My birthday just ended.. Its a very different birthday that i had. I was never a loner in my entire life. Always surrounded with friends and buddies. Probably thats why i never like to do things alone. Its just a norm for me.

But i wanted to do something different this year for my birthday. So i decided on my new resolution! I want to do life liberation.. Saving lives on my birthday and setting them free is so much better than eating good food and enjoying myself. In the night, i went to do meditation. What a birthday! Haha.

Just when i wanted to set off to buy my fishes, it starts to rain very heavily. I assume that this is a test for me. Which is more important? Saving lives or avoiding the rain? Of course i chose to embrace the heavy rain and went ahead with saving lives.

I went to a small fish shop in Lim Chu Kang. I told the uncle that i wanna buy all the fishes. He said im not allowed to do so... zzzzzzz. So in the end i bought like 10packets of fishes. Each packet contains around 50 fishes. These fishes are used to feed bigger fish rear by people. So if i don't buy them, they will definately be eaten up.

At least if i set them free in the river, they still stand 50% chance of survivor. That will depends on their karma. Most important thing about life liberation is that you sincerely want the fish or animals to gain freedom and happiness. Its not about the merits that you want to get or the good fortune that you wanna gain.

Remember... If you think of merits, there will be no merits. This sentence sounds difficult.

Let me try to explain this. There is 2 kinds of merits in this world. Let me just name it as Good Merit(Gong De) and Prosperity Merit(Fu De). Good merit is the merit that you can bring it with you into your afterlife. Prosperity merit is the merit that you can only use in this world. This merit will be change into money, happiness and fame and be given to you.

Example, if bill gates donated 10millions to charity and wrote his name on it. The merit will be converted to Prosperity Merit. He will gain fame and recognition. Everybody will talk about him as such a charitable man. Thats what the prosperity merit will give him. Fame and Recognition.

If you didnt put your name inside and remain secretive, you will get the Good merit. You donate the money because you really want to help the poor. If your heart really goes out to the poor, why do you need people to recognise your effort and good heart?

So if you think of merits, there will be no merits. Meaning the Good merits will be converted to Prosperity merits to you. In Buddhism terms, we want the Good Merit, not Prosperity Merit. So this explains the sentence.

In your afterlife, these Good merits will be used to grade where will you be reborn, If you guys believe in afterlife. Its always good to believe in a religion. At least you are still holding on to a fine thread of string leading to heaven. If one day after you died, you realised that there is really a place called heaven. Its just too late. You didn't hold on to anything. So please believe in a religion. No matter what religion you believe in. All the religions teach you to be good and do good.

For me i chose buddhism as i think the teachings of the Buddha can sasify my questions. I was born as a buddhist, become a christian then a catholic and back to a buddhist. I went a big round to search for my answers. In the end, i finally found my answers.

Remember.. All religion are the same. Don't discriminate other religions that you don't believe in. They are all up there sitting together.

Lastly, marry the people... Not the religion.

I will be gone to Bangkok for my pilgrimage. Will be back soon.

Story on my birthday

Well.. I just turned 22 years old an hour ago. Although alot of people asked me out to clubs or drinking, i turned all of them down and stayed at home. Pretty sick of all these mundane stuffs.

Since i have lots of time at home, i think i shall share a story with you guys...

Once there lived a wealthy man whose house caught on fire. The rich man was absent from home then and when he came back, he found that his children were so absorbed in playing, had not noticed the fire and were still inside the house. The father screamed," Run away children! Come out of the house! Hurry!" But the children did not heed him.

So the anxious father shouted again,"Children, i have some wonderful toys here, come out of the house and get them!" Heeding his cry this time, the children ran out of the burning house.

This world is a burning house, but the people are unaware that the house is on fire and they are in danger of being burned to death. I hope you guys will understand what this story meant by this world in a burning house.

If a lie ultimately leads you to good end results, this lie should be said.

If you do alot of things for your friend but your motive is to gain something good from him, you are not doing good. On the surface it might appeared good, but remember heaven have eyes. We should be doing things for deities to see, not just for humans to see.

For me i don't care that much. I do what i deem fit. No matter how biased you can be towards me. So just do whatever things you want, as long the end results is good and will benefit others.

All actions whether good or bad will bear fruit...

There is no volitional action, no matter how insignificant which is without fruit. As long as an evil deed is not yet ripened, the evil one may perceive his evil deed as sweet as honey. But when it ripens, he will come to grief......

Love

Just my own opinion....

For girls out there, mostly in singapore. They like to look for rich man or hunks to be their husband. Mostly is rich man as they want to live in luxuries and kinda show off to their friends as well.

My advice will be to look out for guys with good morals and values. Its ok that he is not rich at the moment. But i'm sure he will be quite well off in the later part of life. As according to the law of karma. Plant good seeds and you will get good fruits. Heaven will bless him with happiness and things that he needs. So girls, don't always look at the surface.

So what if this guy that you are going to marry is rich? If he doesn't have good morals and values, soon it will be his time that his own bad karma will come and haunt him. Thats why you see alot of rich man getting bankrupt and dying in accident. Behind the scenes, they are doing all the evil and wicked things that we can't see. But when we see the end results, we will know whether he lives a righteous life or a wicked one.

Normally rich man tends to play around with girls behind the wife's back. Would you want to lead such life? Do you like the feeling of your spouse betraying you? Of course i don't mean all the rich men. But i've seen plenty! SO thats why finding a husband or mate with good morals and values is very important.

Always love your husband/wife weakness. All the other strengths and good points will be a bonus for you. If you can't love your mate's weakness, one day you will find it as an eye sore and start to pick on it. Thats when all the quarrels and bickering will come about.

When a couple is starting to know each other, its only human that everybody will show only their good points. But after some time together, don't forget to show or let him/her know your weakness as well. Don't hide till after the wedding.. What if he/she can't accept it? Disaster will happen..

I'm sure at some point of life, everybody will have the thinking of happily ever after.. Some people will say its bullshit and crap. 1week back, i have a friend who told me that she had once believe in fairytale but had since drop that idea because she felt that humans are very practical. Well.. I do believe in what she said but i still think that fairytale does exist when i saw a couple in their 70s still holding hands walking down the street.

Thats why i'm still keeping my hopes up high! My parents are in their 50s and they are still holding hands when we go out together. Its just so lovely to see it. So girls, don't be blinded by the riches and luxury. Handsome and cute faces can't last forever too. One day when his face and muscles become saggy, would you still love him the same? Only thing left unchange will be his character and his heart. So i think a caring husband with good character is a much better choice.

Think about it.. Hope this will help the confused girls out there.

Amition and contentment

Buddhism teaches contentment, but people have ambitions in work and also want better lives for their families. How can this be reconciled?

While it is true that Buddhism considers contentment to be a virtue, it also realizes that everyone may take different paths to attain their own peace and happiness. In such cases, the Buddha would recommend taking the Middle Path.

Not to be too ambitious thay you may cause harm or hurt to others in achieving your ambitions. And also don't be too contented that your own livelihood and family be adversely affected.

Finally, talking about Noble Eightfold Path. Try your best to do on the 8 paths that i'm going to elaborate.

1)Right Understanding
To understand and accept the Four Noble Truths.

2)Right Thought
To cultivate thoughts of generosity, loving-kindness and compassion.

3)Right Speech
To refrain from lying, slander, harsh words and gossip. To cultivate truthful, peaceful, kin and meaningful speech.

4)Right Actions
To abstain from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. To cultivate harmlessness, honesty and faithfulness.

5)Right Livelihood
To avoid occupations involving killing (of both humans and animals), the sale of animal flesh, the trading of humans, weapons, poisons and intoxicants.

6)Right Effort
To apply mental discipline to prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising and to dispel unwholesome thoughts that have arisen. To develop wholesome thoughts and to maintain those wholesome thoughts that have arisen.

7)Right Mindfulness
To be aware of the body, bodily postures and sensations. To be aware of the mind and its thoughts emotions and feelings.

8)Right Concentration
To practice Samatha or concentration meditation to train the mind to be focused and disciplined.

The Four Noble Truth

Today i'm going to talk about The Four Noble Truth. Its upon gaining enlightenment, the Buddha realised this truth. Its very important! Always remember this.

1)All beings are subject to Dukkha.
Dukkha is usually translated as suffering but it actually encompasses a wide range of negative feelings including stress, dissatisfaction and physically suffering. Dukkha exists as all beings are subject to illness, separation from loved ones, not getting their desires, aging and death.

2)Dukkha arises from desire and craving.
All beings crave pleasant sensations and also desire to avoid unpleasant sensations. These sensations can be physical or psychological, and dukkha arises when these desires and cravings are not met.

3)Dukkha can be overcome by the elimination of desire and craving.
Nirvana is the state of peace where all greed, hatred and delusion are removed and thereby dukkha have been eradicated.

4)There is a way out of dukkha, which is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Dukkha can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated and Nirvana thereby attained by the following this path as taught by the Buddha.

I will talk about Noble Eightfold Path on my next post. In short, the first Noble Truth is telling us that we are all subjected to sufferings.

Second Noble Truth is telling us that suffering are caused by our own desire and craving. Imagine if you wanted to earn a million dollars but you can't do it, its because of your own desire and craving that you have to feel the stress and unhappiness.
What if you had a million dollars and it was stolen away from you? You will feel sad and angry! That is not true happiness. True happiness should come from your heart. Remember.. Everything in the world is inpermenant!

Third Noble Truth is telling us that all these sufferings can be ended by elimination of desire and craving. But i think that alot of us aren't able to do it. If we are monks, probably it can be done. So for us layman, i think the best way out is to reduce the desire and craving. Remember...
The true antidote to greed is contentment. Be contented and it doesn't matter whether how much money you earned. If you cannot be contented, after your first million you will want your first 10million and after that you will want your first billion. This will never end!

The Fourth Noble Truth is telling us that there is a way out of all these suffering. Its by practising Noble Eightfold Path. By practising it, the desire and craving can be reduced, weakened and finally eradicated.

Can gays and lesbians become Buddhists?

Sexual orientation is of no great importance in Buddhism. The Buddha would ask, who is better? A morally upright gay or a crooked and dishonest heterosexual?

To the Buddha, what counts is the morality and virtue of a person and whether or not that person is on the path towards enlightenment.

Therefore, gays and lesbians who lead virtuous lives can most certainly beocme Buddhists!

Next life

If we won't know anything about our next life, then why worry about it?

That would be a slightly selfish attitude to take. It would be similar to irresponsible parents who are going to spend everything they have without leaving anything for their children.

They won't know for sure what is going to happen to their children either. Responsible parents will do everything they can to ensure the best for their offspring whether they will be around to see the results or not. We should take a similar approach for the being in our next life.

There is a meaningful saying in Buddhism which bears some thinking about:

"If you want to know what kind of life you led in your past life, look at your present life.

If you want to know what kind of life you will have in your next life, look at your present life."

Past lives memories

If there is rebirth, why don't people remember their past lives?

Memories of past lives lie deep in the subconscious mind. We are usually unable to access these memories because our minds are not clear or disciplined enough.

For example, very few of us can recall what we did on the same day or even just a month ago! However, research has shown that some young children whose minds remain reasonably clear may be able to spontaneously recall their past lives.

There is a true story about a child who can recall his past life and told his parents to bring him to that village. In the village, he can recognize the villagers and call them by their names! If you search on the internet, there will be tonnes of such stories.

Western psychoanalysts are now using methods of hypnotic regression to help patients with psychological problems and some of these patients seems to be able to recall their past lives under such therapy.

Monks with highly disciplined minds are able to enter into deep meditative states are also said to be able to recall their past lives. So if you want to know about your past lives, probably you can try to learn meditation. There is lots of benefits other than recalling your past lives. Calming you rmind and attaining wisdom are some of the benefits.

Is it fair?

Alot of people asked me,"If we can't remember anything from our previous lives, is it then fair to suffer in this life for something done wrong in a previous life?"

Keep in mind that karma is not a system of rewards or punishments. It is simply a natural principle that any intentional act will have its corresponding result, when the conditions are right.

Take for example a person who gets drunk, trips and falls into a drain. He breaks his leg and that person may not have any memory of falling and getting hurt. But he is still subject to the painful result of his actions.

As mentioned earlier, karma can also be viewed like the planting of seeds. If you plant an apple seed, an apple tree will grow. If you plant an oak seed, an oak tree will grow. Its just the principle of Cause and Effect.

Thus, fairness and memory are not factors in karma and this applies equally to all beings in existence.

Erasing of negative karma

Many of us will ask," So how do we erase the negative karma that oneself have accumulated?"

According to the principle of Cause and Effect, negative karma cannot be simply be erased off by positive karma. Any act intentionally done will have its consequences in either the near of far future.

The Buddha used the analogy of salt in a river to advise us on how to diminish the effects of negative karma. He said that while a tablespoon of salt will make a cup of water very salty, this same tablespoon of salt will have practically no effect on the taste of a river.

Simply put, dilute any negative karma that you may have by accumulating more positive karma.

Contentment

The true antidote to greed is contentment.
If you have a strong sense of contentment, it doesn't matter whether you obtain the object of your desire or not.
Either way, you are still content.

Path to heaven

What happens to us after this life depends on how we conduct ourselves in this present life.

The path to heaven is not by faith or worship, but by doing good and avoiding evil.

Dana, Sila, Bhavana

These are the 3 main ways to practise Buddhism. Dana, Sila & Bhavana
1)Dana: Practice generosity by helping others
2)Sila: Cultivate morality by observing the Five PRECEPTS
3)Bhavana: Acquire wisdom through meditation

Today im going to elaborate more on Sila. What is the five precepts that Buddha preach to the world?
1)To abstain from harming or killing any living beings.
2)To abstain from taking what is not given.
3)To abstain from sexual misconduct.
4)To abstain from lying and false speech.
5)To abstain from abusive consumption of intoxicants and drugs.

Cleansing of the Heart

Life consists of two closely interconnected components, the body and the mind, which constantly demand our care and attention. Of these two , mind is said to be of paramount importance for it is the very source of all actions that we do from birth to death.

We are what we think. Therefore, its is crucial that we have the right understanding of our minds and know how to to train them properly.

Apparently, mind is not such a concrete and discernible object like the body, and most people give only marginal concern to their minds, taking more interest in their physical forms and appearances.

The body is well-nourished, kept clean and beautified, while the state of mind is almost totally neglected. The Dharma(Teachings of the Buddha) is nourishment for the mind. It cleanses the mind and makes the mind pleasant and beautiful.

Just as an undernourished body is weak and becomes a seat of disease, a mind starved of Dharma is also weak and becomes a source of problems. Crime, corruption, violence and immoral behavior are some of the symptoms of a mind which is uncared for, uncleansed and unbeautified by the Dharma.

It is therefore important to train our mind and the Best way to do it is through meditation though there are few more ways to do so.

Symptoms of bad karma

We average people make many mistakes. If we quiet our mind down and still cannot see the mistakes, it is because our mind is too coarse and we cannot see it. Those people who have accumulated a lot of bad karma or demerit usually show certain symptoms.

The mind is cloudy, forgetful, worrying when there is nothing to worry about and one appears to be very embarrassed when meeting honest and saintly people, appearing to be unhappy when hearing the truth spoken. Sometimes when people give them things, instead of feeling grateful they would actually become very upset or angry.

In their dreams they always have many nightmares and they always complain all the time. These are all the symptoms of someone who has accumulated a lot of bad karma or demerit. When the symptoms appear, one should proceed to repent.

Karma

Since i was a young kid, I believe in Karma. Now i strongly believe in Karma. I saw many things to prove the existence of it.

Whats karma? Its the universal law that Buddha preached. Meaning Intentional Actions and this refers to what the buddhist belief in the Cause and Effect. In layman terms it can be explain:
A person who has done much good and accumulated alot of positive karma will enjoy a happy life and gravitate towards a Human, or even a Heavenly realm of existence in the next rebirth.
Conversely, someone who has done much bad deeds and accumulated much negative karma may have a life plagued with difficulties and then also be reborn in the Lower realm of existence.

The importance of Karma:
Karma is the only possession we really own and which we take with us from life to life.
Every intentional act of the body, speech and mind is like a seed planted that will grow when the conditions are right. Thus as you sow, you shall reap.

Introduction

Hi all. This will be my first post in this blog. In this blog, i will talk alot on Humanism and probably Buddhism. The way of life.

I was just a normal guy few months back until i met this person who taught me alot of things and i would like to share it with everybody.

If you are unable to exchange your happiness for the sufferings of other beings, you will have no hope of attaining buddhahood , or even happiness in this present life.