Change The World

I Went to the Change Your Mind, Change The World conference last weekend. Mitra, the organizer did a good job to managed a crowd of nearly 400 people, including providing tea and lunch over the 2 days. The speakers were generally good, some are just inspiring…

When I was 12 years old, I wanted to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. When I was 15-16 years old, I was idealistic, I wanted to change the world, I wanted a perfect world. But soon, I realized that the country/the world is in a mess, and I can do as much as I want, but will not have much effect in sorting out the mess. My energy is finite, I no longer aspire to change the big world. Improving my immediate surrounding is much manageable task. (Hmmm…. Maybe I should start by fixing the mess in my room.)

During the conference, we were ask to attend workshops, on topics that really resonate with our heart. I attended one of the work shop  on Racism And Intolerance. Sifu Yuan Shi (a Ch’an Master) who happen to walk by, said that Racism is BLIND (why blind? You may need to ask him yourself). I can imagine that it must be difficult for blind people to be racist, by definition they are having trouble seeing the physical body, let alone trying to differentiate our colour. Interestingly, among this group of seven, there were five people who had grown up in Malaysia, one from China, and a Australian Caucasian.  (Out of the 400 participants, about half are Caucasian). This topic seems to be resonating in some more than others.

The other workshop that I attended was the Meaning of Life. Actually, I did attended 2 workshop on this topic, still unclear about the Meaning of Life after the first workshop, I decided to attend the second. The lay facilitators probably have some ideas of what is the Meaning of THEIR life, but the rest of the group is still searching for the meaning of our life.

Being away from home, working long hours (up to 120hr/week! Usually 50-70hrs), I did sit back and ask myself, is this the meaning of life? Am I living or surviving? Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I love working. During long holidays (ie more than 10 days), when I start to feel bored, I do ask myself, is this Life?

The facilitators and some others in the group, did suggested that there is a Ultimate Meaning of Life. At this moment of time, I believe, that life is a journey, not a destination. Instead of finding the “meaning of life” and work towards it, I choose to wander along this journey, experiencing every moment, living in the present. Maybe there is no meaning to life, we just walk along the path of life, until we drop dead…

“The purpose of life is to be Happy.” The Dalai Lama. That is another thought.

July 15, 2007 in My Thoughts | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sunnataram Forest Monastery, Bundanoon

Went for a 4 days meditation retreat with UNIBUDS last week. Feeling refreshed now:)

Sunnataram Forest Monastery is in Bundanoon, Southern Highland of NSW. The temple ground is about 100 acres of bushland, right beside a national park. The air quality is great, and there is no sound or light pollution. The night sky was dotted with stars, amazing.

The Abbot, Phra Mana is naturally warmth, at peace with himself and the world. I can feel loving kindness radiating from him.

60+ members of UNIBUDS attended this retreat. As usual, this is a bubbly, energetic group. I was really impress with how some of the girls took care of another member who was not so well, making sure that she was comfortable and safe. If only the health care workers are as dedicated as them.

Special thanks to the Aunties volunteering in the kitchen. Food was good and healthy, much better than the food that I am feeding myself for the past 1 year in Australia.

Meditation was not so great for me. I was finding it really difficult to concentrate and be mindful. Most time, I could hardly managed one pointedness beyond 20 seconds… Just felt really empty in me, could not find the mental energy to meditate… Is this an excuse?

I enjoyed the physical work of chopping up firewoods and making the “boxes” (coffin for contemplation about death). It was good relaxation, non taxing on my brain.

The wildlifes in Sunnataram roam freely in the Monastery compound. There are a few wombats,   Indian Peafowls, and plenty of parrots and ducks. The wildlife are calm and undisturbed.

Read YangYi’s blog and Julian’s blog about this retreat.

Australian King Parrot (Male)

Australian King Parrot (Female)

Crimson Rosella

 

 

 

July 12, 2007 in Birdwatch, Photography, Religion, Travel, WildLife | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Cycle Trip to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

After 72 hours on-call, I felt like this tree trunk… burnout and hollow, barely surviving.

I decided to unwind in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, not far from my place. As my fitness level is no where near the time when I was preparing for Border Trek 2005, I drove to the entrance of the National Park, taking 30km off my cycle trip.

 

The first 1km was up hill all the way… nearly gave up. Really miss those days in Belfast, when I used to fly (cycle) up and down town with no pain. After the body had warm up, the cycle is less painful, and I could actually enjoy my surrounding. The ride in Ku-ring-gai Chase is great, no car! At one point, there was a wallaby by the road, looking at this F*t man puffing away up the hill.

After 12km of lovely cycle (which took me an hour! Well it was hills after hills. At least that was what I felt.), I reached the Basin Trek. The trek is 2.8km one way. It was about 3pm, and I thought I have plenty of time… I chain up my bike and started trekking into the bush with my dSLR (camera).

There was plenty of birds singing, but as usual they were always illusive and camera shy. This Tree of Fertility became my model.

 

 

 

After a long walk and a deep descend, I reached the Basin. This is a peaceful bay, with a camping area.

 

The Australian Wood  Duck with stunning feather details.

 

The wallabies feeding on the ground.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                I left the Basin shortly after 4pm. Disappointed not sighting the Sea Eagles that suppose to be nesting near the Basin at this time of the year. Also there was no show from the Yellow Honeyeaters.

 

Trekking back was tough! My quadriceps were hurting… Maybe I have been neglecting my fitness level for too long…

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Half way through, I heard a loud call and spotted this little fella on a tree. This White Cheeked Honeyeater is definitely camera shy, it took quite a while before I got  this shot. Worth all my effort trekking and cycling.

 

The sun was setting fast…. But I could not resist taking this photo.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            By the time I reach my bicycle, it was nearly completely dark. I start panicking! I ate my last cereal bar quickly and take off. The wind was cold, the temperature did drop quickly after sunset. With 4 blinking LEDs, I was not prepared to cycle in the dark, deep in the National Park. Worse of all, my water bottle is empty, I have run out of energy drink.

 

The LED light is really hopeless. I can hardly see my way. I did not fancy the idea of spending my night in the bush with the wallabies and ??Dingo, so I have no choice but to keep cycling. While climbing the first hill, my quadriceps went into spasm (which happens to me after 80km during my Border Trek experience).   I though I would have to spend the night in the bush. But luckily after some stretching, I was able to go back on the route. The 12km in darkness was not fun. Worse when a wild animal the size of a wallaby nearly rush into my bicycle.

 

I was glad to see my Yellow Jazz….

July 04, 2007 in Birdwatch, Photography, Travel, WildLife | Permalink | Comments (0)