The Young Ones

Often my friends and I marvel at the younger generation who are so computer savvy. Little kids not yet in their teens seem so adept in handling the computer - never mind that some are just playing some mindless games or perhaps surfing through some porn sites. That they are so in as far as modern technology is concerned made me ponder over King Pasenadi's fourth dream. In this dream, men were unyoking a team of sturdy and strong oxen and replacing them with young steers to draw the load. The young steers being unequal to the task merely stood still and refused to draw the wagons. It is said that in a similar way, unrighteous kings do not honour wise, skillful but aged lords and had instead  honoured young, foolish and ignorant people to preside court. Would you for a minute think that this is happening in our present modern world?

Ducks in the Rain

It must be raining pretty heavily when we were in the cinema hall in Big Cinema, Taiping Sentral, watching Nicholas Cage in action in Ghost Rider.: Spirit of Vengeance (inset).When Mau Wei drove Hoi Thean and me back home after the show, the road was rather wet and there were two ducks waggling on the roadside, not too far from home. Oh, I haven't seen ducks in the rain for such a long time! Mau Wei had exclaimed and reminisced the ducks her family had reared once. When the ducks had grown up, they had been slaughtered but her mother had not the heart to eat them and had thus given the dead ducks away to a relative. I suppose it would be easy to keep the Buddhist First Precept, Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi,  I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life, if there is some form of attachment. What do you think?

A Moment of Fun

In a small Italian town, a 34 year old barbaid, Laura Maggi  reportedly serve coffee and beer in a skimpy and figure-hugging PVC. In Georgetown, Penang, an air stewardess  allegedly having been raped, was said to have appeared happy and smiling afterwards. These probably make you wonder about the Buddhist 5 precepts for layman, especially the third and fifth, to abstain from sexual misconduct and intoxicants. Would breaking them be fun, perhaps momentarily. Already the barbaid had got the womenfolks in the little town fuming and there probably are lots of things angry women could do - not just to the barmaid who serves the drinks but also the menfolk who go there for a drink. The man accused for raping the air stewardess in Georgetown had also been reported to have worn a black hood over his head when he left the courthouse and would you think for a moment now, that the air stewardess would wear a similar hood wherever she goes? Perhaps, a veil?

What Buddha Looks Like

Seeing the various Buddha images in temples, perhaps, you'd wonder how Buddha looked like. Perhaps, he would look like Richard Gere or maybe, Brad Pitt (inset) or even Tom Cruise. He would not be dark like a Southern Indian perhaps, since he was said to be born somewhere in Kapilavastu, or so, one of my school days History books said. Kapilavastu was part of Northern India and northern Indians are often fair like Caucasians. I remember a monk saying he could be rather handsome too, coming from an Aryan stock. In the Internet, I came across a description of Buddha: Buddha was said to be an excellent and graceful Sakyan prince. He had a beautiful face, a long, prominent and well-formed nose, beautiful deep black eyes, golden skin, glossy black hair, and a forehead like a plate of purified gold. The description was said to be uttered by Princess Yasodhara to Prince Rahula. Princess Yasodhara, if you remember, was Buddha's wife prior to his enlightenment and Rahula, was his son he left behind at the palace. Sometimes, perhaps, you'd be advised to contemplate on the Buddha. Would you perhaps contemplate on his good looks, his leaving his wife and son or the teachings he left behind, particularly the Precepts and the Noble Truths?

Stoning Adulterers

An Iranian woman, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, reportedly faces being stoned to death for having an affair with a married man, Jafar Kiani. Punishment by stoning probably is not meted just on adulterers. People could be stoned for various reason including blaspheming, believing in another God and even for being not a virgin on the wedding night. Christians in ancient times, probably do not stone adulterers. In the mount of Olives, a woman said to have commited adultery was brought to Jesus and since Moses was said to have commanded that adulterers  be stoned, Jesus's opinion was sought as to what to do. It was in the mount of Olives then that Jesus had uttered this famous line: He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone. To the woman, Jesus had said that he did not condemn her and had then asked her to go and sin no more. I suppose that is what the third of the five Buddhist precepts is all about. Kāmesumicchācāra veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi, I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual misconduct. There probably has never been a set Buddhist law that states that adulterers should be stoned or be punished in any other way. Indeed if adulterers are sinners, Karma probably would take care of them.

An Evil Act

When a woman cut off the penis of a man, it would not always be a case of adultery, or so I found out from this report about a California woman, Catherine Kieu who reportedly was accused of cutting off a man's penis whom she had tied to a bed. There had been an argument between the woman and the 60-year-old victim earlier over a future house guest's visit. As in the case of the first of the five Buddhist precepts, Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi where taking the life of a living being, man and animal included, is not encouraged, the act probably stems from a thought. To break the first precept, there ought to be a being and a thought to kill that precede the act of killing. Obviously, the California woman had prior to cutting off the being' s penis, been ruffled in her thoughts. The mind, Buddha said, is the forerunner of an action and when there is anger in the mind, there is a high possibilty that an evil act may follow. Not necessarily, killing.

Sons and Parents

D.H Lawrence perhaps would have written about Sons and Parents instead of Sons and Lovers if he had read about this man in Singapore who reportedly paid his sick parents RM4,994 to move out of his flat. The man was said to have even made the parents sign documents , promising not to return to the flat. Treating ailing parents miserably perhaps is not something new. A Jataka tale tells of a man, Vasitthaka who takes his ailing father out to the cemetery, digs a hole with the intention of breaking his head with a spade but is brought to his senses by his young son. The latter who has gone with him to the cemetery has dug another similar hole and when asked why he has done that, replied:

I too, when thou art aged, father mine,

Will treat my father as thou treatest thine;

                                                      Following the custom of the family

                                                     Deep in a pit I too will bury thee..

This tale is food for thought, isn't it?

Quotes to Ponder: Buddha

* Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

*Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

*The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness.

*Look within, thou art the Buddha.

*Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others

Burglar Kids

You'd probably take it with a pinch of salt that the little Cortez children in Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids (inset) could be involved in espionage and so adept, too. Children, nowadays probably could be whatever they want to be, even burglars. In Putrajaya, Malaysia two boys, aged seven and eight, skipped classes and broke into 26 homes in a six-month period, stealing money, shoes, caps, mobile phones among other things. Now, it is not a matter of the kids having broken the second of the Buddhist Five Precepts: Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi. I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given. The police had said the two burglar kids were too young to be charged. Come to think of it, when it is the Buddhist Five Precepts for laypeople, can a person be too young to undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life, from taking what is not given, to abstain from sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants?

Some Mothers

In US, a 33-year-old mother offered her 13-year-old daughter's virginity to a man for US$10,000.In Kuala Lumpur, a mother beats her seven-year-old son to stop him from disturbing her when she was entertaining her clients. Yet another took her 14-year old daughter out of school and forced her to work as a masseuse by day and prostitute by night while the other working at a restaurant in Bandar Baru Selayang tossed her newborn baby girl out of a third-floor flat. Some mothers do really make you wonder about what Buddha said: If a person carries his father on his right shoulder and his mother on his left shoulder and they urinated and defecated while there and the person supported both parents with precious and exotic clothing and food, that person will still not have returned one moment of the parents' kindness. Do some mothers really deserve this honour indeed!