Looking Up At The Universe

I chanced upon this Chinese poem written by Mr. Wen JiaBao, the Premier of China, here. According to the news story, Mr. Wen was meeting with university students and took the opportunity to dispense a few words of encouragement to the so-called future pillars of society, admonishing them not to focus only on the matters right “below their feet”. Instead, they should look up and around them, be awed by the vista that such a simple change in the frame of mind would bring. The whole world is your stage, Mr. Wen entreats impassionedly, and challenges them to scale greater heights, perform greater feats, and surmount greater odds, for humanity.


The poem is not written in the classical format, but rather the free format of today’s genre, whose easy flowing prose evokes resonation in the readers all the same. The contents have struck a chord in me, the message of which transcends national boundaries, and is equally poignant regardless of the country’s geography, demographics, and stage of development. Hence, this attempt at an English translation. May we all embrace the vision expounded therein and work for the global community.


Looking up at the Universe
by Wen JiaBao, Premier of China

I look up at the universe, so sparse and expansive, embodying infinite truth, and I labor to seek, to follow.

I look up at the universe, so solemn and pristine, evincing regal righteousness, and filling me with passion, with trepidation.

I look up at the universe, so liberal and serene, displaying boundless horizon, and cradling my mind, lending support.

I look up at the universe, so magnificent and luminous, emitting eternal warmth, and kindling in me a ray of hope, sounding a spring thunder.

A Day of Compassionate Shower

Looking strenuously through the swishing movement of the front screen wipers and beyond that, a translucent sheet of pouring rain, I gingerly drove to Clearwater yesterday morning. The warning signs were already present early in the morning: overcast sky darkened by ominous rain clouds. My passengers: my wife and her retinue of Buddhist friends. And the mission: release life activity followed by a vegetarian lunch at a Largo Thai food restaurant to be graced by Bhante Dhammawansha.

Upon reaching Bhante’s residence and joined by Tom of the Middle Way Buddhist Association, we found ourselves confined in due to the seemingly incessant rain. The decision was then made, while I was browsing through the collection of Buddhist books on the bookselves (Bhante’s residence also doubles as the meeting venue of the Dhamma Wheel Meditation Society) to have Bhante deliver a Dharma talk to us while waiting for the rain to subside. [In what follows I would be paraphrasing what Bhante actually said as gleaned from my notes and my recollection, including those in quotation marks, which have been inserted to break the monotony and secondarily, to add emphasis. I have also taken the liberty to sprinkle my own thoughts here and there, to stretch the imagination a bit if you will.]

We congregated in the front room, facing a gleaming white stately status of the Buddha, with Bhante seated to one side. “When you wake up early in the morning to do something good, be it engaging in releasing fish, helping others, reading a spiritual book, or doing any wholesome activity, it’s always a very auspicious, very lucky day,” Bhante started the session. Forget about what the horoscope says as Buddhism has no place for superstitious beliefs. And we can change the prophesies of the horoscope by changing our mind, Bhante continued.

In view of the wholesome deed we had set out to do, one that resonates with compassion, Bhante elected to speak on compassion. It so happened that compassion was also what I had been reflecting on after I finished Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes as blogged here. I don’t think this is coincident, not even for a minute, but rather symptomatic of what the world sorely lacks, and that reiterating and reminding ourselves of this universal value would surely go a long way toward alleviating the world’s suffering, one step at a time, and one sentient life at a time.

What is compassion? In a nutshell, compassion is the ability to see the world’s suffering in its many manifestations: poverty, sickness, anger, difficult situations, etc., and to feel the warmth, the hurt that emanates from these observations, and to melt in the sea of suffering, and to act on these feelings, driven by the overarching desire to help the needy. At the fundamental level, Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha, connotes compassion to all. Bhante further quoted His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: My religion is compassion. And King Asoka, one of the two great people of the world from India out of the seven listed by HG Wells of the History of the World fame, the other one being the Buddha, was credited with building the first hospital for animals.

How to be compassionate? We can cultivate compassion if we know the answers to the flip-side question: Why can’t we be kind?

Firstly, we are blind to suffering. We see, but we don’t notice. We hear, but we don’t listen. We read, but we don’t ruminate. We choose to personify the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, nor do we have any qualms in embracing the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) one.

Secondly, this detachment (I guess this is one occasion where detachment is less than welcome) translates into our inability to understand that one day we will be like them too (old, helpless and hopeless).

Therefore, we can be compassionate when we can identify with the suffering around us, and we can realize that we are not immune to suffering. Just like we need medical treatment for the sick, we need mental uplifting to relieve suffering, and compassion is that spiritual antidote that can work wonders for a troubled mind.

Why do we need to cultivate compassion? Because compassion does not come naturally while cruelty can be dispensed almost effortlessly. And one way to manifest compassion is Right Speech (one of the Eight Noble Paths). And no speech is part and parcel of Right speech too. When the Buddha was engaged in a discourse with his followers, he listened most of the time, always smiled, and seldom talked. We should do the same, especially when we are angry: Don’t talk and don’t react.

Bhante then related two stories to illustrate the point: first, the frog story:

The Buddha used honey words, not in the sense of sweet-talking, but words that are not hurtful, and his delivery can best be characterized as “the beauty of sound” that not only captivated the crowd of followers, but also animals, drawn in by the melodious renditions. One of these animals was a frog, which positioned itself to “listen” on one occasion. Then a man who had spent some time searching for a lost cow in the forest walked in. Feeling exhausted, he propped himself against the long stick used to herd cows, one end staked into the ground, without realizing that the stick had rested on top of the frog, which was engrossed in listening to the Buddha’s delivery. It was said that the dead frog was born into the deity realm in its next life.

The second, the parrot story:

It was said that one of the Buddha’s past lives was as a parrot. One day, two baby parrots, nestled in a nest perched up on a tree, fell off the tree in a wind storm. One fell into the community of ascetics, who practiced Right Speech, and the parrot picked up the same when it grew up. The other parrot fell among a group of thieves. Day in and day out it was bombarded with foul words that were meant to kill, to rob, and the like. So that became this parrot’s vocabulary, swearing and bad-mouthing.

The second story also brings forth the message that Buddhists teach by way of examples. That’s why Buddhists practice Buddhism, and they are Buddhist practitioners.

By way of another analogy, Bhante equated our mind to the blue sky, infinite in all directions. Sometimes there are dark clouds, which may dampen our spirits somewhat. But these clouds will come to pass. So just let them pass, and let go as they do.

We then stepped out under a blue sky, and proceeded to the Clearwater Beach for the release life activity. While there, the rain resumed, but in a drizzle. So armed with umbrellas, and led by Bhante, we accomplished the compassionate act of releasing life, under the watchful eyes of a pelican which had settled on the water surface nearby, but it was kept at bay by the group’s admonitions and shooing hand gestures, and the water canon shot from a hose by the owner of the tackle shop, who has grown accustomed to our regular release life activities.



The last business of the day was the vegetarian lunch at the Thai House in the Largo Mall. It turned out that the day of our visit also coincided with the birthday of the proprietor of the eatery, a Thai and a devout Buddhist. And to honor the presence of Bhante, he gracefully offered the lunch treat as on the house. So the day turned out to be one of compassionate shower all round.

Looking Ahead on the Occasion of Malaysia's Golden Anniversary

Yesterday (Aug 31), Malaysia celebrated the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence from the British. That year was 1957, and I was just a three-year old toddler, probably lost in my own little world. Since then, I have seen it grow, prosper, and start to make a name for herself on the world stage. Accolades like the world’s largest exporter of rubber and tin made it to my primary school textbooks.

In years to come, these recognitions have slowly faded into oblivion as Malaysia transitions herself beyond the production and export of primary commodities into valued added manufacturing. At the same time, increasing arable lands have been taken up by urbanization and converted for industrial use. Thus, agriculture, once the mainstay of the country’s economy, has been relegated to the status of a sunset industry, though lately agriculture has been accorded a late boost in the recent national development plans.

Flushed with funds from petrodollars, the country has also embarked on several mega infrastructure projects under the previous administration. The Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), and the new government administration center, Putrajaya, came readily to mind.

However, these physical behemoths are dwarfed by the socio-political developments that have gripped the country since the start of the present administration. Political maneuvering, racial polarization, religious intolerance, curtailment of press freedom, and inept governance dominate the alternative mass media aka blogosphere.

By all counts, a golden anniversary is a joyous occasion for reflection, reflecting on the past struggles and sacrifice, for stocktaking, reminding us of the many endowments that the country is blessed with, and for projection into the future, relishing a Malaysia worthy of all Malaysians regardless of race, religion, and socio-economic status.

But by feeling the societal pulse now, indications are the social contract forged in the days of independence has been questioned, the natural endowments squandered by mismanagement, and the prognosis of the country cast into doubt.

It’s naive to think that come next year, things would be looking up any better. But we just have to harbor hope, even a single ray of hope that enough Malaysian would care about a Malaysian Malaysia, not Malay, not Chinese, not Indian, but a Malaysia for all her people, to make a difference perhaps at the occasion of the Emerald (55th anniversary in Year 2012), if not then the diamond anniversary (60th anniversary in Year 2017).

On a less somber note, I saw what the Malaysian Google people have come up with to commemorate this occasion in Jeff Ooi’s blog, in the same spirit of the parent Google people on other momentous occasions, featuring the gigantic kite (called wau in the Malaysian language; merdeka = independence, tahun = year) popular in the northern State of Kelantan as shown below. That, and the bouquet of flowers (top right) courtesy of my wife, appear to be the only bright sparks for me as Malaysia launches itself into the second half of her first century of coming into being.

The Left Hand Holding the Right Hand

One of my wife’s Buddhist friends emailed us a story that we feel strongly about sharing it with others. Hence, this translated attempt. Personally I feel that the translated text seems uneven, even contrived, losing some of the smoothness, the pithiness, and the rhyming elegance inherent in Chinese prose, when delivered by a masterful writer. At the same time, I feel confident that the gist of the message, the essence of the lesson, is not lost in the translation. But you would be the judge, the original text being attached herewith, at the end. Thank you, Claudia, for the great piece.

The left hand holding the right hand: Priceless

There is one widely disseminated story.

One day, at a table full of drinkers, faces red and behavior bordering on inebriety, a man, feeling his tongue loose, opined:

"Holding the hand of a damsel feels like reliving the teen years;
Holding the hand of the sis-in-law makes one regret ever holding a wrong one in the past;
Holding the hand of a lover sends a warm flow through the heart;
Holding the hand of a female classmate makes one regret ever letting it go;
Holding the hand of the wife is like the left hand holding the right hand."

A middle-aged lady in the crowd, after a moment of silence, agreed, “That’s a good way of putting it, the left hand holding the right hand.” The crowd stopped laughing, and stared at her.

The lady continued, “While holding the hand of another can engender an ecstatic sensation, one can always throw it away when it’s over. But throwing away a left or right hand would make one a cripple.

If an able-bodied person professes this attitude toword marriage and life, he/she indeed has something to be proud of.

Once a person has lost a hand, he/she would truly value how precious it is to be able to hold the right hand with the left hand. When he/she holds the hands together subconsciously, he/she is engulfed by a sense of belonging, one that is real and fulfilling.

A marriage that embraces the left hand holding the right hand analogy achieves an elevation to perennial serenity like autumn water.

The passing of time and our advancing age are bound to level off the acute mutual affection and dissipate the passion of married couples, a confounding development that is beyond their control.

But the mutual feelings that are embedded in the wrinkles of thought, and smeared on the white hair of life, are as scintillating as before.

Anybody’s hand would lose its luster when subjected to the daily grind of life.

It’s fair to say that a progression from falling in love to tying the knots is essentially a journey from the magnificent to the mundane. Whatever remains is as ordinary as the left hand holding the right hand.

This scenario may not be a stimulating one, nor romantic, but it’s more real and reliable than “holding somebody else’s hand”.

In this mundane world of ours, a man who is prepared to love his wife the way the left hand is holding the right hand will feel secure in his affection.

As a matter of fact, all men know that holding the hand of a damsel is expensive while holding that of a lover is tiring.

It’s only when the hand in hand belongs to the wife who has stuck with the husband through thick and thin, in riches and in poor, at the abyss of despondency and at the zenith of triumph, that the bliss of union shall linger on, unconditionally in continuity like flowing water.

[Please click on the images for clarity.]

A Courageous Odyssey

I learned early in life that I’m not the adventurous type, preferring to stay close to the beaten path and avoiding uncharted territory almost morbidly.

Proof? I was not a boy scout, many of whom have participated in camping activities, not to mention the annual Jamboree sessions. Neither did I ever venture out at night, stake a tent, and sleep under the sky roof (literally).

But this is as far as physical activities go. Of things that can be stretched beyond the confines of physical space, I do let my imagination run wild, galloping in all directions as manifested in my avid reading.

I did indulge myself in games, and knew a thing or two about physical exertion, and the triumph of winning. But these took place in controlled environments such as stadiums, where the elements were never a factor one had to contend with.

So I was positively awe-struck when I read the exploits, on two wheels, humanly pedaled, of this young Malaysian. Not across Malaysia, not across Asia, but from the Pacific coast of US eastward to the Pacific coast of China, then making his way back to Malaysia. Of course he did not bike over the Atlantic, nor over the British Channel. But the rest of the way, he just let his faithful Surly Long Haul Trucker (hint: this is a touring bike with a steel frame) do the talking.

His name is Tzuo-Hann Law, but let’s just call him Tzuo. Tzuo has a brain to match his physical prowess, having just graduated from Duke this year. I was alerted to this crazy guy on a bike by Kian Ming, his fellow university mate who has gained some Internet fame through his blogging.

So I went through his biking journal, all 66 pages of them. On last count, he has clocked about 5,500 miles over 86 days, an average progress of about 65 miles a day. Presently, he is somewhere in Germany. And I urge you to visit his journal where he logs daily about his encounters from being almost out of breadth on a steep climb, the exhilarating downhill descent, to just plain sailing along the many country road. Then there are the widely fluctuating fortunes of the nightly accommodation: in a bush, at a gazebo in a park, or just a make-shift hammock where there are trees.

He also makes many friends along the way: fellow bikers, gracious hosts, grocery shop operators, dogs, even a flying companion that kept him company for some miles.

I commend him for his courage, for his fearlessness, also his meticulous planning. You don’t just go biking on ends for days without knowing what you’re getting into.

I can only imagine what the odyssey will do to his confidence, his survival instinct, his view of his place in this world, his outlook on life in general, at the end of it all.

If you can offer any traveling tips along the way, do drop a line at his guestbook, like so, penned by yours truly:

“Dear Tzuo,

I came to know about your seeing the world on wheels, the human-pedalled type, in Kian Ming's blog and have read your journal (mostly the photos and the captions), and will continue to read about your daily trek as you progress homeward.

I'm really awe-struck by your carefree mentality. You could just sleep about anywhere, oblivious to your surrounding. No qualms about the human miscreats that we read so much about in the papers, let alone the little critters that own the nights, in the wilderness.

Just be careful when you are moving through the volatile Middle East.”

Should you feel like doing more beyond dispensing some encouraging words such as sponsorship, drop him a line too.

Bravo, Tzuo. What a way to see the world!

Rambling Thoughts on Subjectivity (or the bane of it)

A subject is a class of study a student engages in school such as English, Maths, or History. A subject also refers to a citizen of a country such as the Queen’s subjects. In contrast, an object usually denotes an inanimate thing, unless we use it metaphorically such as an object of ridicule, which connotes a person who is a laughing stock by dint of action or word.

By extension, in exam lingo, a subjective test is one that requires an essay type of answers strung from an array of complete sentences that follow the time-honored regimen of Introduction – Body – Conclusion. The answer could be factual, describing some physical phenomena or explaining them, or it could be entirely conjectural, speculative such as describing a future scenario, say in the year 2020, or it could be purely imaginary, fictional as in writing a composition.

An objective test, on the other hand, is another name for multiple-choice format. One just chooses an answer from several candidates. Invariably there is only one right answer, or one that is closest to the “truth”.

Then we have their longest variants: subjectivity and objectivity. Subjectivity can range from mere personal musings to highly opinionated views and even bigoted statements that impose on others. At the other end of the spectrum, objectivity implies impartiality, one that is premised on the fact of the matter, and not contingent upon the status of the messenger.

There is a Chinese saying that reads, loosely translated, those involved are confused while the bystanders are clear. In others words, if we take one step back, we would be able to not only have a clarified view, but also see the big picture. Oftentimes, we may feel that too much is at stake, and that we cannot trust the ability of others to attain the noble goals that we have set for ourselves. So no delegation.

Another variation is our fixation on our own views, our judgment so clouded by our own sense of self-importance bordering on megalomania that we simply ignore sensible inputs from others and bulldoze right through.

The result is the same: the goal is derailed, and a nightmarish inter-personal relation ensues, with hurt egos all round. The initial passion drummed up by the ideal of a seemingly common goal wanes. Not willing to function like a rubber stamp, team members start to have second thoughts, and either resign to a subsidiary role or from the team altogether.

The negativity is especially galling if it were generated by the leader’s behavior, intentionally or otherwise for perception is what drives people to act. To lead, one must know the mindset of those who would like to be led, and the cultural milieu within which the leadership is exercised. An opinionated style may work in a passive society whose members have long been conditioned to toe the line, to not question but to do as told. But it will surely be doomed in a progressive society where a healthy dose of skepticism is commonplace, and where individual thought is revered.

This is where finesse comes in. It is not tantamount to greasing the wheel that turns by expedient means, but a wholesome application of respecting others’ views, and a wholehearted acceptance of the adage that there is no I in the team. Everybody counts, and those not being counted are merely untapped talents, their latent ability waiting to be brought forth by the wise leader.

It would take both the one who leads and those who are led to achieve a common destiny shared by all. Without one or the other, one is just placing obstacles along the way. So in a sense, both are equally indispensable, but at the same time, no one is truly indispensable. So have trust in people who want to do good.

A Simple and Pristine Lifestyle, Part IV (the Concluding Part)

This is the concluding installment of my English translation of the Chinese article entitled A Simple Life Is A Beautiful One by Venerable Hung I that appeared in the May 2007 (#153) issue of Dharma Garden. Parts I and II, and III can be viewed here , here and here.

C) A simple and pristine Buddhist practice

Not too long ago, while stopping over at HongKong for about a week, several Buddhist practitioners echoed the same sentiment to me: not to simply consume vitamin and other health supplements because of the health hazards these products pose to our body. When I asked for the source of the information, they pointed to the recent launch of a health education campaign by the Government of HongKong as well as the promotion from many doctors who advocate a balanced and natural dietary intake as opposed to relying on chemically composed vitamins.

The above phenomenon bears some similarity to the way we practice Buddhism. The Buddha had unequivocally taught us to inspect ourselves, to purify ourselves in our daily routine in order to liberate us based on self enlightenment and self awakening. But we deem that such a simple but honest way of practice borders on monotony, and that the same old same old Dharma seems dry and uneventful. Therefore, it appears better to continuously seek guidance from different accomplished Buddhist teachers, and to learn some extraordinary methods for instant gratification. This is popular among the many large religions under the guise of modernist evolution, gaining traction among the adherents. Actually, the public’s longing for faith-based guidance is understandable and deserves support; however, regrettably, any wrongful path that emphasizes rare and strange pursuits would not only be unproductive, but even harmful to us.

How to ensure a simple and pristine Buddhist practice? In my opinion, firstly, have a basic understanding of the principles of dependent origination and causality so that we could minimize, even eliminate, a topsy turvy lifestyle rife with wanton thoughts and daydreaming. Secondly, select an appropriate method of practice, and follow it with perseverance, thereby cultivating good habits that lead to a peaceful and still mind.

Every Buddhist practitioner who aspires toward self enlightenment and the enlightenment of others ought to have a proper understanding of the Dharma embodied in the concept of dependent origination. As the verses go, having begets having, arising begets arising; nothing begets nothing, extinguishing begets extinguishing. These verses spell out the real phenomenon of the vicissitude of life and the liberation from life’s suffering. If we understand that the rise and fall of our life is dictated by the changes resulting from our karmic store of mind, body, and thought, which is beyond our control, nor does it follow immutably from the influence of some past events, then we would be in a better position to face reality, taking cognizance of the here and now, and to ponder what to do and what we can do. Although we cannot alter what has happened, but we definitely can renew the present. Similarly, we cannot project what’s going to happen in the future, but we can as sure manage the present. Therefore, starting from dependent origination, we can relate to the triple-generation continuity as per the dictates of causality. At the same time, we would realize that practice is for the here and now. As long as we have the right view, we do not need extrasensory perception to know that Dharma is everywhere. Naturally our mind would be peaceful and blissful.

The essence of Dharma is the same among all schools. However, there is a distinction between the convenient and the rigorous to cater for different mindsets and aptitudes. As for practice, Buddhism too presents many ways to facilitate learning. Even though on the surface chanting Buddha’s name may differ from meditation, in actuality all the ways invariably found their core learning in precept, mindfulness, and wisdom., and advocate relaxation, focus, clarity and awakening, and Dharma bliss as the means. Therefore, the contents are not complicated on the learning path of Dharma; instead, they exhibit unity and continuity. And the complex conflicts that may ensue more likely result from our misunderstanding and attachment.

Conclusion

I feel that during our brief sojourn here, everyone has to use his/her life and time in the best way possible, including all the causes and effects that surround us. The way to be frugal and to eliminate wastage is to lead a simple and pristine life, through maintaining a simple, harmonious, and serene mind to guide and frame our outlook. Additionally, that simple and pristine philosophy to life would serve as a beacon, illuminating a path for us to march peacefully, and assuredly forward.

A truly simple and pristine life has no place for opposing stands but quality-invariant compassion and forbearance. Once these two conditions are met, not only would our lives be fulfilling, but our relations with those around us would be less stressful and filled with immeasurable bliss.

So it took me about five weeks to complete the translation of what to me is a practical and meaningful guide to leading a simple life that benefits both ourselves and others. Thanks to Venerabl Hung I for penning such thoughtful and simple to follow handbook-style guides. May Buddha bless you always. Amituofo.

Releasing or Harming Life?

I have blogged many times here about our release life activities, the latest one being here. I have also tried to read up on this intrinsically meritorious activity, one which has instilling compassion in all of us at its core. At the same time, the potential for abuse exists as blogged here, which admonishes us to temper the conduct of the activity with wisdom. Therefore, the pros and cons of release life activity as a benevolent act sanctioned by the Buddhist community have been debated at length.

Recently, the same disagreement, to put it mildly, surfaced in Malaysia in conjunction with the Global Guan Yin Dharma Ceremony (July 30 - Aug 1, 2007) . Among the activities planned to commemorate the occasion was the organized release life activity.

I am not privy to what actually transpired on the ground, but have this news article in Nanyang Siang Pau (Aug 8, 2007) to give me a sense of the undercurrents of conflicting standpoints.

Consider it a proposal for an alternative (the virtual) kind of engaging in release life activities. In the spirit of sharing, here’s my attempt at an English translation:

Do set up a release life website!

Many years ago, per chance I wrote an article commenting on the deviation of the practice of release life from its true meaning. A reader responded in support, saying that if anyone stops catching small animals for release life after reading my article, that itself would constitute a meritorious act of saving life.

The reader also attached an explanation on the significance of releasing life by Venerable Dhammananda, quoting him, “liberating all sentient beings from suffering is the best form of releasing life.”

Many years since, many small animals still suffer because of the practice of releasing life.

Releasing animals from immediate harm is saving life, but not one that is pre-meditated. However, the practice of releasing life in order to accrue good merits has gone astray, bringing much detriment over the long term to the lives of many small animals such as turtles, birds, and fish. For many years, many people have voiced negatively on the practice, as have many venerable monks and practitioners in the Buddhist community explained based on Buddhist scriptures the fine points and protocol required of the proper conduct of the practice. But twisted forms of releasing life rituals continue unabated.

The recent Global GuanYin Dharma Ceremony too has been criticized by the public including Buddhists as damaging the atmosphere of peace and serenity for organizing an activity that released more than ten thousands small animals. Perhaps some of these fish and birds have indeed been spared the fate of immediate slaughter, or regained freedom from captivity; however, many were likely innocent lives but were caught specifically to cater for the need of the ritual.

Even though the organizers have stated categorically that these animals were purchased on the spot from the markets, perhaps in an attempt to deflect the accusation of abetting those in the business of supplying animals for release life activities. But is this a practical method? How many times would it serve the purpose? How does one ensure that the “surprised” purchase is not anticipated by those with vested interests?

Whenever there is the practice of releasing life, then there will be businesses specializing in supplying the needed “commodity”. Today, when one walks past any pet shop, it’s not difficult to observe pitiful small animals that would hardly qualify as pets in cages.

The practice of release life has resulted in many small animals and birds being forced into captivity, even untimely demise. So many reports have chronicled the specter of releasing life being turned into an unwholesome endeavor that going into details here would seem superfluous.

As a result, some release life activities have degenerated into the abyss of hypocrisy, their purposes running counter to the notion that life is sacrosanct. Such meaningless pursuits have brought suffering, even death, upon the small animals. At the same time, the perpetrators have committed grave wrongs, instead of achieving the noble purpose of releasing life.

Today, we can access websites that worship Confucius or ancestors. There are also virtual shrines and temples, even those that cater to striking small likeness of people that have done you wrong [a prevalent practice in some Asian culture, digital likeness that is], though I’m not sure whether there is one for releasing life. If there isn’t, I would like to appeal to any web design whiz kid to make one, so that those who intend to engage in releasing life as doing a good deed can do so to their hearts’ content, on the Net, thus benefiting themselves, others, and the small animals.


Does that mean giving up participating in releasing life on the ground? I demur. There are checks and balances that one can follow as blogged here. But it does mean no publicity, for it’s naïve to think that in this highly commercialized world of ours, there is a dearth of enterprising souls who would spin any innocuous activity into a profit making concern where often the end (the sale) justifies the means (catching small animals that in all likelihood would not become pets).

Also, conduct the activity in small groups, over spatially/geographically divergent areas. Be random in selecting the sites (to ensure that the released animals have the highest chance of getting back to life in the wild, and not becomg part of the food chain, not so soon anyway), and in selecting the place of purchase (to ensure that the proprietors do not temporarily stock up more catches to meet the needs).

Here I would like to end with an excerpt from Reiki Blogger, which I chanced upon while googling “Compassion and Wisdom”:

“So, the basic practice of kindness becomes a unity of wisdom and compassion. Because without one the other suffers. Without the warmth of compassion our wisdom and clarity becomes impartial and cold. And without the clear seeing wisdom our kindness becomes mis-guided and perhaps only serves to perpetuate the problem.”

A Simple and Pristine Lifestyle, Part III

This is the third translation installment of the Chinese article entitled A Simple Life Is A Beautiful One, by Venerable Hung I that appeared in the May 2007 (#153) issue of Dharma Garden. Parts I and II can be viewed here and here.

B) A simple and pristine inter-personal ethos

Unless we lead the life of a recluse, we will always interact with people and handle inter-personal matters. I believe we all wish for as simple a human relationship as possible but contrary to our expectations, we usually struggle to live and work in a complicated environment, finding ourselves ill at ease and things going against our will.

On reflection, are we truly behaving simply to begin with? Probably not. We too are guilty of complicating matters, bringing chagrin upon people around us. Often I rationalize that a person that has no malevolent streak in him would likely not hurt others purposely. Maybe our actions at hurting are just manifestations of habits, without ill-intent. Here by habits I mean a natural response that follows from our thoughts, our feelings, our preferences and personal likes and dislikes, without inhibition. Our typical response is often predicated on our reasoning, that we are properly motivated; however, it often spawns discomfiture and worry in others.

How do we foster a simple attitude toward others? I feel that firstly, we must not change ourselves on account of others' mood swings. Secondly, we must abide by our principles of engaging others, regardless of whether the response from others is friendly or otherwise. We need to uphold these principles at all times.

In this regard, we need to come up with some methodology of addressing inter-personal matters. As the saying goes, each of us looks different, so is our mind thinking differently. Some people are rational, some aren’t; some people choose their words, some don’t; some people are affable, some are downright arrogant. Regardless of whom we meet, the best approach is to attempt to understand the truth, and then to adopt that which is meritorious and discard that which is unwholesome. Discarding here implies letting go of our dissatisfaction and sense of outrage, but not giving up on others. Then we have to ask ourselves whether we would like to continue to network and cultivate positive relations with others. If the answer is affirmative, then we need to nurture compassion and forbearance, and continue establishing good contacts with others. Once we are able to understand the likely changes of inter-personal relation to some extent and prepare ourselves accordingly, we will become steady and forthright. Similarly, when we are sure of our principles of engaging others, we will be focused, marching forward with an even keel, and not lose our purpose in life due to complications in inter-personal matters.

Stay tuned for the fourth and last installment of the translation on a simple and pristine Buddhist practice, followed by conclusions.

A Simple and Pristine Lifestyle, Part II

Continued from where I left off, this second translation installment starts with the first simple lifestyle as enunciated by Venerable Hung I in his article, A Simple Life Is A Beautiful One, that appeared in the May 2007 (#153) issue of Dharma Garden.

A) A simple and pristine habit of living
Craving for material possessions and emotional longing form the basics of life for ordinary folks. These pursuits motivate us to work hard, to follow our careers and to bolster our financial wellbeing. When managed well, these earthly preoccupations, while not completely devoid of desires, are not likely to result in dire aggravations. On the other hand, when poorly managed, we could be severely scarred by the fire of delusion, consuming every iota of merits that we have amassed. Therefore, the teachings of Buddha always stress on less desires and more contentment. One who has overcome desire and cultivated contentment is one who holds the key to a happy life that is free from suffering.

The Dharma admonishes us to eliminate desires, which denote the so-called impure desires driven by the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch that manifest in the craving for wealth, sex, fame, gluttony, and sloth. Instead, we should cultivate and nurture the pure/wholesome desires [a better term that is less tainted by the first reference to impurity could perhaps be intentions, in my humble opinion, in this context. The ten wholesome intentions are couched in the negative as in no killing, no stealing, no improper sex, no deceiving talk, no derogatory remarks, no gossip, no flattery, no greed, no anger, and no delusion]. These teachings are embodied in one of the Eight-Fold Path: Right Effort/Diligence [the following translated bulleted texts are taken verbatim from David Brazier’s The Feeling Buddha (Fromm International, NY, 1998, pg. 159)]:

1) to prevent unwholesome states of mind from arising;
2) to eradicate those that have arisen;
3) to bring about wholesome states not yet arisen;
4) to sustain wholesome states already arisen.

Once we are able to distinguish those desires that we need to curb and those that we need to augment, we have to put into practice the wholesale termination of these affliction-inducing cravings.

How to achieve a state of less desire and contentment? We have to do more than the superficially obvious such as staying away from such indulgences. Instead, we have to actually give up greed and practice detachment. For example, eating/drinking by itself is intrinsically a neutral activity with no memory function. If we ingest with moderation, the food nourishes our body. However, if we overdo it with abandon, then the food is going to hurt our body, leading to illness.

[From hereon I’m skipping the citation of an excerpt from the Buddhist explanatory text written by Venerable Master Yin Shun.] Suffice to paraphrase here that the teachings of Buddha focus on taming the mind so as not to succumb to the temptations borne out of our habits conditioned by the environment, and not on renouncing totally everything that living in this world entails. We are endowed with the five senses upon birth. Interacting with the environment through these sensory organs is inevitable. And to live is to engage in nourishing activities that keep our body going. Therefore, eradicating desires is not tantamount to rejecting these means of sustenance. It’s purifying our mind commensurate with both bodily and societal needs so that our mind is not dictated by the changing environment.

I will stop here for now and will begin the second element of a simple lifestyle in the next installment. Stay tuned.

First Think to Write, then WriteTo Think

Thought of not blogging today since it being a working day, I felt kind of exhausted. Then while making a small correction to yesterday’s post, I see that I’m just one short of the century mark. So, what the hack, now is as good as anytime to reach that milestone.

But what to write? Notice that I’m not asking how to write. After all the mechanics of writing should be behind me now, what with so many “literary works” to my credit, so I rationalize, smugly too.

Then again truth can be brutal, most of the times. And that hit me flat on the face when I attended the very first ASCE webinar on Writing – Producing action oriented documents, courtesy of my office. It was a two-parter, one hour each during lunchtime on July 18 and July 25.

The speaker, Dr. Stuart Walesh, gave a lot of writing tips over the two hours of virtual delivery, each of us given a copy of the printed slides to follow and to write notes on. And I find that I have been happily clinging on to a lot of the “heavy-handed” stuff that appeal to me more than the readers.

Unlike speaking, writing lacks the tonal nuances, the body language, the deliberate pauses, the props and the room setting that play to the speaker’s advantage in sustaining the interest of an audience. Writing depends solely on the verbal route to bring home a point, to entice the reader to stay, to linger on, every step of the way.

But oftentimes we are the guilty ones, leaving the readers no choice but to abandon ship. There are only two things one has to master in order to write convincingly: learn the fundamentals, and practice, practice, practice.

One obvious shortcoming that I still have not surmounted is the tendency to be verbose. Taunting less is more, the speaker challenges us to throw away words that do not add anything meaningful, except perhaps our own boasted ego, confusing flowery renditions for substantive and elegant prose.

For example, how often have we penned “someone has the capacity to do something”, rather than simply, “someone can …”? Or “in the course of our discussion” than “in our discussion”? The most egregious is perhaps the wanton assertion of “currently” all over the place: We are currently doing this and we are currently doing that. Just take out “currently” and you will find that the present continuous tense is intact.

My colleague defended that uncontrollable fixation on “currently” on the mentality of the consultant, which is our line of work, who needs to justify to the client that we are always doing things for the client.

The other apparent writing flaw is the abundance of articles (either a or the) that start a sentence. The speaker suggests the use of transition words to soften the visual wordscape, again having the readers at heart.

Another significant text saver is writing in the active voice, rather than the passive voice. It has been determined by numerical modeling that alternative A is the best approach. Now try this: Numerical modeling determined that alternative A is the best approach. I rest my case.

After learning the fundamentals, albeit rudimentary, it's practice time. There's where you will find writing actually help clarify things. Hence, write to think.

Actually a lot of this verbiage can be caught if only we proofread our writings. Not once, but several times, and don’t just depend on the spelling checker of your word processor. Sometimes even leave it aside for a day or two, and revisit after it has been mulled over by our subconscious. For more important writings, we may even get our friends to proofread. How many times have you proofread your writing and declared it to be error-free only to be unsettled by a brief glance from a friend who easily spots one that just jumps out of the page, after you have been told? My wife can certainly vouch for the many wrong words (the spelling checker only tells you whether the word is correctly spelt, but not whether it is the right word for the job) that she picks up. And she is not even trained as a proof reader.

So, less is more, transition words are good, active voice is better, and, yes, leave plenty of space around such as using lists and paragraphing. A cluttered text is symptomatic of a cluttered mind of the writer, and the reader then simply un-clutters by looking elsewhere.

OK. Mission accomplished. #100.

Behind Every Failure Lie Many Successes

My elder daugter’s blogging about her meeting with Matthew Pearl, the author of The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow, her very first in her third sojourn in US, reminds me of a similar experience that I had, oh may be more than ten years ago, back in Malaysia.

It was a technical talk organized by the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia of which I am a member. And the speaker was Prof. Henry Petroski (it took me about 5 minutes to scour the depth of my mind recess to dig out the name during this morning’s drive to work, no small feat for a man past the half century mark).

But I could not recall where he is from. So a google-check shows that he is teaching at Duke. He is a rarity among engineers who write books, let alone a popular one at that. As a group, engineers are probably the least literary inclined. I suspect that has something to do with our training in the analytics, though by no means engineers form the only professional group well-honed in the business of analytical thinking.

That’s perhaps the reason too why engineers are seldom featured in novels, TV series, and movies. Engineers are too stoic, too matter-of-fact, or even sedate to instill any excitement, despite having an integral role in making the world turn day in and day out.

Engineers are the proverbial back-room boys (and girls). Unlike lawyers, doctors, and even architects who come into constant contact with people in their line of work. To quote Marilyn vos Savant of the Ask Marilyn fame serialized in the Parade Magazine, Engineers are an unappreciated lot.

Anyway, I digress. Back to Prof. Henry Petroski. He has written many books and the one that I have read then, which became my only autographed copy, is To Engineer Is Human. Obviously this is a play on the famed adage: To err is human, to forgive divine". I have forgotten the contents of the book, other than the byline in the title: The Role of Failures in Successful Design.

While God forbide that engineers should design something purposely to fail, we do learn a lot more from a failed design than a successful one. The most famous engineering failure, not in terms of casualty because there was none, but in terms of the evolution of an actual engineering “catastrophe”, is the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State.

The Bridge was the third longest of its genre, suspension bridges, when it opened on July 1, 1940. It collapsed in a windstorm about four months later, earning the moniker the Galloping Gertie because of its rolling, undulating behavior during service. To get a taste, albeit, a vicarious one, of the “choppy” ride across the bridge, here is one version:

“Motorists crossing the 2,800-foot center span sometimes felt as though they were traveling on a giant roller coaster, watching the cars ahead disappear completely for a few moments as if they had been dropped into the trough of a large wave.”

Top two: Swing it to the left, and swing it to the right!
Bottom two: Breaking up and a huge splash.
(Stills captured from the video referenced below)

The collapse of the bridge is due to a phenomenon called resonant excitation. Every structure has its own natural frequency and when the structure is vibrated, say by wind, close to its natural frequency, its response is magnified many times leading to structural collapse. The entire episode of the bridge deck going through its wild swings and eventual disintegration has been captured on film and can be viewed here. It has since become a popular demonstration of resonant behavior in schools and colleges all over the world.

The bridge was replaced in 1950, after a lapse of ten years, built to a better design that still stands today.

Global Guan Yin Dharma Ceremony, July 30 - Aug 1, 2007, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Political polemics on a variety of issues continues to rage in Malaysia: Islamic Nation vs Secular Nation, Freedom of speech vs ISA/OSA, etc. At the same time, the rising crime rate reigns unabated. Then civil servants, including pensioners, got a big boost, the financial kind, purportedly portending the impending arrival of the general election. This is followed by the furor over the tightening of rules governing teachers doubling as tutors, not the gratuitous kind, ostensibly to stem the “fall” of the wayward ones who dare to teach more diligently outside the school hours.

Amidst this mixed bag of development, I was elated to read about the 3-day Global Guan Yin Dharma Ceremony to be held in Malaysia from July 30 – Aug. 1, carried by an online Nanyang Siang Pau article (in Chinese). This could not have come at a more opportune time when the country is in dire need for blessing, in whatever form.

According to the news article, this is to be held in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the independence of Malaysia, a golden jubilee of sort. The aim is to propagate the spirit of compassion as embodied in the deeds of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, who is better known as Guan Yin among the Chinese community, and Goddess of Mercy in the west, in praying for the cessation of disasters, for the liberation of sentient beings from suffering, for ensuring harmony in and among nations, and for realizing lasting world peace.

To be held at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, the Global Guan Yin Dharma Ceremony expects an attendance of 300,000, and features a variety of Buddhist rites such as the repentance, the release life, the veneration of the sangha, passing the lanterns, mantra chanting, and meditation as well as a series of Dharma talks on vegetarian cooking and ecology, and Dharma song and dance performances. Many world-renowned venerable masters such as Chin Kung and Tsing Yun will grace the occasion. This is an especially auspicious event that emerges from the convergence of many conducive and enabling conditions, culminating in showing the path toward fulfillment through wisdom and compassion.

As stated by Rev Ratana, Chief Monk of the Maha Vihara temple in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a blessed country as we can come into contact with Buddhism of different schools. This is unlike other countries that have a more homogeneous populace, and hence, are likely to practice the teachings propounded by a single school of Buddhism. In that regard, the ceremony will help channel a powerful flow of Dharma bliss, embracing all being in benevolence.

So, to partake of the benefits and Dharma merits, be there.

The Appeal of Buddhism

This is a translated excerpt from the article entitled Liang Qichao And Learning Buddhism that I just came across on the online Nanyang Siang Pau (many thanks to my wife for the alert):

Toward the end of the Ching Dynasty in China, many scholars turned their attention from the traditional Confucian focus to studying Buddhism. This was a common trend then. Among them is Liang Qichao, a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements. And he listed several areas of Buddhist teachings that appealed to him (the Chinese text follows next):

• Buddhist beliefs are founded on wise teachings and not superstition.
• Buddhist beliefs emphasize the complementarity of all that is good, and not the exclusivity of good.
• Buddhist beliefs cater to the needs of this world, the here and now, and not as an escape route out of this world.
• Buddhist beliefs are measureless, and not bounded.
• Buddhist beliefs are predicated on equality, and not disparity.
• Buddhist beliefs are learned through self-motivation, and not driven by externalities.

The Malaysian Citizen ThinkTank

One of the hallmarks of the knowledge era is the so-called leveling of the playing field, especially in the political arena, both in as much as the near instant revelation of any political shenanigans (the watchdog role), and the harnessing of public opinion to effect a desired political outcome (the community participatory role). Both are made possible by the decentralizing role enabled by the ubiquitous access to information at a mouse click way, the Internet revolution.

This citizen-, or rather netizen-centric enterprise first took off with the Wikipedia project, which lately has received some negative feedback, and the more recent variation, the Citizendium project, which may be viewed as a spinoff from the former but with a professed better transparency in terms of authorship and editorship.

Concurrently, the pervasive nature of the blogosphere has taken us by storm, with budding bloggers emerging by the minutes, ranging from the politically savvy to those who just want a convenient space to chronicle their inner feelings and interact with like-minded people.

Sooner or later, some enterprising quarters, tired of the mainstream offering of news commentary that are perceived to be slanted toward the powers-that-be, and afflicted with a profound disconnect with reality, or more aptly, things happening at the ground, would seize this opportunity to galvanize, to muster, and to marshal the discrete voices of discontent, of disenfranchisement, of disillusionment, into a veritable citizen/netizen movement.

The latest addition to this clarion call to political action, to my knowledge, is CitizenThinkt@nk, spotting “Route to Knowledge Democracy in Malaysia” on their website. It came to me in the form of an email from a friend back home, choosing to focus their awareness campaign in the form of a chain email. The email admonished each recipient, in turn, to forward the email to seven other friends. Why seven? To coincide with the movement’s birth on July 7, 2007.


I’m not a particular fan of chain emails. But I do subscribe to their reasons of being, and believe in the democratic process of effecting change through the electoral system, voting. Hence, this blog is my own way of helping to spread the word, so to speak.

To make an informed vote, we need to filter the information we are bombarded on a daily basis. And that can only be achieved if we explore all information avenues, even the alternative ones. I particularly like the politician rating initiative, culled from citizen’s opinions across the board. Granted there will be die-hards and lobbyists who would try to tilt the scale through mass mailings, but on balance the outcome will be an additional opinion poll that we can factor into our overall assessment of political reality. Gone are the days we are passive observers, unilaterally fed by the mainstream media, which are influenced to varying degrees by the government of the day.

The Internet Age and the ushering in of the knowledge era have afforded us an opportunity to be discerning, to be discriminative, to be better informed. And to quote Bill Gates in his 2007 Harvard Commencement Speech:

“My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here - never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: “From those to whom much is given, much is expected.”

Indeed we have been given much, the ability to read and exercise our thinking faculty, and the ready access to an incredibly powerful tool, the Internet. It behooves us, then, to exercise these endowments with the utmost care, for the collective good. The twin goal of accountability and responsibility that graces the website of Citizen Thinkt@nk, is as much the one we set for the politicians as for ourselves.

A Simple and Pristine Lifestyle, Part I

The Dharma Garden is a bi-monthly Buddhist periodical in Chinese published by Texas Buddhist Association, Inc. that we receive regularly. Each issue contains a featured theme that is explored by several authors from the Buddhist perspective, but shaped by individual experiences. The chosen theme in the May 2007 issue (No. 153) is A Simple Life Is A Beautiful One (my own translation of the theme).

Out of five articles under the featured theme, I have elected to make an English translation of the article written by Venerable Hung I, a resident monk at Jade Buddha Temple of Houston, Texas.

I wish to emphasize here that this is entirely my own interpretation of Venerable’s published work with the sole purpose of sharing his experiences of practicing Buddhism with like-minded people, and therefore, any perceived error in doing so is entirely my own. It goes without saying that I will value such feedback so that I would not repeat the same in the future. Also, because of the length of the article and also because I hesitate to summarize for fear of losing the continuity of the flow of thought, the translation will appear in installments. Here then is the first installment. But first, the scanned page of the featured theme in Chinese and the English translation.

A Simple Life is a Beautiful One

We yearn for things to eat and wear when we are destitute in condition;

But what would these yearnings become after those needs have been met beyond satisfaction?

It’s not a crime to be wealthy and all;

The only yardstick is how much we are attached to it all.

A Simple and Pristine Lifestyle
by Venerable Hung I

We are brought into this world not knowing how long we will live. But as long as we breathe, we continue to labor in order to live. Regardless of whether one is rich and mighty, or poor and decrepit, each of us has ambitions and targets, hoping to live happily, meaningfully, during our brief sojourn on this earth. Some even go further as to seek ascension into the blissful realm after departure, or in Buddhist parlance, liberation from life’s sufferings.

Upon closer examination and apart from the above commonality in broad terms, we find that our hopes differ greatly, presumably as a consequence of the disparities in our karmic stores, the divergence in our individual thoughts, and the mismatch in our blessings. We follow different life styles, with different emphases conditioned by varying value systems to the extent that conflicts are spawned from the inevitable clashes of personal convictions. This is especially apparent in the domain of ideologies and beliefs.

But regardless of the way of life that we choose to embrace, the goal is basically the same: to live happily, peacefully, nobly, and with dignity. Nobody wishes for poverty, for worry, for solitude, for helplessness, and for a bleak future, not knowing where the future lies. Therefore, if somebody says he [this is deemed to include the female gender as well from hereon] has the whole world in view and plans to befriend all the heroes from every nook and corner, and aspires to engage in some earth-shattering ventures, we need to understand that he is driven by his own worldview, and that those are his raison d’etre.

On the other hand, there are those who find a socially active life stressful, consumed as it were like a proverbial dog chasing after its own tail. They view climbing the social ladder as unnecessary, and competition in a rat race as unworthy, and prefer the serenity of solitude. It’s really a matter of to each his own, each individual just has to find his own niche within the social milieu.

After years of going through life’s tribulations that are rife with every complexity imaginable, I have gradually gravitated, in dealing with all matters, from the initially comprehensive management focus to the present attitude of facing up to the demands of reality: less meddling, and cautious management.

Less meddling is a response born out of the perception that many things are useless to trifle with, a sunken investment in efforts to do so. Cautious management then recognizes that many efforts in resolving inter-personal issues is an exercise in futility at best, more so if we are driven by our own biases and preferences. Oftentimes it is the lack of enabling factors, the dearth of conducive conditions that prove wanting. Therefore instead of daily direct engagement for quick fixes, it seems prudent to motivate for incremental changes, and to cultivate the right condition over the long-term.

From the twin pronged approach of less meddling and cautions management, I find that persevering in uplifting our moral fibre and promoting an even-keeled temperament can do wonder too. Otherwise, merely saving on efforts without facing up to the real tasks at hand would be deficient in fostering our compassion and boosting our wisdom. In this connection, how to choose between saving and investing, or to optimize the combination thereof, remains one of life’s major targets.

I term these targets as a simple and pristine lifestyle, and from this notion I will venture some personal views for all to share. In my thinking, simple connotes the antithesis of complexity while pristine conjures up a state of purity, shorn of all evils. What then, is exactly a simple and pristine lifestyle?

In the next installment, I will translate each of the three spheres of human activity that the author has in mind for application, they being simple and pristine living habits, simple and pristine inter-personal ethos, and simple and pristine Buddhist practice, one at a time.

Chinese Calligraphy on Non-Clinging

After close to a month of inactivity, my wife has picked her Chinese brush pen again (read here about her previous, read maiden, foray) and the result is the following rendition of several famous Buddhist verses condensed from the Diamond Sutra that form the very essence of the Chan School of Buddhism. I don’t suppose I fully grasp the profundity of the verses. Nevertheless I will try to perform an English translation, attempting to preserve the same crispness and conciseness that are the hallmark of Chinese Buddhist writings.

If you find the translation cryptic, well, at least you could enjoy the calligraphy. Here it goes.

Deftly combining compassion and wisdom
Brings purity of mind to our inner sanctum.
Seeing through and letting go as embodied in non-attachment
A Bodhi mind and buddhahood shall be our fulfillment.

Turtles Can Fly: The Forgotten Children

For most of us distanced from the ravages of wars, we grimace at TV images of human carnage and suffering, but the impacts soon fade into oblivion the moment we turn off the TV. The assault on our conscience is a fleeting one, soon overshadowed by our daily grind.

Consciously or not, we tend to shut off images of human suffering, presumably because such a state of mind is seemingly incongruous with us being nicely ensconced in the comfort of home. We have the luxury of making choices, preferring happy outcomes, both for us and for others. And that freedom of choice is exercised daily in movie selection, for example.

After a hard day's work, we can't be faulted with seeking a little outlet for our pent-up stress, and what better way to do that than in the form of an entertaining visual/audio escapade as offered by the celluloid screen, so we rationalize. Rarely do we choose a movie genre that is likely to prick our conscience, less so a docu-drama that brings us back down to earth, traumatically at times, unless per chance we bump into one. And this was the milieu in which we found ourselves one fine day not too long ago while channel surfing.

I think we just miss the starting credit and therefore did not know the title until the end credits came up. The first scene was a group of boys led by one precocious bespectacled kid haggling with the seller for a huge satellite disc in the shop. We could not understand the dialog, nor able to place the language origin. But the dubbing saved the day. The next scene showed the boys pushing the satellite disc on the kid’s bicycle, colorfully festooned with ribbons.

We had the urge to move along, seldom settling for a foreign movie, unless it’s Chinese. But for some reason we stayed on and by the time the armless kid with his somber-faced sister, with a little, seemingly blind, brother (and so we thought) in tow, appeared, we were glued.

The setting is a Kurdish refugee camp, somewhere at the border of Iraq/Turkey. The time was just prior to the US invasion of Iraq. The adults seemed to just laze around while the more enterprising kids scouted the area for intact land mines to sell.

There was a budding love story in there somewhere, but decidedly one-sided as the girl, the sister of the armless kid, hardly responded to the advances from Satellite (that’s the nickname of the leader of the marauding kid gang). Through several back flashes, we began to know the reason for the girl’s perennially depressed state of mind, and her silent struggle between caring for and rejecting her little brother, who turned up to be her son born as a result of soldier rape.

The poignancy of the wars waged by adults driven by ideological and geopolitical imperatives was laid bare by this microcosm of war-torn life eked out by a bunch of innocent children, by all accounts. In the end, the girl took her own life, jumping off from a high cliff, and receiving complete liberation from a life of destitute. Perhaps this is one facet of the symbolism projected by the film’s title: Turtles Can Fly.

On a more positive note, that the children, despite their dire circumstances, could still go about their business day in and day out must be a testimony to the indefatigable spirit of the young, who have not seen anything better (except for the MTV via satellite TV reception). For us removed from the scene of the specter, this must appear impossible. How could they still find meaning in life? I venture that these kids must believe that turtles can fly, and that tomorrow is another day to look forward to.

I think even the most callous of soul will be moved by the plight of these children. We complain about slow service, traffic jam, inconsiderate neighbors, scheming colleagues, unjust discriminations of all sorts. But all these pale in comparison with the portrayal in the film, revealing how petty we have become. The common refrain of not taking things for granted just sounds that much louder. And no matter how decrepit our life would become, there will always be people somewhere in the world much worse off and deserving of our compassion beyond mere empathy.