What Are You Fighting For? (Review Of ‘Ah Boys To Men’)

Jan. 28 | At the end of the movie ‘Ah Boys To Men (Part 1)’, there was this reflection by Recruit Ken thought aloud for the audience to hear – ‘People always say that there is no war in Singapore. But after this incident, I’ve realised…...

How To Be Inexhaustible Joyful Lamps Of The Dharma

Jan. 10 | All Buddhas only wish that all practise and share the Dharma well to benefit all. - Stonepeace According to the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, Mara (the most evil heavenly demon king from the Paranirmita-vashavartin heaven) once disguised as Sakra (the chief...

Favour

Nov. 21 | These two types of people are difficult to find in the world… One who will do a favour first, and one who is grateful for a favour done. - The Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya I.86) [Compassion and gratitude are rare and thus precious]

How To Say ‘Thanks, But No Thanks’ Virtually?

Oct. 12 | Question: I had come across the ‘Happy Buddhist Card’ at http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2010/11/an-easy-way-to-say-thanks-but-no-thanks and wish to use it as a response for some ‘friends’ who are overbearing in trying to convert...

Be A Beginner Bodhisattva

Aug. 2 | Always here and now, Always new and fresh, Always aware and alive. - Stonepeace For a bodhisattva, the safest course is to constantly remind oneself of the initial aspiration to bodhi-mind [Bodhicitta: aspiration to guide one and all to Buddhahood]. In...

Do You Sit On The Special Subway Seats?

Jun. 22 | If one expects gratitude and reciprocation of one’s kindness from others, one should expect disappointment too. - Stonepeace In Singapore subway trains, there used to be a sign above certain seats in each carriage, which reads, ‘Priority Seat:...

Some Dynamics of Parent-Child Karma

Oct. 31 | When past karma ripens in the present, new karma is created by how one responds, which affects the direction of past karma, and creates the direction of future karma. - Stonepeace Children are born from four causes: repaying past kindness; repaying...

The Cabbage & The Cow

Sep. 20 | When generalised compassion for ‘all’ forgoes compassion for individuals, how can it be universal compassion? - Stonepeace In his 1999 book “Celebrating Everyday Life”, popular Zen teacher, writer, and ecologist John Daido Loori...

Can A Human Holocaust Save Humans?

Jul. 19 | In the movie ‘Four’, the first story ‘A Noob’s Human Holocaust’ tells of a gang of guys discussing about global warming, about how the passion for reversing it has cooled down worldwide, much to their dismay. (This is arguably...

Count Your Blessings

Jun. 12 | Why inconvenient yourself, by comparing how your life is less convenient than another’s? Why not convenient yourself, by comparing how your life is more convenient than another’s? - Stonepeace

An Easy Gauge of Your Good & Evil

Mar. 11 | To avoid all evil, To do all good, And to purify the mind - These are the teachings of all Buddhas. - The Buddha (Dhammapada) How readily you say ‘Sorry’ reflects how well you recognise evil. Because you can see your inner ‘badness’, you can see...

What Basic Integrity & Gratitude Should We Have?

Jan. 27 | How kind can one be to others if one is unkind to another kind to one? - Stonepeace In the Katannu Sutta, the Buddha taught that those with integrity would express gratitude towards those who have helped them. It so happens that the ones we should have...