2005 年 4 月 7 日 星期四 【晴】

今天是教宗的葬禮

電視旁述是一位神父

他說教宗曾經於 1986 年呼籲各宗教領袖一同祈求世界和平

教宗給所有神父的一封信曾說

不同的宗教有不同的神

但是教宗他覺得好像這是因為文化或其他因素才有不同的名稱

說總覺得各宗教的神 afterall 其實好像差不多是一樣

是同一個 truth


我也有相似的概念呢!

想起以下一文:

".......When one speaks of Dharma in today's India, the question that arises in the audience's mind is: "Which

Dharma? Hindu-dharma, Buddhist-dharma, Jain-dharma, Christian-dharma, Muslim-dharma, Sikh-dharma,

Parsi-dharma, or Jewish-dharma? Which Dharma?"


It is a great pity that we have totally forgotten pure Dharma. How can Dharma be Hindu, Muslim, Christian,

Jain, Parsi, or Sikh? This is impossible. If Dharma is pure Dharma, it is universal. It cannot be sectarian.

Sectarian rites and rituals differ from one sect to another. The so-called "Hindu-dharma" has its own rites,

rituals and religious ceromonies; its own beliefs, dogmas, and philosophies; and its own external

appearances, and disciplines, such as fasting. It is the same with the Muslim-dharma, Christian-dharma,

Sikh-dharma, and so on. But Dharma has nothing to do with all these. Sectarianism is divisive. Dharma is

universal: it unites.


The meaning of Dharma in the ancient language of India has been lost. Unfortunately, our country has lost

the bulk of its ancient literature and scriptures. This literature was preserved and is still being maintained in

the neighbouring countries. When we study these writings it becomes so clear what the people of this

country meant by Dharma in ancient times. The definitioin was "Dhareti ti dharma" - what one holds, what

one contains, is Dharma. This means what one's mind is holding, what one's mind is containing, at this

moment. These contents may be wholesome thoughts, or unwholesome thoughts. ...........................


.......................In the ancient scriptures, there was another definition of the word dharma: the nature or

characteristic of what the mind contains, whether wholesome or unwholesome. What is the characteristic

of the contents of one's mind? This was called dharma. Its nature, its characteristic was called dharma. In

Indian languages today, we still hear an echo of this meaning when someone says: "The dharma of fire is to

burn." The nature of fire is to burn itself and to burn others. Similarly, we can say that the dharma of ice is to

create coolness. THis is the nature of ice.


What do thse universal characteristics have to do with Hinduism? What have they to do with Buddhism, or

Christianity, Islam, Jainism or Sikhism? Fire burns; ice cools. This is a universal law of nature. If fire does not

burn itself and others, it cannot be fire. If it is fire, then its characteristic must be to burn itself and to burn

others. The dharma of the sun is to give light and heat. If it does not give light and heat, it cannot be the sun.

The dharma of the moon is to give a soft, cool light. This is the dharma, the nature of the moon. If it does not

do that, it is not the moon.


This was how the word dharma was used in those days. If the contents of my mind are unwholesome - for

example, if I am generating anger, hatred, ill will, or animosity at this moment - then the nature of these

negativities is to burn. They will burn me. The vessel containing the fire is the fire's first victim; then this fire

and its heat start spreading to the environment around it.


It is the same when there is negativity in the mind. One who containes this negativity, who generates this

negativity, is the first victim. He or she becomes very miserable. How can you expect peace, harmony and

happiness, if you are generating anger? This is totally against the law of nature. That means it is totally

against Dharma, which is the universal law of nature. If, knowingly or unknowingly, I place my hand in fire,

my hand is bound to burn. The fire does not discriminate. It does not notice whether the hand belongs to a

person who calls himself or herself a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh or Parsi, or an Indian, American,

Russian or Chinese. There is no difference, no discrimination, no partiality; Dharma is Dharma.


In the same way, when my mind is generating purity, the negativities are eradicated. According to the law of

nature, when the mind is pure, it is full of love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. This is the

nature of a pure mind. This pure mind may belong to a Hindu or a Christian, or it may belong to an Indian or a

Pakistani: it makes no difference at all. If the mind is pure, it must have these qualities. And when the mind is

full of love, compassion, goodwill and equanimity, then again, the universal law is such that these contents

of the mind have their own nature, their own Dharma.They give so much peace, so much harmony, so much

happiness. One may keep calling oneself by any name. He may keep performing this rite or that ritual, this

religious ceromony or that religious ceremony. He may have this external appearance or that external

appearance. he may believe in this philosophy or that philosophy. It makes no difference at all. Dharma is

Dharma. .................................................

......................................................When someone starts giving importance to Hindu-dharma, he never gives

importance to Dharma. Hindu-dharma and all the rites, rituals, ceremonies and appearances become more

important for this person. He performs them and feels that he is a very Dharmic person. Similarly, if one

gives importance to Muslim-dharma, Sikh-dharma, or Buddhist-dharma, one feels that he is a very Dharmic

person. This person may not have even a trace of Dharma, because all the time his mind is full of impurity,

full of negativity. What a great delusion it is when one feels that he is a Dharmic person because he has

performed his rite or ritual; because he has gone to this temple or to that mosque; because he has gone to

this church or to that gurudwara; because he has recited this or recited that. What has happened to us?

Where is this sectarianism leading us? Far away from Dharma!


The yardstick of Dharma should be; "Is my mind getting purified or not?" There is nothing wrong with

performing a particular rite, ritual, or religioius ceremony. There is nothing wrong with going to a mosque or a

temple. but one should keep examining oneself to see: "Is my mind getting purified by performing all these

rites, rituals and ceremonies? Am I getting liberated from anger, hatred, ill will, animosity, passion, ego?" If

so, then yes, they are very good.


-----extract from "The Gracious Flow of Dharma" published by vipassana research institute, p. 1-10
(due to my fonts in my pc, some pali words are unable to be typed correctly)



@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@


昨天跟 nico 有吵架的跡象

試試觀察自己的 sensation

接受這 sensation

明白這sensation 是 impermanent 的

arising and passing away

嘩!

果然 work

好高興呢!

>>April 8, 2005 at 3:12:22 PM GMT+8

2005 年 4 月 6 日 星期三 【晴】

好喜歡這首歌的歌詞

Que Sera, Sera
Doris Day

[Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans]


When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother
What will I be
Will I be pretty
Will I be rich
Here's what she said to me

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart
What lies ahead
Will we have rainbows
Day after day
Here's what my sweetheart said

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

Now I have Children of my own
They ask their mother
What will I be
Will I be handsome
Will I be rich
I tell them tenderly

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be
Que Sera, Sera

This song was written for
Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 re-make
Of his 1934 film "The Man Who Knew Too Much"
Starring Doris Day & Jimmy Stewart

>>April 7, 2005 at 3:53:36 AM GMT+8

2005 年 4 月 5 日 星期二 【晴】

看見銀行戶口

嚇了一跳

也好

給我找工作的動力



媽媽完成了 meditation camp

congratulations

好棒啊!

>>April 6, 2005 at 3:31:31 AM GMT+8

2005 年 4 月 4 日 星期一 【晴】

Q: How can a meditator deal with grief over the death of a loved one?

A: A meditator should be very wise and understand the law of nature. In spite of all your crying and

prayers, there is no possibility that this person will come back. You have to accept the fact that this person

has gone forever.


Understand that whenever you generate a vibration of sorrow and misery while remembering someone who

has passed away, the vibrations will reach wherever this person may be, and will make him or her

unhappy. No-one wants a near and dear one who has passed away to be unhappy. We would certainly like

the person to be happy, peaceful and liberated, yet you send vibrations to this person which will make him

or her more unhappy. You are harming the person whom you want to be happy.


Another harmful aspect is that while you are crying, remembering the near and dear one who has passed

away, you are sowing seeds of 'sankharas' of misery. You are becoming miserable and a seed of misery

will bring nothing but misery in the future. Nature will not differentiate whether you are sowing the seed

because of this or that logical reason. No, the seed is of misery and it must bring misery.


After all, what is a seed? A seed generates and creates a habit pattern of the mind. And now you are

supporting the habit pattern of the mind by becoming more miserable, due to this or that reason. This habit

pattern will bring more misery in the future; so you have started harming yourself and the dear one who is

gone.


And the third harmful aspect is that this sensation of misery that you are generating by this 'sankhara' starts

permeating the atmosphere around you. Everyone else in the family around you will become depressed,

because you are generating that type of sensation. You havae started harming yourself, those around you

who are alive, and the dear one who has passed away. The action of yours is harmful in three ways.


If somebody works wisely and understands the law of nature, then as soon as you remember the one who

has passed away, if even slight sorrow starts in the mind, you immediately calm down and start generating

vibrations of 'metta', love, "may you be happy, whereever you ar. may you be happy, may you be peaceful,

may you be liberated." Your vibrations will reach this being and he or she will feel happy. Theres vibrations

are full of happiness, peace, harmony. You are generating a 'sankhara' at that time of harmony and peace.

This seed will bring fruit to you of peace, harmony and happiness. And this vibration will permeate the

atmosphere and make it peaceful and harmonious. You have started helping all three - the loved one who

has died, yourself, and your family - in the proper way, in a Dhamma way.


Vibrations do work. Even to those who have passed away, whereever they may be, the vibration that we

generate whilst remembering them will certianly reach there, strongly or mildly, according to the strenght of

your mind.


Many times in your own life you will find that, although there is no reason, nothing has happened outside,

you start feeling depressed. Certian vibrations from outside are coming in contact with you. A vibration of

depression makes you depressed. Similarly often you will find that, without any reason, although nothing

has happened outside, you feel happy. Certian good vibrations of happiness are reaching you. This is the

law of nature. If you are near a burning oven, its vibrations will bring you heat. If you are near a refrigerator,

the vibrations willl bring you coldness. The earlier one understands the law of nature and starts applying it in

this life, the better. So this is the best way to act at that time.



quote from " For the benefit of many" published by vipassana research institute

>>April 6, 2005 at 3:38:10 AM GMT+8

2005 年 4 月 3 日 星期日 【晴】

Pope John Paul II 病逝了

我認同

love, compassion 是 universal truth

是超越了此宗教或那宗教的普遍性法則

而 Pope John Paul II 的生命裡

充分地展現了 love 和 compassion

因此

我希望 pay my tribute to him

把 good wills 跟 metta 送給他

我想他一定會收到的

may you be happy

may you be peaceful

may you be liberated

liberated




想起了一個故事:

The Pebbles and the Ghee


One day a young man came to the Buddha crying and crying; he could not stop. The Buddha asked him,

"What is wrong, young man?"

" Sir, yesterday my old father died."

"Well, what can be done? If he has died, crying will not bring him back."

"Yes, sir, that I understand; crying will not bring back my father. But I have come to you, sir, with a special

request: please do something for my dead father!"

"Eh? What can I do for your dead father?"

"Sir, please do something. You are such a powerful person, certianly you can do it. Look, there priestlings,

pardoners, and almsgatherers perform all sorts of rites and rituals to help the dead. And as soon as the

ritual is performed here, the gateway of the kingdom of heaven is breached and the dead person receives

entry there; he gets an entry visa. You, sir, are so powerful! If you perform a ritual for my dead father, he

will not just receive an entry visa, he'll be granted a permanent stay, a Green Card! Please sir, do something

for him!"


The poor fellow was so overwhelmed by grief that he could not follow any rational argument. The Buddha

had to use another way to help him understand. So he said to him, "All right. Go to the market and buy two

earthen pots." The young man was very happy, thinking that the Buddha had agreed to perform a ritual for

his father. He ran to the market and returned with two pots. "All right," the Buddha said, "fill one pot with

ghee, with butter." The young man did it. "Fill the other with pebbles." He did that too. "Now close their

mouths; seal them properly." He did it. "Now place them in the pond over there." The young man did so, and

both of the pots sank to the bottom. "Now," said the Buddha, "bring a big stick; strike and break open the

pots." The young man was very happy, thinking that the Buddha was performing a wonderful ritual for his

father.


According to ancient Indian custom, when a man dies, his son takes the dead body to the cremation ground,

puts it on the funeral pyre, and burns it. When the body is half burned, the son takes a thick stick and cracks

open the skulls. And according to the old belief, as soon as the skull is opened in this world, the gateway of

the kingdom of heaven is opened above. So now the young man thought to himself, "The body of my father

was burned to ashes yesterday. As a symbol, the Buddha now wants me to break open these pots! He

was very happy with the ritual.


Taking a stick as the Buddha said, the young man struck hard and broke open both the pots. At once the

butter contained in one pot came up and started floating on the surface of the water. The pebbles in the

other pot spilled out and remained at the bottom. Then the Buddha said, "Well, young man, this much I have

done. Now call all your priestlings and miracle workers and tell them to start chanting and praying: 'Oh

pebbles, come up, come up! Oh butter, go down, go down!' Let me see how is happens."


"Oh sir, you have started joking! How is it possible, sir? The pebbles are heavier than water, they are bound

to stay at the bottom. They can'tt come up, sir; this is the law of nature! The butter is lighter than water, it is

bound to remain on the surface. It can't go down, sir: this is the law of nature!"


"Young man, you know so much about the law of nature, but you have not understood this nature law: if all

his life your father performed deeds that were heavy like pebbles, he is bound to go down; who can bring

him up? And if all his actions were light like this butter, he is bound to go up; who can pull him down?"


The earlier we understsand the law of nature and start living in accordance with the law, the earlier we

come out of our misery.



quote from "The Art of Living - Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka" by William Hart



Pope John Paul II 教我們「 以 愛 改 造 心 靈 ， 帶 來 和 平 。 」

我會好好記住的

謝謝您

>>April 4, 2005 at 11:01:51 AM GMT+8

2005 年 4 月 2 日 星期六 【晴】

回來了......

去泰國已經有十多次了吧!

這次是 totally new experience

以前都只顧 shopping, massage,.........

這一次去了 meditation camp

也意外地在全泰國最有名的 wat pho traditional thai massage school 考了 thai massage certificate

認識了無數的朋友

在 meditation camp 認識了:

oyl - thai girl, have been studying in japan for 6 years

ice - thai girl

nam - thai lady, 一個很健談的女人

lynzy - canadian girl, 在印度跟男朋友一起學 sivanada yoga, 上了 yoga instructor training course, 將會跟男

朋友一起到澳洲 brisbane 教 yoga

leila - canadian girl, 獨立歌手, 從小已經是 musician, 在加拿大拿了不少獎項, 遺憾沒有機會聽她即場歌唱,

keren 聽過後感動到哭起來呢! leila 將會在加拿大巡迴演唱


keren - israel girl, 在他們的國家, 在 high school 以後, 他們要參軍兩年, 男孩三年, 然後他們會工作一年儲錢去

旅行一年 , keren 說在他們的國家, 大部分的年輕人也這樣做


erica - canadian girl, 在泰國工作了四年半了, 一面工作一面旅遊, 她為一所國際傢俬出口公司工作, 就是她

recommend 我們去學 thai massage 的. 她非常的 helpful, 很有義氣很照顧別人那種


katja - austrian girl, 在奧地利看到電視報導 tsunami 的消息, 由於她的 diving instructor licence 是在 PP 島考到

的, 決定回 PP 島 當義工, 協助災後重建的工作


angela - american girl, 已經 travel 了四年了, 去了世界不同的地方, 她的生命很 dramatic, 像每一齣電影的主

角, 她在 tibet 的經歷, 在 new york 遇到火警的經歷, 被 tornado 捲到空中的經歷....................她說 meditation

讓她的脾氣變好了, 對我來說是莫大的鼓勵. 她很好人, 很 caring, 還 walk me to the bus top which is so far

away from her place.......謝謝你啊!


在 thai massage school, 認識了:

penluck - thai lady, 她是一位中學教師, 在泰國一所 top ten 的名男校任教, 已經教了二十年了. 她的丈夫也是教

師, 在一所政府小學任教. 她有兩個孩子, 她非常非常的 sweet, 超級超級的 nice, 雖然她的人工不高, 每月只有

2500 HKD 薪金, 但是她的樂善好施, 她的好客, 深深的打動了我的心. 她聽見了我打算買 mangosteen 回香港,

想不到在課程的最後一天, 她拿著一大袋山竹跑到我的 dormitory, 行了五層樓梯, 才發現我不在 dormitory, 再

拿到 thai massage school 給我. 好感動.....好感動.......謝謝, 謝謝


Lieu - thai lady, 是她介紹我去thai massage school 的 dormitory 跟她一塊住, 那裡六個人一間房間, 有冷氣, 非

常非常的潔淨, 比 khao san 一帶的更好, 才 30 HKD 一晚呢! Lieu 現在在 england 一所 thai restaurant 當 chef.

她的經歷好神奇, 好多年前, 她在泰國開了一間餐廳, 當時她有六個月新孕, 有一天她的丈夫意外過身, 在她不

知所措的時候, 她的一位朋友有一個 english 朋友, 這人嘗過她的廚藝後, 邀請她到英國工作, 她把孩子生下來,

由她的 sister in law 撫養, 便跑到 london 去工作.......她現在已經是英國的 resident, 打算在那裡開 thai

massage shop, 希望孩子在泰國大學畢業以後, 便把他接過去. Lieu 是一個非常照顧我的人, 很喜歡她的爽

直


sachiko (kuro jian) - japanese girl , 來自東京, 外表像二十多三十歲, 想不到已經四十歲了, 她已經第 12 次來泰

國了, 這次跟拍拖二十七年的男朋友來, 她的泰語好棒呢! 她是一個好 kawaii 的女孩子 (.......hm......她真的像孩

子呢.....)


tamae - japanese girl, 也來自東京, 她是一位 medical technician. 其實她去年在這學校學了 thai massage, 這一

次來學 foot massage. 那天碰巧她想來 practice thai massage, 老師 thong neun 安排我倆一塊, 不曉得為甚麼,

我感受到她一股好 negative 的力量, 她給我 massage 的時候心不在焉, 是沒有心去做的那種. 起初我起了討厭

的心, 後來學習觀察自己的 sensation, 嘗試 accept 自己的 sensation, 明白那是 anicha (impermanent), 果然感

覺好多了, 還對她默默的祝福呢! 想不到昨天在吃午飯的地方遇到她, 她冷冷的外表, 出奇的友善, 還主動跟我打

招呼. goenka 果然說得對, 人果然不斷在變.......never make assumption of people...........


ann - thai guy, 跟我一樣, 在大學也是主修 broadcasting, 但是由於 media 的行業沒有很好的人工, 所以當了

tour guide, 現在已經儲夠六萬港幣左右去日本讀書, 跟 tamae san 一樣, 一開始我對他完全沒有好感, 因為他的

日語跟英語也太流'利了, 總覺得他有點危險........不過後來也發現他應該不是我所想像的.......again.....don't

make assumption on people..............


sheeta - america 的印度女孩子, 很 sweet 很漂亮. 剛在日本教完英語, 來泰國旅遊

christine - english, 是一位女按摩師, 來泰國學習不同的按摩技考

oliver - german, 是一位男按摩師, 來泰國學習不同的按摩技考, 他在酒店提供上房按摩服務

niki - american girl from miami, 對 meditation 很有興趣

3 other thai roomate (2 from issan, 1 from chiang mai) - dont' know their name, but all of them are very nice,

they treat me for a lunch one day. we ate on the floor of the dormitory, i guess it is their culture, we ate

issan food, we have sticky rice, fish, pork, tong yum.....dessert had deep fried banana.....thank you sooooo

much ladies.......




以前一直覺得自己也算一個好人, 遇見他們以後, 才覺得慚愧.......

才知道甚麼是好人, 甚麼是 nice, 甚麼是不求回報的佈施...........

以前覺得自己好像有點特別, 可能身邊的朋友都覺得我經常遇到奇怪的事情, 現在才發現我是 nobody......

以前朋友都說我給他們很多的 inspiration, 現在才知道甚麼是 inspiration............


還有很多其他的朋友.......不能盡錄..........(meditation center 高高 的 kellie, sweet sweet 的華僑 auntie, pierc

跟他的太太 wanada, 跟scotish 男朋友來的18歲 english 女孩子, 兩位女出家人, 一位來自 papua new guinea

的malaysian 出家人, keisha, 來自malaysian 的女孩子, course manager, teaching assistant, david miller,

在去泰國的航班上認識的 notty, 給我 free ride, 帶我去她家參觀, treat me a dinner 的林太........等等等

等.....................)


這次能夠遇到您們, 是我的榮幸,

真的非常感謝您們, 在'我' 生命出現過...........

謝謝



好喜歡這次泰國的 trip.......................................................YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

BE HAPPY

^_^

>>April 3, 2005 at 3:24:48 PM GMT+8

2005 年 3 月 14 日 星期一 【晴】

今天出發去泰國

四月三日返

meditation

sightseeing

travellling........................

>>March 15, 2005 at 3:24:19 AM GMT+8

2005 年 3 月 13 日 星期日 【晴】

假若參加 meditation camp 是要學習 objectively observe physical pain

那 serving in a meditation camp 似乎是學習 objectively observe any mental agitation

老師說我們若覺得此 technique 合用

可用兩年時間真正去 examine 此方法



好像有此打算

但又好像很難開始.........

去完泰國回來再算吧!

>>March 14, 2005 at 3:29:14 AM GMT+8

2005 年 3 月 12 日 星期六 【晴】

今天出 camp 了

學了很多東西

能學習此 meditation technique

真的很幸運

www.dhamma.org

^_^


噢! 爸爸, 生日快樂呢!

祝你快樂, 健康

希望你會接受並喜歡這生日禮物吧

這是我能給予最貴重的了

>>March 14, 2005 at 3:34:59 AM GMT+8

2005 年 2 月 28 日 星期一 【晴】

為甚麼每次很投入地看完一套劇集

都會有莫名的失落感呢?





nico 突然說去泰國

但是由於特價的機票已經滿

normal price 又太貴了

所以又去不成了

我忘記了 truth

忘記了事情是由很多不同因素而組成

理性上明白但沒有 live with it

果然真的會帶來 suffering........................

失望與失落.............

但是這也會過去的吧!




march 1 to march 13

入meditation camp 當義工

>>February 28, 2005 at 5:26:49 PM GMT+8