Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum

To be honest, I am addicted to the song :).

Puas?

Di depan jendelaku ada air mengalir dari langit turun ke bumi dengan derasnya,

Di samping kananku ada segelas milo panas yang lezatnya tak terkira,

Di samping kiriku ada tumpukan buku milik orang spesial di hati.

Ahh.. aku sangat menikmati dan bersyukur ada pada suasana ini :)

Readers,

Karena masih terbawa topik tentang 'Contentment' dari hasil diskusi kemarin bersama teman-teman, saya pun ingin menuliskannya disini.

Sudahkah anda puas dengan apa yang anda miliki?

Atau masihkah anda mencari-cari dan iri akan barang milik orang lain?

Tidak dipungkiri bahwa dalam hidup ini, kita akan memiliki perasaan cemburu dan iri. Namun, yang terpenting adalah bagaimana kita menyikapi perasaan - perasaan yang timbul tersebut. Saya sendiri tidak luput dari penjajahan perasaan cemburu dan iri.

Beberapa bulan lalu saya pernah diminta seorang teman untuk membantu dia mencarikan kamar. Pencarian yang serasa tak ada habisnya membuat kita sama-sama lelah, dan jujur saja saya juga merasa kasihan dengan dia yang masih belum mendapatkan kamar. Ketika pada akhirnya, dia mendapatkan kamar dengan bantuan saya, aneh tapi nyata.. Bukan perasaan bahagia yang saya alami, tetapi justru ada perasaan iri karena dia mendapatkan kamar dengan harga lebih murah daripada saya.

Disini saya sadar bahwa saya sedang dijajah perasaan iri, jadi saya tidak mau tinggal diam. Segera ketika saya melaju pulang dengan kendaraan umum, saya memborbardir pikiran saya dengan pertanyaan-pertanyaan. "Mengapa aku bisa merasa iri? Mengapa aku tidak berbahagia karena temanku mendapatkan kamar? Seharusnyakah aku benar-benar merasa iri dan bersikap sesuai dengan perasaan itu?"

Saya bersyukur bahwa saya adalah orang yang selalu berpikir dan refleksi diri jika saya merasa saya sedang dijajah pikiran-pikiran negatif. Dan ketika pertanyaan "mengapa" di atas muncul, diriku pun menjawabnya dengan lantang.

"Tentu dong aku iri, kan dia mendapatkan kamar jauh lebih murah daripada aku, padahal harga kamarku sendiri mahal. Wah kebahagiaanku telah terselubung dengan perasaan iri yang kadarnya sangat tinggi. STOP!!! Aku punya pemilik rumah yang begitu baik, ada teman dekat dan aunty baik hati yang tinggal hanya beberapa blok dari rumahku, masih haruskah aku merasa iri lagi?..."

Readers, aku percaya akan pentingnya waktu bagi diri kita untuk refleksi dan merasa puas dengan apa yang telah kita miliki. Membandingkan diri dengan orang lain tentunya hanya akan membuat diri kita memiliki tekanan.  Coba rasakan dan nikmati apa yang kita miliki saat ini. Ingat readers, waktu tidak pernah terulang kembali. Dan setiap tahap dalam kehidupan memiliki suka dan deritanya masing-masing.

Ice Cream Sundae, a Beautiful Moment :)

Readers,

Sekarang saya berada di McD, Clementi hohoho!! Sambil menikmati ice cream sundae, sambil melihat jalanan yang penuh dengan mobil berjalan, sambil ngobrol sama Helmi dan sambil menulis blog ini. Bingung ga tuh ya? Bagaimana bisa seorang perempuan biasa seperti diriku melakukan semua hal bersamaan? Huahaha!

Kenyataannya... Saya melakukan semuanya satu per satu. Ketika satu hal dilakukan, hal lainnya tidak bisa dilakukan, karena biasanya fokus terpecah dan hasil menjadi tidak baik. Fokus seperti sekarang ini sungguhlah menyenangkan, suara orang-orang dan musik di belakang hanya seperti background yang menghiasi keramaian suasana ini. Klo boleh jujur, saat ini sunggu nikmat :) :) :)

Readers, hari ini saya belajar tentang pelajaran kehidupan dari managerku, Agnes ;).

Agnes merupakan seorang wanita, Singaporean, sudah berumur sekitar 50+.. Di mataku Agnes adalah seorang guru :). Ia berbeda dengan kebanyakan orang kantoran yang seumuran dengannya. Menurutku, biasanya karena telah memiliki pengalaman dan kemampuan lebih daripada yang lain, orang-orang senior kantor itu akan merasa hebat dan berkuasa.

Agnes tidak termasuk salah satu dari orang-orang tersebut.

Hari ini saya baru saja belajar darinya..

Walaupun kita sudah mencapai posisi tinggi, janganlah merasa sombong, dan tetaplah semangat untuk belajar dari siapapun. Siapapun disini termasuk orang-orang yang masih junior, yang umurnya masih lebih kecil dari kita, yang pengalamannya jauh belum sepadat pengalaman yang telah kita dapatkan.

Anyway, readers, belum pernah saya menulis sambil dibaca oleh orang lain hehe! Kali ini berbeda ;)

Karena ditemani Helmi di McD, dia membaca apa yang kutulis disini sebelum saya post hehe!

Hemm.. readers, I enjoy this very moment! Love it! :) :)

It's worth it to be at this moment and go with the flow when time moves on ~ ~ ~

Gratitude - Feel it inside your heart

Hello readers ;),

I have not update this blog quite sometimes hoho! Being busy with works and other things, plus lazy to write haha!

Anyway, I would like to extend my gratitude to friends: Helmi, Edy, Andy, Vicky, Hung Kwo and Charlie for their contribution to help me to do Indonesian Service - a Buddhist gathering for Indonesians in Singapore. They played the drama very well. Well done friends! :) :) :).

In my opinion, the event with theme "Filial Piety" yesterday was meaningful and I was happy seeing others enjoyed the session. While being the host of the session, I also learned a lot of things.

• During the session, I could change my "panic mode", because things worked not as what I had planned before, to "relax and laugh mode". For this, I learned that panic does not help, it only makes you stress and worry about the future.
• Adult friends are still human beings. I was worry that due to age difference, I would bring my childishness into the session. However, I felt that happiness can be shared. I was happy bringing the session, and I felt it too from the participants.
• Be confidence on yourself! Nothing to worry about the past nor future. Just being in the present moment, enjoy our presence, is one of my powerful experience being a host of the session.

Besides that, yesterday night when I reached home, I read the paper which had been written by participants about their wishes or gratitude to their own parents. I was touched with what they had expressed on those papers. Honestly, I put expectation that I would see words about love and thank you. However, when I read those papers one by one, I realized that every one has their own unique experience with parents. They even taught me an old lesson ...

"When time still allows us to meet with our beloved people, show love to them, forgive them for whatever they had done wrong to us."

A lot of times, regret comes only after we are unable to meet the person anymore. Since we are able to change, why don't we change it? Forgive them because it is actually our ego who does not want to forgive their mistakes. Love them because deep down in your heart, you are a being who can love others purely.

Thank you everyone! :)

Akibat Memiliki Waktu Luang Terlalu Banyak

Hello readers! :)

Rasanya sudah lama tidak bersua dengan kalian semua ya :). Artikel ini diberi judul "Akibat Memiliki Waktu Luang Terlalu Banyak" karena sebenarnya saat ini saya sedang berada di kantor, namun karena pekerjaan sudah diselesaikan dan waktu kosong saya buaanyaak, jadilah saya bisa ditemukan disini ;)

*Caution: Jangan ditiru ya teman-teman ;p*

Anyway, saya menemukan artikel bagus nih:

Air Mata Papa

Mungkin saya lagi semangat-semangatnya kena dampak mau isi acara Indo Service di Buddhist Fellowship nih, jadinya topik tentang berbakti sama orang tua lagi hangat di pikiran saya :). Artikel "Air Mata Papa" itu bagus, saya yang baca di kantor bisa sampai menitikkan air mata haha!

Habis baca artikel itu, saya jadi berpikir dan bertanya pada diriku sendiri, "Apa yang sudah kulakukan untuk papa dan mama ku ya selama ini? Sudahkah aku menunjukkan kasih sayang dan terima kasihku kepada mereka?".. Ada juga terbesit di pikiranku bahwa setiap orang di dunia ini pasti akan meninggal suatu hari nanti, jadi selama orang-orang yang kita sayang masih berada di sisi kita, sudah sepantasnya kita membuat mereka berbahagia dan bersyukur atas kehadiran mereka.

Di kesempatan ini, saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih pada papa dan mama yang sudah memberi saya kesempatan untuk melihat dan hidup di dunia ini, merawat, membimbing, dan menjaga saya hingga sekarang usiaku menjelang 23 tahun.

Jadi teman, sudahkah anda berterimakasih dan mengungkapkan rasa sayangmu pada orang tua kalian masing-masing?

With Mega Metta,

Benefit of Meditation

Being a student in this school of life, I must admit that I still have greed, the feeling of jealous, and other ill thoughts. Yesterday, for example, I still sensed the feeling of jealousy..

Luckily, through the meditation practice, I am able to note the feeling and stop myself from doing bad things.

When I was in silence, I asked this self, "Why do I need to have jealousy? Aren't we only bone, skin, and blood? We are only skeleton that is wrapped inside the skin, isn't it? We are the same.."

Anyway, I must thank the jealousy because this morning I could practice loving-kindness to myself and other beings, growing the feeling of appreciation to have this body as media to realize the nature of things and friends who support my practice :)

To be shared too, I think, this morning I meditated quite well. Although there were some distractions, but I found that I gave only a small force to ask myself to meditate. I found peace every time I breathed in and out. If previously I would say to myself, "Okay, 10 to 15 minutes for meditation is enough", but this morning I said to myself, "You can meditate as long as you wish :)"..

P.S. for "Night Meditation" friends: 

These days, because of tiredness, I switched night meditation to morning time, and I find it to be more comfortable :). I think I will stick to the morning time, but I will not forget to remind you every night. Thank you guys for your tremendous support to each other in our meditation practice. May you find peace, be well, and happy always!

May all beings be well and happy always! :)

Pass Away?

I just read a clear explanation about "kamma" from Dhamma Musings

In the past, I thought, I need to put kamma as a reason behind every events that happened to me, to every beings. However, through the post created by Bhante Dhammika above, I understand the true meaning of kamma! Not everything depends on kamma, there are other reasons behind.

Now after knowing this, I am going to fix the way I used to think before :)

Ohh yaa and just to be shared with you..

Yesterday during briefing time, my friend said to me that after I leave the place, I am considered pass away. My other friends who heard his statement were angry at him and asked him not to speak something bad! Honestly, after I heard his statement, I had no anger at all, because I am surely going to die one day, so I have no point to argue with him. But a minute later, when I saw my friends scolded him, I began to ask myself, "Am I sure that I am okay with the word PASS AWAY?"

Although I did not scold the person, but the query to myself stuck in my mind for quite sometime. I think he shouted out the word PASS AWAY, because he wants me to stay in the place. For several times, he had asked me to stay in the place, but I cannot help him, I need to move on.

I thought to be able to meet this kind of friend is due to kamma. However after I have a clear understanding about kamma, I can say that kamma is not purely the reason behind it. It was my effort to go there and eventually meet that friend. The kamma, I believe, happens when I started to think, talk, and act towards the person. Kamma is in my hand, and I can determine whether I want to have bad or good kamma :)

To close this post, I would like to write the story that was sent by my beautiful friend last night:

A chief is talking to his tribe about two dogs inside his mind: one is a white dog that is good and courageous, the one is a black dog that is vengeful and angry. Both dogs are fighting to death.

A young brave man unable to wait for the end of the story asks, "Which one will win?"

The chief responds, "The one I feed"

May all beings be well and happy always :)

Bola Api Kemarahan

Bagi saya kemarahan itu seperti bola api yang membara di dalam tubuh ini. Pantas saja ya, Buddha berkata, kemarahan hanyalah membuat dirimu sendiri menderita! Bagai memegang batu bara panas yang akan kita lemparkan pada suatu object, tetapi sebelum kamu melemparnya, kamu hanya akan melukai tanganmu sendiri.

Kemarin baru saja saya merasakan bola api ini lagi, kali ini saya benar-benar melihat nya. Jujur, ketika bola itu pertama kali muncul saya tidak mengetahui nya, object saya lebih tertumpu pada orang yang membuat saya marah. Tapi setelah bola itu terasa semakin membesar, barulah saya sadar.. Lho ini saya marah ya? Dan seketika itu pula bola itu berhenti mengembang, seperti terdiam karena malu terpergok.

Dari hasil buka-buka blog orang, saya baru tahu kalau marah itu sebenarnya adalah salah satu respond "fight or flight" kita sebagai manusia, jadi memang tidak ada yang salah jika kemarahan itu muncul. Namun, kita harus ingat, apa yang penting adalah tindakan kita setelah amarah itu muncul. Apakah kita akan meneruskan amarah ini? Atau melepaskannya dan memaafkan object yang membuat kita marah?

Pagi ini saya menemukan satu artikel tentang "kemarahan" oleh Thich Nhat Hanh. Bagus!

Ada beberapa kalimat yang saya suka dari artikel ini:

Pada saat kamu menjadi marah, kamu cenderung percaya bahwa kesengsaraanmu telah disebabkan oleh orang lain.

Kamu menyalahkan dia atas semua penderitaanmu. Banyak orang lain, yang dihadapkan pada situasi yang sama, tidak akan menjadi marah seperti dirimu. Mereka mendengar kata-2 yang sama, mereka melihat situasi yang sama, namun mereka mampu tetap tenang dan tidak terbawa. Kenapa kamu menjadi marah dengan begitu mudah?

Ketika kita mulai mengembangkan energi perhatian penuh kesadaran, pengertian pertama yang akan kita dapatkan adalah bahwa penyebab utama dari penderitaan kita, kesengsaraan kita, bukanlah orang lain - ia adalah benih kemarahan dalam diri kita sendiri.

Pada saat itu kita akan berhenti menuding orang lain sebagai penyebab semua penderitaan. Kita sadar bahwa dia hanyalah suatu penyebab sekunder. Kamu mendapat banyak kelegaan ketika kamu memiliki pengertian ini, dan kamu mulai merasa lebih baik.

Buddha tidak pernah menasehati kita untuk menekan kemarahan kita, beliau mengajarkan kita untuk kembali ke diri sendiri dan merawatnya dengan baik.

Seperti organ-2 kita, kemarahan kita juga merupakan bagian dari diri kita. Ketika kita marah, kita harus kembali pada diri kita sendiri dan merawat kemarahan kita dengan baik. Kita tidak bisa berkata :" Pergilah kemarahan, kamu harus pergi. Aku tidak menginginkanmu"

Latihan perhatian penuh kesadaran menghasilkan konsentrasi dan pengertian.

Pengertian adalah hasil dari latihan yang bisa membantu kita untuk memaafkan, untuk mencintai.

Nahh teman, tantangan sekarang ada pada diri anda masing-masing. Lihat dan buktikan! :)

-Semoga semua makhluk berbahagia dan damai selalu :)

Seorang Perempuan

Apakah yang ada di pikiran anda ketika mendengar kata "perempuan"?

Bagi saya yang merupakan kaum wanita, saya bahagia dan bangga menjadi seorang perempuan! Saya terinspirasi untuk menulis tentang perempuan disini, karena ternyata di dunia luar sana, masihlah banyak perempuan yang masih ditindas! Ada seorang teman laki-laki yang berkata, "Perempuan tidak boleh marah dan membalas ketika suaminya memarahi atau memukulnya." Spontan saja mendengar kalimat ini saya langsung silat lidah. Perempuan juga lah seorang manusia, bukan begitu? Mengapa harus menunduk pada kekasaran laki-laki?

Jujur saja, selama ini saya mengira bahwa emansipasi wanita sudah berjalan dengan mulus di berbagai pelosok dunia. Tapi tak disangka, ternyata saya menemukan sendiri bahwasanya masih ada saja kaum pria yang menganggap wanita tidak memiliki derajat yang sama dengan mereka.

Tambahan kekagetan saya adalah ketika teman laki-laki saya berkata bahwa lelaki itu boleh memiliki banyak perempuan, sedangkan bagi perempuan itu adalah sesuatu yang tabu.

HARH??? Bukannya ketidaksetiaan itu sesuatu yang menyakitkan baik bagi perempuan dan laki-laki? Ada pula ya orang di dunia ini yang masih percaya bahwa lelaki boleh ini dan itu, sedangkan perempuan melakukan ini dan itu adalah tabu.

Well, saya tahu tidak semua lelaki seperti teman saya di atas yang mengagung-agungkan dirinya sebagai seorang lelaki. Hanya pesan saja bagi para kaum pria, hormatilah perempuan, karena tanpa perempuan, dirimu tidak akan ada di dunia ini. Sakit dan bahagia yang kamu rasakan, juga dirasakan oleh kaum wanita, karena kita semua adalah manusia :)

Dan pesan bagi para kaum wanita, walaupun saya mengkritik laki-laki yang menganggap perempuan itu tidak berharga, tapi kita sebagai seorang perempuan juga harus menghormati kaum pria. Hormati mereka karena kita sama-sama manusia dengan akal dan budi! Ketika mereka memukul dan menghina kita sebagai perempuan, mungkin hal terbaik adalah putus hubungan dengan mereka dan mencari perlindungan. 

Saya masih berpegang pada prinsip bahwa orang lain itu susah untuk diubah, yang bisa kita lakukan hanyalah mengubah diri kita sendiri.

Kebetulan juga hari ini mendapatkan artikel berikut:

The Buddha's attitude towards women can be seen when the news of the birth of a daughter was brought to his friend, King Kosala. The King was displeased at the news as he expected a son, but the Buddha, unlike any other religious teacher, paid a glowing tribute to women and mentioned certain characteristics that adorn a woman in the following words:

"Some women are indeed better (than men). Bring her up, O Lord of men. There are women who are wise, virtuous, who have high regard for mothers-in-law, and who are chaste. To such a noble wife may be born a valiant son, a Lord of Realms, who will rule a kingdom."

Semoga bermanfaat :)

DREAM

I have a dream to be ...

As a kid, I did not have a big dream! I remembered I only wanted to make my parents happy and became a good sister to my siblings :).

As a teenager, I had not have big dreams! But because of riot happened in our country, I remembered I wanted to be rich one day and brought my family to stay outside of our country.

As a pre-university student, I had a dream.. to enter Monash University and study science, because science is always an interesting subject for me. And I love to try something new and different (for me, studying science in English was a very challenging issue since my mother language is not English).

As a university student, I was happy to be able to study in Monash University :). Studying time was an exciting time, but not for the exam time ~ This time I dreamed to work in Malaysia.

As I am sitting and writing this blog NOW, I am asking myself "What actually is my dream?"
I think environment and people around you determine the dreams you are going to have.

In my case, working in Malaysia was a dream of the past. My working pass was rejected by Malaysian government because of salary issue, so I end up landing in Singapore now. Searching job and submitting resume are the main tasks, and these tasks, honestly, sometimes make me to think a lot and doubt about myself. In my part time job, I met a friendly Indonesian woman who is surprisingly, has the same interests with me. What she shared to me about her vision in life has made me to re-consider my future, and shape my dream.

Being someone who is able to educate people..

Being someone who is not that noble, but able to inspire people to act compassionately...

Being someone who can communicate well to others...

And most important, being myself :)

For sure, DREAMS are achievable for everyone! But the way to get them depends on each individual :)

Miracle

Do you believe in miracle?

"There can be miracles when you believe, though hope is frail it's hard to kill"

That song by Mariah Carey is ringing in my head while I am writing down these words here.

Today, I experienced what I call a miracle :). Simple yet fantastic to happen.

Wat Ananda Metyarama Temple

I had no plan to go to Wat Ananda Metyarama Temple for doing "Lunch Dana", but somewhere inside my heart, there was a sound that asking me to do Lunch Dana.  I sent message to Edy, one of my Kalayana mitra in Singapore, and he said Bhante usually start to chant at 11 a.m. WOW!! and that time was 9.30 a.m. so I only had a little time to prepare myself to go (FYI: it takes 40 minutes from my house to reach temple by bus, 20 minutes by MRT and taxi). 

At 10.00 a.m. I finished showering, then contacted Yanti, another great Kalayana mitra in Singapore, to ask her whether she wanted to join the "Lunch Dana" but she could not do it this time. Suddenly I remembered I had not done my mom's request. She asked me to search the room rate of a hotel in Penang. So, I sat again and searched, called my mom and told her about the price. My mom does not like the price, so she told me to search other hotel's room rate. Honestly, at that time when I talked to mom, my mind was not there, thinking of I would be late to go to temple! I noticed something happened inside me, a gizzy gruggle, feeling I had something to do and mom asked me to do something else. Finally, I told her, "I will do it after I reach home from temple, because I am late now". She understood me, and she just said, "Be careful!"

Feeling guilty of course, so I sent message to mom saying sorry and I promised to do what she wants me to do after I reach home. Nahh, miracle is starting here...

I almost cancelled my plan to go for Lunch Dana because it seemed to be a dream to reach temple on time!! Again, there was a voice inside me saying, "Mind is the chief of everything. You still have time to reach the temple on time." With that support, I took my shoes and went.

First Miracle

I could not find any food stall who was selling mee hoon!!! Until I saw 'Nasi Lemak' food stall and thinking of buying eggs and vegetables instead of mee hoon to be given to Bhantes on Lunch Dana. To my surprise, the 'Nasi Lemak' stall was selling mee hoon!! :) :) :). So, I bought three packets of it.

Second Miracle

My watch showed 10.35 a.m. plus when I walked out from the food stall. I rushed, run a little bit, to reach MRT station. I saw one MRT approached and stopped. MRT usually stops only for few minutes at each station, but this MRT is a special one. It stopped until I could get inside it!! :) :) :)

Can you imagine? If this MRT was not there, I would need to wait 5 more minutes for other MRT to come.

Third Miracle

While I was on MRT, I thought... "Woww!! Mind is indeed the chief of everything. Few minutes before, I was doubting myself whether I could do this, and now I am inside the MRT. I think the time will be just nice when I reach temple. Mee hoon and MRT are miracles for me! Next, I am going to go to temple by taxi. Will there be any miracle again?" I smiled while thinking of the possibilities. "Perhaps I will not need to wait for taxi"

On Outram Park MRT Station, I run as fast as I could to the taxi stand. No one was there and taxis were on the line! MIRACLE!! :) :) :)

But I thought, "Wahh the first taxi is a big taxi, I think I need to pay extra if I use this taxi. But no choice, and anyway it has been a miracle already, to find no one lining up for taxi at the taxi stand"

I took the big taxi and told the uncle driver to send me to the temple. Again, to my surprise, this taxi driver told me that he used to go to this temple before. That was my second time to meet taxi driver who said that he used to go to this temple before :). Anyway, we talked inside the taxi. He asked me, "Is there any event today? Why do you want to go to temple?" I answered him, "No event :). But today I am going to do Lunch Dana". I am glad that this uncle even asked me about the time of doing the Dana for Breakfast and Lunch! He said he wants to do it in the future :).

MIRACLE happened when I reached the temple. Uncle said,"You don't need to pay :). Just put $2 for me inside the donation box."

"Harh? No uncle. It's not nice for not paying the ride". He said, "It's okay. Just put $2 for me and please be careful, you still have time to prepare the food :)"

I only could say, "Thank you" from the bottom of my heart to this uncle :) :) :). While walking to the dining room, I still could not believe what had happened to me during the entire journey to reach the temple!

"Is it the power of mind? Or perhaps Bhante knows that I will come to temple?" Hahaha!! I believe the first one is the reason behind this. And again, inside the temple, MIRACLE happened!! I met one auntie, she is Thailanese but able to speak Mandarin fluently!! She introduced me to the founder of Wat Ananda temple :). She treated me so nice! All of us had a great lunch! Before I went home, the auntie gave me grapes and longan.

I am tremendously grateful for what I have done and experienced today :)

Sometimes thing happens outside of our expectation, but do believe that miracle happens!!! :)

May you be well and happy always :)

Ajahn Cattamalo's gift

Readers,

Yesterday I attended double Dhamma talks by the same teacher, Ajahn Cattamalo. I think I am fortunate enough to be able to attend his Dhamma talk and ask some doubts that appeared in my mind.

Yes, the first Dhamma talk was about "Giving with Joy". Honestly, when I first saw this topic, I thought "Hhmmm.. I think I know what is giving with joy, so should I attend this Dhamma talk?" However, my second thought came and it said "Well, why not giving it a try? Since I have never listened to Ajahn Cattamalo, maybe he has different view about giving with joy". So.. there I was at 9.30 a.m. in Wat Ananda Metyarama temple, Jalan Bukit Merah.

To my surprise! He seemed to be able to read my mind hohoho!! In his Dhamma talk, he mentioned that when we assume that we know something, that is when we stop to investigate (those words are indeed not related to the topic), but he did mention them! Hahaha! So, that is one of my lessons. Do not assume that you know something because it will only stop you to grow further.

And then, now I understand that when you are giving something to others, do not ever expect something in return. In my experience, because I understand that the Dhamma is good, so I spread the news to my friends whenever and wherever Dhamma talk will be held. However, I was ignorant not to know that I had expectation when I gave the news to them. Therefore, when those friends did not respond well, I would be sad!! Nahh you see, I give but at the end I let myself to suffer because of my own expectation. Giving without expectation is indeed the greatest gift you can give to others :) :)

The giver, the gift, and the receiver

Besides that, Ajahn Cattamalo taught that the essence of giving is found on the giver, the gift, and the receiver. If the giver can give with pure heart and intention, it is indeed beneficial to the giver. He enjoys the joy of giving. If the gift is correct, it will bring happiness to the giver as he can help correctly, and the receiver as he can earn something that is useful for him. If the receiver receives the gift at the right time and place, this in fact brings joy to both giver and receiver.

So, the power of giving is great, isn't it? Try yourself, and you will know it! I still remember the feeling of joy and happiness when I gave my time and money for Sis. Teresa Hsu and friends :)

Second Dhamma talk was about "Learning to Listen". I had no plan to attend this Dhamma talk, but due to lots of time and nothing to do at home, so finally I decided to attend it :). Ajahn told us to listen to something good and brings benefit to our mind, avoid listening to gossips or harsh speech, as it will only destroy the peace of mind. Ajahn also taught us the formula of if this is not, that is not; if this increases, that increases (confused?).. In simple words, the formula is the same as the law of cause and effect.

Not related to the topic, I asked him "Is meditation one kind of attachment?". He said "Yes, it is. But it is a good attachment. Eating is also one kind of attachment, isn't it? But you must eat in order to live, so the same goes for meditation. You need to meditate to feed your heart. It is a spiritual food for you."

Ajahn Cattamalo

Indeed, yesterday was one day with a lot of important lessons to live my life happily :). Thank you Ajahn Cattamalo! May you be well and happy always :)

A meaningful beginning of 2011

Readers,

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011 :) :) :)

May all of us grow into a better and wiser people!

May all beings be well and happy always!

I am grateful to have a meaningful celebration of welcoming the year of 2011. Although there were some confusions about which way I should go to celebrate the New Year, finally, I decided to follow my heart :).

It started with an overnight chanting in Wat Ananda Youth temple, from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Before I went to the temple, I was doubting myself and asking it, "Can I stay awake for the chanting?"

But to my surprise, I could do it :). And this is my very first time of not having enough sleep (or maybe not sleeping for the whole night), yet feeling great! Usually if I don't have enough sleep, I will become a zombie, can't think and do things properly. But not this time. Chanting is one of meditation.. and I think, it proves that healthy mind creates a healthy body.

Coincidentally, I met with my dear friend's sister in the temple. Well, she sat besides me for the first chanting.. however, I got to know who she is after the overnight chanting was over haha! And still in coincident matter, I met my friend who was joining the chanting as well :). Now I know why do people say that the world is such a small world.

The chanting, in fact, makes a meaningful opening of year 2011 for me :) :)

On the afternoon of this very first day of 2011, I had my Cookie Monster in Earle Swensen's, Changi Airport Terminal 3 with Sis. Teresa Hsu, Bro. Sharana, and bunches of lovely friends :). I got lessons again from Sis. Teresa :).. She will be 114 years old this year, but her heart is still full of happiness and spirit to help others who are helpless.

Food for the heart:

We are still young and have the ability to do good for others. Don't wait and feel that you are not rich enough or good enough to help others. After all it's not the matter of how big the amount of money you give, but it's more to the purity of your heart, the willingness to do it for the sake of helping those who are in need :)

Plus be kind to yourself, think positively and stand still, when the wave of life moves toward you.. This is indeed the secret of Sis. Teresa's happiness and long life :)

Ohhh and I was touching when she kept the word "Aku cinta kamu/ kalian" inside her heart. She keeps the tissue which I used to write those words. She said she will never forget those Indonesian words that were taught by us. It is a great gift for me! The value of kindness and gratitude are indeed far far away more than that of money :)

Thank you Sis. Teresa and Bro. Sharana!
Thank you friends!
Thank you all beings for without all of you, I would not have a chance to experience all of this :)

May all beings be well and happy always!

With Love,