit, journeyed to the edge of the lake and took a small ferry rowboat across. When he arrived at the place of worship, he was accorded a simple, warm and respectful welcome. In the prayer session that followed, he noticed that the monks were reciting the prayers incorrectly. The preacher then took upon himself to authoritatively correct them for which the monks were graciously thankful.
Upon completing his mission, he returned by the same ferry rowboat that had brought him. In the middle of the journey, he heard a few voices calling out to him, "Great Master, Great Master, please wait up. We are unsure of one of the stanzas you taught us. Could you kindly repeat it for our benefit?" The preacher turned around and after a long pause choked a reply, "It doesn't really matter. Just continue to recite what you have been reciting all along."

The 3 monks behind him who waited for his reply were patiently and calmly standing on the water ...

On Letting Go

This is a true story, which took more than 3 months to unfurl and fruit. One can imagine the uncountable number of such occurances in our lifetime, some are short while others highly protracted. We should pause to ask ourselves whether we have enough time in this life to reap the benefits of each lesson well learnt.

Some years ago, an elderly retired Indian gentleman, presumably in his sixties and re-employed as a dispatch person, dropped by our office to deliver documents. Subsequently, as his visits became regular; my colleagues and I struck up an acquaintanceship and in those brief chat moments that he could spare, he told us he was a heart patient wearing a pacemaker.
One day 3 months ago, he popped in while I was away and on his way out I bumped into him. On seeing me, he showed me a label torn from a medicine pack, and politely asked whether I could lend him 50 Ringgit to buy the drug to treat his cardiac ailment. Without a second thought, I whipped out the note and handed it to him. He graciously thanked me and promised he would return in 3 days to settle the debt.
When I walked into my office, my colleagues reported that he had approached them earlier to borrow money and they had flatly turned him down on the reason of trust. They then wanted to know whether I had unwittingly lent him any. I only responded with a smile. Somehow, their uncalled for remarks implanted negative thoughts in my mind of distrust and fear of losing the money and whether I have made a mistake of lending him. In the few days that followed, I struggled to put the thoughts behind me but could not completely erase them.
On the day he promised to return with the money, he defaulted. This further fueled my thoughts of distrust and I reasoned it was unfortunate that our relationship could only be worth a mere 50 Ringgit and so consoled myself that the world's full of such characters anyway. A month passed without any sign of him. Then one day he came by to say that according to his doctor, it was time to replace his pacemaker but he will repay the debt a week before the procedure. Another month passed. I then resigned to the thought that the debt was irrecoverable, wrote it off and re-attempted to forget that it was ever incurred.
However, a week ago, he showed up and upon completing his assigned chore, he confidently walked up to me and joyfully handed me an envelope containing 50 Ringgit. I was unexpectedly touched by his honesty and the very gesture of returning with the money jeered at my distrustful thoughts of him. Instinctively, I took the envelope, put my hand on his shoulder and said, "Do me a favour, please take this back, and donate it to a welfare institution of your choice, in your and your family's name." He gave me a sudden look of surprise that melted into a gentle smile. He whispered a "Thank You", nodded acknowledgingly and slowly walked to the door without looking back ...

In reflecting, I concluded that in this encounter, it was a small price to pay not for one, but for several lessons learnt. Everyone in the story was my teacher. As for the bottom line - did I lose anything? I think not. I was just letting go ...

On Feeding the Ego

When I was younger, I took up Hi-Fi as a hobby. I worked hard and spent a large portion of the money earned on the most up-to-date sound equipment I could afford that moment. I even compared what I owned with those of my friends and constantly upgraded my system if I felt it didn't match up. This went on until one day my wife, who failed to see the logic of what I was doing said, "Have you ever listened to the music? As far as I'm concerned, all your systems, didn't matter which, sounded great!" She was so right ...

At times in life we are so caught up with the one-up ownership of materialistic things to feed our ego that we fail to appreciate the simple joy and pleasure those things can give us; free from the fetters of the ego.

On Praying

By and large, the poor pray most of the time to get rich and the rich are too busy to pray unless their fortunes are dwindling. The sickly pray to get healthy and the healthy pray to get rich, more than to remain healthy. Parents pray for their children to succeed and their successful children pray to get rich, more than for their parents to remain healthy. Victims of natural disasters pray to be saved and the unaffected pray that they be spared, more than for the well-being of victims. The less fortunate pray for help and those who have been helped pray for yet more help, more than for the less fortunate. So, are we really sure we know what to pray for? ...

ps. pray "for", not "to". meaning of "pray, praying, prayer"? too many, let your intention and objective define it.

On Stupidity

If somebody calls you stupid, stop to think. He or she maybe right. And if you react negatively, excessively or even violently, then you really are ...

On Inspiration

This is not my story; it came over the net some eight years ago. It is one of my favourite short stories. From the moment I read it, it has never failed to inspire me to continue doing community service.

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read:

"I'm blind, please help"

A creative publicist walking by, stopped to observed that he only had a few coins in his hat. He dropped a few more coins into it and without asking for permission, lifted the sign, turned it around, and wrote another announcement. He then replaced the sign by the man's feet and left.

That afternoon the creative publicist returned by the blind man and noticed that the latter's hat was full of bills and coins. The blind man recognised his footsteps and asked if it was him who had re-written his sign and wanted to know what he wrote on it. The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true, I just rewrote your sign differently". He smiled and went on his way. The blind man never knew but his new sign read:

"TODAY IS SPRING AND I CANNOT SEE IT" ...

Sometime in our lives, we should pause to re-evaluate our mindsets to identify the positive potentials within us and use them to help and/or inspire others to help all beings in need.

The No Money Charity

Volunteerism is not new but could provide the missing dimension to one's life.

I vividly recall a decade ago, starting off as a volunteer for community service did not come naturally to me when I made my first visit to a non-government supported home for the less privileged senior citizens. There was this bed ridden elderly lady who held my hand and wept, telling me how bad her situation was. She was sickly and had to constantly crawl to the toilet wearing knee-pads. Her roommate further described the poverty of her only daughter who hardly visits her and could not afford her medical expenses, which the facility does not provide.

On hearing that, I felt as helpless as she was in realizing I was in no position to improve her lot except to patiently lend her an ear. She spoke for forty-five minutes relating her predicament while I continuously wiped her teary eyes. By the time I had to leave, I could only manage to bring a courtesy smile to her lips.

Thereafter, I often contemplated on what was the significance of the short encounter and could only conclude that I have touched her life during that brief interaction and earned a smile. It led me to understand the deeper aspect of certain human needs that go beyond physical and material boundaries. I needed the experiential learning to feel the reality of it. This 'No Money Charity' has no material rewards, only personal realization and deep inner satisfaction.

So, what was my outlay? A few Ringgit worth of petrol, my time and the desire to make this world a better place to live.

On Accepting Death

The only fear the mind has to reckon with and resolve is dying, from which the biological body cannot escape. Once the mind has understood and accepted death as a natural process, it can accept anything. How the body should be treated and disposed of, is in the hands of the living and it will be futile and a waste of time, effort and resources to dictate it.

On Tranquility

Once upon a time there was a wise king who ran a painting contest to illustrate the meaning of "Tranquility". Many entries were received from far and wide. There were amazingly and awesomely beautiful paintings of various themes featuring all sorts of artistic techniques submitted; calm lakes reflecting the moon and surrounding landscapes, fields of grain and flowers on a still windless day, portraits of sages meditating etc. But the entry that won was a picture of a tumultous waterfall beside which, was a small dry hole in the rock. Inside was a nest with a bird calmly, nonchalantly and tranquilly sitting to incubate her newly laid eggs ...

Tranquility can only be achieved within us and not outside.

On Vegetarianism

Have we ever thought that meat eating is the eating of carcasses or bodies of other living beings? Whatever the justification, vegetarianism should be the mind's non-attachment to what's available for us to eat to survive, what others sincerely offer us to eat or what we have to eat as a genuine health necessity.

On Materialistic Wealth

There's nothing wrong with being rich and/or accumulating material wealth. It is the Wisdom of how we can meaningfully share and use our wealth for whatever reasons; that counts.

On Opportunities

With each dusk we have a day less to live, but with each dawn we have a day more to work at achieving our objective in this short lifetime. Let's not realise this at the moment before our last breath ...

A Delusion of an Achievement

There was once a monk who retreated into the wilderness for 30 years to mediate and cultivate on ridding himself of anger, ignorance and hatred. Having believed that he had achieved his objective, he returned to civilization and was well received and respected by the community he lived with. One day while he was happily meditating in a park, a few small children gathered around him to play. To amuse themselves, one of them repeatedly tickled his nostrils with a blade of grass. The monk, instead of opening his eyes with a smile, furiously blew his top ...

Sometimes what we believe we have achieved, need not be what we should have achieved.

On Seeing the Bigger Picture

If you came from a village where everyone spits, you would spit too since you know of no reason not to. Let's say one day you move to a clean city where everyone is health conscious and abhor spitting. You'll learn that spitting is bad. Not only will you stop spitting but will be aware of anyone who spits. You have thus seen the big picture ...

The same applies to realizing what are the errors we unconsciously make in life.

On Happiness

If the mind wants to be happy, it has to make others happy. If the mind thinks that it can be happy by itself, it's a delusion. Happiness itself is a relative state-of-mind which, without an alternative state to compare against, the mind will have nothing to be happy about.

On Possessing

From the moment one begins to possess, that's the moment one starts to lose. One cannot lose anything that one does not possess. Yet, one can have things that one doesn't own. That's the beauty of life.

On Reinventing Ourselves

Our past lies in our minds as memory. Our future that can be fashioned lies in our hands. While time is a great healer, one of life's greatest gifts is the ability to reinvent ourselves. Nothing is ever too late.

On Renunciation

Renunciation is the reduction of the mind's attachment not to things, but to the nature of things. It is the regulation of our inside so as to regulate our outside.

On Doing is Easier than Thinking

My younger brother started his career as a salesman employed in a two-man sales team. They worked well together and soon became bosom buddies. Unfortunately, his teammate was a diehard management rebel. Eventually, with a short notice, my brother was promoted and was immediately instructed to restructure the team. In a consolidation exercise he was required to fire his non-conformist teammate. That's when his nightmare began, thrusting him in to a depressed mood for several days. As the weekend approached, he could no longer contain his predicament and telephoned me for advice. I explained that it's fruitless to mull over the matter, so go ahead, enjoy the weekend. I then advised him to meet up with his ex-teammate the first thing on the following Monday morning and calmly tell him what has to be done. Should there be any issues, the ex-teammate could refer to the departmental head.
In the 2 weeks that followed, there was no word from my brother. Curious, I telephoned him and inquired of the result. He just gave me a "matter-of-fact" reply that doing what I said was easier than thinking about it.

Now, that is one of the dysfunctions of the Thinking Mind.

On Having a Good Year

You can't really be guaranteed of having a good year even though I sincerely wish you one. Since the past cannot be changed or the future be predicted, live each day well and do it 365 times. You'll not only have a good year but a great one!

On Good and Bad Times

There's actually no good and bad times, only how to make good times last as long as possible. Since good begets good, then do all the right things. Whether in a micro or macro sense, this is how the Universe operates which affects our lives either as individuals or as a society.

On The Path to Wisdom

When walking up the Path to Wisdom, one often argues whose Path is right or whose Path is wrong. What is right, may only be right to you and what is wrong, may only be wrong to you. Without Wisdom to guide, how can one walk up the Path to Wisdom? Only your Consciousness can help you, as your thinking mind is dysfunctional, being caught up in the ensuing arguement.

On the Paradox of Mind Cultivation

All the sages and gurus who advocate proper mind cultivation are on the right path. Cultivation is the key to our metaphysical advancement, and the mind is the medium for this function. Of course, the mind does more than that and in addition, be the pilot of our actions. Stories, tales, expediencies, anecdotes are all but facets of cultivation to suit the level of knowledge and understanding, characters and dispositions of individuals. At the end of the tunnel of profundity of teachings is simplicity itself but we can't see it yet until we get there. It is the journey that the mind battles with, much less the destination. Therefore, in cultivation, we have to persistently stay in focus and do the correct things. The Buddha has already imparted to us a non-religious universal vicious-circle breaker: Sila (moral restraint, discipline), Samadhi (concentration or meditative absorption - calming of the mind) and Pañña (right view, wisdom - the arising of). Don't be mistaken that these have to be rigidly observed and treated as non-compromising rituals. Nevertheless, in the event that this happens, He also taught The Middle Path designed to regulate it. In the course of mind development, The Sixth and Last Mahayana Patriarch Hui Neng said, “If you can see your Mind, you can see the Buddha”. In reality, the "Buddha" (God, Heaven, Hell, etc.) exists only in the minds of sentient beings (so-called beings with souls) that have the capability to perceive it. As such, seeing your mind is synonymous to attaining "enlightenment".

In the process of cultivation, The Consciousness (conscious mind) becomes gradually aware of what The Thinking Mind is up to, but by itself, it does nothing except to act as a receptacle (storehouse) for The Thinking Mind’s exploits ...

Jailbirds We Are

We are all in prison. We want the best cell, eat the best prison prepared food, enjoy whatever pleasures the facility has to offer and believe that we'll live happily ever after in there. But in reality, we have the keys to freedom in our hands. We just refuse to get out. Ever wondered why? ...

Places of Worship

What's a place of worship? It could simply be a place for us to gather to do, and to contain the paraphernalia we put in it to remind us of doing, things that will benefit us and others. It has the ability to amplify the nature of the energy we create within. It depends on us, without which, it is empty ...

On Failures

Failures are miraculous opportunities for us to re-evaluate our ignorance, greed and misguided values. It's unfortunate that the human mind tends to view failure negatively.

On Giving and Taking

If you give more than you take, you'll receive more than you expect. That's one of nature's law of cause and effect. In taking more, one's mind dwells intensively on the delusion of greed. There will be less or no space for the feeling of joy in giving to flourish.

On Duality

The Universe as it is, is dark, silent and cold. Light, sound and heat are additions, not the other way round as we think. There are no deeds whether "good" or "bad" until they are performed and assessed by the mind.

On Knowing

Knowing is nothing,
Practicing is something, and
Achieving is everything.

On Erring is Human

A wise person also errs although less. Therefore, it's not so much about making mistakes. It's about how much the others who are affected by your mistakes will forgive you.

An Awakening

Once upon a time, a Sage sat by the beach in deep contemplation on the subject of Ignorance. Just, he observed a little boy digging a hole in the sand, then goes to the water’s edge with a small bucket, scoops a bucketful of water and pours it into the hole. He did this repeatedly and the Sage could not contain his curiosity as to the objective. He asked the boy what he was trying to do. The boy replied that he wanted to empty the sea into the hole. With that reply, the Sage was awakened to the nature of the Human Mind.

On Helping Our Fellowmen

Once upon a time there was a priest who went to China to spread his faith. He found difficulty in obtaining a venue to start and approached one of his newly made friends with his problem. The friend took him to see the local village official to see what can be done. Upon gaining an audience, the priest related his plight and the official without much ado granted him without charge, a small piece of land at the edge of a forest to start off. The priest built a small hut and started to preach. In a short time, his congregation grew and the hut could no longer accommodate the increasing number. The priest reverted to his friend on his dilemma, and both of set out to meet the village official. This time the official granted him a larger piece of land also free-of-charge, by extending the boundaries of his current piece. The priest then, built a chapel and continued his sermons, but soon it was too small for the swelling number of followers. Again, he had to enlist the courtesy of his friend who was by now a convert, to meet the official. This time, the official accorded him without charge, a piece of land large enough to build a reasonably sized church. The priest however, became skeptical of the offer and could not figure out the logic behind the granting of his requests each time he asked. So, through his friend, he inquired of the official whether there was the catch. The official casually replied, “In our short life span, the route each of us takes in search of God, Enlightenment, the Ultimate Truth and or Happiness may differ. If our path crosses, shouldn't we help each other since our final destination is similar?”

To Be or Not To Be?

In the universe as it is, there's nothing to be or not to be, only what one chooses to be or not to be.
Therefore ... to be or not to be, that is the question. What's your choice?

"Being" and "not being" are two sides of the same coin. Therefore, to achieve oneness, one has to be both. Since there's nothing to be or not to be, what is left is choice. Choice creates the question of "to be" or "not to be". So, back to your choice.

The 3 Stages of Self-Realisation

- *A river is a river, a mountain is a mountain. Period.
- A river is not a river, a mountain is not a mountain. They're something else.
- A river is a river, a mountain is a mountain. So be it.

* Adapted from "The Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion", Thich Nhat Hanh; Parallax Press, Berkeley, California, 1992.

When I first learnt to drive, I was careful and adhered strictly to traffic laws, rules and regulations and techniques of safe driving. They were all very real to me.
As I "graduated" a few years later, I became aware of errant drivers and unreasonable road users who hardly subscribed to the norms of safety. That's when I started to swear, even at the authorities who didn't build safer roads or exercised proper road maintenance and who turned a blind eye to hazardous driving or even made non-practical traffic laws.
But now, I've adopted defensive driving, and driving has become a pleasure. As for the errant drivers; I can only hope and pray that they reach their destinations safely without jeopardizing other road users.

Knowledge

KNOWLEDGE
The thirst of,
The race for,
The wise use of, and
The ability to share,
Take us to the final frontier of the human mind, before emptiness ...