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Archive for the ‘Thought of the Day’ Category

OUR ONLY PARENTS

Posted by ivanyong on April 22, 2007

Daughter-In-Law: ” When I cooked food which are blend, you will grumble that they are tasteless.  Now that I have cooked saltier, you complaint that you can’t swallow this at all !  What exactly do you want ? “

When the son came back, the mother immediately ate the food without a word.She stared at him. The son took a taste on his mother’s food and spitted out immediately.

He ranted at his wife,” Didn’t I tell you that my mother cannot take too saltish food ! ”

The wife shouted: ” OK ! She’s your mum ! You cook for her in future ! ”

After saying that, she stormed into their room angrily. Feeling helpless, the son told the mother: ” Mum, don’t eat this anymore. I will cook you a bowl of noodles.”

The mother said: ” Son, you have something to tell me ? Don’t keep everything to yourself. “

Son: ” Mum, I am going to get promoted soon and my upcoming working schedule will be very, very tight…and as for my wife…ummm…she said she will be going out to work….”

The mother understood what he meant and said in a begging manner.” Son, please don’t send me to the Old Folks’ Home. “

The son remained silent and tried to think of a good reason to persuade his mother. Then he said: ” There is nothing wrong with the Old Folks’ Home. Once my wife had gone out to work, no one will serve you as well as the Home which provides you with meals and care. It would definitely be much better than being at home. “The son went for a bath after that and went into the study Room. He looked out from the windows and thought back and hesitated a while….

His mother has been remaining as a widow since she was young and brought him up painstakingly, solely.She tried all means to earn as much as she could, in order to support him in studying overseas.  Yet she expected nothing nor use her past painful experience to threaten his son to be filial. But now, his wife is actually threatening him with the stake of their marriage !!!

“Should I send my Mum to the Home ?” He asked himself.

The only person who will accompany you till the end of your life would be your wife..” said a friend before.

“Your mother is in old age now, and if she’s lucky, she might be able to live for a few more years longer. Why not be filial to her for this period of time ? reminded by some relatives.

He was stuck in a dilemma. He did not want to think anymore, in order not to affect his decision. The son found a Home with high standards, built in a beautiful and tranquil mountain top. He told himself that he feels better when he spent more. When the son helped his mother into the lobby of the Home, the 42″ TV was turned on. The programme shown on screen was a comedy. But no one was laughing. A few old folks, dressed in similar clothings were sitting there in a daze. There was one who was sitting improperly on a sofa, there was one who was bending down to pick up a piece of biscuit from the floor, there was one who was talking to himself… 

The son knew that his mother likes sunlight, so he chose a room with ample sun rays shining into the room. By viewing out from the room, was a big piece of greenery scene. Few nurses were wheeling some old folks out for some fresh air. Soon it was dusk.

The son told the mother:  ”Mum, I am leaving.” The mother waved to him to say goodbye, opening her toothless mouth… He turned back to look at his mother. She was full of grey hair and wrinkled skin with deep set eyes… He found that she was really old. He remembered when he was six, due to some circumstances, his mother cannot bring him along with her thus temporarily placed him at a relative’s home for few days. He recalled hugging his mother’s thigh and begged her not to leave him alone. In the end, his mother never left him alone and decided to stay on with him. He stopped thinking and left.When he returned home, his wife and his mother-in-law were busy discarding things from his mother’s room, happily. One of the discarded items was his tall trophy which he won as “First Prize” when he was young. He wrote an essay on “MY MOTHER”. The second item discarded was a dictionary. That was the first gift from his mother, who scrimped and saved for a month in order to buy one for him. He shouted: ” Enough ! Stop discarding anymore ! ” His mother-in-law cried,” There were so much rubbish. If don’t discard, there would not be any place for my stuff..” His wife continued, “Yeah !  Need to dump away that old, stinky bed of your mum too. We will buy a new bed for my mum later. ” He saw some pictures from the stack, they were taken at the zoo and amusement park when his mother brought him there. ” These are precious belongings of my Mum! You can’t discard them ! ”

” What sort of attitude is this? I demand you to apologise to my Mum NOW ! ” ranted the wife. The husband said,” When I married you then that showed I love your Mum too. But why can’t you do the same too ? ”

He went back to the Home and saw his mother weeping in between her frail legs. She was missing the moments when her son would apply ointment for her every night…The son kneeled before her and said, “Mum, here I come. I brought the ointment too. ”

The mother said,” I will apply it myself, Son. You still need to work tomorrow. Go home, Son ”

Son said, “Mum, please forgive me. Let’s go home now. ”

Hope this is inspirational and touching to you. Without our parents, we won’t be here. No parents will resort to harm their own children. They only want the best for them.  REMEMBER THIS :

For Daughters & Sons: Please remember to return gratitude to your dads and mums.

For Daughters-In-Law & Sons-In-Law:

Please love your in~laws as you did to your own parents, coz without them, you will not find your partners …  they are parents too..

Posted in Thought of the Day | Leave a Comment »

人生的目的、意義、價值

Posted by ivanyong on June 24, 2006

在汲汲營營、忙忙碌碌的生活中,你可曾想過人生在世的意義和價值究竟是什麼?是來吃飯的?穿衣服的?還是來賺錢、求名、與人爭鬥的?   很多人就是在貪生怕死、貪名求利、你爭我奪中,一天一天過下去。看到大家要的我也要,大家不要的我也不要。以為很多人都要的,那就一定是好的,所以搶著要,但是從來不去思考,自己是不是真的需要。反正大家都要的我就要,大家都不要的就立刻把它丟掉,因為既然大家都不要,我還要它做什麼?

就像螞蟻一樣,通常只要一隻螞蟻嗅到了有味道的東西,其他的螞蟻統統都會圍過去。可是這不是人的行徑。人應該有「我要的不一定是人家要的,人家要的不一定是我要的」的觀念,這才是真正獨立的人格。可是,一般人多半喜歡跟著別人起鬨,這是很悲哀的一種現象。

一個人如果活著而沒有目的,一定會非常空虛,覺得生命沒有價值,像行屍走肉一般,那又何必活受罪?不僅生存本身變成多餘的,而且也白白浪費世界許多的資源。

但是生命一定有它的原因,也一定代表某些意義。它的目的是什麼?最後會到哪兒去?又會成為什麼呢?

以佛教的觀點來看,人生的目的,凡夫是來受報還債,佛菩薩則是來還願;如果知道人身難得,能夠知善知惡、為善去惡,人生就有了意義;如果又能進一步積極奉獻、自利利人,這就是人生的價值。

所謂「受報」是:我們必須要為我們所造的、所做的、所想的、所說的行為負責任。我們的生命,無非是自作自受;過去世造的因,以及這一生的善行、惡行,結合成現在這樣一個人生,便是生命之所以存在原因。

但是僅以一生短暫的時間來看,很多現象看似不公平,也沒有辦法解釋。譬如有的人在這一生非常努力,但就是不成功;有的人並沒有這麼努力,卻一帆風順,左右逢源。表面上看起來很不公平,其實這要追溯到過去世,以及一世一世、無量的過去世之中,我們曾經所造的種種行為,尚未受報的就可能在這一生中受報,也可能在未來生才受報。而我們所做的種種行為,有好的,也有壞的,造好的業受福報,造惡的業就要受苦報。

至於人生的價值是什麼?很多人認為人生的價值就是有錢、有地位、有名望、讓人家看得起。譬如,在外面做了官,衣錦還鄉,讓家鄉的親人、鄰居、朋友都風光一下,不但表現了你的個人價值,地方上也因你而有了光彩。但這是不是真正的價值呢?

真正的價值應該不在於顯耀家族的虛榮,而是在於你所做的實質貢獻。如果你是投機取巧、巧取豪奪而得到的名利權勢,即使一時間很風光,也沒有真正的價值可言。因為這個價值是負面的,造的是惡業,將來是要受報償還的。

因此我們可以說:有多少奉獻就有多少價值。比方說,我這個人有什麼價值?我在這一段時間裡為大家說佛法,這就是我的價值。如果這一段時間中,我在睡覺、吃飯和人家吵架,那就沒有價值了。人生的價值必須建立在對人有益,而且對自己的成長也有幫助上。

雖然我們凡夫是來受報還債的,但是也不妨學習佛菩薩的精神,為自己的人生發一個願。這個願可大可小,可以小到只是許願:「我這一生之中要做個好人。」許願自己在這一生中,不做壞事、不偷懶、不投機取巧,盡心、盡力盡自己的責任。即使這一生做不好也沒有關係,因為還有來生可以努力。這樣的人生,就是有價值、有意義,而且充滿希望的。

Posted in Thought of the Day | Leave a Comment »