There's No Way But Up

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…

After the brief visit to the Arowana fish farm, we had a delicious vegetarian lunch and planned our visit to Kek Look Tong cave temple. We were rather worried because it started to rain midway through our meal but it died down not long after. So, Seng Piow armed with his GPS 'thing-a-magic' led the…

Well, there is really no such thing as a dragon fish. But to the Chinese, the Arowanas look remarkably similar to a dragon. Although they are highly prized the Chinese because of that but these fishes are not indigenous of this region but are actually from South America. They were obviously brought over a long…

On Monday evening, I found out that I was invited to go on a day trip to Ipoh, in the Perak state. The itinerary included a visit to Arawana fish farm, Kek Look Tong cave temple (Yay!) and the Lost World of Tambun theme park. It looks like its going to be a fun-filled trip and to…

This is Sara and she was found breathing heavily near Kechara Saraswati Arts (KSA). Her backside is bloody and was very weak so kind Beng Kooi, Jean Ai, Fang and Martin Chow brought her to the vet. The doctors gave her blood transfusion because she only had 9.5 litters our of 44 litters! She had…

Enshrined within the new KH Gompa are three large statues of Lama Tsongkhapa, Vajrayogini and Setrap. Combined, there would be a staggering 493.4 billion Buddha images within these three statues. These images are actually stored upon 27 hard disks collectively and placed within the statues.  Here are how the actual Buddha images (stored within the…

I was at a fantastic Liaison’s meeting yesterday and just before the meeting began, Rinpoche gave a wonderful little explanation about how the Buddhas will manifest on the very same spot and how we can connect with them in our future lives. He said Buddhist thought matches scientific explanations of the Big Bang and the…

While I lay at home recovering from a bout of horrible flu, I checked out what's the latest at the cinemas. I realised that Harry Potter is back. Well, the end of the year is coming up and it figures. Time to cash in on holiday-makers.  This time, it is the finale but they didn't…

I have weak spot for chocolates and I recently got a whole bag of blue M&Ms from Paris and Sharon. I have been having mouthfuls of them the whole day. I fear it has been ruining my diet. I think all the Herbalife I have taken the past few weeks have gone to waste. Diets…

Lady luck must have been shining down on me because I received an sms invitation to H. E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s ‘cave’ last night. (I know Rinpoche would probably laugh at my apparent enthusiasm!) When I got there, he told me that I will be joining him in a Medicine Buddha puja for sick Mumu…

Alas, Paris and Sharon Saw are back in KMP office today after a 3 week hiatus. Naturally, they were touring America like a rockstar troupe. Well, not everything is rock’n’roll as they were doing some serious interviews and research on Rinpoche’s background in America. The research, video footage, photos and contacts would lead to amazing…

My phone, the Nokia E71 broke down and past out. The earpiece went dead so I can’t hear you when I pick up your call.  Hence, I am using my spare phone…    The Sony Ericsson Satio touch screen. It is really a cool phone with a 12.1 Megapixel camera. However, the touch screen’s responsiveness is…

During lunch, I was talking to June Kang and she told us (Judy, Deborah, Dr Lanse and myself) of a recent 5-day public speaking workshop she attended. She said it was really good because it was given by an expert from China who had an academic background in Psychology. On top of that, the workshop…

Dear Dato’ Ruby Khong, You have been a great friend and Dharma sister for the past 6-7 years. I am in awe at your meteoric rise in your Dharma work. I just love what you are doing with Kechara Soup Kitchen and on top of that, you do it with such sense of style. What…

Judy Lam on the left and Deborah Pereira sharing a cake… Judy Lam, our beloved administrator of KMP and Deborah, our equally beloved Production Manager told a rather hilarious story that occurred earlier. Apparently, while I was working away on my laptop, a salesman came up to KMP and tried to sell printing services to…