Happy Birthday to Mummy 2014

Life is an adventurous story~

Every story has its ending, but in life every ending is a new beginning. Physical life on earth is an adventure, a lesson and a part of a story to be written. There is no eraser for this life story, but only lessons to be learnt.

Although we cannot change every little thing happens to us, we can change how we experience it. If we could unencumber adults' mental filters of what are "right" and "wrong" to think and believe, we would be able to accept anything new freely and joyfully.

Life is the train, not the station

On our soul's journey home to a state of infinite love and wisdom, a journey filled with mystery and miracles, we rest, recuperate, and reflect at the stations, in between lifetimes, until it is time to board, to reincarnate again: another train, another body.

Sunset Andorra -- Dedicated to Philip Law

The earth is like a schoolhouse in which students of different grade levels are assembled together. Its courses are taught in every language and cover every subject. Students of all nationalities and all races attend this school - All are on the path toward a spiritual graduation. The lessons in this physical world, school, are difficult because here we have physical bodies, so we experience illness, death, loss, pain, separation and suffering. Yet the earth also provides beautiful redeeming virtues, like unconditional love, soul mates, kind and compassionate people and most importantly, the opportunity for accelerated spiritual growth. The body is essential for the soul's manifestation in a physical dimension. Eventually, over the course of many lifetimes, we will learn all these lessons and reach for the more advanced dimensions, unlocking many mysteries that physical body may not understand or aware of. For truly we are all angels temporarily hiding as humans.

Our bodies and our minds are the masks our real self - the soul - wears in the physical world. When we die, we remove our masks and we rest in our natural state. There is no disappearance, no oblivion. We simply take off our masks, and other outer coverings, and we return home to the spiritual realms. It is important to remember that we have an eternity of time to learn our lessons. We can let go of guilt, of despair, of feeling trapped and rushed. Our symptoms and fears have probably carried over from previous lifetimes and love will be able to heal them eventually.

Understanding is the basis of love. We cannot bring our houses, cars, bank accounts, diamonds, titles, awards and status with us when we move on to another train, another body. These are merely temporary. What exists forever, is a good heart. At the end, only love is true. 

Controlling Your Mind - No More Misconceptions

Misconceptions are much more dangerous than drugs. IT is true because drugs themselves don't spread too far, but misconceptions can be contiguous and spread everywhere. All this comes from the mind. 


Drugs taking doesn't come from the drug / physical substance itself, but from the person's mind. Psychological attitude plays an important role in controlling people with polluted mind to take drugs or engage in other self-destructive behavior, but instead, we only consider how bad drugs themselves are, and completely ignore the role of the mind. The example of Drugs here can also be substituted to other phychological misconception, such as materialistic life-style, wealth, status, power and fame. 


However, it is an irrefutable fact that as human beings, we always seek satisfaction, no matter what stages of life we are in. By recognising the nature of the mind, we can satisfy ourselves internally; perhaps even eternally. I believe everyone would have that day acquiring the ability to realise the nature of one's own mind. We see the sense world so clearly, but we are completely blind to our internal world, where the constant functioning of misconceptions keeps us under the control of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. If we are all caught up in attachment to drugs, money and many aforementioned examples, our limited craving mind will make it impossible for us to enjoy life's pleasures. Therefore, it is not life, wealth and power which enslave us, but the remaining attached to life, wealth and power. The cause of suffering, is not thinking 
itself, but clinging to our thoughts.

  Cardiff Bay -- Taken by Philip Law

Lastly, rome is not built in one day, same as recognising the nature of one's own mind. It is hard and may require perseverance in believing yourself, regardless of all the temptations and influences by others. It also requires you putting a safe distance between you and your thoughts, finding a place to stand outside the cascade of emotions and desires. Once you can master your own mind, you will become spiritually free. Whatever befalls you, you can walk on untouched, unattached. You would be able to lose your jobs and keep your self-esteem, slash your budget and still feel like a brillion bucks, lose a loved one but not your love of life. 


By Charmmy Ka Ian Lio 

Start With Yourself

The following words were written on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Crypts of Westminister Abbey: 

''When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. 

But it, too, seemed immovable. 

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. 

And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed my self first, then by example I would have changed my family. 

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.''

Let's rewind our memories and ask ourselves: 'how much time we have wasted on changing others in the ways we wanted to' ? 

A view from Bristol -by Philip Law

To walk your own walk in this life and as you are travelling down the road, don't look down at your feet, keep your head up and your eyes focused on what you believe to be true. Be neither a follower nor a leader, you are not a forsaken, you are forgiven. When shadow exists, simply find higher ground to stand on. If you come across an obstacle or impasse, pay mind to it, but don't focus on it for too long, or your feet may sunk into the quick sand that's around it. Offer your hand to those you come across who are stuck in their personal sand traps but do not point them to the direction you think they must go, that have to be their direction, only imply to them that they are never alone, they will eventually find their ways. When you finally reached your destination and you look back, it is your own foot prints but not someone else's. You will then learn who you truly are in life. 

by Charmmy Lio

Future Orientated Behaviour

If you are a scientist, you will probably agree that the future is not given but what you create. Despite there are so many variables, distortions or challenges confronting our original objectives and plans, future is still on our own hands and it is a state that can only foreseen by our own perspectives but no one else. 

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) demonstrated the greatest example of creating a future: the Apple products: iPhone. iPhone has been creating invaluable opportunities for software scientists and service market workers (the third parties) to develop own applications and sell their own innovative ideas as apps. This scenario regarding iPhone is a wonderful example of positively creating platforms, jobs and incomes for many great developers, who could maximise their talents in positive and creative ways to improve our qualities of technological life.

Steve Jobs, my heros, you have combined creativity with discipline, and innovation with scale.

Thanks for your creations and I believe these technological innovations would continually provide us with enormous convenience and advance the way we look at our futures. You had been a spiritual support for many software scientists and myself, as a cancer scientist, the best thing I have learnt from you is that, I should not predict the future, but to create it. 

The Last Lecture -lessons in living (Book reviews)

The Last Lecture-lessons in living --by Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture is an inspirational and heart-warming autobiography about living, it is one of the best life-changing reading written by Randy Pausch. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had only months to live while he delivered a last lecture called ''Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', which reflected what matters most to him in his life, yet encouraging us to turn our dreams into reality. 

I read the book on my Cruise trip with family in Aug, 2011. The neurotransmitters hit my nerves and all my childhood dreams spring to my mind. I sometimes think I learn more from pursuing my dreams, and not accomplishing it. 

Dreams are continuously being modified, reformed and created in my life. In this book, Randy quotes ''We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.''. Life is precious, one day, we may find out something unexpected, like Life isn't as long as we think. Therefore, we should all live as if this would be the last day on earth. 

We are responsible for your own life so leave some remarks before it is too late. Love those people who love us and contribute our best abilities to change or improve lives of others. During this process, we may encounter difficulties which we should see as opportunity to learn. Because Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Remember, it is not how hard you hit, it is how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward and keep trying to turn our dreams into reality.