Keep It Moving!

Yin Yang symbol is a sign of Qi (life energy) in motion.

Qi is a curious thing.
If you try to save it,
It’ll stagnate and make you sick.

It’s what you can use
But not what you can have.
It’s with you always
But it wants you to keep using it.

So when you are tired
After many hours at desk,
Walk around, stretch,
Chat with your colleagues,
Play yourself or make love*.
You’ll find yourself more alive
When your Qi starts running again.

Be generous and share your Qi
With anyone who needs it.
The more generous you are with Qi,
The more Qi accompanies you.

I wonder
If Qi is the Heaven's reminder to us
That being is more lively and precious
Than having…

* Not recommended while you are at a classroom, a church, a temple or an office. Choose an appropriate place.

Green, Red and Black...

The weather suddenly turned hot a few days ago here in Hong Kong and I felt dizzy. So I tried to give myself a nice jump start with a cup of Japanese green tea, which is rich in caffeine and effective in removing body heat.

But I could not get the desired effect. I continued to feel dizzy and there was slight discomfort in my gums. So did a cup of Fujianese Tieguanyin Wulong. So I realised the dizziness did not come from heat but lack of Qi in my body. (Wulong has the characterisics of both green and black teas. It is good at removing excessive body heat without cooling down the body too much.)

So I tried Ceylon black tea, Lipton's Yellow Label. It refreshed me a lot. Black tea (which is called red tea in China) is indeed a good qi suppliment. But my eyes stayed sore. Then I thought that perhaps I was so tired that my liver needed a special care.

Pu'er black tea from Yunnan province is usually a good remedy for sore eyes as it helps liver function. My favourite is the one from Xishuangpanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture close to the Laotian border. It is so black and thick that it tastes somewhat like coffee.

But I usually do not drink Pu'er in summer because it warms a body up. It's no wonder why Mongols and Tibetans love Pu'er. (If a person with excessive body heat drinks it, he might have a diarrhea. Well, I sometimes intentionally do this to clean my intestines, though.) So I was a bit reluctant to drink Pu'er but I gave myself a try, anyway.

A cup of very dark Pu'er gave me a feeling of regaining the balance of Qi. It is very unusual for me to feel this way after drinking Pu'er in summer. Perhaps it's a sign that I need a good rest now...

Anyway, there are bewilderingly many different kinds of teas in China. And you can rebalance your Qi by choosing different kinds of tea according to season or your condition.

The Power of Myth

A large sign I recently saw on the wall of a Methodist church in Hong Kong has stirred a lot thoughts in my mind.

Although I don't remember the exact wording of the sign, it roughly said that "The Resurrection is not a myth but a historical fact." I smiled a bit bitterly at the sign, feeling it was pity that the church members utterly underestimated the power of myth. Well, it was also a smile to the ignorant me of the past.

Actually, Christianity is losing its appeal among the intellectuals because of its insistence that the entire Jesus story was a historical fact. It is very difficult for anyone with a scientific mind to believe that God exercised such supernatural power exclusively in Palestine around 2,000 years ago. (According to a very famous theologian of our time, such power was available only for 30-plus years and only within 60 km radius of Jerusalem.) Jung says that the historical Jesus can at best be a mere failed reformer of Judaism.

But Jesus story as a myth has an extremely profound potential to lead people to the search of higher state of being. Anyway, all myths (in the original sense) are introduction to enlightenment, regardless of whether they are historical facts or not. For example, Miyazaki's epic animes such as Princess Mononoke or Nausicaä also are powerful myths in a very innovative packaging. These cartoons are profoundly religious.

I believe now that Christianity can renew itself if it can be free from its literalist tradition and admit Jesus story is a myth. Anyway, it's pity that so many people feel reluctant to tap into this powerful myth of reconciliation between conscious and unconscious minds just because it is presented as a fact...

Musashi's Gnostic Passion (2)

After capturing Musashi, Master Takuan tied the young straggler to the trunk of a thousand-year-old cedar tree at a place quite high up from the ground.

Left high up on the tree, Musashi continued screaming like a beast, demanding the Master to kill him.

The punishment was so cruel that O-tsu, the fiancée of Musashi's close friend also demanded Takuan to release him. And a few days later, Musashi's screams changed into cries for help. Takuan recognises the emergence of human soul in Musashi, but refused to free him. Then O-tsu secretly released him and ran together.

Musashi tied up on a mighty tree reminded me of graffiti from the first century Rome: a crucifixion of donkey. (See the picture above.) The donkey represents the animal self of a man in a Pagan ritual of re-birth. He dies of lower animal (hylic or physical) self and reborn into higher psychic consciousness.

Sounds familiar, huh? Yes, it is indeed related to Jesus' Passion. Actually, the early Gnostic Christianity was an importation of Pagan myth of rebirth into the Hellenised Jewish context...

So Musashi died of his hylic self on the tree. However, he needed to live in the hell before he was really freed.

After escaping to the city of Himeji, Musashi was once more captured by Takuan. Then the monk suggested the Lord of Himeji to imprison the young straggler in a haunted room at the top of a castle. Musashi now had to go down to the Hades. Takuan arranged to have massive number of both Chinese and Japanese classics carried into the dark haunted room. Then Musashi spent years of imprisonment in a very intensive study.

So when he was finally released from the room after three years of imprisonment, he was no longer a wild beastly samurai but had changed into a young man with sophisticated spirit. It was the completion of his death to the animal self. He was reborn as a man with human consciousness.

But it is just the first tenth of the epic story. He had just been initiated into the search of his spiritual (pneumatic) self...

So when we are baptised or when we become aware of being saved, we have just been initiated into the search of our true Self. It is just the beginning... It seems we still have quite a long way to go.

Musashi's Gnostic Passion (1)

I've had quite a bad digestion problem for the past few days. Maybe it's not just due to common cold but also to the maldigestion caused by reading a book by Erich Fromm and two by Carl Jung within a week. I feel that I need to get back to these books again a few weeks later so that I can absorb them better...

Well, even though I've been sick and tired and spent much of my free time in the bed these days, I still have a very strong desire to read. But I don't feel like reading something tough amid the intellectual maldigestion so I picked up the Chinese translation of Musashi, a classic popular novel by Eiji Yoshikawa(吉川英治著「宮本武藏」). It's awkward to read the translation of a novel written in my mother tongue but these two-volume books are the game from my garbage collection. No one throws away Japanese books here in the southern tip of China. Anyway, very few people throw books away, anyway... (Well, I read most of Murakami's works in Chinese translation, too. I like the mainland versions better than Taiwanese versions...)

And I've found the novel very suitable for the Passion Week.

Musashi, a young and wild straggler was pursued by the local authority after killing some border guards. After the local samurai and peasant failed to capture him after a long and extensive search, an eccentric Zen master Takuan (whose name is very funny to the modern Japanese because it means yellow pickled raddish popular in the East Asia) offered to capture him within three days.

After Master Takuan captures Musashi by attracting the lonely and hungry man with taro stew, the monk asked the local warlord to allow him to treat Musashi as he wanted. The petition was granted and Master Takuan told everyone that he would execute the young beastly warrior twice. And the way Takuan, a man who had made a vow of no-killing, killed Musashi was just like the Gnostic Passion myth... I will tell you more about this tomorrow.

Sophie's Trick on My Wisdom Tooth?

The gum around my wisdom tooth still aches. It's not as bad as a few days ago because I could sleep without aspirin last night. But pain anyway drains a lot energy. In addition, as my swollen gum only allows me to take very soft or liquid food such as tofu or congee, it's quite difficult to regain energy... So I cannot think of a good poem today.

But wait a minute. Now I suffer from the pain around my wisdom tooth. Is it that Sophie (of course, her name means wisdom!), my anima and Inner Wisdom is playing a trick using her tooth? Well, I asked Sophie, my anima to help me lose some weight. Is she trying to restrict my food intake using her tooth? I don't know. Perhaps I can ask her in tonight's dream...

Well, it's painful but much much more benevolent than her previous trick. Many years ago, I asked her to help me cleanse my entire self. But I was indeed careless enough to use the Japanese expression "to drain the pus." It means renewal or reform but Sophie took it literally; she kicked my ass furiously in my dreams. It caused horrible abscess around my ass and I had to take three surgeries before the complete cure.

But she is my source of creativity because she is so much playful (although sometimes bit daemonically) and unpredictable... She's my muse.

A Frikking Pain in the Mouth

I had a frikking pain from my swollen gums until 10 minutes ago. The swell suddenly receded right after I finished writing today's news articles... The swelling should have something to do with my news reporting job.

According to Louise L. Hay, emotions such as anger, stagnated thinking, bottled-up tears and feeling trapped can cause swellings.

Hmm. Anger? Yes because I have to write too many articles. Stagnated thinking? I don't know. It seems more like an effect of my swollen gums than the cause. Bottled-up tears? Probably yes. Feeling trapped? Definitely yes! Well, I have to talk with my boss to reduce my workload.

By the way, Louise says that masturbation can stop migraines. I don't know whether it is true or not. But I know that playing with myself is a good cure for light common cold, especially the kind that stuffs my nose...

Escape from Serfdom

"Whenever I see my high school friends, we always reach a consensus that what our parents told us was right."

When I heard a close friend of mine, a Japanese man in his early 30s say this, I felt utterly appalled.

Their parents should be around 60 now. When they were in their 40s in the mid 1980s, Japan was at the peak of the post-war economic success. But its success had been built on corporate serfdom and young Japanese hated their likely future as corporate livestock (shachiku in Japanese) but they did virtually nothing to change their fate. It was a time of prosperity but that prosperity had been built on the escape from the self...

So my friend's words sounded just like his surrender to a state of learned helplessness. Maybe it would lighten the pain of struggle of finding his own Self but I feel it would leave a big hole in his soul. Because being a good serf requires him to dissociate himself from reality and himself.

That's what I have fought. That's why I left the country twice to find a place I can be myself. I love my parents but I cannot think they were right. I want to continue my search for what is right for us now and for our future generations. I may look foolish but I believe I can be more content when my body is cremated some decades later.

Light Up Here And Now

Find a light in yourself now.
And let it grow into a bright torch
So your entire self can glow.

See the world around you
With the torch of your inner light.
I believe you'll find the beautiful world
That you've never imagined.

After you see the light is good,
Look back your past with the light.
I believe you'll see your past filled with glory
That you've never imagined.

Light up your here and now
So that you can light up your eternity.

Actually time is only an illusion.
So if your present is glorious
So are your past and future.

Amen!

Healing Touch After an Argument

When you find it difficult to
Reconcile with your beloved one
After a heated argument,
Try massaging his neck and shoulders.

The argument hasn't only hardened
His heart and attitude
But also his muscles.
So gently knead his neck and shoulders
With the hope of reconciliation.

You'll soon see his heart soften
As your hands soothe his muscles.
And you'll see your soul lighten also
As you gently knead his body and soul.

You'll find in this way
His healing is yours
And his is yours.

Nausicaä in Cantonese

I don't know how many times I've watched Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. But I am now watching it once again. My wife is still at work so I don't have to worry about being scolded by her for watching the same movie over and over again.

Although I perfectly understand the original Japanese versions, I always choose to watch Miyazaki's animes in Cantonese. One reason is that Hong Kong voice artists talk much more natural than Japanese ones, who tend to speak more like stage drama actors.

And the other reason is that I love Hong Kong women's boyish way of speech. They speak in a much lower voice than most other Asian women and such a voice is just perfect for a character like Nausicaä, a warrior princess with quiet determination.

Well, I love most of Miyazaki's works because his heroines are mostly in line with my dream girls. Perhaps he has an anima figure close to that of mine. And his works might be so popular because the world as a whole has the collective dream girl close to Miyazaki's heroines... Then I might not be as much deviant from the mainstream culture as I've thought... And it may be a good news.

Playful Wisdom

Why has Jehovah always been so grumpy?
I had no idea until yesterday but Jung (Answer to Job) gave me a clue.

Jung says, Jehovah actually used to have a playmate called Sophia but forgot Her somehow.

Now I also have an answer to another question. My Inner Guide always appears in my dreams as a very playful young woman. I was somewhat uncomfortable with a playful Wisdom but now I can accept it. Because She was a playmate...

And now I understand why She inserted a joke in Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach (Sir) 13:26 (RSV):


The mark of a happy heart is a cheerful face,
but to devise proverbs requires painful thinking.

It might have been her small and playful resistance to no-nonsense to Jehovah...

I Wanna Work Until Death But...

Very tired...

I am ready to work until death but working seven days a week may bring the death too much earlier than I hope.

Yes, I am ready to work until death but like Carl Jung (who died at 85) or Fung You-lan (a Chinese philosopher who died at 95 after his final work was sent to a printing house). I want Grimm Reaper to wait at least until I am 80.

I want to work long but not too hard. I've go to cut back my working day to six at least...

Mysterious Encounters

I am now reading C.G. Jung's Answer to Job. I read its excerpts a few years ago and felt very much perplexed so the book had always been on my mind these years...

An encounter to a book is often mysterious. I happen to find a right book at the right time. Recently, I happened to pick up the complete volumes of History of Greek Philosophy from Beijing's People's University in the garbage which I was in charge of cleaning. Then I found in another pile of garbage the Chinese translation of Catholic Bible a few days later. But so what?

Actually, I have been studying about Gnostics, the ancient mystical heretic Christians these days and very much interested in the lost goddess named Sophia, who had a very important role in Gnosticism. In order to know Sophia better, the knowledge of Greek philosophy (which I could only studied in dreams or completely distracted by a girl in a cheerleader uniform always sitting in front of me at a university lecture hall) is vital and she is manifested in Apocryphal books of wisdom, which are absent from the Protestant Bible, the Bible readily available at an ordinary bookstore. So two persons threw away right books for me at the right time. Very interesting...

And I am delighted to see Sophia mentioned in Jung's Answer to Job. And now I now know why I happened to find this book at a shelf of a bookstore which I rarely visit. Now I read this again because I am ready now. If I had no knowledge on Gnosticism, I would end up perplexed again but now I see an ancient mystery reveal itself to me because I have at least some idea about the lost sect. So again, I've met the right book at a right time.

Considering these things, I simply cannot help myself from feeling there certainly is the guidance that is given by Sophia, who manifests herself with a mischievous character quite much like Midori in Murakami's Norwegian Wood or Sailor Mercury.... (blush)

Embrace Ego and Leave It Behind

Buddhists say that ego is the source of all sufferings.

I am familiar with this because I was born and grew up in Japan, a country where the majority of people identify themselves as Buddhists. And this idea permeated throughout the primary and middle school education. So it is in my blood and bones.

So am I free from suffering? Not at all!

I think this theory itself is largely correct. But brutal suppression of ego never makes a happy person.

Suppression simply makes ego angrier and even stronger. It would make a person very angry. It also would make a person very apathetic. Anyway, making ego angrier will never help us remove sufferings.

From my experience, giving attention to and affirmation of the self work much better than suppression of ego. Just as we would not strongly demand food when we are full, we would not demand much attention when we receive due respect. So I believe we can satisfy our ego by paying attention to it and kindly embracing it.

When our ego is satisfied and calms down, we can quietly leave it behind. I wish I had known it long before but it's still not too late...

Horrible but Very Happy

My junior high school days were indeed horrible.

I was in a fascist school that regularly checked the colours of girls' panties and have boys head shaved. Teachers heavily discouraged students to think independently and critically because thinking should be done by adults.

My entire body was covered with rash and I always looked as if I'd been raided by a swarm of bees.

My entire face was covered with pimples. Indeed, I didn't want to be photographed because I would later see a monster.

I was oppressed and ugly. So those days were indeed horrible...

But I was very happy.

Because I was unhappy I had a hope.

And this hope made me act like a revolutionary.

So some adults called me Red or a Commie. But it proved my intelligence! In the early 1980s, while Japanese high school dropouts joined Neo-fascist organisations or became gangsters, rebellious young intellectuals were still attracted by Socialism.

So I became a dissident! Very cool, huh? It gave me a big sense of mission. I became a fighter of people's liberation!

That made me very bold and courageous. So girls liked me even though I was awfully ugly.

Life is indeed a curious thing. Frankly speaking, I am very much surprised by my own ability to feel very happy under adversity. Maybe I still have it...

When Two Sets of Eyes Become One

When her eyes meet her eyes,
She is in him and he is in her.
When the world around them falls away,
She melts into him and so does he.
Then time stops and boundary between the two
Falls away just like the world around them.

When two sets of eyes become one,
They see God within them.
When world around them falls away,
There emerges the foretaste of eternity.
Now they are in the classroom of Love 101.
They'll learn helluvalot from their oness.

When you meet such eyes,
It's the entrance of your own holiness.
That in turn makes everyone holy.

If you've already met such eyes,
Cherish these and let the seed of love in two
Grow into a big tree of Godly love.

Nose Picking by a Dream Girl

I saw a very weird dream during a nap today.

I seemed to be lying on the floor of a living room of someone's house. I was so sleepy, probably because I drank and ate too much at a party. I saw there were a few other persons also lying on the floor. Maybe they were full and drunk, too.

Then a girl, who was lying close to me woke up and smiled at me. She was my dream girl (looked somewhat like Gigi Leung five years ago) and her smile was so mischevously sweet. Then she moved up to me and touched my cheeks. I thought (and hoped) she'd kiss me. I knew she was my anima and now she was going to reward me with a kiss for my efforts to improve the communication with her...

But she started picking my nose!

Maybe I picked my nose while sleeping. But it was my dream girl who did the picking. This dream is so enigmatic that I feel it'll take while before I decode the meaning...

Well, I once saw my dream girl picking her nose.

She was a young soldier of the People's Liberation Army. She was so boyishly cute that I could not help myself from staring her. She stare me back, smiling but then she started picking her nose. I'll remember her forever. Yes, because of picking nose...

Clever Dumb and Dumber

Have you really considered how many opportunities you have had to gladden yourself, and how many of them you have refused?
- A Course In Miracles, Text, Chapt. 4, IV, Paragraph 8

Actually, we often choose to put ourselves in misfortunes, just like the end of a Jim Carrey movie Dumb and Dumber. Well, they are somewhat clever because they don't go on grunting about their misfortune created by their refusal. We can learn from them...

Diffuse the Bomb of Fear with a Bad Joke!

Don't like what you see?
Then make it into a bad joke
And laugh it away.
It works much better
Than closing your eyes.

Laughing at a bad joke can
Bring life back to you
And diffuse the bomb of fear.

When you give a new interpretation
To the world in front of your eyes,
You become aware that
You can renew the world
Into what you can like.

It allows you to live in the Heaven
Even before you die.
Because it makes you aware that
You are the Creator of the world
Who can also redeem it at will.

A Fun Funeral

I happened to watch Adam Sandler’s Little Nicky last night on the cable. And that reminded me of my mother-in-law’s funeral in the Northeastern Thailand a few years ago. What the h-ll does a nonsense comedy of Satan’s nerdy son with speech problem to do with the funeral of my wife’s mother? It’s simple. They showed it at the end of her funeral!

As she died peacefully at the age 80 (according to the traditional counting), her week-long funeral was like a celebration. Her coffin was painted gold and had Christmas tree lights blinking over it. It looked very awkward (and very funny) to me but I did know that it meant glory of longevity. Anyway, Theravada Buddhists love glittering glory and often represent it by Christmas tree lights…

Her funeral seemed to be a rare occasion of communal entertainment for all the villagers. Two pigs and a cow were slaughtered for the feast. Women joyfully cooked, chatted and ate endlessly, while men drank almost endlessly. Everyone except my wife (who had to pay for all of this) and I (who could neither drink, eat spicy food nor speak the Lao language) was happy. Every night from midnight to dawn, they played Thai dance music through a loudspeaker. I guess it was the message to the deceased that everyone was fine and she could this world without worry… I felt it was so nice that I started to hope people would throw a wild party after my death.

And after a week of feast, they watched more than a few movies in the dried rice paddy to wrap up the funeral. I remember one of my sisters-in-law rented action movies from Hollywood and Thailand (for everyone), a romantic Hong Kong movie with Andy Lau (for women) and Little Nicky. I thought other movies were fine but Little Nicky was outrageous.

But it was fine. The movie that made fun of the heaviness of life and death might be quite appropriate for everyone before going back to life from a long funeral. Well, I guess my mischievous mother-in-law would have liked this movie…

After we came back to my mother-in-law’s home from her cremation (48-hour slow grilling using charcoal), one of the neighbours said something bad about her. Then a strong wind came out of blue and blew his cap away. He was just scared out of h-ll. Everyone knew that wind was my mother-in-law’s goodbye. I loved her playful way of leaving this world…

Inter-esse, Inter-be, Interest

The origin of interest: Latin inter-esse 'to be in or among.'

If you are suffering because you cannot
Get involved in what's important to you,
Put it among what you are interested in.
Everything in the world is somehow connected
So you'll find something related to what you like.

If you feel you cannot get involved in
Something very important to you,
Find a connection between you and it.
You'll soon find more and more connections
And find yourself living in a web of interest.

Everything has something to do with you.
Live the life of Interbeing!

Wisdom Seen in Sailor Mercury

I have no idea why but I recently see Sailor Mercury, one of the characters in Japanese cartoon Sailor Moon very often. On the Net and on the street and even in the garbage I pick, I found her pictures. It is quite strange that I see her often now in 2006. Sailor Moon should already be a history. And I didn’t really watch the series, either. I have known it only as a social phenomenon…

Just a few days ago, I found a pile of anime trading cards dumped in one of the refuge rooms that I was in charge of. And Sailor Mercury was on the top of the pile. As I felt a bit disturbed about my frequent encountering to her, I put all these cards into a plastic bag and stirred them, wishing she’d mix into other cards. But she stayed on the top. So I stirred the cards again. But she still refused to go down. So I picked the card up and slipped it into my pocket.

Well, frankly speaking, I find Sailor Mercury cute. Her somewhat boyish appearance is very close to my archetypal dream girl. So I am not surprised at all if she is manifestation of my anima. And I remember that she is the most intelligent of the Sailor Fighters. Then it is very close to my anima figure that I privately call Sophie (Wisdom). In addition, Mercury is the Roman god of storytelling! Wah, just a few minutes pondering solved much of the mystery…

So now I think my anima, my Inner Guide to Wisdom now tries to communicate with me through the appearance of Sailor Mercury, a figure close to my archetypal girl friend. Well, I have been tired and have found it quite difficult to write a poem or a story these days. I guess it has come from my lack of attention to my anima so she has tried to draw my attention with pretty face and a sexy costume! Well, it's nice but she’s acted in a way that makes a middle aged man (me) blush...

My Most Favourite Verses from ACIM

How can you who are so holy suffer? All your past except its beauty is gone, nothing is left but a blessing. It have saved all your kindness and every loving thought you ever had. I (Jesus) have purified them of the errors that hid their light, and kept the for you in their own perfect radiance. They are beyond destruction and beyond guilt. They came from the Holy Spirit within you, and we know what God creates is eternal.
- A Course In Miracles, Text, Ch 5, V, Paragraph 8, Verses 1-5

Choose Your Emotions

I am responsible for what I see.

I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide
upon the goal I would achieve.

And everything that seems to happen to me
I ask for, and receive as I asked.

- A Course In Miracles (Text Ch. 21, II, Paragraph 2, Verses 3-5)

Sounds strange? But when you have unwanted emotions, just stand back, have a panoramic view, take a very deep breath. It will make it easier for you to choose the emotions you feel. It is not control but a choice, which works better.

Thank You for Visiting!

This blog space has had at least one visitor from all six continents of the world this week!

Thank you for visiting Alaqa!

The Source of All Evil?

When my teacher said that I was a super villain, the source of all evil, I wished it'd really been so.

Where did my pain come from?

Where did the whole world's pain come from?

If I'd been really a source of all evil, I could've removed all sufferings of myself and this world's somehow. Just by turning all my evil super power to something good, I could've made everyone happy...

I really wished I'd been a super villain. Such an influential super bad guy's repentance could've cleansed the sin of the whole world.

But unfortunately I had no such a superpower. Now I am on the way of my own healing by affirming that I am not evil. I hope I can heal the teacher who himself had enough suffering to label a timid pre-teen child the source of all evil.

I now want to free myself from the illusion of my evilness, so that I can help the world to free itself.

Too Strong to Let Go

If someone close to you abuses himself,
Kindly support him.
He is not weak at all.
Actually, he's too strong to let go of the pain
That comes from from anger, sorrow or loss...

He's actually strong enough
To endure his abuse on himself.
If this strength is redirected,
He'll do an excellent job.

Punishment is not what he needs.
What he need is your reminder
That he still has resources
To feel happy and make you happy.

You can help him heal this way...

Don't Underestimate the Power of Earthly Love

Please don't underestimate
The power of earthly love.
Finding beauty in another
Ordinary human being is
Indeed one of everyman's
Windows opened to holiness.

Please don't vilify
The power of earthly love.
Desire to be one with another
Ordinary human being is
Indeed everyman's door to
The quests of overcomimg differences.

Let's celebrate
The power of earthly love!
And allow this foretaste of the Heaven
To grow into the seed of holiness
In everyone's heart.

Alaqa's Recommendation: Cultivating the Mind of Love by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh. It is the Zen master's memoir of first love and about how the earthly love can grow into something holy...


一行禪師親自所講述的初戀故事是被收錄於『與生命相約』(台北‧橡樹林2002年　ISBN986-7884-02-7)的。

Tibetan Medicine (3) - Initiation

It says "slightly fishy." Slightly???

After I opened the plastic capsule of Bu Shen Wan, I immediately knew why its packaging was so excessive, and why a cardboard box full of these balls (more than 80!) was thrown away.

As I removed thin aluminum foil from the sticky brownish ball, I felt as if I'd smelled raw sewage. It was so revolting that neither Norwegian lutefisk, Laotian pa daek, Japanese kusaya, even Chinese smelly tofu, nor any stinky food you could name seemed to be no match to Bu Shen Wan.

Well, then I had to put this sewage-flavoured ball in my mouth. For it was large enough to choke a horse, I decided to chopping it up in small pieces and gulp down with warm water. While chopping, overwhelmed with the odour, I had teary eyes as if I had been slicing an onion.

When I put those pieces into my mouth, I felt as if I had taken a bite of a sewage system. More tears came out of my eyes and my throat and stomach tried with all their might to prevent the inflow of this alien object.

But why is it so stinky?

I checked the ingredients of the medicine and felt another revolt in my stomach. It was made of testicles of horse, bull and ram, penises of donkey and deer, and some common Chinese herbs.

However, I already took the fourth doze of Bu Shen Wan last night. Even though I have to fight myself while taking it, it is so effective (especially for fatigue) that I feel like taking it again.

But I still need quite a lot of psychological preparation before taking it. It is quite much like asking a boss for a pay raise... And I am sick enough to do it every night. Well, I am sick so I need medicine, right? Please wish me get well soon!

Time's Up for Thinking

When you still feel lost
Even after thousands of thoughts,
Time's already up for thinking.
More thinking only ends up
More question marks hovering
In your mind like noisy flies.

So when you still feel lost
Even after thousands of thoughts,
It's time to let the Holy spirit guide you.
Less thoughts makes you hear
Her voices much more clearly.
So close your eyes and count your breaths.

When you still feel lost
Even after thousands of thoughts,
It's time to listen to small voice
That comes deep inside your heart.

Tibetan Medicine (2) - Ecologist's Nightmare?

The packaging of this medicine is simply excessive. It comes in a box of a size bit larger than the modem used roughly ten years ago. In that box, there are eight small boxes of the size a bit smaller than a box of two golf balls. Then in each of smaller box, there is one ball of medicine placed in a plastic container. In such a big box, there are only eight balls of medicine that are smaller than ping pong balls. It should be an ecologist's nightmare. (But I soon discovered why.)

Anyway, the kidney medicine is highly prized in China as the people here think that kidney function affects sex a lot. So this Bu Shen Wan may be used as a gift (or bribe) to an important person... From the package, I can see it is luxrious medicine. Anyway, a luxury item should be in a ridiculously excessive packaging, and it is particularly true in this part of the world.

Although I have no sex problem (actually I want to cool myself down a bit), I have had kidney problems since I was a child. So when I picked up a cardboard box full of this medicine in a refuge room, I decided to take it.

When I took the first ball of Bu Shen Wan, I felt as if I had been in some kind of tribal initiation... It is definitely not as easy as gulping some aspirin pills. I will tell you about this initiation tomorrow.

Tibetan Medicine (1) - Discovery

I have been taking the most horrible and weird medicine I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I recently found a cardboard box full of that medicine in a pile of garbage I was cleaning up. Well, I do not recommend you take medicine that someone has thrown away. But it was the kind of medicine I wanted and it had more than half a year before expiry...

It is called Bu Shen Wan or "Kidney Replenishment Ball" made in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. As this medicine's has a bilingual - Tibetan and Chinese - package, its recipe should be of the Tibetan origin, even though Ningxia is actually quite far from Tibet.

Tibetan medicine. Exotic isn't it? Tibet has a long tradition of its own medicine developed on the basis of Indian medicine and it has been quite popular in China these days. Perhaps, some Han Chinese accept Tibetan medicine in the same way as some Westerners try Chinese medicine for persistent chronic disease...

Well, as some of the most precious herbs for Chinese medicine come from Tibet, it could be much easier for Han to try Tibetan medicine than Westerners do bitter and weird Chinese potion.

I will tell you more about this mysterious medicine tomorrow again...

Past Purified

I don't know why but I remember more happy memories than I used to be. I do feel that my past has been gradually purified. So I want to share my most favourite part of A Course In Miracles (ACIM) with all of you:

How can you who are so holy suffer?
All your past except its beauty is gone,
and nothing is left but a blessing.
I have saved all your kindnesses
and every loving thought you ever had.
I have purified them of the errors that hid their light,
and kept them for you in their own perfect radiance.
They are beyond destruction and beyond guilt.
They came from the Holy Spirit within you,
and we know what God creates is eternal.
(Text, Chapter 5, IV, Paragraph 8)

Thank you, my left brain...my right heel!

You don't have to blame yourself for fatigue.
It is just a sign that you've run too fast.
It is just a sign that you can close
Your eyes just for a while
And assure yourself that everything's okay.

Close your eyes and say thanks to
Each part of your body.

Thank you, my left brain!
Thank you, my right brain!
Thank you, my right eye!
Thank you, my left eye!
...
Thank you, my left heel!
Thank you, my right heel!

You'll find these parts of you
Delightfully respond to you.
As they receive what they've waited for.
And you can get at least
A score of minutes of deep rest.

Today's post is inspired by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh's Zen meditation technique. It is really refreshing. Try it when you have around 20 minutes! Such easy meditation methods are introduced in the book below:

A Tramcar Named Happiness

I often wander into a branch line of a railway in my dream. I usually get off the trunk line train by mistake and find a short branch line train waiting at a platform. I hop onto it anyway.

The train is comprised of a few wooden trams, usually two. It runs slowly, making low noises that are somewhat like groan. The inside of the tram is quite dark as there are only a few primitive light bulbs for lighting. The floor is made of wood and well-polished. It gives off slight smell of wax. It is indeed an old train but it gives me a very comfortable feeling.

Yes, it is the kind of train that I took to the nearby cities with my parents before getting into kindergarten, where much of innocence was lost. So it is a view of bliss for me. It reminds me that I also had happy child days before it was taken away by teachers...

Then what does it mean to me now? In my dream, I take the train as a grown-up man and not entirely nostalgic. I know that the branch line represents something relevant to today's me.

Although I've taken the train by mistake and I have no idea where the h-ll it'd take me, I enjoy the unexpected way that things go on unfolding. I love the pastoral scenery. I also find the slow speed of the train quite comfortable. Does it mean that I've been astray from the mainstream but I am still on a right track that would lead me to happiness? I hope so.

Hope Is an Ticket to the Heaven

This picture is an icon of Project Hope (Xiwang Gongcheng 希望工程), China's charity movement to help rural kids to stay at school. She is the Chinese version of the Afghan Girl of the National Geographic...

Fear is an express ticket
To a personal hell.
It will keep your mind busy
With what you don’t want

But overwhelmed by fear
Your mind often mistakes it
With what you do want.

So when you have a fear
Just throw it away.
And replace it with hope.

Don’t know what you hope?
No sweat.
When you hope you have hope
You already have one.

Keep a hope in your mind always
Because it is a ticket to the Heaven.

You Can't Fish Deer in the Sea!

Don't try catching mackerel here!

Chance favours the prepared mind. - Louis Pasteur
Opportunity + Preparedness = Good Luck - Deepak Chopra

Even when you see others eating fish
Empty-handed on your way home from hunting
Don't envy them.
They aren't eating what you've wanted.
They are just eating what they've wanted.

While you went to the forest seeking deer,
They went to the beach seeking small fish.
You've sought after what is big but hard to get.
They've sought after what are small but sure to get.

They've decided to settle with
What can fill their stomach tonight.
You've decided to pursue
What would make you a heroine someday
But would leave you hungry this evening.

If you envy them, settle with filling your stomach tonight.
Just don't let you go on burning in the fire of envy.
It'd only deepen the personal hell that you’re already in.

They've got what they've valued.
You are still on the way of getting what you value.
If you envy them eating fish,
Pause your hunting for a while and learn from them
How to fill your stomach tonight.

You may find happiness in full stomach
Even though it doesn't give you glory.
Or such happiness may never satisfy you.
I don't know what you'd feel.

But you can start hunting again after fish supper.
I guess you'd hunt better
With your stomach and mind satisfied a bit.

I just want to tell you
You'll only get what you really want.
You'll only get what you really value.

So know clearly what you really value...

Deepak Chopra's Seven Spritual Laws - For Kids

FIRST LAW:
Everything is possible.

SECOND LAW:
If you want to get something, give it.

THIRD LAW:
When you make a choice, you change the future.

FOURTH LAW:
Don't say no -- go with the flow.

FIFTH LAW:
Every time you wish or want, you plant a seed.

SIXTH LAW:
Enjoy the journey.

SEVENTH LAW:
You are here for reason.

From The Seven Spiritual Laws of Sucess for Parents, Deepak Chopra, Rider, 1997.

A Chihuahua's Faith

A Chihuahua loves to bark.
So does a Pomeranian.
Small dogs bark a lot.
It's not the sign of their strength
But is merely the display of their fear.

They need defense
Because they want to scare off their own fears
That comes from their smallness.

I talk a lot about God.
It's definitely not the sign of my strength.
But it's merely a display of my insecurity.
Anyone doesn't have to talk about strong God
When he is fully secure.

I only have a Chihuahua's faith.

Who to Listen to?

People might say to me:

You live in a messy Kowloon neighbourhood!
You collect garbage for money!
You wear other people's garbage!
You don't earn as much as most of your college classmates!

You're an utter failure.

But why do I have to care?

Yes, I live in a messy neighbourhood but I own my flat. I bought it by cash.

Yes, I collect garbage for money but I love the sweats that this job makes.

Yes, I wear what others have thrown away, but isn't it ecological? It's even hip now.

You're right. I don't earn much but I earn more than enough.

No, I am a winner!

Anyway, who the heck are the people?

Actually no one has said these. They are only imaginary. And so are their words... (Or my bad habit of mind-reading...)

I know I write this because I am still not free from my Ego's defence. If I am really confident about myself, I wouldn't feel such necessity at all!

But at least, I know to whom I should listen... It's not voices from outside but those from deep inside of my mind. Yes, those are from my Inner Guide or the Holy Spirit!

Do you know who to listen to? Yes, you do. I guess you just don't know you've already known...

中風的徵兆

由於我一位很重要的朋友寄以下的文章給我，我要跟大家共享。（應該是來自台灣的吧。在香港，你當然要打999，在美國要打991！在日本和台灣要打199。）

蘇西跌倒了。因為雪麗看到蘇西跌倒就立刻問了蘇西『三個問題』。而這『三個問題』卻救了蘇西的生命。

因為蘇西無法回答這三個問題所以她朋友就立即打119電話求救。雖然蘇西的血壓正常同時看起來也沒有中風的樣子；但因為有『三個問題』的認知，蘇西被立即送到醫院。

請閱讀後並將這個方法學習起來！有時候中風的徵兆很難辨識，不幸的是，常因為注意疏失往往造成了無法挽回的災禍。中風患者常因旁邊的人沒有適時發現中風的徵兆，延誤救治而使患者腦部受損。

三個問題：
*要求病患展示笑容。
*要求病患兩隻手都舉起來。
*要求病患說出一句簡單的話。

如果病患無法做到這『三個問題』，就立即打119電話求救，並且告訴隨車的救護人員這是中風的徵兆。

有了這個發現後，一些非醫療單位的義工團員也能因為面部、手臂及語言的虛弱狀況來判斷中風的徵兆了。研究人員在二月份的美國中風協會年度會議中，展示了這個結論並鼓勵大眾將這個『三個問題』的方法學習起來。廣泛的傳遞並且應用這種詢問測試中風徵兆的方法，可以達成迅速診斷治療中風患者還能避免患者的腦部受損。

一位心臟學家說，如果接到這封信就傳給十個人的話，至少將會救活一個人的命。

O, Spring Rain!

It rains very often here in Hong Kong these days. And it reminds me of a Haiku from the 17th century that my high school teacher read aloud to the class. So I share it with you through my poor translation:

O, spring rain!
The Goddess of spring
Pees standing...

It is a bit obscene but I do see that the author felt gentleness of warm rain falling from the sky.

Let Go of What Isn't Really Yours

Japan saw a miraculous economic growth
after surrendering to the Allied Nations in 1945.
History works in paradox. So does a life.

When you are pushing hard and going nowhere,
You’ve already pushing hard enough.
You can’t push any further,
I guess, because you are pushing in a wrong place.

Maybe the land here is not as fertile as you think.
Maybe the land here is someone else’s turf.
But anyway, it is futile to go on pushing in a place
That is not really yours.

So surrender now.

Stop pushing and let go of what is not really yours.
Clinging onto what you don’t deserve makes much pain
That only keeps you stuck where you are.

So surrender now.
You’ll see your right way unfold itself in front of your eyes
Only if you can let go what is not really yours,
Only if you can surrender.

Surrendering looks like defeat to others.
But it doesn’t matter.
Surrendering what is not really yours

Is the road that leads you to a true victory!

A Miracle Found in Indian Curry

I ate curry for lunch yesterday. Eating curry would not sound special at all but eating authentic Indian curry is almost a miracle for me.

As I was not bold enough to eat “Very Hot,” I ordered “Medium Hot.” But remembering three years ago when I still had very serious haemorrhoids, eating “Little Hot” Indian curry was definitely a big adventure for me. I could not simply imagine then that I could someday eat hot and spicy food like Indian curry again someday.

However, I have almost no diet restriction. Now I can eat what I want to eat. Regaining such freedom, I feel somewhat puzzled but I do feel happy.

Finding happiness in such a natural thing, I feel I might have an ability to feel happy about very small things. From this, I feel that I had not suffered from pain for a very long time for nothing. Actually I feel some great power beyond our understandings.

I call it “God” but I also feel I can call it “Tao” or “Dharma.” But whatever we name it, I believe that if we follow the energy that makes us happy, we will see our future go on unfolding beautifully.

印度咖哩裡的奇蹟

我今天午餐時吃了咖哩。吃咖哩，聽起來並非甚麼特別的事，但進食到正宗印度咖哩對我來說幾乎是奇蹟。

我也不是夠膽吃「大辣」，所以叫了一碗「中辣」的雞蛋咖哩。但是，回憶到我還有非常嚴重之痔瘡的三年前，即使是「小辣」，吃印度咖哩對當年的我來說是個大冒險，簡直想不到我會有一天再吃這麼「熱氣」的食物。

但是，現在差不多沒有甚麼食物上的限制，想吃甚麼，就可以吃甚麼。五年的時間之後灰復了這樣的自由，我還覺得有點迷惑，但的確覺得很幸福。

能夠把這麼當然的自由為幸福了，我覺得我可能有對很多小小的事情亦感到幸福的能力。這樣想，覺得長期的病痛也並不是沒有甚麼好處，感到超過我們理解的力量之偉大。

我會叫它「上帝」，但亦覺得可以叫「道」還是「法」。我覺得，儘管叫它甚麼，只要讓我們跟隨令我們覺得開心的力量，我們會看到我們的未來美麗地展開下去。

Wait for the Tailwind

You've sailed so fast and so long.
Actually you've done so much
Without knowing it.
Even though you feel things don't go well,
Actually everything's okay with you.

When you can sail without pain,
Actually you sail before the wind of time.
So don't be disappointed
Even though you can get no tailwind now.
It will certainly blow again soon.

Now you can mend the sail.
You can grease the helm now.
Now you can learn how to sail better.
So that you can sail faster
When the wind blows again for you.

A season is set for everything,
A time for every experience under heaven...*

*Ecclesiastes 3:1 (The New JPS Translation)

You Can Raise Lazarus!

A barefoot doctor of China in 1960s: Even though she was a Communist, I believe Jesus worked through her to help many people.

When your friend is in distress, don't dig deeply into her problems.

It'll just make a small problem so big that she might feel a need to isolate herself from the entire human community.

When you judge someone's problem, you are acting as a priest who pronounces her unclean of spiritual leprosy.

When your friend is in distress, find together what resources she has so that she can find a better way.

By doing this, you can't only heal the small leprosy of her mind but also open spiritually blind eyes and even raise a dead spirit.

When you empower someone through reminding her of her own resources, Jesus is working through us.

And we are saved when Jesus works through a lot of people around us and remind us that we are already saved.

And remember, He wouldn't only work through Christians. Even an atheist or a Communist can be His instrument. So whoever empowers you, accept him as Jesus' hands.

Thank You!

This lotus flower is called Inner Lignt.

Thank you Mom for suggesting a plastic surgery!
But it does not matter. I can live with this face.
Regardless of how far I was away from being handsome,
There always were some girls who liked me, anyway.

Thank you Dad for suggesting a name change!
But it does not matter. I've picked up a middle name.
Even though my legal name does not sound good,
I can simply use another name for jobs and with friends.

Thank you Teachers for denying my national identity!
But it does not matter any more. I emigrated.
Because you stripped away my sense of belonging
I have come to feel the entire world as my home.

Thank you all for not liking my surface identity!
Because all your suggestions have enabled me
To explore my True Self deep inside of me.

Well, frankly speaking I wish you'd been kinder to me.
But even though your words were harsh
Now I know they came from love, anyway.

So I forgive you now.

Thank you for opening a door to the Truth for me!
Now I know I am not just what I am seen to you all...

Be Your Own Angel

A person receives Wisdom from his Guardian Angel,
but this angelic being is actually his Higher Self.
- Silvanus (a Gnostic sage)

Even when you cannot be short-listed for a job offer
You don't have to be disappointed at all!
It wasn't a right job for you, anyway.

You still don't know that you weren't rejected.
Actually you rejected the job
Because you knew what you wanted better than they did.

But you simply don't know you already knew...

Even if I still feel it was a right job for you
You don't have to be disappointed at all!
You weren't ready yet so go on preparing, anyway.

If you want a good job or a loving boyfriend,
Don't expect them to be your angels.
But you will get all these very soon
After you find a pair of wings on you soul.

But you simply don't know what you already have.

Find an angel deep inside of you.
And be an angel to the ones you love.
Then you'll find a legion of angels
Flying towards you!

Very Cold in HK

My blogspace has recently had two visitors from the Arab world. One from UAE and another from Egypt. Thank you for visiting this rural place of the Cyberspace!

When I located UAE and Egypt on the map, I found the latitudes of both countries are almost the same as that of Hong Kong. Somewhere above 20 deg. N. But it was 9 degrees centigrade in Hong Kong this morning and the HK Observatory issued a warning of cold weather!

Well, it is nothing compared to the "cold weather" in Minnesota, but you can die sleeping on the street after drinking. Actually, dozens of people died of cold in HK every winter before the handover of the city's sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997. But the winter death toll declined dramatically after the PRC took over this former British colony. The HK government has done quite a good job in protecting of the homeless and senior citizens from cold weather.

By the way, it is around 20 degrees centigrade both in Cairo, Egypt and Dubai, UAE. It should be quite pleasant. It was actually quite surprising to me, because I'd imagined the weather would be always hellishly hot over there...

But it IS cold anyway....

已經係三月，點解香港咁凍？

過去幾天，有些來自阿拉伯國家的人訪問我的網誌，覺得很特別。看看地圖，我發現埃及和阿酋聯的緯度是跟香港差不多的，令我非常驚訝。

但是，這幾天的香港非常冷，冷到連天文台也發出了「寒冷天氣警告」！為甚麼差不多是中國最南端的香港這麼冷？我記得來自日本沖繩縣的大學同學曾告訴我，雖然沖繩的緯度高於香港很多，但他家鄉沒有甚麼冬天，每年有幾天不用開風扇的日子，而他同鄉當這幾天為「冬天」！

香港這麼冷，因為是海流的關係呢？無論如何，非常冷！

A Bird Flu Song (Music Video from China)

A friend of mine sent me a link to an interesting music video from the mainland China. (Probably it is a work of independent Net musicians.)

It is not just funny but very moving. (I am crazy enough to weep... But it is a song about respect and understanding that everyone deserves.) So I translated the lyrics just for you… Enjoy!

http://www.hkbirdflu.com/sadchick.htm (I recommend you open it in a new window.)

I Don't Want to Tell You I Am a Chicken

I don't want to tell you I am very clean
I don't want to tell you I am very safe.
But I can't reject people's misunderstandings.
Looking at tight shut circle, counting eggs I've laid,
I am waiting for the danger of being slaughtered.

You eat my meat, I have nothing to say.
You take my eggs, I am very happy.
But I can't take being labelled as pollution!
Thinking about bitter destiny, wiping watery eyes,
I understand what people feel.

The same chicken meat, the same chicken eggs,
The same us, how come became pollutants?
Bird flu, it's very dangerous.
Who gave us our avian ancestry?

Children's Father was already executed.
Children's Big Brother was already taken to a lab.
Being a chicken is tougher than being a human this year.
Even if I can make it today, even I if can make it tomorrow,
I guess I am finished on the day after tomorrow!

The same chicken meat, the same chicken eggs,
The same us do not worth even a penny!
Anyway, you have to eat meat, anyway you have to eat,
Humans cannot live in a world without chicken.

The same chicken meat, the same chicken eggs,
The same us can’t make this year of destiny!
Anyway, you have to eat meat, anyway you have to eat,
Humans cannot live in a world without chicken.

The year 2005 is gone. I hope all the bad things are behind us. I wish all the chicks, ducklings and children of the world grow healthy. I wish this world be filled with health and peace. Humans cannot live in a world without chicken.