My father is a ex-monk from Tibet. My mother is Princess Dewa from Xinjiang who is a direct line from Genghis Khan.
I was born in Taiwan, grew up in the States and retuned to Gaden in India in 1987. Had the great honour to be ordained by HH Dalai Lama and to meet my root guru HH Kyabje Zong Rinpoche.
Now I reside in Malaysia as spiritual advisor to the Kechara organisation.
My blog has moved. Click here to visit my new blog at:
I always have wished to live in the mountains with trees, views, lakes and forests since young. If I could I like rooms like this above. Not the exact room but the concept: The ceiling is glass. The walls are glass. And it's mosquito free (hehe). I like the feeling of LIVING OUTSIDE IN THE FOREST. Surrounded by the trees, views, and etc. I don't want to actually live in the forest with no protection so I would want a house not tent..hehehe...as I don't want to be kidnapped by a Yeti or Sasquatch (hehe)...but still feel as I am in the forest. I found this picture and I just love it. Imagine waking up, working, reading, blogging, doing my sadhana, mantras, writing or conceptualizing in such an environment...I really really really love it. I love this type of house, view and setting.
This one is not bad also. I would use a solid earth tone carpet like brown, or grey instead of what's in the picture. But this would be a great great great bedroom/cum work room. I would have a huge Buddha statue in the corner somewhere with offerings of course. But you see what I mean?? I am in a room with huge glass walls/windows where I can see into the 'forest' or trees. I don't want to see into a cityscape, or into other houses or neighbours. No neighbours or faraway neighbours would be ok for me and I wouldn't feel lonely. I just want to wake up, stay awake and finally retire with a forest, trees and greens in view. The view as you see above.
I thought I'd share with you my idea of a room that makes me feel invigorated, relaxed and inspired. I love these type of rooms so much surrounded by a forest.
Since very young in New Jersey I would look for pictures of mountains and lakes. I've never fancied oceans. But lakes with forests, mountains and greenery really attract me. It was not just an attraction to a scene, but it touched something very deep inside of me. A feeling to be there or I belong there was very strong in me. I would be excited and wish to be there. I would look for books to see mountains with forests and I still do. I even keep posters of mountains/forests these days and stare at it. I know I belong there. I wouldn't be lonely at all. I visualize that I am there.
Now three decades later, I still haven't gotten the chance to live in such a place although I long for it very much. I wish for it very much. A house near a lake or river with mountains and forests is what I long for. I don't know when I can achieve this, but my 'work' and 'duties' keep me from it.
A house in the mountains would be my dream and do practice. No politics, mind games, not many people, not many worldly proprieties to be forced into doing. No fundraising, no events, no convincing others, not having to answer tons of questions, answer tons of doubts. Be subjected to unfair scrutinies and unnecessary comments. Year after year to explain what I am doing or beg, cajole and ask people to help. No more dealing with instabilities, unstable people, unreliable people, and ungrateful people. I don't dislike them, but they sure make the work extra hard. I wish to be in the mountains not so much to escape from all this, but to do what I really want-practice. If it was escape, I wouldn't have longed for this even when I was very young. Well a blog is where you share yourself both pleasant and unpleasant thoughts I guess, so I am sharing in my e-journal here.
I am not a people person. I don't fancy positions and titles for the sake of it. I am not into competitiveness nor social gatherings. I am not into business if I don't have to be nor into wealth for the sake of it...but I do wish to have a house in the mountains ( a lake would be nice without it being hot always), a large statue of a Buddha inside and plenty of offerings. I would love to walk to the lake with buckets and collect water for water bowl offerings. Have a butterlamp burning 24-7 in this abode of mine to the Buddha. Then go for walks in the evening sun in the mountains, or sit by the lake and chant Om Mani Peme Hung meditating on the Lord of the Lotus, Avalokitesvara. How exciting and thrilling. To be in this mountain house or lake and gain attainments making me equipped to benefit others like my gurus. Maybe my retreat hut is what my teachers asked me to do, to bring dharma to others. My retreat hut is what I am doing now.....I guess and have to believe.
In all my life, on a personal basis, I have gotten very little of what I wanted. I was not able to go after what I wanted. I always followed what my teachers advised...I am very ok with that. I am not bitter, just sharing my thoughts. If it was not for monkhood, I would have pursued being an actor and benefit the dharma through financial support for sure. But a deep sense of purpose pervaded me to do dharma in any way... I wanted to do dharma in the mountains very much as a monk... Or be an actor in the US to earn money for the Monasteries. I didn't pursue acting although offered, and become a monk and join the Monastery. When I got to the Monastery I decided to settle down and be happy there. I loved the Monastery. Even in the Monastery, I wanted to go to North India for a few months yearly to be in the mountains to do retreats. All that was not possible when Lati Rinpoche asked me to go abroad to teach. I didn't want to. I dare not refuse Lati Rinpoche. By following Rinpoche's advice, the road of my life just changed forever. I didn't want to have students, or have a centre and raise funds--that just was not me. Not what I want to do. These days I am considered a spiritual teacher, but you know what? I don't enjoy that at all. I don't wish for it at all. I wouldn't mind if I can be replaced. I tried. It didn't work. I do what I am doing because Lati Rinpoche asked me to. I don't do it grudgingly but I do wish I could of stayed in the mountains and Monastery. I do it because I trust my teacher. I trust my teacher and his instructions even going on two decades now. I may not want to do what I am doing, but I am going to do it all the way because why follow my teacher's instructions only half way and pretend I am doing it all the way? That is not me also.
Lati Rinpoche passed away, but I must keep his instructions in my heart and fulfill it because he is much more far advanced in his thinking than me... He has a purpose for me to do this and I will realize this purpose. Until then, I will keep doing it and fulfill it. I have committed to my teacher, benefitting others and dharma and it is worth it. I know it is. If I don't do what my teacher has told me to do and I escape into the mountains to meditate, I wouldn't gain attainments anyway. Because I am there for me and not my teacher's attained method to help me. Definitely his method would be better than mine.. So no matter how eloquently I explain to others why I am in the mountains to justify what I am doing, the bottom line is I wouldn't gain attainments. Attainments arises from surrendering your ego and the teacher helps you find a method in his infinite experience/knowledge to 'prescribe' the antidote for it. You 'surrender' your ego to the teacher and hence trust the methods. You don't surrender yourself to the teacher. The teacher then gives you instructions and what methods to overcome your ego and in my case what I am doing now. To abandon that and do what I think is right, would be indirectly saying my teacher is wrong. Or I am better than my teacher. How can that be? My teacher has spent many decades in the dharma, practicing dharma, and living in the dharma and I have not, hence the dharma is a direct counter to the self absorbed harmful ego. Hence from his infinite experience I would benefit if I followed. It's like having trust and just following a great surgeon to heal a big disease. You don't know enough to debate and counter the treatments. After checking the surgeon out and gaining trust, you follow instructions for your healing. You surrender your disease to the surgeon NOT YOURSELF. Same as with the guru.
I long for the house in the mountains EVERYDAY. My duties, responsibilities and what I wish to achieve is very heavy. So I MUST ACHIEVE AND FULFILL MY DUTIES. These are more important than my retreat house in the mountains. Deep inside of me, sometimes tears drop like rainshower because my duties are heavy, and I don't have enough of what I need to accomplish it both in manpower and resources. I do have some great fabulous people, but I need more...The instability in some people is one of my biggest disappointments and stumbling blocks. The feeling of not being able to rely or believe in them is a huge stumbling block. Many minds flip back and forth...or waste so much time...on activities that bring zero happiness to themselves and others. It's painful for me to know this and watch the drama unfold. It's like watching a movie that you have seen hundreds of times before....and you know the plot. It's frightening to know the plot and watch them go through it and end up with so much pain...
Finding people with true integrity is like finding a 20 carat diamond on the road. Life is so short, yet so many get caught up and entangled in the net of useless activities...and not keep their promises and elaborate with so many justifications.I feel for them..I do feel for them, because the justifications can be seen clearly 99% of the times as baseless and empty.. Nothing much can be said to them for fear of always offending them, as they don't have the knowledge to form the basis to realize what is going on. So when they don't have the knowledge as a basis to explain more, you don't explain more and wait patiently for a future time when they can understand. But unfortunately when they do finally understand, they have already trapped themselves in bills, commitments, offsprings, depressions, or tough habituations. Somehow most of the time I know that, I don't give up, but not much can be done. I just watch with sadness and tears...Sometimes I think, another precious human life wasted. How many more rebirths will they have to undergo before a golden opportunity will arise again.
These mountain pics sent to me by Girlie Ooi really makes me feel lonely but I love looking at them. Looking at them brought up the thoughts I wrote above. What I wrote above is not meant to hurt, offend, or point fingers at anybody...heavens no! But they are thoughts in my mind. I am not lonely for people but a place, practice and scenario. But in my lonliness I need to still do what I have promised to my teachers. After all, whatever my longing is I can't make go away, but the instructions my teachers have given me, I can trust them and go all the way with it..and I will.
I wish in this life and future lives I can stay in this type of environment and do intense practice if it would be a benefit ultimately. For now, in my longing/lonliness I can just look at these pictures. I have always looked at pictures of this sort and all I can do is to keep looking at them...and maybe one day.....
Tsem Tulku
I would throw mani pills in this lake to bless the animals. I would also erect a beautiful Green Tara stone statue on the edge of this lake again to bless all the beings seen and unseen.
My retreat house would be built around 25 feet away from this river....I could hear the sounds of this river. I could fetch water from here to make offerings with. I could sit by the river to meditate on Avalokitesvara and put seeds to gain his compassion.
I would shout mantras at these beautiful animals so they can get the imprints of enlightenment in their mindstream. Medicine Buddha, Avalokitesvara, Tsongkapa, Tara, Manjusri mantras would be perfect for them!
I would go for walks here in the evening sun after my practices...I would make new butterlamps..to prepare to burn for the next days.
I would sometimes come here and set up a place to do pujas.....pujas to bless my winds, channels, drops and sublte mind..pujas to bless the environment and beings therein.I would sit here for hours reading dharma books.
Wow...imagine if this is my Tsem Ladrang!!! Inside the red roof was a large huge 10ft statue of Vajra Yogini!! (So what I want...wish I can have a place here and hang out there on weekends or more)....And behind Vajra Yogini's chapel is my place...this would be like the perfect place for me to live, practice, abide and die.......
Going for a morning walk with my mumu......wow.
This is not my house, because I built my house already near the lake already, remember? But this is nice too..hehehe
Hmm...what a beautiful place to recite 10,000 Om Mani Peme Hungs a day....or 10,000 Om Ah Ra Baza Nadees a day here!!! I would build a large outdoor stone Manjushri statue here to bless everything..
Anyways, these are some of my thoughts and wishes.
Tsem Tulku
P.S. In my life and for many others too, I rarely got to really do what I wanted...but it's not a cause for bitterness or anger..I just do what I can with the situation at hand...and see with the situation at hand, how can I benefit others? How can I make this situation to help others to win, learn, advance and spiritually benefit? I guess when you do your best to focus on others,then you are less unhappy. You don't have time to focus on your unhappiness. And when you have brought hope, love, direction, and purpose to many others and they keep thanking you (if they don't it's ok also) and smiling and you know you did that..HOW COULD YOU NOT BE HAPPY????? I will get to the mountains some day, but I keep thinking, maybe I am already there now....
(The above are beautiful pictures not open to tourists in Kashmir-the environment is like Heaven on Earth..this is what I envision Vajra Yogini's Kechara Paradise to be like.)
This is the original lighted signboard of Kechara Paradise (http://www.kechara.com/shopping/paradise) conceptualized by me and painted by Aunty Vivien, a friend and student of mine.The image of this signboard brings back many memories of the old days when Kechara first started.Back then, there was no Kechara House or other departments.Kechara Paradise was a gathering place for my students and friends as well as an outlet.I gave many Dharma teachings and met many of my students and friends there.It was from there that Kechara grew to where it is now with 13 departments all geared towards manifesting Kechara World Peace Centre, a centre for learning and holistic healing.
The image of the signboard has significant meaning.The Dharma Wheel represents the Buddha’s teachings which are likened to a wheel that moves from one place to another according to the changing conditions and karmic inclination of people.The Dharma Wheel flanked by a male and female deer symbolizes the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra.The radiant sun behind the mountains symbolize the Dharma radiating to many countries throughout the world bringing peace and happiness to many beings.The rainbow symbolizes Kechara Paradise, the paradise of Buddha Vajrayogini that is achieved through the practice of the Highest Yoga Tantra of Vajrayogini.
The image of this old vintage signboard reminds me of all the challenges and struggles that Kechara has gone through during its early days. I thank all the people who have contributed their time, effort, financial and other resources to bring Kechara to where it is today.
I want you to note that, the happy scene I depicted here is the mountains, animals, stream, flowers, green, sun, rainbows and dharma in the middle of all this. My longing to be in the mountains is projected onto this first signboard of our Kechara Organization. The mountains has always been with me. I thought I'd share this signboard with you... This signboard has been up for nearly 8 years, now it has been changed. But we are going to frame it and put it in Kechara Care Dept's memorabilia hall. Another note, these days when we have special events, our people always see rainbows....and in this signboard I made sure there was a rainbow to depict happy times are ahead...
This inspiring video briefly shows my life and the story behind my Dharma organization - KECHARA, which has 13 wonderful departments, each with its own unique way to spread the Dharma.
This short yet informative video also features my ultimate dream - Kechara World Peace Centre (KWPC), a place in the mountains of Malaysia for learning, healing and practicing. Take a look at this video that is done very well by KIM dept. Tsem Tulku
This video is first shown to the public on the KWPC Charity Dinner on 18 July 2010.
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:59:53 -0700 From: patsygooi Subject: My little alter ~ Thank you!
Dear Rinpoche
I received this email from one of my customer, Mdm. Chua Lian Chooi, who is one of the regular attendee for Setrap Puja. she will bring her daughter who is around 8 years old when she attends puja. Now her daughter said that she wants to join in the Setrap Puja. Also Mdm Chua's brother has been attending Setrap Puja for the last two weeks.
It's so good to know that through her practice, she is now able to bring her daughter and brother into it as well. Her husband is supportive of her dharma practices and I have invited her husband to attend our KWPC dinner this 18th July and he has accepted. Mdm. Chua will not be attending as she needs to take care of her daughter while her husband stays in KL to attend to his business.
Thank you. Patsy
--- On Wed, 7/14/10, Chua Lian Chooi wrote:
From: Chua Lian Chooi Subject: My little alter ~ Thank you! To: "'Patsy Gooi'" Date: Wednesday, July 14, 2010, 1:20 AM
Patsy, Finally, my little praying alter using the space next to my long TV cabinet. Look’s like I have to put on hold first the 2nd set of the offering bowl (yellow) due to space constraint.
Thank you very much for the gift items from Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s section for the Lama Tsongkhapa statue, the limited edition book “If not now, when?” and not forgetting the small Lama Tsongkhapa tsa tsa.
These are some pictures taken. Also, a big thank you to you for the Mala and book “Lama Tsongkhapa – Graphic Novel” to my daughter Cherie. She is excited and placed her mala on the prayer table when she knows I am taking picture. I asked her when she like to start using her mala... interestingly she answered during our next setrap puja session.
My lovely Mumu excited to go for a ride! Mumu always loves going out or going bye bye. If you mention the word bye bye, he gets very excited. But I've trained him to stay still and don't jump even if he is excited. This is little Mumu controlling his excitement. Take a look at the cutie.
Last night July 18, 2010 was a night to remember as Kechara hosted a charity dinner and auction in aid of Kechara House and Kechara Soup Kitchen. Held at the Sunway Lagoon Hotel, the event featured a variety of performances throughout the evening, as well as the silent and open auctions to raise funds for our new gompa and the Kechara Soup Kitchen building.
It was a night of fun for everyone, thanks to all the members and friends who worked very hard to make the event a huge success. Many of my students have been working round the clock for days to prepare for last night, and I thank them for their hard work, effort and dedication.
Please see the photo-story below, giving you blow-by-blow account of the evening's events or watch the video of the spectacular night below!
click below to watch the video
The foyer area of the Sunway Hotel ballroom was set up in grand style, with large display panels promoting the theme of the evening, WORLD PEACE
Many guests arrived early to take in the various offerings from the many departments of Kechara, as well as to view the auction items which were on display
The auction items, beautifully displayed and presented
Representatives from Kechara Care were on-hand to tell the guests more about Kechara. Here's Ethan looking resplendent in an Indian outfit Ethan is such an intelligent and bright young man. It is a pleasure to have him with us.
James from Kechara Care speaks to Celebrity Liz from Astro's Jia Yu channel
The Kechara World Peace Centre scale model was extremely popular among the guests...
...who were keen to learn more about what would be available at KWPC!
The displays from Kechara's many departments stretched the length of the foyer
As the main beneficiary of the event, Kechara House's booth attracted a lot of attention with guests asking questions about pujas and kids education classes
Kechara Soup Kitchen was the other beneficiary and their booth educated the public about the plight of the homeless and underpriviledged in Kuala Lumpur
Kechara Discovery wow-ed the public with stunning pendants and jewellery
In fact, their booth was so popular that it stayed open throughout the duration of the dinner, with customers dropping by non-stop to view their latest collection of pendants
Kechara Paradise's booth was also extremely busy throughout the night
Kechara Media & Publications displayed a wide range their products including many books of Rinpoche's teachings...
... and their most recent book - the Tsongkhapa box set!
Close by was Kechara In Motion, with Ms Han manning the booth...Ms Han is tv show producer. She is such a nice grounded lady.
... while Chris from Kechara InMotion was filming the entire event!
Liz from Jia Yu channel was one of the many media representatives at the charity dinner auction, interviewing Julia Tan, the vice-president of Kechara Soup Kitchen...
... and Datuk May Phng, the President of Kechara House
Special kiosks displaying excerpts from my blog were set up along the entire hall way...E-division crew worked super hard on this kiosk and it's designs. Fantastic!!
...and these kiosks were extremely popular with the public!
Just before the dinner commenced, guests shout WORLD PEACE!
The celebrity hosts of the evening were Owen Yap and Hoong Jia Hui
Seated at the main table (from left to right):
Henry Ooi - Director of Kechara Paradise
Sharon Saw of Kechara Media & Publications
Ruby Khong - President of Kechara Soup Kitchen
Datuk Dr. Victor Wee - the Patron of Kechara Soup Kitchen
Datuk May Phng - President of Kechara House
Datin Ng - Executive Committee Member for Kechara World Peace Centre
Phng Li Kim - CEO of Kechara Media & Publications
Paul Yap - Head of Kechara Discovery and Kechara Saraswati Arts
President of Kechara House, our esteemed Datuk May Phng gives the opening speech. Datuk is an elegant, successful, and highly intelligent lady who is very passionate to help others. She has a heart of gold in all sense of the word!! Great Speech!! I am honoured to work with such a grand lady. My prayers for you, your husband Siang, family and all your loved ones always.
... which was followed by a moving video about Kechara
First up was a lucky draw for a 29in LCD television, with the winning ticket drawn by KMP CEO Phng Li Kim.
And the winner is....David Lai of KMP! Yes, David won the first lucky draw!!!
Dinner is served - vegetarian of course! Wow!!!! Kechara does everything with style, prestige and class. Fantastic!!!!!!
Part 1 of the open auction - a South Sea pearl necklace, sponsored by Julia Tan, vice-president of Kechara Soup Kitchen
... and a jade and diamond necklace, also sponsored by Julia
The next performance was by the Kechara Talents - first was the Wannabe Girls performing to the smash hit "Nobody" by the Korean group Wondergirls... all the people who did the show are Kechara House members and students. Amazing talents within Kechara House and its 13 Departments. So much talent within our organization..I am so proud of our people. I encourage everyone to show their talents. Modern day dharma doesn't have to be stuffy or boring. Have fun on the way to Enlightenment!!!
The Wannabe Girls!
Bryan of Kechara Care! Everyone thought it was Linda Evangelista walking on stage, but it was just our good ol' hardworking Bryan!! Bryan is young, talented and hardworking.
Chia of Kechara Paradise! Chia finally became who he wants to be...a SUPERSTAR!!! Chia is my long time student and has gone with me thru thick/thin. He is amazingly loyal and faithful. He is my student, friend, family and confidant for more than a decade now.. I love my wonderful Chia and wish him all happiness and spiritual attainments. You did a great show!
Joe Ang, regular Kechara volunteer! His wife was watching in the audience..hehe..I'm sure Joe will be doing more and more dharma work and dedicate the merits to his beloved wife and daughter.
Eric Choong, celebrity fashion designer! Yes, Eric is a well known designer with a wonderful book out. Eric does what he says and keeps his promises. Very entertaining person. I enjoy Eric so much.
Peter Hoh, regular e-Division volunteer!
Strike a pose! Yes, these are my dharma students...heeheh...I love them!!
Kecharian talent doesn't end there - next up were the Swank Legs..and they brought the house down. They were so funny and hysterical. It was really a wonderful show. You must watch the video.
From left to right: Allan Lee of KMP, Nicholas Yu of Kechara Care, Albert Ratchaga of Kechara Paradise and Thierry Janssens of Kechara Education
The black swans followed the white!
From left to right: Lim Tat Ming - KH administrator, Ngeow Voon Chin of Kechara Education, Wan Wai Meng of e-Division and Wong Kok Thai of Tsem Ladrang!
Allan Lee of KMP is super funny and super cute...hehehe
Albert Ratchaga of Kechara Paradise who is just a star salesperson in our outlets. He is caring, intelligent and very knowledgeable. He really takes the time to answer questions.
Thierry Janssens of Kechara Education who is such a hard worker and wonderful dharma student. I enjoy working with him.
The next auction was for an antique Green Tara thangka, which I kept for a long time
and a White Tara statue with Swarovski crystal offerings
Bidding was fast and furious for these two items - we had many spotters strategically stationed throught the entire ballroom. Our dinner was packed with so many special guests....
A magic show by Johnson Lau was well-received by the crowd - before the auctions resumed again
The 3ft Dzambala statue was extremely popular...
...as well as a Dzambala wealth vase beautifully done up in Kechara Saraswati Arts Dept.
Auctioneers Margaret Lee who choreoghraphed the show and Dino Goh did a fantastic job being the MC's...
...and the dinner guests were extremely forthcoming and generous
Salamiah Hassan entertained the guests with her rendition of Malay and English songs
The final lot of items for auction was a 4ft Long Life Tsongkhapa statue...
...and an exquisite gold-plated Medicine Buddha statue
Judges had to select the winners for the best-dressed guest according to the 1Malaysia theme
Stella Loh won the Best-Dress female award...
... and sweet Ethan Chu took the prize for Best-Dressed male!
The Wannabe Girls returned on stage for a final encore. Can you imagine, these 'girls' are all my students and they rehearsed alot for this show. Congratulations to them. They are beautiful in all the ways!!
and the swans came along for the show. They sure know how to have fun!
The grand finale and encore had the guests in stitches, laughing and dancing along
Everyone just loves the show put on by our people. Very talented and entertaining group we have in Kechara!!!
Let's dance! Henry Ooi and his son Edward
The white swan hardworking Nicholas Yu and his supportive wife, Josephine
It was a night to remember for everyone involved
Kechara House members come from all walks of life. My students and friends are very hardworking, dedicated and also spiritual. But being spiritual DOES NOT MEAN WE CANNOT HAVE FUN. Kechara Members or Kecharians are spiritual but they can still be who they are. In my centre I make sure we practice dharma, work hard and have a great time doing it all.
This wonderful dinner was planned months ahead. And all 13 depts were involved in the success of this dinner one way or another. The Departmental liaisons/staff/student/volunteers and friends made it into such a successful evening.
The shows put on by our people made people really laugh until their mascaras were smeared. Great!
I congratulate everyone in KECHARA who worked for months to make this happen. I did not attend on purpose, because I want to show Kecharians that they can do it on their own. And they did. I humbly fold my hands to everyone for making such wonderful event come true. I am so proud of everyone and we are getting great self training to make KWPC happen.
My love, prayers, gratitude and deep appreciation to all Kecharians and our special guests that made this dinner event so spectacular!!
Whether we are working in a place for the next 1 year, 10 years, 100 years isn't the issue. The issue is while we are working there, we treat everyone, and our work as if we are going to be there for a hundred years. Why? Because wherever we work, we are working with other PEOPLE. People have feelings, impressions, can be happy and can be hurt. Hence when we are working there, we should never think, these people don't matter, I am just here for a short time so it doesn't matter what they think. But we should think, while I am here I AM GOING TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY. I am going to be kind to everyone. I am going to make everyone like me and I am going to like them. Then wherever we go, we create respect, love, care and good feelings from others towards ourselves. That is so important as it will affect other areas of our life.
We may plan this or that for the next 30 years but we can die tonight. Everyone in between is insignificant or just a stepping-stone to get where I want would be a bad attitude to have. Because whether we live 30 years more or 30 hours more, it is WHAT we create in our environment which is of the ultimate importance. Do we create distrust, laziness, irresponsibility and dishonor? Or the environment we create is trust, responsibility, kindness and integrity? Whether we live long or not is out of our hands, but what we do during that time is in our hands. Life is much more than getting ahead at the expense of others. Getting ahead in life is fine, creating a happy, trusting, caring environment along the way IS MOST IMPORTANT.
If we use people and a place as a stepping stone..we lose everyone's respect and we lose respect for ourselves. We may get the money and material items, but when we lose respect for ourselves, then we become bitter and unhappy. Even angersome eventually. That would not be a good result for all the hard work. Hard work must result in happiness of the mind not just material gains. HAPPINESS FOR OTHERS AND OURSELVES IS THE ULTIMATE RESULT OF WORK AND CAREER WE SHOULD SEEK. A happiness that brings zero harm to others.
1. Doing work in such a way that others don't need to correct us, or push us to meet the deadline is such a wonderful way to give back to others in the office. Free love to them.
2. Helping another member of our team to finish their work, or cover for them in emergencies without agenda is a nice spiritual way to live.
3. Never backbite about other people in our team. We have issues, talk it out in a pleasant manner with the attitude to solve the problem but not to win. Winning is not everything. Sometimes you can win, but lose everything in the process. Talk to iron things out is the best motivation. Never create schism or insinuate. Make peace and harmony.
4. Be honest. Come when you are supposed to and leave when things are done... Never leave your work for others to cover for you. You send a message to people that you haven't any integrity. Integrity is the basis of trust. When you create trust in people's mind, you create a harmonious attitude and environment. Everyone enjoys harmony.
5. Buy lunch, a birthday card, a snack, a drink and stuffed toy for others in your team from time to time. Soup when their sick. Be caring with eachother. Don't think of the office as just a place to get as much freebies and money as you can. But a place to share, give and return kindness too. When? Whenever necessary.
6. We all have personal problems that we bring to work sometimes and we can't help it because it disturbs us. So if we have reacted negatively to someone because of it, apologize from the heart when you have calmed down. Bringing our problems to work is an inevitable, but apologizing from the heart is wonderful. Apologies do not make you lose face in the long run. In fact, it helps you to gain face.
7. Sure your quitting time may be for example 6pm, but if there's work, finish it and support your team. If you run out, after a while people feel you are not with them and then eventually they will not be with you. Teamwork is not about the work, it is about how you make others feel when you finish the work and not leave it to them. It's called caring and compassion.
Work and play are not different when your work makes a huge difference in other people's lives. The concept of work and play being different is applicable sometimes but not in all circumstances. There are times when we go to 'play' after work AND it becomes work. For examples being stuck in traffic, your friends cancel appointments, overcrowded loud shopping malls, relationships that drag us down, being with people who are totally into themselves, getting to a party that is totally not happening or meeting people who are not for real. These are some scenarios that play time becomes worse than 'work' time.
The purpose of work is to support ourselves so we can do activities that make us happy. But if our work is such a nature that it brings others happiness, then we are priviledged to work in such a job and it is not really a job. Hence we should not treat it as work or job in the traditional sense of the word. Because helping others bring happiness to ourselves so that is not work. Hence timing is not the issue anymore. It's about giving it your all, and getting alot back as a result.
How can you make a cut off time when you are happy and others are happy because of you? Think deeply about that. We are being paid to bring others happiness. How can that be work? Bringing happiness to others will bring happiness to ourselves. Of course having said that, we would like to meet with friends, go karaoke, walk in the park, pujas, retreats, a drive, shopping after 'work' sometimes and THAT IS FINE. The point here is that if you have the good affinity to work in a organization/job that benefits others, don't treat it as work. Don't treat it as a job. It is much much much more than a career. It is better than any career you can ever have. Careers give us money and a sense of purpose hoping that will bring happiness. But money and false self purpose doesn't ever bring happiness. Check it out. A job that brings purpose and satisfaction is something that enriches the lives of others SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM. Having a job like that is not a job. We should never view it as so. We should think our job is actually happy time or enjoyable time.
8. Are we lucky enough to work with people that give to us, share, generous, supportive, loving, kind, and always there to talk to us? Then why is being with these people considered being at work? It looks like enjoyment to me. Sometimes people at 'work' turn out to be better than people we have at home, our partners, even long time friends. Why do we label people at work, just work mates? They can turn out to be super-duper, loyal, loving friends. Even better than people we have labelled our partner or friends. Many instances of that.
We have to change our perspective. Sometimes we bring all our problems from our friends, relationships and home to work. We make our work mates listen to us, console us, be there for us, but we give nothing back. When it's 6pm, it's quitting time and we are gone!! People outside of work bring us problems, and people at work solve it for us. It sounds like the people at work ARE OUR REAL FRIENDS sometimes. Check it out. Sometimes we feel happier with the people at work than outside of work. True? It can be true. We have to ask ourselves, why don't we do more for our work mates? Why do we do more for people outside of work? Because one is labelled for fun and the other is for work? That is wrong perception if we examine it closely. What do we do for others at work? How much do we share or give or do we just take. People at work give us the livelihood to spend it on ourselves and friends. And if your workmates are wonderful group of people on top of livelihood, they also give you friendship, love, understanding, an ear at times, advice, support and care. Don't we have a ethical and humanistic attitude to return that? Of course we do.
9. Just because we didn't go to school with them when younger, or have intimate relations with people at work does not mean they are not worth our time, energy, evenings and weekends. Remember, when we see it as 'sacrifice' of our evenings or weekends with these people at the office is when we label it work. But how come when we go with friends/partners, it is not a sacrifice of our free time? Because our view is wrong. Whether the people that support us and care for us are at work or outside work is NOT THE CRITERIA. The criteria is that these people HELP ME..and it just so happens they are from work. So when I hang out with these people in the office or outside beyond my 'working hours', it is not work, but it is with friends and enjoyable... THAT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER.
If we want to get ahead, we have make our priorities more important. If we have a passion for painting, but we don't set time aside for it, then how to be recognized for it or accomplish it. If we are into relationships that get us nowhere, movies, food, gossip, dancing, or very protective of our attachments and not willing to let go of anything to accomplish a bigger goal, then a bigger goal cannot be achieved. Being in some sort of job or work and not going all the way will lead to disappointment. We have to go all the way in whatever job we are in. We have to think that whatever we do, must be the best we have done.
10. It 's important to not always expect support in the office. The office may have some project or whatever going on, we must make sure we attend. It gives the whole office a feeling of solidarity, support and loyalty. Whether at home or at the job, we should go all the way. Don't treat others according to our own labels. We should treat them for who they are without being judgemental but with discernment. Judging and discerning seems similar but differentiated by motivation.
If work and free time is made into such a distinction like the ex-berlin wall, then you will not treat the people at work as they deserve especially if they are good people. This is not always the case, but it can be. You treat the people at work as work and subtly you send a message that they are not worth you maybe. Just a thought... In general look carefully and see who is with you...
Work and workmates should not always be viewed as having a cutting off time. When the whistle blows..bye bye! Remember, see where your friends really are. Who is there for you and give you words of wisdom. Remember their kindness whether it is at work or home.
Cynthia is an important member of our E-division headed by Liaison Beng Kooi. Cynthia is quiet, hardworking, dedicated and sticks to schedules. She sleeps very little, eats little and produces alot. She is very petite and soft spoken. You wouldn't even know she is in the room, but that does not mean she is overlooked. She makes herself shine through her work. She is important just like everyone else.
She is intelligent and creative. She does alot of our E-division graphic designs. She can work non-stop when a project needs to meet a deadline. Very professional. She never complains or makes 'funny' faces, but just gets the work done!! I am amazed about that. She fits the E-team very well.
Recently she has donated these pillows to the chill-out room in E-division. I am happy for her because it is always nice to give to what you are doing. To share with the people you work with everyday. It's important to share with others at work. You spend so much time with them, so why not make better relations with everyone at work.
I am happy for Cynthia to be generous and share with the fellow people she works together with every single day.
" My wish is to smile throughout my life,.." " Everybody is a brother and sister .." " My religion is LOVE ..."
Teresa Hsu is 112 years old !
Laughter is the best medicine: Hsu sharing a joke with the audience during the talk.
............ ......... ......... ...
All collections will be donated to Teresa Hsu's Heart to Heart program to help needy aged people. ____________ The Star Online > North Tuesday January 26, 2010
The power of laughter
By K. KASTURI DEWI Photos by K. E. OOI
CENTENARIAN Teresa Hsu kept some 200 people in stitches during her talk on ‘Love All Serve All’ at the Malaysian Buddhist Association hall in Penang last Friday.
For the bubbly Chinese-born Singaporean, who is affectionately known as Singapore’s Mother Teresa, laughter is definitely the best medicine.
Born in 1898, the 112-year-old social worker extraordinaire keeps young and active by happily doing charity work.
Kicking off the question and answer session, Hsu, who was accompanied by her friend Sharana Rao, said she was born “very, very poor” and the toughest part of her life was when she had to pick grass to eat as she was “very, very hungry”.
Pearls of wisdom: Hsu (third left) answering a question from the audience. With her are Rao (second right) and Loh (second left).
“It was at that moment I thought to myself that no one should ever go through what I went through,” she said.
When asked the secret to her longevity and good health, Hsu responded, “Ha, ha, ha! Make sure your heart is always happy”
.
She also said eating one raw egg every day for breakfast could be another reason for her good health.
“Once someone told me that raw egg is poisonous to which I replied ‘never mind, I thrive on poison’,” she said.
Hsu, who was born in Swatow, Guangdong Province, China, attended school only at 27. She ran away to Hong Kong when she was 16 to escape an arranged marriage.
Having witnessed the suffering of the wounded during World War II, she recognised a calling to serve and at the age of 47, managed to convince the London Nursing College to accept her as a mature student.
She subsequently travelled around Europe to help the sick and needy and was even invited by German Jewish refugees to work in a hospital in Paraguay.
In 1961, Hsu arrived in Singapore to care for her ailing mother and founded the Home for the Aged Sick in Singapore. She has since made the republic her home.
In 2005, Hsu received the Special Recognition Award from the Singapore Government in recognition of her contribution to the country.
Hsu had the audience laughing with her sharp and witty answers to questions. When asked how much rice she ate every day, she replied, “I don’t eat rice, I have no teeth and therefore, I cannot chew”.
To another question on whether she had ever fallen sick, she quipped, “The sick demons forgot to visit me.”
Hsu also imparted words of wisdom to the audience by telling them that when somebody says anything unpleasant, just don’t listen.
“If someone also says they are not happy, go all out to make them happy because if you love everybody with all the love in your heart, then you’ll be happy, ha, ha, ha,” she laughed.
On death, Hsu said she normally does not console the relatives of the deceased but instead makes them laugh.
She told the audience how she got a lady whose uncle had died to laugh and sing along to a Cantonese kindergarten song.
Tickled pink: The audience enjoying the question and answer session.
Hsu also said whenever she was faced with a problem, she would try to solve it but if she could not, then she just accepted it.
To another question, she said she wasn’t born naturally caring but shared an incident that deeply affected and changed her. Her late mother once dug up potatoes to feed the family but gave away the entire pot to a starving beggar who arrived at their doorstep with a child.
“That was the day I learnt that to give what you have in your hand to others is a great blessing,” she said.
When asked how important religion was to her, Hsu said, “Nobody ever told me what a religion was”.
She cited an incident when a Buddhist man and a Christian lady were arguing and singing praises about their respective religions.
She told them, “Brother and sister, there’s just one door”.
To share this page with your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER, please click on the relevant buttons below and say YES when prompted to allow a connection:
Recent Comments