Justice with Michael Sandel

In general, my approach towards determining if an act is right or wrong is based on the followings:

1. Intention/Motive

(What's the main intention behind the act? Is it Justifiable and based on which value systems or principles?)

2. Wisdom

(Were all the possible solutions and alternatives been considered? Were all the implications & consequences been considered?)

3. Compassion

(Have you put yourself into the shoes of every individual/stakeholders? Is it an act of love & compassion for yourself or/and stakeholders?)

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Harvard University Professor Sandel challenged all conventions:
(warning: it is quite addictive)

http://www.justiceharvard.org/

Example: Espisode 1

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Part 1 - The Moral Side of Murder: If you had to choose between (1) killing one person to save the lives of five others and (2) doing nothing, even though you knew that five people would die right before your eyes if you did nothing—what would you do? What would be the right thing to do? That’s the hypothetical scenario Professor Michael Sandel uses to launch his course on moral reasoning.

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Part 2 - The Case for Cannibalism: Sandel introduces the principles of utilitarian philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, with a famous nineteenth century law case involving a shipwrecked crew of four. After nineteen days lost at sea, the captain decides to kill the cabin boy, the weakest amongst them, so they can feed on his blood and body to survive.

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Part 2 was challenging for me, especially IF the surviving crew members is 30 or 300 or 3000 people.

I felt that killing 1 innocent person to ensure 3 people survival is unjustifiable.

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How about killing 1 person to ensure 3000 or 3million or entire planet people survival?

I would kill that innocent person to save the lives of 3000 people.

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Then, what justify my decision? Just a number consideration??

Then, what is the number to justify the killing of 1 person?

Tough tough tough.....

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I still dunno... not sure if I could ever justify any killing.

Unconditional Love & Compassion

About 6 months ago (while I was serving my reservist), I was moved to tears when I pondered about the deeper meaning behind the story shared by Ajahn Brahm in his book -  Opening the door of your heart. I never forget the story since then...

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Taken from his book:

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What's in a name?

When one becomes a Buddhist monk in our tradition, one receives a new name. My monk's name is 'Brahmavamso', which, being so long, I usually shorten to 'Brahm'. Everyone calls me by that name now, except for my Mum. She still calls me Peter, and I defend her right to do so.

Once, during a phone call inviting me to an interfaith ceremony, I was asked to spell my name.

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I answered:

B - for Buddhist

R - for Roman Catholic

A - for Anglican

H - for Hindu

M - for Muslim

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I received such a positive response that I usually spell my name that way now, and also that's what it means.

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That's a mark of a True Buddhist Monk

Books on Happiness

There are 3 precious things I took away with me after the Nepal Trip:

1. Beautiful Memory of Himalayas & the people

2. Lessons learnt during the journey

3. A Book I bought in Kathmandu

Happiness

A guide to developing Life's Most Important Skill

by

Matthieu Ricard

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And other excellent book that I have read this year:

Opening the door of your heart

by

Ajahn Brahm

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How often do you feel extremely grateful that you read a book?

I seldom feel grateful after reading a book.

I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the wisdom that are being shared in both books.

Both authors are exceptional individuals with loving (compassionate) kind hearts .

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Both of them are Buddhist Monks of different traditions (ie. Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism & Thai Theravada Buddhism), but both of them came with a Scientific Backgrounds (ie. Biology Phd working under Nobel Prize Laureate in France & Scholarship to study Theoretical Physics at Cambridge), which allow them to analyse and view things critically and rationally.

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I like the books as it is free from Dogma & Doctrine, and written with alot of Compassion & Wisdom (A Genuine Alruistic Intention). Without knowing the background of the authors, you might think you are reading self-improvement books.

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The ultimate objective is to improve the life of the readers by developing the skills to be happy.

I am definitely a happier person after reading both books.

=)

Random Thought

With an untamed mind,

Would I ever experience a perfect situation or a perfect moment?

Would I ever be satisfied?

Would I ever be truely happy?

Mobihunt 2009: Winner =)

This is the second Urban Race that I participated this year. This is also the second time that my team won the top price this year. =) http://lifestyle.www.ns.sg/portal/ns/mobihunt/index.do

Team MJ Paws

(Boon, Mel, Caleb & Kelvin)

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This was the shortest & the easiest race that I participated in recent years. Not much strategy compared to other races that I had participated. We won because of speed (lotsa running), familiarity with the places, and luck of course. Most importantly, it was a good team where everybody's strength is different & complementary.

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I enjoyed the race, even if we did not win.

My philosophy has always been trying my best and be at peace with the result.

Winning money is an incentive too!!!

We won S$1500, and each of us will get S$375 (not bad for a half-day race)

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Since I just came back from Nepal,

I had decided to donate my winning S$375 to Charities in Nepal.

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I would be donating to Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org/FT) and SheChen (http://www.shechen.org/donate-sponsorship.php)

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I believe and hope that this small amount of money will add more values to other lives than my own

Travel: Boon's Nepal Trip

Everest Base Camp Trek

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Beautiful Nepal

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http://boon-nepal09.blogspot.com/