Inner Silence

I finally went to Mt Emily. A place where Gui & M often visit. It has a quiet charm and rather tranquil; and you feel seated in a private garden.

Read this article relating to WISDOM & INNER SILENCE by Ajahn Brahm which I would like to share in extracts:

Free Speech

I am surprised that speech is still free in our modern market-driven economies. It must only be a matter of time before some cash-strapped government regards words as another commodity and puts a tax on speech.

On reflection, it might not be such a bad idea. Slience would once again become golden. Marriage would last longer as young couples simply couldn't afford the cost of any argument. It would shift the tax burden from the hard workers onto the hard talkers. Of course, the most generous contributors to such a splendid tax scheme would be the politicians themselves. The more they argue in congress of parliment, the more $ would be raised for our hospitals and schools. How satisfying a thought...

Apart from the bright moonlight, this was our source of light during the dinner & wine.

With green tint

With slight purple tint

A traditional source of light


Crowd starts to come in at about 10~ish

We had a bottle of wine, and warm water for the pregnant lady.

Red

Going With the Flow!

A lil late, this was bro's birthday celebration early last month! We chose Italian -- Bellapizza!

Enjoying Wine

Enjoying Champagne - mafia style

A lil story to share on Going with the Flow by Ajahn Brahm! :)

A wise monk, whom I have known for many years, was hiking with an old friend in an antipodean wilderness. Late one hot afternoon they arrived at a splendid stretch of isolated beach. Even though it is against the monk’s rules to swim just for fun, the blue water was inviting and he needed to cool off after the long walk, so he stripped off and went in.

When he was a young layman, he had been a strong swimmer. But now, as a monk of long standing, it had been many years since he had last swim. After only a couple of minutes of splashing in the surf, he was caught in a strong riptide that began to sweep him out to sea. He was later told that this was a very dangerous beach because of the fierce currents.

At first, the monk tried to swim against the current. He soon realized, though, that the force of the current was too strong for him. His training now came to his aid. He relaxed, let go and went with the flow.

It was an act of great courage to relax in such a situation, as he saw the shoreline recede further and further away.

He was many hundreds of metres away from land when the current diminished. Only then did he start to swim away from the riptide and back towards shore.

He told me that swim back to land took every last ounce of his energy reserves. He reached the beach utterly exhausted. He was certain that, had he tried to fight the current, it would have beaten him. He would have been swept far out to sea just the same, but so depleted in energy that he wouldn’t have made it back. If he hadn’t let go and gone with the flow, he was sure he would have drowned.

Such anecdotes demonstrate that the adage ‘ When there’s nothing to do, then do nothing’ is not fanciful theory. Rather, it can be life-saving wisdom. Whenever the current is stronger than you are, that is the time to go with the flow. When you are able to be effective, that is the time to put forth effort!

He/ She is coming out soon


Its so cool, KJ should be delivering anytime from now till end of February. She showed me her four cm thick book on pregnancy, which is in English! KJ is a Chinese national, and she has went through this thick reference book, used a English-Chinese dictionary to translate some of the terms, and jotted down notes. She only started learning the English language a year ago! Thats the length a would-be mother would go for her child. I was feeling her stomach - the baby was a bit slanted to the left side of her stomach. So I asked what she does at home daily: She reads the newspapers in the morning, and basically watch TV for the rest of her day mainly.

We went to her room with both our husbands, she had a box of BRAND's InnerShine Berry Essence. She offered one to me and said its only for the girls, guys don't get to drink it. Such a leisurely lifestyle.

I can't wait, I am already planning what I should buy her when she is delivering. Flowers, Fruit basket, or tonic basket?

She wants to bring a video camera when she goes to hospital. I will charge up my camera battery so I can snap photos of her newborn. Her hubby however said, no, don't, in the first week, they look really ugly.

A Lot of Social Activities!

Hmm. Let's see, during this Chinese New Year I have had Yu Sheng six times. For my international friends, Yu Sheng is a famous salad dish traditionally eaten during the Chinese New Year celebration. It consists of raw fish, colourful vegetable, crackers, and accompanied beautifully by plum sauce.

Its been too many home visits for me. Today, I finally managed to get a good day to myself. I headed for Yoga in the late afternoon, and arranged for a foot massage with my gf. When I finished my yoga, I forgot I was scheduled to go to Hyatt to view a potential wedding venue. Bummer - I had to reschedule my foot massage later, and apologised profusely to my gf who was on her way to town already.

It was also unnecessarily chaotic and hectic on a Saturday. There were many call exchanges between Dad and myself. I was afraid he would be all alone since Mum is overseas. So I tried to invite him to join my activities, but actually he had already lined up a whole lot for himself on Sat - but eh, why couldnt he be frank right from the morning? All the phone ringing while I was having my foot rub, and low batt made my precious Saturday difficult.

Anyways, resting a bit now, and then heading out for a movie Gui picked. I dont even know what show he has booked.

Tomorrow I have another Bai Nian - visiting my boss's home. He is a Canadian, but anyhow, he is hosting a Chinese New Year celebration, and there will be 25 kids i heard! lol

tired and a bit stress... its just starting, but already I can't wait for the wedding preps to be over. We wanted to host it at the Scotts lounge at Grand Hyatt as it has such a classical charm. However they have a project going on, and could be renovating it soon. My mum-in-law said, Well if we really like the Scotts lounge, why dont we wait for it and choose another date. I blurted out immediately, No No, I just want to get it over and done with. She was laughing, she knew the many different rounds were getting on my nerves - ya, would like to get it over and done with - with grace.

So tentatively we might be choosing a Champagne Lunch. My father-in-law LOVES that idea. He wants to see all the guests pissed drunk..

Its official: Its one more month! She-is-delivering.

Whoa-la... this is her! After carrying a heavy belly for eight months, undeniably, she will be unloading in a month's time.

She is the closest girl friend so far that I have seen a belly grow, by leaps and bounds.

We had dinner together last Friday evening, together with my in-laws and Lama Shifu.

Apparently the doctor has scanned that it would be a boy! Shifu suggested it could be a girl. So this is science versus spirtual. OK... we will know in a month's time. After Shifu left, she didnt seem delighted that its not going to be a boy. Mmmm, I said "Be it boy or girl, its more important that the baby is born healthy."

As Ajahn Brahm puts it, the trigger for much of our anger is frustrated expectation. We sometimes invest so much of ourselves in a project that when it doesn't turn out as it should we become irate. All "should" point to an expectation, a prediction for the future. We might have realized by now that the future is uncertain, unpredictable. Relying too much on an expectation for the future, a "should", is asking for trouble. =)