Sunday 14 September 2008
Saturday 6 September 2008
Sunday 24 August 2008
Sunday 17 August 2008
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Friday 1 August 2008
Sunday 27 July 2008
Saturday 19 July 2008
61st Anniversary Martyrs Day (Arzarni Day) 19 July 2008
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Sunday 13 July 2008
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ကေလးဘဝကေန ၾကီးလာတဲ့အထိ ကံၾကမၼာဆိုးၾကီးက မိုက္ကယ္အပါးမွာ အရိပ္လိုလိုက္ေနခဲ့တယ္။ မိုက္ကယ္ ၄ႏွစ္အရြယ္မွာ မေတာ္တဆ ယာဥ္တိုက္မႈေၾကာင့္ မိဘႏွစ္ပါးဆံုးခဲ့ရတယ္။ သူ႔ကိုေခၚယူ ေစာင့္ေရွာက္တဲ့ ဦးေလးကလည္း သူ႔အေပၚ မေကာင္းရွာဘူး။ ဒါေၾကာင့္ တစ္ျခားကေလးေတြထက္ မိုက္ကယ္ ပိုသိတတ္နားလည္ခဲ့တယ္။ ပိုၾကိဳးစားခဲ့တယ္။ နာမည္ၾကီး တကၠသိုလ္တစ္ခုကေန ဘဲြ႔ရေအာင္ သူသင္ယူခဲ့တယ္။
သူေက်ာင္းျပီးတဲ့ႏွစ္မွာပဲ သူတို႔ႏိုင္ငံတစ္ႏိုင္ငံလုံး စီးပြားေရးကပ္ဆိုက္ခဲ့တယ္။ အလုပ္တစ္ခုကို ပင္ပင္ပန္းပန္း ရွာခဲ့ေပမယ့္ အရာမေရာက္ခဲ့ဘူး။ မိုက္ကယ္စိတ္ပ်က္ အားငယ္ေနခ်ိန္မွာ မိုက္ကယ္အေပၚ ေကာင္းတဲ့လူဆိုလို႔ ဆံပင္ေဖြးေဖြးျဖဴေနတဲ့ အသက္၆ဝေက်ာ္ အိမ္ရွင္အဘြားၾကီးပဲ ရွိခဲ့တယ္။ အဘြားအိုဟာ မိုက္ကယ္ အိမ္ျပန္လာတိုင္း ေခၚေျပာႏႈတ္ဆက္တတ္တဲ့အျပင္ ေသာ့ကိုယ္စီရွိရက္နဲ႔ မိုက္ကယ္အတြက္ တံခါးထဖြင့္ေပးတတ္တယ္။
မိုက္ကယ္ စိတ္မခ်မ္းမသာျဖစ္တိုင္း အဘြားအိုက "ကိစၥက ထင္သလိုမဆိုးႏိုင္ပါဘူး။ အရာအားလံုး ေကာင္းသြားမွာပါ" လို႔ အျမဲႏွစ္သိမ့္တတ္တယ္။ အဘြားအိုႏွစ္သိမ့္တာေတြကို မိုက္ကယ္ခံစားမိေပမယ့္ အေျခအေနဆိုးတဲ့ ကိုယ့္အျဖစ္ကို အဘြားအို သိႏိုင္မွာ မဟုတ္ဘူးလို႔ မိုက္ကယ္ေတြးမိတယ္။ ေန႔တိုင္း အဘြားအိုလို ဘာမွမလုပ္ဘဲ လမ္းမဘက္က ယာဥ္သြားယာဥ္လာေတြကို ထိုင္ေငးေနရရင္ ေကာင္းမယ္လို႔လည္း ေတြးမိျပန္တယ္။ ဆူညံလႈပ္ရွားေနတဲ့ လူေတြကို ထိုင္ေငးရရင္ ေပ်ာ္စရာေကာင္းမယ္လို႔ မိုက္ကယ္ထင္ခဲ့တယ္။
တစ္ေန႔မွာ လမ္းဘက္ကို အာရုံစိုက္ျပီး ၾကည့္ေနတဲ့ အဘြားအိုကို မိုက္ကယ္ေတြ႔ေတာ့ "သူဘာေတြ ၾကည့္ေနပါလိမ့္? သူ႔အေတြးထဲမွာ ဘာေတြထည့္ထားပါလိမ့္? ယာဥ္သြားယာဥ္လာကလဲြလို႔ ဘာထူးျခားခ်က္မွ မရွိတဲ့လမ္းကို ဘာျဖစ္လို႔ ၾကည့္ေနပါလိမ့္" လို႔ ေတြးမိျပီး အဘြားအိုကို ေမးလိုက္တယ္။
"အဘြား.. လမ္းမဘက္ကုိ ေန႔တိုင္း အဘြားဘာေတြၾကည့္ေနတာလဲ? ဘာအဓိပၸါယ္ေတြ ရွိလို႔လဲ"
"အဓိပၸါယ္ရွိတာေပါ့ လူေလး.. ေဟာဟို မီးပိြဳင့္က ေန႔တိုင္း လူေတြျဖတ္သန္းၾကတဲ့ မေရမတြက္ႏိုင္တဲ့ ဘဝခရီးစဥ္ေတြကို ေရးမွတ္ခဲ့တယ္ေလ"
"ဒါေပမယ့္ မီးပိြဳင့္ပဲေလ.. ဘာမ်ား ၾကည့္စရာရွိလို႔လဲ"
"အဘြားေျပာတာကို လူေလး သေဘာမေပါက္ေသးဘူး။ လူ႔ဘဝဟာလည္း မီးပိြဳင့္တစ္ခုလိုပါပဲ။ နီလိုက္၊ ဝါလိုက္၊ စိမ္းလိုက္နဲ႔။ နီတဲ့အခ်ိန္ဆိုရင္ လႈပ္လို႔မရေတာ့ဘူး။ လႈပ္လိုက္တာနဲ႔ မေတာ္တဆမႈေတြ ျဖစ္ေတာ့တာပဲ။ စိမ္းတဲ့အခါက်ေတာ့လည္း ဘာအတားအဆီးမွ မရွိဘူးဘဲ အဆင္ေျပေနေရာ"
"အေဝးကေနၾကည့္ရင္ စိမ္းေနတဲ့မီးက အ႐ွိန္ျပင္းျပင္းနဲ႔ ေမာင္းလာတဲ့ကားတစ္စီး အနီးနား ေရာက္လာရင္ ႐ုတ္တရက္ နီသြားႏိုင္တယ္။ အေဝးက ၾကည့္ရင္ မီးနီပဲ ဒါေပမယ့္ အနီးနားေရာက္လာရင္ စိမ္းသြားႏိုင္တယ္။ တစ္ခ်ဳိ႔ကားက လမ္းဆံုတုိင္းမွာ မီးနီမိႏိုင္တယ္။ တစ္ခ်ဳိ႔ကားက လမ္းဆံုတိုင္းမွာ မီးစိမ္းနဲ႔တိုးႏိုင္တယ္။ မီးနီပဲမိမိ၊ မီးစိမ္းပဲတိုးတိုး လူေတြက အဲဒီေနရာကို ေက်ာ္ျဖတ္ျပီး ကိုယ္လိုရာကို ခရီးဆက္ၾကတာခ်ည္းပဲ မဟုတ္လား..? ဒီလိုေျပာင္းေနတဲ့ မီးစိမ္း၊ မီးနီေတြရွိလို႔ လူေတြဟာ ဘဝရဲ႕ေျခလွမ္း အေႏွးအျမန္ကို လိုက္ညိႇၾကတယ္။ ဒါမွ အေရာင္စံုတဲ့ ဘဝရဲ႕ အရသာကို ခံစားလို႔ရမွာ... မီးနီတစ္ခါမိရံုနဲ႔ ဘာျဖစ္လို႔ စိတ္မခ်မ္းမသာျဖစ္ရမလဲ? မီးစိမ္းတစ္ခါၾကံဳရံုနဲ႔ ဘာျဖစ္လို႔ စိတ္လႈပ္ရွားေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ရမလဲ? "
အဘြားအိုရဲ႕ စိတ္ရွည္လက္ရွည္ ရွင္းျပတဲ့ စကားကို မိုက္ကယ္တေျဖးေျဖး သေဘာေပါက္ နားလည္လာခဲ့တယ္။ အခုခ်ိန္မွာ သူ႔ဘဝဟာ မီးနီမိေနတဲ့အခ်ိန္၊ မီးစိမ္းမယ့္အခ်ိန္လည္း ရွိႏိုင္ေသးတယ္လို႔ ေတြးျပီး အသစ္တစ္ဖန္ ျပန္ၾကိဳးစားခဲ့တယ္။
မိုက္ကယ္ အသက္ ၄ဝမွာ အေမရိကားက နာမည္ၾကီး ကြန္ျပဴတာ ကုမၸဏီတစ္ခုကို တည္ေထာင္ႏိုင္ခဲ့တယ္။ သူ႔ရဲ႕ ဟားဗတ္တကၠသိုလ္ ေဟာေျပာပဲြမွာ မိုးျခိမ္းသံအလား လက္ခုပ္သံၾကားက အိမ္ရွင္အဘြားၾကီးရဲ႕ စကားေတြကို သူမေမ့ခဲ့ဘူး။ "ကြ်န္ေတာ့္ဘဝ မီးစိမ္းနဲ႔ ၾကံဳခဲ့ပါတယ္" လို႔ သူ ညင္ညင္သာသာေျပာခဲ့တယ္။
ေအာင္ျမင္ခ်ိန္မွာ ဘဝလမ္းမွာ မီးနီရွိႏိုင္ေသးတယ္ဆိုတာ မေမ့နဲ႔။
႐ႈံးနိမ့္ခ်ိန္မွာ ဘဝလမ္းရဲ႕ေ႐ွ႕မွာ မီးစိမ္းရွိႏိုင္ေသးတယ္ဆိုတာ မေမ့နဲ။
Saturday 28 June 2008
Saturday 21 June 2008
Wednesday 18 June 2008
Happy Birthday Aung San Su Kyi on the 19th of June
Birthday AppreciationThat I really want to say
I’m very glad I know you;
I think of you each day.
All the pleasures it has in store,
And because I appreciate you,
I hope you have many more!
I wish that all your dreams come true.
May your day be filled with joy,
Wonderful gifts and goodies, too.
Favorite people to embrace,
Loving smiles and caring looks
That earthly gifts cannot replace.
I wish you many years of laughter.
I wish you all of life’s best treasures.
I wish you happily ever after!
Saturday 14 June 2008
Sunday 8 June 2008
Saturday 7 June 2008
Saturday 31 May 2008
Monday 26 May 2008
Aung San of Burma
I'll try to post Bogyoke's speech as possible as I can so that you will see how much he was great, brave,honesty, wisdom and intellegent.
We must be so proud of ourselves being a Burmese people. Because of he belongs to Burma and still does.
Sunday 25 May 2008
Saturday 24 May 2008
Monday 19 May 2008
MTV Burma Action Video
"To the peace loving people of Burma,
we support you in this time of crisis.
From your friends around the world."
Appended to the message is an invitation to donate at MTVBurmaAction.com
Find more videos like this on AdGabber
we support you in this time of crisis.
From your friends around the world."
Appended to the message is an invitation to donate at MTVBurmaAction.com
Find more videos like this on AdGabber
Saturday 17 May 2008
Tuesday 6 May 2008
Monday 5 May 2008
Saturday 19 April 2008
THE NATURE OF ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA
THE NATURE OF ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA
THE NATURE OF ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA
What are the three salient Truths that the Buddha Realizedabout the Nature of all Conditioned Phenomena?
"O Monks, whether there is the appearance of Perfected Onesor there is not the appearance of Perfected Ones,there is this established condition of Dhamma,this fixed law of Dhamma.All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful, and not selfA perfected one who has fully awakenedis one who fully understands.He then declares, expounds, and explains thatall conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful, and not self."
"Anguttara Nikaaya"
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE IMPERMANENT (Anicca)
The Buddha said that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. When we look around us we can see that death comes to all living things. We can see our friends and relatives die, we can see the death of animals and plants over time. However, it is not only living things that are impermanent, even inanimate objects have a life span. We can see that over time everything deteriorates and decomposes. In actual fact, at every moment material form changes so that what something was a moment ago is not the same as what it is a moment later. The perception, however, is that the form remains the same. Even objects that seem permanent such as granite rocks are eroded slowly by wind, sand and rain. Our vision is limited to our life span; as such, some things we know are impermanent because during our life span we can see that they change. Some others we know have changed by applying scientific methods. For example, we know that over time the earth has changed, lush forest lands have turned into deserts and ice lands have melted.
Some things, however, may appear permanent because our vision is limited to a period of time. But the Buddha had unlimited vision into the past and future. He could see into countless past births and He realized that everything was impermanent. Everything aged, decayed, and was finally destroyed. World systems evolved and then were destroyed. The extremely long life spans in the heavens which amounted to millions of earth years too came to an end, just as the life span of beings in some of the unhappy planes, which lasted over a Mahaa kappa, came to an end. To these beings it seemed as if life was eternal. But this was only because of the limits of their vision. The Buddha, with His developed mind, saw that all conditioned phenomena were impermanent.
One day a young man approached the Buddha and asked Him:
"Pray tell me, Lord, is there any body, feeling, perception, activity, or consciousness that is permanent, stable by nature, lasting, unchanging, like unto the eternal, so that it will stand fast?"
The Buddha then picked up a pinch of dust on the tip of His fingernail and said to the young man:
"Even this much material form, brother, is not permanent, stable, eternal, by nature unchanging, like unto the eternal, so that it will stand fast."
"If even this much material form, brother, were unchanging, then the living of the holy life for the total destruction of suffering would not be set forth. But inasmuch as even this much material form is not permanent, stable, eternal, by nature unchanging, therefore the living of the holy life for the total destruction of suffering is set forth."
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE NOT SELF - DEVOID OF A PERMANENT SOUL (Anatta)
"Monks, if there is some entity which is permanent, lasting, eternal, not liable to change, that would stand fast like unto the eternals, take hold of it. But monks, do you see such an entity?"
"No, Lord."
"Good monks, neither do I."
"Monks, if there is a theory of permanent soul, grasping to which does not bring about grief, suffering, anguish, lamentation and despair, grasp onto it. But monks, do you see such a theory of soul?"
"No, Lord."
"Good monks, neither do I."
Majjhima Nikaaya
The "Anattalakkana Sutta" (The Sutta on no permanent soul) was the second discourse that the Buddha taught. It was after hearing this sutta that the five monks - Kondaninia, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahaanama, and Assaji - attained Arahatship. The theory of no permanent soul is difficult to understand. The belief in a self is deep-rooted and difficult to shake. In His teachings the Buddha referred to self as "I". He did this because one has to use the word "I" or a name or some terms of reference to identify a person. Without it the Buddha would not have been able to explain many of His teachings. However, He did not believe that in reality there was a permanent, unchanging individual called "I" or "self". He explained this theory in the "Anattalakkana Sutta" so that the spiritually advanced would be able to understand this important concept.
Even after this lesson, the understanding you will have is an intellectual grasping of the subject (anubodha). It is superficial, not a deep understanding. Real understanding is called penetration, or pativedha. This understanding or realization (seeing for yourself) is possible only through insight (Vipassanaa) meditation. This penetration of the understanding of not self is included in Right Understanding in the Noble Eightfold Path. Penetration, or complete understanding, will only be reached with the attainment of Sotapanna, the first stage of sainthood. However, friends who have made Vipassanaa meditation a part of their daily life over a number of years have assured me that a glimpse of the Truth is realizable for everyone who practices Vipasssanaa meditation.
This theory, though difficult, is very important because when one understands that there is no "self", no "I", the word "selfishness", the word "mine", become meaningless. It is this selfishness, or greed, or craving for oneself that we, as Buddhists, are trying to eradicate. When one truly understands the theory of no self it is much easier to be selfless and compassionate, much easier to eradicate craving (tanhaa). Understanding this principle will help you to practice better the Noble Eightfold path, which is the path that destroys suffering by eradicating craving, aversion, and delusion.
According to the teachings of the Buddha, this body that we call "I", or "self", is also like the ever- changing river. It is an ever-changing body of matter and mind. At every second, that of which we are composed changes. The change, however, is not visible to the eye. We are in an ever-changing process just like the river. The only difference is that the change is not visible to the eye.
The eye can deceive. Sunlight is white to the naked eye. But is it really white? No, it is made up of a rainbow of colors. If I take a torch like the Olympic torch and move it in a circle at great speed, you will see a circle of flame. But is there really a circle of flame? No, there is not. Is it correct then to say that something is stationary or solid because we perceive it in that way? Could it be possible that movement is occurring so fast that it is creating an illusion of a permanent self?
Over 2,500 years ago the Buddha realized this Truth. He realized that at every moment the matter that comprised what we call "self", changed. The physical reality changed constantly, at every moment. Through insight meditation and a concentrated mind, He penetrated deeply into His own nature and realized that the entire material structure is made up of sub-atomic particles which are continuously arising and vanishing. "In the blinking of an eye", He said, " these particles are arising and passing away many trillions of times." Unbelievable as it seems, this body which appears to be solid and permanent is in actual fact composed of sub-atomic particles that are changing at every second.
Samsara then, is not the popular idea of a permanent soul that maintains a fixed identity through repeated incarnations. This, the Buddha said, is precisely what does not happen. He insisted that there was no unchanging identity that passes from life to life. It is just as from the cow comes milk; from milk, curds; from curds, butter; from butter, clarified butter. Milk is not considered to be curds, or fresh butter or clarified butter. Similarly, at any time only the present state of existence is considered to be real.
The Buddha realized that a person is not an unchanging entity but a process flowing from moment to moment. There is no real being, merely an ongoing flow, a continuous process of becoming.
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE SORROWFUL (Dukkha)
"Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, sickness is suffering,dissociation from the loved is suffering,not to get what one wants is suffering;In short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering.""There is this Noble Truth of Suffering:Such was the vision, insight, wisdom,knowing, and light that arose in meAbout things not heard before..."
Samyutta Nikaaya
Why did the Buddha say that all conditioned phenomena is dukkha or full of suffering? Life, as we know, begins at birth. We know that birth is traumatic for the baby and possibly painful. We also know that old age, sickness, and death are sorrowful. Under normal circumstances every living being faces these sorrows. In addition, being separated from those we love is suffering, associating with those we do not like is suffering and not getting what we want is suffering. There are also many who face the suffering of poverty, homelessness, torment, and abuse. All this is visible to us, and if we look around us at our lives or at the lives of our loved ones we will see that each and every one of us has faced suffering at some point in life.
But when we look around us we also see happiness. Not everyone is suffering, and even those who do have times of intense happiness. The truth is that this happiness is impermanent. This is why the Truth that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent is so important. It is important because by nature we cling to that which makes us happy. We cling to that which produces pleasurable sensations. The only way we could then have lasting, eternal happiness would be if there were any permanent condition. The impermanence of all conditioned phenomena results in sorrow and suffering because the pleasurable sensations we cling to come to an end.
When King Pasenadi Kosala's minister, Santati, came to the Buddha in grief at the death of his favorite dancing girl, the Buddha explained to him that this sorrow was deep-rooted just as this relationship was deep-rooted. He explained how, many times before in samasaara, Santati had cried for this same girl by saying, " If you collect all the tears that you have shed on all the occasions when this woman has died and compare them to the waters in the great oceans, you will see that you have shed more tears than the great waters." The Buddha could see into countless past lives. He saw the suffering that each person had undergone over aeons of time because of the impermanence of phenomena. The Buddha said that all conditioned phenomena is dukkha or full of suffering because He saw that the impermanence of conditioned phenomena resulted in a cessation of happiness, which caused suffering.
Why is the fact that all conditioned phenomena are "not self" so important? Firstly, because it conforms with the Truth that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. It is also important because with this realization thoughts of "me", "mine" and "I" have no meaning. There is no longer a need to grasp or hold onto anything as "mine". There is no longer a need for greed and craving. With the elimination of the illusion of self, the eternal thirst to satisfy its demands, the grasping after sensual pleasures to please it, the clinging to phenomena that must fade and die, no longer exist.
It is this greed, craving, or strong attachment, together with the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena, that results in suffering (dukkha). Parting from loved ones is suffering. The stronger the attachment, the stronger the grasping, the greater the suffering. Not getting that which you want is suffering. The greater the attachment or grasping, the greater the suffering at not getting it. When there is true understanding that there is no "I", no permanent self, the grasping, the craving for that which is mine and to keep that which is mine, permanently mine, no longer has any meaning.
This is what the Buddha said to Santati, King Pasenadi Kosala's minister, to help him realize the Truth:
"Whatever in the past be produced by excellencelet there be no ownership afterwards,and if in the present you will not grasp at all,you will fare on to the Perfect Peace."
After hearing these four lines Santati attained Arahatship. The Buddha knew the meritorious deeds that Santati had done in previous states of existence that made it possible for him to realize the Truth on hearing just four lines of the Dhamma. But He wanted to help those with false views and to encourage those present to do meritorious deeds by showing them the effects of good actions. Therefore, the Buddha addressed Santati and said, "Rehearse to us all the meritorious deeds you have done in the past, the results of which you now reap. But do so not on the ground but in the air by positioning yourself at a height of seven palm trees." Saluting the Buddha, Santati rose to the height of seven palm trees and seated himself cross-legged in the air. He then related the following story.
"Ninety-one world cycles ago, in the time of Buddha Vipassi, I was reborn in a city named Bandhumati. One day I thought to myself, "What labor can I do which will do away with the want and suffering of others?" I then observed those who went about proclaiming the Dhamma and decided that from that time I too would devote myself to the spread of the Dhamma. I performed meritorious deeds and went about encouraging others to do the same and to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. I then went about proclaiming the virtues of the Buddha's Teaching."
"Now the great King Bandhumati, father of the Vipassi Buddha, asked me what I was doing. I said that I was going about proclaiming the wonder of the Buddha's Teaching and encouraging the people to perform acts of merit. He then asked me what vehicle I used in my travels. On hearing that I went on foot he gave me a horse, decked me in a garland of flowers similar to a string of pearls and sent me on my way. Many years later, I was traveling on the horse proclaiming the Dhamma when the king called me again and asked me the same question. On finding that I was still dedicated to the spread of the Dhamma, he gave me a chariot with four horses for my travels. After many years the king called me again and asked the same question. On finding that I was even more earnest about spreading the Dhamma, he gave me many jewels, wealth, and an elephant."
"For eighty thousand years (the life span at this time) I went about proclaiming the virtues of the Dhamma. During this time the fragrance of sandalwood emanated from my body and from my mouth came the fragrance of the lotus flower. These were my meritorious deeds in my previous existence."
Because of the previous merit acquired by Santati at the time of the Buddha Vipassi, where he had proclaimed the Dhamma with fervor and devotion and practiced the Dhamma of the Vipassi Buddha for a period of 80,000 years, he attained enlightenment upon hearing these four lines.
The first Noble Truth the Buddha realized was that all conditioned phenomena is suffering or dukkha. Suffering exists in the world. Why is there suffering? There is suffering because of the impermanent nature of all conditioned phenomena. Because we cannot control the impermanent nature of all phenomena, suffering exists in the world.
What is the cause of suffering? The cause is craving. The intense craving to cling to and hold tight to pleasurable sensations and the intense craving to reject and avert unpleasant sensations that the Buddha called tanhaa. Usually when we suffer we tend to blame someone else for our suffering. I am suffering because of my mother, my father, my spouse, my children, my friend, my teacher, etc. Are these people the true cause of our suffering or is it we ourselves who bring about our own suffering? Is it the event that causes the suffering or is it our volitional response to the event that causes suffering?
Thus emerges a totally new concept. The Buddha said, "Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light that arose in me, about things not heard before..." Suffering exists. Not getting what you want is suffering, separation from loved ones is suffering, associating with the unloved is suffering, but the pain one feels, the suffering itself that one feels, is caused by one's volitional response, that leads to craving, not by the event itself.
The second Noble Truth that the Buddha realized was that it was not the event, but one's response to the event, that caused suffering. It was the volitional response that led to craving to hold onto a pleasant sensation, or craving to avert an unpleasant sensation that occurred, that caused suffering. The cause of suffering was craving (tanhaa).
Why then do we develop such a strong craving? We form such strong attachments due to delusion and ignorance of the true nature of phenomena. Whether there is the appearance of a Buddha or not, there is this fixed law of Dhamma - all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful and not self. However, it takes a Buddha to realize and then proclaim the Truth to the world for the benefit of men and Gods.
The sole purpose of the Buddha's teaching is the cessation of suffering. All of His teachings were directed towards the cessation of suffering. His teachings revolved around dukkha, its cause, the cessation of dukkha and the path to its cessation. Understanding the true nature of phenomena, one understands that suffering exists. Knowing that it is only a Supreme Buddha who can show us the path to the cessation of suffering, one can now appreciate the importance of this opportunity we have to be born at a time when the Dhamma is still present in the world.
Why we should Practice Buddha’s teaching?
"WHY" one should practice the Buddha's teachings? Birth as a human being is extremely difficult and rare. Because of the impermanent nature of phenomena, suffering (dukkha), exists. It is only a Supreme Buddha who can show us the path to end suffering. However, the appearance of a Buddha is extremely rare. The hearing of the sublime Truth, His teachings, is even more rare and difficult because even at a time when the Dhamma is with us, only a few will have the opportunity to hear the Dhamma, and only a few of those who have the opportunity to hear will have the ability to understand the Dhamma. We now have this rare opportunity, for the teachings of the Buddha Gotama are with us. The era of the Metteyya Buddha is in this same Mahaa Bhadda Kappa. In between the two world cycles, we have an event for Devas and Brahmas to attain their liberation:– Yaung Daw Pyan Paya Pwe”. We must all strive diligently to meet at this event. We cannot miss this event. Between the fourth and fifth world cycle – the in between period, all the sixteen realms of our world system, out of the 31 planes oif existence - would be destroyed, except the Brahma worlds. We therefore must strive hard with diligence to practice the teachings of the Gotama Buddha.
Your righteous life – observing five precepts and doing charities to Sanghas, building pagodas and monasteries and providing requisites to the sanghas would ensure you to take the next rebirth in the world of Devas. This is the best investment for you and your kin folks to pave the way to my world. As you know, the birth in our world of Deva is a spontaneous up rising.
Those who aspire to meet Metteyya Buddha must have the developed mind required to understand the Dhamma and attain enlightenment. The next opportunity, if we miss the era of the Buddha Metteyya, is the reign of the Buddha Rama. The era of the Buddha Rama, however, is a long, long time away in the future. It is one hundred thousand world cycles after the end of the dispensation of the Buddha Metteyya.
"Rare is the birth of an Enlightened Being,Through effort is birth as a human obtainedWith these two conditions is liberation from samsara achievedWhy, good people, do you not strive on then?"
Loveda SangaravaVidaagama Mahaa Thera
Now, my son, do you see the length of samsara, how long and treacherous it is. If only you should missed this one opportunity “Yaung Daw Pyan Paya Pwe” , there is an infinite years and years and cycle of rebirths until you can again see another Buddha, Buddha Meteyya. To see Buddha Rama, is still another infinite aeons of years. Who can tell, when that cycle of rebirth will end?
My son, I urge you and your kin folks to strive hard to come to my World so we all can be together to celebrate our liberation from this Samsara.
With Ananta Metta
Your Loving Mother (Thondra Devi).
THE NATURE OF ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA
What are the three salient Truths that the Buddha Realizedabout the Nature of all Conditioned Phenomena?
"O Monks, whether there is the appearance of Perfected Onesor there is not the appearance of Perfected Ones,there is this established condition of Dhamma,this fixed law of Dhamma.All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful, and not selfA perfected one who has fully awakenedis one who fully understands.He then declares, expounds, and explains thatall conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful, and not self."
"Anguttara Nikaaya"
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE IMPERMANENT (Anicca)
The Buddha said that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. When we look around us we can see that death comes to all living things. We can see our friends and relatives die, we can see the death of animals and plants over time. However, it is not only living things that are impermanent, even inanimate objects have a life span. We can see that over time everything deteriorates and decomposes. In actual fact, at every moment material form changes so that what something was a moment ago is not the same as what it is a moment later. The perception, however, is that the form remains the same. Even objects that seem permanent such as granite rocks are eroded slowly by wind, sand and rain. Our vision is limited to our life span; as such, some things we know are impermanent because during our life span we can see that they change. Some others we know have changed by applying scientific methods. For example, we know that over time the earth has changed, lush forest lands have turned into deserts and ice lands have melted.
Some things, however, may appear permanent because our vision is limited to a period of time. But the Buddha had unlimited vision into the past and future. He could see into countless past births and He realized that everything was impermanent. Everything aged, decayed, and was finally destroyed. World systems evolved and then were destroyed. The extremely long life spans in the heavens which amounted to millions of earth years too came to an end, just as the life span of beings in some of the unhappy planes, which lasted over a Mahaa kappa, came to an end. To these beings it seemed as if life was eternal. But this was only because of the limits of their vision. The Buddha, with His developed mind, saw that all conditioned phenomena were impermanent.
One day a young man approached the Buddha and asked Him:
"Pray tell me, Lord, is there any body, feeling, perception, activity, or consciousness that is permanent, stable by nature, lasting, unchanging, like unto the eternal, so that it will stand fast?"
The Buddha then picked up a pinch of dust on the tip of His fingernail and said to the young man:
"Even this much material form, brother, is not permanent, stable, eternal, by nature unchanging, like unto the eternal, so that it will stand fast."
"If even this much material form, brother, were unchanging, then the living of the holy life for the total destruction of suffering would not be set forth. But inasmuch as even this much material form is not permanent, stable, eternal, by nature unchanging, therefore the living of the holy life for the total destruction of suffering is set forth."
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE NOT SELF - DEVOID OF A PERMANENT SOUL (Anatta)
"Monks, if there is some entity which is permanent, lasting, eternal, not liable to change, that would stand fast like unto the eternals, take hold of it. But monks, do you see such an entity?"
"No, Lord."
"Good monks, neither do I."
"Monks, if there is a theory of permanent soul, grasping to which does not bring about grief, suffering, anguish, lamentation and despair, grasp onto it. But monks, do you see such a theory of soul?"
"No, Lord."
"Good monks, neither do I."
Majjhima Nikaaya
The "Anattalakkana Sutta" (The Sutta on no permanent soul) was the second discourse that the Buddha taught. It was after hearing this sutta that the five monks - Kondaninia, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahaanama, and Assaji - attained Arahatship. The theory of no permanent soul is difficult to understand. The belief in a self is deep-rooted and difficult to shake. In His teachings the Buddha referred to self as "I". He did this because one has to use the word "I" or a name or some terms of reference to identify a person. Without it the Buddha would not have been able to explain many of His teachings. However, He did not believe that in reality there was a permanent, unchanging individual called "I" or "self". He explained this theory in the "Anattalakkana Sutta" so that the spiritually advanced would be able to understand this important concept.
Even after this lesson, the understanding you will have is an intellectual grasping of the subject (anubodha). It is superficial, not a deep understanding. Real understanding is called penetration, or pativedha. This understanding or realization (seeing for yourself) is possible only through insight (Vipassanaa) meditation. This penetration of the understanding of not self is included in Right Understanding in the Noble Eightfold Path. Penetration, or complete understanding, will only be reached with the attainment of Sotapanna, the first stage of sainthood. However, friends who have made Vipassanaa meditation a part of their daily life over a number of years have assured me that a glimpse of the Truth is realizable for everyone who practices Vipasssanaa meditation.
This theory, though difficult, is very important because when one understands that there is no "self", no "I", the word "selfishness", the word "mine", become meaningless. It is this selfishness, or greed, or craving for oneself that we, as Buddhists, are trying to eradicate. When one truly understands the theory of no self it is much easier to be selfless and compassionate, much easier to eradicate craving (tanhaa). Understanding this principle will help you to practice better the Noble Eightfold path, which is the path that destroys suffering by eradicating craving, aversion, and delusion.
According to the teachings of the Buddha, this body that we call "I", or "self", is also like the ever- changing river. It is an ever-changing body of matter and mind. At every second, that of which we are composed changes. The change, however, is not visible to the eye. We are in an ever-changing process just like the river. The only difference is that the change is not visible to the eye.
The eye can deceive. Sunlight is white to the naked eye. But is it really white? No, it is made up of a rainbow of colors. If I take a torch like the Olympic torch and move it in a circle at great speed, you will see a circle of flame. But is there really a circle of flame? No, there is not. Is it correct then to say that something is stationary or solid because we perceive it in that way? Could it be possible that movement is occurring so fast that it is creating an illusion of a permanent self?
Over 2,500 years ago the Buddha realized this Truth. He realized that at every moment the matter that comprised what we call "self", changed. The physical reality changed constantly, at every moment. Through insight meditation and a concentrated mind, He penetrated deeply into His own nature and realized that the entire material structure is made up of sub-atomic particles which are continuously arising and vanishing. "In the blinking of an eye", He said, " these particles are arising and passing away many trillions of times." Unbelievable as it seems, this body which appears to be solid and permanent is in actual fact composed of sub-atomic particles that are changing at every second.
Samsara then, is not the popular idea of a permanent soul that maintains a fixed identity through repeated incarnations. This, the Buddha said, is precisely what does not happen. He insisted that there was no unchanging identity that passes from life to life. It is just as from the cow comes milk; from milk, curds; from curds, butter; from butter, clarified butter. Milk is not considered to be curds, or fresh butter or clarified butter. Similarly, at any time only the present state of existence is considered to be real.
The Buddha realized that a person is not an unchanging entity but a process flowing from moment to moment. There is no real being, merely an ongoing flow, a continuous process of becoming.
ALL CONDITIONED PHENOMENA ARE SORROWFUL (Dukkha)
"Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, sickness is suffering,dissociation from the loved is suffering,not to get what one wants is suffering;In short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering.""There is this Noble Truth of Suffering:Such was the vision, insight, wisdom,knowing, and light that arose in meAbout things not heard before..."
Samyutta Nikaaya
Why did the Buddha say that all conditioned phenomena is dukkha or full of suffering? Life, as we know, begins at birth. We know that birth is traumatic for the baby and possibly painful. We also know that old age, sickness, and death are sorrowful. Under normal circumstances every living being faces these sorrows. In addition, being separated from those we love is suffering, associating with those we do not like is suffering and not getting what we want is suffering. There are also many who face the suffering of poverty, homelessness, torment, and abuse. All this is visible to us, and if we look around us at our lives or at the lives of our loved ones we will see that each and every one of us has faced suffering at some point in life.
But when we look around us we also see happiness. Not everyone is suffering, and even those who do have times of intense happiness. The truth is that this happiness is impermanent. This is why the Truth that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent is so important. It is important because by nature we cling to that which makes us happy. We cling to that which produces pleasurable sensations. The only way we could then have lasting, eternal happiness would be if there were any permanent condition. The impermanence of all conditioned phenomena results in sorrow and suffering because the pleasurable sensations we cling to come to an end.
When King Pasenadi Kosala's minister, Santati, came to the Buddha in grief at the death of his favorite dancing girl, the Buddha explained to him that this sorrow was deep-rooted just as this relationship was deep-rooted. He explained how, many times before in samasaara, Santati had cried for this same girl by saying, " If you collect all the tears that you have shed on all the occasions when this woman has died and compare them to the waters in the great oceans, you will see that you have shed more tears than the great waters." The Buddha could see into countless past lives. He saw the suffering that each person had undergone over aeons of time because of the impermanence of phenomena. The Buddha said that all conditioned phenomena is dukkha or full of suffering because He saw that the impermanence of conditioned phenomena resulted in a cessation of happiness, which caused suffering.
Why is the fact that all conditioned phenomena are "not self" so important? Firstly, because it conforms with the Truth that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. It is also important because with this realization thoughts of "me", "mine" and "I" have no meaning. There is no longer a need to grasp or hold onto anything as "mine". There is no longer a need for greed and craving. With the elimination of the illusion of self, the eternal thirst to satisfy its demands, the grasping after sensual pleasures to please it, the clinging to phenomena that must fade and die, no longer exist.
It is this greed, craving, or strong attachment, together with the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena, that results in suffering (dukkha). Parting from loved ones is suffering. The stronger the attachment, the stronger the grasping, the greater the suffering. Not getting that which you want is suffering. The greater the attachment or grasping, the greater the suffering at not getting it. When there is true understanding that there is no "I", no permanent self, the grasping, the craving for that which is mine and to keep that which is mine, permanently mine, no longer has any meaning.
This is what the Buddha said to Santati, King Pasenadi Kosala's minister, to help him realize the Truth:
"Whatever in the past be produced by excellencelet there be no ownership afterwards,and if in the present you will not grasp at all,you will fare on to the Perfect Peace."
After hearing these four lines Santati attained Arahatship. The Buddha knew the meritorious deeds that Santati had done in previous states of existence that made it possible for him to realize the Truth on hearing just four lines of the Dhamma. But He wanted to help those with false views and to encourage those present to do meritorious deeds by showing them the effects of good actions. Therefore, the Buddha addressed Santati and said, "Rehearse to us all the meritorious deeds you have done in the past, the results of which you now reap. But do so not on the ground but in the air by positioning yourself at a height of seven palm trees." Saluting the Buddha, Santati rose to the height of seven palm trees and seated himself cross-legged in the air. He then related the following story.
"Ninety-one world cycles ago, in the time of Buddha Vipassi, I was reborn in a city named Bandhumati. One day I thought to myself, "What labor can I do which will do away with the want and suffering of others?" I then observed those who went about proclaiming the Dhamma and decided that from that time I too would devote myself to the spread of the Dhamma. I performed meritorious deeds and went about encouraging others to do the same and to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. I then went about proclaiming the virtues of the Buddha's Teaching."
"Now the great King Bandhumati, father of the Vipassi Buddha, asked me what I was doing. I said that I was going about proclaiming the wonder of the Buddha's Teaching and encouraging the people to perform acts of merit. He then asked me what vehicle I used in my travels. On hearing that I went on foot he gave me a horse, decked me in a garland of flowers similar to a string of pearls and sent me on my way. Many years later, I was traveling on the horse proclaiming the Dhamma when the king called me again and asked me the same question. On finding that I was still dedicated to the spread of the Dhamma, he gave me a chariot with four horses for my travels. After many years the king called me again and asked the same question. On finding that I was even more earnest about spreading the Dhamma, he gave me many jewels, wealth, and an elephant."
"For eighty thousand years (the life span at this time) I went about proclaiming the virtues of the Dhamma. During this time the fragrance of sandalwood emanated from my body and from my mouth came the fragrance of the lotus flower. These were my meritorious deeds in my previous existence."
Because of the previous merit acquired by Santati at the time of the Buddha Vipassi, where he had proclaimed the Dhamma with fervor and devotion and practiced the Dhamma of the Vipassi Buddha for a period of 80,000 years, he attained enlightenment upon hearing these four lines.
The first Noble Truth the Buddha realized was that all conditioned phenomena is suffering or dukkha. Suffering exists in the world. Why is there suffering? There is suffering because of the impermanent nature of all conditioned phenomena. Because we cannot control the impermanent nature of all phenomena, suffering exists in the world.
What is the cause of suffering? The cause is craving. The intense craving to cling to and hold tight to pleasurable sensations and the intense craving to reject and avert unpleasant sensations that the Buddha called tanhaa. Usually when we suffer we tend to blame someone else for our suffering. I am suffering because of my mother, my father, my spouse, my children, my friend, my teacher, etc. Are these people the true cause of our suffering or is it we ourselves who bring about our own suffering? Is it the event that causes the suffering or is it our volitional response to the event that causes suffering?
Thus emerges a totally new concept. The Buddha said, "Such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing, and light that arose in me, about things not heard before..." Suffering exists. Not getting what you want is suffering, separation from loved ones is suffering, associating with the unloved is suffering, but the pain one feels, the suffering itself that one feels, is caused by one's volitional response, that leads to craving, not by the event itself.
The second Noble Truth that the Buddha realized was that it was not the event, but one's response to the event, that caused suffering. It was the volitional response that led to craving to hold onto a pleasant sensation, or craving to avert an unpleasant sensation that occurred, that caused suffering. The cause of suffering was craving (tanhaa).
Why then do we develop such a strong craving? We form such strong attachments due to delusion and ignorance of the true nature of phenomena. Whether there is the appearance of a Buddha or not, there is this fixed law of Dhamma - all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, sorrowful and not self. However, it takes a Buddha to realize and then proclaim the Truth to the world for the benefit of men and Gods.
The sole purpose of the Buddha's teaching is the cessation of suffering. All of His teachings were directed towards the cessation of suffering. His teachings revolved around dukkha, its cause, the cessation of dukkha and the path to its cessation. Understanding the true nature of phenomena, one understands that suffering exists. Knowing that it is only a Supreme Buddha who can show us the path to the cessation of suffering, one can now appreciate the importance of this opportunity we have to be born at a time when the Dhamma is still present in the world.
Why we should Practice Buddha’s teaching?
"WHY" one should practice the Buddha's teachings? Birth as a human being is extremely difficult and rare. Because of the impermanent nature of phenomena, suffering (dukkha), exists. It is only a Supreme Buddha who can show us the path to end suffering. However, the appearance of a Buddha is extremely rare. The hearing of the sublime Truth, His teachings, is even more rare and difficult because even at a time when the Dhamma is with us, only a few will have the opportunity to hear the Dhamma, and only a few of those who have the opportunity to hear will have the ability to understand the Dhamma. We now have this rare opportunity, for the teachings of the Buddha Gotama are with us. The era of the Metteyya Buddha is in this same Mahaa Bhadda Kappa. In between the two world cycles, we have an event for Devas and Brahmas to attain their liberation:– Yaung Daw Pyan Paya Pwe”. We must all strive diligently to meet at this event. We cannot miss this event. Between the fourth and fifth world cycle – the in between period, all the sixteen realms of our world system, out of the 31 planes oif existence - would be destroyed, except the Brahma worlds. We therefore must strive hard with diligence to practice the teachings of the Gotama Buddha.
Your righteous life – observing five precepts and doing charities to Sanghas, building pagodas and monasteries and providing requisites to the sanghas would ensure you to take the next rebirth in the world of Devas. This is the best investment for you and your kin folks to pave the way to my world. As you know, the birth in our world of Deva is a spontaneous up rising.
Those who aspire to meet Metteyya Buddha must have the developed mind required to understand the Dhamma and attain enlightenment. The next opportunity, if we miss the era of the Buddha Metteyya, is the reign of the Buddha Rama. The era of the Buddha Rama, however, is a long, long time away in the future. It is one hundred thousand world cycles after the end of the dispensation of the Buddha Metteyya.
"Rare is the birth of an Enlightened Being,Through effort is birth as a human obtainedWith these two conditions is liberation from samsara achievedWhy, good people, do you not strive on then?"
Loveda SangaravaVidaagama Mahaa Thera
Now, my son, do you see the length of samsara, how long and treacherous it is. If only you should missed this one opportunity “Yaung Daw Pyan Paya Pwe” , there is an infinite years and years and cycle of rebirths until you can again see another Buddha, Buddha Meteyya. To see Buddha Rama, is still another infinite aeons of years. Who can tell, when that cycle of rebirth will end?
My son, I urge you and your kin folks to strive hard to come to my World so we all can be together to celebrate our liberation from this Samsara.
With Ananta Metta
Your Loving Mother (Thondra Devi).
Thursday 17 April 2008
Happy & Graceful Myanmar New Year!
Wednesday 9 April 2008
Work Place War
Disclaimer: I found this article on MSN Careers website and you can read more of the author - Anthony Balderrama at www.careerbuilder.com
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For many people, the workweek is longer than the fabled 40 hours. Working lunches and late nights can keep you at the office for the bulk of your waking hours.
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For many people, the workweek is longer than the fabled 40 hours. Working lunches and late nights can keep you at the office for the bulk of your waking hours.
Is it any wonder there's some workplace friction once in awhile?
Like childhood siblings who can't help but get on each other's nerves, officemates can push your hot buttons without even trying. The problem is, nobody's there to put you in separate rooms until you cool down. A conflict can escalate from a difference of opinion to a full-fledged battle.
Sometimes no matter how willing you are to ignore the problem, you just can't. If your mental health depends on overcoming a workplace war, it's time to deal with it.
The other party: A co-worker.
The war: Disagreements with colleagues are anything but rare. For one thing, you probably spend more time interacting with colleagues than with anybody else. Human nature suggests you'll get irritated with each other at one time or another. Factor in perceived competition for promotions and your boss's attention, and you have the recipe for a co-worker conflict.
The solution: "First, take a moment to plan out your course of action. You want to take emotion out of the equation and make sure you are being proactive instead of reactive," says Carly Drum, a workplace etiquette expert with New York-based executive search firm Drum Associates. Set up a meeting and have an agenda ready so you can ensure you stay constructive and on task. The goal of the meeting should be to "discuss how to work more effectively as a team and to discuss issues that might be posing obstacles."
The war: Disagreements with colleagues are anything but rare. For one thing, you probably spend more time interacting with colleagues than with anybody else. Human nature suggests you'll get irritated with each other at one time or another. Factor in perceived competition for promotions and your boss's attention, and you have the recipe for a co-worker conflict.
The solution: "First, take a moment to plan out your course of action. You want to take emotion out of the equation and make sure you are being proactive instead of reactive," says Carly Drum, a workplace etiquette expert with New York-based executive search firm Drum Associates. Set up a meeting and have an agenda ready so you can ensure you stay constructive and on task. The goal of the meeting should be to "discuss how to work more effectively as a team and to discuss issues that might be posing obstacles."
The other party: Your boss.
The war: Well, you're fighting with your boss and that's never good. A lot of issues factor into it, whether it's just a difference of opinions or office politics. Even if you don't deal with your boss one-on-one every day, he or she influences your daily tasks and your future at the company. It's a tightrope walk deciding how to stand up for yourself without having to immediately pack your things and be escorted out by security.
The solution: A good boss will engage you in a dialogue about any concerns you have if you approach him or her in the right way. Arrange a meeting to talk about what's troubling you, Drum suggests. "No one likes to be blindsided, especially your supervisor." Focus on how your concerns affect productivity and the environment at work. "Your main goal should be to improve processes or issues within the company. Just make sure that you do not become a 'squeaky wheel.'"
The war: Well, you're fighting with your boss and that's never good. A lot of issues factor into it, whether it's just a difference of opinions or office politics. Even if you don't deal with your boss one-on-one every day, he or she influences your daily tasks and your future at the company. It's a tightrope walk deciding how to stand up for yourself without having to immediately pack your things and be escorted out by security.
The solution: A good boss will engage you in a dialogue about any concerns you have if you approach him or her in the right way. Arrange a meeting to talk about what's troubling you, Drum suggests. "No one likes to be blindsided, especially your supervisor." Focus on how your concerns affect productivity and the environment at work. "Your main goal should be to improve processes or issues within the company. Just make sure that you do not become a 'squeaky wheel.'"
The other party: A C-level executive.
The war: C-level executives, such as CEOs and CFOs, have a lot of power. With that power often comes stronger personalities that can be demanding or abrasive. In fairness, they also have more responsibility and time constraints; sometimes you're unfortunately on the receiving end of frustration they can't vent during meetings or negotiations.
The solution: Assess the situation carefully. You want to be certain you don't step on anyone's toes as you try to solve the problem. "Proper business protocol is to go to your direct boss first with a work problem," Drum says. If the C-level problem is your boss, however, then contacting human resources is the safer course of action. Use your judgment to know whether the other person is going to be receptive to a one-on-one meeting or if you should go directly to HR. Your goal should be to open a dialogue about the issue in the most diplomatic way possible.
The war: C-level executives, such as CEOs and CFOs, have a lot of power. With that power often comes stronger personalities that can be demanding or abrasive. In fairness, they also have more responsibility and time constraints; sometimes you're unfortunately on the receiving end of frustration they can't vent during meetings or negotiations.
The solution: Assess the situation carefully. You want to be certain you don't step on anyone's toes as you try to solve the problem. "Proper business protocol is to go to your direct boss first with a work problem," Drum says. If the C-level problem is your boss, however, then contacting human resources is the safer course of action. Use your judgment to know whether the other person is going to be receptive to a one-on-one meeting or if you should go directly to HR. Your goal should be to open a dialogue about the issue in the most diplomatic way possible.
The other party: A client.
The war: If you deal with clients and vendors every day, you're bound to get irked by something they do. Perhaps they're high maintenance or they're too stubborn to listen to you – whatever the case may be, you have to deal with them.
The solution: As tricky as it is to approach a boss about a concern, it can be even more difficult to bring up the subject with the clients who are giving you business. In fact, you should make sure it's something you can't ignore before you decide to have a conversation with them.
The war: If you deal with clients and vendors every day, you're bound to get irked by something they do. Perhaps they're high maintenance or they're too stubborn to listen to you – whatever the case may be, you have to deal with them.
The solution: As tricky as it is to approach a boss about a concern, it can be even more difficult to bring up the subject with the clients who are giving you business. In fact, you should make sure it's something you can't ignore before you decide to have a conversation with them.
"If discussing the problem is something that that will enhance the work product or relationship, then the conversation should happen sooner rather than later," Drum says. "If the issue is simply about a passing clash of personality rather than a substantive work matter, apply common sense as to whether the disagreement even warrants discussion."
Regardless of whom you're not getting along with, remember that you decide what your limit is. If remaining silent adds to your stress level instead of alleviating it, then you should speak up. If you're in an environment where nothing changes or your concerns aren't addressed, think about whether or not it's a good place for you.
Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.
Sunday 30 March 2008
Money math you need to know
Now, that you have been learning, working hard, and reading about thoughts on life and etc... I figured now is the time to learn how to save some money so that you can enjoy your hard working income a bit longer.
Disclaimer: I found this article on MSN Money website and you can read more of the author - Liz Pulliam Weston articles under Personal Finance section. The inflation she talks about in the article is for USA base on the historical data. I hope you will enjoy it.
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The rule of 72
The rule of 70
Understand the value of compounding
Calculating 'Take this job . . .' money
Disclaimer: I found this article on MSN Money website and you can read more of the author - Liz Pulliam Weston articles under Personal Finance section. The inflation she talks about in the article is for USA base on the historical data. I hope you will enjoy it.
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None of these tricks requires more than simple arithmetic (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication), and some of them you can do in your head. Some are so simple they can be explained in a few sentences; if it takes longer and you're in a hurry, you can read the last paragraph of each section to get the rule of thumb.
The rule of 72
Need a quick way to estimate how long it will take for your money to double at a given rate of return?
Divide the return into 72. So if you're averaging an 8% annual return, it will take you nine years to double your money (72 divided by 8 equals 9).
The rule of 70
Inflation erodes the buying power of a dollar, so that eventually it will buy only half of what it used to.
Want to know how quickly your money will lose half its buying power? Divide 70 by the expected inflation rate. If it's 3.5%, your dollar will be worth 50 cents in 20 years (70 divided by 3.5 equals 20). If inflation soars to 10%, your money's value is halved in seven years.
Understand the value of compounding
It's been called the Eighth Wonder of the World, but many people still don't grasp how amazingly investment returns can add up over time.
One way to dramatically illustrate the point is to use the example of the doubling penny. If I give you a penny at the start of the month and promise to double it every day, you'll have $10.7 million after 30 days.
Of course, you're not going to double your money every day or even every year. But 8% or 9% is a reasonable rate of return to expect over the long run on a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash, so doubling your money every eight or nine years (remember the rule of 72) is well within the range of possibility.
The following chart demonstrates how quickly a $100 investment can grow given different interest rates and time periods.
| How $100 can grow | |||
| After: | 6% | 8% | 10% |
| 10 years | $179 | $216 | $259 |
| 20 years | $320 | $466 | $673 |
| 30 years | $574 | $1,006 | $1,745 |
| 40 years | $1,028 | $2,172 | $4,525 |
This chart can be used the other way around to illustrate future gains you lose when you aren't invested. If you withdraw $100 from a retirement account at age 25, for example, you're giving up more than $2,000 of future retirement money, assuming 8% average annual returns over the next 40 years.
Here's a way to further boil it down: Every dollar you invest can grow to $2 in 10 years, $5 in 20 years, $10 in 30 years and $20 in 40 years, assuming an 8% average annual return.
Calculating 'Take this job . . .' money
How much money would you have to save, inherit or win to say goodbye to work?
You'll find plenty of retirement planners around the Web, including MSN Money's Retirement Planner, which I find particularly easy to use. Personal-finance software like Money and Quicken includes more sophisticated calculators that are also worth a look.
But if you want to ballpark a figure for what you'd need to save to stop work tomorrow, simply multiply your living expenses by 25.
Why 25? Because financial planners generally agree that 4% is a "sustainable" withdrawal rate from a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash. That means you can take out 4% of the total in the first year, adjust the withdrawal every year afterward by the inflation rate, and face relatively little risk of running out of money.
So to get the lump sum you'd need, you divide your annual living expenses by 0.04 -- which is the same as multiplying the same expenses by 25. If you need $30,000 to live on, you'd need $750,000. If you want to be more conservative and reduce the chances of running dry to virtually zero, multiply by 33 instead. That approximates an initial withdrawal rate of slightly more than 3%.
Columns by Liz Pulliam Weston, the Web's most-read personal finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.
Saturday 15 March 2008
How to be a success in your life
From ::: http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics
Some people seem to be always happy and successful, while others seem sad, lonely and struggling along from one day to the next.
Look around at people who seem really happy and you will notice that if you go through the following list, they would be able to tick most of the points.
What Successful People Do
1. They work out the kind of person they are
Have you ever had thoughts like, "Why are we here?", "Why is life like this?", " Why do bad things happen to some people?" or "Why are some people so lucky and others so unlucky?" These are really difficult questions to find answers to. If you find out the answers please let me know!
But there are some simpler questions you can ask yourself about what kind of person you are.
Would you like to be someone who:
- tries hard all the time
- wants to learn new things every day
- wants to help others
- wants to be happy and help make others feel happy
- wants to be a positive person and help others to be more positive
- enjoys life and the natural beauty of the world
- wants to make a difference to the lives of others?
There are lots more that I'm sure you will think of once you get down to it.
Grab a piece of paper or start a new page on your computer and start getting your ideas down. If you work these out, then you have taken the first steps to success.
2. They respect themselves and others
- They have good habits, and change their bad habits.
- They look after their bodies by eating healthy food and exercising every day.
- They don't listen to gossip or gossip about others.
- They follow the rules and respect people in authority.
- They are truthful and honest.
- They know that good manners and behaviour are more important than good clothes and 'looking cool'.
- They show other people that they love and care for them.
- They live their word, which means they do what they say they are going to do.
- They really listen to others and show that they are listening.
3. They set goals, and work to get the life they want
- They try to improve themselves.
- They don't give up easily and they are always ready to keep on trying.
- They are all set to work for what they want.
- They concentrate on what they are doing at the time and don't let themselves be distracted.
- They stick to their decisions and don't keep changing their minds.
4. They enjoy life
- They learn things they are interested in.
- They have a positive attitude and always look for the good in life.
- They learn how to save money for what they really want.
- They get excited and feel passionate about the things they are doing.
- They do what they feel is right and don't take notice of what others say.
Evaluate you Assets
The most important asset you have is yourself, rather than what you have got or what you own.
- What are you good at?
- What are you very good at?
Look in the areas of:
- Your character
- What are you like as a person?
- What are all your good qualities? Are you kind, a good listener, confident, happy, patient, affectionate, ambitious?
- Your personal assets. This is about your body, eg. good eyesight and hearing, having a nice smile.
- Your skills and talents - all the things you can do, eg. cook, run, draw, swim, play ball sports, play an instrument, read well, help your parents.
You don't have to be world class in anything, just be honest and positive.
There's Success and .... Success
Magazines, newspapers and TV are full of 'successful' people. We read about them or see them all the time.
- Some are shown as successful because they have a lot of money. So does having money mean that your whole life is a success?
- Some are shown as successful because they have become a star or even superstar! Does stardom mean that your whole life is a success?
- Some people are really clever at passing exams? Does passing exams mean that your whole life is a success?
Many of these stories seem to suggest that if you are rich enough, or clever enough or thin enough, everything will be great. But really! None of these will lead to someone's whole life being a success.
If your whole life is to be a success then the first thing to realise is that life has a lot of different parts:
- relationships with family, friends and authority figures like teachers, police and your boss
- learning and building skills for what you want or need to do
- learning to know, like and respect yourself so that you can learn to do the same for others
- caring for and contributing to your community
- caring for and helping to look after the environment you live in
- caring for your physical and spiritual health and well-being
- getting the most out of your life.
Once you have identified all the areas of your life you want to change, then it's time to start targeting the two or three which you want to work on first.
To do this you need to set some goals and then work out how you are going to reach them.
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Sunday 9 March 2008
How to Communicate Your Weaknesses
From : http://www.wikihow.com/Communicate-Your-Weaknesses
There will come a time in everyone’s career (or life in general) when a person is asked to identify their primary weakness (or weaknesses). It is also a very common interview question. If you are not ready for this question, it can be very awkward and the answer may not come across in a good way.
Everyone has both strengths and weaknesses – it’s simply a part of being human... accept that and you’ll be way ahead of the game. Because of that fact, ignoring them, avoiding them or pretending you don’t have them is by far the worst thing you can do. Hiding a problem doesn’t make the problem go away. Learn how to identify and understand your weaknesses and how to properly communicate them to others.
Steps
- Understand the question. When you’re asked this, especially in an interview, it’s not the weakness that’s the most important thing; it’s whether you are aware of your weaknesses and what you do about them. If the answer is “I don’t have any” then it becomes obvious that the primary weakness is a lack of self-awareness.
- Be prepared. You should regularly examine yourself to identify your primary weaknesses. If you don’t know what they are, you can’t communicate them to others. If you already know the answer, you won’t have to fumble and you will have considerably greater esteem in the eyes of the interviewer.
- Avoid the most common mistake. “My greatest weakness is that I’m too much of a perfectionist and I hold myself to a higher standard than I expect from others.” Uh huh. That frankly irritates the interviewer. It also shows, very clearly, that you live in denial of yourself. Ok, maybe you are too much of a perfectionist and that can be a very valid weakness. State it differently. “I sometimes over analyze my work products which can cause me to fall behind in other tasks.” That really means the same thing but it is an honest weakness. Instead of saying, “People are intimidated by me because I’m such a strong leader” try “When I’m in a leadership role, I sometimes come across as being overbearing.” Twisting your answer to make it seem like your primary weakness is that you’re already perfect will always fail. The interviewer will actually recognize what you’re doing and you won’t be fooling anybody (except perhaps yourself).
- Be clear and concise. Don’t overstate things. Don’t ramble. Don’t repeat yourself. Don’t explain too much. If someone asks you the time, that’s not asking you to explain the inner workings of an atomic clock. The interviewer is looking for something very specific and if you focus too much on the initial part of the answer you’ll miss the opportunity to really shine in the second part of the answer.
- Immediately follow with good news. Okay, you’ve clearly identified your weakness, you’ve stated it concisely and shown that you have good awareness of your personal issues. So now what? Just knowing your weakness is good, but what are you doing about it? That is the crux of the question and must be the focus of your answer. “I sometimes over analyze my work products which can cause me to fall behind in other tasks. To avoid that, I set aside a specific amount of time for review. When that time is up, I move to the next task on my list of priorities.” Yay! You’ve just proven that you can analyze yourself, identify your weaknesses, and develop useful methods to overcome them. That is what the interviewer wants to know. Develop a list of compensatory techniques associated with each weakness.
- Continue to be clear and concise. When you state your compensatory technique, it really needs to be focused on the issue at hand. It must not be vague or imprecise at all. The method you use to overcome your weakness must be as well composed as the weakness itself – both have to be very solidly identified and communicated with lucidity.
- Stop and wait. After you answer the question, stop talking. Wait for the interviewer to speak next. You’re done. You’ve given them what they asked for so wait for a response. You might have to wait an uncomfortable amount of time. The interviewer might very well insert (on purpose) a lengthy pause to see what you’ll do. Look them in the eye (no, don’t “stare them down”) with a comfortable expression on your face and wait for them to give you feedback. Be prepared for them to ask you if there are any more!
- Don’t be a one-hit-wonder. You should have three weaknesses and compensatory techniques at your fingertips. The interviewer is quite likely to ask you a second time and often a third time. “What else?”, “Any more?” - if you get asked a fourth time (oh how exasperating that is) there’s a good way to handle that. “When I do this exercise, maybe once a quarter or so, the list might change from time to time. I limit my focus to three current weaknesses so I don’t become overwhelmed. If you ask me again in June, I might have a different answer for you then.”
- Follow-up with a strength. Once you’ve gotten feedback and you’ve passed the initial test, be ready to expand the conversation to strengths. When you do your self-examination, don’t limit it to your weaknesses… also identify your primary strengths. For each strength you should identify how it benefits you. Knowing that you have strengths is useless unless you know how to use them. It is every bit as important to know where you’re strong as to know where you’re weak.
- Analyze regularly. As indicated above, this is not a one-time shot. You should do this exercise on a regular basis (but don’t become obsessed). More often than once a quarter is not enough time for any substantial changes to occur. If you wait more than a year, you’re missing opportunities to improve and the self-assessment skills will be rusty. Start with a 3-month recurring event and if that’s too often, drop it down to once every 6 months.
Tips
- Communicating your weaknesses also plays an important role in having a healthy relationship.
- You may be able to use this exercise to augment your annual performance reviews by identifying areas in which you can improve and helping to identify specific goals.
- If you have staff, having them become proficient at this will give you a great indicator of how to play to their strengths and assign less critical efforts that would make use their weak areas.
- Make notes from time-to-time about how well your compensatory techniques are working (or how they’re not) so you can tweak them to your best advantage.
- You can extract from the “strengths” portion of the exercise to improve a cover letter. Your strengths are things you bring to the table for a potential employer and it’s much more impressive if you know, definitively, what those are.
Warnings
- Make sure your final analysis is not unwieldy. It’s easy to become so involved with this exercise that one weakness and associated technique can be very, very long. These need to be concise and easily stated: Think “elevator speech” when you’re putting things in final form (what can you tell someone in an elevator going up ten floors)
- Be honest in your appraisal. Do not try to twist words to make your weaknesses sound like strengths. That demonstrates a very high degree of arrogance and it will have negative consequences.
- Don’t ignore things you can’t fix. Just because you have a weakness and don’t know what to do about it doesn’t mean you should pretend it doesn’t exist. Go ahead and write it down and start thinking about it. You might not want to elaborate on that in an interview, though, until you’ve developed a compensatory technique for it.
Wednesday 5 March 2008
How to Be Honest With Yourself
I believe that all the ACEs want to read Saya UTO's speech in the Blog.
Saya, Please share your idea or thought how to get happy life.
(I don't think you will say that to go massage polour to get happy mood...just joking...)
From : http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Honest-With-Yourself
Saya, Please share your idea or thought how to get happy life.
(I don't think you will say that to go massage polour to get happy mood...just joking...)
From : http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Honest-With-Yourself Due to circumstances beyond my control I am master of my fate and captain of my soul. — Ashleigh Brilliant
Today, at this very moment, what is your life like? Do you have a life plan, or are you, like most of us, simply flying by the seat of your pants? Time waits for no man - or woman. Figure out what is truly important in your life. It is the first step towards taking charge.
Steps
- Choose a focus for your introspection. Good ones include goals, career, money, family, spirituality, and love.
- Set some time aside for yourself. Get up earlier or later than your family, or find a quiet space where you can sit and think. Some people think better while doing some other simple task (such as laundry) or while walking. Find out what works for you.
- Take stock. What is your life all about? What is your purpose in it? What are you good at? What could you improve?
- Be objective. Self-reflection and assessment can be a very emotional matter, but try to be detached.
- Be specific. What have you accomplished? What would you like to accomplish? What bothers you? What do you like about yourself?
- Keep things in perspective. So you haven't won your Nobel Peace Prize yet. Neither have most of the rest of us. You're only human, and nobody, including yourself, should expect perfection of you.
- Write things down. Putting something in words helps you to be specific. You can write in whatever way you feel comfortable expressing yourself, be it lists, notes, cartoons, drawings, or maps. If you're not a writer, consider talking into a tape recorder or recording your thoughts some other way.
- Consider the good and the bad, both. One way businesses do this is with a "SWOT" diagram. Take four pages or sections of a page and write in them the following
- Strengths. What are you best at? What do you love doing and do just for the passion of it? What do others compliment you on or tell you you're good at? Once you have these listed, consider how you can make them even better, or use them to your advantage.
- Weaknesses. What do you dislike? What doesn't work too well for you? Focusing on the negative can put things into perspective. Once you have listed your weaknesses, you can choose whether to try to improve upon these areas or let them go. If it matters that you're not a strong swimmer, make plans to improve. If not, at least you know your limitations and can stay in the shallow end of the pool.
- Opportunities. These may go hand in hand with your strengths. At a personal level, an opportunity isn't just the potential to make money. Rather, consider where you could make a difference, satisfy your own needs (for instance, to create), or simply improve yourself. Opportunities could be based on how you could use your strengths or how you could improve upon your weaknesses.
- Threats. What could undermine those opportunities, derail your hopes or sidetrack your success, whatever you define those to be? The purpose for listing these is twofold. First, identifying them allows you to see them more clearly. The known is less threatening than the unknown. Second, it allows you to address those risks. Some risks are beyond our control, but many can be lessened or at least planned for.
- Have an audience, if you are comfortable doing so. Find somebody to talk to. You'll feel really silly saying things that are not true out loud. If you're not yet comfortable talking to a person, choose a pet or stuffed animal, instead.
- Ask friends whom you trust how they see you. Seeing yourself honestly is not always easy, and an honest assessment by somebody outside can help you to know if your personal assessment of yourself is reasonable.
- Write a list of all the things you would like to do in the next five years, ten years, or before you die. Don't filter things out yet, just write as fast as you can think of things. If you prefer, write the list focusing on a particular aspect or question in your life.
- Ask yourself questions, and answer them in lists, essays, or however you see fit. Here are some examples:
- What is important in my life and what is simply dragging me down?
- What would I change about my life?
- Which individuals contribute to my happiness and which do not?
- Commit to making a change. Tell yourself, it's my life, and if I am to remain happy and healthy, I alone must decide what stays and what goes.
- Don't beat around the bush. Tell yourself the truth, even if the truth is bad. Remember that saying things that are true will help you fix them. Although sometimes it's hard to self analyze, admitting to yourself that you are jealous of someone is better than trying to deny it. The truth may make you miserable at first, but later it will set you free.
- Set goals.
- Take action. Put your plan in motion, confident that you are moving toward what you really want. Actions speak louder than words, so acting upon what you discover about yourself is a big part of being honest.
Tips
- Being honest does not mean being brutal. Everybody has shortcomings and difficulties. The best athlete or singer in the world could be a terrible writer. See an honest identification and evaluation of problems as a stepping stone to solving them, not as a reason to berate yourself.
- If you have enough objectivity and insight into yourself, and are honest with yourself, you might have to admit that your life is ordinary, and is only about living and getting by. There is nothing wrong with that, since this is simply a part of the human condition.
- Remember, there is no harm in writing something down. You can choose not to share it, destroy it, edit it, or simply keep it a secret.
- If you don't know where to begin, try taking a personality test (see external links). They cannot discover you by themselves, but they can lend some insight about your nature to help get you started.
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