Namewee FUCK UTUSAN!!! 黃明志幹五毒散

Hahaha.... Padan Muka! You deserve it... Utusan -五毒散

後記:黄明志凌晨上载了一部粗口斥骂《前锋报》的短片，迅速引起不同的回应。不过，在大约17小时后，黄明志宣布将在今晚12点 (28 Sep)，移除有关短.

Nasi Lemak2.0 - 辣死你媽

From the review, it is found that in general, responses are good ...

Though watched it today, the movie theater had only two persons, me & my friend! First time in my life, like I 'booked' the whole movie theater - felt like my private movie theater, wow, exclusively for us, haha... Anyway just to show support for Namewee, and our local movie.

Can see that Namewee is very talented. Despite the lack of budget for production, Nasi Lemak 2.0 is very well done. Convincing acting performance, good local sense of humour, and commendable attempt on educating viewers about multi-racial unity non-politically. Not to mention that it's Namewee's first time acting and directing a film.

Though it is difficult to mention all the issues happening in Malaysia, Namewee trying to reflect them in a subtle way and with sense of humour. If you are concerned about Malaysia politics, you know what he is trying to say. There are lot of messages in this movie, for us to learn that living in this multi racial country like Malaysia is not easy, we must put in effort to appreciate the culture and traditions of others.

Hat off to this young man, admire his courage to follow his dream, he did it, and did it elegantly and meaningfully. Hope that Malaysian will give support this movie.

Four Shackles To Giving ...

Come across the Buddhist Sutta, called The Brahmajala Sutta (梵網經), which mentioned about relinquishing possessions, partial quote as follow:

For the sake of the supreme enlightenment, the great being, striving for enlightenment, should first of all surrender himself to the Buddhas, thus: "I offer myself up to the Buddhas." And whenever he obtains any possession, he should first of all resolve upon it as a potential gift: "Whatever requisite of life comes my way, that I will give to those who need it, and I myself will only use what remains over from this gift."

When he has made a mental determination to completely relinquish whatever possessions come his way, whether animate or inanimate, there are four shackles to giving (which must be overcome), namely: (1) not being accustomed to giving in the past, (2) the inferiority of the object to be given, (3) the excellence and beauty of the object, and (4) worry over loss of the object.

(1) When the opportunity of giving arises, his mind does not leap up at the thought of giving and does not want to give, he thinks: "Surely, I have not been accustomed to giving in the past, therefore a desire to give does not arise now in my mind. To condition my mind with delight of giving in the future, I will give a gift. With an eye for the future let me now relinquish what I have to those who in need."

(2) Again, when the object to be given is inferior or defective, the great being reflects: "Because I was not inclined to giving in the past, at present my requisites are defective. Therefore, though it pains me, let me give whatever I have as a gift even if the object is low and inferior. In that way I will, in the future, reach the peak in the perfection of giving."

(3) When a reluctance to give arises due to the excellence or beauty of the object to be given, the great being admonishes himself: "Good man, haven't you made the aspiration for the supreme enlightenment, the loftiest and most superior of all states? Well then, for the sake of enlightenment, it is proper for you to give excellent and beautiful objects as gifts."

(4) When the great being is giving a gift, and he sees the loss of the object being given, he reflects thus: "This is the nature of material possessions, that they are subject to loss and to passing away. Moreover, it is because I did not give such gifts in the past that my possessions are now depleted. Let me give whatever I have as a gift, whether it is limited or abundant. In that way, I will, in the future, reach the peak in the perfection of giving."

Thus he gives whatever he has as a gift - generous, open-handed, delighting in relinquishing, one who gives when asked, delighting in giving and in sharing. In this way the great being destroys, shatters, and eradicates the four shackles to giving.

Reflecting upon them thus in whatever way is appropriate is the means for dispelling the harmful shackles to the perfection of giving. The same method used for the perfection of giving also applies to the perfection of virtue and the other perfections.

人中人

"一人之下，萬人之上“ －這句話來形容人的位高權重。如果把這句話改成“一人之下，萬人之中”， 就充顯示出中國人傳統的謙 讓美德。

很久以來，中國就有一句成語：“吃的苦中苦，方為人上人”。許多人拿這句話來策 勉旁人，鼓勵自己。這句金玉良言當然好，但是我以為如果把這句話的“人上人”改成“人中人”，就更好。

“人上人”可能有權傾一時的短暫快樂，卻不會有“人中人”的永恆和諧幸福。

“人上人”是一隻孤雁，常常獨自寂寞的飛翔，“人中人”是雁群，在天空編隊飛舞。

我的一個朋友，不久前隨同一個團體出國訪問，他搭乘的那架飛機的駕駛是他多年老友。飛機起飛後，空中小姐奉駕駛員之命，就來請我的朋友從普通艙移到頭等艙去坐。我的朋友去坐了一會兒，就回到他原來的座位，問他為什麼？他說：人家好意，拒絕就未免太做作太矯情了。他又說：離開團體享受個別待遇，會成眾矢之的，喪失許多友誼，划不來。這位朋友可以算得上是一個“人中人”，快樂訣竅的人。

另一個朋友，相當有錢，在過去一陣子大家瘋狂搶購沙拉油，衛生紙的那段日子，他卻從未參與搶購，理由很簡單，如果大家都餓死了，少數活着的人也不會有多大意思。我這位朋友能樂眾人之所樂，而不樂眾人之所不樂，他當然深深體會了“人中人”的樂趣。

“人中人”並不是叫你安於現狀，隨俗浮沈，不奮鬥，不努力，相反的，“人中人”的境界是向高向上的無限發展，比如登山，在登上了高峰之後，他會回到他的團隊，把登山的苦樂經驗讓大家分享，並鼓勵其他人繼續登山，征服更多更高的山峰，絕不像“人上人”那樣，在登上高峰之後，孤獨的踞坐在山頭，期待山腳下有人頂禮膜拜。

“吃得苦中苦，方爲人中人”，你說呢？

.... 笨鳥慢飛

梅和竹

梅樹, 竹林, 各自發展, 各有各的天地

一對結婚還不到一年的青年夫妻，前些時候離婚了，原因是彼此都不能適應，又不願互相遷就忍讓下去，年輕人一向處事明快果決，就決定分手了事。

其實他們在結婚前，就發現兩人個性不同，志趣也不一樣，但是當時熱戀中，看不清楚對方。男的想；要是她愛我，她就會改變來適應我。女的也在想：要是他愛我，他就會改變，遷就我。懷着這份能使對方改變的強烈信心，加上對婚姻生活的甜蜜憧憬，就走上結婚之路。

可是，“江山易改，本性難移”，隨著蜜月的過去，先生的個性發作了，太太的脾氣爆炸了，愛情能使對方改變的強烈信心，受到嚴重的考驗。大家都在想，都在堅持為什麼他不先改變一下適應我，或為什麼我先改變適合她？大家都不讓步，也不妥協，終於導致迅速結束這短暫的婚姻。

造成婚姻不幸的因素很多，但是許多不幸的婚姻都是誤以為愛能使對方改變，愛能修正對方的缺失，使它完美得吻合自己的心意。

“江山易改，本性難移”，在萬事萬物中，宇宙天地裡最難改變的就是人的個性了。有的人像竹子，像高山一樣，要直長，向上發展。有的人像梅樹，像大海一樣，向四周延伸。你不能要竹子像梅樹一樣的橫生，你也不必強迫梅樹像竹子一樣直長。竹子和梅樹從不希望誰改變誰，你直長，他橫生，豈不更有一番遼闊的生長天地。

不一定個性相同的人才能結合，或者說才能幸福的結合。世界上沒有一片完全相同的樹葉，沒有一粒完全相同的石子。要緊的是，不要一味強迫對方照自己的意見改變，改變成另一個自己。在長久的婚姻中，是容忍，謙 讓，適應和學習，產生了使對方潛移默化類似的改變，以德服人，而不是強迫性的改變對方。

在結婚之前，要多了解對方，她是梅？他是竹？如果她是梅，欣賞她的清香，任她橫生。如果他是竹，讚美他俊秀，任他直長。

她向四周伸展，他向高處發展，他們的幸福天地就一定更遼闊！更燦爛！

... 笨鳥慢飛

笨鳥慢飛

偶然在書籍中，拿到一本舊書，是在1981年，買於台灣，書名：“笨鳥慢飛”，絕版本，王大空著（1920－1991）。重溫舊書，感觸到王大空的智慧，三十年後，還是一樣啟發人心。他很適切，妥當地把人分為四類，但是卻不贊成聰明又勤勞的人，反而以聰明卻懶惰的人為上等。

書的前序簡述如下 ...

如果把世界上的人分成智勤、智惰、愚勤和愚惰四類，那一類最好？

先說智勤，既聰明又勤快，人人若都屬這一類，豈不最好？但這類人鳳毛麟角，為數不多。照法國外交家白里安的說法，這類人也不宜多。白里安以前是一位最出色的外交家，為人機智多謀，辯才無礙。他的一言一動，常能左右當時天下的外交政策。

不過這位外交家為人懶散，喜歡睡覺。人對他說：「你的才華蓋世，如能再勤快些就更好了。」白里安說：「我的一句話，常常使天下忙亂好些年，要是再說的多，那還得了？倒不如少說些話，多睡些覺，讓天下太平。」

再說智惰，大凡一個社會，聰明而懶惰的人越多，就越安定。這些人能辨明是非善惡，不喜欺騙人，卻也不容易上當。他隨時都懷有一種姜太公釣魚的恬淡心境，風雨中的寧靜，真是美好。

說到愚勤，這類人為害最烈，人數一多，天下必然為之大亂。他們腦子不靈，卻喜歡亂出主意，沒事找事。

最後談到愚惰，既笨又懶，大家都恥於做這一類人。其實這一類人要比愚勤的人好得多。雖說他們腦筋欠靈活，不會發明創造，動作遲鈍，不講速度效率。但服從是他的天性，跟著走是他的美德。讓這些笨鳥慢飛，他們也一樣的能到達目的地。

以往書中多鼓勵我們要做人上人，不過王大空先生卻不然，他覺得人上人像是孤雁，只能獨自寂寞的飛翔，到不如人中人，可以簡單生活和幸福。要是太過追求功名利祿，不願意和其他人分享，只有孤孤單單的了，所以「佔有」，有時候反而是一種失落感。

作者有句充滿哲理的話，值得深思「佔有的都是瞬間的假象，永恆的失落」。其實每個人的能力都有一定的限度，俗話說「三個臭皮匠，勝過一個諸葛亮。」

這本書可以見到作者由日常生活中體會出的道理，加上他的智慧，深思與觀察，是值得我們學習的。

He did it his way

A heart warming, thought provoking and inspiring true story.

By Ng Zhu Hann, Star-2 online

A young man who placed family first showed that nothing is impossible when your heart is in it.

MY best friend Terrence Phang Ying Choy was from SMK Bandar Utama, Selangor. I had known him for 12 years, since primary school. I literally grew up with him and he was like a brother to me.

Ying Choy came from a poor background. His father is a contractor and his mother, a housewife. He had two younger siblings and they live in a rented apartment.

Like most Chinese-educated students, his command of English was comparatively weaker than that of his peers. He was also an ordinary student with no special talent in sports or music.

However, Ying Choy worked twice as hard as his peers and did really well in school. He scored 6As and 1B in his UPSR, 8As in his PMR and 9A1s and 2As in his SPM.

Despite his good results he failed to secure any scholarship after Form Five. Because his father’s construction jobs are seasonal, he decided to work to supplement the family’s income and support his younger brothers, instead of furthering his studies. He did sales and marketing for his uncle’s firm, worked on a construction site and gave tuition four times a week for one full year. In fact, he was the sole breadwinner during the economic downturn in 2007.

When his father’s income became more stable as the property market picked up again, Ying Choy decided to go back to his studies. He felt manual labour was not enough to help the family.

He enrolled in Form Six, studied for about three months, then dropped out. He switched to A-levels at Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) College, where he got a full subsidy for his course. But he dropped out after two months.

Finally, he enrolled in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for a foundation programme, which he completed. Once again, he stopped studying and went back to work for some months.

Ying Choy dropped out three times because he could not focus on his studies knowing that his siblings would be leaving school soon and needed money to further their education.

One day, he saw some Facebook pictures of his secondary school friends who were studying in London, on tour in the Swiss Alps. He wondered why others could do it while he could not. He realised it wasn’t because they were smarter but that they had better opportunities.

So he withdrew the RM17,000 he had saved from working and took a leap of faith – he signed up for an express A-levels programme that Sunway College had just introduced.

The gamble was that if he did well, he would get an offer from a good university, which would enable him to get a scholarship. He could then use the money to study and save some for his family.

After being away from books for almost one-and-a-half years, Ying Choy had to struggle to cope. Every day he attended college from 8am to 6pm; went home for dinner; gave tuition from 8 to 10pm, and then revised his lessons from 10.30pm to 12.30am. He did this for a whole year.

Early 2009, Ying Choy received offers from five top British universities: the London School of Economics, Imperial College London, Warwick University, University College London and University of Cambridge. He also got offers from Melbourne University and the National University of Singapore.

He was shocked and elated. He least expected to get a place in Cambridge, which many top Malaysian students had failed to get into, what more a boy whose pre-U studies was never exceptional.

Despite the good news, he still had to get the scholarship.

After being rejected by various companies and foundations, he finally received an offer from Sime Darby, one month before Cambridge’s acceptance deadline. Ying Choy had defied the odds to attain a place in the one of the best universities in the world.

That year, he stepped on an aeroplane for the first time in his life. It was his first trip abroad and the first time he had left home. He was the first in his family to go for tertiary education.

He promised them he would come back and life would be good after he graduated. He would take them to Europe and buy a new house so they need not have to rent.

Ying Choy spent wisely and saved substantially. Every month, he sent home a large portion of his allowance.

He did remarkably in his first year at Cambridge, scoring first class honours and was ranked 37 among the 160 engineering students in his batch. He did equally well in his second year.

In July, Ying Choy came home for the summer holidays. His family had been looking forward to his return and everyone had a good time with him back.

But life took a cruel twist on Sept 1. At 6am that morning, he had breathing difficulties and collapsed by the side of his bed.

My best friend died about six hours after I last saw him. He had looked perfectly healthy then. In fact, he was a basketball player and a gym rat.

He was buried on Sept 4. He was only 22.

A large portion of his savings – he had saved over RM50,000 for his siblings’ education – was used for the funeral expenses. His family, who are still in shock, now have to worry about their younger sons’ education even as they grieve for their eldest boy.

Ying Choy strongly believed in self-help. He was vehemently against using connections as the way to success. He was living proof that meritocracy still exists today.

I will always miss him.

克服困難的喜悅

人生最大的樂趣，莫甚於超越困難，一步步接近成功；以及立下新的願望，眼看這些願望，一個一個實現。

凡是從事於偉大而有價值的事業的人們，他們雖然辛勞，但一開始就懷著希望在支持他們，到最後，實現願望的那份喜樂足以抵償一切辛苦。

不輕易放棄，不被困難，挫折而表現悲觀或失望，而是勇敢去面對克服每一個難題，用耐心，樂觀，努力，終於征服一切，這是人類最大的喜悅。

.... Samuel Johnson

愛與性慾

男女之間性慾的那股極強的力量， 往往把我們引進一個錯誤的觀念，以為這種慾望便是愛。事實上不管兩性之間的擁抱有多大撼人的力量，我們男女之間彼此相愛，決不僅僅是為了性慾。性慾本身常常會促使我們從事種種有損愛情的行為。例如：欺騙，強暴，凶殺等都是由於性慾而起。

男女之間的愛情，正如其他種種愛一樣，是一種偉大的靈性上的關係。愛情往往是很慷慨地施予，也很慷慨地接受。沈在愛情中的人們，往往充滿歡笑，憐惜，和喜悅。愛情往往使彼此生活更豐富，決不佔有對方。在愛情中男女雙方都肯定對方的地位，而決不控制對方。所以男女相愛，不是擁有對方，也不是去攫取甚麼，或喪失什麼，而是要幫助對方，與接受對方的幫助。

在愛情道路上是互相學習，一起成長。只要一方疏略學習成長，將使愛情失去平衡，靈性的溝通也會消失。愛情是一生的學習和培養，而性慾却是一時的需要。

.... Robert Raynolds

人生的無奈 ...

一群同學從40多歲時，決定未來每10年就要聚一次。

當他們第一次決定聚會地點時，40多歲還是壯年的他們，選了一家A餐廳。

選A的原因是：服務小姐的身材最好，穿得也最少。

10年後，50多歲的他們，再次決定聚會地點時，還是選了A餐廳，這時他們是因為：A餐廳的菜單的字「最大」。

又過了10年，60歲的他們，又選了A餐廳，這回是因為：A餐廳有「養生餐」。

再10年，70歲了，還是選了A餐廳，這次則是因為：只有這家餐廳有提供「輪椅」。

10年匆匆又到了，80歲的一群同學，無異議的通過，要去 A餐廳是：

「因為從來沒去過」........................( 老年失智症多可怕啊 !) 。

精采的是……結帳時，同學來了3桌卻要付6桌 --- 多出3桌是「菲傭」。

................ 人生短短數十年，要珍惜擁有~~把握當下哦~~

Q&A with Vipassana Instructor Michele McDonald - Part 2

Why did you decide to teach vipassana meditation through driving—and not another activity—in your CD “Awake at the Wheel: Mindful Driving”?

There were three reasons: I meet a lot of stressed out taxi drivers in city traffic jams while traveling to teach. One taxi driver asked me a lot of questions about meditation and he didn’t think it was possible to be aware in the present moment while driving. Most people have no training or practice in what mindfulness actually is. He not only learned how to be mindful while driving, he was profoundly grateful that he could access this ease of well being in such a difficult work environment and that he could keep practicing this while working. I learned from him that it is fun and challenging to train people to be mindful while driving. I felt so inspired by his willingness to learn.

I see so many people on their phones in the car, Bluetooth or not, or texting, eating, or putting make-up on—never mind whatever else might be going on in their heads! Most of us act out the urge to get more and more done in the car, instead of attending to what is really happening as we drive. I realized that mindfulness while driving is a training that we all can learn and practice. We spend so much time in our cars. It is such a rich time to learn and practice mindfulness! Because so many of us drive everyday, it can be a habitual, automatic, half-attended endeavor or it can be an opportunity to be really present and engaged with what's happening. Besides, driving is NOT something you do between times of being awake. It's actually a very good time to be awake. Yet we need encouragement and tools. That is what the CD is about.

I also was in a car accident some years ago in Honolulu, hit by someone who admitted that he was talking with his girlfriend and wasn't paying attention to driving. The speed we travel can dramatically heighten the consequences of inattention. These intense karmic consequences of the responsibility that goes with driving, the stress on each other's lives of car accidents, or even the stress of driving without the tools that come with mindfulness training, also motivated making Awake at the Wheel.

The website of Vipassana Hawai'i mentions that you like to help individuals “find entry points into stillness.” How can driving, where one is constantly moving, be one of those entry points?

An "entry point into stillness" is simply a moment of knowing experience in the ever-changing stream of experience, in which mindfulness of present-time activity becomes framed, or a focus of attention. We all discover which kinds of knowings are easiest for us to be mindful of. That is different and unique for everyone. When driving, for example, we can train our attention with moments of knowing we are hearing, with knowing the body sensations happening with our hands touching the steering wheel, or the body sensations of sitting in the car. We find a sense-door that is easiest to be with in the present moment, and then apply that ease to all of our present moments.

What I mean by stillness is Samadhi: body/mind unification, or collectedness. The mind not distracted is present with things as they are. Sensations, sights, sounds, thoughts, mental moods, all of these phenomena are happening in the present, continually arising and disappearing. An entry point into stillness is a moment where the mind is not drifting or distracted with the constantly changing nature all around. It doesn't matter if you're driving on the freeway or sitting in a cave. This is a Samadhi that is alive and not fixed. The awareness is settled back and with the stream of life as it is changing, not absorbed in or lost in what is happening.

Often we are told in vipassana meditation not to “conceptualize” our experience—is it possible to do that while we are driving?

Non-conceptual awareness means you're not engaging the meaning as the primary reality. You notice seeing and notice red, but wouldn't necessarily conceptualize the meaning that you should stop. But mindfulness is designed to give you options, freedom whether in conceptual or non-conceptual reality. So when you're driving you want to be fully in the conceptual world, of course. There are two aspects of mindfulness called ‘clear comprehension of purpose,’ and ‘clear comprehension of suitability’—in this case you need both of these to be operating really well. They help us to be mindful and clear in what we are doing (purpose) and to respond skillfully and be flexible to change (suitability). Mindfulness is able to adapt to both the conceptual and non-conceptual world. Say you're driving and you see a red light, the mindfulness will help you notice seeing, see the red light more quickly, and to brake. Your response times are going to be quicker and will allow you to assess any dangers on the road and respond more intelligently and spaciously. The wisdom-intelligence ends up being applied, no matter what's happening.

And say you're in a traffic jam…you'll be able to slow down and enjoy where you are instead of worrying you need to get somewhere. Mindfulness allows you to live on many different dimensions of reality, but when, through clear comprehension of purpose and suitability, you know you need to be on the conceptual level, it will give you much more capacity to be so, because you are able to attend to the moment clearly without being so affected by it.

Does Awake at the Wheel include any tips for city-dwellers who more often take public transport than drive?

Yes, it is a matter of simply shifting from being in the driver's seat to being a passenger. It will be easier as one is less responsible for the safety of everyone on the road. It will be the same engaged mindfulness interacting more with externally changing conditions to more internalized attention, sensations, thoughts, feelings, sounds and visual sights arising from the experience of being transported. You get to just enjoy the ride.

Q&A with Vipassana Instructor Michele McDonald - Part 1

This interview was originally published on the Tricycle blog.

Michele McDonald, who has been teaching vipassana meditation for thirty years, co-founded Vipassana Hawai’i and was the first woman to teach a formal retreat in Burma (with Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Abbot of Kyaswa Monastery). Although she’s been busy lately holding retreats for both her novice and more experienced students, Tricycle had the chance to chat with her via email about practice, teaching, and her CD “Awake at the Wheel: Mindful Driving,” which presents vipassana meditation instructions for drivers. Tricycle’s very own Web Editor, Philip Ryan, tried it out a few months ago while on a trip to visit the Venerable Bhikku Bodhi, which you can read about here. Personally I’ve never been in the oh-so-perfect circumstance of listening to a mindfulness CD while on my way to a monastery, but I did almost hit a jogger yesterday while driving to my town’s train station, which seems like just as good of a reason to give it a listen. It’s available for purchase here.

After thirty years of teaching vipassana meditation, what inspires you to keep doing it?

Mostly I’m inspired by my own love of, and deep faith in, the liberating power of vipassana practice. It doesn't feel like a career that I'll ever retire from. More like a deep calling, it feels like what I've always done. It feels timeless.

Even if all the same people were all to return year after year to the same retreat, it could never, ever be the same. We never experience the same moment twice. All of us are ever unfolding from our depth, and the newness and beauty of it make it an entirely new and awesome experience for us each and every time. Every moment that passes we are different because we are alive. This true teaching is timeless. It's a student's depth and goodness that continuously draws me into being present for them. And in turn it calls up my own depth and goodness, experienced as if for the first time. It's just the way it is.

I think the ability to access the timelessness of this wisdom develops the more we understand on the deeper level there is "no-me", "no-you", "no-bodies", "no-thoughts." It's not "my" greed or "your" greed—it's simply greed. Greed is the mind that's attached. It is the mind that believes it can control so much of what we actually can’t control. It doesn't matter if the greed feels like it's yours or mine. When you start to get it, how this impersonal but self-centered and so often destructive kind of greed overpowers us—we understand that we don't have to act upon it. The growing need to understand this is very powerful and liberating. It's sweet to have a healthy desire to not get caught up in this stuff in order to have a better world.

It's pretty simple. Mindfulness is like offering people pure spring water in the desert. When mindfulness is present, when greed, hatred and delusion are absent, there is true non-violence. There is peace. And helping to end greed, hatred, and delusion inside oneself or for others turns out to be the same process. To know that the source of this peace is available at any time for us is deeply inspiring and joyful.

Also what's fun for me is it doesn't depend on age at all. I recently came from teaching a teen retreat on our land in Hawai’i. At the end of the retreat, one teen said to me, "Thanks for making me feel like I have the right to know the truth." We do have the right to understand what non-violence really means, beyond just being a good idea. And to actually go through a process of undertaking that discipline—the joy and hardship of it—to stick it out five, ten, forty years is the art of life and this is why I teach.

What’s a piece of advice that you could give to beginner vipassana practitioners?

Any worthy endeavor in life takes a lot of dedication, good training, patience, and humor! Do the best you can to hold yourself capable for being in your life fully—with as much kindness and care as you can. Mindfulness gives us courage. You can move through deeply buried layers of fear, anger, or greed to find a more refined awareness infused with beauty and peace.

Investigate with true interest why you are looking into your own experience in this very moment, and in each unfurling moment, with a meditative presence. How does it make you feel? Is it a helpful use of your attention and interest? If you find anything at all beneficial about being in the present moment, feeling and hanging out with your own experience rather than just thinking about it, with patience—that interest and investigation will be present more and more. A wonderful kind of commitment comes from being able to be genuinely interested. It's like a genuine interest in a friend or in someone difficult, or an interest in being angry rather than getting overwhelmed in the thoughts about the anger and acting it out, or in sexual attraction. It takes this kind of committed attention to be with your experience rather than be oppressed by it. It's such a wonderful shift in being alive when you start getting that taste of liberation—when you start being with your whole body, mind, and heart, rather than simply believing your thoughts about experiences.

For example, say you work all day and you come home and your partner doesn't cook dinner like you expected. Your expectations have not been met. It's much easier to get caught up in what we wanted to have happen rather than be interested in what is happening. If we get over just believing the thought about the experience and we have an interest in our own expectation and don't buy into it, then we can be interested in the other person, and have a genuine connection in that moment. Only then can you work out whatever is needed in that connection, rather than being disconnected, believing in your expectations, shutting down, and not getting anything done. When you can actually stop the knee-jerk reaction and get interested in what's really going on, then you can connect. It's the cause for true connection—there's no real relationship without it. Otherwise it's just a projection of our fantasies, of how we want it to be. We all know this, but it's important to have a practice to help us figure out how to actually shift and to develop a discerning wisdom from your own experience, not just from what we've been told.

Understanding and Wisdom

Ajahn Chah

1. No one and nothing can free you but your own understanding.
2. A clever person watches others, but he watches with wisdom, not with ignorance. If one watches with wisdom, one can learn much. But if one watches with ignorance, one can only find faults.
3. The real problem with people nowadays is that they know but still don't do. It is another matter if they don't do because they don't know, but if they already know and still don't do, what's the problem?
4. When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom. If we don't know, we have more thinking than wisdom or no wisdom at all. A lot of thinking without wisdom is extreme suffering.
5. These days people don't search for the Truth. People study simply in order find the knowledge necessary to make a living, raise their families and look after themselves, that's all. To them being smart is more important than being wise.
6. If you see things with real insight, then there is no stickiness in your relationship to them. They come - pleasant and unpleasant - you see them and there is no attachment. They come and they pass. If the worst kinds of defilement come up, such as greed or anger, there's enough wisdom to see their impermanent nature and allow them to just fade away. If you react to them, however, by liking or disliking, that isn't wisdom. You're only creating more suffering for yourself.

... Ajahn Chah

Dhammafarers - Photo exhibition by Ajahn Cagino

好好地活下去

今天剛好是911十週年

讓我們好好活下去！

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！要自暴自棄不難，要死不難， 一會兒就聽到天使召你回去的號角！

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！ 我們很容易神情頹喪；很容易忘了在人生的道路上給自己鼓勵； 很容易忘了關門，以便驅走煩惱； 也很容易失敗。

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！要英勇，能面對今天，這是屬於我們的。讓我們面對煩惱，克服它，讓我們用微笑把厲鬼趕走。

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！用正確的目標充塞心胸，懷着對未來的希望，誠懇地一直往前走去！

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！要抬起頭來望高處，不要低頭。要懷着必勝的信心迎接疑慮不定的暴風雨。

來吧！讓我們好好活下去！

... Everett Wentworth Hill

光明的一面

海地(Haiti)小女孩。看， 這麼明朗的眼睛

光明的笑容, 你還有麻煩嗎?

記得小時候，有一天下午，我從飯廳窗口望出去，遠遠看見我的兩個哥哥，在把剛被車輾死的狗埋在樹下。我對那條狗倒不太注意，可是我知道他們哥兒倆愛狗甚於一切，想到這裡，我眼淚就掉下來。

就在這時候，祖父來找我，他帶我到另一邊的窗口，小園子裡，有三朵玫瑰已盛開了。急迫的跑到園圃裡，仔細凝視花朵，又聞一聞。這時祖父對我說：“剛才你不該看那窗口！”

但願每一個青年人對這句話留下深刻印象。不要讓那些使自己老是綑綁在惱人的事務上。也許在另一方，有些東西可以振奮，振作你的精神，最好在年輕時就能做到這一點。

更好把它當成人生法則，養成一種習慣，受益一生。

--- 清晨鐘聲

光明的響往

這故事發生在一個盲童學校裡。有一個小男孩問老師： "是不是有暴風雨要來來臨了？我聽到雷聲。"

老師惟恐小孩們會怕，就說： "哦! 我想不會太可怕的。"

孩子還是追問："會不會有閃電？"

老師抱住那孩子，問他："你為什麼要問這些？"

孩子滿懷希望地回答："因為只有閃電是我看得到的， 而且那光又如此美！"

--- 清晨鐘聲

Thought and Insight Meditation ...

In insight meditation, when awareness is pure, with relatively less thought involved, you only experience mind and body process, nothing else.

The whole insight meditation is mind and body process. Thought comes from outside and has an impact on the mind, like energy goes into the mind body process. It blurs or makes mind body process not clear, but hazy. Cannot see clear because thought creates emotion, feeling, it is a chain reaction, it goes on endlessly, if you watch it closely. Thought sucks in lots of energy, makes you restless, exhausted and tired, sometimes high, other time low, if you let thought runs wild.

With just pure awareness, turn inward, then mind notices and feels the pure bodily sensations, in a direct way. In insight meditation, only two things happened: the pure bodily sensations and the mind watching and knowing it, so called mind and body process. That is the state of mind when thought starting to lose its impact/effect that influences mind. In this state of mind, when thought is losing its power, then left behind is the pure awareness. With pure awareness, inner feelings, sensations can be directly felt clearer in the process of mind and body, it is due to less disturbance from thought. By this way of ‘tuning’ of mind, it dissolves the thought from arising and gets it out of the mind body process. With pure awareness, here your are: a moment of peace and calm, fully rest your body and mind, and finally, you are home again.

Mind clearer or not, depends on how much inflow of thought, or how much thought is created. The more thought the less clear the mind is. With thought you can’t see the reality of mind. In other words, you can’t understand and notice the inner feeling and the subtle mental state of mind.

Thought is just for knowledge and learning, it is useful on day to day interaction with people, such as working to resolve problems. But thought is the enemy to insight meditation. Tuning the mind is tuning the subtlety of thought, from actively thinking to passively passing thoughts, until thought happens only passing by at the background of mind body process. Not longer part of the process.

In this state of mind, thought exists subtly outside the mind body process, it has not much effect on the process. That is the fine tuning of mind inwardly, to make meditation conducive in order to understand mind body process deeper and subtler. If you can further tuning it, until in thoughtless state, then in this undisturbed mind body process, will help for deeper mental investigation during the meditation. Hold it longer, with more clarity, normally insight knowledge or direct experience is getting clearer and clearer in the process (not through thinking mind). That is the whole business of insight meditation.

But, who is the one doing the tuning? There is no one there, the tuning doing by the tuner, and the tuner is the mind itself, so mind does it. Mind body process is like a machine, has its own system and operates by its own way. Thought only disturbs the perfect system by trying to do something, in actual, nothing needs to be done. Leave it as it is. Thought is something outside, something from memory, man made, artificial product of mind body process. When understand this, we can see the glimpse of non self, in Pali word; anatta. Where is ‘I’?

You create it... in order to live in the world of delusion.

一語提醒夢中人

中國人生命中甜蜜的負荷!? !? !?

一則傳神的圖文.

值得深思 ……………

一位美 國 教授考察中國後的感歎：

中國人活得太累，他們的人生只有兩個片語：成功和拼搏。

很奇怪，他們連快樂都感受不到，卻想追求幸福。

小學到大學，忙著各種考試；畢業後忙著結婚；

結婚後忙著生孩子養孩子；退休後給孩子看孩子……

如此活著而已……

唉! 真是一針見血 .... 其實退休後，是為自己而活的時候了。

來日無常，回頭是岸，不久就黃土一堆！找幸福吧......

Journey of Discovery - Part 2

By MAJORIE CHIEW
star2@thestar.com.my
Pictures courtesy of AJAHN CAGINO

“I want to be a forest monk because Buddha himself spent much time dwelling in the forest. It is a strict, disciplined path,” says Cagino.

During the past 12 years, he was in and out of the forest with other monks. But six years ago, Cagino set off alone into the deep wilderness to experience what it was like to be a forest monk. All he had with him were five pieces of cloth, an alms bowl, cup, umbrella, mosquito net and walking stick.

“The stick is important as we can make some noise to warn snakes and other creatures of our presence when we’re walking through the forest,” says Cagino.

Cagino described his wandering years as a journey of exploration and discovery, not a time of hardship.

“I enjoyed those years even though I know not if there was a meal for tomorrow or where I was heading. I just walked on to see the world,” he says.

A forest monk leads a nomadic life as he moves from one place to another to find the ideal location to practise meditation. He usually camps by the river for easy access to water supply.

“We stay 15 days at the most at one place; not too long as we’re not supposed to feel attached to a place,” says Cagino. “If a place has ample food and shelter but is not conducive for meditation, we must leave promptly. If the place is great for meditation, the forest monk will stay a bit longer. It allows us to enhance our wisdom.”

Sometimes Cagino would ask villagers for directions to caves where monks had previously stayed. “There may be a fireplace and an old kettle left behind. Sometimes I will borrow a hammer and nails to make a seat for meditation,” says Cagino.

The life of a forest monk is not without its challenges. There are times when they have to track through muddy paths, cross streams and rivers, or climb down cliffs. One can easily get lost in the jungle, too.

Meal for the day: Monks returning with food offerings from their morning alms round.

The forest monk will usually stay 2-3km from the nearest village so that he can go for alms in the morning. He accepts only food, never money.

Once, Cagino came upon a little girl who blocked his path. He noticed she had something to give. He lowered his alms bowl and she placed a packet of rice, vegetables and a carton of milk in his bowl.

“When I was about to eat, I found a toy egg on the rice. I was touched that the little girl, out of the pureness of her heart, decided to give dana (food offering) to a monk!”

ALL kinds of danger lurk in the woods. So what is a forest monk to do when he comes across wild animals?

“I was fearful initially and thoughts of death crossed my mind. Somehow, I have learnt to accept my destiny,” says Ajahn Cagino, of his years in the forest.

He was at his wits’ end when wild animals came near his camp site in the remote forests of Kanchanaburi in west Thailand, on several occasions.

Sitting in deep meditation: Even a dangerous ledge can calm the mind.

“The first time I was all alone by myself in the deep forest, I was excited and restless. Then fear struck when I heard a leopard’s roar. I knew it was a leopard because I had been forewarned by the locals. I thought I would die. I couldn’t sleep,” recalls Cagino. “I was frustrated that I had no pen and paper to write a note to my mum and sister in case it was my last day alive!”

That night, he sat wide awake until morning.

Cagino also ran into two bears on two separate occasions.

“One night, I was awakened by a loud rustling noise nearby. I stood up and peered from behind a giant tree trunk and shone my torchlight into the darkness.

“When the bear saw the light, it stood on its two hind legs, ready to fight off its foe. When it saw no one, the startled bear fled,” relates Cagino.

The next morning, he saw a clearing in the bushes made by the fleeing bear.

A month later, he saw a bear cub while walking up a hill.

“It looked so cuddly, like a stuffed toy bear. It had chocolate grey fur with a white patch on its chest. I ran towards it and it took off in fright,” recalls Cagino.

On another occasion, Cagino was meditating in a makeshift tent under a mosquito net when he heard a tiger’s roar. When the wild cat continued roaring, Cagino was angry with himself for cowering in fear. He asked himself why he was afraid of the wild cat.

“After a while, I told myself to accept my fate. I plucked up courage and got up to investigate. I took my walking stick, wore a headlight and took a flashlight. I crossed the river to find the tiger but there was no sign of it. I returned to my tent to rest,” says Cagino.

The next morning, after brushing his teeth and washing his face in the river, he went to look for tiger tracks.

“I found a seven-and-a-half-inch paw print some 100m away from my camp near a river.”

Note: A Photographic Journey Of The Dhammafarers is an exhibition of 99 photos by Ajahn Cagino to raise funds for Dhammagiri Foundation to build an orphanage in Thailand. The exhibition is on at White Box, MAP@Publika, Solaris Dutamas, Mont Kiara, KL, from 11am-6pm, until tomorrow. After that, it will be held at Citta Mall, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, from 10am-9pm, Sept 8-20; Bandar Utama Buddhist Society, 3, Jalan BU 3/1, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, from 10am-5pm, Sept 25-Oct 2; and 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya, from 11am-9pm, Oct 8-9. To view clips of the photos, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEVIJAZj3xo