A beautiful Sunday moring

my dear friends and family,

i now take a walk every morning for 30 min., for better health.

this morning as i was walking thru a little park, i saw children happily playing with their parents. this reminded me of the time when, after my divorce and when kevin (my son) was about 3/4 yrs, i always took him to braemar hill park on a sunday for him to play.

then when ryan (my grandson) was about the same age, sometimes he stayed with me over the weekend and i would also take him to the park on middle gap road on a sundary morning to play.

now kevin is fully matured and ryan is in uni, no more sunday parks. how time flies! Buddhism tells me that everything changes and nothing is constant, thats why we need to treasure every moment of our time so that when we have to go, we can say: i live my life to the full and i have no regrets.

am sharing some photos to invite you to join me in my daily walk, you can see the beautiful houses, trees, gardens, and by the way, in one of the last photos you can see a little garden with red flowers which i planted last year and they withered in the winter, so i thought: thats it, i neeed to replant. however to my surprise they are now coming back, multilplying, stronger and nicer. guess this is like our lives, you go thru winter to get stronger so you can broom beautifully in spring. oh, another thing is these flowers need no watering nor fertilizing, so good!!!

after chanting as i was holding dog dog in my lap, he seems so satisfied, and so was i.

cheers

Baby Mars 黄烙燊

my dear friends and family
 
yesterday i went to the westmead hospital to visit baby mars, a little boy of three who is now in sydney with his parents, fiona and lap.  mars has had serious heart problems at birth and doctors in hong kong said he could not live.  since then his mother fiona has started chanting nam myo ho renge kyo and miraculously he lives on.
 
two weeks ago the whole family came to sydney (with money raised from fund raising by a local newspaper) and mars had had two major heart surgeries by a very famous child cardiologist.  after the first operation to make good the heart arteries, his defective valve could not function and there was leakage, fluid had been leaking into his adomen affecting his kidneys and adomen which need cleansing everyday.  the doctors quickly decided to give him a 2nd surgery to replace the defective valve.
 
after the 2nd surgery he has infection and at one time, his heart beat stopped, fortunately with the best care given at the hospital, he was rescued. 
 
i was very touched by what i saw in the hospital:
 
1. little baby mars was lying in bed, heavily sedated, but he is hanging on fighting for his life.  everyone, even the doctors is admiring his strength, strong life force and effort.
 
2. fiona, his mother, shows absolutely NO signs of fear, grudge or worry.  although mars is still in intensive care, fiona has very strong faith that mars will survive, and she is chanting day and night for mars. she said: i know this is our karma, but i am determined to change it.
 
3. despite her own problems, fiona is encouraging other parents to chant and is chanting for other sick children in the hospital.
 
4. all staffs in the hospital are very nice to fiona and lap, treating them like family members.  i saw one hospital staff brought them a special bottle of tonic and another staff gave them home made soup.
 
5. a lot of sgi members in the area are doing their best to support fiona and lap, caring for their physical needs (bringing  food, fruits, lunch and dinner to them everyday), spiritual needs (encouraging them with daily visits, chanting for them and taking them to attend sgi meetings)
 
6. the facilities in the hospital cannot be better: fiona and lap get accommodation in the hopsital for only $20 per person, making it so convenient for them to be with mars.
 
7. the hospital has assigned special nurses to sit next to mars, 24 hours a day,   closely monitoring mars progress, watching mars heart movements on the computer and adjusting treatments and medications whenever necessary.
 
8. the doctors exerted their utmost effort to provide the best treatment for mars.
 
all the above are actual proofs and benefits of fiona's sincere chanting of nam myo ho renge kyo and her deep faith in the gohonzon, and fiona is very determined that she, lap and mars will contribute their lives to kosen rufu (encouraging other people to chant to attain happiness).
 
we will all continue to chant for mars speedy recovery.
 
cheers
 
lydia
 
我親愛的家人和朋友
昨天我去Westmead醫院探望一個三歲小男孩黄烙燊，黄烙燊出生時有嚴重的心臟問題，醫生說，他生存机會很微。他的母親fiona開始努力唱唸南無妙法蓮華經，奇蹟般地，黄烙燊生存下來。
兩個星期前，他們全家因為得到一家報紙為他們籌集的資金, 來到了悉尼由當地一位有名的兒童心臟手術醫生替烙燊做了兩個主要的心臟手術。第一次手術後，由於他的心臟洩漏，流體洩漏到他的腹部, 以至他要每天洗腎.在fiona努力祈求下, 醫生很快决定替烙燊做第二次手術, 換去有缺陷的心臟閥門.
第2次手術後，烙燊受到感染，曾經有一次，他的心臟停止跳動，幸運的是，在醫院提供最好的照顧下，他被搶救成功。
我在醫院裡所看到以下的一切, 令我十分感動,：
1。小小烙燊昏睡在床上，身上插了喉, 但他努力為生存而奮鬥。醫院內每個人，甚至醫生們都被他的努力而感動。
2。烙燊的母親Fiona，境涯十分高, 她沒有恐懼，怨恨或憂慮。儘管烙燊仍沒有脫離危險期, 但Fiona有很強的信念，確信烙燊一定會復完, 她不停唱唸南無妙法蓮華經。她說：“我知道這是我們的宿業，但我決心要轉換宿命, 我們全家一生都會為廣宣流布努力。
3。儘管她自己要面對沈重的問題，Fiona還是鼓勵其他在醫院生病孩子的家長去唱題, 並親自為其他生病孩子唱題.
4。在醫院的所有員工都視Fiona為家人一樣。我看到一個醫院的工作人員給他們帶來了一瓶特殊羅漢果汁和另一名工作人員給了他們自製的湯水。
5。在該地區的SGI會員給了他們的最好支持及照顧他們的生活需求（每天帶給他們日常食品，水果，午餐和晚餐），還每天都去探訪鼓勵他們，為他們唱題，及帶他們參加SGI的活動.
6。在醫院的設施非常好, 提供Fiona和丈夫住宿, 每人每日只需付20澳元, 方便他們日夜陪伴探訪烙燊.
7。醫院更指定了專門的護士二十四小時坐在烙燊床邊密切留意照顧烙燊的進展，必要時調整治療方法和藥物。
8。醫生們都盡了最大的努力提供最好的治療給烙燊。
上述所有都是佛法的實證和功德: 是 透過Fiona真誠的唱題, 及對康座的確信和感恩而表現出來.  Fiona說她决意和家人以後一生都會致力於廣宣流布,鼓勵其他人去信奉日蓮佛法而獲得幸福。
我們都將繼續為烙燊唱題, 祈求他盡快康復

50 cents

my dear friends and family,

today the cleaners came to clean my house, their fee is $120.  as i had hurt my back, i did not go to the bank and had only $100 in my wallet and was $20 short.

i did not want to owe them any money, so i tried 'treasure hunting'.  i found a few dollars in my coin purse, as i was putting andrews jeans away, i heard some clinging noice and was happy to find a few dollar coins there, altogether i got about $15.  i then went into the guest room, kevin normally leaves a box of coins there but, unfortunately, the box was gone and i could only pick up a few small change, totalling about $3.80.  so i was about $1.20 short.

at that time, i silently talked to the gohonzon saying that i needed enough money to pay the cleaners.  i HAVE to find $2 somewhere.

 i went into the study and searched under the cushion of andrews leather seat, THERE I FOUND ONE DOLLAR  , but i was still about 20 cents short.  i went to the living room and searched under the cushions, andrew normally drops his coins there, however i found nothing in the first one, i did not give up and started searching the second one, THERE I FOUND 50 CENTS!!!!  I WAS EXHILATERED.  after paying the $120, i still have about 30 cents left.

i really would like to say that:

a. if we trust the gohonzon, there will be no dead ends for us.
b. if we try to achieve something, and it does not immediately happen, pls dont give up, just one more step and you will be there.

i am soooo glad to share the above with you.

cheers

From Nessa re Chloe

dear nessa

tks for such a nice email. yes, i treat and respect chloe as an adult.  i talk to her about life, relationships, business, problems,  our buddhist philosophy and she asked intelligent questions.

i see a LOT of potential and good qualities in this young girl,  however at the beginning she did not seem to have very high self esteem nor confidence in herself, thats why i have tried very hard to make her realize and see all the good qualities and potential in her. this is what i have learned in our buddhist practice: to encourage, respect and appreciate.

i agree with you 100% in your saying as below:

how an adult's treatment and expectations towards a youngster can help flourish or suppress the youngster's development. we treat our little boys and girls with respect and the expectation that they can manage the materials they work with, with respect and independence

i made serious mistakes when i raised kevin and michele, not encouraging them nor giving them compliments, trying to make them do things 'i think' was right, or criticizing them when they dont do things i want them to do, in doing so, i had suppressed kevins growth.  since i started my buddhist practice, i have learned and changed, and i find that this is very helpful indeed.

tks nessa, for your good insight.  i am going to share this with all my friends and family, with the hope that others will learn from my mistake and live a much smoother and happier life.

lydia

below is nessa's email:

Dear Aunty Lydia,

Wow, I am so happy for you that you had such a wonderful, gerat quality time with Chloe, she is indeed very mature, and I believe that you two will continue to enjoy this friendship from hereon...thanks to your openness towards her, and treating her like a friend first, therefore allowing her to show her mature side too, to live up to what she can be.  I can now really see, as a teacher, how an adult's treatment and expectations towards a youngster can help flourish or suppress the youngster's development. this is why I appreciate Montessori so much, because we treat our little boys and girls with respect and the expectation that they can manage the materials they work with, with respect and independence.  We shake their hand to greet them as if they are grown-ups, we don't baby talk with them. This is surely the same effect you have on your beloved granddaughter.  Moreover, it is her respect towards you that motivates her to write such a beautiful and heartfelt message.   Michele and Ben are very lucky!

xo Nessa

Chloe in Sydney 2012

my dear friends and family

chloe left for hong kong this morning.  just now i was so happily surprised to find that she had removed all her used bed sheets, pillow cases and towels into the laundry area.  what good manners, how thoughtful!  (oh, my son kevin taught her this and she has learned.)

during her stay with me, we are more like good friends.  i can talk with her about my problems, joy, frustrations, relationships and she can understand and share, and vice versa.  i begin to miss her and when i logged into my email, i saw the following message from her and i am so touched.  a little girl of 15 would have the heart to appreciate, be grateful and thankful.

as she had mentioned, she learned from attending all sgi meetings in sydney.  and she said what she has learned in these meetings will leave traits to help her now, and in the future.

to quote her, 'words cannot describe' how happy i am to see a young girl grow in such a short period of time', ie 1 1/2 months in sydney.

i would really encourage parents to take their children to sgi meetings so they will have the good fortune to learn from our profound theory.  am attaching a photo of chloe, a lovely and pretty girl.

cheers

lydia

below is the email from lovely chloe:

dear nana,
you're standing right next to me as I write this email, so I'm trying to be discrete ;). I want to send you this email to thank you for everything you've given me, words cannot describe how grateful I am. I have enjoyed every day I've spent with both you and na kung, and I will really miss it when I'm in hong kong. I feel as if you're more of a friend than a nana ;).. also I'd like to thank you so much for taking me to all the sgi meetings, I've learnt and benefited so much from attending and listening. Both you, and sgi has taught me how to live as a genuine, humble, good human being, and I'm so thankful because all these traits will help me now, and in the future.
hope to see you soon,
chloe

Blessing and Protection (Aug 10, 2012)

my dear friends and family

i have not been writing for sometime and below i am sharing with you what i have been thru these past few months.

A severe cold

in june, when i was in hong kong, i  contracted a very very bad cold.  i had to confine at home for about one week trying to recover.  since then my body had been weakened and on return to sydney, i still had not recovered and was feeling very weak.

Internet

as i was trying to help myself get better, something horrible happened to my computer.  one night as i was checking my yahoo emails, all of a sudden, right in front of my eyes, all my incoming mails had disappeared!  this incident had happened more then three times during that week,  i was terribly alarmed , lost and didnt know what to do: had my computer been hacked??? i was so frightened even to start and use my desk top.

i tried to use my iphone to log onto yahoo mail, and then one afternoon, all the mails in the yahoo box also got disappeared and i could not log in again, and at night all my records in whatsapp and even my 'notes' in the iphone also disappeared right in front of my eyes!!!!!!  i even thought that there must be GHOSTS around

you can imagine how frightened (not of ghosts ) and worried i was.   as all the while trying to find out whats wrong staying up until 2 am every night.    one day by chance a friend told me that Yahoo USA had been hacked and over 200,000 were affected!  then i realized it was yahoos problem and i stopped using yahoo.

fortunately during this time, i got support from two lovely ladies in hong kong and a high tech IT guy who volunteered to come to my home to check and fix my computer, and help me transfer info to my gmail account. this was very comforting to me.  now things are back to normal.


my health

because of the above, my health was further weakened and i became neurotic, to the point that i had heart palpitations which made me dizzy, and short of breath.  i could not think and  was at a loss of words when i wanted to speak.   i did not even have the energy to talk, nor to chant and i could only whisper when i chanted.  there was nothing i could do except to chant nam myo ho renge kyo for better health.   i chanted  to the gohonzon for energy because my mission is to encourage and support other people, and i needed the energy (which i did not have then) to do so.

kevin took me to a doctor whom i had no confidence, then by luck i remembered the name of a very good doctor who treated me last year and found his name on the internet; by the way, his name is Dr. Joseph Santos, a very very good doctor who cared,  listened, explained and asked me to have relevant blood tests, brain and neck scan, and gave me advice on the proper medication.

tks to Dr. Santos, my health is now getting much better, i am more settled and all test results are fine.

andrew

a couple of weeks ago, on a friday afternoon, after lunch andrew said he had discomfort in the chest.  as i had had stomache problems all along, so i thought it was reflux, gas or indigestion. 

1 pm sat noon after andrew finished work,  our nurse called and said andrew was feeling very unwell. i immediately rushed home and called our doctor friend who suggested we go to the nearby hospital.

when we arr at the emergency ward andrew had the BEST care and attention, they staff immediately took him in and gave him an ECG and a blood test.  2 hours later they told him the blood test was confusing and asked him to stay in the hospital.  they also gave him aspirins.   (all the while i was feeling very unwell myself, andrew even jokingly said i looked even sicker then he did)

sunday morning the cardio doc said that all his blood tests were find, but they would still give him a scan on monday and if the scan is find, he can go home.

monday morning after the scan andrew called and said the scan did not look too good and they would give him an angiogram to check his arteries in the heart, because  they didnt know the schedule yet Andrew said he wanted to come home first and book in some other time later in the week when he is not too busy for the angio.  i instantively said no and asked him to stay in the hospital UNTIL everything was cleared.

10 min later andrew called again and said his latest blood test overnight showed that he had a minor heart attack and they would give him an angio the same day, ie monday.  during the procedure, it was found that andrew had TWO blocked arteries in his heart and they put in two stents.

andrew is now back home and back to work, and he is slowly recovering.  however, i have to keep an eye on his routine and diet, and will have to find ways to build up his energy level again. 

blessing and protection

the above is a brief account of all the scenarios i had gone thru.  i had to say that it had not been an easy time for me; however during these difficult times, i could feel the protection that i have received:  help from hong kong and sydney on the internet, the advice from a friend on yahoo which came in the right time, the good doctor who genuinely cared and helped me and all the good staffs in the hospital who helped andrew.  these are the shoten senjins (guardian angels) who protect us when we chant nam myo ho renge kyo.

furthermore i consider it a  real blessing that we found andrews problem BEFORE anything worse bad happened, the slight heart attack did no damage to his heart, and is to alert him to be more careful with his diet (an effort i had spent in the last 10 yrs but with not much success )

all in all, my buddhist practice had taught me that, when we chant nam myo ho renge kyo, and have faith in the gohonzon, whatever hurdles we come across we have the power to overcome them, and rise above

cheers

logic and reality Aug 14, 2012

my dear friends and family

last week i watched a TV science documentary talking about reality in life, in the universe etc....  sciencetists tried hard to analyze what 'reality' is, initially they said that 'reality' is a hollowgraph, then later they said they cannot really explain what 'reality' is.

this reminds me of an incident a couple of weeks ago:  on my way to encourage a member who has been chanting and practicing our buddhist practice for more than one year but did not seem to have made much progress , i talked to chloe about my problem,  chloe is my granddaughter who is on holiday in sydney, she is 15. 

to my surprise, chloe said: maybe this member is trying to use her logic to understand the buddhist philosophy, which is about the power of life, and the power of the universe.  chloe also said: ' maybe this member has been asking and asking for things in her prayer and did not take appropriate action to reach her goals, and then complained.' hearing chloes comment, i was stunned.

chloe is only 15, and she has the wisdom to give me her insight which had helped me so much when i talked to the member concerned. yes, life and the law of the universe is sooo mystic and so powerful that even scientists cannot explain, let alone simple logic.

i am so happy, and so proud, of little chloe, and i must say that i enjoy every minute of her stay with me.  she is so pure, simple, so understanding,  and yet so wise and so intelligent.  she is also a very happy and kind hearted girl.  she attends every sgi group meeting with me (amost three times a week) and is enjoying the meetings very much.

mrs. cheng (chloes mother and my daughter), you've got a lovely daughter.  (from movie: the graduate)

cheers