jul 2003

[080703] finally found this poem that I read some more than 12 years ago, which captures so well e transience of all things good & beautiful in life:

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk doth make men better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night;
It was the plant and flower of light.
In small proportions we just beauty see;
And in short measure life may perfect be.

- Ben Johnson

[081203 update] Lokuttaradhamma (insights into the transcendental nature of all worldly phenomena) is wealth attainable by everyone - Lord Buddha

[140703] The Buddha said, 'Man must be strong enough to know when he is weak, brave enough to encounter fear, dignified and having moral courage in honest defeat, humble and gentle in victory.'

[230703] going through e worst & living to tell e tale, hitting rock bottom & climbing out of e abyss to see light again, having been right to e edge & back....gives this strange immunity against fear. cos u can seek comfort in e fact that u have faced up to e worst that there can be, made your peace, & lived on. like what they say, what cannot kill you can only make you stronger?

[ filed under: thewonderingstraycat + art1 + 9_lives_2003 ]

happiness

one can be only as happy as one allows oneself to be. as a kid, always wondered why humans seemed so unhappy. does e true source of unhappiness come from within? e inability to look beyond oneself & one's own problems? a distortion of perception whereby one wallows in self-pity & magnifies one's own problems beyond proportion? how far can you see? how far does your 'worldview' (to borrow a Physics term for lack of a better word) extend? no further than your own nose, or far enough to provide a balanced perspective of things? to give yourself a chance at thinking rationally? life can be like shit. but at least like all organic matter, shit decomposes =P

[140703 update]

The Buddha said, 'No enemy can harm one as much as one's own thoughts of craving, thoughts of hate, thoughts of jealousy and so on.'
- from 'How To Overcome Your Difficulties' by Ven Dr K. Sri Dhammananda

freely distributed by Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery. other meaningful reading material can be downloaded in PDF format at their website.

[ filed under: thewonderingstraycat + 9_lives_2003 + art1 ]