I was flipping through a pile of photo albums when I saw this picture of a temple I shot in Macau some 10 years ago. It reminded me of the time I first visited a Buddhist temple in Yangon in 1997. I regrettably did not take some pictures of that temple but my encounter with a Buddhist monk in that temple still vividly ring in my mind.
The monk said, "what goes around, comes around". I do not know if they are called "divination sticks" but after drawing from the lot, these were the words the monk told me. He further advised that I should "let go of past hurt, honor my parents, and move on with life sowing good deeds".
After a lot of pondering, I came to realize that what the monk told me rings the same truth as the Christian's "golden rule" and the Hindu's concept of "karma". Indeed, if you do good things, good things will happen to you. If you do bad things, worse things may happen to you. Guided by such principle, I began to change.
I have changed a lot since then. I have now mastered the art of controlling my temper. I now check first if what I am about to say is hurtful. Screw with insensitive honesty. The truth can always be dispensed gently. I am now aware of the indifference that's been pervading in our society. Little by little in my own way, I try to contribute in the dissolution of indifference. Sometimes a simple call to the proper authorities can save the lives of homeless mendicants in the streets.
We can make a change. Everything around us changes when we change. We can start by changing our negative thoughts to positive ones. Substitute "can't" with "can!". Participate. Action follows suit. With the cosmic cycle in play, see how our lives improve... much, much, much better!
