心需要环保

有一位師父在他弘法时曾很谦虚的说了这么一段话﹕如惠能禅師的境界，明心见性，证悟无我，才能 - ‘菩提本无树，心镜亦非台，本来无一物，何处惹尘埃。我们还是凡夫，我们只能学神秀法師 - 身是菩提树，心如明镜台，时时勤拂拭，莫使有尘埃。我是凡夫，我赞同師父的看法。
当社会资讯发达，人心相对也容易被污染，我认为不仅要时时勤拂拭，也希望他人做到时时勤拂拭，以达到教育社会的责任，地球需要人类环保，人心也需要环保！

Free heart

Cloud was Wind’s ex-wife; they separated because of some issues. Wind didn’t see Cloud for quite a while. One day, they met on a ‘street’ unexpectedly. Wind was shocked to see Cloud was so different than before! In order to avoid an awkward situation between them, Wind came forward and said hello to Cloud.

Wind said, “How are you? Why do you look so different than before? I hardly recognized you at all!” Cloud said, “I am good! Yes, I am different now.”

“You have changed?” “I am changed. In fact, I was changing all the time, but you never noticed it.”

“That’s why people said cloud (women) change easily?” “It really is. I will change to meet the present situation. Not only has my image changed, my inner mind also has changed because of past experiences. I am no longer the same as before. Because of you, I was sad when you loved Rain. I put all my effort to hold our relationship together; I hoped you would come back to me, but you ignored me. I couldn’t understand you anymore. You liked going out and chasing something, you and Rain were so passionate together. I was distressed and I felt my world was at an end. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from the past experiences. I didn’t attach to the grief; I let it go, and from there I am learning to love myself. I am more confident in myself. Now, I still keep changing, the reason is my heart is free.”

“You don’t hate me anymore?” “I already forgave you; I appreciated the challenges that tempered me, helping me grow. I wish that you have a good partner, are loved and are happy.”

Wind was stunned a little while. After slowly coming back to consciousness, “Ah…Cloud, I…” Cloud is gone.

云曾经是风的妻子，但因一些事故，所以他们决定分手，风没再见到云已有一段时日了。这一天，他们在某‘街’不期而遇，风惊觉云怎么与往日却判若两‘云’ 了！风为免见面的僵况，所以与云打招呼交谈。

风说，“你还好吗？你怎么跟以前完全不一样了？我差点认不出你了！” 云说，“我很好！我是跟以前不一样了。”

“你变了？” “我是变了，其实我一直在变，只是你从来不细心察觉我而已。”

“难怪人们都说云（女人）是善变的？” “是没错，我会适时的改变自己，不仅外在的改变，内在也会隨着经历变迁而思想心境改变，我已不是以前的我，因为你爱上雨而让我伤心欲绝，苦苦努力挽留我们的关系，期盼你有回头的希望，但你却逃避不理我，我更无法捉摸你的心，你只顾向外追求，狂风澜雨，令我失望悲痛憔悴，有如世界末日。其实，过往的经验让我学习了很多，我已不再执着过去的伤痛，当我放下时我学会更爱自己，更有自信。现在我还是在变，那是因为我的心已很自由。”

“你不恨我了吗？” “我已原谅你，我感恩一切曾磨练我成长的事情，我祝福你有好的伴侣，爱情快乐。”

风愣了一会，微微从思索回神过来，“啊…云，我…” 可云已不知去向。

Who's still single?

I look at several of my female friends who are still single; I guess the ratio of single, Chinese-Malaysian women over 35 has been increasing gradually year by year. When I was kidding that I might run a ‘match maker’ business, I realized I don’t see many ‘good quality’ single men over 35 around! I might get poor if I depend on this kind of business!

I was also quite ‘old’ when I met Steve. Steve jokingly said, “Aren’t Malaysian men smart?” Ha-ha… does he mean he has good taste/smart in some way? When he knew I had several single female friends, he wondered: What’s wrong with Malaysian men? Why are there so many wonderful women who are still single?

I think men and women are equal in society nowadays; women have become more independent. Even though they want to have a partner, sometimes they also want to follow their ideas or dreams. So they dare not ‘invest’ in an uncertain marriage; they no longer marry simply to be married. I think men do not have as much inner freedom compared to women. Mostly men just follow the expectations of society – if other people do something, they also need to do it. They reach the age for marriage, so they want to get married. I have heard that some who can’t find a girlfriend can pay to get a Vietnamese wife if they have money.

Of course, there are still several wonderful men looking for their soul mates, but where are they?

从我身边现有不少单身女性朋友，我猜想马来西亚35岁以上的华裔单身女性数据似乎逐年增多，当我开玩笑说可以开 ‘婚姻介绍所’ 时，我发觉到其实要找35岁以上有 ‘素质’ 的单身男性确不是容易遇到的！要想靠这门生意找饭吃，可难罗！

我也是很 ‘大年级’ 才遇到Steve，Steve 玩笑说: “马来西亚的男性不聪明？” 哈…换句话说他是在赞自己有眼光吗？当他知道我有不少单身女性朋友，他疑惑的说: 马来西亚的男性怎么啦？为什么有这么多好女人还单身？

我想现今男女社会平等，女性已渐渐自主，虽然渴望有个伴侣，但往往被自己的理念及追求自己的理想，而不敢 ‘投资’ 在没有保障的婚姻，或宁可不屈就的随便嫁人。我想男性在自我心智上较不比女性自由，男性多趋向随着社会的评价生存，人有我也有的概念，走到人生的某阶段，适婚就娶，听说有些找不到女友的，只要有钱，就可买越南女当老婆。

当然，还是会有不少好男人在寻找着伴侣，可是，他们在那儿？

An exciting water activity

I could try exciting activities, like white water rafting. I have been twice, when I joined adventure tour trips: one in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia and another in Nepal. When the raft came into the rapids, the turbulent currents would spin or bump the raft. So, we needed to try our best to stabilize the raft and handle ourselves, not to be bouncing out into the river…. How exciting is it? You need to experience it yourself!

Sailing is also an exciting activity, and I experienced its excitement too! Steve’s friend, Joe, recommended we sail with an expert who has been sailing for 28 years. At first, Steve was nervous about trying sailing, as he is not a good swimmer, gets seasick, and doesn’t care much for exciting activities. He thought it would be more comfortable on the big committee boat. I wanted him with me for sailing, and finally he tried it. Even though we were not sailing on a rapid river, you need to know the techniques to control the sails against the wind, so the boat does not get turned over. Steve and I didn’t know how to handle the sails, so we just followed instructions. Sometimes we moved to port (left side), sometimes to starboard (right side). When one side of the boat heels (leans close to the river surface), we all needed to go to the other (windward) side, hiking (stretching your body weight out as far as possible) to hold the boat in balance (this made us feel sore and tired)… How exciting is it? You need to experience it yourself!

我可以接受刺激的活动，如急流橡胶筏艇，我只体验过两次，那是旅遊参团的活动之一，一次在东马来西亚Kota Kinabalu,，一次在尼泊尔。当筏来到急流时，急流的汹涌不仅把筏搞得旋转颠伏，在筏上的我们力求稳筏不翻，还要自身避免被弹出筏跌入河流… 怎样的刺激法？须自己去尝试！

帆船也是蛮刺激的活动，我也尝试体验了它的刺激！Steve的朋友Joe推荐我们在一位有28年经验老将的帆船，Steve不太习水性也不太敢尝试刺激的活动，开始不想要坐帆船，只想坐电机动船，我要他和我一起坐帆船，后来他才尝试。虽然帆船不是在急流的河上，但这也是一项要控制帆及船身不被风力吹翻的技巧活动。Steve和我是不懂得如何操控，我们只是听从指示，一会移去右边，一会移去左边（这已够我们累了），船的一边倾斜靠水面时，我们全都必须向另一边伸展上半身出船边，将力度拉正船身… 怎样的刺激法？须自己去尝试！

单身女性

我有几位条件很好的单身女性朋友，她们其中看似很认真的要我介绍男伴… 当我推荐Steve的男性单身朋友时…

A回复说她有恐惧，她担心婚姻不可靠，她觉得她的生活很好，寻求实现自己的理想。

B回复说她有障碍，她担心高职会失去，她认为她是职业女性，讲求实际生活的理念。

看来她们都还没准备好进入人生的另一阶段，可我这‘媒人’也不会随便做的…

Water lilies

Water lilies come in various types and colors…

荷花有各种类及多种颜色…

The luckiest person

Chinese have two birth dates, one on the Chinese lunar calendar and one on the solar (western) calendar. In Chinese, there is a belief that the day of giving birth is like a ‘difficult & painful day’. For many years, I have eaten only vegetarian food on my lunar calendar birthday, to show my respect and gratitude to my mom for the pain she had on my birthday.

Normally, we just observe the birthday on the solar calendar. I do not remember all of my family members’ or friends’ birthdays. Sometimes, I can remember one year but forget it another year…. Before I met Steve, I did not have any special celebration. Life is fun with Steve. He gave me a present and celebration for me, I had a happy birthday! I also received a gift card & birthday card full of love from Steve’s mom! I am the luckiest person. I not only have her excellent son, whom she raised & educated, but I also have his mom & family’s love! I am so grateful for everything.

This year, I wanted Steve to make a cake for my birthday; I shared it with friends after meditation class!

华人的生日有两个日期，一在农历，另一在阳历。生日即是母难日，多年以来为了尊敬感恩母亲在这一天为了生我所遭受的苦难，我都在农历的生日持素餐。

一般都只是记着阳历的生日，我不是很记得我家人及朋友们的生日，有时那年记得这年就忘了… 之前未遇上Steve时，我本身也没什么庆祝自己的生日。与Steve一起，生命充满悦乐的，他为我庆祝及送礼物，让我的生日很快乐开心！还有 Steve妈妈送我的生日礼卡及她满满的爱！我何其有幸，我不仅拥有她养育教导出来的优秀儿子，我还拥有他妈妈及家人的爱！我很感恩这一切。

这次我要求Steve为我的生日做一个蛋糕，让我们在静坐班后与TLing夫妇们分享！

Funny shapes of breads

Ha ha… you see these funny shapes of breads! Steve made the bread with almond meal, oats, corn flour and flaxseeds… then he shaped them by hand. The shapes came up like these, which he didn’t intend to make. Mmm… what do you think they look like?

哈哈…你看这些形状有趣的面包！Steve做的杏仁碎、麦片、亚麻籽面包 …他用手制出形状但无意却会成此类形。嗯…你认为它像什么？

Am I moral?

我之前常有数次捐款给槟城檀香寺，一次，我代人捐款 RM50，捐款人是: 遗失钱者。朋友SE刚好在我旁边经过，她好奇的眼光，我就说几天前在某处我拾到 RM50，所以就将它代捐了。她很赞叹的，嗯…我却想可能拾到的只是RM50，若是五十千，我是否也会同样如此做？

这次我们在这儿的某商店门口外，我拾到一只似真金及钻石﹝或淡黄石）的耳环，那颗超過半克拉大的钻石…我正要端详仔细看清是否真金钻石，Steve一手已把我手指中之物‘抢’ 去，走进去商店，把它交给户客服务台。哼…我正兴奋的拾到宝，而且还没看清该物咧…即使要交去某处也该由我来做嘛！这样就可考验一下我是否真的路不拾遗？我很气…他真扫我的兴！

I have donated money to Penang Than Hsiang temple several times in the past. Once, I donated RM50 in the name of “the person who lost money.” My friend, SE happened to be there and saw what I did. She wondered, so I told her I found RM50 on the ground a few days ago, so I donated it. She praised me. Mmm…I thought it was just RM50; if it is 50 thousand, would I do the same thing?

This time, I found an earring on the ground outside a grocery store here. I picked it up. It looked like real gold with a diamond (or topaz) over half carat size …I thought to look at it seriously to find out whether it was real gold and diamond. Steve’s arm came and grabbed it from my fingers, walked into the store, and passed it to customer service. Hmm…I just felt excited I found a piece of jewelry and I hadn’t looked at it clearly yet…even though it needed to be passed to customer service; I found it, so I should return it! And, this might have been a test for me, whether I am really moral? He spoilt my excitement…I was mad!

Friendship

我是個很重視朋友，重情義的人，但我卻是比較被動的，即是說朋友重視我，我就會更重視他／她，朋友要我幫忙，可以幫的話我一定幫。

有一次我從和一位朋友的誤會及澄清後，才發覺到我是‘一厢情願’ 。事由我以為這朋友可幫忙我做某件事，所以我詢問她是否可幫忙，她給我的回應是: “為什麼是我？” 我整個人愣了一下！我是可以接受拒絕的人，若給我回應是: 不能。我也不在意有没給不能的原因，但她的回應卻讓我覺得我找錯人了！不過朋友還是朋友，我們找了一個機會澄清了各自的想法。

以前工作出外午餐，有同事邀一起，我樂意随行，没有的話，獨自去用餐也無所謂，但有人可能認為我是獨行者。我那喜歡獨行，有朋友邀我去吃喝玩樂的，我是多麼的高興啊！

我還是一樣很重視朋友，但還是很被動的那種！

I love friends and friendships are important, but I am the type who is more passive. I mean that, if someone pays attention to our friendship, I pay more attention to him/her. And if friends wanted me to help with something, I would help if possible.
Once, I found I was in a ‘one-sided friendship’ after a conversation with a friend. There was a matter that I thought this friend might help me with, so I called to ask her whether she could help. She responded: “Why me?” I was stunned for a few seconds! I was able to accept rejection if the answer is no, and don’t mind if they have a reason or not. But I felt I was looking for the wrong person when I heard her response! However, we are still friends, and we met to clarify our individual thoughts on it to each other.
At lunchtime when I worked in a company, I liked to go out for lunch with my colleagues if someone invited me. If not, I felt okay going alone, so maybe others thought I preferred going alone. In fact, I do not prefer to be alone, I always felt happy if friends invited me for outings!
I still place importance on friendship, and I am still the type who is more passive!

Berries

秋来了…植物园的各类很可爱的小小果…那些是可吃的呢？
Fall is coming…a few various cute berries in the botanical garden…. Which ones do you think we can eat?