Samsara

I'm looking forward to watching this movie. I rarely watch movies in theaters anymore -- just far too busy and lazy to get myself to one. But I'm fascinated with the title of this one.

Samsara is a word used in many places, but it's not clearly defined. A Sanskrit word referring to the continuous flow of life, its definition depends on how you define life.

This then takes one on a theological discussion, a search into the universe and what not. Thus, I've never known what the real definition of it is. Maybe it takes a visually stunning movie, with no words and only music, to explain what this word represents.

Ode to Red Wine

I spent another evening with you; I couldn't go to bed without bringing you to my lips 

For nearly thirty years you've been giving me a comfort that I can find nowhere else in the world

I knew your pleasure before I could speak in full sentences

Your color has always left me speechless

Abroad, your presence made me whole; by my side, I could weather the loneliness of a foreigner

The anxiety of exams, the stress of work, the heartbreak of less-than-chivalrous men

The reality that our heartbeat was a march, marking time to our grave

Just a sip from you made the gray go away

I see us together in the future; my wrinkled hand cupping you gently

Your aroma filling my mouth, rising through my nostrils and into my brain

The chills sent up my spine the minute you sink down my throat and set my organs aflame

My one and only true partner for life

When the future looks bleak

David Souter, one of the former Supreme Court Justices verbalized what I think a lot of people worry about today. Education in this country is such a mess that even if we try to fix the problems with the economy today, they'll repeat in the future because children are not getting the education they need to acquire critical thinking skills.

A quote from him:

Because of cutbacks in civic education from the 1970s onward, and exacerbated by the No Child Left Behind law, two-thirds of Americans today don't even know that their country has three branches of government. So they don't know whom to hold accountable for the country's festering problems.What I worry about is that when problems are not addressed, people will not know who is responsible. And when the problems get bad enough - another serious terrorist attack, another financial meltdown - some one person will come forward and say, 'Give me total power, and I will solve this problem.' That is how the Roman republic fell....That is how democracy dies. And if something is not done to improve the level of civic knowledge, that is what you should worry about at night.

Argentine Tango

It's been years since I last danced Argentine Tango and now that I have a partner, it's more enjoyable than ever. Of course, we're not up to the caliber of the couple in the video, but it's definitely something to aspire to.

There's something about this dance that tells a story, a quite passionate one, too. It's probably the reason that I like it so much. When I was first learning the dance, over ten years ago, someone told me that within one song, a person can experience a courtship, a marriage, a divorce and a reconciliaton. I completely agree.

Why I wish one of my college textbooks was the Tao Te Ching

It's true what they say that as an an adult you must learn to unlearn everything you learned when you were a child. I wish I had never put so much effort in learning when I was younger, I would be better off now.

Somehow I came across some passages I was using to practice my (now useless) translation skills from Chinese to English and one of them was the writings of Lao-Tzu. I never knew how poetic and awesome this was until today while cleaning off my desk. I posted a few below:

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn't seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.

It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things.

The Tao is great.
The universe is great.
Earth is great.
Man is great.
These are the four great powers.

Man follows the earth.
Earth follows the universe.
The universe follows the Tao.
The Tao follows only itself.