心灵的牧羊人 The Shepherd of the Mind

got this from somewhere and it made me ponder over it for a while:

 

" some people are so poor to the extent that they only have money."

 

Does that mean if you spend all your effort going after money, then you are considered poor?

sometimes, we dont do things that we know would benefit ourselves or we do things that we believe would harm ourselves. WHY??

 

i have been thinking of why? My answer is simple. Let's look at this example: not many of us would cross a red light. No matter how rush we are, we always stop before a red light. WHY? that's because we truly believe crossing a red light would endanger our lives. Those who did so, are either dont believe enough the associated consequences or simply being irresponsible of their own life.

 

So, the answer to the question above is that we do not believe enough the consequences of these dos and donts. Most ppl dont truly believe the consequences of what they shouldnot do. For instance, telling lies creates bad karma and bad karma leads to a worse life. Since most ppl strive for a better life, why do ppl tell lies still? The answer is really simple, it's either because ppl who tells lies do not truly believe telling lies would create bad karma and lead to a worse life, or because ppl being irresponsible for their actions and their lives.

 

when you do not truly believe in somehting, the sense of urgency doesnot exist. Therefore, laziness takes place easily.ohh well, i can still do it later, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year... and you'll never get it done even after ten years and regret the moment you die. Just like a cancer patient will be more likely to follow a healthy diet strictly compared to a healthy person and people who has someone in ICU would be more likely to pray harder and longer than those who find their lives perfectly good. The sense of urgency plays a great role in there.  

 

So, we gotta create the sense of urgency in whatever we do so that we dont procrastinate and waste our lives. How to create this sense of urgency? By truly understand and believe the concept of cause and effect.

 

 

(HH the Dalai Lama is coming to Australia this June from 6 - 16 June (in Perth on 6 June), visiting only the major cities. He is going to give a number of free public talks ( in all cities) as well as teachings (only in Melbourne). More information about his tour is available at http://www.dalailama.org.au/ May Dharma be with us always)

 

 

 

不往后看，不是因为往事不堪回首

不向前瞻，不是因为未来没有希望

活在当下，不是因为当下觉得自在

而是佛陀如是说我便如是做

 

It has been a long time since I stopped making bookmarks, drawing bday cards, sketching.. and many other activities that i used to do very often back in those days. I still did it even after UPM. But since dont know when, this things died/dying off slowly....

 

You know, my frens used to say i'm artistic when they received a "homemade" bday card from me. Yeah, those cards were nicely drawn. But they never knew, they all had the same one from me, with exactly the same pictures and wording, but a different name. You cant possibly be a poor artist if you've practised the same drawing for thousand times..but a good artist for only one picture!! haha.... Everyone felt special and happy. Was it because i did think of who i was getting the cards to despite drawing the same thing? So what a big deal of recycling an old idea?

 

i used to keep a good record of all my fren's bdays ( you dont need to keep one for your family's, they should be in your head) and carefully greeted them on or after their bday. I still remembered receiving a belated bday card one year... and it's written there: I always send my frens a bday card on their birthdays to show them i do think of them on their bdays. ( you cant get angry with this kinda fren, can you?) Nowadays, i cant be bothered to even ask about bdays or keep track of them.... dont give bday presents anymore... dont feel guilty for forgetting the bday of an important person.. and most of all, dont countdown to my own bday. I wonder why is such a change? One possibility is i'm lazy. Or, it could be i'm poorer now.. or just simply a fact that bday marks nothing more than a memorable day that my mum risked her life to give me a chance to see this world. Really nothing to celebrate about but another thanksgiving it is.

 

things change with age... ohh yes, this could be one possibility of the change. We no longer do most of the thigns we used to spend hours per day or per week doing. We pick up new things and drop the old ones along the way. I might be one of those you'll drop in the future, but at least at this moment, you are still on my bus, until you get off..or until the bus crashes oneday...

 

may dharma be with us always!