This is one of my favourite stories from Ajahn Brahm’s talk during the recent run of the Passage of Time musical:


There once lived a man whom people referred to as a ‘Vesak Buddhist’. A Vesak Buddhist is one who only goes to temple once a year – you guessed it – on Vesak Day.

As usual, he went to the temple one Vesak, and there he heard a priest giving a talk about preparing for death. The priest said, ‘The most important time is the last moment before you pass away, and the most important thing is your last thought. The most important – and the best – thought is to think about the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha – the Triple Gem.’

Upon hearing this, the man was joyful. He thought, he didn’t have to go to the temple any more! All he had to do was to think of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and then he could go to Heaven!

But how would he remember to think of the Triple Gem everyday? He had an idea – a bright one. He had three sons…

* * *

He lay on his deathbed. His three sons stood by the bedside, keeping vigil – he might go anytime. The man was convinced he could go to heaven. He was thinking about the Triple Gem! Here was his eldest son Buddha, his middle son Dharma and his youngest son, Sangha. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. I can go to heaven, he thought.

Suddenly…

‘Wait! Who’s running the business?’

And that’s when he died.

Discover this rather ominous sounding advert on Facebook. Sounds Singaporean eh?

When Iraq has successfully transited to peacetime...


Maybe Bush might drop his American citizenship after his term runs out. Then he'll move to Iraq and take advantage of the oil there, setting up Bush Oil and Company Incorporated, aka BOCO Inc.

They decide to branch out into real estate. They set up a shopping centre called BOCO Link*.

When the company runs out of oil, the media will scream the headlines: BOKAO#

BOCO Inc will then plant bushes to extract oil from them, an environmentally-friendly method compared to digging off the ground. The only warning we must issue: humans, do not consume! It will make you stupid.



*BOCO Link: 'impossible' in Hokkien.
#BOKAO: 'not enough' in Hokkien

An interesting entry from an acquaintance's blog:
http://polishingfirewood.blogspot.com/

Read the entry Uniquely One Kind - 3 for $10 (30 December 2007)

Spotted on my friend Roy's personal message on MSN, which I find very amusing, and very, very TRUE:


'My New Year's resolution(s) is to fulfil my New Year's resolution(s).'


Okay, something like that, because it is gone by the time I want to take note of it.



We often make impressive wish-lists.
Now, how many of us can proudly claim to have fulfilled them all?

This is such an apt Chinese New Year greeting card featuring characters from the comic Pearls Before Swine (http://www.comics.com/comics/pearls/).

Goodbye Pig, Hello Rat.