Sunday, went to Dzambala Mystical Treasure at One Utama, checking out some of the wonderful books and items there while waiting for kind cousin JT to drive me to Kechara House for Intro class and Manjushri class.

Intro class was quite "rowdy" this week :D with debates about the Twelve Interdependent Causes and Effects or the Twelve Links of Causality. This relates to the origins of phenomena, and the feedback loop of conditioning and causation that leads to suffering.

Manjushri class started with the discussion about Rejoice. Also discussed was whole load of stuff (as usual, from Q & A) including the 8 Worldly Concerns. I wonder if my empty vessel (aka brain) was being "filled", hehe, or it was merely functioning as a "filter" :p

After two mind-boggling sessions, it ended with a quick dinner with ND & WM discussing about Emptiness :P Yeah my brain was pretty empty at that point haha, especially when ND started on the Quantum Physics related stuff, that's it :P, it was like a different channel, although my 'reception' was clear but just couldn't process the information :P

And at the orphanage, it was sharing about Forgiveness with the great kids, and a bunch of lovely guests facilitators from South Africa, and of course, some nice South African liquorice and snacks from Ipoh to end the sessions.

The session was inspiring. Kids and adults shared about forgiving and asking for forgiveness. The best part when one of our team member actually went up and apologise (in public!) to another person. Tell me how many people have to courage to do that?!

Sometimes we adults think that by going to the orphanage, we are teaching the kids something. True, but sometimes I am amazed at how much the kids are actually teaching the adults. Hearing words such as " we must forgive and forget" from the kids, we must reflect how we hold on to our grudge and not let go. May be this world will be a better place if the kids were to take over to teach the adults, hehe :)

As I have sworn and committed to my secrecy, there will be no juicy details regarding what INTERESTING events happened in people's lives and why they seek forgiveness. Wow, I think I can write a book if I collect all the details, muahahahahahaha (ok, no way!)

Some quotes on forgiveness to share:

The best deed of a great man is to forgive and forget.
Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Saying 201

If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Christianity. Matthew 5.23-24

Where there is forgiveness, there is God Himself.
Sikhism. Adi Granth, Shalok, Kabir, p. 1372

Sorry, not a supermodel or actress, puh..lease :P they have caused enough global 'suffering' through the plague of "I'm-not-thin-enough" suffered by women in many countries worldwide, let's not glorify them and make more women go on diet and plastic surgeries.

Ok, she's not one of the "Women We Envy" on Forbes's 793 billionaires' list either.

She's just a simple buddhist nun who does extraordinary things :) I watched the long awaited documentary featured on Discovery Channel: PORTRAITS TAIWAN: DHARMA MASTER CHENG YAN.



With the support of only thirty housewives who set aside US$0.013 of their grocery money each day, Master Cheng Yen embarked on her mission of helping the poor and educating the more prosperous. She and the newly formed Tzu Chi Merits Society established a charity fund to provide relief and assistance for the poor. That was 1966. Tzu means "compassion" while Chi means "relieve or aid".

Today, Tzu Chi is an international organization with over 5 million supporters and over 30,000 certified commissioners around the globe. They are famous for their international relief effort including the 2004 Tsunami, Katrina and the recent Indonesian earthquake. And the part that I like most, in one of their rebuilding project in Indonesia, apart from houses, schools and hospitals for the Indonesians, they also built a mosque! It's time people learn more about religious tolerance and make the world a more peaceful and harmonious place.

Tzu Chi 's recycling effort is also impressive, in 2003 alone, Tzu Chi 's 40,000 environmental volunteers helped recycle 123,000 tons of reusable materials in Taiwan. In Malaysia, recycling on a mass scale, which involves many volunteers, has led to the funding of Tzu Chi’s Dialysis Center in Penang.

Two amazing women in one week, may be a bit hard to "digest" for an "idiot" like me (yes, a real idiot, unlike the "idiot servant" of a Mahasiddha, far away from achieving that :P).

Both Master Cheng Yan and Mother Teresa are simple, religious women whose great work were inspired by suffering and death, and of course their love for all to relieve suffering. Both of them lead a "poor" and simple life, existing to only serve others. Mother Teresa sworn an extra vow to service the poor on top of the poverty vow and Master Cheng Yan does not receive offering to her personally (the monastic disciples at the Jing Si Abode are self-reliant, growing their own food in their own farm!)

Showtime for this inspiring documentary on Discovery Channel on Astro this week (Malaysian time GMT +8.00) :
19-Jun-2006 10:00:00 AM
20-Jun-2006 8:00:00 PM
21-Jun-2006 1:00:00 AM
21-Jun-2006 7:00:00 AM
21-Jun-2006 11:00:00 AM
25-Jun-2006 6:00:00 AM

Well, if you could force yourself (and some even had to pinch themselves!) to wake up to watch some men chasing after a round object in the field kicking it into a net, I am sure this is a relatively easier task ;) At least you don't have to wake up at 3 am!

MAKING MY POINT

Look at the picture.

- Of the people you see in the picture, tell me ONE NAME of the person in the picture. Can you tell me what you know about the person/ which person you know better or heard more about ?

- Among the two people, who do you want to be if you could choose one?

This picture shows Princess Diana walks with Mother Teresa after a private meeting at a convent in the Bronx, New York, in June 1997. The two women died within days of each other less than two months later.

a) Princess Diana: 31st Aug 1997
More than one million people lined the streets of London to say goodbye to Princess Diana at her funeral. A further 2.5 billion people worldwide watched the Princess Diana funeral on television.

b) Mother Teresa: Sept 5 1997
About 15,000 people attended the service at Netaji indoor stadium in Calcutta.

Just look at the numbers, you can do the 'critical thinking' and 'make inferences' of what I need to tell you. And read the conversation below:

a) X: Do you know Diana died? I read in the papers...
Y: Yeah, it was on the news.... They will show her funeral live on tv you know

b)X: Eh, You know Mother Teresa died yesterday...
Y: Who is Mother Teresa? :-l ?

:( WHY? TELL ME WHY ?!



MY STORY

Just finished watching "Mother Teresa", or rather "Madre Teresa". Finally I get to watch it after 'searching' for it for quite some time. I initially wanted to find a documentary about her to screen it in my class but all effort was in vain. So my boss passed me the "Mind Your Language" dvds to screen instead (ok u think I've gone nuts bringing irrelevant details, no, wait... :p !).

You know the previews of other movies on dvd? One of the previews on the Mind Your Language dvd was actually the trailer for the movie Mother Teresa! I tried to search for it but it was not mainstream*. So I know I wouldn't be able to find it in time for my class. Weeks later, I found it at a very unusual place- Bookfest (Chinese books exhibition :P!)It was very heartening to watch the life story of someone who willingly suffered for the benefits of others.

*Apparently, it was produced by Lux Vide for Italian TV, not some Hollywood big-budget movie. Sad, huh? Even fictional character sell better than real life saint! How many people are excited to watch "Memoirs of Geisha"? How many people are excited to watch "Mother Teresa"?



MY THOUGHTS

Mother Teresa was criticised for her fund management and source, her approach, her "encouragement of sacramental baptism being performed on the dying" (Come on la, she's a Catholic Nun, hello!!), the medical care provided at the homes (erm, those people are NUNS, not doctors :P, hello!!) and etc. She's just a nun, a normal person, a human being, give her a break and give her some credit la. How many people would go help EVEN ONE sick/ poor/ homeless person and live among the poor for EVEN ONE DAY.

Luckily no one can deny that she actually helped a lot of people. In 1982, Mother Teresa persuaded Israelis and Palestinians, who were in the midst of a skirmish, to cease fire long enough to rescue 37 mentally-handicapped patients from a besieged hospital in Beirut.Mother Teresa traveled to help the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. Her Order of Charity now covers 5 continents, feeds 500,000 families and helps 90,000 lepers every years.

"In fighting for the dignity of the destitute in a foreign land, she gave the world a moral example that bridged divides of culture, class and religion" ( from Time 100- People of the Century)

I especially like how the movie end, with the Prayer of Peace composed by St. Francis of Assisi, spoken by different characters in the movie. This prayer was included in her acceptant speech on 10 December. She accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 "in the name of the poor".

Lord, make a channel of Thy peace that,
where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that, where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that, where there is error, I may bring truth;
that, where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that, where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that, where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that, where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
to understand than to be understood;
to love than to be loved;
for it is by forgetting self that one finds; it is forgiving that one is forgiven;
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life


This reminds me of Prayer to Give Aid by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama:

May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need

*I bow to all compassionate beings, regardless of your nationality/ culture/ tradition/ religion/ non-religion, who take on the responsibilities to aid others without expecting anything in return*

*click on the picture for a "little" bigger view*

I'm not kidding ya, this is the 'view' across from the hostel !

1. Four Jobs
a) HR Executive/ Management Trainee
b) Teacher
c) Lecturer (just a title :P)
d) Cashier at KFC !

2. Four things I wish I had done earlier
a) Get laid :D (kidding)
b) Dharma class
c) Think about life
d) Think about life and doing something about it

3. Four places I have lived
a) Penang
b) Johor Bahru
c) Kuala Lumpur
d) Kota Seriemas, Nilai :P!!!!!! (and survived!)

4. Four countries I have been to
a) China
b) Vietnam
c) Philippines
d) Thailand

5. Four countries I would like to visit
a) USA
b) Tibet
c) India
d) UK

6. Four of my favourite dishes
a) Laksa (asam, ONLY from Penang!)
b) Fruit salad, Ceasar salad, Cajun Chicken salad, Thai Mango Salad,saladssssssss
c) Teochew style Steam Fish
d) Chinese herbal soups

7. 4 sites I visit daily
a) My blog , hehe
b) Google
c) www.tsemtulku.com
d) www.thestar.com.my

8. Four software applications I cannot live without
a) MSN Messenger
b) Yahoo IM
c) Internet Explorer
d) Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook

9. Four things I will never forget
a) My parents and their kindness
b) Breaking up with my boyfriends :`-(
c) Karma & reincarnation
d) Food :) hahaha

10. Who to tag?
a) Ivon
b) Dunno
c) Dunno
d) Will find a 'victim' soon ;)

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! I'm back in the heart of the metropolitan, the traffic jams, the non-stop paying toll, the expensive per-hour parking rate, the swarming-to-shopping-malls-on-weekends hehe

It's been a month... Time flies, whether you are having fun or NOT having fun haha... Time and tide waits for no man, hmm, may be it will wait for a WOMAN :D!!

It's been a busy busy month. Teaching the students reminding me of my days in uni, team work to complete presentations, assignments, homework (ewwwwwwww :P) being called by the teacher to answer a question in the class when u r brain is in la-la land zzzzz-ing away :D

I am finally back in CIVILISATION :) although dunno for how long... But I had a great time hanging out in Bkt Bintang and Bookfest yesterday with some wonderful friends.