Lunar 7th Month...a Month

The Chinese Lunar 7th Month or Ghost Month starts today. This is also a Filial Piety Month and Vasanna Month.

For those who know Kitsagarbra Bodhisattva (Sayi Ningpo or 地臧菩萨) knows the story of how she elevate her mother from Hell Realm. This is also a Filial Piety Month because this great Bodhisattva took the vow that if the Hell Realm is not empty, she will not attain Enlightenment. Her great compassion is a source of inspiration to me.

This is also a Raining Retreat Month (Vasanna) where in Buddha's time monks went into Retreat. The purpose of not walking around is also to avoid stepping and killing lives. Buddha spent 25 rainy months in retreat at Sarvasti, Jetavanna Monastery where many interesting teachings and stories took place.

When the Retreat Month is over,  we offer robes to Monks and dedicate this powerful merits to the happiness of Mother Sentient Beings.

Today for 15 days, many will be visiting ancestral shrines in temples. This is the time you remember Mother Sentient Beings and their sufferings too.

There is no special day to practice your compassion but certain months may make you reflect more on your love ones who have passed on and their contribution to your well being and to what you are today. Normally people visit as a whole family, some with siblings and relatives bringing food and drinks.

May Mother Sentient Beings be placed on the pedestal of liberation and be free from sufferings. Ohm Mani Padme Hum _()_ _()_ _()_

SELAMAT HARI RAYA PUASA

Wishing all my Muslim friends.....

Healthy and Yet Dangerous Food

I am not a health fanatic but I do try to eat healthy. The above food are things that we are drilled that they are good for us but wait till you see what they will do to you.

1) Celery Celery is a vegetable that we all love to eat it raw or cooked. Many of us usually have left over food which we eat the next day. Here is the problem...reheating celery will cause it to release a harmful nitrites which is poisonous to our body.

2) Virgin Olive Oil You may heat you frying pan with this and frying eggs, steak, bacon etc. However do you know that when the oil is heated to a point where smokes arise, that is when it becomes carcinogenic.

3) Hard-boiled Eggs These are cooked egg and therefore should be eaten if possible they day it is made. Many of us love Stewed Pork and Hardboiled egg and the eggs are reheated again and again. This is a no no because reheated eggs are toxic!

4) Mushrooms Fried it with oyster sauce of simply stir-fried and it is yummy. Well like the above, reheating these are also poisonous. If you have left overs, eat it cold.

5) Tomatoes We all love a tomato and they are not poisonous. However if you pluck it from your garden, make sure to do not eat the leaf and the stalk. It contains a toxic called tomatine.

6) Kidney Beans Some buy and some make it themselves. Well here is the bad news - It contain a poison named Phytohaemagglutin. Kidney beans need to be boil properly so suggestion is you buy the canned ones and don't take it lightly.

7) Rhubarb - Vegetable Fortunately this is not common in Singapore. The part that can be eaten in the stem and the part that kill is the leave. The leave looks like yam leaf .

8) Wild Almond Not common in Singapore. Anyway we travel a lot and please remember that wild almond contain cyanide when eaten in large quantity.

9) Cherry Well it is cherry season now. Plenty of them are sold everywhere BUT remember do not bite the pit/ seed. Don't break it because it contain hydrogen-cyanide which kills.

10) Green Potatoes No easily found here in Singapore. Like I said we travel a lot so be careful. It is not your mashed potatoes or your green French fries, it kills. These green potatoes contain a toxin named solanine and it will cause vomiting. I may also cause cardiac arrest if taken in large quantities.

11) Apple An apple a day keeps the doctor away. This healthy fruit also has it poison. It is in the apple seeds. The small seed contain a small amount of amygdalin when combined with our stomach enzyme will produce hydrogen cyanide. It takes 100-200mg of this to kill an adult with minutes. Be wary.

There are many more but I hope this will served as a reminder. All these food look harmless but they are not if eaten carelessly. Wishing all those reading this have a healthy life.

SABAH EARTHQUAKE...

Today Singapore is flying the National Flag at half mast in respect to those who perished in the Sabah Earthquake.

Now the Earthquake is moving closer to home. No one expect it will happened in Kota Kinabalu. These time it killed 8 Singaporean - one Teacher, one Guide and the remaining are 12 years-old students from Tajong Katong Primary School.

It is heartbreaking to the school, schoolmates, families and also Singaporean. There is still one teacher and one student missing and we pray for their safe return.

My prayers and thoughts are with the bereaved ones. These are young lives and they are going through a leadership program. They are the leaders of tomorrow but we lost them.

It is not the first time such program are held at Mount Kinabalu which is a favorite of people around the region. Its a nature reserved filled with flora and fauna. Unfortunately this place when boulders are hurled during the 6.1 quake provides no place to hide or avoid the meteor of stones because it is an opened barren area where there are no vegetation.

 



Actually my brother just came back in May from this same trekking. At times it is the timing and various factors that one has to be there at the specific point of time. Whatever, it is still heartbreaking to see the lost of young lives.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY....

 

Mother of Mine

where are you?

After you left this World

You continue to live in

our Hearts

We did not forget

But we moved on

In this process of

Moving

Our Thoughts are with

You

AND

Now it is Mother's Day again

We can only expressed

our Gratitude

in Words

WE send you Flowers

WE send you Love

We send you all our Misses

This is a Reminder

That we were Once

Curdled in your

Warm Embrace...

 

Wherever You Are

Be Well

Be Happy

Be Liberated

_(())_



 

PRAY FOR NEPAL...Earthquake 2015

As we watch with shock, our compassion and feelings went out to those sufferings. The damages are unimaginable and many lost their lives. When everyone scramble to help Nepal, we can only sit back and pray. We pray for those who lost their lives, we pray for those who are alive, we pray for those hurt and suffering, we pray for those who are still buried in rambles. We pray for those whose love ones are missing and we pray that all our precious Gurus are safe. When there is nothing one can do, one can only pray. When news and pictures flashed across the TV, Facebook, Twitter and media which in home country or news of other countries, one watch with helplessness. Again and again I am reminded of Buddha's teaching...all compounded things are impermanence. Our life is so fragile.

 

There are many fund raisings going on and I pray that people are not unscrupulous to make it rich in this way. These funds are for life saving. Don't think that no one knows but Karma never misses. OHM AH HUNG BENZA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRIENDS...

This picture and the quote touched my heart. There are many types of people in the world and all our friends are not the same. Some are vocal, some emotional, some secretive and there are some who are not able to express their sufferings.

 

Many times we take friends for face value. They look fine to you and seems like all is going well in front but we never have the time in our hectic daily life to really care.

 

I thank friends who tell me they are going through a difficult time. It is not that they asked you for help nor do they need your advise. They just need a shoulder.

 

Recently a dharma sister told me that she had contacted virus and she ran a non stop fever for a few days. It hurts her breathing as well. We are not close friends but I knew she trusted me to tell me. I did not bombard her with SMS or call her zealously. Occasionally I dropped her a short SMS to see how is she. I am glad I saw her active and babbly again in the temple.

 

Another friend is going through a relationship breakdown. We knew but she is not telling. From her frame and the expression on her face and the way she avoided people, we knew. However we are not going to run after her and try to find out. We suffer in silent with her, watching her and ready to give her a hand when she needs it. We pray that she has the strength to pull through.

 

We do not know at any one time we may be in a situation which we need help. We should not assumed that all our friends are well. Therefore I stay alert.

All compounded things are impermanent
All stained emotions brings pain
All phenomena are empty
Nirvana is Peace