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

Don't Fall for this Telephone Ruse

Friends, there are some bad people who are up to tricks to scare and cheat you of your money. Please read this as it is my story and not a forward.

My brother received a call of distress from one claiming to be my son. In answers to questions, the caller claimed that he has been badly beaten. He says he is confused, does not know where he is and that his head is bleeding badly.

This sure scared the green shit out of my brother and mother as the voice really did sounded like my son. Fortunately my brother had the wits and presence of mind to ask him what his other name was. To this, the bad person on the other end knew that the game was up and hung up immediately.

Coincidentally, my brother had called my son in the morning to ask him to be careful as there seemed so much uncertainty over the coming Bersih 2.0 rally. Could these bad people have access to my brother’s number somehow?

Friends, if there is anything to learn, please be careful that there are bad people who will use this kind of telephone trick. This is just one variation. Another variation had a girl claiming to be a daughter being abducted and asks the parents or relatives to deposit money in return for her safety.

Yet another variation will call the victim claiming that there is a problem with the victim’s phone (like being used by criminals, being under investigation by the police or some other authority or institution etc). The victim is then asked to switch off his mobile phone for a period of time. The victims family are then contacted with some ruse or other. The effect of this ruse is that the victims family may immediately call the victim and of course with the phone off, would be unreachable adding reality and emergency to the situation. They thus fall for the trick losing money to these bad people.

Learning my experience, I would suggest:

1.   Family members may adopt a code word system which is shared among family. In any emergency calls of this nature, the right question can be asked to determine the authenticity of the caller. The caller would not be able to give the correct answer.

2.   In response to such situations, work as a group NEVER alone as a group can think more rationally. Ask friends to assist and if necessary check with the police for advice.

Please tell your friends as well my story. Thanks.

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.

There is always a time to give back. That include knowledge and little things we have collected along the way.

In learning, we must always strive to improve. This was exactly what my Si Gong meant when he autographed and presented me his book “The Nucleus of the Wing Chun System”. It is dim now my memory of those heady days in Hong Kong with him but somehow the message that he imprinted in my mind remains clear. He said one must continue learning and improving – akin to a boat going upstream for if we stop rowing…

Now that I have come to teach Wing Chun again, it is a sort of pay back. It has always been a philosophy to not let what was learnt be lost with the last breath. The trainings, analysis, tinkering with theories and techniques become meaningless if eventually there is no one to hand it to.  To do so sometimes require a letting loose of self imposed values and requirements from both the giver and the recipient.

Wing Chun is a very good art of self defense. Simple principles applied efficiently make it a wonderful system for both the strong and the not so strong.

Why would any peace loving person want to learn a martial art? Some may take the training and study as a form of exercise while others may take it as a social recreation. Others may harbor thoughts of bashing people yet others may be captivated by the glamour of martial art flicks and movies. I like best how one friend puts it. He says that it was like being part of a culture and legacy, a sense of belonging and self worth.

Ultimately every warrior learns humility. From the hard, we learn the soft. That differentiates the one who knows from the one who does not. In the old days, I had for company some very tough people, karatekas and other martial artists. They like most of us were filled with much bravado and often felt that it was macho to go around destroying things and other peoples bones. Many of them are old now and hopefully they have come home and now see things with different eyes and heart.

The train service run from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur for 30/1/11 was canceled.

Reason? Incessant rain has flooded the tracks. That has left hundreds going south to singapore and those heading north stranded. KTM might have planned that the tracks do not get flooded when it rains heavy but if they can’t better the pre-war toilets, what hope is there?

Weather changes has left us Malaysians with a wet January. I remember back in the old days, round near Chinese New Year, the sun would be blazing down but not this time around. Global warming? 2012?

If this weather trend continues, the cool spell may turn out to be something disastrous. What happened to Brisbane recently is a stark reminder!

What to do? What to do? What to do?

(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.

Every once in a while, a good book comes along.

In this case,there are actually four. I am referring to the Karma Chakme Mountain Dharma series published by KTD publications.

About the source of Mountain Dharma

There are in fact a few versions of mountain dharma and the teachings in these four books come from the Mahasiddha Karma Chakme. Karma Chakme was born in 1613. He spent a big part of his life in retreat accomplishing his practice, the last one lasting 13 years.

A little about the books

These books are a complete text for those who wish to practice Tibetan Buddhism. It is also for those who wish to know more about the meaning of life. And death.

Thanks to Kong Keen Yung who introduced me to these series of books while we were in ‘retreat’ in India. Incidentally, the 4th volume was just out this year.

The local bookstores may carry them or you could try Amazon. Hover over the picture of the books or click the link to get to the respective web pages.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4 (sorry no pictures but it looks the same)

Karma Chakme’s Mountain Dharma As Taught by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Volume Four

Throughout history, in every era and time, great people are recognized by the mark they leave on the pages and course of history.

The one known as Chetsang Rinpoche, the throne holder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism is one such individual. Read the book ‘From the Heart of Tibet’ and you will know what I mean. (It sells for US14.93 at Amazon – click the picture of the book or the link  in green below to get there).
From the Heart of Tibet: The Biography of Drikung Chetsang Rinpoche, the Holder of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage

Through the pages of this biography, the story and life of Chetsang Holiness comes to life. Before I read this book, Chetsang Holiness was, in my mind, an ordinary monk who had been chosen to lead the lineage. He was born into it, sort of. Just like the lucky ones born with a silver spoon. Reading that book changed all that.

It was apt that I read the book while in Songtsen Library, just next to his residence, a few weeks ago. The book had just came in and was not even catalogued when I spied it on the librarian’s table. The librarian was a friend who kindly allowed me to read it – I was not allowed to take it out of the premises. In the warm winter sunshine along with a lovely hot thermos of Nescafe, I devoured the book. The words left me misty eyed many a time as I discovered so many things about this man leaving me wondering about many things. Things like circumstances, invisible protectors, fate. Even the possibility of things having a different meaning popped in my cynical mind.

To know more, you have to read this book. It details his childhood, his adventures (were there any misadventures?), his growing years during the dark and tumultuous years of the cultural revolution under communist china and Mao Tse Tung, his escape and his revival of the Drikung Kagyu Buddhist tradition.

I enjoyed most the middle part of the book which tells of his trials under the communists. Many inspirations I found and this part was read with great amazement, wonder and awe. Great individuals are rare. One may not have the qualities to be great but one can count oneself as fortunate if one have had the honour of meeting one.

A truly recommended read.  And thankful for the present.