Saturday, February 16, 2008
Friends
Time is short... been trying to meet up my friends before i fly to Australia. Have to take this opportunity to thank all my friends even if i didn't have the opportunity to meet them personally. Made many friends in my life and have no enmity towards anyone... except for George W.Bush... lol. Have forgiven and let go of those who have pissed me off in the past. If there are anyone who has enmity towards me, i sincerely seek forgiveness from whomever it may be.
Who is with you all the time when you are down?... Tom? Dick? Harry? Jesus? God? Buddha?
I'd say my own conscience is with me all the time.
Attended NUSBS nite yesterday which gave me a new perspective of friends. Their theme was on 'Kalyana Mitra'... Pali term for virtuous or spiritual friend. Ven Dhammaratana from the Buddhist Library gave a very good talk on this subject.
The Buddha mentions that the guarded mind is the best spiritual friend while the unguarded mind is the worst enemy. The guarded mind prevents and minimises unwholesome or evil states of mind from arising while developing and maintaining good thoughts. The guarded mind prevents one from associating too much with unwholesome people and enjoys associating with wholesome ones... this is where the external spiritual friends come into picture. People who will not disappear when you are in trouble, help you out of your problems, rejoice in your success, keep your secrets... etc from the Sigalovada Sutta.
As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Who is with you all the time when you are down?... Tom? Dick? Harry? Jesus? God? Buddha?
I'd say my own conscience is with me all the time.
Attended NUSBS nite yesterday which gave me a new perspective of friends. Their theme was on 'Kalyana Mitra'... Pali term for virtuous or spiritual friend. Ven Dhammaratana from the Buddhist Library gave a very good talk on this subject.
The Buddha mentions that the guarded mind is the best spiritual friend while the unguarded mind is the worst enemy. The guarded mind prevents and minimises unwholesome or evil states of mind from arising while developing and maintaining good thoughts. The guarded mind prevents one from associating too much with unwholesome people and enjoys associating with wholesome ones... this is where the external spiritual friends come into picture. People who will not disappear when you are in trouble, help you out of your problems, rejoice in your success, keep your secrets... etc from the Sigalovada Sutta.
As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed.
# posted by Chun Kiang @ 7:12 AM 
