crohn's disease

Yesterday, I finally saw my teenage student, A. We were supposed to start our tuition class in January. However we had to delay the class until yesterday due to his illness, which he told me was known as Crohn's disease.

I was quite shock to see how much weight he had lost during the school holiday. I remember very well that our last class was in November and he was still the chubby looking boy. It was heartbreaking for me to see him losing 9 kg in just 2 months.

I decided to read about the disease starting with wikipedia. According to the site, it is said that the usual onset is between 15 and 30 years of age, with no difference between men and women. The main gastrointestinal symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, which may be bloody, and weight loss.

The cause of Crohn's disease is not known. It is only known that the disease occurs when the immune system contributes to damage of the gastrointestinal tract by causing inflammation.

My student, A, will be on a long term medication and would not be able to take part in any outdoor activity. I hope the doctors will be able to help him recover soon.

Q&A about Buddhism - part 5

Disclaimer: For non-Muslims or Buddhists only unless if you are reading this for knowledge purpose. This is a Q&A with HH Sakya Trizin.

This is a continuation from part 4.

Q: Are the hells metaphors for states or amounts of suffering or do they really exist as described in the Buddhist ‘Sutras’?

A: Something really exists, I think. Actually it says in the Sutras that they really exist much more terribly than they are described because, it says, the Buddha didn’t fully describe them. If he fully described them, people would have fainted.

Q: How real are they?

A: They are real as the life we have today. Yes, many people think that they are not real, like a dream. But actually, we are happy and unhappy in dreams, just as real as we are when we are awake. This present experience also is not real, but we think everything around us is real. Hell is as real as this. Of course hell, also, in reality, is not real. This is also not real. What is this, then?

Q: Do the Buddhas suffer?

A: No, they never suffer. They are absolutely free from sufferings.

Q: Do they see suffering?

A: They don’t see suffering, either.

Q: Then how can they help people who are suffering?

A: They don’t suffer. This answer is one of the differences between the Sakya and Gelugpa orders; the Gelugpas say that the Buddhas do see suffering and we say that they do not. The man who has awakened from sleep doesn’t have dreams. This impure Samsaric scene of suffering is like a dream; it’s like an illusion. So the man who has awakened from this illusion can never dream again. But, due to his Bodhicitta, (Enlightenment-mind) and his compassion, help for others spontaneously arises. But the Buddha himself never sees suffering. For him, all things are transformed into pure appearance.

Q: Is the Buddha involved in ‘Karma’?

A: He has achieved the final Karmic result, the highest and the best possible results of Karma.

Q: Can anything happen to us that is not the result of our own actions?

A: No, never.

Q: Can the Buddha perceive the results of his or other’s acts?

A: Yes, for instance, there have been many prophecies, but I don’t think the Buddha sees or perceives these results. Where there is a need for a prophecy, it just arises spontaneously.

Q: Can we modify the results of past acts?

A: Certainly. The Vajrasattva meditation can purify many of our past bad actions, but in any case, the creation of good causes and merit is very helpful and necessary.

In the next part, we will get more answers from HH on Buddhism.

Disclaimer: This interview was taken from the book "Pointing Towards Vajrayana" published by The Singapore Buddha Sasana Society Sakya Tenphel Ling. The Palden Sakya Centres of American Buddhism Sakya Shei Drup Ling actually holds the right of this text.

German Film Week @ AEI

The international movie screening at the Asia-Europe Institute (AEI), University of Malaya is back. I'm sure those of you who read papers already know the screening will be from today until this Friday.

A few years ago, AEI and ATMA-UKM (Institute of the Malay World and Civilization, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) used to collaborate and had regular screening of international movies here in UM. My friends and I loved it very much because it's free entertainment on every Wednesday and not to mention the generous refreshment after the show.

Later, the fellow researcher at AEI who run the programme left UM and formed Kaki Kino. Together with Dr Wan Zawawi, they brought the weekly international movie screening to FINAS. I was very disappointed by the move. Not long after that move to FINAS, Kaki Kino landed themselves in trouble when one of the films screened had explicit scenes.

Anyway, I'm just glad that this programme is back at AEI with new management. Hopefully they will make it a regular event.

Date/Time: 5 - 9 February 2007, 8.30 pm Venue: Auditorium, Asia-Europe Institute Organiser: Asia-Europe Institute, UM and Goethe Institute Contact Person: Puan Joharah (+603-79674645)

Movie Title: Mostly Martha Date: 5 Feb 2007 (Monday) Time: 8.30-10.30 p.m.

Movie Title: Comedian Harmonists Date: 6 Feb 2007 (Tuesday) Time: 8.30 -11.00 p.m.

Movie Title: Good Bye, Lenin Date: 7 Feb 2007 (Wednesday) Time: 8.30-11.00 p.m.

Movie Title: Run Lola Run Date: 8 Feb 2007 (Thursday) Time: 8.30-10.00 p.m.

Movie Title: Nowhere In Africa Date: 9 Feb 2007 (Friday) Time: 8.30-11.30 p.m.

winning a desktop PC @ the Microsoft Vista launch

Now I feel really bad for complaining about the Amazing Vista Walk Hunt for not providing better Hunt Kit in my previous post.

Why? Because today I received not only extra Microsoft Vista freebies (pen, notepads, paper clips, etc) but also a new HP Desktop PC preloaded with Window Vista for winning the 1st prize in the Windows Movie Maker contest.

I did not save up the 90 sec clip I submitted last night though. My clip is about Visit Malaysia Year 2007 with a little bit sense of humour by using the limited number of photos available in the PC available at the foyer of Low Yat Plaza.

When the Microsoft people called me on my mobile asking me to come over to the stage @ about 5 p.m. today, I was in PJ. Luckily my friends were there to be my representative.

Thank you to my friends (Shuh Yong, Chia Chia, Sok Ei, Jess and Dr Ho), Bro and Sis for taking part with me in the hunt. And especially thank you to my good friend Shuh Yong for noticing the contest and persuaded me to join. Shuh Yong, Jess and Chia Chia also helped me to pick up my prizes today. Love you guys! Congratulations to Dr Ho for winning the 3rd place in the Windows Movie Maker contest as well! Let's celebrate this week!

In the end, special thanks to Microsoft and HP for the prizes! Coincidentally, I'll be collecting the desktop PC on my birthday.

Amazing Vista Walk Hunt

It was quite a happening Microsoft Vista launch at Low Yat Plaza today. My friends, Sis, Bro and I were there to participate in the Amazing Vista Walk Hunt.

However, the registration sucked. There were too many people (about 675 participants altogether!) and very unsystematic. The so-called Hunt Kit was even worse. Well, perhaps my expectation was high. I expect more than just a can of carbonated drink, a wafer bar, a mineral water, a brochure and an ugly sissy black coloured Window Vista bag. Yep, not even a pen or note pad. I know this Walk Hunt is free, but this is the biggest launch by Microsoft, the richest company in the world. Not to mentioned there were only 8 winning teams out of 188 teams. With so many so-called big sponsors like Maxis, Samsung, Toshiba, Intel, Acer, etc, they could only offer so few prizes and freebies. I joined a free AXN mall challenge before and the sponsor (Brylcreem) was so generous we had lots of freebies apart from so many free games like rock climbing, baseball, terror ride, etc.

Despite the lack of system by Time Out Solutions during the briefing, the kedekut-ness of Microsoft and the simplicity (in another word, no uuumph) of the hunt (which only took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to complete and the questions are less challenging), my teams enjoyed ourselves very much. We enjoyed the fact that we were able to participate together in two teams. We did so much better this time eventhough half of us are newbies. It would be impossible to answer all questions with only one team going from sector to sector.

Although majority of the participants are young people, in their teens or early 20s, the winners are mostly 'old people' (read: pro hunters) with familiar faces like The Lucky Ones and Hunters 'R' Us who won in every single hunt. I have great respect for them and I wish I knew their strategies and how long they took to be where they are now. How do they do it?

After the race, a couple of my team members and I joined the Microsoft Vista Movie Maker contest. The results will be out tomorrow at 5 p.m. Anyway, I'm pretty intimidated by the huge crowd. So I'm not going back to Low Yat Plaza tomorrow.

Q&A about Buddhism - part 4

Disclaimer: For non-Muslims or Buddhists only unless if you are reading this for knowledge purpose. This is a Q&A with HH Sakya Trizin.

This is a continuation from part 3.

Q: Is animal rebirth really possible for a human?

A: Yes, definitely. There are many stories of animals being reborn as humans as a result of good actions and of humans being reborn as animals, too, as a result of bad actions. Some animals are extremely kind, especially to their offspring, and by working very hard they can create enough causes to achieve human birth.

Q: Why is human birth so important?

A: Human birth is extremely precious because, through human life, one can achieve not only high rebirth and Nirvana, but also one can practice Dharma and get Enlightenment.

Q: Does it really help us to think a great deal about impermanence? We always know we are impermanent, and thinking about it too much might make us miserable.

A: Yes, it does help. Tsongkhapa said, “A prisoner has only one thought: When can I get out of this prison? This thought arises constantly in his mind. Your thought on impermanence should be like this; meditate on impermanence until this state of mind arises.”

Q: Are we really in the position of prisoners? We often do find things pleasant in Worldly Existence.

A: But that pleasure isn’t permanent, is it? That very pleasure can lead to disaster, can’t it? So we are happy now, but we never know what might happen in the next hour. There may be a complete disaster. Since pleasure is impermanent, since it is very uncertain, you are not actually happy because your pleasure is colored with anxiety. In fact, you are never happy because you don’t know what will come and thus anxiety is inevitable there.

In the next part, we will get to know from HH about suffering.

Disclaimer: This interview was taken from the book "Pointing Towards Vajrayana" published by The Singapore Buddha Sasana Society Sakya Tenphel Ling. The Palden Sakya Centres of American Buddhism Sakya Shei Drup Ling actually holds the right of this text.

adam neate - the unusual street artist

I watched the CNN news yesterday and they featured the story about an unusual street artist, Adam Neate. What differentiate him from other graffiti artists is he leaves his canvases in the streets.

Adam used recycled cardboard boxes as canvases. Most people on the streets do not bother (or perhaps I should say appreciate) his artworks until they were told that Adam's work worth ₤10,000 a piece.

Despite his new found fame, he will continue to do what he normally do (leaving his artworks on the streets).

Here's a video of him at the HYPE exhibition.

Q&A about Buddhism - part 3

This is a continuation from part 2.

Q: How does this help us? The practice of Buddhism will not make us less impermanent.

A: It will not make us less impermanent, but it will give us the certainty that, in our coming lives, we will have less suffering. The practice of Dharma, of religion, means – briefly speaking; avoiding non-virtuous acts; and performing virtuous acts. When you behave in this way, it is obvious that you will be happier in the future.

Q: Does it mean that, since we expect less from this life, we will also suffer less?

A: Yes, that too, but more important, by thinking about impermanence we will be moved to practice Dharma quickly. The thought of impermanence helps us to speed up our path a great deal.

Q: What are the six realms and their sufferings?

A: As I said before, no matter where you are in Worldly Existence, you are suffering. Suffering is of three kinds: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the suffering of conditioned existence. The suffering of suffering is when you have a headache or something like that. It is simply suffering which everyone accepts and thinks of as suffering. Then the suffering of change is the suffering undergone through perception of change. You are with friends today but you have to depart; when you go, you meet enemies. Nothing stays, and seeing this, we experience the suffering of change. The suffering of conditioned existence means the unsatisfactoriness of worldly activity. We do many things in the world but are never really satisfied. There are always more things to be done, which we cannot do and this frustration is suffering.

The lowest of the six realms are the Hell-realms, of excessive heat and cold, and the 'neighbouring hells' which are also states of great suffering, and which last for incredible periods of time. The cause of these states of suffering is hatred. Then there is the realm of hungry spirits who are tantalized by food and drink they cannot swallow. This is the result of desire and stinginess. The animal realm is well known to us and birth there is caused by ignorance. The human realm, too, we know. The fifth realm is of the demi-gods who are constantly engaged in war with the gods, out of jealousy and who will thus naturally suffer in their next lives. The gods seem very comfortable. They enjoy great pleasures and immensely long lives, but sooner or later experience old age and death. As they have done nothing but enjoy themselves, they will not have created the merit to achieve high rebirth and will fall into states of great suffering. The three lower worlds' beings experience the suffering of suffering exclusively; humans experience all three, but chiefly the first two, while the gods suffer mainly the last two.

The last of the Four Recollections is of Karma, the law of Cause and Effect. In the Buddhist view, everything we have today and everything we do has a cause in the past. In fact it is said that if you want to know what you did in the past, you should look at your present situation; whether you are rich or poor, ugly or beautiful, this is the result of past actions, as the future, whether happy or otherwise depends on what you do today. Everything you do today will produce a result in the future. If a tree's root is medicinal, the flowers, the leaves, the bark and everything that grows on the tree, will be medicinal, and like this, an act that grows out of the opposite of desire, aversion and ignorance will produce happiness. If the root of the tree is poisonous, then everything that grows on the tree will be poison, just as acts of desire, aversion and ignorance produce suffering.

In the next part, I will extract a simpler Q&A about the importance of human rebirth. We'll also look at whether we should think a great deal about impermanence.

Disclaimer: This interview was taken from the book "Pointing Towards Vajrayana" published by The Singapore Buddha Sasana Society Sakya Tenphel Ling. The Palden Sakya Centres of American Buddhism Sakya Shei Drup Ling actually holds the right of this text.

TARA - Congrats JoeZab!

Some people don't think Joe Jer & Zabrina deserve to win The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) 1 compare to Andrew & Syeon or even Sandy Francesca.

Well, I have to say that the girls are able to keep their composure and played it smart. You can be winning all the other legs but if you are not cool (and smart) in the final race, chances are you are going to give away the #1 spot to someone who does. And this makes JoeZab the winner of TARA. They played it smart while Andrew&Syeon and SanFran struggled to find their way out of Kuching to Santubong. Instead of hiring a taxi (they were given USD150 at the beginning of the race) like what JoeZab did, Andrew&Syeon stucked with their Lonely Planet guide.

Anyway, kudos to the all-girl Malaysian team!