Education

This is the dialogue between a homeless man and a Harvard Professor from the movie "With Honors".

Homeless Man: "Which door do I leave from?"
Harvard Professor: "At Harvard we don't end our sentences with prepositions."
Homeless Man: "Which door do I leave from, asshole?"

Thinking of Petunia

Petunia, the silly and seemingly wise goose... can you help me count ducklings?

There were seven
And now there were four
And yesterday there were three

Can artifacts give more meaning to your life?

This month, Apple launched iPhone5 and Apple executives claim that iPhone5 comes with capability that gives purpose to previously empty and meaningless lives. Quite a promise, isn't it?

This claim comes from human quality of empathy, a new feature that Apple added to Siri. Now, Siri has the ability to offer human-like responses to complex life questions like "Why didn't my parents love me?"

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO said: "We believe that the iPhone5 will make your current relationship obsolete." Wow.....

Better

"A person who takes advantage of every moment of his or her life to become a better person, one who is better able to contribute to the happiness of others, can die in peace."

Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk

What's left?

A lesson learned from South Korea, a country that has been focusing on economic growth in the past decades. This is a story told in the form of a novel by Shin Kyung-sook about a society that moves from a poor country to the world 13th largest economy in a short period of time.

Here is a link to the article covering Shin Kyung-sook's work in the NYTimes

So, the question is: whether there is anything lost in this triumphant economic fairy tale? Similar to the U.S., South Korea society has seen a widening disparity between the rich and the poor. But that is not the end of the story. Another sad loss falls on the generation that pushes their kids to get good education so these kids can have better lives than their parents. Now, these kids are adults who get caught up in the hypercompetitive circus and have no time to take care of their aging parents. These parents, after spending most of their savings on their children's education, are left to spend the little time left in nursing homes.

As countries focus their attention on economic growth, we end up losing "human-to-human relationship" that sustain all of our lives. Isn't this sad? 

Between Light and Dark

Every once in a while, we may get caught at an in-between place. I'll call this in-between place "Between Light and Dark".

We often have a sense of fear of an unknown when we move from a place of "light" to a place of "dark".

On the other hand, we often have a sense of excitement, or a sense of re-born when we move from a place of "dark" to a place of "light".

Pulling the Plug

Pulling the plug.... the end is getting near

Pulling the plug... out of cruelty?

Pulling the plug... out of compassion?

Pulling the plug...I wish I have a say

Conversation

Walking...Searching.... There, I found you. "Boo", you said. I said "Good Morning". You said "Good Afternoon".

I asked you what you want to be when you grow up. You used to say "I want to be an elephant." But now, you said "I want to be a car." "Why?", I asked. "Because I don't have to work.", You said...

Connecting

What does it take for us to connect to others who, on a surface, are very different from us? Sometimes, people surprise us with their sincere generosity that seems to come from their beautiful hearts and their kindness to someone they hardly know.

Fallen Leaves

Fallen leaves ... Where are you from?

Fallen leaves ... Where are you going?

Loss and Gain: Bilbo Baggins

A brilliant description of loss and gain happened to Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien:

"The Bagginses have lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill ... and people considered them very respectable, ... because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected ... This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained -- well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end."

Meaning of slience

Silence ... symbol of a person's strength to listen

Silence ... symbol of a person's failure to speak out

Silence ... symbol of a collective's strength to accept its mistake

Silence ... symbol of a collective's failure to do the right thing

Terribly ordinary

"terribly ordinary", is that a good thing?

On a terribly ordinary day, something good or bad happen to someone. If it is a good thing, we often think that this is not a terribly ordinary day, it is a special day. If it is a bad thing, we often think why such calamity happens on such a terribly ordinary day.

Things that Matter: Robert Kennedy Speech on Gross National Product

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America (replace by any country) by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. ... and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. ...

Ten Perfections

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of renunciation

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of perseverance

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of loving kindness

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of resolution

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of wisdom

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of moral practice

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of forbearance

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of equanimity

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of truth

Living one's life .... working toward perfection of giving