Elliot the Cat

I came across a picture of this cat one day, and a friend read and translated his story to me. It is so strange, that I feel a very close bond with a cat I have never met, almost as if I had known him for years. I guess sometimes our "spirits" recognise each other beyond the veils of physical bodies and lives.

Since there is basically nothing I can do to help the kitty, I feel compelled to remember him by blogging it down. His name is Elliot and he has been with his previous owners for 13 years. One day he was abandoned outside the door of an animal shelther home. A few days later an anonymous letter came to "inform" administration about this cat. I really cannot imagine, after 13 years of friendship and love given to them, they can abandon the helpless cat. Yes,It looks a bit shaggy, but for a 13year old cat, I think he looks damned good. I hope and pray to all the gods that protect animals to please bring comfort to Elliot and all animals similar to his conditions of being abandoned during his autumn years.....

Bodhisattva Fireman

A Bodhisattva is a Spiritual Fireman, a fearless Rescuer who sees a burning building full of fearful, screaming innocents frantically trying to escape. The Fireman knows, he must not rush into the inferno unprepared and unskilled, for that will only hinder his efforts to save the victims. In fact, if by being unprepared, he himself is injured, then the rescuer himself has become a victim waiting to be saved.

A Bodhisattva like a Fireman, will equip himself with Protective Gear, Knowledge and Appropriate Tools to face whatever might bar his way. He will invoke an attitude of Courage, Care and Selflessness as he dives into a raging inferno whom everyone within is desperately trying to escape from.

A Bodhisattva's reason for doing this? It is due to Kindness, Nobility and Compassion, to rescue the fearful ones from being consumed by the scorching flames of Ignorance, Desire and Hatred.

Decyphering The Da Vinci Code...WHAT FOR???

While watching ASTRO TV about various programs including National geographic, CNN World News, Discovery Channel etc. I began to wonder what is all this hype about hidden messages in paintings done by the great artist Leonardo Da Vinci?

I mean so what if Jesus HAS a bloodline? So what if he hasn't? Isn't the whole point of Christianity about what Christ taught? Where is the Universal Love he taught? Where is the Code of Forgiveness, Peace and Equality that he lived by? Where is the Devotion he shared with the masses?

I feel many of the "religious" groups of the world has been distracted and lost their way. No more are people concerned about people, but people are more concerned about hurting other people. Humanity is now waging war in the name of the Divine! What a ridiculous idea! One side blames the other for attacking them, the other side blames them back... when and where is it going to end?

Da Vinci Code is useless even if it is proven to be true or false. Unlock the secrets of Governments using the veil of "peacemaking" to ursurp the Fuel Deposits of another country for their own economic gain! Discover the Secrets of Holy Men and Women leading humanity to believe a God that would Create an imperfect world and claims to be a Perfect Entity... only to see his chosen and outcasted bleeding each other to death, crippling one another's wives and children and all that in the name of Guarding Human Safety issues and in Honoring the Name of God!

The True Divine Power is already showing its wrath and displeasure at Humanity's Masks of Deception! Wasn't the Earthquakes and Tsunami a good enough wake up call for people to care for people? Isnt a Reawakened Volcano a good enough shout for our deafened ears to hear? Isn't a Disease to be Carried By the Very Creatures of Nature that Traverse the Expanses of Earth Sky a Clear Enough message for Humanity to turn towards Love and Compassion?

With all thats happening...I feel it's just so stupid for us as people to argue whether the painting of the Last Supper by Da Vinci has an "M" that means Mary Magdalene or not, or if the figure next to Jesus was a woman of man? Maybe "M" means Man for the figure that was seated next to Jesus? Maybe "M" means Morte for Death in Italian as Christ knew this was his final meal. Maybe "M" means Mio Caro for "My Beloved" as Christ was stretching out his two hands and looked solemnly at his Beloved friends and disciples he would be leaving behind... Why can't M mean all that?

Who is to say Leo Da vinci wasnt thinking of that when he painted the Last Supper? It is so sad that Humanity now looks upon Pain, Shame, Indignity and Smut of others as enjoyable entertainment... No wonder even the Parish of every major world religion is going materialistic and lost their original essence. We stick to tradition and rituals passed down by the ancients, but we cast away the true essence and we value only the shiny shell. How sad, How sad, How sad... Woe then is humanity in this Darkest of Times and Darkest of Days. We should all try to bring a little light back. Each of us, no doubt is full of darkness but we too each have a spark, we should combine our sparks into a Lantern, for even a ray of light can cast away the shadows that has settled for 1000s of years....

Path of the Bodhisattvas Three

One who follows the Path of Kuan yin
is one who Silently Speaks,
is one who is Actively Still
and One who Sees with the Loving Heart all in Pain and need.

One who is upon the Path of Manjushri,
is one who Little Says but Volumes Speaks,
is one whose Mind is Pervasively Radiant,
and one whose Heart Gently speaks with a Glow of Brilliance.

One who is upon the Path of Vajrapani,
is one who Roars with Powerful Kindness
is one who Moves but is Immovable from Love
and one who Protects with the Adamantine Strength of a Compassionate Heart.


Mig Mey Tse Way Ter Chen Chenrezig,
Dri Mey Khyen Pay Wang Po Jampalyang,
Du Pung Ma Lu Dzom Zey Sangway Dag,
Gangchen Kay Pay Tsug Khyen Tsongkapa
LoSang Drakpey Shab La Sol Wa Deb...

Our Life, Our River, Our Karma

Our our life is like a River. More aptly, a River of all our Past and Present Karma, flowing with unending force, to be gathered again in the vast open ocean. Every action that we have collected along the way is then stored in our Mind's Ocean of Consciousness, and eventually transformed into Clouds that pours down its showers into the Source again, only to be regenerated into the flowing river once more. The River of Karma stops for nobody! Whether we are Kings, Warlords, Gods, Angels, Faeries, Humans, Animals, Ghosts, Spirits or Demons, all will have their own Karmic Rivers to face and encounter...

Only the River itself can dry itself up, in order to be rid of all Karmas that bring unending suffering an pain. The River needs to exhaust and purify all its Karma at its SOURCE and apply the weight of the Sun's Loving light, the Wind's Caring Breeze and Nature's Evaporation of all Subtle deluded vapors for one to see the Riverbed as it should be.

A Fool's Prayer or a Fulfilling Prayer

When we come in front of our Divine Deities how do we really commune with them through prayer? In our time of need how do we pray?

To Pray For A Life That Has Less Obstacles, is to pray for help and guidance to help us through the events in life we were meant to experience, only to be regulated like the Gates of a River Dam that its waters run in imaginable amounts, to Fulfill our life's purpose and learn our life's lessons.

To Pray For A Life That Is Obstacle-less!!! THAT is a Fool's Prayer... That is like Praying for the River to immediately stop flowing and freeze amidst a warm summer day just because we demand it. No matter what we do, the River of Karma will stop for NO ONE.

Chasing after Fame, Frivolity and Fabulousness in Spiritual Practice

Fanfare and Dramatic Presentation are a must for everything that we do and encounter! If a product looks too simple... with lack of attractive packaging or memorable fanfare promotions, most time we don't even take a second glance at it. It is the same for spirituality! God Forbid! ( no pun intended )

If a Spiritual house or Temple or Church does not have overwhelming eye candy, 9 in 10 of us are bound to say, "err... it's an ok place lah... not bad lah... but that's not the place for me, because it doesn't SPEAK to me" Many of us dash after Grand Externals, Big Names, Advanced Practices or Quick Shortcuts to Divine Discovery... if a certain teacher doesn't hold some title or rank, almost immediately although we may not criticize, but in our heart of hearts we devise our own "caste" system. That one better, that one not that "high". We place so much importance on titles, dignitaries and status!

First of all... unless we ourselves are "HIGHLY" attained, how do we even know what is high or low? Looking at a postcard depiction of Mount Kailash or Mount Fuji will not immediately imbue in us ultimate knowledge of the dangers and chasms one will encounter if we decide to scale those towering Goliaths! It doesn't give us the detailed information needed of what we will find at its peak! It is only an idiot or fool, who looks at the postcard and says " Hey, very easy only lah, I can scale that mountain NO PROBLEM!" Unless we ourselves have been up there, we will never truly know the essence what is high and what is low. All we can see is a picture in our head of external perceptions. Wait till we realise, that the pic of Mount Fuji we see in the postcard was actually a Play Doh! Project of a really talented 9 year old kid, and photographers using lighting and props add depth and realism to it!! All that sparkles isn't always indicative of diamonds.

I keep wondering to myself, why do we do that? Like in my case, no attainments, extremely low in knowledge and as agile as a piglet on stilts, why do I still clamor for name, status and utter eye candy? IF something looks ugly or unglamourous why does my heart squeal with aversion? A classic question i am still yet unable to answer.

I ask myself sometimes, if H.H the Dalai Lama, H.H the Pope, The Holy Sai Baba, a "Rinpoche", an Archbishop of Vatican, a normal monk and a simple statusless, nameless teacher were to invite me for a meeting ( I WISH ) all calling for the same time but different place, where would I go? Looking with eyes of truth into my heart of hearts, I realised the nameless teacher would be the last on my list. My bias will definitely be towards my faith's lineage and then comes the hierarchy of status and titles.

Most times the most subtle faults of our hearts can even hide within the confines of a Spiritual Disguise. The hide so well and many times go totally undetected as it grows like a cancerous cell or poisons other parts of our spiritual body. VANITY, SPIRITUAL GREED and PRIDE disguises itself to LOOK like its serving us in progressive ways, but in truth it is serving us a long ranged, long term life sentence to the Gallows of Self-Destruction!!! What a scary thought!

Om Shanti, Peace to All
Om Shanti, Peace br my Heart
Om Shanti, Peace may I be to others

Why so many prayers and mantras?

Why do Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Goddesses, Gods and all nature of Divine Beings have so many prayers and mantras of their own?

Just as we humans have several phones for people to call us, ( Cellphones where some evenhave 2 or 3, House Phones, Internet phone...and emails, Work phones etc etc ) I believe the Divine beings too have the same technique. MANTRAS and PRAYERS are what they are. If the mantra we have is the deity's PERSONAL Mantra ( Personal Handphone), chances of an immediate answer is Higher than if we "call" their General mantra ( Work Line) and leave a message. It is I believe the skillful and compassionate ways of the Divine to ensure that nomatter WHERE they are, they are 24/7 on call for us... although sometimes it takes longer for a reply... just like some of us take several days before replying emails hehehe.

To Learn, To Comprehend, To Practice and To Attain

Couple of days ago someone asked me, isn't it the same thing when we say to meditate on and practice the Spiritual Path ( or Dharma Path in my case as I am Buddhist )? This got me thinking, I always assumed they were unsaid truths, but when confronted with the question I realized that I never gave much thought to it. Its always been an assumption, doing "dharma/spiritual" activities like candle offerings, incense etc was practicing dharma. Or when I go to some Teaching session by a Lama, Priest or Teacher, I am practicing dharma. Then it dawned upon me that Dharma Practice was about none of those... I contemplated and analyzed deeper the meaning of "Practice". I came to the following conclusion:

" To Read the Dharma Books,
To Listen to the Dharma Teachings is... to Learn the Dharma Path.

To Contemplate on what was Read,
To Meditate on what was Heard is... to Comprehend the Essence of Dharma

To Apply that which has been Understood,
To Do that which we have Comprehended
and to realize and Internalize the Insights that result from it....
THAT is the PRACTICE of Dharma. "

Neither our Daily Sadhanas ( prayers ) nor Mantras is Dharma Practice on its own. The same with Offerings of Prostrations, Silver or Gold... Heavy duty retreats are the same. These are preparatory practices to get us ready for the actual practice. Its the knowledge gathered before an Exam, Fuel for a car to move and Power for a Light to illuminate. They provide us with the Merits, the Skills and the Knowledge to Face the actual practice

Actual practice happens when we are NOT in front of our Shrines and Altars deep in meditation,or chanting prayers, or making extensive offerings nor secluded in altruistic retreats... It happens when we are OFF our prayer cushion or OUT of our retreat cave or area. Practice happens when we meet undesirable people that challenge our sense of wanting to maintain Patience. Practice is Refraining ourselves from Abrasive speech and Belittling Judgements. Practice is BEING IN Retreat in the midst of bustling, loud and overwhelming society and yet still able to maintain Equilibrium and Harmony in mind. Practice is being Mindful and Understanding that what WE do not like others to do to us, we first do not do to them. Practice is being forgiving to those that Hurt us.... Put any wonderful and beneficial virtue in front of " Practice is...." THAT is WHAT practice IS for us at that point in time.

When we say Practice is Kindness, then OUR PRACTICE for that time is being Kindly to others. When we have perfected the limitless and selfless virtues, then each virtue we internalize, then becomes an ATTAINMENT....

Om Mani Padme Hum Sarva Shantim Kuru Ye Soha.

Happy Vesak

Happy Vesak to Everyone...
May Happiness Dawn Upon Anyone who sees the Sunrise,
May Joy Embrace all who are Shaded from it.
May Blessings Pour Down and Heal inner and outer pains
of All who breath the air of Mother Gaia,
May Love flow into the hearts of all who are in need,
May Light illuminate these Darkest of Times and cast aside Shadows of 1000 years,
May the Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment and Passing On bring about Birth of Peace, Enlightenment of Attitude and Passing On of Violent Natures of all Political Leaders.

Om Shanti! Om Shanti .... Peace to all

Calmness

Calming the mind and heart is the key to our spiritual practice especially in meditation. Many misconceive that calming down means stopping or not doing anything and everything. That is not so, because Calming one's mind and heart, means taking a step back and patiently be aware of whatever is happening in a situation.

Especially on the path of the Contemplative or Meditation, it is a path we will not be able to bear for long if we do not empower ourselves with Patience. For many a times when one encounters problems in practice, its solution can easily be discovered with the humble virtues of Patience and Calmness of mind and heart.

When one is able to Calm Down, take a step of Patience and sit back, then think with clarity, one will then realise that the situation which cannot be rushed with not speed up no matter how much you lament on it. While that which can be quickened, will move accordingly when the time is right.

Learn to Accept! Embrace! Realise! and Learn! That each problem is like adding another page in your inner book of Solutions! And that the very essence of the Spiritual path is not to BEND reality to one's will, but that one's will Harmonises in frequency with the ever-changing nature of all reality.

Our Mind relates and Our Heart abates.

Our Hearts and Minds we can dictate
Its ins and outs and actions
Our Hearts and Minds we can relate,
To others in reaction.

Our Minds and Hearts we must Tame
To keep from Harmful Reactions,
Our Minds and Heart to Expand,
We start with Kindly Actions.

Our Minds we keep with thoughts most Noble,
To curb from harmful schemes create
Our Hearts we sustain with feelings of Compassion
That our Hateful hearts abate.

Our Hearts and Minds,
When Noble becomes
and Compassionate made,
Harmony, we shall create,
For Nowhere if anyone is True of heart,
Such a person they can hate.

Nightmares, Trials and Dreams

When Trials of Life gives us a pop-quiz, Face it with Courage! Face it with Faith! Face it with Confidence! Although what we encounter may seem like a total Nightmare, we must always be aware that Nightmares only go away, when we have the Courage, Faith and Confidence to OPEN OUR EYE to face and realise it was all but a dream.

Nightmares are necessary in our lives! For it is only with their existence that we realise the Bliss of a Beautiful dream.

Fabricated Day Dream in search of Kuan Yin

I sat asking, seeking and searching,
Where oh where are you? My Divine Mother?
I seek you but I find you not,
I search for you and discover you not!

In valleys, cities and mystical lands I try to find,
The more I look for my source of Divine Light,
The less I find I feel myself so blind....

Just at that moment, a young girl descends in celestial flight,
With an aura Radiant with Caring light,
Who is she, but the Devoted of Kuan Shih Yin,
The Dragon Princess Jade Girl has heard my plight.

She says in a kindly manner and a loving smile:

" If Mother Kuan Yin is whom you seek,
Look not for faraway lands, nor mountain peaks!
For if you seek with devotion within your Heart,
THAT is where you have to start!

O! Children of Love on the Path of Light!
Om Mani Padme Hum!
In places where hearts, the darkest of shadows adheres fast,
It is there Kuan Yin shall be, the Light of Love she casts.

O! Children of Kindness with Actions of Light!
Om Mani Padme Hum!
In places where strife, hatred , where turmoil grows
It is there you will find Mother Kuan Yin , rendering aid wherever she goes!

O! Children of Compassion Seekers of Light!
Om Mani Padme Hum!
Most assuredly to you I say,
Whenever a person whose heart is touched,
By acts of Kindness, Care, Compassion and such,
In THAT moment, in THAT time, in THAT space,
Behold Mother Kuan Yin! For THAT is her true Face!

O! Children of Kuan Yin followers of her Light!
Om Mani Padme Hum!
To seek out where Mother Kuan Yin resides,
Your search; the Source of your Devotion is where it starts.
And ends not too faraway but just within your Heart of Hearts!

Om Mani Padme Hum!"