To Monica with Love...

Monica is another long time tenant of mine.

Reluctantly I had to increase her monthly rent in the coming year. I sent her an email as notice for the the rent increase. She replied to me that the increase is okay to her as I have not done that for many years. She said she would try to maintain herself in good health so I can rely on my investment!!!

I answered back: "Yes I am very grateful that you are in good health, less for my investment sake and more because I care about you very much."

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Having tea with Bill & Charlotte yesterday...

Bill and Charlotte have been my talent for 15 years, how time flies.

We usually meet once a year for 5 seconds to give me the post dated cheques. Yesterday I requested to go into their apartment to check on the broken faucet. I had 45 minutes before the start of my yoga class nearby so they invited me to have a cup of tea.

We socialized and talked about what have been happening in our lives for the past 15 years. We have a pretty good relationship and now Bill agrees to go to the condominium AGM for me. Yes, he has a better interest in the well-being of the condominium than I have.

Thank Bill & Charlotte for your tea. It is not easy to maintain a good relationship for a long time, even though, or especially, it is a landlord and tenant relationship .

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It's a boy...

Sharing some (actually quite a lot) of good news with you.

Tony's wife, Lulu, gave birth to a healthy baby boy last night. Both the mother and the son shared the same birthday. So happy for the Zeng family...

My good friend, Eva, will be a grand mother for the first time next Summer. Also her second daughter will be married in 2012 too, in Jamaica. I am positively jealous...

Amy, my cousin, will be married in February 2012 and moved to New Zealand. Congratulation to Ken and Amy...May you two live happily ever after...

Anthony's daughter will be married in September 2012 (if I remember the date correctly) in Toronto. I was so happy for Anthony when he told me that he had just found out this good news on her daughter's facebook; and we were travelling in China at that time.

I guess there are more good news to come, just that I have not found them out yet...

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Keep up the good work...

I just went for my dental check-up today. The dentist said my gum and teeth were exceptionally in shape this time. He asked whatever I had been doing, kept it up.

I have returned from a two months trip few weeks ago. The trip inspired me to see things differently and had a better attitude towards life, which made me happier.

Also having Tony Zeng, my Chinese herbal physician, to give me Chinese Massage Therapy (推拿) on a regular basis surely helps.

With good attitude and healthy body, I received a good dental report (even though I still do not floss enough).

Everything and everyone are interrelated, when you do well, I do well too...

Karma......

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What was on my mind?

Yesterday, while I was watching TV, the screen displayed that there was an incoming call from the 905 area. It was a phone number that I was not familiar with.

When I went to pick up the phone, the phone set displayed it was Erin calling me. While I answered the phone my mind was very puzzle that how come the two call displays did not harmorize.

I answered: "Hello" and the other person asked "Are you okay?"

I was not sure it was Erin. I was so confused by then. "Do you know who am I?", she asked. "You are Erin, right?" "Yes, but how come you sound so different?" she said.

At that moment, I became certain it was Erin on the other side of the phone, so I was back to normal and carried on the conversation with her in my normal self.

The point of my story is that we are so much affected by our surrounding without our being aware of it. I talk to different persons in different tones. And the tone of my voice do send different messages out. I found the incident rather amusing...

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Saying Goodbye

You wrote:

the most painful thing in this world...is to say Goodbye...even though

intellectually we understand nothing lasts forever,

but the Heart has the instinctual tendency to CLING/HOLD ON to people/things we
considered dear and important....

our sons, daughters, spouse, etc...

and of course, this hand, this pair of eyes, this sense-impression, the memories....

Say goodbye...let me let go....



I say:

You can perceive departing as an end...

Or you can perceive departing as a new beginning...

Good that nothing last forever, otherwise there is no hope for the better...

Let go of the let go, there is nothing to let go either...

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How much do I know...

The other night my kids played a silly game. They asked one another a simple question: "Do you like A or B better?" The respondent had to answer as quick as possible with no or little thinking.

Silly questions like: "Do you like blank or white better", "Do you like romance or suspense movies?"

They asked me a few questions and I gave the answers as they expected, knowing the kind of person I was and being familiar with me.

Then they posted me this question: "Do you like rice or bread better?" I was stucked, I liked them both and could not pick a choice. It took me a long time to think and said: "I am indifference to both."

Few days later I told my mom this game and question. She surprised me by telling me that;" Of course you love bread much better. You eat spoonful of rice each day, and always give your rice to others. When it comes to bread, you can keep on eating until you are full."

She is right. Her perception is so true. How little do I know about myself or I should say: how little am I aware of my self.

The moral of the story is: being with myself all my life, I understand myself so little...

There are so many blind spots with our character and personality, it is only through the eyes of others (like a mirror) that we can discover our weakness and improve our strength.

Being moderate

The baby boomers generation is always labeled as the "sandwich generation", sandwiched by the necessity to take extensive care of our parents and our kids.

If we look at it from another angle, we are the fortune generation, having the ability and the resources to be the sandwiched.

Let's take good care of our parents as the chance to repay them is getting shorter and shorter.

Let's take good care of our kids, but not over-spoil them. Do not over consumer or expense at the cost of the future generation.

As Buddha always taught, be moderate...

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Is the next generation getting more selfish...

I was having lunch with a friend yesterday.

During the conversation, he raised a point that "our kids are much more selfish in nature, maybe due to the lack of traditional eastern moral standards."

I asked: "How is that so?"

He gave an example: his kids would help around with house chores while they were children, because they would listen to the parents. As they turned into adulthood, they did not help around at all, since it was the parent's house. However, when they moved into her own house, they kept the place neat and tidy.

I always believe that Communism will not work as human beings are selfish in general, we can only take care of things that are ours first, then extend to our family's, friends', society's, country's and planet's. Perhaps the problem lies in the limited ability and resources one can mobilize.

So in Buddhism, as well as Confucianism, we are very pragmatic: we purify our mind and body first, then improve our nature, bond our family, stabilize our society and unify our nation.

We need energy (resources) to perform. With limited energy or resources, it will not carry us far. In order to achieve great work, or only to be unselfish, we need to have merits, or wholesome roots, or Pruna, or Life Force, or Life energy; whatever name you like to call it.

Let's work on how to culminate Life Force before we start to dream big...

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Have fun cleaning up...

Anthony wrote:

We have been doing some renovation and painting in the house. We also rented a big garbage bin 20 ft long and started throwing out a lot of old junks that had built up over the years. Little did I know how traumatic the whole exercise was? You come face-to-face with your past and start discarding them, almost on a wholesale basis. Everything has its memories and a lot of emotions invested in them. You really have to live in the moment (當下) and practice equanimity (捨). I have taken on responsibilities, and also letting go of them in the past, but definitely letting go is so much more challenging.

So when you say, ‘Have fun cleaning up’, it is almost like saying ‘Have fun doing Buddhist practice’, it is pregnant with meaning.

Another topic I want to address while everybody are in attendance, albeit in a cyber-sense, is our study of "The Enlightenment Sutra" 圓覺經.

We have been studying the three dharma doors: Samantha, Samaputti, and Jnana, and are ready to move on to the next chapter, which deals with some of the mistakes in our practice. However, I feel this chapter is really crucial to our understanding of meditative practices and unwilling to move on until we have squeezed all its meanings out, so to speak. This would be a tremendous opportunity for everybody to share their experiences and understanding of the path.

Off the top of my head, I could think of some of the issues that we could tackle: how are the three dharma doors related to our practice?

What kind of practice are we currently doing? What is the difference between gradual practice 漸修 and the three dharma doors? What is Huayen Ch’an? How does it relate to "Samantha and Vipassana" 止觀法門 as discussed in "Beginner's Samantha and Vipassana"小止觀 and " Six Meditative Means"六妙門? How is it different to Ch’an as practiced in the School of Ch'an 禪宗?

If we are going to outreach and share meditative practice with outsiders through our meditative class, it does not hurt to have a better idea about the range of practices. Am I being too ambitious? I think we have a newly enlightened person back from India who are ready to share with us some of her insights.

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The most valuable lesson

The most valuable lesson that I learned from the recent trip is to live without expectation.

When one has no expectation there is no disappointment; everything is an added bonus. Without expectation, there is no attachment or clinging; without attachment or clinging, there is no obstruction.

As stated in the Heart Sutra:
"Having no obstruction, there is no fear
and departing far from confusion and imaginings,
they reach Ultimate Nirvana."

So without expectation, I could travel 44 hours on four flights to get home; the whole flight was enjoyable. I could wear 9 layers of tops and clothing, 5 pairs of pants; carry over 10 kilogram of books on my backpack, hold on a jam-packed carry-on suitcase and also a heavy plastic shopping bag of gifts that my friends insisted on giving me---doing all that in order to avoid paying flight charges for excess luggage. It was nice to do silly things once in a while, especially when you are getting old and the opportunity cost is high...

May we all live without obstruction and fear...

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Homecoming

I just came home from a 3 weeks on the road trip. I was up 40 hours ago and do not have the need or urge to go to sleep. Maybe there are too many loose ends for me to tie after being away for so long...

It was a wonderful 3 weeks- meeting so many people from all aspects of life, doing things that I have never done before, going to places that I have never dreamed of...

My heart was deeply touched by the hospitality of Joanne and Lee of Kelowna: they opened their cosy home to a total stranger (me) with such warmth, affection and consideration. Their house is always full of laughter and joy.

The generosity of Dennis and his lovely wife is so remarkable, I wish I can repay them some day. They showed me the gentle, kind, and lighthearted side of human nature. Their passions and devotion to LIFE mission earn my utmost respect.

Then there is Swami Satyanand, what a delightful, humble and witty divine creature, what a pleasure to be around such a practitioner, how fortunate I am to meet him in person.

It was very enchanting that our paths thus crossed in the past few days.

May we all be blessed with inner wisdom and eternal bliss...

With deep gratitude,
Lung Zhi

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Nice Surprise

I went to a Dharma Talk held by DDMBA last night.

The hour before the lecture, I was having a big struggle in whether I should attend or not. The topic and the lecturer was not interesting enough to attract my attention, what interested me is the venue. My discriminating mind was working. Finally, at the last minute, I decided to go, just to show support for a worthy cause.

To my surprise, the lecture was very interesting and well presented. Jimmy's (the lecturer, Guo Gu) sense of sincerity, humor, and vividness was abundant. If I have known the lecture was that great, I would have asked many of my friend to attend.

Jimmy talked about different schools of Buddhism practice is analogy to different packaging to sell bottled water (to quench the thirst caused by greed, hatred and delusion), the essence is the same.

Yes, nowadays, everything is about packaging, without good packaging, the products are very likely to be undersold. With the right packaging and good substance, that is the formula to be successful in selling, even in Buddhism...

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The beauty of life...

Joshua Bell, one of the nation's great musicians was playing classical music at the L'enfant Plaza Station, Washington, with a 3.5 million violin, posted as a street musician. What happened next?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Washington Post wrote:
It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, 2007 the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job...

When we find out it was Joshua Bell playing with a 3.5 million violin, we recognize the beauty of the music. People did not appreciate the music when it was an unknown musician playing.

We appreciate the beauty of life only when it is attached with a high price tag, covered with glamorous jewelery and recognized fame. Do we ever stop by to appreciate the beauty of breathe, of air, of cloud and rains...

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Mother's wit

Two days ago, my kids and I went to see a movie. Before leaving home, I reminded them that the air conditioning in the theater was always too cold and asked each of them to bring a sweater, and they did.

While we are watching the movie, my son offered his sweater to his girl friend who found the place too chilled.

The next day my son was lying in bed all day, he asked: " Mom, I did not know why but I felt like sleeping all day."

I touch his forehead and it was hot. I said to him: "Son, you are having a fever. Go take two Tylenol." He did and he was well enough to go to work the next morning.

His grandmother said: " He probably caught a cold at the movie." I agreed to that.

My son had no idea how he got sick, no idea that he had a cold and fever, no idea how to take care of his sickness. He is such a luck guy, I wish he appreciate everything he is and has...

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Happy Father’s Day (June 21, 2009)

Good Friends -1976 Windsor, Ontario

"It was good old times and we had lots of fun, especially when we were young then.

So, to all of my kids, I wish you have a good time always and APPRECIATE everything you have now.

Time, opportunities come and go before you know and recognize, therefore, make best use of the PRESENT and not have regrets, disappointments afterward.

Happy father day to all..."

Love from dad (of my kids)

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Decision makings

Life is full of decision makings.

What am I going to do in the next couples of minutes, hours, days or even month? Who decides which choices to take? Our "SELF", the external factors, or a combination of both?

These interesting questions will require very complex answers.

So for now, I chose to leave these questions behind...

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Simple and direct

My family is having a dinner gathering tomorrow night. It takes quite a bit of effort to organize a dinner for 20 people. So many changes have been made, so many compromises took place. It was a hectic episode.

Yet looking at the incident from another angle, it was no big deal.

All we need is to confront an issue with objectivity, look for the best solution and take the appropriate action. Do not treat the issue as a mischief or trouble. Just take it as an obstruction that we have to overcome and move on. Instead of complicating things, we should resolve everything as simple and as direct as possible.

That is what I learned from this experience...

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To my friend (2)...

How we do things matters more than what we do.

The same course of actions can bring different results due to the different motivations and mind settings.

It is not what you see but how you perceive that matters.

The statues of the sacred help us to enter into / connect to the realm of Perfection 圓滿 (in quality), through the contact of the eye consciousness 眼識 and sight base 眼根 with the matter 色 (statue) .

The statue as a matter is empty in nature, yet it's manifestation and function can be realized.

Take the example of prostration 禮 拜 , we are bowing not to the statue but to pay respects to the all the enlightened ones in all ten directions. We are lowering our body to stay humble and diminish our EGO.

I am talking based on my limited understanding of Buddhism. If I am not to the point, it is my fault and not the fallacy of Buddhism.

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To a friend of mine (1)...

One of the differences between an enlightened mind and a worlding mind is their levels of awareness.

For the enlightened one, he is the master of his mind, he understands clearly how everything works (the mind, consciousness, karma, cause and effect etc.) completely.

For the worlding, his mind (affected by karma, social , moral and all kinds of backgrounds) runs his life, the mind is clouded by ignorance, greed and delusion.

Buddhism practice delivers us from the worlding realm to the enlightened realm.

There are so much wisdom in Buddhism that once you investigate into it, tremendous Life Energy derives.

Hope that you will have more interest in Buddhism.

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