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Archive for the ‘The learning experience…’ Category

The grieving mother elephant…

Posted in The learning experience…, tagged , , , , , on 02/07/2025|

How could we possibly crave for milk or cheese when we all know that cow’s milk belong to the calf? How could we separate the calf from its mother when it is only a day old?

Videos have shown the desperation the mother cow chasing after her calf when it was

intentionally and cruelly separated from the mother by human beings. Yes, human beings who have long forgotten how they were taken care of by their mother and how they need their mother to survive!

Such livelihood is immoral and unethical, so does ignoring the pain and suffering of a cow. The sight of a mother cow having to produce large quality of milk throughout her entire life is heart wrenching. There is so much pain that I could even feel them. Sadly, human mothers turn a blind eye. What a shame!

The grieving mother elephant who lost her baby in a car accident. She is worth the time sketching her.

Elephant or cow, cats, dogs, horses, birds, rats or penguins, they all love their child! From the grieving mother elephant, we all know we are all the same!

Being a vegan is hard and life being an animal in a factory farm, laboratory, fur farm and places where exploitation towards them is even harder. I’ve always wondered, which part of pain that humans do not understand?

During the Buddha’s time, the human population wasn’t as great as today. Today, we all know that animals are intentionally killed for us. I would say that the three conditions that the Buddha allowed the monastic to eat meat is no longer valid today. The sufferings of the animals is way beyond imagination and comprehension.

Ajahn Sujato and Ajahn Vajiro and many more are vegetarian. They are from the Theravada tradition. They are not defying the Buddha’s instruction. They have understood the conditions that being a vegan is necessary today!

We can get all the nutrients from plants and we don’t need animals at all. If a nutrient is lacking in our body, before we eat, believe that the nutrient that we need is already readily contained in the vegetable that we are going to eat. Our right mindset is very important!

Compassion towards all sentient beings does not stop at visualising but in action!

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Sara has gone for a two -weeks home trial!

Posted in The learning experience… on 29/06/2025|

Finally Sara has gone for a two weeks home trial yesterday. Due to her super hyperactive temperament, it took us a slightly longer time to find her a suitable home. We want to make sure that the adopters are not only responsible, but must also be able to accept her temperament.

Sara can be seen dashing all over the house. No matter where we go, she will appear mischievously right in front of us! It’s a non-stop action! She would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

After a night at the adopter’s house, adopter updated us saying that Sara is an obedient cat and behaved well. I can’t stop laughing upon hearing it. All I can say is the adopters have a big heart for her.

We are likely to visit Sara in another two to three weeks and see if she is coping well. The photos and videos sent to us from her adopter looked positive!

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A stone lifted…!

Posted in The learning experience… on 23/06/2025|

The Dhamma is beautiful in every way and all the time.

Without the teaching of Shantideva’s Bodhisattva way of life, I wouldn’t have practised “sympathetic joy”. Without the humiliation, I wouldn’t have sought the truth. Without Venerable Chodron, I wouldn’t have known Nibbana.

Without the Pureland sutra, I wouldn’t have understood the qualities of the Chinese masters. Without the malicious speech, I wouldn’t have abandoned Sukhavati. Without Venerable Wuling, I wouldn’t have meditated well.

Without pursuing Jhana, I wouldn’t have gone to Jhana Grove. Without consistent criticism, I wouldn’t have abandoned seeking for a teacher. Without Ajahn Brahm, I wouldn’t have realised we are all the same!

Without the desire to be part of the monastic sangha, I wouldn’t have attended the Dhamma teachings online. Without blind comments, I wouldn’t have known that letting go is all the answers. Without Ayya Sobhana, I wouldn’t have known that I am able to “dwell with yourselves as an island, with yourselves as a refuge, with no other refuge…”.

With all these marks the end of my desire to follow a sangha. Sincerely wish all of them well. Thank you!

They were my best teachers. Without them, I wouldn’t have come this far. I have always had soft spot for the elderly. That was why I started volunteering myself in the elderly home after I left school. The same goes towards the elder sangha.

“…with the Dhamma as an island, with the Dhamma as a refuge, with no other refuge.”

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A mother’s love….

Posted in The learning experience…, tagged on 13/06/2025|

A young elephant was hit by a lorry on Mother’s Day while crossing the highway with its mother in Perak, Malaysia.

I remember watching the videos. The mother elephant ran around the lorry, finding ways and trying to save her baby who was trapped underneath the lorry. She even used her head to try to push the lorry. Sadly, there was nothing she can do to save the baby.

I can sense her panic and her eagerness to save her baby. She was behaving just like any human mother would do to save their children.

The videos went viral and caught the attention of viewers. Many found the sight heart wrenching and wished things to be different.

This is a sketch I drew about the accident.

I kept looking at the videos and understood how she must have felt…

She stood for many hours, hoping her baby could get up. She refused to move away and the authorities had to sedate her and move her back to the forest.

According to the news, the baby was buried. There were people who posted videos of her returning to the same spot to find her baby. With AI today, I’m not sure how true it was.

Many wish her well.

May the merits accumulated, be dedicated to her and her baby favourite rebirth.

Click the link below to read the news.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/young-elephant-crossing-malaysia-highway-with-mother-dies-in-accident-with-lorry-draws-sympathy

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Was it Dhamma or was it aging?

Posted in The learning experience…, tagged , on 11/06/2025|

Before going to bed last night, I was writing a blog and at the end of it, I had the answer. Feeling contented, I went to bed.

Writing is good. Mel often says I need an outlet and blogging is my outlet. I was asking myself if Dhamma was the cause for my loss of interest in my favourite activities or aging?  Below was what I wrote last night.

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“If losing interest in the things that we love to do is part of the aging process, does it mean that the absent of hunger in doing things that I once love is due to aging? 

How nice it is somehow without exertion, we are able to easily let go of the things that we once love. If this is the case, ideally, over the age of 50 should be a perfect time to understand the true Dhamma because letting go seems effortless.

No one talks about their mental states as they aged. I couldn’t find blogs that share their life stories living as a Buddhist and I definitely won’t need another blog that talks about the Buddha’s teachings. 

Perhaps I still have difficulties in recognising emotions…

Be it be Dhamma or aging, living at the present is the solution to all problems. 

Ahh…I have the answer!

Zzzzzzz…“

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Basically a learned buddhist understood the path and has liberation in her mind, whereas, a non-buddhist has no clue. There are a few suttas explained by the Buddha about the difference between a learned or trained disciples and one who is untrained. He also explained the benefit of those who are learned and trained.

I remember someone saying that life is meaningless after understanding the Buddha’s teachings and another said he was feeling depressed and both were seeking for answers during a Dhamma talk. I was smiling then. 

I guess it’s a process. One day they would come to truly understand what the Buddha meant when he said to live at the present. To understand and accept the first noble truth. To abandon the conditions in the second noble truth. Not only to know but to realise that we can end depression, suffering etc. Lastly, we still have work to do, that is to develop and cultivate the Eightfold path. Perhaps we already are cultivating but we just aren’t aware of it!

So how do I keep my life going? By keeping the precepts, cultivating the Eightfold path, memorising the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, his noble disciples and the devas and also the Metta sutta. By remembering the Mahasatipatthana Sutta and the teachings from the bhikkhunis during Buddha’s time. My favourite Buddha’s disciple is Maha Kassapa. I can and will never perfect everything but they are always in my mind. 

To the lay buddhist, when you are tired, just remember that you are merely feeling tired and not breaking any precepts or threading against the path. Therefore, always keep the Buddha’s teachings in your mind, have a cup of tea, keep your mind calmed and relaxed. 

Don’t be happy, just smile. Don’t be sad, just smile. Feelings are not reliable and have no foothold. Abandon them!

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