Time to wake up

Time to wake up.This is the post to remind me to wake up. I had been having the long deep sleep recently. When I mention " long and deep sleep ". I mean I was in the state of confusion and I need to wake up now.
Although I had been quite awake in the past, but I slowly fall into confusion and now I need to wake up one more time.
Life sometimes is unpredictable, we can not assume that every things will be gone smoothly. Yes, Time to wake up.
Time to wake up. The more you want to change for the better, the more obstacles will come to test you. Sometimes the negative forces were so strong that you will slowly dance with the negative forces without ready noticing it.
Luckily there are always someone who will advise us when we were astray for a while. Life is the journey, we ought to learn from all setbacks and obstacles.
Please do not give up, we ought to be strong so that we can ready live happily. This post is specially dedicated to you-the hero.

Good bus captain

Taking bus home sometimes can be the happy journey.  Yesterday morning, I took SBS Bus no. 174, I felt so happy on the bus. The driver or so call Bus captain was so caring, friendly and passionate. He is the Indian driver around 40years old. When you go to the bus, he will greet you" Good morning ", he greets every passenger. When passengers go down, he will say:" Have the nice day, bye bye." When the weak old man or woman go up the bus, he will wait until he get seated then moves the bus. He pass by every bus stop to see any passenger need the bus service. He indeed the good bus captain.
This type of caring, courteous bus captain, I think we need more. When the bus reaches Interchange, he will stand up and say to all passengers " have the nice day ". The bus captain make every passengers happy and of course he also feel happy.
Thanks Mr. Good Bus Captain.  Note: Encounter date 25-11-2012, time around 0800hrs to 0840 hrs, SBS BUS NOS : SBS8203E, 40 YEARS OLD Indian DRIVER.

Buddha quotes

Buddha quotes :

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

Coolinstar9's comment:

Yes, our life actually are decided by our own thoughts. If we have bad thoughts then we will definitely do bad action. If we have non-violence thoughts then we will always mindful not to carry out cruel acts.

Thoughts are so powerful that can benefit people or hurt people. Just look at Hitler who had hatred towards Jews then Hitler carried out the killing operation, put poisonous gas and killed so many Jews. With the conquering mindset, Hitler conquered neighboring countries and brought agonies to people. Hitler finally killed himself.

Some other people like Teresa went to India to help the sicked, the poor. It benefited many people there and showed us what the love was.

So, thoughts are so important in our daily lives.

How about if we have pure mind, it will be very wonderful because the indescribable joy will follow us just like the shadow always follow us if we under the sun.

Nobody can actually change your mind, you are the one can actually change your mind for the better. That's why pure mind is the best. But do not force yourself, many people have to go through siffering life then he can finally realize this a bit. The rest of us sadly to say that they will like the leaves on the flowing river.

See you in the next Buddha quotes.

Buddha quotes

 In this world, we can see many Buddha images everywhere. Buddha was the person of highest wisdom, he knew the truth of the universe and ways of living peacefully. Many people are still benefited by Buddha's teaching. Its teachings are always practical even today. Let's start learning Buddha quotes to see which one can apply to our daily life.

Buddha quotes nos 1

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Coolingstar9's comment:

Yes, it is so important to focus " now". The past had already past, if we had done something not proper, do not always think that and block us from moving forward. We have to rethink and do not repeat the mistakes again. In order to have bright future whether in business and spiritual life, we have to start concentrate now. Remember the time is precious, once we miss it, we will forever lose the time.

Dear friends, if you have any plans, please focus it now.

This Buddha quotes actually are benefiting people not just me.

See you again, enjoy the next Buddha quotes. Sometimes few words can awaken us. As you know Buddha wanted us to experience ourselves, do not just follow blindly. It is important to have more-opened heart and big heart after learning all these quotes. This is the toughest challenges for us to slowly get rid of greediness, hatred and stupidity. It is so fortunate that we have the chances to learn Buddha quotes. We need to have big heart as big as the sky.  

Do necessary things in life

Do necessary things in life.Looking back, I find that I have wasted a lot of time on unnecessary things. I wrote those blog posts that related to Singapore general election, USA Presidential election, Gaagnam style topics  and many blog posts that will not benefit readers in positive ways. With so many rubbishes in my mind, it is time to stop all these and turn the new chapter.
To turn on new chapter, we have to prepare to adopt the life style that different from most of people.
Do necessary things in lifeIf we continue to adopt the non-enlightened ways and pass day by day. We will be wasting time.
But many of us will never think of improving our spiritual level even before he dies.  They totally do not understand the benefits of it. They just focus on their bodies excitement, materials gain, chasing all unnecessary things.
Luckily there are still someone who show good examples and we can learn from all these people.
Do necessary things in lifeI intend to stop going for Internet forums and discussion because too many negative people there and it is hard to communicate with most of them because they have too deep attachment on bad deeds.
See you next post here....

Peace is the highest happiness

My friend just recommend me to see this you tube video: Peace is the highest happiness . I think this video may be can give you some hints in your life. We need freedom earlier ...

Change our fate

 Healthy life is so important if we want to live happily without any misfortunes. How to have healthy life? Please read all the posts from now on.
Fate is the outcome of the past. Do not let the past control us. We can change it by doing all kinds of good things with sincerity. Always keep our mind pure and free from cunning mindset, we will be the truly happy person. Obstacles are bound to have, please do not scare and this is the testing to see how good, how patient we are. Life is ready short, time to rethink our goal. We all have to prepare for our next journey. How to prepare? Stop all the worldly desires because this desires can not help us to go to the peaceful world after death. Free from all unwanted thoughts, comparison , we will be peaceful. Please rethink and go towards the path of harmony.

Buddhism Questions and Answers

Time to learn something useful from the awaken one-the Buddha.

Is Buddhism a religion?

Buddhism is neither a religion nor not a religion.

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is the teachings of Buddha. It shows humanity how to avoid suffering, attain happiness, unfold our wisdom, become enlightened and in this way benefit self and others.

Who is Buddha?

Shakyamuni Buddha. He was born Prince Siddartha in Lumbini near Kapilavathu, northern India, (present day Nepal) about 2,500 years ago. He attained the Supreme Enlightenment and thus became the "Awakened One". He was born in this world because humanity needs a teacher of the Truth - the natural order of all things in the universe.

What is the meaning of the word "Buddha"?

It means "Awakened One".

What are Buddha�s teachings?

Buddha teaches one to be free from all illusions and to view things as they truly are. He teaches one to avoid all evils, do all that are good, and to purify one�s mind.

Do Buddhists believe in God?

If the meaning of God is one who is the creator of all things, then Buddhism neither shares this belief nor teaches this concept.

Why do Buddhist practice Buddhism?

They do so because they wish to avoid suffering and attain happiness, unfold their wisdom, eradicate their undesirable conduct, seek liberation and lessen the hindrances of their negative Karma.

What is Karma?

Karma are actions created by one�s body, speech and mind. There are two kinds of karma - virtuous karma and evil karma.

How do Buddhists practice Buddhism?

Buddhists practice Buddhism by Being With Buddha at all times in the course of their daily lives, because Buddha is compassionate, wise, has eradicated all evils and cultivated all that are good, and the Buddha mind is calm and pure.

Why do Buddhists worship the image of Buddha?

Buddhists do not worship Buddha. The image of the Buddha is to enable Buddhists to pay their respects to the great teacher, Buddha. Since the Buddha has great compassion, wisdom and a pure mind, the image of Buddha also serves to remind Buddhists to remember, learn and emulate these virtuous qualities.

What is a Bodhisattva?

An awakened being, who has feelings, enlightens self and others, and benefits self and others. A Bodhisattva can become a Buddha through observing the six Paramitas (Giving, observing the Precepts, endurance under insults, zeal and progress, meditation on Zen & Samadhi, wisdom), but vows to remain in the realm of incarnation to save others.

What does "Three Treasures" mean?

The Dharma is taught by all Buddhas of the past, present and future. If not for the sublime and wonderful teachings of the Buddhas, all sentient beings will never be able to receive the benefits of the Dharma. If not for the selfless efforts of the great past, present and future Bodhisattvas and Sangha who shoulder the responsibility of spreading the Dharma and continuing the Buddha-wisdom life, it would not be possible for the Dharma to remain in this world for long. The "Buddha" who is capable of expounding on the Dharma, the "Dharma" that is expounded by the Buddha, and the "Sangha", the community of monks and nuns spreading the Dharma, are of value which cannot be measured with money. They are therefore called "treasures" and, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha are called the Three Treasures.

What are the "Five Desires"?

The five desires arise from the objects of the five senses: things seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. They also refer to the five desires of wealth, sex, food-and-drink, fame and sleep.

What does "Root" mean in Buddhism?

Root means a source which is capable of producing or growing something. The six-sense organs of a human being, namely, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, are the six roots. Through these six roots, the distinguishing senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and thoughts are produced. 

 Let us see article from  Tan Chade Meng as below:

This essay tells of my experience as a practitioner of the Dharma and my practice of Mindfulness. It also explains the importance of mindfulness in the practice of Buddhism and how one can develop it.

LIVING THE DHARMA - ONE MAN'S FIRST BABY STEP
by Tan Chade Meng
The Dharma (the Teachings of the Buddha) is a living knowledge. The Dharma is neither just a collection of discourses, nor just a system of belief. It is an art of living in peace and happiness. The Dharma has to be "lived".
What does one mean by "Living the Dharma"? For me, the entire essence of living the Dharma can be summarized into one very skillfully coined word, "Mindfulness". "Mindfulness, I declare, is useful everywhere", declared the Buddha some 25 centuries ago. After practicing Mindfulness for a while, I found the fruits of the practice to be enormous! I discovered that by being mindful of myself, my body, thoughts, state of mind, feelings and emotions, I became much happier.
Firstly, I learned to appreciate things much more. In life, there are too many things most of us take for granted most of the time. The love and company of our families, friends and loved ones, the roof over our heads, the fact that we are not in some form of extreme pain, even the very air that we breath in! We take all our blessings for granted. The unfortunate thing is that most of us don't appreciate what we have until we lose them. Only if we go blind will we start to think, "it was so nice when we could see". I discovered that if we are constantly appreciative of what we have, we become much happier. Mindfulness certainly helped me towards this end. By being constantly mindful of myself, I found that I become more able to appreciate all the little things around me. Hence, this is a source of happiness.
Perhaps the more important power of Mindfulness is its power to deal with distress. After practicing Mindfulness for a while, we would make an important discovery, that we tend to REACT towards situations. When something happens, or somebody says or does something, we react with anger, or happiness, or hatred etc etc. From here, I learned the first and most important lesson about happiness, that I am fully responsible for how I feel. Thus, it is not skillful to say, "he MAKES ME feel angry". If he "MAKES me" feel angry, then why is it that ten other people in the same situation would react in ten different ways? And not all of them would be angry.
The truth is that *I* react with anger to the situation. So it's more skillful to say, "*I* feel angry about what he said", instead of "*HE* makes me...". There is an important difference here. The difference is that I take full responsibility for my own feelings instead of putting the responsibility on somebody else, and I started to look towards myself for my own happiness. That, I realized, is the key to happiness. If only we could work with our reactions, we would stop being angry, or be less angry, in the same situation. The same applys to other painful feelings like disappointment, hatred etc.
This is where the power of Mindfulness lies. When I am mindful of my state of mind and emotions at all time, I begin to get a "feel" of how it works. When something happens, I notice "anger arising...arising...", and after a while, "anger falling ... falling..., feeling of regret arising ...", and so on. What is most amazing is that after a while, I began to develop some mastery over my reactions! So when anger or hatred arises, I was mindful of its arising and thus able to dissipate it. I was no longer a slave of my reactions, getting swamped by my feelings, but I had developed some say of how I should feel.
The wonderful thing is that now, I was able to practice what I already knew. In the past, I knew, for example, that I should not have shouted at my friend. Unfortunately, I couldn't control myself, and this "I knew I shouldn't have" becomes just an elusive, useless knowledge. It's just like a compulsive gambler, he *KNOWS* for a fact that what he is doing is hurting himself and his family, but he simply couldn't help it. He has no mastery over himself. With Mindfulness, I began to develop some mastery over myself and I became more able to apply the "I should not do it" knowledge to make my life better.
I discovered that with Mindfulness, I am more able to work with my feelings. I became more patient, less likely to be angry, more able to take disappointments, more able to accept myself and those around me. I am also more appreciative, my emotions more peaceful, and my mind more concentrated. Simply put, I feel better.
I learned the art of developing Mindfulness from a few Teachers. The instructions I received for the practice of Mindfulness is surprisingly simple.
The first step of the practice is some sitting meditation. Find some place quiet and sit in a comfortable position, keeping the spine straight. Put your hands on your lap, close your eyes and be aware of your breathing. When you breath in, know that you are breathing in. When you breath out, know that you are breathing out. After a few minutes, when you feel calm, bring your awareness to your body. Be aware that your body exists. Be aware of its sensations. It is amazing how much of our sensations we miss out when we're not observing our body. If an itch develops, be aware of that. Try to observe it, and observe your reaction to the sensation. Learn not to "judge" the sensation. Don't think, "this is *MY* itch", just think of it as "this is itch". Just observe it as a feeling and try to accept it and come to terms with it. If the itch becomes unbearable, observe your aversion to it, observe your intention to scratch. If you really have to scratch, slowly reach out to the "hot-spot", observe every step of the movement, and observe the the entire process and sensation of scratching. After that, observe your reaction to the scratching and slowly put your hand back.
After observing your body, try to observe your thoughts. If a thought arises, observe its arising. If one thought leads to another, observe that. Observe your reactions to your thoughts and any intentions you may have. Upon observing your thoughts, try observing your emotions. How do you feel? If you feel happy, observe this feeling of "happiness". If you feel sad, observe this feeling. Try not to think of them as "*MY* feelings", but just think of them as "feelings" and fully experience them. See how they feel like, see how you react to them. Try to come to terms with your feelings and fully accept them. After observing your feelings, repeat the full cycle again for as long as you feel comfortable about it.
After sitting meditation, it is extremely useful to do some walking meditation. The meditative state of mind we developed in sitting meditation helps us to be mindful about ourselves. Walking meditation is an extremely good compliment to that because it helps us to maintain that Mindful state in non-sitting situations. In other words, it helps us to maintain Mindfulness in our daily lives.
The instructions for walking meditation is very simple. There are a few forms of walking meditation, but we'll just discuss one. Just stand straight and look 5 feet ahead of you. Mindfully lift one foot, and observe that you are doing so. Slowly thrust it forward and be aware of that. Then slowly step it down and observe that. Do the same with the other foot and so on. When you reach the end, remain standing and observe "standing .... standing ....", then slowly turn back, observe "turning .... turning ...", and continue walking again. Do it for as long as you feel comfortable with.
With some practice, we will find that we can gain some degree of constant awareness about ourselves. We will find ourselves more able to experience our feelings, and more able to come to terms with them. We will also begin to gain some insights about ourselves, how our minds and emotions work, how we keep reacting to sensations. In time, this insight can give us some mastery over our reactions. That is when we begin to be able to dissipate anger, handle disappointments, etc. It is here that I understood the Zen saying from the great Bodhidharma, that when one gains insight into oneself, one walks towards Enlightenment (the cessation of all sufferings).
Many of us face one problem, we try too hard. We get very tensed up expecting fast results. When we don't get the results within a few days, we get very frustrated. I discovered that in meditation, and in life in general, learning to love oneself is very important. One very important point is learning to be gentle to ourselves. If we are not getting fast results, remind ourselves that we have just started. Think of ourselves as babies learning to walk. See the baby trying to make a step and falling. So cute, isn't it? Notice we never blame the baby, but instead just laugh at that failure and gently encourage the baby to try again? Such loving gentleness. Try putting this feeling towards ourselves. The least helpful thing for us is to be ashamed of our failures. Accept our failures, and try to give ourselves some gentle and loving encouragements like we would to a baby. This attitude of loving oneself is extremely important, for life in general and meditation in particular.
Many beginners have a problem "breathing". We have this problem because we think that the breath should be smooth and steady, but when we try, we often run out of air and have to take in deep breaths every now and then. Then we start to blame ourselves for doing it "wrong". Actually, there is no "wrong" way of breathing. If we have to take a deep breath, just do so, and just observe that we're doing it. If we take short breaths, or run out of air, we just remedy it if necessary and observe it. In time, our breaths will be smooth like experienced meditators' because we stop being worried about what is the "right" way to breath. This is one example of a problem that exists only because we worry about it.
Of course, there are also many of us who often go to sleep in the 2nd or 3rd minute of sitting meditation. Here again, I suggest that loving oneself is important. If we feel we're not trying hard enough, try to give ourselves some loving and gentle encouragements to try harder. It is very unhelpful to feel guilty. Laugh at and with ourselves and give ourselves gentle encouragements.
One wonderful thing about this meditation is that it can be practiced by anybody, regardless of religion or lack of religion. The meditation asks for one to be aware of one�s breath, thoughts etc. Whatever our religion is, we will definitely have breath, thoughts, emotions etc, and no religion would say it is wrong to be aware of them. Most importantly, whether or not we believe in some God or gods, the same benefits of Mindfulness can still be reaped. The Dharma is truly an universal teaching.
In recent years, "meditation" has become some sort of a popular sport. People makes all sorts of claims about the miracles their "meditations" can do. I'm sorry, but the Mindfulness meditation I described above is *NOT* designed to help us to hear celestral sounds, or see images, or go out-of-body, or "feel-God", or float in the air. All the Mindfulness meditation did for me was to make me more mindful, develop insights about myself, develop more mastery over my reactions, and make me more able to be happy. The only "miracle" it can give is the miracle of happiness. If you are looking for other miracles, sorry for your time wasted with this article.
Mindfulness is a truly wonderful thing. The Buddhist meditation for the development of Mindfulness is Vipassana Meditation (or Insight Meditation), which is the meditation I have learned. What I described in this essay contains what I have learned, but I do not claim to teach Vipassana because I have only learned so little.
I have only taken my first baby step. There is still a lot more ground to cover. I believe that I have found a most wonderful teaching. The Dharma is like a great lake. It is calm, deep, wide and beautiful. It is a great nourisher of life within and around it. When its full potential is unleashed, it is awesome. I wrote this article to share what I have found with you. I hope your path towards peace and happiness is a fruitful one.

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"Everything we do is an act of poetry or painting if we do it with Mindfulness" -- Thich Nhat Hanh

Upgrade spiritual level

Two years ago, one of my colleagues Mr. R was the emotional and angry type of person. Now Mr. R has changed his bad behavior and become more rational than before. The main reason was because he had joined and practiced  meditation. Mr. R gradually changed his bad behavior.
Because of the meditation, he has to always mindful what he says, acts. Through the process, he now is the better person.
Now, Mr. R had leaved us for the other new job. Yesterday I gave him the birthday gift. I put some money in the envelope and I was wondering what words to write. After few seconds, I thought it was good to encourage him for his efforts and I wrote some words on the envelope:"Upgrade spiritual level forever and happy family forever."
This morning he phoned me that he was searching some book in the library yesterday and he happened to see the book about upgrading spiritual level. He thanks me for the words.
I am happy that he had transformed and I know all these are because of positive mindset. Mindset can change our destinies. I will continue to share stories about positiveness to Mr. R.

Volunteer work

Few days ago, my sister asked me whether I was free on this Sunday. She asked me whether I wanted to do volunteer work for the old folk home.
Since I wanted to upgrade myself spiritually, I told her that I was free.
On Sunday I followed my sister to the old folk home. Wow, I saw so many volunteer there. My sister and I helped out to peel off apples and packed bananas inside the box. Each box with 100 bananas to be distributed to elderly people in the old folk home.
This was the first time experiencing the volunteer work.
After few hours, the job was done, I felt joyful. I decided to do more volunteer work in the future.
Did you do the volunteer work before?