The Young Monk Who Saved The Ants
Once upon a time in the deep mountains forest there lived an old monk and a young monk. The old monk was a great practitioner of Buddha-dharma and was frequently in deep meditation. Normally when he started meditation, it could last for half a day or one full day. In addition, during his meditation he would know what was going to happen in the future.
One day, the old monk meditated again. Suddenly he found out that his little disciple was going to pass away in eight days. Therefore the old monk called the young monk and said,
"My child, I am going to give you an eight-day holiday so that you can go home to see your mother and father."
"Really? That's very good, thank you Shifu."
In fact, lately I have been feeling quite homesick too."
"However, you must remember to come back here by the eighth day."
"Okay, Shifu, please take care of yourself. I am leaving now."
"Go home now!"
Delightedly the young monk went down the mountains, without realising that in the eyes of the old monk, there was sadness and a sense of reluctance to see him leave. After a long walk, the young monk stopped at the bank of the stream to drink some water as he was getting thirsty. Then he saw there was an ant cave in which countless ants were going into and out of it. He stayed to observe for a while with interest. When he was just about to leave,
"Oh! Why is the water level of the stream is rising? Oh no!! The ants will be drowned!!"
The reason was it had been raining upstream for a few days continuously. Therefore the water level downstream was starting to rise.
He quickly took off his cloth and he put some hard soil in it to made up a protection wall along the cave. Not only did he managed to stop water from covering the cave, but also skilfully diverted the flow of the waterto somewhere else.
Hence he saved the lives of countless ants. Eight days passed quickly. The old monk was strolling in the mountains forest sadly. Suddenly from a distance, he saw the little monk coming back upto the mountains cheerfully. Happily he asked the young monk to recount what he has done in the pass eight days while he had been away. When he pondered on this story he finally understood that because the young monk had saved the lives of countless ants this has caused his fated eight-day life expectancyto lenghten into a long and happy life.This is the merit of cultivating good deeds, however seemingly insignificant they be.

Found this inspiring story online...

~yenny~

Do not pursue the past.

Do not lose yourself in the future.

The past no longer is.

The future has not yet come.

Looking deeply at life as it is.

In the very here and now, the practitioner dwells in stability and freedom.

We must be diligent today.

To wait until tomorrow is too late.

Death comes unexpectedly.

How can we bargain with it?

The sage calls a person who knows how to dwell in mindfulness night and day,

'one who knows the better way to live alone.'

Bhaddekaratta Sutta

Still searching for the meaning in life and the secret to happiness...

~yenny~

Truth...

SPEAKING TRUTH

By Jesa MacBeth

It is possible to speak truth in anger. When so done, people tend to hear the anger and not the truth.
It is possible to speak truth in arrogance. When so done, people tend to hear the arroganceand not the truth.
It is possible to speak truth in deceitful ways. When so done, people tend to sense the deceit and take the truth for more deceit.
It is possible to speak truth in loving kindness. When so done, people tend to hear the love and the truth.
Or so it seems in my experience.

Last day of Diwali holiday...

~yenny~

Boredom, loneliness, laziness...

A tough comment from Lama Yeshe in 'Becoming Vajrasattva, the Tantric Path of Purification':
"Why are we bored, lonely and lazy? Because we don't have the will to totally open our hearts to others. If you have the strength of will to totally open your heart to others, you will eliminate laziness, selfishness and loneliness. Actually, the reason you get lonely is that you are not doing anything. If you were busy, you wouldn't have time to get lonely. Loneliness can only enter an inactive mind. If your mind is dull and your body inactive, then you get lonely. Basically, this comes from a selfish attitude, concern for yourself alone. That is the cause of loneliness, laziness and a closed heart."

~yenny~

Story from the heart

EYES
There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend, who was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. She could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”
The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying - “Just take care of my eyes dear.”

Saw this story online....wonder how true can it be in reality...

~yenny~

Freedom...

PRAYER FOR FREEDOM FROM SUFFERING
May all beings everywhere plagued

with sufferings of body and mind

quickly be freed from their illnesses.

May those frightened cease to be afraid,

and may those bound be free.

May the powerless find power,

and may people think of befriending each other.

May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness--

the children, the aged, the unprotected--

be guarded by beneficent celestials,

and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood.

The Buddha

~yenny~

Attachment...

An example to illustrate attachment that I love:
"In the South of India, people used to catch monkeys in a very special way. Actually they let monkeys catch themselves. What they did is cutting a small hole in a coconut, just large enough for a monkey to put its hand in. Next, you fix the coconut to a tree, and fill it with a sweet. The monkey smells the sweet, squeezes its hand into the coconut, grabs the sweet and .... finds that the fist does not fit through the hole. Now the trick is, that the last thing the monkey will think of is to let go of the sweet; and it holds itself prisoner. Nothing could be easier for a human being who comes and catches it. "

Saw this phrase somewhere..find it meaningful..

~yenny~

price to pay...

上了大学才知道，真心对一个人好不一定有回报，而你忽略的人往往有可能是最重视你的。
上了大学才知道，一个人要自己对自己好，因为真正关心你的人很少，有了事他们也不一定会在你身边。所以要自己照顾自己。
上了大学才知道，不要心情不好的时候对周围人发脾气，渴望他们谅解你，人家不是你的父母，现在你可以明白父母对自己多么重要。
上了大学才知道，太在乎别人了往往会伤害自己 。
上了大学才知道，原来上课，吃饭，上自习常常得自己一个人。

Came across a fren's blog recently and saw those sentences above..very much agree with it...prob those are lessons in life that we must learnt...a price to pay for growing up..

tonight attended our last chinese orientation in manipal organized by the juniors..they did a good job..rather lost recently..

We wil remember u always Ah kong...

Today 18 Oct 2008, our beloved Ah kong, a remarkable man, the one who holds all of us together.. left this world...But, he wil be forever in our hearts...Pray that he is in a better place now.. Rest in peace ah kong...with love..
yenny...

My Precious Gift...

Thank u very much dear...Finally i get the chance to use it..hehe..I wil take care of it carefully..:-)
Strive on..dun give up!!
Found an interesting quote...

"The past cannot be changed,the future is still in your power."

- Hugh White -

childhood memories...

Today is the last day of the introduction session.. Tml my group wil be starting the first posting in Karkala..Paediatrics and OBG.. we heard from seniors that having toys might help to make the children happy..haaha..so just now me and another 2 frens went around Udupi after class to look for toys! too bad.. we had to walk into few shops only managed to get the ones that we feel are suitable and safe for kids and can produce sounds..haa...above green block is the one i bought finally..

And today, i also got something else for myself and ppl i love...this SMILEY is the toy the shop assistant in the first shop showed us..it is soft enough but too bad cant produce sounds, so cant attract child's attention..Anyway, 3 of us ended up buying it too for ourselves coz it is so cute...

This SMILEY is for my beloved dad & mum, sis & bro ( kambate in ur pmr!!), all my relatives & frens...and of course not to be forgotten my dear..:-)..Hope all of u stay happy always!!

Faith...

When I'm with you,

eternity is a step away,

my love continues to grow,

with each passing day.

This treasure of love,

I cherish within my soul,

how much I love you...

you'll never really know.

You bring a joy to my heart,

I've never felt before,

with each touch of your hand,

I love you more and more.

Whenever we say goodbye,

whenever we part,

know I hold you dearly,

deep inside my heart.

So these seven words,

I pray you hold true,

"Forever And Always,

I Will Love You."

- Chris Engle -

no mood to study..came across this poem online.. simple yet beautiful..I always love such poems.. would like to dedicate it to my darling... ;-) sorry to make u upset many times...

A new beginning..

Finally comes saturday night..it has been a week since i started the clinical phase here in manipal..basically this whole week we are just being introduced to the subjects..proper clinical teachings wil start next week probably.. my group wil start with OBG and Paed.. quite a routine schedule everyday, guess it gonna be like this for our remaining 6 months in india... one hour lecture every morning at 8, then we wil be sent to respective hospital , either in Udupi( 15 min away) or Karkala( 45 min away) by college bus for morning and afternoon classes/clinics til 5...my dear said is like school children, bus sends and picks us up everyday..hehe..at least we dun have to worry bout transport.. :-) So far, met some really good and dedicated teachers..Now, i really need to start studying dy, cannot stay in the holiday mood anymore..haa! pray for assistance ..for me being able to study smoothly... All the best to all my batchmates in this clinical phase!