A Review: Rich Brother, Rich Sister

One interesting book that I have had a chance to peruse last weekend was the latest Robert Kiyosaki’s book, which is “Rich Brother, Rich Sister”. Unless you have been living in the well for the last 20 years, you would have known that Robert is famous for his New York Time’s bestseller book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. In that book, he shared his wealth and investment concepts and how to attain the financial freedom that so many crave for.

So what’s so good about this new book – “Rich Brother, Rich Sister”? More wealth and financial concept? Not really as I found out. It tells of the journey of a brother and a sister – each who took a different path to "God, money and happiness" – how each was successful in his or her chosen journey, but how each had to learn of the other path to reach fulfillment and the true attainment of each one's goals. You can say this is the work-life balance theme at its basic level.
The “Rich Brother” part is referring to Robert himself, but what I find interesting is really the “Rich Sister”. You see, the “Rich Sister” is Robert’s actual real life sister – Emi Kiyosaki. And she is rich in the sense of spiritual wealth. How so? Well, she is an ordained nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and ordained in the mid-1980s by none other than His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Her ordained name is Venerable Tenzin Kachoe. The book “Rich Brother, Rich Sister” is co-authored by her and in it, she shared her life’s experiences and stories about her childhood, her brother Robert and other family members, tells about her experience with cancer, and how at times she needs to earn money to pay for her medical bills. Many people think that once you are ordained as a monk and a nun, you are free of any worries and the temple will take care of you. It is true that in the Vinaya, left-home persons are advised not to carry any money. But in this age and time, without money you do not even have a toilet paper to clean yourself. Nowadays, the reality is that, without a sizeable sum of money, one practically cannot become a monk/nun. One cannot and should not expect to receive free meal from the lay community anymore. Things really have changed since the Buddha’s time. So, Emi’s experiences are an eye-opener. There is even a section in which she outlines the teachings of the Buddha on Karma, Rebirth and others. As she struggled with her spiritual pursuit and financial needs in this commercial world, her brother had a different struggle. He was struggling to be happy while earning money, or be successful and yet fulfilling spiritually. Each of them had their own problems and their own paths.

Although this could easily have been shelved under the “Buddhism” section in bookstores, it is not. Indeed, this book is not aimed to propagate Buddhism, rather I see it as an attempt by Robert and his sister to urge everyone, irrespective of religion, to consider accumulating spiritual wealth besides the financial wealth that we normally desire. Even though the book has some Buddhist teachings, it really does not matter for a non-Buddhist to pick up the book to read it. At least, that’s my personal opinion. Other than the work-life balance that some people interpret this book as espousing, I think there is another way of looking at this book.

No matter what spiritual path one is pursuing, or likes to pursue, the important thing is the wealth of wisdom and compassion that we have gained through or by our respective spiritual paths. Spiritual wealth is indeed, not something many people consider to amass. Most people only think about material wealth. In Robert’s sections, he honestly tells us how he has committed some negatives actions in the past (such as when he was in the military) which led to others, and how he felt worse in the process. It was only after he had come clean and out of it by telling the truth, that he felt better. So, Robert shares his “spiritual messages” too indirectly, besides his immense financial knowledge. Maybe at some point of pursuing material wealth, one may become tired of it or felt that by itself, it is nothing without any spiritual wealth.

There is one last reason why we should get this book, and that is the book is the result of Ven. Tenzin Kachoe's getting cancer and needing the money for treatment. Even though her brother could easily have given her money for that, he would not. Her brother gave excuses like "...if you give someone a fish, he will obtain food for only a day, but if you teach him how to fish, then he can obtain food everyday". Do you think this approach is suitable for a person who got a potentially terminal illness like cancer? Even though wanting to teach her "how to fish" is noble, but I still think it will plant some serious negative karma for Robert himself in the future. Of course, attaching Robert's name to the book helps to sell it, nevertheless, if you want to help Ven. Tenzin Kachoe raise the money for her treatment, buy the book. If we donot wish to buy, it is okay, ...just leave the book alone...but donot incur bad karma on your side by have wrong thoughts on the book. (added in on Sept 25, 2009)

Hence this book gets me to think about various aspects of my life. And I am sure it will for you after reading this book. With this note, I end my book review of “Rich Brother, Rich Sister”, co-authored by Robert Kiyosaki and Emi Kiyosaki.

Attachment to merits

As I reviewed how I spend my Saka Dawa days, I thought initially that I didnot do anything at all. I didnot do any extra thing on this day or earlier days. It was hard for me to recall what I had done. No extra chanting or mantras or reading sutras. But then I remember I gave some money to my auntie who had fell down. I went on that very day I heard the news. Actually a few days ago (Saturday morning), I woke up with a bad dream that either my mother or one of my aunties is nearing her death. Sometimes I am afraid of my own dreams because many times it had been a premonition of what is to come in the future. With that dream, I was going to call her or visit her anyway even if I had not received the news.

The second thing I did voluntarily was helping a colleague who had a slight paralysis to get up from her chair in the cafetaria. She asked me to hold her by the wrists and pull her up. But I was afraid I might do more damage to her than help her. So, another girl held her wrists instead, and I held her by the elbows. Together we pulled her up.

So, yes, I did perform some good actions today. And I didnot do those actions by delaying those actions just to do them on this holy day. And neither did I think of the 100 million times of extra merits to be earned. In fact, earlier I did donate to Amdo eye clinic, a FPMT eye hospital project, on a not-so-meritorious day (comparatively speaking). It doesnot matter because all the potential patients in the hospital is urgently waiting for the hospital to be completed so that they can get proper treatment. One day's delay in funds for the hospital would mean one day's delay in the treatment for those with eye problems.

Yes, doing good deeds on certain holy days multiple the merits by manifold, but please do them sincerely. There's no need to delay donating money just to do it on a certain holy day! That's obviously attachment to merits. Call this spiritual greed. Or, is it called "spiritual materialism"? When you think of earning so much merits, you lose your sincerity. It's just like someone dangling millions of dollars in front of you. If you are so attached to merits, to the extent that you need to delay till tomorrow doing something which you could have done today, just because it is a holy day and someone had told you it could generate 100 million times more merits, and you listened to him, there goes your sincerity. In the same way, you could potentially fall into a real "trap" one day, when someone dangles real money in front of you. What do I mean by "trap"? Corruption. Call this worldly greed. Whether worldly or spiritual materialism, it's the same old greed that you have.

Jade Buddha for universal peace in Vietnam

This is the video of the Jade Buddha when it toured Vietnam. How I wish it comes quickly to Malaysia... but their schedule is packed until end of 2010. Now it is in Australia. After that it will tour the USA and Canada. Then to New Zealand before going back to Australia permanently. So Malaysia and Singapore may not get to host this wonderful Buddha statue at all. However, I pray sincerely it comes quickly.

Check details at www.jadebuddha.org.au

About Osel Hita

Referring to the response below from FPMT after the interview with Lama Osel (the recognised tulku of the late Lama Yeshe) in which he was supposedly misquoted came out in the media. Various headlines appeared in the press. Some portrayed Lama Osel was a miserable youth forced into Tibetan education and portrayed him as possibly wrongly chosen by HH the Dalai Lama. The result of the press was serious enough for the FPMT to respond and put up Lama Osel’s message in the FPMT website and send out the below email blast to everyone in their list. The “misquote” was then clarified but it had already created a widespread consequences. Many people are already believing that perhaps he was wrongly chosen, or that he was forced into believing who he was not, or that he was forced into studying traditional Tibetan Buddhist education (when he could have been given just western education). These and many other speculations are already spawning various misconceptions circulating the globe, more so in internet forums and chat rooms around the world wide web. I would like to offer my explanation on how a recognised reincarnation could possibly not recognize himself as such.

LETTER FROM FPMT
From: "Doris Low"
To: cpmt@yahoogroups.com, fpmt@yahoogroups.com
Dear FPMT family,
Many of you by now may have seen the recent article about Osel Hita in "The Guardian" newspaper, which has circulated to other media.
As his comments have been taken out of context, Osel has issued a letter in response to the press. This can be viewed on the Osel page of the FPMT website at http://www.fpmt. org/teachers/ osel/.
You can also read more comments that have been posted on Wisdom Publications' blog site, which has a link to the original article printed with Osel’s contribution (and in English and Spanish language) in the magazine, "Babylon" at http://gobeyondword s.wordpress. com/2009/ 06/02/tempest- in-a-teapot/ .
We hope this helps to clear any misunderstanding, and if anyone were to ask you or your center about this matter, please refer him/her to the FPMT website.
It may also be timely to update the information posted on Osel by your center, study group or project. Please use as basis his messages in the FPMT Handbook and FPMT Annual Review, and Peter Kedge’s update on his activities reported in Day 1 of the CPMT Minutes, found in the FPMT general site or Members Area.
Thank you.
Love
Doris Low
Centre Services Director
FPMT International Office
_____________________________________________________

One of the comments made in the Buddhist forums is that for centuries, the Tibetan Buddhist ways remain unchanged and it changed only after Tibet was invaded by China and many Tibetan lamas got out of their “shell”. And because of this, many Tibetan Buddhist teachings had been adapted to fit into the western mentality. Yes, I do agree that the teachings had been somewhat “adapted”, but not only to the western world, but to the rest of the world as well. If the Tibetan lamas did not adapt the way it was taught in Tibet with the outside world, then many Tibetan Buddhist teaching will just disappear. Many practices and initiations were made more flexible and transmitted without those "ancient" preconditions. But there are consequences of doing this, which the lamas are very well aware of when these preconditions were relaxed. Without some of these stricter conditions, especially proper mental precondition, there will be hardly any realisations at all. It will be very difficult to gain any attainments once you relax certain conditions. That is why when tulkus are exposed to the Tibetan Buddhist curricular, it is not a matter of choosing Tibetan traditional education over western education.

NO!

Western education ...and for that matter, even most Asian education don't prepare one to gain realisations. They are just worldly education. BUT THE BUDDHIST LAM RIM EDUCATION CURRICULUM DOES! The curriculum is such that by the time the student graduates, he/she will have gained the realisations of the three principle aspects of the path... or at least, portions of the realisations. Mind you, IT IS NOT KNOWLEDGE. I am speaking of a certain precondition of the mind. Without gaining this, the subsequent path will be difficult. So, exposing Lama Osel to the traditional education was still the right thing to do. But of course, exposing him to western education was also the right too since he is a western boy in the present reincarnation. With both types of education, he will benefit much more sentient beings than if he were to be exposed to only one type of education. But whether he successfully gained those "realisations" from the traditional Buddhist education or not is another thing. What people don't realise is that even though you may have gained a certain level of "enlightenment" in your previous life, it does not automatically carry over to the next life. Yes, it is still somewhere in the mind but ... don't forget you have a different body, different brain. The present physical brain does not carry over the knowledge of the previous life's knowledge. You need to re-learn. That was why even Prince Siddharta had to re-learn and re-kindle his wisdom in his human body... even though the Mahayana does talk about him being the manifestation of the eternal life Tathagata. When the body is still young, some aspects of the “enlightened nature” of the person may be more obvious than when he gets older. At other times, throughout his life, sometimes “sparks” that reminds either himself or those around him of his “enlightened nature” may present itself. However, by and large, these “sparks” or “symptoms of previous cultivation” are not that frequent. The education he receives during the nurturing period is very crucial to re-learn and rekindle the previous wisdom of his actual nature. By nurturing period, it is usually the period of education received before one turns 20 years old. The people around the tulku must provide him with the proper education that will quickly enable him to nurture the seeds of enlightenment that are already inside his mind, but not yet in his brain. So, a lot of exposure to the spiritual way of life and how a person can actually gain liberation from samsara is of utmost importance. Otherwise, the seeds of enlightenment in his mind will remain dormant and his present life will be “wasted” until another life where something awakens it. It’s not always a matter of "play acting" by the tulkus although at most times it may be.

In other words, the conventional truth still must be respected and plays a dynamic role together with the ultimate truth. So...Lama Osel may be the reincarnation of the Great Lama Yeshe, but the conventional truth of his new body (new brains) must be treated as if he is a separate person. After a certain age, he may not actually remember any of his past life until he "re-kindles" them back. But some aspects of his "attainment" will appear from time to time. So long as you are aware of the dynamics of reality, you won’t be shocked or surprised by how things turn out with the tulkus. And that's the reality of things... as well as my two cents worth of opinion.

In the meantime, let's not be too quick to judge Osel Hita yet. Whatever he does with his life, let's just pray for him every success in life. We cannot put our expectations on him to be the same as the previous reincarnation. If that's the case, we will sure be disappointed. If we have any respect for Lama Yeshe, we should give him the same training as we would anyone else striving for enlightenment. And then leave the rest to him.

I will end with this message:

"If Buddhas or Bodhisattvas fail to benefit sentient beings, it is definitely due to sentient beings' karma."

We hope that our own karma is good enough to receive blesings from the activities of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

pic above of Osel Hita taken from www.fpmt.org

Reborn as Happy Animal or Sick Human? Last part

In most cases, we don't have the choice of determining which rebirth we will take. But karma is not a static thing, we can plant subtle karmic imprints and make strong aspirations today that should you have done any negative actions that warrants your rebirth into the lower realms, but also having the collaborative good karma (such as taking part in this poll, resulting in this "collaborative karma") you will likely take rebirth as a sick/ poor human, instead of a healthy animal. By being reborn a human, although sick, you will avert being reborn into the lower realms. And you are sick because of the negative karma you have created.... will still be there if you donot purify them with the Budddhist purification methods.

I have learned that karma is not a "destined" or "fated" matter. We can actively shape it in small measures depending on how heavy is the karma. The heavier it is, the less likely we are able to shape it.So, by voting, we are creating imprints in our minds to aspire either to be a sad human or a happy animal in the future. Donot assume you donot have a bad karma bad enough to result your rebirth as an animal. You never know. So, if you vote for "human", you will create karmic imprints to be reborn as human in those circumstances mentioned, but with poor health and unhappy (to suffer the karma you have created)...but nonetheless a human rebirth. And if you have been given the chance to create small karmic imprints for the better, but do not take the opportunity, that's also creating small karmic imprints. Even by not doing anything, it's a choice, i.e. a decision has been made.

Personally, I am seriously reluctant to give in to the urges of becoming an animal even if it mean being President Obama's dog or Bill Gate's dog.My reason would be that once you are reborn as such, it would mean you have gone a few rungs down the "ladder". And once you are lower, it's harder to climb up again. The ANIMAL imprints and characteristics will be stucked somewhere in your mind. That's why some humans behave like animals. It's because they have been animals before. Secondly, the Buddhas would not have been so kind as to leave us those holy objects mentioned in my first post, if there was no reason to save anyone from the lower realms. Hence, I'll rather be a sick human that lives for only 5 years than an animal that lives for 50 years. But I don't know. I could be wrong. This post is meant to get people thinking.

I realised that the fact that few people voted for "humans" shows indeed the rarity of the human rebirth. More people prefer to be animals instead, or don't care. But right after my comments in favour of humans in my post yesterday, the percentage for humans went up a little. Indeed, I feel that noone should vote for "animals", i.e. not be tempted at all to avoid the human suffering and opt instead to be a healthy rich family pet dog.

Once you are reborn as an animal, whatever you have learned about the dharma will go deeper and deeper inside you and more difficult for you to dig it up later. Therefore, whoever have chosen the "animal" option in this "poll", have some serious rethinking to do. Hence I am not speculating, as you put it. I am using unorthodox methods to point something out for all to see. LEARN FROM THIS!!

Bodhisattvas can take the form of animals but we cannot. When we take rebirth as a dog, most likely we only live by our instincts. We won't remember our current life's Buddhist practices or teachings unless our Buddhist imprints are very strong and our bodhicitta very strong despite having huge negative karma (that resulted in your being born as a dog). So, it's too risky to want to be a dog.

My point is: if you can get hold of those objects I mentioned in "Part 1" of this topic, go get it. Save yourself from lower rebirth, even if you are reborn as a poorly endowed human in the next life. It's definitely better than any animal, any hungry ghosts, any hell being. That's my point.

Reborn as Happy Animal or Sick Human? part 2

For those who have thought about the question in "part 1" of my previous blog few days ago, let me make it more interesting. What if, one of the choices is to be a pet dog of Lama Zopa Rinpoche or HH Karmapa or HH Sakya Trizin or whoever your lineage guru is? Would that affect the choice you have made earlier? I am sure a number of issues come to your mind, i.e. guru devotion, precious human rebirth, etc etc.

The hypothesis is that if you are to become a human, you will be so sick or physically challenged, and karmically challenged, you most likely won't get a chance to be near any guru at all...until you have exhausted your negative karma. But if you let your negative karma ripen accordingly, you could become his pet animal. You get to be with him BUT only as an animal.

There are holy objects that just by seeing, hearing, touching, etc could potentially save you from the lower realms. However, that doesnot mean your evil karma disappears. Karma cannot disappear unless you purify them. In this case, you donot have the time to purify them because you didnot know you ahve such heavy negative karma. With blessings from holy objects and prayers, yes, you can avoid from reborn in the lower realms, but you will be reborn as a human living in Sudan or born without limps, with down syndrome, etc etc.

Given this hypothesis, would you be tempted to forego the blessing by the holy objects and become an animal instead of a human? Think about it. Regard this question as if it is your own guru asking you. What would be your answer?

Water Tigle

Referring to this post:

http://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2009/06/tig-le.html

The picure of the water bowl was the second appearance of those tiny little air bubbles inside. They appeared on 27 March 2009, not long after I changed the water. Here are more pictures of them. It was the email received regarding Gangteng Rinpoche that I think I have understood what those air bubbles are. They are blessings from Chenrezig (Kuan Yin) that I placed on my altar.























Note: the first appearance was at the end of Oct 2008. I have a blogpost on that too. Look for it.

Reborn as Happy Animal or Sad Human? part 1

Last Saturday, I was introduced to six wonderful things whereby it is said that it will prevent someone from being reborn into the lower realms. The six items are:
- a cloth to cover the body of a deceased starting from the head down
- a pendant that blessed the wearer and whomsoever came into contact with it
- pills blessed with relics from the previous 8 Buddhas
- a picture that enables whoever looks at it to avoid the 3 lower realms
- a CD that enables whoever hears it to avoid the 3 lower realms
- incense sticks that enables whoever smells it to avoid the 3 lower realms

These items made me think if I really have the karmic potential to be reborn into the lower realms, and by some stroke of some collaborative good karma, if a Buddha were to offer me a ONE chance to choose between these 2 options, which will I choose.

1. to be reborn as a dog, but owned by a wealthy family. Properly fed and taken care of properly.

Or,

2. to be reborn as a human, very sick or physically and/or mentally challenged (such as being blind, deaf, psychotic, wheel-chair bound or bedridden for most of your life).

And whatever I choose, will be blessed by the Buddha. Or, be blessed by one of the 6 holy items mentioned above. However, I will not be absolved of the negative karma I have committed (if I do not purify it).

So, in such situation, I will have to make a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. To be reborn as a dog will mean being in a lower realm, but being a human is a higher realm than a dog. But being a dog will mean being born stupid, whereas being a human, you will have an unhealthy painful body. And the consequences of each, are not just these. There are more to each choice.

As I ponder and make my choice, I invite you to partake of this decision-making AS IF IT IS A GENUINE CASE THAT WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

You can ignore this "poll" if you want, but you will miss learning something I feel is important. Ultimately it is not the choice you make – human or animal – that is important. Rather the reason why you should take part in this poll is that it will engender the thinking process inside you and utilize whatever dharma you have learned so far. The choice is not as simple as it looks, because each comes with a consequence. By being involved in such deep thinking, I earnestly hope you will learn something about yourself in the process. It is not for me to tell you what are the learning experiences, because each person will have their unique learning potential.

So treat this poll as if that after making your choice, you will need to live with the choice you have made.

Don’t take too long to make your choice. You never know whether you have a negative karma to be reborn as an animal. Life is like that – we live with the choices we have made. BE BRAVE, THINK CAREFULLY and MAKE YOUR CHOICE NOW.

Make your choice first before reading the below!

____________________________________________________
In most cases, we don't determine the condition of our rebirth. But karma is not a static thing, we can plant subtle karmic imprints and make strong aspirations today that should you have done any negative actions that warrants your rebirth into the lower realms, but also having the collaborative good karma (such as taking part in this poll, resulting in this "collaborative karma") you will likely take rebirth as a sick/ poor human, instead of a healthy animal. By being reborn a human, although sick, you will avert being reborn into the lower realms. And you are sick because of the negative karma you have created.... will still be there if you donot purify them with the Budddhist purification methods. I have learned that karma is not a "destined" or "fated" matter. We can actively shape it in small measures depending on how heavy is the karma. The heavier it is, the less likely we are able to shape it. So, by voting, we are creating imprints in our minds to aspire either to be a sad human or a happy animal in the future. Donot assume you donot have a bad karma bad enough to result your rebirth as an animal. You never know. So, if you vote for "human", you will create karmic imprints to be reborn as human in those circumstances mentioned, but with poor health and unhappy (to suffer the karma you have created)...but nonetheless a human rebirth. And if you have been given the chance to create small karmic imprints for the better, but do not take the opportunity, that's also creating small karmic imprints. Even by not doing anything, it's a choice, i.e. a decision has been made. By nto making a choice, don't regret if you meet with the Buddha one day (after you have been reborn as an animal) and he said to you, "Dear son/daughter, why do you not take the many opportunties that I have created for you to avoid being reborn into the lower realms? My agents and I tried many ways to help you, but you donot recognise the opportunity that laid before you." By then, it's too late, you have been reborn as a dog (even if as Bill Gate's pet dog) ... with zero chance of understanding the dharma. Once you are there in the lower realms, it's far far harder to "climb up" again.

Manifestations of "Tig-le"

Here are some examples of manifestations of "Tig-le". The first 2 pics are taken from various visits to Bodhgaya, India.










Kyabje Lama Zopa at the original Maitreya Land, Bodhgaya










A picture taken of the Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhgaya. The tigles here are not that visible, but can be seen if you click on the image and look carefully. From the camera, you can see it more clearly.

"In USA(according to Khenpo Rigzin) and in Gangteng Gompa, when Rinpoche did Vajrakilaya Drupchen - on the accomplishment day - rainbow lights appear and dissolved into the nectar pills. Numerous Tigles appeared spontaneously and filled the sky." Note: the pic and the quote is taken directly from an email about Gangteng Rinpoche.

So, many Buddhists have seen sky tig-les, but has anyone seen water tig-les? Could the below be water tigles? I have seen these actually manifest in water bowls put on the altar... not just one or two bowls, not just a few air bubbles here and there; but they manifest in ALL the bowls and hundreds or thousands of these in each. And I have only seen it twice. It doesnot always manifest. Unlike sky tigles which can only be seen in cameras but not in the sky before you, the water tigles can be seen with the naked eye. That's why they are very special. Take a look.

TIG-LE = Manifestations of enlightenment that appear in the elements spontaneously. Sometimes you will see them when you take a picture of a sacred site or great master. they are always present but our awareness only sees them when we reach that level to percieve them or a door is opened to their dimension thru meditation, prayer, dream or the radiance of a great being or sacred space. Similar somewhat to a nimbus seen around a saint or angel....Sort of bliss in non-corporeal form.

From http://www.yulokod.ca/rainbow-mandala.html

Saka Dawa Day

Saka Dawa Day is coming and it is just like our Wesak Day. But Tibetans do not celebrate Wesak Day. They celebrate Saka Dawa Day. We are not Tibetans, but we are Tibetan Buddhists and our teachers are Tibetans (or whatever other races) that celebrate Saka Dawa. Hence, we too join in the celebration... especially we are encouraged to do good deeds on these holy days. Many organisations take the opportunity to collect donations from their members during this time. By all means donate, but it is not wise to withhold our donation and wait for this holy day to come , then only donate. Instead, if anytime you feel like donating money to any charitable organisation or monastery, please do so whether it is holy days or not. Of course, it is good to do it on Saka Dawa day. There's no dispute on that. And I am not discouraging you from it. Anyway, I think you get what I am trying to say.

I wrote this "piece" several months ago on "where does the holiness of holy days come from?" Refer here:-

http://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2009/02/where-does-holiness-come-from.html

If you know the answer to that question, you'll be able to create abundance of merits everyday, every moment. In order to truely gain skies of merits, it is said that we must let go of our attachments to ourselves and to others. Like one Zen Master used to say when he was alive: ONLY DON'T KNOW. JUST DO IT! Don't think so much of the merits to be gained. If someone needs your help or money, help them if they need it immediately. There's no need to wait for holy days then only do it. What's more important is our SINCERITY.

With that message, I wish everyone a very HAPPY SAKA DAWA and may there be abundance of merit for everyone, so that we are able to end suffering and be able to constantly meet with our precious Gurus!

And I'll like to dedicate the merits that I have to one cockcroach that I may have accidentally killed today. I am not sure it's really dead, but just in case, I would like it to gain rebirth in Amitabha's Pure Land.

WHO AM I?

This is a personal kung-an I got from Zen Master Seung Sahn:-
Long time ago in China, Seventh Patriarch visited Sixth Patriarch.
"Who are you?"
7th Patriarch only don't know, for 7 years.
BOOM! Got enlightenment, attained this don't know - nothing at all.

Who are you?

You don't understand.
Only don't know, always, everywhere.
Then some time you will attain this don't know, then attain everything.
OK?

He is asking me the same way that the 6th Patriarch asked the 7th. I have no answer for him and he knows that I don't understand. So, I am supposed to "don't know, always, everywhere"...until one day I attain it. So... who am I?