There's No Way But Up

I drive this lovely car, the Proton Savvy 1.2l car for just over 3 years. Unfortunately, the gears had always been a little clunky – it jerks each time the car changes gears. After awhile, I gotten used to it. Probably due to my aggressive driving, the gearbox is giving way. The speedometer shuts down and…

This post is inspired by Jamie Khoo’s funny encounter that she posted on her blog. I feel for her… Sigh! I feel fat and I have always felt fat and I am told I am fat! I know I am fat by tipping the scale at 76kgs. On the health-ratio chart, my weight and height puts…

I just watched Thor last night (thanks to a treat by Tsem Rinpoche) and although before watching, I was not too thrilled because I was expecting some silly blond guy in Viking armour wielding an oversized hammer. Well, it turned out to be exactly that but this Viking guy turned out to be a Nordic…

For those of you who are interested in engaging in a Je Tsongkhapa retreat, I have taken the liberty to include here the instructions from the Tsongkhapa boxset manual. However, I would encourage those of you who are interested in conducting the retreat to go through the entire manual and read about Je Tsongkhapa's amazing…

I was attacked by Amnesiac Monster who had a sidekick called Laziness. They both pack a powerful punch and quickly overpowered me. Well… Not really. I was just busy and I had completely forgotten about this ole' blog. So much has happened since the last post and it would fill a whole big book if…

There is a special puja that can be performed to request Lamas who have control of their lifespan to extend their lives. No matter how spiritually attained the Lama is, they still cannot live forever. However, an attained Lama can extend their life according to the collective merit of the students. Therefore, a very special…

KMP, the publications office that I am working for is currently having a roadshow in 1 Utama – a popular suburban mall. However, the roadshow spans over 21 days and our manpower is really stretched out. We even had Deborah Pereira (pictured above), our dear production's manager help out with manning the roadshow both. It…

We had a briefing today at Kechara House Gompa with Liaison Paul Yap leading it. It was all prim and proper with a name list of people in charged along with the itinerary for the two-day event. When all was settled, the liaisons and Kechara Care ushers went downstairs to for a trial run of the escort….

  The news is abuzz with a video footage of a brown poodle being abusively trained to stand. What's amazing about this video footage is the amount of publicity it rallied and as a result, so many people want to see the perpetrator behind bars now. I guess that's the power of Facebook and the Internet.  I…

Our dear lady boss of KMP, Li Kim took the whole KMP team out for Chinese New Year shopping yesterday at 1 Utama shopping mall. I couldn’t follow because I was at the airport waiting to pick up Paul and Datuk May Phng, who had just arrived from Taiwan. Upon my return to KMP, I…

I am feeling a little tired and listless after a weekend of flea marketing. It was fun but the whole lot of fun have left me drained. Earlier this evening, I was feeling that I needed rejuvenation. Perhaps a soothing evening massage but I decided to drag my ass for puja at Kechara House instead. Needless…

 Dear friends, I have a special request of my blog readers. You can change lives, change thinking, change attitudes and change outcomes if you try and all from the comfort of your homes and Pc’s….You just have to care. Please care. It’s beautiful to focus out.. Cruelty towards animals is against genuine spiritual developement, unethical and…

Over the weekend, I went up to the island state of Penang. Here are some of the pictures I took on my Blackberry… I saw this picture when I went to visit the Tzu Chi Foundation center there. I recalled many times that Rinpoche had likened Kechara to be a ship crossing the turbulent ocean…

Bouddhanath Stupa                                             Kechara Lounge @ Bouddhanath Some friends just returned from Nepal and they got me dreaming about Nepal. I would like to go to Nepal too but I guess I can't afford it…

I had the most 'wonderful' experience earlier today telling an old lady to be patient with her maid. This lady can't stand constantly reminding her maid and how slow she is. I still told her to be patient but my advice has fallen on deaf ears, I am afraid. My advice made her rant on…

(This account of Gaden Monastery was given in Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen's biography in http://www.tdling.org/teacher. The description is so vivid, I had tears well up in my eyes just from reading it. Wow!) Geshe-la set out on the thirty-three day trek across twenty-five mountain passes, the only monk in a party of fifteen merchants and pilgrims. Near…

We are already on our 3rd Week of our flea market adventure. This adventure is a combined effort of Jean Ai, Shin, James, Bonita and myself based on what the older student’s of Rinpoche used to do when times were bad. Rinpoche recalls fondly of this in his blog- http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/12/flea-market-at-amcorp-mall.html So to kickstart this endeavour, Rinpoche gave…

Welcome 2011! It was just a blink of an eye and 2011 is here. Like most people, 2010 was filled with bittersweet memories of success and setbacks. With recent reflection, it has been a step forward and a few steps backwards. Nonetheless, every setback was an enriching experience which I look forward to culminate in…

I love Christmas. I know it is over along with Boxing Day and I know some of you guys are still reeling from a hang over after all the drunken binges, partying and holidaying. Well, I myself didn't get much of a chance to party except for a nice massage on Christmas eve. That was…

There is a certain stark reality of staring at myself in a clear mirror. The beauty of my self-image fades with the imperfections of reality. I go on looking and looking at what I once thought of as beautiful but now, it looks absolutely repulsive. The more I look, the more nauseated I am with…

Everybody loves Christmas and I love the songs, the Christmas tree, the decorations, the sales, the holiday and of course the gifts. Some think it is all just commercialism and I agree too but that doesn't keep me from loving it. I don't own a Christmas tree but I guess liking it doesn't mean I…

Ethan here is the best Nerd of Kechara Care! Happy Belated birthday if you see this… I recently read this humourous article on CNN's website on the difference between geeks and nerds and I though I share it here. Apparently, the word 'geek' and 'nerd' are etymologically different in its meaning and usage. However, most people…

Last Saturday, Kechara Paradise had a stock party of all the Buddha images and stuff that they have brought back from a recent trip overseas. It was held at the new Kechara House Gompa. It was really exciting and beautiful collection of sacred statues. Here are some of my favourite statues that I wished I…

I love Blackie! He is so fun to play with and will always lick me and run around with me all day long. He loves to smell me and come very close to me. No one else dares to do that anymore. I don't know what I did to scare them away. I was always…

I kinda got off track with my blog for the past week so I would just give you a run down of the emotional roller-coaster ride of the past week. After the Gompa opening, we celebrated our Lama Tsongkhapa day at the new Kechara House. We had the great fortune to have Rinpoche grace the…

Finally! The day that all Kecharians have been eagerly awaiting! The inauguration of the new Kechara House Gompa has finally come! Well, the inauguration took place last night. The inauguration took just one evening but it was really a culmination of many months of hard work and planning. Therefore, the opening of the New KH…

Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (Russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Рéрих; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure. He created about 7,000 paintings (many of them are exhibited in well-known museums of the world) and about 30 literary works. Roerich was an author and…

I  am thirty this year (2010)… *silence*  It's not that bad, right? I am not that old!  That's what I keep telling myself while I am looking at my ever-expanding waistline. My name is David and I started blogging ever since my first book, There's No Way But Up was published (Hence, this blog is…

Here is the grand audience room of H. E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche in the new KH Gompa. This is where he meets guests and so the throne is knee-high to make it more 'accessible' to talk with people privately. The silver staff on the left side is a monk's staff to denote the Lama is…

After Kek Look Thong, we decided it was too big of a rush to head to the Lost World of Tambun so we checked into a hotel and stayed overnight. The next day after breakfast, we drove over to the theme park. The theme park was nice but the backdrop view of the mountains made…