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Animals do miss their caregivers!

06/10/2025 by A learning buddhist...

Someone told me that I need not feed the cats in one of my feeding areas as there are feeders feeding them. As a result, I stopped feeding them for four days and on the fifth day, I decided to check on them and see if they were okay.

The grey tabby cat was waiting and looking at the direction I always come from. He leaped, made a sound and ran towards me. I was happy to see him again. I gave him his favourite kibbles and he ate it. I brought a new brand of kibbles, Soulmate, for them. He loved it. After eating the kibbles, he ate a whole can of wet food.

I went to check if there was clean water in their bowl. It was empty and I filled it up.

The black and white cat saw me and jumped down from the stacks of chairs where he had been sitting. As usual, he had to wait for his turn to eat as I didn’t want to waste too many paper plates. After the grey tabby cat finished the food, he would use the same plate and disposable bowl.

He, too, loves the new kibbles I brought for them and I kept refilling them to eat.

Next, I went to the black cat and he too dashed towards me asking for food. He only loves to eat wet food and hardly touches the kibbles. However, I would leave a small quantity of kibbles overnight, just in case they want to eat later,

He was so busy eating that he didn’t even lift his head.

I have actually been feeding them for a few years. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when I decided to listen to others and stop feeding them. For years, the cats have grown used to my presence and yet….

I believe they must have been waiting for me for the past four nights, until I finally came to check on them last night.

It’s nice to be with them again. I probably wouldn’t want to skip feeding them. When cats are full, they usually won’t eat. They are quite disciplined. I am looking forward to seeing them tonight!

Posted in The learning experience… |

Jane Goodall and compassion

04/10/2025 by A learning buddhist...

My heart sank when I learned that Jane Goodall had passed on. It is a great loss for humanity. To me, she was the only hope for the world. No one could argue with Jane Goodall as she had a lifetime of experience working with chimpanzees. Not the scientists nor the scholars.

I am glad that I attended her talk and got to meet her last year. She was cool, humorous and brought hope to people and to the future.

When I think of her, compassion and peace fill my mind. To me, she was an icon of compassion. A real person whom I witnessed influencing others with her kindness and who deeply understood the suffering of animals. She recognised how we have destroyed the only place we live in and she dedicated herself to bringing hope to the people who also wanted to save the earth and help animals.

Many have worshipped figures they did not even know. Many have also worshipped those who spoke endlessly of loving-kindness and compassion, yet never acted on it. I could neither find nor feel compassion in those who preached so much about it. But in Jane Goodall, she truly possessed those qualities.

I am inspired by the way she approached life. Even at the age of 91, she remained active and tirelessly committed to doing what was right. Beyond being influenced by her compassion, her relentless energy showed me that as long as we are alive, we must keep truly living. She was real! There are no gimmicks or pretences.

Here are a few quotes from Jane Goodall that I would like to share:

“I think I’d like to be remembered as someone who really helped people to have a little humility and realised that we are part of the animal kingdom not separated from it.”

“Somehow we must keep hope alive, a hope that we can find a way to educate all, alleviate poverty, assuage anger, and live in harmony with the environment, with animals, and with each other.”

“The least I can do is speak out or those who cannot speak for themselves.”

“Thousands of people who say they ‘love’ animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs.”

“We need to realise we’re part of the environment, that we need the natural world. We depend on it. We can’t go on destroying. We’ve got to somehow understand that we’re not separated from it, we are all intertwined. Harm nature, harm ourselves.”

“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.”

“We should have respect for animals because it makes better human beings of us all.”

Below is one of my favourite quote.

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

~ Jane Goodall (1934 ~ 2025)

Below is a video by the Jane Goodall Institute. It shows Jane Goodall and her team releasing one of the rescued chimpanzee. I was deeply touched by the chimpanzee”s reaction.

Posted in The learning experience… | Tagged , , , , , , , |

The skeleton of a dead bird

30/09/2025 by A learning buddhist...

I was feeding at Sembawang one afternoon when I saw the skeleton of a dead bird lying on the grass. I believe it was a fledgling that had been unable to find food or keep itself warm. It was a lifeless, untouched, complete skeleton.

When I looked at the bird, I asked myself why would the world want the birds to die so badly. The majority supports killing but to wish death on others is unnecessary since we will all die one day. Regardless of any species, wouldn’t it be better to rejoice when others have food to eat and water to drink? Why can’t everyone live with that joy until death comes to us? Then there will be no resentment or hatred, only kindness and compassion, perhaps a little smile when we face death.

There are hundreds of thousands of birds out there. How many times and for how long, must we be angry with them and wish them dead? Why is it so difficult to cultivate inner joy for others?

Obviously, it was a fledging. A fledging who had lost its mother and its source of care.

One day, a Buddhist questioned me on Facebook, asking if I had accepted the First of the Four Noble Truths. I didn’t reply until a local monk ‘visited’ my page and commented, ‘Did the Buddha promote veganism?’ He said it only to spite me.

Because I hadn’t replied to the first person earlier, I responded to the monk by saying that accepting the First of the Four Noble Truths doesn’t mean I should just sit and do nothing. Promoting veganism and raising public awareness that animals suffer so much because of us, benefits not only ourselves, but also the animals, the environment, and the climate. Since the monk was only there to spite me, he said nothing further and moved on to the next post. He tried to find fault with me and put words into my mouth. Whatever he did, he will ultimately have to face the consequences himself.

Understanding and accepting suffering does not mean that our compassion ends there. Nor does it mean that we have to lament or cry over it. We can keep calm, accept it and influence or inspire others to extend their loving~kindness and compassion towards all sentient beings in all directions.

This image is also a reminder that we are the same.

Posted in Love all wings | Tagged , , , |

We should not be attached to Jhana… But the Buddha said otherwise.

29/09/2025 by A learning buddhist...

Mahayana monks often tell us that we should not be attached to jhāna. In the suttas, the Buddha said that the purpose of renunciation and living a holy life is to learn and practise the path towards liberation. Only then is a monk truly worthy of gifts, hospitality, offerings, and reverence. What is the point of supporting a Sangha if their destination is no different from that of ordinary beings?

In fact, the Buddha encouraged us to take delight in the pleasure of jhāna. Below is a quote from MN 66, The Simile of the Quail.

“Here, Udayin, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna…With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhana… With the fading away as well of rapture… he enters upon and abides in the third jhāna…With the abandoning of pleasure and pain… he enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana…

“This is called the bliss of renunciation, the bliss of seclusion, the bliss of peace, the bliss of enlightenment. I say of this kind of pleasure that it should be pursued, that it should be developed, that it should be cultivated, that it should not be feared.”

To read the entire sutta, please click on the link below.

https://suttacentral.net/mn66/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin

If our beliefs lie outside the Buddha’s teachings, then we are not Buddhists.

I hope everyone makes an effort to investigate the origin of the Buddha’s teachings. They must come from the Buddha himself, 2,500 years ago, and not from anyone else.

Posted in Teachings to remember |

White paper launched by ACRES and SPCA.

27/09/2025 by A learning buddhist...

ACRES and SPCA have recently launched the white paper to further strengthen protection for the animal welfare.

I am glad that the petition I started was quoted in the white paper.

My name in the footnote

When I started the petition, my intention was to raise public awareness that pigeons have every right to live, and that we should co-exist with them instead of killing them inhumanely. What NParks did and is still doing is cruel and unforgivable!

At the same time, I also got to know people who love birds, and Geri is a kind lady who consistently gives advice to those who need help and also educates the public.

The Urban Birds Initiative Singapore was formed. They are a group of volunteers who take the initiative to educate the public. The information they provide is useful and helpful.

I hope that with every little effort we put in, we can change how others perceive pigeons. They are not what we think they are. They have every right to live, just as we do. We must learn to extend our compassion to all living beings.

Below is the link to the white paper.

SPCA-ACRES-The-White-Paper-2025-Animal-Welfare-1.pdfDownload

Posted in Love all wings | Tagged , , , |

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