Goodbye

I am going to retire this blog. Although this one's always been my preferred blog (maybe its the white background?), I'm going to ditch it in favour of my "Game of life" blog.

Also, me and my buddy have made a "random shit" blog at http://burningstickmen.blog.com/

This thing'll still be up (I originally made this blog to keep track of my thoughts, so I still wanna come back and read my posts). Anyways, I hope to see you at my other blogs!

- Soapz

The three Gems of Buddhism

I've recently been studying a few buddhist texts and materials, and have come to my own conclusion that buddhism can be summed up in these three main keys:

Love and Compassion for all sentient beings
Many people are confused with the meaning of "love" as it has many interpretations in different contexts. But in buddhism, love simply means the "deep desire for others to be happy." It is easy to love ourselves, easy to love our closest relatives and friends, but can you love a stranger? Everyday, we walk through lives without really realising how many people are around us! I take the train everyday, and all the people I meet don't seem real to me. I feel like looking at phatoms, images, robots... how blind of me! These people have stories to tell, feelings to share and they aren't just homo sapiens standing around in a train, these are people! That is the difficulty of love. It is easy to love a charming, good looking person, but can you also wish for the happiness of a rude, smelly hobo? Widen the circle of love- everyone wants to be happy, and doesn't want suffering. Therefore, if you love them, you have provided them everything they want and need in their lives.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness means to be conscious of the present reality. Simply put, it means to be awake. When I look at the people in the train, I am not awake. I'm merely walking through life in a semi-drunken state. But if we do this, we miss out on the actual beauty of life! EVERYTHING we do can be beautiful if we are aware and awake. We must be grounded in the present moment- not the future, not the past- but now, because now is all we got. We can't be happy "later," because we can only smile when "later" becomes "now." Be aware of everything around and in you. Appreciate the beauty in the sky, truly take a breath and be aware of your breathing. When talking to your friend, do nothing but talk to your friend! Don't look at him and critique his hairstyle, or think about your groceries. Stay in the moment and enjoy it.

Understanding of Impermenance
Everything is impermenant. All things change and are transient. Things are built and destroyed, people are born and die, events come and go. Nothing stays the same. Therefore, when we crave or cling to things that are always moving, suffering is created. We have to understand and feel this on a deep level. When a flower whithers, we are not sad, because we understand that it is impermenant- it won't last forever. But when our loved ones whither away, our world is turned upside down. Why? Because we have an unconscious belief and desire that things stay the same- that our loved ones will live forever. Therefore, the way to estinguish suffering is simply to let go of craving and clinging. This doesn't mean to be indifferent to life, it simply means to go with the flow of the universe, and not resist it.

Getting out of your own way

"If you want to accord with the Tao, Just do your job, then let go."

Too often do we do our job, but we never stop! We keep on doing, doing, doing, and we never take the second step- let go. The farmer ploughs the land, plants the seed, waters the soil, and lets go. He sits and wait.

Many times in my life have I ploughed my land, planted my seeds, but I failed to let them grow. I kept on meddling with it and poking it. What did I end up with? Wet seeds. For me, the greatest difficulty in life isn't the actual job itself, its getting out of my own way. Hardly ever in my life have I been thwarted by some external force or circumstance. Almost every time, it has been myself that has caused me to fall short of my goals. Be it self consciousness, insecurity, negative beliefs or simply lack of focus- all my "failures" can be traced back to my inability to "get out of my own way."

This is why I consider the greatest virtue of Life is the Mastery of yourself. COMPLETE mastery over yourself means you can think whatever you want to think, and feel whatever you want to feel.

Sounds far out? Not for me.

Look carefully

When growing up, we take in beliefs and attitudes towards things from other people.

"Sex is dirty."
"Having a steady job is good."
"Smoking is bad."

Without really looking into them, we take these beliefs and make them our own. Perhaps if we were allowed to make our own decision about it, we would have different beliefs.

I know I certainly changed a lot of beliefs in this year. Smoking is bad for example. I still think its not exactly "good," but the stigma that was attached to it was way out of proportion to actual reality. In the end, its just a little roll of tabacco that feels good when smoked, causes lung cancer and costs $30HKD a pack. Thats reality- but why the heavy, negative stigma?!?! It's totally out of proportion!

You know what would be the best case scenario? We drop ALL judgement on all things. That would be the ideal for Taoists and Buddhists alike. But in reality, that is very hard to do. So what should we do instead? We should form our own judgements about things. Don't just accept the beliefs and viewpoints of society- form your own!

Make your own decision as to what you think and feel. That sounds reasonable doesn't it?

One

We all have to be comfortable being alone. If we can't spend some good quality time with ourselves, how is it possible to spend quality time with others?

Don't feel you need to be constantly surrounded by people and socialising just so you can "be cool." I sometimes get the feeling that people go out not because they enjoy it, but because they don't want to be seen as loners or losers without friends. That is just plain sad. Heres what happens to the person who constantly needs to be socialising so they can pretend to be cool:

When they ARE socialising- they aren't enjoying it to the fullest, and they're constantly worrying about what others think of them. The small satisfaction from the ego boost doesn't feel "complete" and they can never get enough of it.
When they AREN'T socialising- they feel like a loser with no friends.

With a mindset like that, you can't win. So just drop it.

Enjoy everything- whether that means sitting in the corner with a smile on your face, or in middle of a crowd, laughing with buddies.

Chuang Tzu that Joker!

Master Tung-kuo asked Chuang Tzu, "This thing called the Tao-where does it exist?"
Chuang Tzu said, "There's no place it doesn't exist."
"Come," said Master Tung-kuo, "you must be more specific!"
"It is in the ant."
"As low a thing as that?"
"It is in the grass."
"But that's lower still!"
"It is in the tiles and shards."
"How can it be so low?"
"It is in the piss and shit."

Haha, that made me laugh out loud. Good stuff.

p.s. found from section 22 of the "The Chuang Tzu."

The Way I see it

I've recently started re-reading the Tao Te Ching, and other material related to Taoism. As I read, and start reflecting and feeling the world around me, I've come to a point of epiphany.

Fundamentally, we love everybody.

Now, "love" is just a word I use to describe the rapport, the connection, the....familial/spiritual bond we have with others.

What I'm saying is that at our deep, inner CORES, we love and connect with EVERYONE. We are all one big family.

So why is the world the way it is? Why does hatred, wars and indifference exist? The reason is because of external "layers" blocking the flow of connection between our cores. We put on fake persona's, we have stereotypes and prejudices, we have social stigma, etc.

Two magnets can be prevented from interacting and attracting each other by putting a lead plate in between them. Similarly, we have so many layers of shit in between our "core" that they can't reach out and connect with each other.

Our human "essence" is universally loved and loving. It is, for a lack of a better phrase, what and who we truly are. That is why language, at times, plays no role in connecting with someone. Language is just an external "tool" that can be used to connect two souls. But we have many other ways to do so also.

So then, if our cores are ultimately the "greatest connectors and lovers of the ages," what is the smart thing to do?

To REVEAL our cores. To put our essence out into the world and shine! We cannot force others into dropping the many layers surrounding their cores, but we can always lead by example! Live with an open heart and simply Be! Throw down your shields, take off your armour, and remove your mask. Embrace being naked and free!