Pure mind is my way of life

When we become older and older, sometime we will think back? What is the purpose of life? What need to be prepared to leave this world? Is it every things gone after death? Actually We can only know the real facts after death but I sense it there will be the continuity after death.
I am learning all religions. I filter it and adsorb all the good vitamins. I combine all this vitamins and I am learning the five important elements.
Firstly no stealing----It can reduce our greed level towards zero.
Secondly no improper sex--Stick to your wife faithfully if you are married.
Thirdly--no violence towards animals. This is the very important element that many people have ignored it. I suddenly wake up recently that I must stop the violent element because the
retribution can be imminent, we can not take lightly/
Many more.....like honestly, sincerity etc.
In conclusion : Towards pure mind and then go pure land. And then come back to this earth to bring all of you there.
When I am free I just say Namoamituofo, Namoamituofo......that's it. It is so simple.

How to prevent war?

How to prevent war? This is the very complicated question but we can find its roots. The roots are because of human mindset.
Another reason is because human beings create it by killing. According to Buddha, human beings have many life in the past, not just one life. So, in the past life, if we had committed many sins, we could be born in different places like hells or became animals, ghosts, etc. For those who had done many good deeds, they might born in heaven or human again.
According to Buddha, killing animals or another human beings can lead us to the hell or became ghosts or animals. This is call retribution.
So, in order to prevent getting killed, we have to stop killing.
Whether you believe it or not, I think no killing is ready good. I had not killed any animals for quite sometimes. In the past, especially in my younger age, I was quite naughty and hurt many animals including bees, etc.
Now, I had adopted a non-violence attitudes towards animals and human beings. Recently I attended the meditation talk, the teacher was telling audiences that we should not kill ants unnecessarily. That mean we can not just simply kill ants because all beings are scared to death. How can we give fear to them unless we want to be killed in war, accident.
Yes, now I adopt the peaceful means and my life is become so peaceful. I was more healthy than before because I never give fear to anybody now.
By reading the topic above, we should know how to prevent war?

Psy signs with Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun

Thanks to his Gangnam Style, which has garnered 131.7 million views on YouTube since it was uploaded less than two months ago (July 15), South Korean rapper PSY is taking the U.S. my storm.

Already a star in his native country, the 34-year-old K-pop singer is set to launch his career stateside with the help of his new manager, Scooter Braun -- the man responsible for transforming fellow YouTube sensation Justin Bieber into, well, Justin Bieber.

"I spent all the time last night at the VMAs making interviews, so I thought like, 'Wow, I'm a rookie in 12 years.' I'm really feeling good about that," PSY told AMP RadioMTV VMAs. "You know, people usually can feel the rookie feeling once in a lifetime, right? But this is twice in a lifetime, so this is amazing," he added.

In fact, PSY, real name Park Jae-Sang, has been in the game for years now. "Gangnam Style" is actually a song from his sixth studio album, and PSY has appeared in TV shows and movies, and has many accolades to his name in South Korea.

"The thing is, if I walk on the streets in the U.S., like no one recognizes me yet," PSY said of his ability to still go unrecognized in the States. "Especially without sunglasses, they never recognize me at all! I got to wear sunglasses in the airport, at night, or everywhere. It's too dark, you know? Should I dance everywhere?"

Of course, mega-manager Braun will soon be changing that. "They said, 'Hey, Scooter Braun wants you,'" PSY said, recounting his reaction to the news from his now-manager. "'Who's Scooter Braun? Who's Scooter Braun?' You know, scooter has different meaning, right? Scooter like the motorbike. Scooter? Is he a guy named Scooter? I'm Korean, so, Scooter? Is it [a] name? Is it [a] motorbike or something?" following his appearance at last week's (Sept. 6) 

Psy felt surprising about Justin Beber,s manager Scotter Braun interested in deal. Psy Stunned Scooter Braun Was Interested In Manager Deal

South Korean rapper Psy ordered Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun to prove his identity as he refused to believe the music mogul wanted to work with him.
The star has gained a cult following thanks to his unique Gangnam Style dance moves, and the track has topped charts around the world since its release in July (12).
Braun got in touch with the rapper over the summer (12) about a potential deal to manage his career, but Psy was in disbelief when he received the message.
Speaking at England's prestigious Oxford University on Wednesday (07Nov12), he says, "I receive (sic) phone call from Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun. I told him, 'If you're Justin Bieber's manager, I'm Justin Bieber'. I made him email me pictures to prove who he was. I had to apologise."
Psy also admits he finally realised Gangnam Style had gone global when he saw the diverse nationalities of fans commenting on his video on YouTube.com.
He adds, "Suddenly I thought what is going on? There were English comments, and Asian people were fighting over my nationality. Is he Chinese? Is he Korean? Is he Japanese? Then Bbc, Cnn are making report (sic) of me."

How to prevent people become terrorists?

 Let's slowly find the ways how to prevent people become terrorists? 
The word " Terrorist " was quite frequently after September 11 year 2000. Whenever I heard about terrorist news on newspapers, I felt extremely sad for terrorists and those  whom they injured or killed. I am totally disagreed with all sorts of terrorist attacks. How can we human being in this 21th century doing such barbaric acts. It is unimaginable that such cruel acts still being carried out daily in different part of the world. Can we do something to prevent these type of uncivil acts occurred or reduced it to minimum? How to prevent people become terrorists? 
In order to make the world suitable for living, we need to have peaceful environment as soon as possible.
I think every country must ready play the part to make the non-terrorists mission become reality. Can it be done? The answer is yes.
Firstly leaders must show good examples----Leaders in every country must have the non-cruel mindset in the first place.
Secondly----Every country must have the sound education system then can instill the non-terrorists and harmony programs in the school curriculum.
Thirdly----Country leaders must treat all people equally regardless race, language and religion.
Fourthly---Interaction among different group is important.
Do you have any ideas how to prevent people to become terrorists? please share it out and I will add it here for terrorists to see, may be they can change their mind.
Thanks for reading. As the individual we can help to promote harmony in our district, our village, our school, our factory, every organization and everywhere. 

How to have comments?

How to have comments? A person asks how to have comments on his blog? Actually this is very simple, you just need to open your eyes and go to read other people' blogs. After reading their blogs, think deeply and give your ideas there, I mean give your comments there. You have to ready read their blogs and comment it sincerely. They know whether you are the sincere commentator or scam blogger. No bloggers like scam bloggers because they are lacking sincerity, they simply want to promote their web site. This scam bloggers actually like the salesman, nobody like scam comments. The scam bloggers go to people blog site and make the comments almost the site. They will praise you something like that: You have the nice web site, keep on writing but they never comment aimed at your blog posts. In order to have comments, it is very simple.
Put your efforts go to other blogger blog site and make comment.
Then they will reciprocate and give your blogs comments.
This is my experience. In the first stage of blogging, I like comments. For this moment I have no time to do that because I have more important things to do. I take it easy and feel peaceful whether got comments or not.
My third stage is learning how to tell people go peaceful life because not many people know, so I am interested to spread the peace to every corner in the world. Hee hee hee, sound great, isn't it?
Life has to move on in the right direction, do not go astray, that's it.
Peace to you.

 

Values and character education are ready important

SINGAPORE - "What is more difficult is not language, but values. And this is not as tangible and we don't focus on it as much. But I think there we have lost something in the values and the ethos of the Chinese-medium schools. Language policies can always be refined and if we need to strengthen in one area we can always do it. But values and ethos are not so easily turned on with a switch. They evolve gradually over time and there we have lost something, that attitude to life and society that was very much part of Chinese-medium schools,"Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.
Values and character education are ready important.
Success in character education , as well as encouraging students to develop original thinking, will only be achieved if "real space" is created for them in the education system, Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has said.

And if these are the goals to be worked towards, it could, in his opinion, mean "reducing the excessive focus on examinations" early in life.

Speaking at a seminar yesterday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the passing of education philanthropist Tan Lark Sye, who founded the former Nanyang University in Singapore, among other schools, Mr Tharman felt there is a need to re-create values such as benevolence and a reverence for standards of conduct in schools here.

"In my opinion, it's only possible to succeed in character education and encouraging students to question and think originally if we create real space for it in the education system. And this will require reducing the excessive focus on examinations early in life," said Mr Tharman.

"We have to provide more space for character building, and for encouraging our students to think for themselves, question more, to think in more original ways. You need space and time for it. There is no other way."

Mr Tharman, who was Education Minister between 2003 and 2008, suggested looking at how students are differentiated at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) - which is by exact scores - as compared to the O levels, where secondary school students are graded by letters indicating bands of scores.

"As long as we carry on with the present system of extraordinarily fine differentiation at the PSLE and consequently, for posting to secondary schools, it is inevitable that parents and teachers and principals, whatever else they may say, will place great emphasis on preparing their students and children for the PSLE. And it will have to be at the expense of something else. So if you want to create real space early in life for children to have a broad-based upbringing, to interact outside the classroom, get to know each other across races, to develop that zest for learning, for life, something has to give. We can't keep everything else unchanged and try to add on more," said Mr Tharman, who is also Finance Minister.

He cautioned that the right trade-off has to be found. "If we do anything, it has to be done without shaking the confidence of parents in meritocracy, confidence in the fairness of the system," said Mr Tharman.

On language, Mr Tharman said it is undeniable the standard of Chinese today has dropped, compared to what was achieved in Chinese schools in the past.

The bilingual policy, however, has given Singapore a common language between the races, he added.

The country has also gained in terms of the desire of English-speaking Chinese families today, who want their children to learn Chinese well, Mr Tharman said.
Recently many negative news about high professions, highly talented students' immoral behaviors ready make people disappointing. Is it the trend among all the professions or talented students. How about those ordinary people? Can we do something to instill somethings good to the students when they are young.  This type of good values can not wait anylonger because the whole environment internal or external bad influences are so huge that people will likely to go astray.
Let's see how Minister for education talk about the value.

As Education Minister Heng Swee Keat rolls out his vision of a values-driven education landscape, this is an opportune time for our universities to consider introducing mandatory virtues and ethics classes for undergraduates.

Over the years, our primary and secondary schools have played a significant role in laying a good moral foundation in students. However, a vacuum exists when students progress to tertiary education - the most crucial years before they enter the workforce.

Students are often engrossed in their co-curricular activities and active pursuit of academic excellence, resulting in the lack of ample time for proper reflection.

I feel it would be useful to have a dedicated ethics class where students sit down to deliberate over the real-life ethical conundrums and debate what would constitute responsible behaviour.

This should not be come in a form of top-down didactic approach but rather a journey of self-discovery.

Such a class would thus help one to reaffirm concepts of right and wrong as well as shape a ready understanding of how to react in different situations before they happen.

As the future workplace becomes increasingly complex, individuals are more likely to face moral dilemmas. An ethics class might not guarantee that individuals always make the best decisions, but the reiterative thought process would at least help them be more discerning while also providing a moral anchor that governs an individual's decision in challenging times.

A university education should prepare individuals for life. Universities should not over-focus on equipping students with knowledge and technical skills; instead they should also concentrate on achieving their broader social mission - ingraining a sound moral compass that would guide graduates for life. That should be the universities' main social responsibility.
Let's see Grace Fu's ideas.

Government policies alone are not enough to overcome social issues if Singaporeans do not have the right mindsets and values, according to the main theme of a dialogue session between Minister in Prime Minister's Office Grace Fu and Yew Tee residents today.

In discussions about raising the country's birth rate, she said that though the government could do more to encourage companies to put in place more family-friendly work policies such as flexible working hours, it was ultimately up to workers to decide what their priorities are, based on their personal values.

She also noted that monetary incentives like the marriage and parenthood package were meant to be subsidies to help families cope with the cost of living rather than a 'cash reward for having babies'.

Ms Fu said she was pleased that the national conversation was going beyond policies and incentives.

"I'm very happy that people are thinking about these issues. So I think they are aware that we have to address the fundamental issues," said Ms Fu.

 

Ban live export

Today, I happen to see local newspaper about " ban live export". Then I type ' Ban live export on Google search and happen to see this video. From the video, we can see how animals being treated so cruelly. I support " ban live export'. Time to stop cruel act and stop saying ' Love animals" but killing cruelly.
For Brian's sake, BanLiveExport.com

Tell Your MP to Ban Live Export!

Recently Australia's live export industry again revealed its dark heart by lauding the first shipment of Australian cattle to Egypt in four years. One month later they were in damage control admitting that 263 cattle had died enroute to Egypt in one of their flagship vessels the Ocean Shearer. Whilst the industry is not stating what killed the cattle, various excuses such as delays caused by an injured crewmember and piracy concerns have been put forward. Once again it has taken animals to suffer and die to prove that the inherent and unacceptable risks that accompany every live export vessel when it takes to sea can never be overcome...
The animals who survived disembarked in a country that has a horrendous track record of animal cruelty. The slashing of tendons and stabbing of eyes to disable cattle still routinely occurs in Egypt. Whilst Australian cattle can now only be killed in one accredited abattoir in Egypt they still face having their throats cut whilst fully conscious. If slashing the tendons of cattle is unacceptable in the eyes of the Australian government -- the slashing of the throat of terrified conscious cattle should be equally so.
The government banned the export of sheep to Egypt after viewing Animals Australia's evidence of trussed sheep being tied to roof racks and thrown onto trucks and into car boots. Since then Egypt has imported chilled meat from Australia in place of live animals, showing that the region will accept chilled meat. In fact last year, Australia exported more chilled sheep meat to the Middle East than live animals -- showing how unnecessary the cruel live trade really is.
Animals in the Middle East are routinely subjected to cruel treatment. Australia's willingness to export animals -- knowing that tens of thousands will die enroute and that surviving animals will endure treatment that would be illegal in Australia -- is immoral and unforgiveable. The message that this trade sends to the Middle East -- a region that desperately needs be encouraged towards ethical treatment of animals -- is that animals are nothing more than chattels to be traded and slaughtered for profit.
Your help is needed to pressure your local Federal Member of Parliament to support a ban on the cruel live export trade, and to let them know that caring Australians will not vote for a political party that supports animal cruelty.

Take action!

Support this campaign

Thanks for adding your voice to this campaign! If you'd like to help even more, here are some other powerful things you can do to help right now:

• Download Animals Australia's ban live export petition and help us reach our next goal of 300,000 Australians calling on the government to ban live animal export.
• Donate now to support Animals Australia's life-saving work

 

Western medias are the evils

Western medias are the evils. China is going to change its leaders on November 2012. At this critical moment, there is some western media tried to stir up China political scene. When we study the recent history, we will know western media or its political leaders always like to interfere and stir up and try to create chaos in China. No wonder China dioplomat saying these western media has the ulterior motive. Western media or intelligence agents always want to belittle China. We still can remember opium war, colonized Hong Kong for 100 years, eight countries combined to attack China, greedy pig Japan attacked China between year 1937 to year 1945. Even now, these western media still has the evil mindset, always like to mind others business. Western medias are the evils, they spread rumor and always has the agressive mindset and thinking themselves great, what the foolish western media.   BEIJING: China's censors did their best Saturday to block discussion of a New York Times investigation into Premier Wen Jiabao, but analysts said the report would still likely reach tens of millions of people.

Detailing a string of deals on Friday, the newspaper said that relatives of the government's number two -- a self-styled man of the people known popularly as "Grandpa Wen" -- had become "extraordinarily wealthy" during his tenure.

Investments by Wen's son, wife and others spanning the banking, jewellery and telecom sectors were worth at least US$2.7 billion according to an analysis of company and regulatory filings from 1992-2012.

State-run newspapers made no mention of the scandal on Saturday, while China's army of censors ensured that searches for The New York Times or other related terms returned no results on social networks and search engines.

The English-language and Chinese websites of the American newspaper were also blocked in China and reports on international television channels CNN and BBC World were blacked out.

"Only a small proportion will be aware of the story," seasoned China watcher Willy Lam told AFP.

He estimated that about 10 per cent of China's 500-million-strong online population would still manage to evade the censors, however, amounting to about 50 million people.

"The NYT story will hurt Wen Jiabao... his reputation will be adversely affected," he explained, adding that many Chinese had become very cynical about the wealth accumulated by those near the centres of power.

"Most Chinese just assume that the top leaders are corrupt," he said.

The revelations come as a particular embarrassment for Wen, who is the standard-bearer of the Communist Party's reformist wing and has campaigned against corruption.

In a speech published in April, he said official corruption was "the biggest danger facing the ruling party" and warned that "those who hold political power may perish" unless it is addressed.

The NYT report coincided with the announcement that former regional Communist Party boss Bo Xilai had been stripped of his parliamentary seat ahead of an expected trial, which was meant to signal a new get-tough approach on graft.

Bo's expulsion from the National People's Congress came after state media announced last month that he would "face justice" for alleged abuse of power, taking bribes and improper sexual relations.

The NYT investigation darkens the clouds hanging over the Communist Party caused by the Bo scandal as the regime prepares to name successors to Wen and President Hu Jintao in a once-in-a-decade leadership change starting November 8.

The New York Times said in a blogpost that the investigation into Wen had taken a year and that the newspaper knew of the likely impact on its business prospects in China.

It invested in a Chinese-language version of its website only recently and will lose out on advertising revenue if it remains unavailable to the public.

"I'm very proud of this work," New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger was quoted as saying in the post. "Our business is to publish great journalism. Does this have a business impact? Of course."

In June, business news agency Bloomberg published an investigation into the finances of Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to be promoted to president at a Communist Party congress next month.

Bloomberg's website is still blocked and Chinese banks were encouraged to stop using financial data provided by the US company.

Beijing on Friday dismissed the NYT report as an attempt to tarnish China, with foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei telling reporters in response to a question on the article: "Some reports smear China and have ulterior motives."

- AFP/ck
Let's see how China premier's family react to the evil rumor by western media socall cunning fox media.  
HONG KONG - Two lawyers who said they represented the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China have issued a statement disputing aspects of a New York Times (NYT) article about the family's wealth, a rare instance of a powerful Chinese political family responding directly to a foreign media report.

The statement, published in the South China Morning Post yesterday, said: "The so-called 'hidden riches' of Wen Jiabao's family members in The New York Times' report" did not exist.

After criticising several points in the article, the statement hinted at the possibility of future legal action.

"We will continue to make clarifications regarding untrue reports by The New York Times, and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible," the statement said.

The statement was not a sweeping denial of the article. The statement acknowledged that some family members were active in business and that they "are responsible for all their own business activities".

While the statement disputed that Mr Wen's mother had held assets, it did not address the calculation in the article that the family had controlled assets worth at least US$2.7 billion (S$3.3 billion).

Ms Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for NYT, expressed confidence in the article. "We are standing by our story, which we are incredibly proud of and which is an example of the quality investigative journalism The Times is known for," she wrote in an e-mail.

The lawyers' statement represents an unusual move for the family of a senior Chinese leader.

When Bloomberg News published an article in late June describing real estate and other assets held by the family of Vice-President Xi Jinping, his family did not respond to the report publicly.

The statement published in The Post was attributed to Mr Bai Tao, Partner in the Beijing office of the Jun He Law Firm, and Mr Wang Weidong, Managing Partner of the Beijing office of the Grandall Law Firm.

It denied an anecdote in the NYT article that described how one investment in the name of Mr Wen's mother, Ms Yang Zhiyun, was worth US$120 million in 2007. "The mother of Wen Jiabao, except receiving salary/pension according to the regulation, has never had any income or property," the statement said.

Corporate registration records reviewed by NYT showed that the shares in Ping An, an insurance company, were held through investment vehicles. A signature bearing Ms Yang's name and identity card were included in the registration record, which was obtained from government regulatory filings.

The family's statement also said that "Wen Jiabao has never played any role in the business activities of his family members, still less has he allowed his family members' business activities to have any influence on his formulation and execution of policies". The New York Times.
Now the picture is very clear, this evil cunning fox media will continue to smear China out of ill-will. Remember freedom not means you can anyhow spread the rumor to achieve you own agenda.  

No abortion please

We human beings need to prevent abortion. We need to be more disciplined on this. We can not simply abort a life carelessly. Every life is precious, just look at ourselves, why we are here? It is because our mothers never aborted us. Put in the shoes of those aborted babies, I feel bad for them, they were deprived of the right to live in this earth.
When we date the girl out, do not anyhow shoot and make baby and then abort it just like throwing rubbishes.
We all will be blessed if we can preserve a life.
This is my sincere advice to all human beings.

 

7 Little Habits That Can Change Your Life

Today, I come across the article: 7 Little Habits That Can Change Your Life, and How to Form Them. I think it is go to spread the positive advice here. Take note: The post was written by Leo Babauta, not coolingstar9.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

If you could just pick one or two (or seven) habits to create in the next few months — habits that will have the most impact on your life — what would they be?
I often get asked this question, because people are overwhelmed when it comes to starting positive life changes.
They ask me: what one or two habits should they start with?
It’s not an easy question. There are so many changes I’ve gone through, from quitting smoking to simplifying my life to reducing debt to many more. And they’ve all seemed life-changing, and they’ve all seemed important.
But if I were to start again, and had to pick one or two, it would be the one or two listed below. The list that follows is in order of what I think I’d do the first 6-7 months of changing my life … but realize that every person is different. No one should follow my choices exactly — you’ve got to figure out what works for you.
That said, if you followed the program below, and worked to develop these habits, you’d probably do pretty well.

“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.” - Confucius

How to Develop the Habits
I’ve written a number of times about developing habits, but here are the basics:

• Do a 30-day challenge, focusing on just ONE habit.
• Write it out on paper, along with your motivations, obstacles, and strategies for overcoming them.
• Commit fully, in a public way.
• Log your progress.
• Remain publicly accountable — report on your progress each day.
• Have support for when you falter — either in real life or online.
• Reward every little success.
• If you fail, figure out what went wrong, plan for it, and try again.

Read more:

• 13 Things to Avoid When Changing Habits
• How to Establish New Habits the No-Sweat Way
• Engineer Life: Set Up Habit Changes So It’s Hard to Fail
• Autopilot Achievement: How to Turn Your Goals Into Habits

The Seven Little Habits That Can Change Your Life
OK, so now you know how to form a habit — and remember, only do them one at a time — but you want to know the seven little habits. Here they are, in my order of preference (but yours may be different):
1. Develop positive thinking. I put this first because I think it’s the keystone habit that will help you form the other important habits. Sure, positive thinking by itself won’t lead to success, but it certainly goes a long way to motivate you to do the other things required.
I learned this when I quit smoking — when I allowed myself to think negative thoughts, I would end up failing. But when I learned how to squash negative thoughts and think positive ones instead, I succeeded. This discovery lead to me practicing this over and over, until I was able to form just about any habit I needed. It’s been invaluable to me, and I think it could be to most people.
Focus on this habit first, and you’ll have a much easier time with any of the others. Start by becoming more aware of your negative self-talk — do a little tally sheet throughout the day, marking a tally each time you notice a negative thought. Soon you’ll recognize them, and you can squash them.
Read more:

• Top Motivation Hack: Positive Thinking
• Can You Spot These 10 Thinking Sins

2. Exercise. People who’ve been hearing me harp on about exercise might roll their eyes. Sure, exercise is healthy and all that, but how exactly is it life changing? I’m glad you asked:

• It makes you feel better about yourself, and more confident. That leads to better success with other positive changes.
• It reinforces the positive thinking habit — you need to think positive in order to sustain exercise.
• It relieves stress and gives you time to think — this leads to better mental well-being in your life overall.
• It helps with creativity. Don’t ask me to prove it, except to say that my best ideas and brainstorming sessions come from when I exercise.

Here’s how:

• 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit
• How to Make Exercise a Daily Habit
• 7 Ways to Build the Exercise Habit

3. Single-tasking. The opposite of multi-tasking — you’ve heard me harp on about this one as well. Why is it life-changing? A couple powerful reasons:

• You’ll be more effective with your tasks and get more done. It’s hard to achieve important things if you’re constantly switching tasks and distracted by other “urgent” things.
• You’ll be less stressed overall and (in my experience) happier throughout your day.

Read more:

• How Not To Multi-task: Work Simpler and Saner
• Now Do This and the Single-tasking Philosophy
• The Magical Power of Focus

4. Focus on one goal. Just as focusing on one task at a time is more effective, and focusing on one habit at a time is more effect, so is focusing on one goal at a time. While it might seem very difficult, focusing on one goal at a time is the most powerful way of achieving your goals. When you try to take on many goals at once, you’re spreading thin your focus and energy — the two critical components for achieving a goal.
What if you have 5 goals you want to achieve? Pick one to focus on first. Break it into a mini-goal you can accomplish this month, if it’s a longer-term goal. Pick an action you can do today. Keep doing this until the goal is accomplished — do an action every day, finish the mini-goal, pick the next mini-goal to work on. Then, when your One Goal is completed, focus on the next goal.
Some goals are ongoing ones — like blogging every day, or exercising every day. In those cases, turn them into habits — focus exclusively on turning the goal into a habit, until the habit is ingrained. Then focus on the next goal.
Read more:

• A Simple Guide to Setting and Achieving Your Life Goals

5. Eliminate the non-essential. First, identify the essential — the things in your life that are most important to you, that you love the most. Then eliminate everything else. This simplifies things and leaves you with the space to focus on the essential. This process works with anything — with your life in general, with work projects and tasks, with emails and other communication.
This will change your life because it will help you to simplify, to focus on what’s important, and to build the life you want.
Read more:

• Eliminate All But the Absolute Essential Tasks
• Haiku Productivity: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

6. Kindness. Yes, kindness is a habit. And it can be cultivated. Focus on it every day for a month and you’ll see profound changes in your life. You’ll feel better about yourself as a person. You’ll see people react to you differently and treat you better, over the long run. It’s karma.
How do you develop the kindness habit? First, make it a goal to do something kind for someone each day. At the beginning of the day, figure out what that kind act will be and then do it during the day. Second, each time you interact with someone, try to be kind, be friendly, be compassionate. Third, try to go beyond small kindnesses to larger acts of compassion, volunteering to help those in need and taking the initiative to relieve suffering.
Read more:

• 18 Practical Tips for Living the Golden Rule
• Faith in Humanity: How to Bring People Closer, and Restore Kindness
• A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life
• 25 Ways to Help a Fellow Human Being Today
• The No. 1 Lifehack You can Implement Today to Make the World a Better Place

7. Daily routine. It’s so simple, but creating a daily routine for yourself can make a big difference in your life. The best routines, I’ve found, come at the start and end of the day — both your workday and your day in general. That means, develop a routine for when you awake, for when you first start working, for when you finish your workday, and for the end of your evening.
How will that change your life? It will help you get a great start to your day, and finish your day by preparing for the next day. It’ll help you firmly root the productive habits you want to firm in your everyday life. It’ll help you focus on what’s important, not just what comes up. It’ll help you make sure you get done all the things you really want to make sure gets done everyday. And that can mean a lot.
Read more:

• Tips to Establish a Morning and Evening Routine
• 12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” - John Dryden

—
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Why Chinese needs to learn Chinese?

 In this world, We see British people learn their mother tongue naturally, Malay learn their mother language when they born. But some Chinese never learn Chinese from young, instead they learn other language, I wondering why? Today I happen to come across the article Why do I learn Chinese? I hope this article can wake up those banana Chinese.
Topic: Why do I learn Chinese?
English Original by Kong Que-yu, Chinese Translation by Feng Xin-ming
Thesis: I learn Chinese to be Chinese.
A. Introduction
1. Hook: I have the body of a Chinese, but do I have the soul of
one?
a. The body comes with birth, but the soul only comes
with cultivating
2. Only if one has the soul could one be a true Chinese.
3. Learning Chinese helps cultivate a Chinese soul.
4. Thesis: I learn Chinese to become Chinese.
B. Learning to read Chinese brings me in contact with the past.
1. It will help me learn the history of China.
2. It will help me learn the true thought and philosophy of China.
3. I will know the ancient mind of China.
4. China’s past is like the roots of the great tree that is the Chinese
soul, supplying the nutrients
C. Learning to speak Chinese brings me in contact with the present
1. It will help me speak with fellow Chinese.
2. It will help me keep up with modern China.
3. I will know the beating, living heart of China.
4. China’s present is like the trunk of the great tree, bare and
unattractive, but will transport to the right place
D. Learning to write Chinese brings me in contact with the future.
1. It will let me write and speak to the many descendants of
China’s future.
2. It will let me pass on my true Chinese heritage.
3. I will be part of the future spirit of China.
4. China’s future is like the branches and leaves of the great tree,
magnificent and prosperous

Singapore inspiring stories

Singapore has many inspiring stories, this is about filial son.
STOMPer Miso came across a touching story of a boy in China who despite studying in a university over a hundred kilometres away, returned home to spend time with his dying father in his last few days.

24-year-old Cheng Jilai did his late father (56-year-old Cheng Yixing) proud when he was the only one out of his three siblings who made it to university. But because of their impoverished family financial situation, the family was unable to bear expensive tuition costs and Cheng Jilai ultimately chose to study at Xi’an Aeronautical University, borrowing 6000 Yuan to enter the school.

Things took an unfortunate turn when his father's health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with rectal cancer, but his father had kept the news from his children and refused to seek treatment for his health condition due to the family's inability to afford surgery. It was only at the end of 2011 when his father's health declined so drastically did Cheng Jilai and his siblings learn about his illness and took him to a hospital.

With the tight financial situation, Cheng Jilai worked to support himself while he was in university, but used his hard-earned tuition savings to settle his father's medical bills and funeral preparations. Although he has had several female admirers in school, Cheng Jilai never dared entertain the thought of having a girlfriend has he knew that dating required money to be spent.

During his father's last few days, Cheng Jilai and his father slept in the same room, and he was always by his father’s side. He knew that his father was close to death, and could pass away any moment. 

Mr. Cheng Yixing passed away on 27 March 2012 at approximately 9.30pm at night.

Said Miso:

"This story brought tears to my eyes.

"From the photos, you can see that his son really took care of the funeral arrangements and medical bills despite the family's poverty to ensure that his father received a proper burial.

"The fact that he travelled all the way home and sacrificed his university tuition money for his father is indeed admirable.

"Hopefully young people in Singapore would follow in his footsteps when it comes to caring for their elderly parents and loved ones."

President Susilo Bambang talking about religious harmony

Singapore is very concern about racial and religious harmony. As we know the successful gathering of nine different religion to have the dinner together in 2000 was the breakthrough in human history. Singapore nine different religion can co-operate with each others is the model for other countries to follow. Malaysia also is the great country to spread the religious and racial harmony especially after Mr. Najib took over the office. Malaysia government treat the minority group like Indians, Chinese with great respect. How about Indonesia? Yes, the Indonesia government also realized the importance of religious harmony. All these three countries are showing the good examples that religious and racial harmony ready can achieve if we have the strong will to do so.
I always like to read foreign newspaper like Korean news, financial time, Thailand newspaper, The Jataka post and many others. Yesterday I came across the news about President Susilo Bambang talking about religious harmony. I felt extremely happy because the leaders always play the important part in instill the values of racial and religious harmony. Let's see how President Susilo Bambang's ideas. I hope the President can continue the efforts.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono underlined the importance of the roles played by leaders and religious figures in solving various conflicts taking place across the country.

“As the head of state, I invite and urge leaders and religious figures to guide people and apply their religious teachings as properly as possible,” he said in his speech at a commemorative ceremony celebrating the centenary of a Catholic church in Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), on Friday.

The President said that leaders and religious figures should continuously strive to seek peaceful solutions to the various conflicts.

“Building and maintaining religious harmony as well as presenting enlightened examples of leadership are part of the requirements needed to settle conflict,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Yudhoyono said that amid the heterogeneity and dynamism of Indonesia, sometimes conflicts arose in which leaders and religious figures should be active in the search for a peaceful resolution.

The President, however, stopped short of mentioning any concrete steps needed to settle the various religious conflicts taking place in a number of areas throughout Indonesia.

The discovery that a regent in Aceh ordered the closure of 20 churches in April this year raises concerns over growing intolerance, which may trigger communal conflicts.

The closures were ordered by Aceh Singkil’s acting regent Razali AR in a letter signed on April 30, which ordered members of the congregations to tear down the churches themselves by June 8 at the latest.

Following the closures, there are now only two churches open in Aceh Singkil, both built after 2000. Most of the churches selected for demolition were built in the 1930s and 1940s. The dispute in Aceh adds to the long list of incidents of religious intolerance in the nation.

In Bekasi, West Java, the Congregation of the Filadelfia Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) continues to be regularly assaulted and harassed by Muslims when it tries to conduct Sunday services.

The Bekasi regency sealed off the church site in 2010 after local residents objected to the construction of the church. The regency continues to refuse to open the site even after the Bandung State Administrative Court ruled in favor of HKBP Filadelfia.

Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) face similar harassment in Bogor, also in West Java.

Various human rights groups have also reported cases of attacks on Ahmadis and Shiites, including congregations in Cikeusik, Banten, Tangerang and Sampang in East Java.

Last month, Yudhoyono spoke before the UN General Assembly, calling on the UN’s member states to adopt a legally binding instrument to ban blasphemy and to promote dialogue between different faiths, civilizations and cultures.

He added that such an instrument was needed to prevent the incitement of violence based on religion.

Indonesia has ratified various international laws that legally bind the government to guarantee its people religious freedom. These laws include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Indonesia in 2005.

 Friday’s ceremony was also attended by Cabinet ministers, NTT leaders and religious figures.

After the ceremony and before returning to Jakarta, the President and his entourage traveled to Labuan Bajo, the main gate for Komodo National Park, before flying on an Air Force Hercules airplane to Central Sumba.
Table of religious intolerance:

• During the era of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (as of 2007) 108 churches have been closed/damaged; in the era of president Megawati Soekarnoputri, 92; in the era of president Abdurrahman Wahid, 232; in the era of president Soeharto, 456.

• Based on data from the Manado Post daily, there were 2,442 cases of church closures and demolitions in the period between 2004 and 2010.

• In 2011, Setara Institute recorded 244 cases of religious intolerance in 17 regions. The largest number of cases was recorded in West Java (57 cases), followed by South Sulawesi (45), East Java (31), North Sumatra (24) and Banten (12).

Sources: The Jakarta Post and Setara Institute

Markus Makur contributed to this report from Ruteng.

About National family Council Singapore

Singapore has National family Council. What is all about National family Council? It is good to learn especially for those who have family.

First launched in 1985, the National Family Celebrations (formerly known as National Family Week) is an important annual national event to celebrate and reinforce the importance of the family. This iconic national event is championed by the National Family Council (NFC), with strong support from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). The Council is a people sector-led committee that aims to promote and build resilient families in Singapore.

Through the month long Celebrations, families can take part in a wide array of interesting activities and events and spend quality time together!

Family Time Odyssey: Past. Present. Future.
The theme for National Family Celebrations 2012 (NFC’12) is Family Time Odyssey – a journey through time for youths to take with their families.

To foster appreciation of each generation in the family and to honour the times that we have spent together, this year’s activities will focus on strengthening familial bonds through time. Everyone can be a child, youth, parent or grandparent at different times of their lives, and this year’s activities are designed to encourage families to explore evolving family roles through the times. It may be a rewind back in time, or a fast-forward to the future; the aim is to take stock of the present by reflecting on the connections of the past and work together towards improved relationships in the future.

The emphasis on time this year encompasses time spent together as a family. By investing time in bonding and connecting as a family, strong foundations will be built for families to stay cohesive and resilient through the times.

Bhutan happy families

Bhutan has many happy families. Bhutan government is very concern about its citizens' happiness. The happy index is measured by how happy Bhutan people feel. Bhutan is the only Mahayana Buddhism Kingdom in the world, with Mahayana (tantric) Buddhism as its official religion. We hear the recent news that Bhutan wants to achieve 100 percent of organic farm products. Why Bhutan people are so happy because of their peaceful mindset, mo killing. love nature,etc. It is in line with their culture. It is practised throughout the entire country by 75% of the inhabitants. Hinduism – closely related to Buddhism, is Bhutan’s second religion, practiced by about 25% of the population. Before Buddhism captured the heart of Bhutan, several forms of animistic religions were practiced. Minority groups still practice these traditions and rituals in some parts of the country. Buddhims plays a fundamental role in the cultural, ethical and sociological development of Bhutan and its' people. You see this in the reverence Bhutan’s inhabitans have for their land, other people and animals. To ensure that Buddhism stays vividly alive, one son from every family usually attends a monastic school. The three main themes of Buddhism are detachment, ephemerality and change.
It is good to learn good values from Bhutan people.

Learning in traditional way

Master Chin Kung has often spoken about how he began learning from his teacher, Mr. Li Bingnan, who was a student of Great Master Yin Guang, the Thirteenth Patriarch of the Pure Land school. “Years ago, when I wanted to study Buddhism with Mr. Li Bingnan and to formally become his student, he put forward three conditions: ‘First, from today on, you can only listen to my lectures. You are not allowed to listen to any other Dharma masters or lay practitioners. Second, from today on, you are not allowed to read any book, be it a sutra or any kind of book, without my permission.’ The first condition blocked my ears, and the second covered my eyes. ‘Third, what you have learned from others does not count with me. You are to forget it all. From today on, you start anew with me.’

“These three conditions were very harsh. When I first heard them, I thought that this teacher was very autocratic and unreasonable. Nevertheless, after consideration, I accepted his conditions and became his student. I did not know then that these conditions were precepts meant to help me cut off my afflictions. The more one sees and listens, the more afflictions one has; the less one sees and listens, the less afflictions one will have. When one does not see or listen, one will have no afflictions.

“After I followed his teaching for six months, my wandering thoughts indeed became fewer, my mind became purer, and I acquired more wisdom. I gained true benefits. Therefore, I am very grateful to Mr. Li. Although he had asked me to follow his rules for only five years, I voluntarily followed them for yet another five. I abided by these three rules for ten years and thus laid a solid foundation for learning Buddhism.”

Master Chin Kung has further explained that these three rules are traditional in Chinese Buddhism. Thus, they are also the foundation for study and cultivation at the PLLCA. So whether the students are coming to cultivate or to learn to be a teacher, they learn by listening only to Master Chin Kung and the teachers he recommends.

If students are invited to learn to lecture, they begin by giving the teacher’s talks. Again, this is the traditional way of learning to lecture in Buddhism. Giving the teacher’s talks ensures that the student does not make any mistakes. Mistakes will have very serious consequences for both the listeners and the lecturer. The listeners would be told something wrong and the lecturer would incur serious karmic consequences for having told something wrong. So to protect both listener and lecturer, the student lecturer follows the traditional method of giving the teacher’s talks, which were based in turn on his teacher’s talk. This procedure can be traced back to the time of the Buddha, when the Buddha’s students repeated his lectures.

It is this essential tradition that makes listening to the teacher’s talks vitally important. The student absorbs the teachings to the extent that the teachings become second nature to the student. Over the years, as the student’s understanding and cultivation deepen, he or she will gradually add their own understanding to their teacher’s lectures.

Buddhism in China

Since Buddhism came to China in 67 CE, monasteries have become primary places for Dharma propagation as well as training Dharma propagators. For much of that time, education at the monasteries followed a basic pattern. For their first five years, practitioners were not allowed to go into the cultivation hall. They first needed to increase their virtues. And so they worked sixteen hours a day at various jobs around the monastery and recited the sutras to build their good fortune and increase their virtues. These virtues included respecting parents, teachers, and all beings; humility; sincerity; truthfulness; courtesy; and integrity.

After this initial period, the practitioners spent eight hours a day in classes and eight hours on cultivation. For cultivation, they either meditated or chanted the Buddha’s name. Therefore, they spent their sixteen hours a day on study and cultivation. Studying and cultivation complemented each other. In class, they listened to lectures, studied, and held discussions. Then they cultivated awakening, correct understanding, and purity of mind. Spending sixteen hours a day on study and cultivation left them with little time for wandering thoughts. This way they could advance in their practice relatively quickly.

Master Chin Kung, understanding that people today are not at the same level of those in the past, modified this sixteen-hour schedule to ten and one-half hours at the PLLCA.

Pure land learning college

In this recent era, Buddhism has declined. This is primarily caused by the lack of Dharma lecturers and practitioners, and not having enough qualified Dharma protectors. Thus, all Buddhists wish for talented, educated people who are trained in the teachings and to have a true cultivation centre. This has been a long-held wish of Venerable Master Chin Kung as well.

In 2001, the Pure Land Learning College Association, Inc. (PLLCA) was established. It has two primary goals.

The first is to provide a good learning environment for students who aspire to learn and practice Pure Land Buddhism and the teachings of ancient saints and sages.

The second goal is to nurture and train Dharma propagators and protectors.

Much like a young tree, which needs the right soil, climate, and proper care to grow, promising and dedicated students need a proper environment, guidance, training, and support to reach their full potential. In providing such an environment and training in the traditional, time-proven ways to nurture and train Dharma propagators, the PLLCA hopes it will fulfill the goal of propagating the Buddha’s teachings, teachings that will benefit all beings. The PLLCA also hopes that in this way it will continue to pass on the Buddha’s wisdom, the wisdom that will enlighten all beings.

This is the way of repaying the kindness of others.

Please learn good values now

In order to learn the right values from west and East, perhaps we have to list down all ills in the whole world.
Now is not the time to blame the west or east but to bravely discard all bad practices either form East and West.
We have to rethink whether too materialistic good for human or not, to rethink whether spirituality is it more important that materials gains.
Time to think deeply.....advanced technology is it ready helpful to mankind or more harm to mankind?
Think and think......

The essence of infinite life sutra

Respected venerables and respected fellow practitioners:

For this lecture series at Ta Kioh Buddhist Temple, I plan to give four lectures, eight hours in total, to introduce the Infinite Life Sutra. The Infinite Life Sutra is called The Longer Sutra in the Pure Land school. I have given several lecture series on it in the United States.

In the past few years, the Buddhist Canon has been printed in Taiwan and circulated around the world. After more than ten times of reprinting, the number of copies circulated is very impressive. The Chinese classics such as Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature and Selections from the Four Branches of Literature have also been published and given to libraries around the world. Therefore, there is no fear of their being lost to the world.

The literary treasures are abundant, but it would be a shame if no one reads them. How many people have an opportunity to read the Buddhist Canon from beginning to end even once in this lifetime? And when they attempt to read it, they may not be able to comprehend it.

It occurred to me that important passages in the sutras can be excerpted and compiled into a book to facilitate reading, studying, and practicing in life. In this way, traditional Chinese culture and Mahayana Buddhism will truly be able to benefit all beings.

Master Hongyi’s Wanqing Ji is a collection of excerpts from the sutras and quotations from the patriarchs, 101 of them altogether. I once lectured on the Wanqing Ji in an easy-to-understand way and the audience liked it very much. Therefore, I feel studying the excerpts is worth trying. This time I have taken sixty excerpts from the Infinite Life Sutra. If this experiment is successful, I think that the Buddhist Canon can be studied in this way. The Taisho Buddhist Canon is one hundred volumes. If it is condensed into one volume, studying it will be more convenient. The voluminous classics like the Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature and Selections from Library of the Four Branches of Literature can also be condensed into one or two volumes by excerption. This way, in the future, everyone will be able to read them.

Excerption requires identifying the essence. This is a must. It is like finding the right medicine for an illness. What symptoms are present society and people exhibiting? Today, society is in disorder. People have conflicting thoughts. They feel helpless and do not have any sense of security.

When we look into the root cause, we find it is none other than (1) people not maintaining proper relationships with others, (2) the loss of morality, and (3) people ignoring the principles and truth of the law of cause and effect. These are the main causes of today’s problems in society. This is why our excerptions should focus on morality and the principles and truth of causality.

The sixty excerpts were chosen based on problems in society. The focus was not on Pure Land practitioners. For Pure Land practitioners, instead of these excerpts, I would definitely choose the forty-eight vows and chapters 32 to 37. These are the chapters Pure Land practitioners must study and understand.

Reading these sixty excerpts is the same as reading the entire Infinite Life Sutra. It is impossible for a sutra to suit one’s capacity from beginning to end. There may be parts that seem boring and that are not applicable for the reader. The reader may thus lose interest.

The excerpts, on the other hand, are all essence. Whether one reads them or listens to lectures on them, one will be highly interested to learn and practice them.

Shi Chin Kung