He looks familiar

Almost everywhere I turn nowadays, I seem to be seeing familiar faces. Be in on the streets, on the bus, or in the mrt.
Do I really know them?

Hm....depends on how you look at it.
It is said that from the beginning of time till now, there are/were millions of lifetime past for each of us, and it is only reasonable that you have met most (if not all) of the others in your numerous past lives.

From another angle, we are all part of the universe, and hence fundamentally the same. Thus you could be recognising the similiarities in another (as familiarity)

But you know what, it doesnt matter. So what if he looks familiar...

I m dependent on my husband

Isn't that what everyone wanted to hear? Everytime I tell others that I am a homemaker, they make the assumption that I am being supported by my husband.

As a matter of principles, I am not.
While it doesnt really bug me that people make that mistaken assumption, I just wonder why a homemaker is sterotyped to be dependent on their husbands, or some other male.

Just because I am not fully employed doesnt mean that I need to be dependent on my husband to provide for my every other need.

A society filled with sterotypes and wrong perspective is a fearful one.

Amitabha Buddha @ home

Filial piety on the decline

It certainty seem the case to me, but I can only judge myself.

What is your definition of being filial?
Does providing monetary support count? Or is it going home on weekends for a simple meal? Or accompanying the elders as and when they require you?

Aint sure about you, but i think that the operational definition of filial piety has subtlely changed over the decades.
And while I might be classified as filial in this time and age, i will probably miss the bar if it was 20 years ago.

Personally, I would fail myself as a daughter. I am grateful and thankful but I have never really expressed that appreciation and gratitude. Maybe it comes from being quiet and in a traditional chinese family where feelings are never openly expressed. I do try to be good and available and all, but even in my deepest of heart, i do not think that that is sufficient.

I would recommend that you listen/read 弟子规。

Are you a heterosexual?

Why is that not the typical question asked whenever we meet someone new?
“Is that person a hetero”, is never asked of others.

Instead, people wonder in their minds about the sexual orientation of those whom they think are homosexuals. Why is the norm assumed to be heterosexual? Just because majority of the population is heterosexual?

Well, everyone will die someday, even the homosexuals, so what makes them so different from the heterosexuals?

Odd how the majority think.
My new pickup line: Are you a heterosexual

The World is in my hands

Not the way you think it is.

I am referring to Reiki.
For those who are out of the new age lingo, Reiki (pronounce "ray-kee”) is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Force Energy. Based on the premise that there is a higher power (unlike religions, it does not then attempt to identify it) of which we are all part, Reiki practitioners access this life force, channel and then direct it in healing.

So practically, I can have the whole of the Universe’s energy through my hands.

And technically, we are all interconnected, through energy. It can flow from the universe to me, it can also flow from me to you, which means we are all one big happy family.

Shouldn’t a family be loving and tolerant of differences?
The world is in our hands. It is what and how we want to make out of it.

Prostrations into the ground

Watched over a TV programme sometime earlier on, about a layperson in Tibet (?), who made over thousands prostrations each day, such that his toes/feet wore out an imprint on the ground of the temple (in the spot where he made his prostrations daily)

It’s quite an amazing feat. The discipline and devotion to his practice.
I am glad to say that I have yet to reach that stage of cultivation.

I used to not take prostrations seriously, because I didn’t see the need nor the value in doing so. It was after I invited Amitabha home, together with the daily prostrations that I did out of respect, that I finally realized the importance and value of prostrations. [Not that I do that many]

It is more than basic respect. It is the heartfelt gratitude and thanks, the appreciation of their qualities (wisdom and compassion), the reverence of their vows, and mostly, the aspiration to be like them. It humbles the self, and reminds one that we have a long way to go on our path to enlightenment.

One does not become a Buddha easily. Lifetimes are required, suffering must be endured, karmic connection necessary, purity attained, the Truth realised. This is much harder than obtaining a doctorate, or even becoming the President. Yet fame and glory are perceived as valuable commodities.

I prostrate myself to slay my ego, to reduce my self-centeredness. To keep flattery and vanity out of my life. To regain the compassion and tolerance for all beings. Afterall, I am not any higher/better than pond scum.