A Dialogue

Source: Powerpoint & Jewish Rabbi's Blog -

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A brief dialogue between a Brazilian Christian Theologist Leonardo Boff and the Dalai Lama.

In a round table discussion about religion and freedom which Leonardo Boff ('LB') and Dalai Lama ('DL') were participating at recess.

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LB asked DL "Your Holiness, what is the best religion?"

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LB thought DL would say "Tibetan Buddhism" or "The Oriental Religion, much older than Christianity".

DL smiled and looked into LB's eyes replied "The best religion is the one that gets you closer to God. It is the one that makes you a better person."

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LB challenged DL "What is it that makes me a better person?"

DL responded:

"Whatever makes you

more compassionate,

more sensible,

more detached,

more loving,

more humanitarian,

more responsible,

more ethical."

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"The religion that will do that for you is the best religion."

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"I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not. What really is important to me is your behaviour in front of your peers, family, work, community, and in front of the world. Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and thoughts."

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"The law of action and reaction (aka Karma) is not exclusively for physics. It is also of human relations. If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness. If I act with evil, I will get evil.What our grandparents told us is the pure truth. You will always have what you desire for others. Being happy is not a matter of destiny. It is a matter of opinion."

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"Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words.

Take care of your Words because they become Actions.

Take care of your Actions because they become Habits.

Take care of your Habits because they will form your Character.

Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny,

and your Destiny will be your Life."

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"There is no religion higher than THE Truth."

Rain - Korean SuperStar

I have never heard a song or watched a movie by Rain. In fact, I am never a fan of Japanese Pop or Korean Pop culture, but i know that Rain is very popular. Last night, I was about to sleep and I saw this documentary on the Discovery Channel about Rain - it was so interesting and touching that I was glued to it.

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Below are the highlights of the 1hour long documentary:

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I was really inspired by Rain.... He was living in poverty - being hungry, slept on the street, rejected by many companies. Yet, he did not give up, and with his talent and really really HARDWORK, he realised his dream to become a superstar. That is SHEER determination and hardwork.

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There was one story shared by his producer that was really sad:
This happened while Rain was preparing his first album. One day, Rain approached his producer for help - Rain's mother was sick. The producer drove Rain back home and found his mother who was suffering from Diabetes sleeping on the cold floor of a small apartment in winter. There was no heating facilities!!! The producer was so mad at Rain for not sharing his problem. The producer drove Rain's mother to the biggest hospital in Seoul for treatment. Unfortunately, Rain's mother passed away before his first album was released.
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Source: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1955294/bio
During Rain's time as a trainee, his family was living in poverty and his mother was becoming increasingly ill due to lack of money for medicine. Rain drove himself hard in order to prove himself ready to make his debut, but did not achieve success in time to save her life. She died from complications of diabetes a year before his debut. This event had a huge impact on Rain. He has said in interviews that he regrets having had conflict with her over skipping school to go to dance practice, and that he believes she is in heaven where she can see him. He says that a major motivation in his life is to make her proud and he still visits her grave before embarking on each new project.
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After this documentary, I see Rain as more than an entertainer - He is an inspiration for many young people from disadvantaged background.
RESPECT!!!

Simplifying Life... Quality matters more.

Simple Living in Eastern Tibet

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Every Weekend, I am doing some work in preparation for house-moving. I would recycle all the items that I do not need anymore. As I was looking through my stuffs, I realized that I used to derive a lot of satisfaction buying and owning a lot of items, which are now quite useless to me.

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For example: Books

I read my first book when I was 9 years-old. Yes, No kidding. My parents never bought any books for me to read and I struggled with my studies when I was in primary school. It was not their fault, as they were trying their best to make ends meet. When I was young, I disliked the experience of visiting a library as I would literally feel giddy and restless. That’s excluding those time I played 'hide and seek' in the school library. Haha...

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As for my studies, my strength has always been in Mathematics and Science (especially Physics), and I don’t really like languages (including Chinese) and Humanity subjects (especially English Literature). For the first twenty years of my life, I read a few books only.

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I only started reading when I was in the Army (19 year old), as I had too much free at night in the Army Camp. That was the time I understood why people enjoy reading. I started to buy books and derived a lot of satisfaction displaying them on my book-shelf. I was foolish to think that I am knowledgeable or educated just because I “conquered” those books.

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I have forgotten most of the content of the books. And it does not really matter. I realized that I only need to keep a FEW GOOD books, and I can do without the rest. I started to donate my books to the library or friends, as books are meant to be read, and not sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

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I felt happier to know that I have less books, and happy to know that I only kept those books that inspire and motivate me.

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This applies to other stuffs as well. Recycling my clothes, DVDs, Magazines, Gifts...

I do not need all the DVDs & CDs, I just need those that can inspire or motivate me. I do not need all the clothes, I just need those that I feel is nice and comfortable. I do not need to keep all the gifts and souvenirs, I just need those that have significant meanings in my life.

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I had wasted so much money & time buying so many useless things. However, it is part of growing up and learning. When I was young, I did not have a lot of things. And when I grew older and have a little spending power, I got satisfaction from owning things. Now, I am still happy to buy nice things, but I am aware that the joy is temporary and fleeting.

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Some people may never understand it.

I am sure one of my very good friends won’t.

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I derive happiness and pleasure in simplifying my life, knowing that I do not need so much physical possessions to be happy, knowing that my self-worth is beyond these superficial things and knowing that the things that TRULY matters in life are invisible to the eyes.

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I will continue to simplify and keep only the quality stuffs. =)

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Life is a cycle.

I came with nothing.

I owned something temporarily.

I will go with nothing.

That's the impermanence of life.

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One of my favourite Quotes:

"The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes, but with the heart."

- The Little Prince

Music of my life....

As I was moving house soon, I decided to pack the old CDs that were collecting dusts on the shelf. Each CD reminded me of the different phases of my life and I could see how I changed over the years.

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I told myself that I should not be too attached to any physical possession, but looking at these CDs, they are part of my life. They bring back precious memories to me.... telling me the story of my past. 

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Armageddon Soundtrack - Caught the movie with my Spice Gang (JC friends) in 1998. Club Hits 1998 - Quite into Techno music & dance like Ah-beng in CANTO. Retro Music - Went to Mambo Jumbo @ Zouk the first time in 1998. Jay Chou - My China & Tibet Trip in 2005. Faye Wong - Queued up to 2hrs just to purchase this CD with my best friend back in 1997. Forever Gold - Quite into Oldies when I was in Army in 1999. Madonna's Ray of Light - I like her be'cos of this album. The BEST so far. Madonna's Confession - Blasted this music with frustration almost everyday while I was driving back from work in 2006. Spice Girl - Just remindered me of my JC days. Beattles - My Army Days. Bryan Adam - Oldest CD in my collection - 1991. Norah Jones - Sunset & days spent @ San Francisco Bay Area. Ally Mcbeal - Dancing Baby! Enya, Inspirational Music & Enigma - Into New Age Music during Army Days

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Who cares about all these stories?

 These CDs are precious to me, but it would be worthless to others. This applies to many things in life - like the things I kept - letters, presents, journals, photos, education certificates... these are all worthless when I am gone. 

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If my house is caught on Fire and all these items are burnt, how would I feel? Should I keep them? Will they continue to bring happiness to my life? Are they just burden? Are memories really that precious? Should I be too attached to my past, my identity and my possessions? 

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Many years from now, nobody will know my existence. This blog will not be around. Everything that I owned will be turned into dust.

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So..  what's next?

Quote

"For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain,

Until then may I, too, abide

To dispel the misery of the world."

- Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

Travel: Phuket Trip (31st March - 3rd April 2010)

This is Boon.

I am most comfortable when I am in my slipper.

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Waiting Happily @ Lobby of Burasari Hotel

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It is a boutique hotel which is featured as one of the special hotels of the world.

It is quite good (location, service, deco) and the price is reasonable. I would recommend my friends to stay there.

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The Room...

Yesh, there is a see-through bathroom.

The interesting thing is that the blind is controlled outside the bathroom, hence, putting the person in the bathroom in a more vulnerable position. haha....

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Self-Reflection

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Good Breakfast.

We were enjoying ourselves. =)

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Day-Bed on the balcony of the room

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Patong Beach

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Time for Suntanning!

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Relax Relax.

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There were a few topless ladies - One Granny with Sagging Breasts strolling slowly with confidence (While her figure was not exactly nice, but I was impressed by her self-confidence).

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Next Day: Diving

Diving with http://www.thailand-divers.com/

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The previous day, I went to a few dive shops and chose the most expensive one- 4635baht (S$203) for a full-day trip with 3 dives to Phi Phi Don. The rationale was simple: Other shops was operated by Thai people and the price was slightly cheaper only. And this operator is endorsed by the National Geographic.

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Lower Deck

Upper Deck

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Diving with R again.

The last time R dived was back in Sep'02, when we were 2nd-year undergraduate & took the open-water diving course together. Hahaha...

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It was the most comfortable dive trip I ever had. There was free supply of COLD can drinks and water, food and fruits, coffee, milo, tea...  The lunch was simple, yet very delicious. If you wanna suntan or enjoy the wind, you can go to the upper deck. If you wanna have air-conditioned room, go the the lower deck. Well, most people stay in the upper deck.

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I did not need to bring anything or assemble my equipment (unlike my previous dive trips). I just went to the lower deck, put on the equipment and jump into the sea. After each dive, I just left the equipment on the lower deck, and the Thai crew would just change my tank for the next dive. It was so good!!!

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The dive-masters were professional and they came from different parts of the world. My dive-master was a 20-year Swedish dude, and there were only 3 of us attached to him. That is a good ratio (normally, it is 1 dive-master to 6pax).

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Freedom!!!

Awww....

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Jumping Shoot

(The fellow diver must thinking I was mad!)

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Island near Ko Phi Phi Don

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I did not see any big fishes, but I saw my first sea-snake (which was more venomous than any land snakes)!!! No big creatures, but the underwater "landscape" is Beautiful.... =)

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On the second dive site, there were alot of translucent pink/white jellyfish near the surface of the water. While I was ascending to the surface, it was a beautiful sight to see so many jellyfish dancing and moving gracefully. However, there was a price a pay for such a beautiful sight. We were all stung by the jellyfishes when we were floating at the surface. It was not a pleasant experience, nevertheless, it was a new experience. 

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Happy

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Bangla Street in Phuket.

This picture captured the nightlife of Phuket - Chaotic, Sleezy, Loud, Colourful...

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Colours

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Thai-inspired Jumping Shoot @ Patong

after a good Thai Massage

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SEAFOOD Dinner!!!

It tasted really good.... It was opened by a Greek man who had a Thai girlfriend/wife.

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Patong Area

Shopping Time!!

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T-Shirts

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HE was feeling green,

But it was a great short trip for me.

Thanks HF, LY, K & R for being such a great company.