REFLECTIONS OF BUDDHA

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.

On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.

There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.

What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?

What we think, we become.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.

。。。。。in celebration of Vesak Day 9 May 2009

算命 DIVINATION

On 2 March 2009, went to partake a session of divination at a place recommended by a colleague who had gone there just last Friday. More curiosity than anything else, I went for the appointment, nearly an hour late because it needed my time of birth and I was scrambling all over the flat looking for a piece of yellowish paper called the birth certificate which I had not glanced at for many many many years!

I must admit that I went there with a lot of apprehension and in truth not expecting much in return. I even started on the wrong footing when the "master" asked me to pick a card from the stack he had just shuffled - I took 2 cards instead of one! Luckily my fingers were holding on to one card only, so the other card that was "revealed" was cast aside. The "master" then placed my chosen card at the centre and formed the Eight Trigrams for divination with sequential cards drawn from the stack. He was shaking his head most of the time, which means things are not looking up! I was there to hear what he could foretell about my past and my current state of things without me saying anything, not so much about my immediate and near distant future. I have been at rock bottom for many years so I could take anything he was about to toss at me.

(1) There is no saviour or saviours (贵人) in sight for me.
(2) This year is not a good year for my chinese zodiac sign and my year of birth.
(3) Luck? Very little.
(4) Problems/Disputes? Many.
(5) True Love? Bitter, then sweet (先苦后甜). - This one is way off-track man! I had absolutely nothing in sight, having just lost the big one in 2008.
(6) Work/Job/Career/Human Relationship? Career-wise, refer to (1) & (2)...in a word, near hopeless! I was told it is no good to wear my heart on my sleeves, that I was too "straight", too "direct", too "one-way street" that people tend to take advantage of this fact and "use and then forget" about me.

As you can see, things are, in a word - HOPELESS!

OK, I went along with whatever "remedies" to sort of improve the situation that he "prescribed"...........including being told to pray to the Chinese God of War, Guan Yu (關羽) to improve my lot. I then recalled that I WAS actually at the site of the former Kingdom of Wu - Chengdu, Szechuan and also visited the Temple of Marquis Wu and paid my respects to two Heroes of the Three Kindgom period - Kong Ming (a.k.a. Zhugeliang) and the honourable Guan Yu (Guan Yunchang)! So in a way, I had actually "Pay It Forward", so to speak. (Does it mean I would be OK for the year then???)

Hope for the Best, Expect the Worse................under the current economic woes, this may be the wisest approach, really.

TRIP IN RETROSPECT

The Unforgettables of the 3rd China trip (in no particular order):

(1) A Walk On The Wild Side - The Great Wall Hike. Undoubtedly the best way to see the Great Wall is to see the wild and unrestored parts in its full splendour and glory. No crowds to jostle with, the wall in full view, take as many photos as you want without framing in other people, see the wall stretches out into the distance etc. What more can anyone ask for? A marvel that survived the modern times that no one should miss in this lifetime.

(2) Meeting Baby Miracle from the Szechuan Earthquake. I could still recall the excitement in me during the nearly 2 hours long journey to Mianyang to visit Song Xinyi. I think she and her family, unknowingly, taught me lessons in life which I could never have learned any other way.

(3) Nightswimming - The Night Climb up Mount Huashan. With torch lights, faint lightings and moonlight, we literally "feel" our way up the mountain in the dark of the night.....and we were the only group going up that night!

(4) Starry Starry Night - Viewing the picturesque night skies up on Huashan full of stars and constellations that looked so near and yet so far....all in freeze frame mode too! For your eyes only as the available cameras at that moment could not capture it. Vaguely we consigned it all to memory however faint the memories were at that point in time with fatigue setting in.

(5) Catching the daybreak and sunrise atop Huashan. One of those things that makes the climb up so worthwhile. A great way to start a brand new day after all the legwork getting up there.

(6) The plank walk on the cliff of Huashan. The best way to describe this was best echoed by one of the co-climbers - "No hesitation doing it a second time after coming back from the first one". It was that exciting and memorable. I was having serious second thoughts after seeing the conditions descending down to the starting point but it only took a split second to change my mind considering the difficult climb up here and also I might never get to return to this place. So it was "here goes nothing" and "just do it". Anyone afraid of heights will forever banish the fear after completing this walk.

(7) Reaching the highest peak of Huashan. It would not be complete without reaching the highest peak of any mountains. The views, the sigh of relief, the sense of achievement.....makes the way down a mere stroll in the park.

(8) Dinner overlooking the Bell Tower in Xi'an, the company, the food, the wine, the occasion(s) - everything was perfect! On New Year's Eve too!

(9) The Szechuan Earthquake DVD. The closest thing to actually being there. We all tend to forget about the disaster after a while, this trip made by those brave souls show the aftermath of the quake and the life of living in the disaster areas after the quake. I salute these brave souls as well as those affected by the quake who are still in the midst of returning back to normal life. Death is easy, living is the hardest part.

(10) Muslim Quarters, 清真寺 The Great Mosque (Xi'an). A unique convergence of cultures between things Muslim and things Chinese.

(11) 灌汤包 (Xi'an). I still drools thinking about these!

(12) Cycling round on top the City Walls of Xi'an. Seeing the old and the new in one round trip. Not many places in this world that you could see almost an entire city in less than 2 hours on a bicycle.

(13) Big Wild Goose Pagoda & the water fountain show. Mounting a pagoda and seeing the narrowing pathways upwards is quite an experience in itself. Along the way - the Buddha relics, the scriptures, works of art on the walls and the panoramic views. The water fountain show in the night is a sight to behold too!

Add in between Nos. (3) thru' (13) --> Dathy, Dathy and more Dathy!!!

LIFE REFLECTIONS.......IN BRONZE (XI'AN)

DAY FOURTEEN: XI'AN-BEIJING (7 JAN 2009) - HOMEWARD BOUND

Left the hotel really early (before 6 am) to catch the first Airport Bus out from in front of Melody Hotel. There were actually 2 buses, both leaving at almost the same time. I supposed they had factored in the fact that there would be more people taking the early flights. The time taken to reach the Airport was about 40+ minutes only because the roads were almost empty!
Took the 7-plus A.M. Shanghai Airlines flight to Beijing Capital.
Upon reaching Beijing Capital Airport, it was too early to check in the luggage for my onward SQ flight. It would be too rush to go downtown Beijing and return back to the Airport in time for the flight home. Instead chose to visit the closer computer mart where there was a direct Airport Bus to-and-fro. Drop off all my luggage at the deposit counter of the Airport and headed off to catch the Airport Bus.
The computer market was massive, several buildings in the area with floors after floors of shops. I spent less than 2 hours there including lunch at a chinese fast food joint before heading back to the Airport. Managed to get about 10+ Wii games including Wii Sports.
Along the way, caught sight of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube from the bus. The Water Cube looked spectacular too under daylight, reflecting the sun rays!

Some skyviews of Beijing taken from the flight Xi'an-Beijing:

The flight home was on a spanking new airbus with large LCD screens and even power sockets for charging your devices or to plug in your notebooks. I had the entire row of 3 seats to myself which I fully used all of them for a good night's sleep!

Some photos taken from the SQ flight during and after take-off:

DAY THIRTEEN: XI'AN (6 JAN 2009) - WINDING DOWN

No specific plans today except to get a set of Wii from the computer mart which I went to enroute to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Took my own sweet time savouring the breakfast spread of the hotel which were more than adequate yet not too lavish and wasteful like those at 5-star hotels. A nice spread of chinese and western stuffs, only thing lacking was toast bread.
A must-do today was the 灌汤包 at 老海家, having missed it two days in a row. Today 110% cannot miss out anymore...........'cause going there in the morning, no chance that it will be sold out or closed this time 'round!!



My chinese breakfast spread, the plain porridge was extremely fine and smooth.


The alleyway leading to the hotel entrance on the left side.


This particular Starbucks - most memorable for me!


The street adjacent to the main street of the Muslim Quarters with lots more good food!


These were Persimmon Cakes with different stuffings, freshly made, freshly cooked.
There was a shop along the main street that sold these in vacuum-packed which could last a week to 10 days.

Having tried both 贾三's shops and now this 老海家, must say this last one is the best of them all. Here you could actually see them making the dumplings at close range and the helpers were all females that do multi-tasking such as serving, making the dumplings and cooking noodle dishes etc. This place was definitely very "yin" (阴) or feminine. The 8-treasures porridge (八宝粥) was by far, the best of them all! The prices were also lower than at 贾三. This shop is more family-like while 贾三 veered towards commercialised fast food type of operations. The essence of 灌汤包 is all about the insides - the meat fillings and the right amount of steam retention in the dumplings that translate into 汤 (soup) that make these little things so lovable. 老海家's dumpling skins were thicker, some may like this, some may not. So just let your own taste buds decide.

After that dumpling sampling treat, was trying to check out the local CD stores for Bibi's records but no luck, also could not locate the music shop near the university area mentioned on some city guide which was said to carry imported western CDs. Eventually wanted to head to the computer mart for the Wii when along the way, a phone call came which had me scrambling to find a shop to top up the depleted SIM card value and to do an about-turn heading back to the hotel as my dear local friend had just finished the first part of the driving test and meeting up back at the hotel. I was late rushing back to the hotel, she was already waiting at the lobby for quite a while! We headed out for a lunch at the basement eatery just round the corner of the hotel which serve great value steaks. Thereafter she accompanied me to the computer mart to pick up the Wii. Prior to that was trying to locate a bank that would do foreign exchange of SGD to RMB. I was quite surprised that only Bank of China would take SGD, even ICBC could not do it and they were like the 2nd or 3rd largest bank in China! The procedure to do the exchange was very tedious, not only forms to fill which had to state reasons for exchange but also they were doing some checks on my passport as well. Finally a manager had to endorse the form before the counter staff could proceed. Lesson learnt: Do all your forex before you come here, use credit cards whenever possible because most places can only take Unionpay card or local credit cards only. I am not so sure if Visa card cash advance will work here using a foreign-issued card. My suspicion: it may not.

I was rather apologetic to my dear friend for having to wait so long while I was doing this.

After happily getting the Wii (minus the Sports disc which was the only game I wanted), arranged with her friends to go to Partyworld KTV for a singing session which I had no plan to sing anything but ended up breaking my long-standing fear of doing karaoke and belted out a couple of English ones that must be quite a torturous earful for those in the room. The rest of them were all well-seasoned K-singers, including 2 who were like professionals who had been vocal-trained who unbelievably belted out Faye's "Bored" amazingly well!

Brent and Dathy

This is Sophia, equally "crazy" fella but.........surely a friend indeed!

How can I put it? If you had to select a person to fight a war, you will not go wrong taking this fella with you.

These two were the vocal-trained singers!

Brent is from New Jersey, here on a 6-months teaching assignment which he had chosen instead of a well-paying job back home. His peers were rather baffled by his choice but I believed he had chosen wisely. I mean how could you give up an opportunity to immerse in the local life of the most populous country on this planet? The experience alone is truly priceless.

After the K-session, parted ways initially with them and the two of us were heading to Muslim Quarters for dinner when Sophia called to say that Brent would be joining us instead. Met Brent at the front of the Drum Tower and headed to 老海家 again for the same which I had in the morning. This time ordered different meat stuffings. It was Dathy's treat!

After dinner, she helped Brent flag for a taxi with the destination written in Chinese and informed to the driver. We then headed back to the Muslim Quarters where she picked up a packet of vacuum-packed Persimmon cakes and packets of Prune Juice powder for her secondary school classmate 李海, who is currently working in SG. That was to be my last night in Xi'an before saying au revoir very early next morning. I had grown to like this place very much, definitely THE CITY which had left me with the most impressions.