Interesting times

im slowly reading Noam Chomskys book The Precipice .very useful to see the sign of the times and the emergence of political authoritarianism reshaping global affairs,what Chomsky call the friendly fascists,Trumpocracy and the Me first doctrine.its hard to digest the expository text if the reader doesnt keep in touch with current affairs.But it sees a big cut in funding not only for the arts and humanities but also scientific research except for if its military related research The budget cuts not only medical research but also research on climate change.The science deniers are gleeful to demolish the hetesies of the modern world.The House science commitee is now a tool to advance political agenda rather than a forum to examine important issues facing the US research community.Their brilliant solution is to use legislation to declare scientific results as illegal if it contradicts the political narrative of the House.

Time flies

One of my most memorable trip was to take Jun to Nepal to visit the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini.The sense of peace of mind that came by visiting one of the holy sites of Buddhism was immense.I touched the sai tree where he was born and saw the imprint of his footstep in the mayadevi temple and the Asoka pillar with inscriptions. How time flies and soon i will plan to do a pilgrimage of the next 3 holy sites of Bodhgaya,Kushinagar,Sarnath and visit the Mahabodhi temple.its a trip i will make before my aging body slows down making travel exhausting and my legs are weaker.

Are the Buddhas relics real as if it has been scientifically verified by DNA testing.But historically records say Asoka broke 7 stupas containing his teeth,hair and bone fragments and distributed them to Buddhist monastery in the region.I visited the Temple of the tooth relic in Kandy Sri Lanka and realised most of the relics were kept enshrined in Sri Lanka.

Less is More

The less you possess,the more simple life is. Its a non stop work when i need to maintain an aging car.Yesterday in the sweltering heat the car air con broke down at noon.It was stifling hot when the car becomes a heat trap and im sweating like im in a sauna.A trip to the mechanic detected a broken air con pump which needed to be changed and a few hundred ringgit spent blew a big hole in my budget.When i have a fish tank,i need to spend time cleaning it when water is cloudy .Then my flowering plants need to be watered,repotted ,fertiliser added and sprayed with pesticide. When the cat had urinary infection,a stay in the vet clinic and treatment blew a hole.in my budget.Kittys personality is like Juns an angry,aggressive male who is greedy for food and refuses healthy food ,the cat dislikes drinking water and thus urinary crystals in bladder and jun refuses to eat fruit n vegetable and so catches cold n sore throat.I had to run around looking for special medicated cat food for the cat and getting medication for Jun.made lots of lemon honey for him to drink and special liquified chicken essence for the cat to increase water intake. The more i have in my life,the more worries I have.But there is the joy of having a son and a cat and the fish and plants.so there are trade offs when you have more in your life from a car,son,cat,fish and plants that need regular maintenance.now kitty is so playful that he ruined the mechanical mouse and snake i bought for him.He really is a mischevous cat.

Art the inner freedom to create

Art sees the artist using.his imagination to create his view of the world.So is there a right or wrong way to draw and paint.No I feel Art is a personal expression of the artist and the interpretation is open ended depending on the viewers perception.i like the unique paintings of this Myanmar artist and his concept of life.The tools he used are everyday objects but the imagery is powerful from fiery hell to the cycle of life.I particularly am drawn to the skeletal medi

tative figure encircled.by waves of consciousness.very bold n stark painting.

Food craving

I seldom eat red meat like beef,lamb and pork for health reasons .But sometimes i have cheat days when my food craving overwhelms me i like the pork noodles sold in kopi tiam,minced pork,noodles,roasted sausage n pork meat balls.the table near me ordered Hakka char yoke or braised belly pork with black fungus and fermented red bean curd with wanton noodles.it looked super delicious. for breakfast i ate western baked salted cheese cake,local avocado blended into a shake with almond milk and yoghurt with blueberries. Dinner i cooked up a storm .i bought lotus to boil chicken soup,honey dates,dried oysters and dried squid,chicken feet and astragalus root .then i bought organic belly pork .marinate with 5 spice powder,red bean curd,garlic,rice wine,sesame oil,honey n flour.deep fry the pork slices and braise for 1 hour with black fungus.This dish is very traditional and pork dish cost at least rm30 if i order at dai chow.Cooking at home cuts price by half.

The mind

Buddhism teaches psychology through the discourses on Abhidhamma In the Citta Vagga,verses extoll the virtue to control the mind Dunniggahassa lahuno Yattha jama napatino Cittassa danatho sadhu Cittam dantam sukhavaham The mind is difficult to control Swiftly and lightly,it.moves and lands wherever it pleases. It is good to tame the mind,for a well tamed mind brings happiness. in the Dhammapada,the tale is told of the lady mind reader who built shelter and gave nutritious food to the bhikkus who stayed in her village for the rainy retreat A ce

rtain bhikku became fearful that if he had impure thoughts in her presence,she might read his thoughts and think ill of him The Buddha advised him to control his mind and not think of anything but the object of his meditation.Within a short time,he purified his mind and attained Arahanthood.

All the wrong reasons

A poem fot the carefree,footloose and bohemians. I guess we made the headlines For all the wrong reasons Like drinking and dancing in the moonlight as the ocean waves crash onto the shore Fleeing from the city lights We crashed into the tree as the car swerved to avoid hitting a startled dog The car turned turtle We hung from seat belts like test dummies till passing motorists rescued us I guess we fall in love for all the wrong reasons Your voice low and husky whispering of endless dreams and magical trips. No grand schemes or lofty aims just happy to run barefooted in a field of lavender just to live a moment at a time