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12 September, 2010

Talking To A Skull ...

Lately, I am reading a lot about Lao Tzu (or Lao Zi) and Chuang Tzu (or Zhuang Zi). The original Chinese texts, written 2,500 years ago, were rather simple, while there are hundreds of versions of interpretation and translation in the last 2,000 years. Though, the main theme remains the same. There are a lot of verses and stories which I like, and below is one of them (roughly translated by me):

(Keep in mind, this story is written >2,000 years ago.) A guy was walking in a small road at the country side. He saw a skull. He picked it up and asked the skull "How did you die? Were you a poor man and starved to death? Or were you a rich man and being robbed and killed in the defense of your wealth? Or were you an old man who died because of sickness? Or were you a young man who killed yourself because you cannot stand the pressure of an unhappy life? ... ..." With all these questioning, the skull did not reply. The guy was tired and then he used the skull as his pillow and he slept. During his sleep, he had a dream. The skull talked to him "Now I am wandering in the universe, so freely and so comfortably, without my body and I cannot feel the pain, wealth is of no use to me and nothing can upset me. The questions that you asked me is of no value to me." Then, the guy asked him, "Would you like to return to this earth and continue your life if you can have your fresh and skeleton back?" The skull replied, "Of course not, now that I am so comfortable and so free, I can go anywhere I like and are not attached to anything. I am like a breath of air that does not have shape/form and neither am I need to reply on anything/anywhere. Why would I like to be back with my human body to suffer again?" ... The guy then woke up, smiled and said, "Earthly people worried about death, the dead (people) never worried about the earthly people!" ... ... ... 

Do we know death? What is death? If we know death, then we know how to live ... happily!

[This photo is taken by Danny Chan.]

06 September, 2010

The Case For GOD!

It's more than 6 years that I read Karen Armstrong's book "The History of God!" which struck me as a very thorough and comprehensive elaboration of ... well ... the history of god(s) around the world. It helps me broadened my understanding of religion and certainly clarify a few of my thoughts in the past.

Since then, Karen has written quite a few books and developing into an expert and advocate in religion issues. One paragraph at the Epilogue worth repeating herein.

We have become used to thinking that religion should provide us with information. Is there a God? How did the world come into being? But this is a modern preoccupation. Religion was never supposed to provide answers to questions that lay within the reach of human reason. That was the role of logos. Religion's task, closely allied to that of art, was to help us to live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there were no easy explanations and problems that we could not solve: mortality, pain, grief, despair, and outrage at the injustice and cruelty of life. Over the centuries people in all cultures discovered that by pushing their reasoning powers to the limit, stretching language to the end of its tether, and living as selflessly and compassionately as possible, they experienced a transcendence that enabled them to affirm their suffering with serenity and courage. Scientific rationality can tell us why we have cancer; it can even cure us of our disease. But it cannot assuage the terror, disappointment, and sorrow that come with the diagnosis, nor can it help us to die well. That is not within its competence. Religion will not work automatically, however; it requires a great deal of effort and cannot succeed if it is facile, false, idolatrous, of self-indulgent. 

 

01 September, 2010

Fear Of Failure Is Ultimately Selfish!

Being a business executive for a long time (>25 years), reading autobiography by business icons is both joyful and educating. One of my recent read is by Henry Paulson, the Secretary of Treasury who served under George W. Bush's last term. A lot of people, including Henry's own mother and wife, didn't understand his decision to take up this job from the helm of Goldman Sachs. At a certain point, even Henry himself found it hard to accept this appointment and pushed back on it.

In his book, On The Brink, he talked about this time and how he overcame it at the end.

I was still struggling to decide. ... As I thought through my decision, I recognized that it was simply fear that was causing me such anxiety. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown: the uncertainty of working with a group of people I had hever worked with before and managing people I had never managed before.


Once I understood this, I pushed back hard against the fear. I wasn't going to give in to that. I prayed for the humility to do something not out of a sense of ego, but out of the fundamental understanding that one's job in life is to express the good that comes from God. I always believed you should run toward problems and challenges; it was what I told the kids in camp when I was a counselor, and I now told myself that again. Fear of failure is ultimately selfish; it reflects a preoccupation with self and overlooks the fact that one's strength and abilities come from the divine Mind. 

Yes, we should run toward problems and challenges, whether the challenge is to take up a new job or facing chronically illness. Fear of any kind is selfish and indeed it overlooks our strength and ability!


[This photo is taken by Derek Lee in Seattle!]