Feb 7, 2011

Happy Bodhisattva

I once commented, Buddhism seems to be such a beautiful belief system. Someone said back, among all the religions it's the one that encapsulates best what it is to be a good person. Exactly. This came to mind as Pappy and I took some we-time to usher in the Chinese New Year in Singapore. See...


We also found this little laughing buddha... or shall we say future Bodhisattva? in Dempsey Hill. I think he's adorable.


Copy-pasted from somewhere: To become a Bodhisattva is to be fearless. There is no aversion for those who are hostile and there is no obsessive clinging to those who are closest to us. There is no possessiveness, only love, compassion and discernment into the nature of reality.

Now that is something to strive for. But is it really possible? I mean, we are all so imperfect, how can we love perfectly? All I know is, it really helps when you can work on it with someone you can have beers and pig out with...


And if you are raising children together! There are many things I still hope for, but I know I am already so blessed.



The chance to get-away is awesome. The best part is coming home.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"the chance to get-away is awesome. the best is coming home."

i love that!!!

Nona said...

Hi LW! I guess you can relate : ) But thanks also for showing me I missed a word typing... should be the best PART is coming home : ) Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Cely said...

Great post, Nona!
And I love the last sentence as well ;-)

Nona said...

Hello Cely : ) Eating a Green Tea Kit Kat for you! Haha!

An Accidental American said...

This really speaks to me, Nona: "To become a Bodhisattva is to be fearless. There is no aversion for those who are hostile and there is no obsessive clinging to those who are closest to us. There is no possessiveness, only love, compassion and discernment into the nature of reality."

I have been thinking a lot about this recently and have come out with two kinda killer thoughts:
1) It is in our humanity and indeed our imperfections that we can find our own divinity - so that the closer we get to our humanity, the closer we get to our positive core
2) Any faith practice that encourages people towards bigotry, excluding others, holding oneself up on a pedestal and in better stead...they give Jesus a bad name

I grew up in a Catholic society and the Jesus I came to know was above all things compassionate and progressive. He chose to hang with the rejects, he rejected bigotry. And when he got pissed off, he flipped tables. Does it get any more human than that?!

With an open heart, I wish you back Happy Bodhisattva :)

Nona said...

Killer thoughts indeed! You could give The Happiness Project some stiff competition : )

In light of your thoughts, take a look at this TED Talk by Brene Brown which is basically 20 minutes of explaining what you said:

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

Cely said...

Thank you, too kind XD