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Buddhist Evolution



Q: What are we evolving to?
A: Towards better or worse. It depends on the individual.
Q: What is the point of evolution?
A: It has no specific purpose - but a wise choice for all is to evolve to be wiser. So is it a kind choice for all to evolve to be kinder.
Q: Will evolution hit a ceiling?
A: Evolution will be in repetitive revolutions (rebirth) if one does not make it a point to evolve in the direction of reaching its peak in Enlightenment.

12:41amThu15Jan04|(0) |#35
pic:www.internet.megatel.ba/cards/funny/meaning.jpg
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Sad Crisis



What is more sad than one having an existential crisis
in one having one without knowing it.
The first is clueless
and the latter clueless that he is clueless.

But there is actually one more thing sadder -
seeing my own crisis, along with others',
and not doing anything about it.

Thus am I a Buddhist.

1:00amThu15Jan04|(0) |#34
pic:www.brainart.com.au/brain_files/ pD_brain_dynamics.htm
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Ali Baba Rule



In the classic tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" (See http://www.2020site.org/robbinhood/alibaba.html), a robber who wanted to kill Ali marked his door with chalk. But Morgiana, his assistant, discovered the mark and other doors with the way. The robbers came at night and were confounded as to which was the right house.

The Ali Baba Rule states that when everything is special (as with all the marked doors), nothing is special). The Buddhas are special to us unenlightened beings in the sense that they realised the full potential of their Buddha-Nature. But they tell us that we are equally special in that we all have the same Buddha-Nature. And by seeing that Buddha-Nature is universal, we realise that we are not uniquely special, as we learn to revere all sentient beings with equanamity.

12:55amThu15Jan04|(0) |#33
pic:pro.wanadoo.fr/artdiffusion/meyrier
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Homage to Dharma



About paying homage to the Triple Gem, it is relatively easy to understand doing so to the Buddha and Sangha. But how do you pay homage to the Dharma? Do we bow to sutras (scriptures)?

To pay homage to the Dharma is to be respectful to everything, for everything is universal phenomena, the manifestation of truth - even the greatest evil. But this does not mean we condone it - for we pay homage to the Buddha-nature within.

The best way to pay homage to the Dharma is to be one with it - to practise the Dharma the Buddha taught, which the Sangha practises too, which leads to Enlightenment, for assisting others to do the same.

12:50amThu15Jan04|(0) |#32
pic:www.csupomona.edu/~plin/ews430/images/dharmawheel_big.jpg
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Icy Fire



A little contact with fire can burn, sting your skin.
A lot of contact with ice can sting, burn your skin.
Ice and feel like fire and fire like ice.
And they can put each other "out".

12:41amThu15Jan04|(0) |#31
pic:www.adl2.com/ice_cube.html
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Old Archives Up



Check it out on the left.
No new entries here for a while,
while we expand moonpointer.com features :-]
Hope you have a good time reading the archives in the meanwhile!
Stay tuned for new features soon.

12:32amFri19Dec03
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Mind



What is mind? No matter.
What is matter? Never mind.

-George Berkeley

We are mind and matter, but it’s the mind that matters,
more than matter, as "mind over matter",
whether you mind it or not.
So mind your mind.

-Stonepeace

2:23amWed3Dec03|(0) |#30
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Shadow



To light a candle is to cast a shadow. (of the candle)

-Zen Saying

To cast a shadow, light a candle.

-Stonepeace

2:13amWed3Dec03|(0) |#29
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Sitting



In meditation, it is better to quickly forget the body, and focus on cultivating the mind, instead of focusing on physical posture. It is more important to be in a comfortable posture than in a perfect one. A good posture is one where one easily forgets the body, to easily focus on the mind and "object" of meditation, eg. breathing. Full lotus is the ideal but not the only posture to meditate in.

There are many good sitting postures - both on the ground and on chairs. The main criteria for good meditation posture is keeping a straight but relaxed back - the other details (such as hand and leg positions) are arbitrary and of secondary importance - as long as they are in relaxed postures.

Personally, I think it is better to get beginner meditators to sit upright in chairs. I know too many fellow Buddhists who struggle with folded legs on the floor for years in pain, even having got to do many stretching exercises... all these distract the practitioner from having a mind calm enough to REALLY start practising meditation, as the body seems to get in the way. An interesting discovery is that when one's meditation on chairs work well, one naturally feels compelled to sit on the floor - WITHOUT much pain.

1:57amWed3Dec03|(0) |#28
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Noble Truths



It is hard for heavenly beings to realise the first (and second) noble truth -
that life has many dissatisfactions,
as they rest on their laurels.

It is hard for hell beings to realise the third (and fourth) noble truth -
that the dissatisfactions of life can be ended,
as they are immersed in pain.

It is relatively much easier for humans to realise all the four noble truths.
What are you waiting for then?

1:47amWed3Dec03|(0) |#27
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Irrelevance



Hell is irrelevant to heaven?
And heaven to hell?
Yes, no, maybe.

Yes because each can't experience the other's experience now.
No because hell beings may experience heavenly life one day and vice versa.
Maybe because each might become enlightened before experiencing the other's life?

Can we make a quantum leap from hell to Nirvana?
Or is lessening hellishness and increasing heavenliness part of the path?
Why not?
The moment one relinquishes what gives him hell,
he is for one moment tasting the freedom of enlightenment.

1:30amWed3Dec03|(0) |#26
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Minimalist



I do minimalist blogging here. So that I do not waste my time by glossing over redundant details. So that I do not waste your time with leafing through unnecessary fancy packaging for the real thing. Welcome to the era of short attention span. I think we should minimalise everything in life. There are only a couple of things the world should maximise, that it can't get enough of yet - Compassion and Wisdom.

9:59pmThu27Nov03|(0) |#25
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Time



I ordered eight free weekly copies of Time magazine to sample free of charge. To my dismay, I could hardly find time to read them. I had no free time to read my free Time. Guess it was a case of greed. Am thankful I'm not gorging myself to information overload. There are a thousand and one seemingly meaningful things to do, but with limited time. So what do you do? Find time - to priortise. What is really worth doing? Is your much ado about nothing truly significant to the rest of your life, and afterlife?

9:55pmThu27Nov03|(0) |#24
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Country



I heard Dad remarking over the TV news that if China's states were to seek independence from China itself, all that would be left is a fragmented China, or even no China at all. His tone was one of exasperation, as if it is a potential disaster. Am no history or politics expert, but I am not sure it is necessarily a good or bad thing. All I know is if Dad was lamenting at the diminishing of a great country's size and pride, or if he was attached on the existence of the name "China", it was silly. What matters is peace and happiness for the Chinese and the "Chinese don't-wannabes." Which country do you support? There is only one Samsara for the unenlightend, though fragmented into thirty-one planes of existence. Anyway...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one. (One universal Pureland!)

-Imagine (John Lennon)

9:41pmThu27Nov03|(0) |#23
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Lost



Jim was near the meeting room in office when we came along. He chatted with us for a while. When the rest of us were about to begin out meeting, he got up to leave - since it did not concern him. As he stood up, he remarked, "Hey! Why am I here? What was it I was supposed to do here?" It slipped his mind what work matter he was suppose to handle, prior to talking to us. I could see his sense of bewilderment. It was amusing yet strangely sad in a way. It was a moment of existential crisis, a moment of being lost. An innocent question that summed up the essence of our existential crisis, "Hey! Why am I here? What was it I was supposed to do here?" I think it helps to ask ourself this question from time to time - not because we are lost; but in case we have already gotten lost, but did not realise we are.

9:32pmThu27Nov03|(0) |#22
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Antoine's Lines

The following are a collection of quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and some related thoughts.



I need to put up with two or three caterpillars
if I want to get to know the butterflies.

-The Little Prince

We need to accept all unenlightened beings
if we wish to meet all the Buddhas (that they will become).

-Stonepeace



Friendship is born from an identity of spiritual goal -
from common navigation toward a star.

-Wartime Writings 1939-1944

Life has taught us that love does not consist
in gazing at each other
but in looking outward together in the same direction.

-Wind, Sand and Stars

Spiritual friends are guided by the same "moon",
and point the same "moon" to each other,
helping each other to see the light of truth.
(They are moonpointers.)

-Stonepeace

You'll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow.
When you are, thnk if those who went through it before you,
and say to yourself,
"What they could do, I can do."

-Wind, Sand and Stars

When overcoming obstacles on the path to Buddhahood,
remember that countless Buddhas have "been there, done that",
and they say to us,
"What they could do, you can too."

-Stonepeace

One sees clearly only with the heart.
Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.

-The Little Prince

See the truth -
feel its essence -
don't imagine or think about it.

-Stonepeace

Very often the essential is weightless.
Here the essential seems to have been merely a smile.
A smile is often the most essential thing.
One is repaid by a smile.
One is animated by a smile.

-Wartime Writings 1939-1944

Hold
And Behold
The Buddha's smile.

-Stonepeace

Behind all seen things lies something vaster;
everything is but a path, a portal,
or a window opening on something other than itself.

-The Wisdom of the Sands

Anything and everything is a Dharma door to Enlightenment.
You can enter from anywhere anytime;
but you prefer a proper door?

-Stonepeace

8:42pmThu27Nov03|(0) |#21
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Becoming



There is no being or non-being;
only becoming.
What are you becoming?

2:12amThu20Nov03|(0) |#20
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Form

There is no form IN emptiness because form IS emptiness.

2:07amThu20Nov03|(0) |#19
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Bloggets



Let me coin a new term - "blogget" -
a hybrid word from "blog" and "nugget".
It refers to short precious digestible blog reflections.
(Picture: gold nuggets)
Here I share bloggets.

1:59amThu20Nov03|(0) |#18
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Quest



As with all true quests,
the hero or hero-to-be was not on an outer journey to find something,
but on an inward path to discover himself,
or the lack of his self.

1:50amThu20Nov03|(0) |#17
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Enlighten



No one can enlighten another;
but every one can enlighten oneself,
and inspire each other.

1:42amThu20Nov03|(0) |#16
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Lost Reflection



One lost reflection...
A particular thought had slipped my mind.
I hesitate in hoping -
hope it was a brilliant one, that I may recall it,
but not so brilliant, for it might be gone for good?
Enough straining, just let it go, of the hope too.
A reflection lost maybe,
but this one found.

1:42amTue11Nov03|(0) |#15
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Nothing


And what does it all mean?
Nothing.
And not even nothing.
Because everything is essentially not of any particular significance to you
unless you think or have feelings about it.

Just be one with everything.
Interestingly, compassion for everyone will arise
when you realise this wisdom of everything.

1:34amTue11Nov03|(0) |#14
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Bolding



Bolding of all text emphasizes no text in particular.
One-pointedness of the mind is to pay attention to only one point.
Don't bold too many things in your life.

1:20amTue11Nov03|(0) |#13
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Sooner or Later



Overseas in Taiwan, we talk about daylight lasting shorter, becoming dusk at about 5pm, as compared to 7pm back home. and dawn coming faster at 5am. What rubbish we were talking about! Night apparently arrives sooner here only because it apparently arrives later elsewhere. All in good time... at its own steady natural pace. Similarly, your enlightenment will not be attained too early or too late, but just in time - as you deserve it.

1:05amTue11Nov03|(0) |#12
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Gossip



If you subscribe to gossip over trifle matters,
how do you find the Truth with a capital T?
The Truth is not hearsay; it is here-experienced.
To believe or entertain gossip is to break the fourth precept of not upholding truth;
it betrays it, putting it at stake.

12:57amTue11Nov03|(0) |#11
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Don't Take the Wrong Bag



At the baggage claim conveyor belt of Taipei Airport, I see a black suitcase going around in circles. No one removes it. On its side up is a notice in English and Chinese saying, "Be careful not to take the wrong bag." Interesting- what happens if someone mistakes this bag to be his and takes it without seeing the message?

Our blindspots are called so because we are blind to them. Sounds hopeless? Hopefully, the friends around you are not blind to them too. Thus is it important not to mix with fools if one is not wise enough yet- for fools revel in each other's foolishness and spiritual blindness.

4:11amWed5Nov03|(0) |#10
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Phone Games



Many played phone games furiously when they first became available... on buses, in trains, in schools... ; I don't see many playing them these days. Maybe the kick of high scores is ot so high anymore. Maybe deep down the gamesters realise, "High scores- so what? What's next? Another new game? And after that, yet another? So what? What's next?" What games of rebirth do you play in this birth?

4:05amWed5Nov03|(0) |#9
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History & Culture



What can we learn from history and culture?

1. Not to repeat mistakes.
2. To repeat wise actions, especially those relevant to remedy our present mistakes.

The rest of history and culture that is not enlightening I think we learn in vain, only for entertainment! As long as we do not learn the above, bad history repeats. It's historical rebirth actually- strictly Samsara in the making, and re-making.

3:53amWed5Nov03|(0) |#8
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Measure of a Man



Man is the measure of all things?
The deluded man is the false measure of all his things.
The enlightened man is the true measure of all things-
he sees reality.

3:44amWed5Nov03|(0) |#7
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Opinionated



When you merely have opinions about everything,
you don't know the truth of anything.

3:36amWed5Nov03|(0) |#6
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Acting Blur? Choosing to Be Blur.



"People stumble over the truth from time to time,
but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”

-Sir Winston Churchill

"That's why we are reborn,
again and again,
because we fail to learn,
again and again."

-Stonepeace

1:45amMon8Sep03|(0) |#5
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Slipping Through



He who binds to himself a joy
doth the winged life destroy
but he who kisses joy as it flies
lives in Eternity's sunrise.