Funny event

July 2, 2015

hi
am going to tell you something very funny.

this afternoon i went to a shopping centre and had my favorite chicken kebab.  when i had finished and stood up, a woman sitting right next to my table started to talk to me, she said: my son is interested....., i couldnt hear what she was saying and she repeated a couple of times.

then she said in a loud voice: "my son is interested in YOU! can we see you more often???"i was very surprised and looked at her son who was sitting opposite her.  i saw a slightly retarded young man below 30.

 

i didnt know how to respond and said: i am married, and have two children.

 

She seemed very surprised.  what i hadnt told her was: i also have three grandchildren, ( this will scare the ............ out of her.)

 

looking back, i think it is not me that he is interested in, its the good vibration i generate from my chanting, my compassion in people and my effort in buddhist practice that makes peope feel good.  this young man is not interested in me, but rather he could feel my good frequency and would like to share .

 

chanting nam myo ho renge kyo and efforts in kosen rufu can bring forth the best in us!

glad to share.

lydia

A jacket 一件外套

Sept 6, 2014

i will be travelling to some remote places this month where the weather will be  cold, sometimes windy and rainy, therefore i need a good jacket to cope with this weather.

for a few days i have been thinking whether i should buy a new jacket because my existing ones are not quite suitable, (the one that might work was left in toronto).  i even thought that i could use andrews old yellow down jacket (see photo) which could serve the purpose, however its very bulky (it occupies almost half of my suitcase's space) and heavy.

then yesterday i suddenly thought: i have been spending lots of money on helping family members to maintain their well being, and when my grandchildren came last month, i spent multiple thousands of dollars to take them travelling around Australia, then WHY should i not be generous to myself?

so this morning when i was doing my morning gongyo, i was clear about my objective: i need a jacket that is: light, waterproof, windproof, keeps warmth, with a hood and bright colour (being in the wilderness its better to be visible), and in the region of about A$200 (in the past 10 odd years the most i spent on a jacket is about A$200).

after chanting, i drove one hour to a specialized store.  there I found a shocking pink Gortex jacket which is exactly what i want (see photo) , its marked A$500, too expensive, however i was able to negotiate down to A$300.  :)

going home i felt very very happy that i am now doing things to please myself.  later i  stopped by a CD store and bought two nice CDs: Engelbert Humperdinck and the Carpenters.  After dinnerwhen i was baking a cake for SGIs meeting tomorrow, I turned on the music which brings back lots of memories.   i felt really good!

now i really am learning to be nice to myself!  i am sooo happy that i can be nice to myself finally.

Glad to share

Lydia

月中我會到幾處地方旅行，那些地方溫度很低,而且可能有風雨，所以我需要一件能保暖，防風及防雨的外套
我用了幾天時間考慮應當怎做，其中也試看能否用andrew黃色羽絨防水外套，但它好bulky和重

後來我告訴自己：我㑹用很多錢去照顧家人，最近孫兒們來澳洲我用了很多錢💰帶他們旅行，為什麼我不能對自己好些呢?

於是我在早上唱題時定下目標，要找到一件能保暖，防風雨及輕便，更要顏色鮮豔的外套（因為我可能到荒山，鮮豔顏色安全些），價錢大約是澳幣二百元。(以往十多年，我買的外套都不會超過這個價錢)

我開了一小時車到一間專門店，終於看到一件完全合適的粉紅色gortex

外套，由原價$500減到$300,我十分滿意，即買下來

回家後我為自己做了一件自己滿意的事非常開心

是時候我要善代自己了，接下來我買了兩隻CD，晚上在廚房為明天學會活動焗疍糕時一邊做一聽音樂，超爽！

today i watched a documentary about Dr. Sun Yat-sun, the revolutionary leader who overthrew the corrupted Qing Dynasty.

this documentary started with the opium war telling us how England, for its own benefits, sold opium to china and was making lots and lots of money. (see photo no. 2 showing how opium was weighed and traded in china)

 At one time, more than 70% of chinese people in a few counties were addicted to opium, lots of families were broken and even beggars also smoked opium (see no. 4 cartoon picture attached).  

 When china decided to stop and reject the import of opium, England forced its way by war. With the corruption, greed and selfishness of the emperors and their subordinates, the Qing dynasty had become very weak  and was unable to stand against foreign armies, giving a chance to England, France, etc. to claim their rights to take over lands in china, and the rights to import opium freely into china.

it really made me very angry to see all the unequal terms in the treaty of nanking, see one condition  and link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Nanking

The Qing government was obliged to pay the British government six million silver dollars for the opium that had been confiscated by Lin Zexu in 1839 (Article IV), 3 million dollars in compensation for debts that the Hong merchants in Canton owed British merchants (Article V), and a further 12 million dollars in war reparations for the cost of the war (VI). The total sum of 21 million dollars was to be paid in installments over three years and the Qing government would be charged an annual interest rate of 5 percent for the money that was not paid in a timely manner (Article VII).

while being angry, i started to reflect on what i have learned from our buddhist philosophy: the environment is just a reflection of our own self: the Qing emperors and officials only cared about their own indulgence in pleasure and greed, and would not take action to strengthen their country,  thus became incredibly fragile giving chances to (or maybe unknowingly attracted)  invaders to attack and win.

SGI President Ikeda teaches us to learn,  to better and improve ourselves everyday in all aspects, if we have courage, are strong and have confidence (this comes with my buddhist practice), we are less liable to be attacked

2007 A day of triumph (勝利的一天)

 

2007 A day of triumph (勝利的一天)

 

   您好！

 

2007年5月18日 (星期五) 是 Kevin 的碩士研究生畢業典禮。對我們來說，這確是一個非常快樂的時刻。(可惜的是，我丈夫Andrew因要開一個會議而不能出席。) 但Kevin, Wendy (我的侄女) 同我都擁有一個美好的時光。

 

讓我分享一些照片給你們，看我們有多幸福和自豪。

 

回頭看，我們都走過漫長的路。Kevin有一個非常崎嶇的童年。在他9歲，我們從香港移民到加拿大。12歲，我把他送到英國的寄宿學校，希望他能學會獨立，但事情卻事與願違。他在16歲時返回香港，並完成高中和高考。在19歲，他去加拿大讀大學一年級，可是在那裡他覺得非常痛苦。之後他便回到香港，並在一家酒店工作一年 (就在那時，他認識了一些壞朋友並誤入歧途。) 最後，我用了很多的努力才能幫他解決問題，並送他到澳洲讀書。

 

此外，如果他澳洲居留申請沒有遇到一些障礙 (請看我之前的電郵)，我們是從來都沒有想過他能完成碩士學位的。他在2005年7月於Macquarie 大學完成了學士學位，但如他不再繼續讀書，他便不能申請居留, 因此他便要繼續讀碩士學位。(對我來說，那就好像昨天一樣，現附上他的一張畢業照片，然後，請看下頁之照片)。 

一切的一切，我不能不說，如果沒有我的佛法修行和唱題，我在很久以前已經放棄和失去我的兒子。在絕望的時候，我的一些家人看到我非常痛苦便建議我放棄兒子。不過，一名香港SGI的會友對我說：「佛教是要取勝的，要不斷唱題，並持之以恆，最終您一定會獲勝。」

 

我做到了，我們贏了。

 

lydia 

 

人生九悟

以下是一位好友寫給我人生九悟

 非常有意義，但有幾人能知? 又或知而能做到呢?   知易行難，

所以我們要佛法修行,

每日唸南無妙法蓮華經令自己悟達並能實踐

Lydia

主旨: 人生九悟   【人生九悟】 1.      心甘情願吃虧的人，終究吃不了虧。能吃虧的人，人緣必然好，人緣好的人，機會自然多。人的一生，能抓住 一兩 次機會，足矣！    2.      愛佔便宜的人，終究佔不了便宜。撿到一棵草，失去一片森林。你看那些一到買單就上廁所或錢包半天掏不出來的聰明人，基本上都沒啥成就。   3.      心眼小的人，天地大不了。朋友聚會時，三句話不離自己和自家的人，是蝸牛轉世，內心空虛、自私。心裡只有自家的事，其他的事慢慢也就與他無關。   4.      只有惜緣才能續緣。在人生的路上，我們會遇到很多人，其實有緣才能相聚，親人多半是前世的好友，好友多半是前世的親人，給你帶來煩惱的，多半是你前世傷害過的。因此切記：善待身邊的親人，關心身邊的朋友，寬恕那些傷害你的人。這就是因果   5.   心中無缺叫富，被人需要叫貴。快樂不是一種性格，而是一種能力。   6.      解決煩惱的最佳辦法，就是忘掉煩惱。(easier said than done! lydia)   7.      笑看風雲淡，坐對雲起時。不爭就是慈悲，不辯就是智慧，不聞就是清淨，不看就是自在，原諒就是解脫，知足就是放下。(easier said than done)   8.      不亂於心，不困於情，不畏將來，不念過往。(easier said than done)   9.      今生註定我們什麼也帶不走，那就活在當下、笑在當下、悟在當下！Yeah, sure.

a lobster (突破)

sometime ago, I saw a documentary on ocean lives.  it showed a lobster trying to break through its shell.  I could see how hard it tried, squeezing, pushing, using all its might and energy to break through.

 

once it broke through, its body became much larger,  and was swimming freely and happily in the water.

 

in our daily life, we sometimes are thrown into shells by situations or circumstances,(i.e. death of family members, broken relationships, financial problems etc.)  or we are trapped in a shell which we create for ourselves. (i.e. low self esteem, loss of confidence in ourselves, uncertainly of our future etc.)

 

to breakthrough this shell, we need to exert our utmost determination and energy, knowing that once we breakthrough, we will grow, and be free and happy.

 

chanting nam myo ho renge kyo can give us the energy and strength and hope   to break through.

 

glad to share

 

lydia
    

很久以前，我看到了一段海洋生活的紀錄片。這片紀錄了一隻龍蝦試圖突破它的外殼。我可以看到它如何努力嘗試去擠，去推它的身体，用盡它的能力去突圍而出。
一旦突破外殼之後，其身体立刻變大，並在水中輕鬆愉快地自由游動。
在我們日常生活中，有時會因為某種情況,( 例如至親的死亡, 和至愛的關係破裂，或金錢上的困境等) 被困在一個痛苦的深淵裏; 又或我們被困在一個自己為自己製造的枷鎖裏:例如自卑，對自己失去信心，對我們的未來不明朗等.
要突破這個殼，我們需要用最大的決心和努力，但要知道, 一旦突破，我們將會得到成長, 並能享受到無比的自由和快樂。
唱唸南無妙法蓮華經，可以給我們無窮的精力和體力去成功得到這突破。

Is chanting Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo positive thinking?

Chanting is neither meditation, nor positive thinking, though it reaps the benefits of both these practices and much more. The essence of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is that in the very act of doing so we are expressing our Buddha nature. Meditation and positive thinking do not have Buddhahood as their objective. It is not possible to express Buddhahood through these means. Although meditation and positive thinking may have value they cannot change the fundamental element in our lives which makes us unhappy and unfulfilled as human beings —our karma, nor can they bring out the highest condition of life, Buddhahood.

Meditation is a more passive exercise than chanting; one usually calms one's mind by concentrating on a particular phrase or image. At first glance this may seem close to the practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, but actually the difference is apparent. The practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables us to express and experience our innate Buddhahood and release the powerful energy contained within that, rather than to calm our minds or negate certain ways of thinking.
Again, while it is true that our thinking does become more positive as a result of chanting, this is because chanting draws out our Buddhahood which, in turn, influences every aspect of our lives, both mental and physical. Therefore, chanting is not so much a question of "thinking positively" or exercising "mind over matter," which implies restriction; rather, through chanting, our highest state of life naturally influences our thoughts and actions towards the most valuable ends.