It is What We Do With The Ingredients That Counts

Most westerners misunderstood the law of karma. They mistake it for fatalism, where one is doomed to suffer for some unknown crime in a forgotten past life. This is not quite so, as this story will show.

Two women were each baking a cake.

The first women had miserable ingredients. The old white flour had to have the green mouldy bits removed first. The cholesterol-enriched butter was almost going rancid. She had to pick the brown lumps out of the white sugar (because someone had put in a spoon wet with coffee), and the only fruit she had were ancient raisins, as hard as depleted uranium. And her kitchen was of the style called "pre-World-War" - which World War was a matter of debate.

The second woman had the very best of ingredients. The organically grown whole-wheat flour was guaranteed GM-free. She had trans-fat-free canola-oil spread, raw sugar, and succulent fruit grown in her own garden. And her kitchen was "state-of-the-art," with every modern gadget.

Which woman baked the more delicious cake?

It is often not the person with the best ingredients who bakes the better cake - there is more to baking a cake than just the ingredients. Sometimes the person with miserable ingredients puts so much effort, care and love into their baking that their cake comes out the most delicious of all. It is what we do with the ingredients that counts.

I have some friends who have had miserable ingredients to work with in this life: they were born into poverty, possibly abused as children, not clever at school, maybe disabled and unable to play sports. But the few qualities they did have they put together so well that they baked a mightily impressive cake. I admire them greatly. Do you recognize such people?

I have other friends who have had wonderful ingredients to work with in this life. Their families were wealthy and loving, they were successful at school, talented athletes, good-looking, and popular, and yet they wasted their young lives with drugs and alcohol. Do you recognize such a one?

Half of karma is the ingredients we have got to work with. The other half, the most crucial part, is what we make of them in this life.

Excerpt from: Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung by Ajahn Brahm

Anchoring

Hang on to the inner body, let it be the anchor, then you're present.
If they say something challenging and you lose it again, pause, and anchor again.
Practice, practice, continuous practice—because when you're in touch with the inner body, spaciousness arises.

- Eckhart Tolle -

Wanting to Be Better

Yogi: I often observe myself wanting other people to do poorly so that I will look best.

SUT: Yes, that's good, you know your mind! It is in the nature of the mind to always want to be better than others, to want to see others as inferior. Only when this is recognized do we get the opportunity to change.

Yogi: How can I work skillfully with such observations?

SUT: Look at how it feels when the mind has a thought like that. You will see that it is not very pleasant. If you recognize this feeling every time there are such thoughts, the mind will become so familiar with the unpleasantness of them, that it will no longer want to be that way. The mind will not only realize that such thoughts are unpleasant but also that it is unnecessary to have them and that they are unwholesome. Once the mind really understands all this, it will easily let go.

Excerpt from: Awareness Alone is Not Enough, Sayadaw U Tejaniya

Meditation Camp 2012

Note: Click to enlarge

Breakaway from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and join us on a journey of understanding yourself, your life and your mind.

This meditation camp is non-religious, and we welcome anyone to join us with an open heart :)

However, seats are limited, so we accept participants on a first come first serve basis.

Details

Date: 4th-6th Feb (6th is a public holiday)

Venue: Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary, Taiping

Fee: RM 20

Transportation, food and lodgings are provided. Come join us if wisdom and understanding is what you seek :)

For more info, please contact: Engelbert 016-4232970 or Kaizia 014-9034798

Self Acceptance

To be beautiful means to be yourself.

You don't need to be accepted by others, you just need to accept yourself.

- Thich Nhat Hanh -

Letting Go

Each time you let go of fear and uncertainty,

you're letting go of the habitual way of finding security and comfort.

- Pema Chodron -

Just Trust

Generally, I consider taxi rides to be a treat. But not always. Around 1:00 am on Halloween, I hailed a cab with a friend. "Drive around to the front of this building. Can ya leave the meter running while I go inside to tell our friends that we've left? Thanks, man...I appreciate it." A few minutes later, the cabbie told my friend to run inside and get me because he was in a hurry and had someone waiting. After she left the car to get me, the cabbie took off. With my backpack on the seat. A backpack with…

• my money
• drivers license
• ATM card
• house keys
• halloween supplies
• and a digital camera.

Ech. About $500 worth of stuff and hassle. So what do I do? I don't even know what cab company it was. My friend felt really bad. She said, "I guess I need to learn to trust people less." Ouch. That sounds terrible. Losing faith is much worse than losing some stuff. So this is how I'm looking at it all: Spending $500 every once-in-a-while is a small price to pay to be able to continue trusting people. I can get another driver's license. I have another camera. I have more money. I can buy more trashy, frosted-pink lipstick. I'll consider the loss to be part of my optimism tax. I sporadically pay this fee (when people take advantage of my trust in goodness) in exchange for optimistic freedom.

I would be less at-risk if I concentrated more on the negatives. "What if _____ happens?" But it's not worth it. The cost to my quality of life (by worrying more) is far more expensive than the cost of losing some stuff.

Source: Cocky Bastard

The Observance (Ud 5.5)

Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way,

this Dhamma & Discipline has a single taste: that of release.

The Observance (Ud 5.5)

静思小语

一个人的快乐，

不是因为他拥有得多，

而是因为他计较得少。

Happiness

is not about how much we possess,

but how little we bicker over trivialities.

~ Dharma Master Cheng Yen ~

Illuminate - 7th Ehipassiko Camp

The annual Ehipassiko Camp brought to you specially by the IMU Buddhist Society had always been a fun and inspiring experience. This camp is packed with activities, workshops and talks, learning the dharma had never been made so interesting. Get away from the less than exciting IMU campus life and enjoy a 3 days break at the camp. Feel yourself getting rejuvenated, inspired, refreshed and ready to face the long year ahead full of mind boggling lectures and unanswerable exam questions. =)

There is no need to wait, or think. Just register yourself with us for the 7th Ehapassiko Camp NOW and we will bring you on a memorable journey, an experience to be remembered forever.

IMUBS

*please refer to the poster above for information.