Nepal ~~~

Holiness in every step on the Birthday of Penor Yangsi Rinpoche ~~~~

H. E. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche in Taipei

穆松古千法王子 ～～～～

We were fortunate to have H.E. Mugsang Kuchen Rinpoche in Taipei !!  It is always so pleasant and auspicious to see him here in town ~~ 

Khyentse ~~ How to appreciate the present moment ?

 Smile  ~~~~

If we could not be bought by praise or defeated by criticism, we would have incredible strength. We would be extraordinarily free, there would be no more unnecessary hopes and fears, sweat and blood and emotional reactions. We would finally be able to practice "I don't give a damn." Free from chasing after, and avoiding other people's acceptance and rejection, we would be able to appreciate what we have in the present moment.

- Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

Andre Chef Chiang Opening RAW in Taipei ~~~~

RAW ~~~~ 

Andre Chef Chiang 

Happy Birthday ~~~

 At  Charity Concert ~~~

Tranquility ~~~~

午後讀書會～～
事實上，變形記，很像我們一世又一世不斷的變換身體，但是大部份人自己並不了解，這個自我是如何喪失的？更無力去控制他的改變⋯⋯😙😙

 — feeling spooky 

靜                                                                           吳鈞堯

我們越來越明白，時間不是自己的，隨時有人托缽，站在行事曆交叉口。

那個缽，我們給予，也被佈施。於是，面對所有的分食，我都說阿彌陀佛。

我的眼睛這般忙碌，心智與靈魂，經常走上文字的繩索，評判你的劣、他的優。

請原諒，我無心評斷情感的字行，賴著微不足道的理解，我常常就、

也必須要，做出判別。這需要決心。因為我知道，光的喧嘩只一隅。其餘啊其餘，

當然不會是一條暢遊的魚。

忙碌中，很奇妙，是自己的聲音，極度極度地充盈。說呀說呀，說這斷句不好、

說這主題老舊，說一個陳腐的世界，文字必須青；說一個舊院裡的姥姥，

當她看不慣這時代，這世道就有她的歌；碎裂且哀、耽於而惘。說、說，

我聽到自己的聲音霸道、語調毫無妥協，我的周遭非常吵鬧，因為我幾乎阻止不了，

阻止不了自已不停地說。因為他們說，「說」正是我的佈施。

一個飯店，門口陳列歡迎我的海報，氣派的包廂中，餐點精緻、咖啡香繞，

我今天是來卡夫卡的，一卡是人、再卡是蟲，卡卡不過，只好死途。有人反應快，

問我卡夫卡與女神卡卡，可屬親戚？畢竟這是我的麥克風，我聲音的激盪之所，

不消思索馬上說，他們都在變形，一個變得家人都拒絕，一個變得全世界都迎接。
變形的兩端，我以為都是悲劇。一個什麼都沒有，一個彷彿甚麼都有，但我知道，
善說的人都恐懼不能說的時候，一個穿牛肉當洋裝的女人，肯定憂愁，甚麼時候變成甲蟲。

我也有被問倒的時候，何為生命、甚麼是死亡？肉體與靈魂，總在拔河。有人擴大詮釋：

變形很像身世不斷的轉換，我們不了解自我怎麼喪失，又該怎麼給予詮釋，

使得這一生與上一世，可以貼得更緊？變形，成為生命的流換，呼，乖乖，

誰把他拖出去三十大板，敢在課堂上，衝撞我的麥克風。

他們說，「說」是我的佈施，但我常以為，「說」也是他們的施與。差別只在，

他們手邊沒有嘜。嘜，有趣的詞彙，在麥田架上大麥克風，說給由綠轉黃的莊稼。

是啊，說說說，以為語言的喧嘩可以催熟這一代的青春。或許事屬可能，但我被自己

吵得煩了，同時疑惑，我無法炒熟自己，又怎能煨熱別人？

最大的爭執，不在北京胡同，與一大叔爭論誰是誰過，而與自己爭辯，自己是卡在人、

還是卡在蟲？
        煙花三月，未必下揚州，而覽凍解的春水，聽著水浮冰、冰撞著水。喧嘩之外，依然

喧嘩，這個世界真動啊，經常動得讓人的頭，越晃越大了。大頭是一種症狀，以為世

界就在一個頭顱——自己的頭顱，忘了在這世界，我們彼此托缽。

那時候，我猛一抬頭就看見了，不管揚州、杭州，忘了北京或台北，他(她)流浪了很

久，他(她)應該卡在一種形變，但沒有，他(她)的雙眼睜在哪裡，那裡就是光。

那裡，沒有喧囂，他(她)說鈞堯啊鈞堯，我正是透過呼喚你的名字，認識你的靈魂。

Metamorphosis~~

我們其實就像迷失在森林裡的孩子一樣無依。
當你站在我面前，看著我，你哪裡知道我心中的苦，而我又哪裡知道你心中之苦。假如我撲倒在你的面前，向你泣訴，你能知道我多少？一如你對地獄能知道多少，就算有人告訴你地獄炙熱又可怕。就只為了這個緣故，人在面對彼此時就該像站在地獄入口一樣心存敬畏、深思而慈悲。

-----Die Verwandlung , Franz Kafka   變形記

Kafka wrote "The Metamorphosis" at the end of 1912, soon after he finished "The judgment," and it is worth noting that the two stories have much in common: a businessman and bachelor like Georg Bendemann of "The judgment," Gregor Samsa is confronted with an absurd fate in the form of a "gigantic insect," while Georg is confronted by absurdity in the person of his father. Also both men are guilty: like Georg in "The judgment," Gregor Samsa (note the similarity of first names) is guilty of having cut himself off from his true self — long before his actual metamorphosis — and, to the extent he has done so, he is excluded from his family. His situation of intensifying anxiety, already an unalterable fact at his awakening, corresponds to Georg's after his sentence. More so than Georg, however, who comes to accept his judgment, out of proportion though it may be, Gregor is a puzzled victim brought before the Absolute — here in the form of the chief clerk — which forever recedes into the background. This element of receding, an important theme in Kafka's works, intensifies the gap between the hero and the unknown source of his condemnation. Thus the reader finds himself confronted with Gregor's horrible fate and is left in doubt about the source of Gregor's doom and the existence of enough personal guilt to warrant such a harsh verdict. The selection of an ordinary individual as victim heightens the impact of the absurd. Gregor is not an enchanted prince in a fairy tale, yearning for deliverance from his animal state; instead, he is a rather average salesman who awakens and finds himself transformed into an insect.

In a sense, Gregor is the archetype of many of Kafka's male characters: he is a man reluctant to act, fearful of possible mishaps, rather prone to exaggerated contemplation, and given to juvenile, surrogate dealings with sex. 

Time being so related to movement, Gregor's increasing lack of direction and continuous crawling around in circles finally result in his total loss of a sense of time. When his mother and sister remove the furniture from his room in the second part of the story, he loses his "last guideline of direction." Paradoxically, "The Metamorphosis" is enacted outside the context of time, and because of this, time is always frightfully present. As Kafka put it in an aphorism, "It is only our concept of time which permits us to use the term 'The Last judgment'; in reality, it is a permanent judgment."

Gregor is doomed without knowing the charges or the verdict, and all he can do is bow to a powerful Unknown. And this is all the reader can do. Following the narrator, he can view all angles of Gregor's torment. Not one person within the story can do that, Gregor included. They are all shut off from seeing any perspective other than their own. This is their curse. There is no textual evidence in the story which explicitly tells us the cause of Gregor's fate. But because we too suffer from the sense of aloneness that Gregor does and because Kafka calls on us to share Gregor's tribulations with him, we discover that his experiences are analogous to our own.

Is it a good book?

我認為，只有那種咬你、刺痛你的書才該讀。

如果讀一本書不能給我們當頭棒喝，那又何必去讀？

難道是如你所說，為了讓我們快樂？天哪！就算沒有書我們也一樣快樂，而那些讓我們快樂的書，必要時我們可以自己來寫。

我們需要的其實是像一宗痛苦的不幸一樣深深影響我們的書，就像我們最愛的人死去，就像被放逐至森林中與世隔絕，就像自殺。

而真切渴望的書，必須是一把利斧，能鑿開我們心中冰封的海洋，我如此認為。──摘自《卡夫卡書信集》

Love on the Piano ~~~

Tea Ceremony ~~~~

清，淨，和，寂，是池宗憲老師的䓵茶境界～
今日午後蘭亭彷彿走入詩畫中，曼荼羅的仙境裡～
第一次拿茶壺，手會發抖是真的。。

 — with 宗憲池.

茶人雅興電子報：
蘭亭讀書會邀請池宗憲以「茶人雅興話茶趣」為題，在華香蔬食餐廳與會員分享生活品茗之樂！

主辦人洪玟琴帶了送給老公的生日禮物：生鐵壺，與成員分享用生鐵壺煮水的鮮活樂趣。

洪玟琴說，這把龜文堂款生鐵壺是送給先生的生日禮物，兩人的感情就像生鐵壺煮出的水一般甜蜜，她還帶了妹妹珍藏的六零年代普洱散茶與大家分享。

池宗憲說，華人世界存在的「事實茶道」，應萃取歷代品茗方式的精髓，說明品茗並非刻板印象「老人茶」，而是在精緻中找尋文化底藴，從欣賞茶器中，帶來視覺上與精神上的愉悅。

池宗憲並引領現場成員，泡出人生中第一壺茶。有人學著拿壺把，有人用雙手捧置茶葉入壺。池宗憲說，每一個細節都是一種微觀，更是每一個人品味的內涵。

成員們也即席擺設茶席，命名「蘭亭玉韻」、「蘭亭音韻」...讓品茗與文學的火花激盪，池宗憲並帶來自然生態種植的烏龍茶，讓這泡有甜美蜜香底韻的茶，為這回讀書雅集劃下甘醇的回味逗點...

Beautiful Spring ~~~~

It is Spring in Australia , Blue Iris ~~

Jacaranda ~~
藍花楹。。。

 — feeling blissful.

Feeling the Warmth of the Water ~~~

Never search your happiness in others, for it will make you feel alone;
search your happiness within yourself, and you will feel happy even when you are left alone. — drinking cocktails.

 — at Somewhere Under the Same Sky.

Barbecue at the Beach ~~~

Smiling in Exotic Land ~~~~

 Getting Sporty on the Beach ~~~~

at Chiva Som, Bangkok

A 25 year old boy said to Angel : I want to have a girl friend like you in a younger version…

How much younger than you I asked?
He said: about 4 years younger …

Should I feel pleased or else ? Nonetheless, I am flattered in a way , which demonstrated my vanity and desire prevailed sporadically now and then. I am still human in a way … haha 

In fact, I was innocently happy enough to post as a teenager as my other male friend described when I walked on the beach gazing up the orange rising sun , without much distraction and affliction in my mind!

Pure and Happy …

Yes, no make up  in this early morning …

Embrace the Chaos ~~~

12 Reasons to Embrace the Chaos Next Year!

1. Accepting the chaos of life is better than trying to fight it
Life has always been in unpredictable and full of uncertainty. We just didn't realize it. Accept it. Don't fight it. Accepting the reality of our world today is the most important way to learn to live in it. Let go of your ego. Let go of trying to force order and perfection to an imperfect life full of ups and downs and uncertainty. Often, stress, anxiety and tension occurs when you fight hard to change something you cannot change. You can't control the chaos. You can only change you... your thoughts and your actions. And that's really good news... to focus on what you CAN control... you!

2. You cannot predict the future
Uncertainty about how things will turn out tomorrow holds a lot of us back from pursuing our life ambitions, relationships or business ideas. We waste so much time trying to make sure the path we take is the "right one," when the reality is that there is no right path... just the one you're on! No one knows what's going to happen tomorrow. That's a good thing in some respects because the walls around us are malleable and move constantly. You and I have just as good a shot as anyone at success and happiness. Stop trying to figure out the future and CREATE moments by working towards your purpose in the here and now. This moment right now is the only one you can be certain of.

3. You will feel better doing than not doing

Taking a step forward in any direction makes you feel like you have some level of control of your life. When you take action, you stop over thinking and get less anxious because in some sense, you are creating your own future in the here and now. You get a rush when you're consumed with activity geared towards pursuing a goal, irrespective of how tough the goal. You feel like you're in charge again because you are... of your thoughts and your actions. The positive energy generated by movement of hands and body in forward motion towards the pursuit of a higher purpose, a life-long trip, a business goal or to raise a child, is often what keeps us energetic, youthful and feel alive.

4. One thing always leads to another
Like a stone thrown into a pond of water, somehow one tiny little step forward puts in motion other pieces, rippling away, leading you to places, people and opportunities that you can never have imagined. You didn't get to where you are right now by your perfectly laid out plans years ago. So many of us arrived where we are through the zig zag motion of life, through stepping stones that were laid out all over the place. Some of the greatest things in your life right now, came to you by chance, randomness and luck.

5. You will become a better person... faster, stronger, leaner and sharper
The mind is a muscle and like any muscle sometimes the mind needs resistance and tension to grow and develop as much as it needs nourishment and positive energy. Use the chaos of life to learn and develop. Adversity forces you to dig down deep inside to make you rediscover your inner strength or to fire synapsis in your brain that create new learnings. Moving forward in uncertainty forces the potential energy that is already within you to come out.

6. You are resilient and know how to adapt
You don't know what real strength lies within unless you're put in a situation that forces you to bring it out. You have an innate ability deep within to adapt and improvise to our new environment. You can handle it because your DNA has gone through a history of difficult times and has progressed ever since. As human beings, we have this awesome ability to persevere in really difficult times with nothing more than what you've been given: an able body and a strong mind. The resiliency inside all of is dormant but kicks in when you move forward in life.

7. You are meant for bigger things
Within each of us lies a potential for great things. Think about the possibility of becoming who you really want to become... a better parent, a more successful business person who creates jobs for many, a better spouse or partner or simply contribute more to society. This great person will never be realized unless you take steps to move forward in life and do something different... to accept the chaos and move forward anyway. All of us are meant to create positive impact to all those around us, in our own unique way.

8. Chaos forces us to clarify what's really important... and what's not
When you embrace the chaos and move forward in life, you get crystal clear as to what makes you more fulfilled, more satisfied and ultimately, more happy. Self discovery and self realizations happen during moments of confusion, clutter and consistent complexity when you're feeling lost, headed for trouble. That's when your mind gets really clear as to what's the most important thing you want out of life. Because the mind cannot focus on all of those things, your mind suddenly awakens and hones in. For some of us, a big challenge or adversity that seems insurmountable at the time, jolts us to recognize what we really want. And for some people, it becomes less about the money... and more about the relationships, the family, the kids and good health.

9. It will make you grateful
Humility is a wonderful thing and for some of us, it only comes when you're forced to deal with something life changing. Life is so unpredictable, fast and really, really short. When you accept the ups and downs and the uncertainty of life, you begin to be grateful for what you have not on what you don't. The joy and happiness that comes from appreciating what you have adds fuel to the fire already burning inside to achieve your life long goals. You'll only realize how great of a life you have when your wake up and see the realities of our existence. Being grateful makes you so much happier in the smallest things.

10. Chaos can be transformative
Sometimes difficult, unpredictable and terrible experiences awaken us to the realities of our existence often encouraging us to get on with work we have been waiting to do. Whether we like it or not, it forces us to make difficult choices and take bold steps forward in life. And we might have to go through these difficult times in order to truly transform into the kind of person we want to become. Once you actually embrace uncertainty and go ahead with a life goal or a relationship, you begin to change, discovering new things about yourself. You begin to value different things in life... to have deeper, more richer conversations with friends, colleagues and family. To find real meaning and joy in the smallest things. Like a caterpillar, you transform into a butterfly.

11. Things have a way of working out in the end
People say, "things have a way of working out in the end" because it is often so true. Perhaps not always but there's a reason why it is a commonly used phrase. For me, in a strange way, you have to have some level of faith perhaps a belief that what accidents happen in life are there to teach us something. To shape our life, to shape our core beliefs, to make us who we are. When you're in the thick of uncertainty and chaos at work or in your personal life, it's hard to see but think of all the times in your past, when you thought it was really, really bad... and maybe it really was... but often it isn't as bad as we think and things work out.

12. Going with the flow is a lot of fun
I used to be this type A, order loving, always hyper-stressed guy. Still am... sort of. By learning to take action, let go and see what happens, I've had a lot less stress and a lot more fun. Life is good... sure it's hard... but it's still good and can be so much more fun if you go with the flow. Some of most fun I have ever had occurred when I was working hard on creating a new business with my wife, while performing at a high level in my corporate career. Moments came up where I realized that wow... this is so cool. It was a lot better than sitting around in anxiety and stress waiting for the shoe to drop. Ten years from now, you may remember the difficult times but you'll have more significant memories of the times where you joined in, moved forward, embraced spontaneity and said, why not!

Private THoughts ~~~

閱讀像戀愛一樣，
是接觸式運動，contacting sports
而不是只用雙眼看的！
當然讀者與作者的身體接觸只限於腦袋，
真正的問題是兩個腦袋的相遇！

在這個人人皆可成作家的讀物氾濫年代，
閱讀應該是一個需要判斷力做出的決定 a judgement call .
認真的閱讀就像養成的愛好，就像抽象藝術，和古典音樂，要時間浸淫才會懂得欣賞甚至樂在其中。

學者稱這種能力為享受高層次樂趣的能力。
capacity for higher pleasure ...


" 私想 Private Thoughts: 性，愛，自由，幸福，痛苦，宗教，男人與女人的私密聯想。"
by 林沛理

Best Japanese Restaurant in Taipei ~~~~

My Book Club Luncheon yesterday was  Inspiring !!

As I look closely into my Astrology Chart, I realize how much it indicates the complexities of our insights! Not only the Sun Sign, Moon Sign, Ascending Sign, the angle of each stars, but also  the certain house your stars dwell in will influence the outlook of your personality and your fortune !! More importantly, as we understand more about ourselves, we would know the strength and weakness of our insight, so that we can confront with the issue we need to resolve and learn to develop a more meaningful and flourished life!  

When we walk into a new environment, we always appear  the personality of Ascending sign, while we protect ourselves by showing our moon sign as walking down the street passing by strangers, and as we become more acquainted , we would reveal our Sun sign, at last, when we become close friends, we will show our subconscious sign, moon. 

Believe it or not , the Astrological expert said I have a creative and contradictory mind, and sometimes I suppress my own feeling too much,  which means I am emotional and sentimental insight but seldom express myself. The lesson I should learn this life is to cultivate and train my mind, where is my true home. 

Furthermore,  she said I  should start writing or create something which will be published, Ha, Isn't that inspiring ?!