Should You Harm Others To Clear Their Bad Karma?

Nov. 15 | Just as no one is destined to harm you, you are not destined to harm anyone. - Stonepeace A mobster, who was supposedly also a ‘devout Buddhist’, when asked how he could do nasty things to people, replied that he simply expressed their bad...

Safeguarding The Buddhist Community’s Integrity

Mar. 7 | When one expresses good will, one is always blameless. When one bears ill will, one is already blameworthy. - Stonepeace Some friends occasionally speak of feeling troubled when they encounter ‘some dressed as Buddhist monastics’ (as they...

Is Mindfulness Of Buddha Applicable In Everyday Life?

Feb. 29 | Life is uncertain; death is certain. Rebirth is certain; where to is uncertain. - Extended Buddhist Saying Summarised in one line, the Pure Land teachings, which are the most popular in the Mahayana tradition, teach that via faithful single-minded practice...

Clean, Calm, Clear

Feb. 15 | Clean (in conduct, via observation of morality), Calm (in emotion, via cultivation of concentration), Clear (in reason, via realisation of wisdom), these are characteristics of a noble person. - Buddhist Saying

The Compassion & Wisdom Of Relative & Absolute Truths

Nov. 1 | To share absolute truths with those who need relative truths is to confuse instead of help. To share relative truths with those who need absolute truths is to belittle instead of enlighten. - Stonepeace Relative truths refer to conventional realities...

Are Teachers Reflections Of Their Students?

Oct. 25 | When the student is ready, the master appears. (When the students wrongly assume they are ready, the might maras appear.) - Zen Saying (extended) There is the mistaken notion, that after ‘carefully’ choosing human gurus (spiritual teachers),...

The ‘Wu Xia’ Koan Of Forgiveness

Aug. 2 | ‘Wu Xia’ is an entertaining and nuanced study of the tension between the need for forgiving one who has resolved to turn over a new leaf, versus the danger of forgiving one who turns out to be thoroughly unrepentant. Since we cannot read...

Are You An Outcast?

Jun. 12 | No one is truly an outcast, unless one outcasts oneself with deluded immorality. - Stonepeace As in the Vasala Sutta, the Buddha once encountered a brahmin priest on his alms round, who was preparing a religious offering. Upon sight of his shaved head,...

Is There An Alternative?

Feb. 14 | Question:A friend donates regularly in large amounts to help others. Once, he was at a restaurant. Usually, the price of one plate of white rice is $1. However, in that restaurant, it cost $3. He and his three friends ordered 4 plates together....

No Right Or Wrong?

Jan. 6 | Question: Is it so that at the highest state, one will not have right speech, right thought, right livelihood, etc. because in the first place, there is no such thing as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’? Answer: It’s not so much that...

Okay To Break Just One Precept?

Dec. 7 | To occasionally break a precept is enough to prevent one from becoming a Buddha, as all Buddhas have perfect morality. While we might not have perfect morality now, the practice of observing the precepts is for working towards perfecting morality, beginning...

Should Or Not?

Nov. 4 | When observing the precepts, it is not a matter of knowing if one can do this or not, but whether one should do this or not. ~ Stonepeace

The Four Harmonious Friends (Bird, Hare, Monkey & Elephant)

Oct. 13 | Respect should be freely given to all simply because all have Buddha-nature, because all can become Buddhas. - Stonepeace Once, the Buddha was travelling, when many younger monks moved ahead to seek shelter. By dusk, a room was prepared for him, as they...