Tuesday, January 22, 2008

惜福, Always Be Grateful & Treasure What You Already Have


Saw this poster at the side of Great Compassion Hall of Bright Hill Temple, find it very meaningful ~ a rough translation: While one is crying just for having no new shoes to wear, there are actually others in this world with no feet to even try on, so count your blessings...be grateful & treasure for what you already have.
Whenever I feel down for not accomplishing something, I would comfort myself that I am actually fortunate enough in this life ... e.g. to be born/live in Spore where there are no natural disasters, have an education, have a job, know how to access Internet, already better than ...
It is not been passive, but an alternative way of not attaching or clinching to failure. It is no use clinching to past, we can learn from past experience but Life has to move on.
We should treasure our current human life form, and we can use our existing resources to prepare more resources for our future. (We are who we are now bec of what we did in past, we are who we are in future bec of what we are doing/to do now)
Another phrase I like that can be found on wall of stairway to Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas: The only constant thing is change, Strive on with Diligence
(can't recall if exact wordings but meaning almost there) If I recall correctly, these are some of the last words said by the Buddha to his disciples before his Nirvana.

No comments: