There's No Way But Up

Stephen Tang, a student of Zasep Rinpoche Recently, I got in touch with a young student of Zasep Rinpoche in Toronto over Facebook. His name is Stephen Tang and we were just talking over Facebook chat and out of the blue one day, he said he would like to offer little Lama Tsongkhapa hats onto…

I live in Malaysia and the only natural disaster we experience here in Malaysia is just the haze. The white and grey smog that blankets the city in an almost picturesque manner. It is only picturesque until you breathe it in, smell the burnt scent and the dry irritation that creeps down your throat. That’s totally…

Last Sunday was father’s day and it was coincidentally my dad’s birthday as well. Well, it ain’t coincidental when it happens every year but whatever. Unfortunately, I was late for dinner and so we ended up in a Chinese coffeeshop and not anything fancier. Mum was starving and not up to waiting for food as…

  Talk about dancing in the rain…. Just something to express what’s going on in my head…

I ask this question because scientists are on the brink of a breakthrough with the latest technology of replicating meat. In order to find a solution to the growing demand for food production and to counter global warming, Dutch scientists have developed a way to grow edible bacon in the lab with stem cells taken…

This is the name of country pop song co-written and sung by the American all-female country band, Dixie Chicks. This song remains their biggest hit on the US chart. However, this song was written because of a controversy that exploded on the Dixie Chicks in 2003. While performing in London, lead vocalist Natalie Maines said,…

Well, I wanted to blog about something and I had no clue whatsoever as usual. So, I  just started to browse through some old pictures hoping to glean some inspiration and I came across a series of photos that I had taken with my old phone and I thought, hey, these would make an interesting…

“We’re all prisoners undergoing a life sentence…imprisoned by our own minds…” These words narrated in the documentary have a particular universal resonance as it echoes the lives of the inmates of Tihar Jail, one of the most notorious jails in India. In 1993, Kiran Bedi was appointed as the new Inspector General of Indian prisons…

I have not been following the Olympics at all. However, I saw a post on this Olympic hurdler, Liu Xiang who was once a great champion but was unable to perform in the last Olympics due to his injury. His story was quite touching and one of the most memorable stories of this Olympics. He…

(Photo taken from Khong Jean Ai’s Facebook) Dear members and friends, We have acquired 35 acres in Chamang in a pristine wooded area. It is an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur and from our mother Kechara House centre in the city. I wanted a place in the woods (literally) where we can practice Dharma in nature with…

I have heard about the story of the billionaire’s son before but I have never actually read about it until Rinpoche blogged about this recently. I am quite amazed with the spirituality that this family displays although they are so wealthy, their spirituality is pretty much intact. The son is an heir to billions but…

I am out of ideas to blog so I am doing something silly like document my morning ritual before I head to work. Here in this picture, I just woke up and staring myself at my iPhone camera. I am not a morning person so I don’t look the least friendly. I apologize for that…

Seksualiti Merdeka (Sexuality Independence)! That’s the big clarion call for an annual festival of workshops, talks, film screenings and letter writings on the issues faced by the LGBT community. LGBT or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender is a broad term to describe the often heard but clearly misunderstood minority. This festival was started by brave folks –…

It’s the time of the year again. It’s Rinpoche’s 46th birthday bash and in whole of Kecharadom, there’s no celebration bigger than this. Ok, this is very insider talk going on. But I am sure you know what I mean. Usually, Rinpoche would make his annual appearance at Kechara House Gompa to give an extensive,…

Last Thursday morning, I woke up with a slight dull pain on the left side of my stomach. I thought I had stomach ache so I sat on the toilet bowl and it took me quite awhile to realise nothing was coming out. I thought it might be a food poisoning so I grab my…

Due to monetary reasons, Paul (my housemate) and myself have been looking towards moving for sometime to lower our rental cost. Simulataneously, my mum has an apartment in the Hartamas area and she had recently asked me to find someone to rent the place because she didn't want to live in this 1600 square feet…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Yesterday was H. E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche’s birthday (24th October)   and so I offered the following gifts to Rinpoche….   The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia… Why Wonder Woman? Well, she is Rinpoche’s all time favourite comic book heroine and I think she is somehow related to Vajrayogini. And… 10 Bunches of red-film wrapped Vajrayogini Incense….

The whole of Kechara organisation is right now gearing up towards Rinpoche's birthday just two days from now. So, I keep hearing people whispering and asking each other what they should get for Rinpoche's birthday. Therefore, I thought I list here some of the things that Rinpoche likes (from my memory) so it might give…

The Kechara organisation is on the verge of a major expansion again with the renovation of the NEW KH Gompa (prayer hall) nearing completion. I am extremely excited about it and have been taking and posting almost daily photos of the progress on Facebook. So I shall present here some of the highlights of what…

My friend shared that his siblings were giving him a hard time because he just joined Kechara as a full time staff a few months back. They were Christians but they didn't use the religious card. However, they harped on his financial capability to support his kids and their future. At this point, he was…

Not too long ago, I turned 30 in Shanghai. It went by so quickly that I hardly noticed it. When I got back from Shanghai, I was caught up with a major crisis of my own doing. Sigh… Consequently, I was a little distracted and now I have finally found the time to think and…

1.  I recently had a nice interview with Jojo Struys in Kechara Paradise Bangsar store. She is a pretty girl, speaks well, is street-smart and seemed deeper than her makeup. It is part of StarProperty's efforts to have us in it with her talking about Buddhist art. I love Buddhist art, especially Tibetan Buddhist art….

Lately, I have been down in the doldrums and wallowing in a lot of self-pity for things I did wrong or decisions I did or did not make. I would like to think that there are many people out there would be able relate to where I am coming from and I felt that I was…

Huge Sale!!! Don't miss it at Kechara Paradise Bangsar It's a celebration! Celebrate history and take a special part of Kechara Paradise home with you in its biggest, best-ever sale!  Kechara Paradise Bangsar will be expanding and moving location to greater horizons, bigger crowds, and nearer the hip & happening city centre. Before the big,…

I know I have been lazy and not been blogging for the longest time. But that doesn't mean that I have not been doing stuff. I just had my media launch of my book at MPH Bookstores in One Utama…well 2 weeks ago. Here are some nice photos that Fang, KMP's designer, photographer and singer…