The lighter side of Buddhism

In those good old days, Buddha had to find a shady place under the big Bodhi tree to perform his Vipasana meditation. But in these age of modern technology and luxury, I think Buddha will be laughing at you if you try to imitate the great teacher by sitting under the tree to do meditation. Why not put on your best HiFi set and sit in the comfort of air conditioning room to perform your meditation ? Why torture yourself with the unnecessary discomfort to seek enlightenment ? Are you still plucking young twig from the tree to brush your teeth ? Oooohhhhh.... does that made you closer to God ?

Well, one good thing about Buddhism is, it does not encourage its followers to commit stupidities by mindlessly imitating the great teacher or blindly accepting illogical mysticism of spirituality. Buddhism is about a philosophy of life to live a happy and practical life free from unnecessary sufferings and deceptive illogical conformities. The door of Buddhism is always open ! You are free to embrace Buddhism, and you are also free to renounce Buddhism at any time. That is why Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in the free world.

No offense to my fellow Buddhists, but I do enjoy humours on the mysticism of Buddhism. My great teacher told me, there is humour in enlightenment, or was it enlightenment in humour ? What ever it is, lan par par lan, it means the same to me. So, for a moment, please stop all the chanting of Namo namo which a lot of Buddhists don't understand anyway except the soothing musical vibrations. Let's all loosen up a bit and let's us all cheer up a bit to have a little bit humour in spirituality. I know Buddhists are the world most peaceful people. However, If you feel offended by these jokes, please recite "Lan mor all me tor hood". This special recitation will enable you to suppress all angers or grievances. At least I know you will not be mindlessly incited into sending death squad to vent your angers on innocent people to defend the honour of Buddha.

okay... I like these anecdotes :

Anecdote # 1: Walking on water

Three monks decided to practice meditation together. They sat by the side of a lake and closed their eyes in concentration. Then, suddenly, the first one stood up and said, "I forgot my mat." He stepped miraculously onto the water in front of him and walked across the lake to their hut on the other side.

When he returned, the second monk stood up and said, "I forgot to put my other underwear to dry." He too walked calmly across the water and returned the same way.

The third monk watched the first tow carefully in what he decided must be a test of his abilities. "Is your learning so superior to mine? I can match any feat you two can perform," he declared loudly and rushed to the water's edge to walk across it. He promptly fell into the deep water.

Undeterred, the yogi climbed out of the water and tried again, only to sink into the water. Yet again he climbed out and yet again he tried, each time sinking into the water. This went on for some time as the other monks watched.

After a while, the second monk turned to the first and said, "Do you think we should tell him where the stones are?"
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Anecdote #2 : On the other side
A monk on his journey home comes to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he ponders for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier.

Just as he is to give up his journey, he sees a great teacher on the other side of the river. The monk yells over to the teacher, "Oh Master, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river?"

The teacher ponders for a moment, looks up and down the river and yells back, "You are already on the other side."

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Enough for tonite.. I am going to ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Namo Amithaba Buddha.....