Listening

Listening

The perfection of listening requires both the ears and the eyes to work in tandem, with undivided attention of the heart."
Simple Bear 04.12.2016.

A Piece of Cake

A Piece of Cake

"Come over here." I could read her lips moving to the three words as she gestured with her hand for me to walk over to her.

I walked over, looked at her and said, "Yes M what can I do for you today?"

She pointed to the two pieces of cake in front of her and said, "I want to share the cakes with you. You take one and I will take one."

She smiled.

I was touched by her kindness. It was a birthday celebration for her and other seniors today and she wanted to share her share of her birthday cake with me.

I smiled and said, "Thanks for your kind offer of the cake M they were saying that I am fat *pointing to my tummy* and I need to go on a diet. I can't eat the cake. Please have it."

She laughed and nodded, picking up the cake with relish.

I went away and a few minutes later, she waved at me again and gestured for me to go over.

I walked over and she said, "I want to share the cake with you. I just had one. And there is another piece of the cake left. I want you to have it."

I smiled at her and said, "Thank you for your kind offer M they said I am fat and I need to go on a diet. I can't have the cake. Please have the cake."

She smiled and nodded, picking up the piece of the cake with delight.

I was touched. I had never expected it.

It was clear. She was happy about the birthday celebrations and she was happy eating the cake. I was touched that she had wanted to share her happiness with me.

She may have forgotten that she had offered me the cake twice. Perhaps that is what makes it all the more emotional for me.

I am humbled and grateful for her kindness. The moment, her kindness makes my work in the nursing Home worthwhile.

Maybe to others, it is just a piece of cake, but to me, it is more than just a piece of cake.

May all be well and happy.

With love and kindness
Simple Bear 04.12.2016.

善有善报

善有善报

夜深了，我一人在宁静的街上漫步，反省着过去一个礼拜的行与念。
脑海中浮现了一个问题，人常说善有善报，何谓善报? 人生平常中有善报否?

有。当然有。

善报不局限于生命中有贵人，衣食住行无缺。善报也是善缘，支持善业的因缘。
能见世间苦，是善报。有多少人视而不见，只知只顾自己苦。自己在苦中苦不堪言，不见他人苦，也是常有之事。能助自己从苦中解脱，而因有其缘去助他人是善报。

能因见苦而生其慈悲，善之念，是善报。有多少人视而不见，只知只顾自己好。

能因慈悲，善之念而能有力行其念，是善报。不是有念就能行，有能力帮也是一种善报。

能因起慈悲，善之念，有此能力行，有愿行其行，是善报。不是有此念，有力，就能行。也要有愿行其行，才能有动力行其行，有此愿也是一种善报。

能因起慈悲，善之念，有力可行，有愿行其行，有勇气行其愿，是善报。有时行善之事，是需要作出一些也许社会中不常有之事。例如在雨天中，停下脚步，救一些可能会被人踩死的蜗牛等小动物，别人会觉得你怪怪的。真需要不理会别人眼光的勇气。有时也要有承受好意被他人拒绝的勇气。

能因起慈悲，善之念，有力可行，有愿行其行，有勇气行其愿而他人愿受其心，是善报。苦中的众生愿受其善心也是对于行善之人的一种善报。生活中愿行善而别人不愿领情，那也是常有的事。

想想能成就慈悲，善心之业有多难啊! 需要多少善缘才能成就善业。

每一个因每一段缘都需要感恩。感恩之情也是善报啊!

愿众生幸福安康。
简单熊 21.11.2016.

为君难

为君难

有人问我对于美国总统选举的结果有何看法。

我想起了圣贤对于权利的智慧。

定公问：“一言而可以兴邦，有诸？”
孔子对曰：“言不可以若是其几也。人之言曰：‘为君难，为臣不易。’如知为君之难也，不几乎一言而兴邦乎？”
曰：“一言而丧邦，有诸？”
孔子对曰：“言不可以若是其几也。人之言曰：‘予无乐乎为君，唯其言而莫予违也。’如其善而莫之违也，不亦善乎？如不善而莫之违也，不几乎一言而丧邦乎？”
孔子《论语• 子路第十三篇》

大局已定。不管谁当选，只希望新的美国总统明白身为美国总统的责任与使命。

身为总统的他是否是个好总统就让未来来评价吧。

而我们又能做什么呢?

观其善而仿之，观其恶而改之。

愿大家幸福安康。

Aging Bear

Aging Bear

Spent the start of my weekend bringing the seniors from a nursing home for breakfast this morning.

A friend told me that someone asked him why is there 11 seniors in the group instead of 10 (referring to me as one of the seniors) as I was eating my breakfast beside the seniors and the majority of the volunteers were standing around watching them eat their breakfast and having their coffee.

I was amused. Did I aged so much? Haha.

It was a good reminder. Every day past is a day older.

If I am lucky enough to reach the age that the seniors are, what kind of a senior will I be? I am subjected to aging, sickness and death but what kind of a man am I in this natural process of aging, sickness and death?

Every day past is a day less to work on ourselves, to ready ourselves for the eventuality.

Excuse me now as the old bear needs to take a nap.

May all be well and happy

With Loving-Kindness
Simple Bear 23.10.2016.

The day before the night

The day before the night

Almost 6 months ago, I resigned from my previous job and spent close to 5 months at home, doing nothing but watch Korean entertainment almost every single day.

Not a lot of people knew about my leave from working life and I am grateful for the friends who expressed their concern for me during this period of time. People asked me why do I want to take this break despite the difficult economic outlook; choosing to leave a job which is stable and despite not being well-off financially.

It was a difficult and easy choice at the point of time. it was difficult because I was leaving a job of which I had my own plans and objectives to achieve in the position, to help others who needed help.
It was easy because I knew, at that point of time, the habitual tendencies which was causing me agony in moments of non-mindfulness are still there and they are gaining strength, I needed to work on them.

I am ambitious, not in terms of the monetary rewards, the power and position that society has to offer but in terms of the richness of my spiritual life. Success, to me is peace despite the changes in life prior to death and failure, is sufferings due to the changes in life prior to death.

And it is always a work-in-progress and at that point of time, after the car accident early this year, I felt I needed to take stock of the habitual tendencies that I need to work on and devise my plans to work on them from now til the time.

There are moments of success and there are moments of failure, which are precursors to success and we are the only one who can magically turn failure to success. The only independent factor in this hypothesis of mine is me and the only dependent factor, is me. They are different yet the same.

During this period of time, I dreamed about the old me. The naive young me who seeks solace in the world of knowledge; books become the refuge from the sufferings of the world, the pain and the anguish. The boy who later grew to be a youth who seeks his refuge in the hedonistic pleasures from winning over people in sports, academic achievements etc being in the positive limelight. The competitive streak grew stronger as the teenager grew up to assume his position in the working world.

I woke up, with this question lingering on my mind. What is the one thing in this world that I crave the most? The answer was clear. It was peace. I crave not the hedonistic pleasures of the world, nor the sufferings but of a mind who can experience the pleasures and sufferings of this world without any indulgence.

Then, the logical next question which arises was what were the impediments to achieving this? The habitual tendencies that I had built up over the years especially the competitive streak in me. I still love the competitiveness but I want to change it, to still be competitive with myself and not with others. I have made some progress over the years especially the last two years but sometimes, when I am not mindful, the hydra rears its many heads. It is important to balance the competitive streak with compassion for oneself.

Second, were the expectations. Disappointments were rift in the past and I struggled with it a lot. The idealistic part of me scream inside at the disappointments every single time. I still have expectations of myself and I had learn to slowly stop harboring any expectations of others adhering to my expectations. I think it is important not to be lax with myself but at the same time, there is a need to balance the expectations with compassion for oneself.

Of course there are many more habitual tendencies that I need to work on but this posting will be a book if I start writing in details. I have to admit during this period of time, there were fleeting thoughts of leaving this secular world behind me to work on them but as me, I have responsibilities to take care and I can't allow myself to be irresponsible. Spiritual practice is in the secular.

Finally, it came the time for me to go back to the secular world full-time. I started work in a nursing home a month plus ago and also started meeting up with people, working with different new people a while ago on new volunteering work and I have to say, it takes some time getting used to being back with interacting with people again.

Coming back is like taking an examination, to have an idea of my progress and the points to improve on in the next moment. I have to say, these two months had been quite enjoyable, in terms of the multitude of experiences for introspection.

The sociable and the introvert me. I am back again, on the path between the sunset at the end of the day, and at the cusp of the night, between day and night.

It will be a renewed journey, on the path of peace, to peace.

May all be well and happy.

With Love and Compassion
Simple Bear 16.10.2016

Hallucinations

Hallucinations

"The existence of an experience exists only in the experience."
Simple Bear 15.10.2016.

An hallucination, perhaps is just an experience which doesn't conform to collective experience.