She stood out in the light rain. She had this gait that sort of ambles along. Probably in her late fifties, she portrayed toughness. Maybe it was the apparent strength with which she lugged those plastic bags of stuff with her two hands.

As I drove, I spied her from a distance, a lone lady along the raised road median. She wore “aunty” clothes, those light blouse and pants usually worn by amahs and kampong women of my grandmother’s generation. Another bag lady, I thought to myself. Otherwise, who would be crazy enough to be in the middle of nowhere especially in the rain?

Those plastic bags don’t look like they came from the supermarket nearby. Who walks to the shops nowadays? Everyone drives or is driven. Definitely another bag lady, I thought.

The light was red just as I neared the junction. I saw her quicken her pace towards me. Sure enough, in an instant she was knocking on my window uttering something. Asking for a lift or she had something cheap to sell?

My reaction? Outright rejection. My mind was already made up long before she came near. She can only be up to no good, not to me at least. If it was a lift she wanted, she was wet and looked dirty. She would mess up my car!

I did not hear what she was saying through the glass. Neither did I cared. I just waved no. Surprisingly she accepted without resistance and walked right away to the lorry stopped behind me. The rain continued to splatter indifferently on my windscreen.

From my rear mirror, I could see her. The lorry driver had refused her same as I did. She next proceeded to her next target, a taxi with a passenger in the front seat.

Just as the light turned green, I saw her face light up as she happily opened the rear door of the taxi. She had only wanted a lift. It was at this moment that I wished that I had not been judgmental. A lift for someone in need can’t be too heavy, even if it is a little way off my route. If fear of harm is a reason, goodness, she is not stronger than me. It was a hard lesson in self cherishing and I had lost.

East Africa Calls for Help

Folks,

As we sit back in comfort and scroll our screens, in faraway East Africa, many are suffering famine. Can we do something?

Click this link and take a look...maybe give…Take a look

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/newsroom/somalia-famine–how-to-help.html

I want it. I need it. It’s so thin, light and it has got this new platform which makes it much better than the old iPad. Never mind that it does the same thing. And it is selling at the same price as the old one was. Never mind that the iPad1 is slashed a few hundred buck cheaper now.

I can load all my favorite photographs to show just in case someone is interested. Never mind that I am no great photographer nor do I look at my own handiwork very often, if at all. I have tons of gigs of photos and like all clutter, they remain as clutter. I can also take the trouble to scan notes and stuff like that to read at my leisure. I would be really canggih.

Now, here’s the real deal. This comes from the Dalai Lama….read on.

An Open Heart by The Dalai Lama

“…For example, when we are attracted to something, we tend to exaggerate its qualities, seeing it as 100 percent good or 100 percent desirable, and we are filled with a longing for that object or person. An exaggerated projection, for example, might lead us to feel that a newer more up-to-date computer (sic iPad2) could fulfill all our needs and solve all our problems.

Similarly, if we find something undesirable, we tend to distort its qualities in the other direction. Once we have our heart set on a new computer, the old one that has served us so well for so many years suddenly begins to take on objectionable qualities, acquiring more and more deficiencies. Our interactions with this computer become more and more tainted by these projections. Again, this is as true for people as for material possessions. A troublesome boss or difficult associate is seen as possessing a naturally flawed character. We make similar aesthetic judgments o f objects that do not meet our fancy, even if they are perfectly acceptable to others. “ An Open Heart (follow link for book… An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life)

Now, what does a simple monk know anyway? When there is they launch that nice unaffordable new car, mine REALLY does develop creaks and rattles. Ah, yes.

Like my young son said of the iPad, I want it but I don’t really need it.

Psst…the next shipment is next week.

Golden Temple of Amritsar

When you see a cockroach sniffing around on your dining table, what would you expect the common reaction to be? Swat the living daylights out of the poor fella or flatten it so bad it would never get up again?

On the night train from Doon to Amritsar about a month ago, I had an encounter with such a creature and left me with good sobering thoughts. (Doon or correctly Dehra Dun is a typical dusty Indian city in the northwest on the foothills of the Himalayas. The Austrian mountaineer  Heinreich Farrer was once held here as a POW of the British. But I have digressed)

Coming back to our cockcroach story, the friendly train crew chatted us up and in the midst of our conversation this cockroach decided to join the dinner as well. A rather young specimen, this one and certainly not knowing the danger of encroaching on a human having his dinner.

The train man spotted him and I half expected him to deliver the fatal stroke. To my surprise, he didn’t but instead gently brushed him off. The clever cockcroach scooted off and wisely did not make a reappearance for the rest of the evening.

What a respect for life! What a great way to start the trip to the holy (some consider as the holiest) city of Amritsar.

I hope to write a little about Amritsar in coming posts and also share a few tips at the same time.

(Click on Image above to view at Amazon.com)

Iread this in Thomas Carr’s book, “Trend Trading For a  Living”, found this quite meaningful and would like to share it here. This reminded me of the practices which I have heard (but neither learnt nor practised well), the first of which is generosity.

Generosity is the mainstay and the starting point. It is said that if we are ever to progress on the path of being something worthy, the first step is to practice generosity. I can only remember that this generosity includes a few aspects and they are the generosity of wealth and physical possessions, kindness, help and assistance, dharma or spiritual knowledge, etc.

Back to the book “Trend Trading For a Living, here is the excerpt..forgive typing errors.

“a) work for all you get b)give away the first 10 percent (c) invest the next 10 percent (d)live on the rest (e) account for every penny.

The Rockefellers believed that giving away their money was essential to their wealth. And so should you. The secret is that money multiplies fastest when it is divided. It’s all God’s money in any case. We are merely stewards of a small portion of God’s abundance. And when this portion is shared freely with those less fortunate, we prime the economic pump of the universe.

… Plant money trees where others will benefit. Ultimately the only purpose of having wealth is to help others less fortunate. Wealth shared is true wealth indeed. The way I see it, God in His grace gave  me the undeserved talent of making money bu simply sitting in front of the computer and clicking the mouse now and then. As a result of that gift, we as a family have been able to travel the world, build a large home, and enjoy the finer things in life. The least I can do is to give a healthy portion of the fruits of that gift back to God’s work in the world.”

John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American oil magnate. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897.^[1] Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Jabez Bostwick, chemist Samuel Andrews, and a silent partner, Stephen V. Harkness. As kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, Rockefeller’s wealth soared, and he became the world’s richest man and first American worth more than a billion dollars.^[2] Adjusting for inflation, he is often regarded as the richest person in history.^[3][4][5][6]

Rockefeller spent the last 40 years of his life in retirement. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research.^{[citation needed]}

His foundations pioneered the development of medical research, and were instrumental in the eradication of hookworm and yellow fever. He is also the founder of both the University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions throughout his life. Rockefeller adhered to total abstinence from alcohol and tobacco throughout his life.

The Devil - Freedom of Choice

I read this off a book and can’t resist but share it.

Masochistic but must go look for this book, written by Joe Dominguez who retired at 31 with enough money to spend the rest of his life enjoying himself doing volunteer work. The title of the book is ‘Your Money or Your Life’. But for now, sadism for you.

We aren’t making a living, we are making a dying. Consider the average American worker. The alarm rings at 6:45 and our working man or woman is up and running. Shower. Dress in the professional uniform-suits or dresses for some, overalls for others, white for the medical professional, jeans and flannel shorts for construction workers. Breakfast, if there is time. Grab commuter mug and briefcase (or lunch box) and hop in the car for the daily punishment called rush hour. On the job from nine to five. Deal with the boss. Deal with the coworker sent by the devil to rub you the wrong way. Deal with suppliers. Deal with clients/customers/patients. Act busy. Hide mistakes. Smile when handed impossible deadlines. Give a sigh of relief when the ax known as ‘restructuring’ or ‘downsizing’- or just plain getting laid off – falls on other heads. Shoulder the added workload. Watch the clock. Argue with your conscience but agree with the boss. Smile again. Five o’clock. Back in the car and onto the freeway for the evening commute. Home. Act human with mates, kids or roommates. Eat. Watch TV. Bed. Eight hours of blessed oblivion.

And they call this making a living? Think about it. How many people have you seen who are more alive at the end of the workday than they were at the beginning?…Aren’t we killing ourselves-our health, our relationships, our sense of joy and wonder-for our jobs? We are sacrificing our lives for money-but it’s happening so slowly that we barely notice.

It is taught that the practice and fruition of all virtues begin with generosity.

Come to think of it, it seems to make sense. It is only through being able to give things away that stuff like ego, pride, selfishness can be conquered. Suddenly, that voice of ours that says, “Hey, this ten dollars is mine so why should I give it away?” sounds so loud. If we pause to listen, that is.

There is the giving of money and there are other forms of giving like giving of a smile, assistance, knowledge, trust and so forth which brings me to a movie.

I saw the movie Seven Pounds recently. It is an old show – Will Smith and the lovely Rosario Dawson. The theme is giving and it is the giving of what is dearest to all of us – our body parts and our life! It is also about paying for our mistakes, about remorse but that is only what I perceive from the show and not what the script intended.

Reverend Dhamaratana talked about donation of organs recently. It is logical that once we are dead, our organs are of no use to us. And truth be told, our carcass has to be left behind. It is not likely that the keeper of Hades will ask us to see our passport and do a body search to check that all the parts and organs are complete.

Eerie thought but I have an excuse. My old worn out parts are a bad bargain.

I just had a brief conversation with Minam Rinpoche and learnt:

1. The situation in Yushu has stabilised but the greatest concern now is the coming winter. In two months or so the weather is going to turn cold again. As we know, the winter there is harsh and temperatures is sub zero. Without proper shelter, it is going to be a huge challenge for the poor folks there.

2. Unreported but the Yushu area was recently struck by cyclone. Apparently, about 200 were killed.

3. Along with the rain, the folks there have to contend with the strong winds. Out in the open, it is tough.

4. Come winter, tents will not be able to hold out the cold. It is difficult to know how best to deal with the situation. Hopefully, we can do something. Life is indeed a struggle there. Each will have to fend for themselves but again, hopefully, Minam Rinpoche and others will be able to come up with something. From sources, he has worked tirelessly to do the best he can.

It is difficult for us to imagine how harsh cold can be. Speaking from expereinces of brief exposures to cold, it is terrible. For Yushu, where food is inadequate, facilities non-existent, the suffering is compounded.

This morning, during that routine, I got thinking. The way one looks at a person makes a world of a difference. For example, seeing a person as a spouse and loving that same person is entirely different.

When a person is a spouse, there are expectations. Got to be this tall or that pretty. Got to measure up. Got to be successful. Doesn’t snore and throw out the rubbish. Works a full time job and still cooks dinner, washes the dishes too. Afford a maid and the holidays twice a year as well.

Being a spouse exposes one to all sorts of dangers. And limitations as well. Not to forget the rules of behavior, unilateral rules naturally. Every misstep is glared at and toted up in that mental book that never gets erased. You may not see it but it’s there.

To love someone is entirely different. Nothing has changed, at least on the outside. The love of our life still snores the same way and the rubbish is still feeding the cockroaches and the ants. To love someone makes us see all the sweet and wonderful things about them. We see their kindness, their concern for us, their love. They are angels and their light glows every time we bring them to mind.

When we love someone, we want the best for them. For to us, they are the most delicate thing in the world. We fear for them, we want to protect them. We feel their every hurt and our hearts break when they are in pain. We will give everything and anything to take their pain away. We want them to be happy.

I think that when someone becomes a spouse, there is this ‘taking’. When we love someone, we ‘give’. There lies the difference. And to give is to love. And vice versa. And I believe this same thinking applies to whether a child is a naughty incorrigible rascal or … is that an old troublesome grumble or the mother who nursed to what we are today?

Two weeks after the earthquake brought great suffering to the folks of Yushu, the coconut tree in my garden burst forth flowers in all its glory.

Being  in a rather pensive mood then, I took this photograph and made a silent prayer that just as this tree springs new life, may the Yushu people too rise from the destruction with renewed vigour and hope. Just as the bees swarm these coconut flowers, may the kindness and generosity of humanity overflow.