In all the different movies or shows I’ve watched, I’ve noticed a trend about the traits given to the leading actors and actresses. They don’t explain themselves. They wait for time to reveal the truth to all those who with suspicions or with unresolved doubts. It just seems so much cooler that way. For example, […]
After hours glued to the vivid video, there were many scenes from BBC’s Nature’s Most Amazing Events that made lasting impressions on me. One recurring set up was a lion on the prowl for its prey, commonly a young, helpless animal like a baby zebra, wilderbeast, impala, elephant, or buffalo. These infants were targeted, chased […]
Do unto others as you would like done unto you. This is so true, but sometimes we overlook the fact that both the negative and positive things that we do will come back to us. For example, a friend of mine was obsessed with a colleague’s constantly acting as the exception, standing out because of […]
If I had to bet on true love or proximity, I know what my money would be on. I’ve seen it happen to countless people. Despite being disgusted by a particular person or never even considering this person a potential candidate, they will grow on us if we spend enough time with them. We will […]
I hate it when people say, “calm down” and “don’t worry.” Although the words are typically said with good intentions, I often feel like yelling, “If just saying, ‘calm down’ and ‘don’t worry’ would magically make it happen, I would have done it by now, thank you very much!” So how do you get rid […]
It’s just as bad, or even worse off than where you started: Going from a permanent, to impermanent, and back to permanent view. And it’s a common trap practitioners find themselves in. For example, this past Wednesday, I figured that since the A’s and Giants were in their playoff games, the restaurant would not be […]
At this year’s KPY USA retreat, Phra Anan had the attendees play a quick game. You can do this at home, too: Take a piece of paper, divide it into four sections. For section 1, write “A > B“at the top. Section 2 is labeled “A<B,” section 3 is “A=B,” and section 4 is “A […]
After a breakup or falling out, there can be resentment, relief, regret. You deal with the pain, the sun rises and falls, and suddenly you find yourself missing the very person you couldn’t wait to be rid of (or the person who hurt you beyond your threshold of pain). As you take in new experiences […]
On an alms round, a devout lay follower made an offering to a monk, but not all of it could not fit into the monk’s alms bowl. So the monk said that the rest of the offering could be placed in his monk bag. Reluctant, the layperson asked if you could still get merit if […]
The other day, I was talking to a friend about how, to the chagrin of many Thai and Lao parents, the auspicious name of a temple was being made fun of by their American-born children. The name? Wat Phu Sri. We proceeded to have a good laugh over how Thais can’t understand why Americans would […]
I bought a cake to eat at work and placed it on my passenger seat as I got into my car. I drove for half an hour without incident. As I was about to make a right turn to find parking, an old man abruptly swerved into my lane, causing me to slam on the […]
Many people would rather be without pain. But I say, bring it on! Pain enables us to learn, motivates us, and cements crucial life lessons. Without it we would never acheive nor would we cease putting forth futile efforts. So why do people try to avoid pain?
I received a jury duty summons last month, and I called in to the juror hotline and made it past three days without having to report to the court. Then on Thursday, I had to go in. Bummer. When jury selection came around, the judge and lawyers explained the case and asked questions, basically […]
I was a few days into my first KPY retreat and I was still on the fence about whether or not this approach was for me. I had quietly listened as other folks shared stories from their lives and the realizations they had achieved when they examined their experiences from a correct viewpoint. I still […]
Reading the news today, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes in Luang Por Thoon’s book, Natural Disasters. He wrote, “People in this age are commendable for their ability to create technological resources to enhance daily life. Knowledge is tucked away in innovative devices as a proxy for the human memory. It […]
I live in the suburbs, where each house has one covered garage spot and two spots in front of the garage. There are two additional spots in front of each house, by the sidewalk. Our house is pretty much in the middle of the block. Our caucasian neighbors on our left are a family of […]
At school, a little girl was headed down the stairs to the playground where there weren’t any other kids or adult supervision. This was, as the little girl had been told many times before, against the rules. An adult asked her, “Where are you going?” The little girl turned around briefly and kept on walking […]
I had a dream last night about a great man desired by everyone. Men swarmed around him, looking up to him as their leader. Woman turned to admire him because he was just everything any woman could ever want. And I was the one that he wanted. Of course this dream is a common fantasy. […]
At a recent house warming party, my friend got all heated up about her friend who didn’t know to wash chicken or vegetables before cooking them. She said, “everyone knows that you have to wash chicken and vegetables before cooking them!” and went on to tell us about how her friend was uneducated about the […]
A fellow practitioner started a conversations about death, as inspired by a dead bug. My thoughts are…. When I see dead bugs or flattened rodents in the middle of the road, I also cringe. Then I consider that I have died just like those animals in the past, I will die like that in […]
My mom and I went swimming today at a pool nearby our house. There are six lanes at the pool, divided into 2 slow, 2 medium, and 2 fast lanes. Lap swim is from 5:30-10:00am and when we go early we can oftentimes secure a lane for the two of us to share for the […]
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