Catch the Drug King Pin, not young drug mule

Save Vui Kong

This is a call to the people of Singapore and Malaysia to stand up for Yong Vui Kong, a teenager and drug mule who was caught in Singapore and sentenced to death for trafficking 47g of heroin in 2007. He is currently on death row in Changi prison.

Tao Living The Dream of the Butterfly by Derek Lin

First Lesson: Oneness

By connecting himself with the butterfly, Chuang Tzu is pointing out that all living things are united by the life force within them. The drive to survive and thrive in us is the very same drive that also exists in everything from the largest creatures to the smallest insects. When we recognize this, we can begin to see ourselves as part of nature rather than apart from nature.

Chuang Tzu has chosen the butterfly deliberately to emphasize this point. In terms of appearance, the butterfly seems as different from a human being as anything can be. Nevertheless, at a fundamental level it is exactly like us - a manifestation of life, and therefore of the Tao, in the material world.

If we can say that about a butterfly, then we can say that about anything. Therefore, one of the most basic truths in the world is that all are one.

Second Lesson: Life is Like a Dream

Chuang Tzu also points out in this story that a dream can seem every bit as real as our waking existence. All the sights and sounds, feelings and emotions in the dream can be just as vivid and intense as our experience in reality.

This lesson is an exercise in detachment in two areas of life: emotional obsessions and material obsessions. The key to this lesson is the realization that if we can see how dreams can seem completely real, then we can also see how reality can be just like a dream.

We can become emotionally obsessive when we interact with others. Sometimes people say positive things about us and we grasp onto their compliments and approval; sometimes they say negative things instead and we cling to the destructive feelings of taking offense or being attacked.

Let us use the negative side as an example. Suppose someone has said something that you find extremely hurtful and insulting, and you become angry. You wish to regain your tranquility, but your anger makes it impossible. What to do?

Step one: recall to mind Chuang Tzu's equivalence between dream-state and reality. If you experience the insult in a dream, you would feel just as hurt, offended and angry.

Step two: realize that you already have a natural ability to deal with it. If the event occurred in a dream, you would simply shrug it off upon awakening. It's only a dream; everything's okay. We have all done this before. We are all experts in dealing with bad dreams.

Step three: apply this natural ability to deal with your negative emotions. Although the event has actually occurred and isn't a dream, your emotional reactions to it are, again, exactly identical. This basic equivalence gives you the leverage to manage your rage. Handle the negativity as if it is the result from a nightmare, and reflect on how in some ways this is literally true. Soon you'll discover letting the anger go is not so impossible after all.

Third Lesson: Awakening Awareness

Becoming fully awake is a powerful metaphor in spiritual cultivation. The word "buddha" literally means someone who has become fully awakened. Compared to this true state of wakefulness, our everyday consciousness resembles sleep, and everything we consider real in life turns out to have no more reality than a dream that fades into nothingness.

This may be difficult to understand. After all, at this very moment you probably feel very much awake. Why would anyone say you are asleep when you know you aren't?

The truth is that almost everyone operates at a low level of awareness most of the time. Consider the last time you locked a door, walked away, and then had to go back to double-check because you couldn't be sure you actually locked it. Or, think of the last time you walked into a room and couldn't remember why you went in there. Were you looking for something? If so, what was it? Chances are you had to retrace your steps just to reconnect with your original intent.

If you've ever had experiences similar to the above, then you already understand Chuang Tzu's point. As we go through the motions in day-to-day existence, we seem to be sleepwalking most of the time. Once in a while we have a moment of clarity, like a sleeper awakening just enough to check the alarm clock, and then we go right back into slumber.

How can we become more fully awake? This is something that requires persistent effort. Tao cultivators who focus on this aspect of life would consistently practice being present. Through diligent repetition, they develop the habit to always ask themselves "What exactly am I doing right now?" and "What exactly is going on around me right now?" People who do this invariably make surprising discoveries. They catch themselves doing things that make little sense, or they suddenly become aware of something significant and obvious that somehow eluded their notice before. The more they practice this, the better they get at it, and being in the moment becomes a more natural and much more frequent occurrence.

Fourth Lesson: Transformation

The last lesson from Chuang Tzu is also the most important. The butterfly in the story is crucial, because it represents joyous freedom - a liberating state of spirituality where one transcends fears, just like the butterfly flying free of the limitations imposed by gravity. A Tao cultivator who achieves this freedom becomes an unbounded individual, not held back by emotional or material attachments that tie most people down.

The transformation that Chuang Tzu speaks of in this story, in conjunction with the butterfly, form a powerful imagery that represents the complete process of Tao cultivation. We start out making slow progress, learning one lesson after another, just like the caterpillar crawling slowly, eating its way through leaves.

After sufficient accumulation of knowledge over a period of time, the mind begins processing the information to extract wisdom for the soul. This is a time of meditation, reflection and quietude, much like the fully grown caterpillar going into the chrysalis stage.

Then, the magical metamorphosis begins. Miniature wings, almost imperceptible, expand rapidly to become much larger. A spectacular transformation takes place, and the stunning creature that emerges from the chrysalis bears no resemblance to its former self. The child has become the adult.

In the same way, someone who goes through the metamorphosis of the Tao has become a new person. The Tao cultivator has transformed into a sage. The wings of spirituality have expanded to become much larger, much more colorful and beautiful.

Now we can see even more clearly that Chuang Tzu chose the butterfly with careful deliberation. It is also quite obvious now why the butterfly has come to represent Chuang Tzu in Chinese culture. Every piece of the puzzle fits together so well that it simply cannot be any other way.

Is Chuang Tzu telling us with this story that we all have the potential to turn into the butterfly?

Yes, but not without going through the larval and pupal stages. To jump directly into the butterfly stage can only be a dream that soon comes to an end. If you encounter people who claim to be enlightened, be especially cautious, because in all likelihood they are merely caterpillars no different from you and me. They may be convinced they are the butterfly, but that’s because they are dreaming.

What Chuang Tzu has given us is a glimpse of what we can achieve through Tao cultivation. If we have patience, diligence and faith as we seek and consume nutritious leaves, then the day will come when we go into the chrysalis and eventually emerge from it. That is when we will know... that the joyous freedom of the butterfly is no longer a dream!

P.S : A beutiful mandarin songs, We are one family !..

http://truetao.org/sanctuary/taosongs/onefamily.wmv

Pls prevent this incident. DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE !

I was walking around in a store, when I saw a Cashier hand this

little boy some money back.

The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.


The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy

this doll.


Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ''Granny, are

you sure I don't have enough money?''


The old lady replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy

this doll, my dear.''


Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to

look around.. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the

doll in his hand.


Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this

doll to.


'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for

Christmas.

She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.'


I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all,

and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where

she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it

to my sister when she goes there.'





His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with

God.

Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought

that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.''

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not

to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.'

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He

then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't

forget me.'


'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says

that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at

the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check

again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''





'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his

with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the

doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'

Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to

sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that

mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!''

'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy,

but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy

the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.'

A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket. I

finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I

couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local

news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck,

who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little

girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The

family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining

machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the

coma. Was this the family of the little boy?


Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news

paper that the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I

bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the

body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last

wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a

beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and

the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling

that my life had been changed for ever.

The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still,

to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk

driver had taken all this away from him.


P>S Reminder Please DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.