Mind is the Fore Runner

Quiet your Mind. Reflect. Watch. Nothing Binds you. You are free.

Buddha Sakyamuni, Dhammapada.

8th Dorzong Rinpoche from 22 Sep to 26 Sep to give a series of teachings on Yidam Practice, Mandala Offering and Guru Yoga. Sad to say, I am still quite confuse over these. More time is needed to learn all these. He is funny, humourous and witty and presented the dharma talks light-heartedly. Great teacher! 

Half Way There

I will running the Marathon this year end in Dec 04. The AHM thus serve as a half-way mark in the endurance training for the Marathon. I came in at 1 hr 55 min. Can do better though... i knew it becos i did not felt as tired as i did the last time.

Chenrezig's Seed Syllabus "Hrih" - learn this and its visualisation after attending a series of Dorzong Rinpoche's talk from 22 to 26 Sep 04. 

My WC & I

What is the purpose of a PC in Sierra? Recently, after a series of PDS workshops I conducted, heard the remark that PCs in Sierra are always dealing with projects. They are partially right.

I conclude - PC in Sierra is:

1. A Part Time Project Officer
2. A Part Time Staff Officer
3. A Full Time Driver..... and that is the reason for the title above.

Susan & I

2 days ago, after safety briefing by FMSO, something petty happened. The dialogue is as follows:

Susan: CS, go get black coffee for me.

CS: ........ (observe around and saw that coffee come with milk and sugar)...

Susan: CS, go get black coffee for me.

CS:.....(muttering to himself).....aiya, got milk and sugar....i will just ignore her

Susan: CS, go get black coffee for me.

CS: M'am, you wanna drink coffee, got to get yourself..

Susan: What?!? How dare you talk to me this way!?!?!

CS: but...but....but.....

Susan: Nobody dares to talk to me this way?!?! You will get it from me!!

And so, CS is ignored by Susan for the next few days.....

The Buddha. 

Bringing the Mind Home

Sogyal Rinpoche has a beautiful description for this, and I quote:

Over 2,500 years ago, a man who had been searching for the truth for many, many lifetimes came to a quiet place in northen India and sat down under a tree. He continued to sit under the tree, with immense resolve, and vowed not to get up until he had found the truth. At dusk, it is said, he conquered all the dark forces of delusion; and early the next morning, as the star Venus broke in the dawn sky, the man was rewarded for his age-long patience, discipline and flawless concentration by achieving the final goal of human existence, enlightenment.

At that sacred moment, the earth itself shuddered, as if "drunk with bliss", and as the scriptures tell us, "No one anywhere was angry, ill, or sad; no one did eveil, none was proud; the world became quiet, as though it had reached full perfection." This man became known as the Buddha.

And I say, the Buddha is simply someone who is awaken, someone who has brought his mind home.

That's me running the Marathon last year. Doing it this December as well. Hope to get a better timing! 

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva or Chenrezig in Tibetian or Guan Shi Ying in Chinese is the epitome of great compassion. Never fails to help another sentient being. He currently resides in Sukhavati in the land of Amitabha. 

Collective Appreciation of Situation

I have finish a week of terrain analysis studies.... conducted by SUSAN the Wing2. New knowledge, new information has been pumped into my mind. But no new wisdom though...

How useful is this new knowledge or information?

Useful, in the sense that it can aid me in future courses. Silly, in the sense that it course more discursive thoughts and act as a catalyst for headaches!

When are we all going to take ourselves less seriously?

Our "ego", our "self", the "me & I" feeds on our 6 senses through the goody stuffs we see, yummy stuffs we tasted or sniffed, etc etc.... and grow more profound day by day. We loves ourselves more each day. Until the day we die, then we realised that this body of ours is just an empty shell. The concept of "self" is erred in the very first place. To make it more erraneous, instead of correcting it, we let the concept of "self" grow. And so we thought we are who we are.

First step to success:
Stop taking yourself and your 6 senses too seriously.... you will lead a happier life. :P
Do a Collective Appreciation of Situation on your surroundings today, you should be able to reason the impermanent nature that is so prevalent.

What You Want to be yah!?

I am under bond. Binds me like a slave and forces me to work on things I do not enjoy.
It is amazing, how many people who are under bond just automatically assume that they will carry on because they found their "career". If they wanted to leave, they are convinced that they do not know what to do. Not sure of their future plans.

My bond will be completed when I am 32 yrs of age. I do not worry at all. I just see it from the other side - that there is so much choice of jobs that I do not know what to choose!!

Maybe that's idealistic, maybe its unrealistic. But it is an ideal that is drawn from my belief. And my belief is that for the good of my spiritual well being, I should take on a less hectic and less stressful work. At the rate I am working, I will be totally burned out before I hit middle age.

I will definitely want to spend more time on my practice, which sad to say, has come to a miserable state of negligence. Let's not forget about the precious human existence and make full use of it to the return of originality, clarity and emptiness.

Time and Yet Again - My Silly Work

Extremely busy at work, i am. But I have no idea what i am doing. Sounds strange? Not quite. I am currently on a course conducted by my Wing2, Susan. It teaches how to analyse terrains and stuff so that I can plan a successful attack. But I am not interested in attacking anything!? On this logic, why do I want to plan? With this reasoning, why am I so concern about terrain then?

It all sounds silly now, yeah?

Then again, I am tasked by my boss to write a paper. Something which again i must admit, not the type of job a soldier should do. I get this job to hold a rifle, instead i got a pen to write. I wanted this job to have a great experience of looking thru a scope when I pull the trigger, instead I look at the computer all day.

The MAJs and LTCs and COLs will say, "An army's career is like that. Nobody really likes to be on the ground. You got to think of going for your ROA courses and do more work so that in the annual ranking, you can score very well and out-do all your peers!"

I will say this to them, " Fuck you all....you brainless crabs-on-the-shoulders idiots. Your lives are over even before it began. You wanna spend your whole life pursuing an 'Army Career'?? Go do something fruitful with your life, like volunteering in old folks' home or something noble. You are pretending to be useful in this society and in the military, when obviously you are expendable and the world stills turn without you. Dun you get it? No?"

I can't wait when this sillyness is finally over...... :P

Mindfulness of the Mind

To "rest" one's mind in the state of mindfulness of one's mind - that is to observe the mind and all its activities. It is the practice of Shinay (Tibetian) or Shamatha (Sanskrit). Its practice is essential for all paths leading to realising the nature of the mind.

Great Seal of the Mind

At the Great Assembly of the disciples and Bodhisattvas, the Buddha gazes silently at a flower he holds in his hand. The Buddha smiles. Mahakashyapa smiles. The Buddha says, "I have the eye-treasury of the true Dharma, the marvellous mind of Nirvana, the true form of no-form, the subtle gate of the Dharma. It does not depend on letters, being specially transmitted outside all teachings. Now I entrust Mahakashyapa with this."

This is how the Great Seal of the Mind transmits. To see the true nature of the mind; its clarity, its emptiness, its intelligence, its continuity and its foundation. 2500 years, it transmits from Buddha to Mahakashyapa. Centuries later, it reaches China with Six Patriach Grand Master Hui Neng. To see the true nature of the mind, is to cut thru ignorance and transmits the Mind Seal.

Have you not heard of Mahamudra?

Mind-Seal Transmission 

NUS Triathlon 04 

Crux of the Matter in Samsara

What is it? How do you define a life? How do all around us fit in into a picture? This jigsaw puzzle of interdependent causation can be unravelled. If only we know how.