DIVINE PROTECTION? SAK YANT TATTOOS

I remember a hearing s story a while ago about a famous Thai general (I think, although he may have been another high-ranking military official) who had become increasingly more interested in amulets, Buddha images and other types of ornamentation. He eventually became so engrossed in it all that he paid the sum - some say - of half a million US dollars for a uniquely (and, of course, uniquely over-priced!) Buddha amulet/pendant. He eagerly awaited its arrival at his army headquarters, as did his legion of subordinates who were mostly deeply impressed with his display of devotion to Buddha through parting with half a million dollars just for one little amulet. On the day it arrived, the general was so over-excited that he put it around his neck and proclaimed that he was now indestructable and that nothing could harm him. not even a bullet fired from his own gun. To prove his point, he issued a direct order to his highest subordinate to shoot him. Despite the fcat that the subordinate did not want to do it, he simply had to follow a direct order, so he dutifully aimed the gun at the general and shot him. The general died with the amulet swinging around his neck.

The Buddha taught that delusion is one of the reasons for unhappiness. The general was clearly deluded. The Buddha also taught us to aviod attachment to magic and the supernatural. The general was clearly attached. The Buddha also taught us to be logical, and evaluate things carefully before believeing them for oursevles (check out the Kallama Suttra)... Say no more...

At the end of the day, the only thing that will protect us is our boon, our merit, our good karma that we have created. The Buddha can't do it, because he is dead. And as for magical tattoos, magical amulets and the like, let's just say that believeing in divine protection of that sort is just like putting a gun to your head (or having someone else do it!).

BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF

MISS CALIFORNIA 2009

I clicked the following link this morning:

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/perez-hilton-the-way-miss-california-answered-her-question-lost-her-the-crown/21528?nc

and proceeded through the Perez Hilton's celebrity blog, for no other reason than that I was bored. Perez asked the Miss California contestant whether she agreed with same sex marriages, to which she fumbled a reply, but stated that she actually disagreed with it; she mentioned that those were hers and her family's values. Good on her, I say. Not that I agree with her (because, actually, I don't...), but she was honest and didn't fake a response.

For me, that is refreshing, especially in light of what most beauty pageant girls see as the 'proper' response, i.e. anything that will get them more votes!

Perez said that he thinks this lost her the crown. I say: Who cares?

:-)

EXPECTATION vs. REALITY: expect the unexpected

One of the roots of much of our suffering is expectation. When we expect something and it doesn’t happen, we feel dejected and unhappy. The greater the expectation, the greater the unhappiness when it doesn’t work.

Yesterday, I monitored myself with a view to understanding how the expectations vs. reality scenario works during an average day. To my surprise, this little battle rages almost constantly under the surface. But this time I was ready: I expected the unexpected, so my mood remained unchanged. Here is a short list of the things which didn’t work out as expected:

The coffee had run out at home, so I had to have a hot chocolate;

We had to go the market instead of my favorite, snazzy supermarket with imported delights – so I had to miss out on some little luxuries;

We had to leave the market early because my son felt unwell, so I went without almost everything!

I couldn’t chat with a friend on Skype because he had a family emergency;

My American Idol recording (I recorded it the other night - we all have our little weaknesses…) didn’t work properly, so my wife and I had to stop watching it.

Now, of course, none of these things is particularly major, but they could all potentially affect someone’s mood, depending on how stable that person is. But there are often much more serious results from the conflict between expectation and reality.

For example, love in relationships. Is a daughter more loving towards a mother than the mother is towards her? Is a husband more loving of his wife? Have you done something for someone that you consider substantial and worthy of significant praise or reward but it doesn’t come? Have you apologized to someone and expected an apology in return? Have you made an investment and expected a return, only to find that the risk you took hasn’t worked out? Et cetera, et cetera.

So, how to conquer this all too familiar problem? Well, simple: lower expectations, and expect that sometimes things won’t work out as you had hoped, because that’s the way it goes sometimes!