CAI JING’s gallery

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special - Don’t ever forget it!

Compare with the Medicine Buddha sand mandala, here’s another form of sand art:
click here to download…

A crowded Air Canada flight was cancelled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket on the counter and said “I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS.”

The agent replied, “I am sorry, sir. I’ll be happy to try to help you,but,I’ve got to help these folks first, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.”

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?”

Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone, “May I have your attention please, ” she began, her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. “We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14.”

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the Air Canada agent, gritted his teeth and swore “F*** You!”.

Without flinching, she smiled and said, “I’m sorry sir, you’ll have to get in line for that too!”

My best friend Michelle sent me her recent pix today. She lives in New Zealand, we haven’t seen each other for years. She’s now 2 little girls’ mother, I still can’t believe that… Look how cute she was in the pic, a mother!?

“The way of democracy is to create mutual trust and understanding through free and open discussion and debate. It is by this way that we can learn to settle our differences without resorting to compulsion or violence and to weld unity out of the diversity that is the wonder of our human world. People may be compelled to act against their inclinations, they may be bribed to set aside their conscience. But they cannot be forced to give their hearts and minds to any cause that they do not truly believe to be worthwhile.

Unity and discipline are closely related and as discipline cannot be compelled genuine unity cannot be enforced. It has to come from the conviction that by our joint efforts we shall be able to overcome the obstacles that dispersed attempts fail to overcome. Gandhiji taught that united action by a people armed merely with the principles of justice and non-violence can achieve far greater results than the vast institutions of a state that is not upheld by the consent of the populace. He holds out across the barriers of time and space a blazing torch of hope and courage to those who struggle against overwhelming odds that their people may live in dignity and security.

May we be able to go forward together in disciplined strength towards international understanding and universal peace compelled only by the dictates of our conscience.”

“As a Buddhist,I can not help thinking that if one really understood the meaning of anicca (impermanence), one wouldn’t chase the power and wealth at the expense of one’s moral being.”

“The intellectual with his(her) questioning mind threatens the totalitarian mind which expects orders to be carried out and decrees to be accepted without question.There will always be clashes between the authoritarian mind and the questioning mind.They just cannot go together.”

I visited Myanmar last summer. The isolated country has it’s own unique beauty. People there are very friendly, courteous and religious. Most Burmese are Buddhist, looks like they spend most of their limited resources on building temples - there are temples everywhere that make the whole country looks like a big tomb. A strong impression it gives me is that Myanmar is a sleeping land. I think things will change sooner or later in that country, hopefully it’s awaking soon.

Sir, What is the secret of your success?”
“Two words”
“And, Sir, what are they?”
“Right decisions.”
“And how do you make right decisions?”
“One word.”
“And, What is that?”
“Experience.”
“And how do you get Experience?”
“Two words”
“And, Sir, what are they?”
“Wrong decisions”.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar…… and the beer.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions, things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter—like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else—the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.” he said, “It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

1,2,3 - Construction of the Medicine Buddha sand mandala.
4,5,6 - The dismantling process symbolizes the Buddhist belief in the transience of life and the ideal of nonattachment to the material world.

Mandala, a Sanskrit word that means “circle,” is a sacred diagram created in sand or paint. It symbolizes the pure, perfected universe, and provides a visual framework for establishing feelings of peace, well-being and wholeness. Composed of millions of grains of dyed sand, the mandala is believed to have a positive effect on all who see it as each particle personifies goodness. Created by Buddhist monks and nuns, the mandala is part of initiation ceremonies — accompanied by other ritual art objects, costumed dancers, music and chanting — that grant the initiate the privilege to study and practice the teachings of a sutra or tantra, sacred texts that are guides to visualizing a particular deity.