Breath

You are the life force that has made me "real"
Though I have not taken much notice of you
You have never abandoned me
When I am angry, you appear as wind
When I am calm, you are called chi
Versatile you are, just to differentiate yourself
And remind me to be
You are the expression of me
And the expression of the universe
In and out incessantly
No Birth No Death
No Defilement No Purity
No Increasing No Decreasing
If I can immerse myself in the stillness-
The moment you leave and before you re-enter
I will fade the line between you and me;
Me and the world

Are you a Good Listener?

Listening is truly an art.  An art of relating, appreciation and connection.  When a person really listens to another, he or she is with him or her at all levels.  Physically, there are only two entities that exist: the listener and the speaker.  Between them, there is no barrier, let alone gadgets or mobile phones.  At a mental level, there is no space for the mind to wander but rather heightened awareness to what will be communicated and without judgement.  The two persons are also emotionally in sync and yet neither party is being sucked into a downward spiral.

In other words, it is almost like a meditation process.  When we meditate, our monkey mind cannot remain still and needs to anchor onto something.  To replace zillions of thoughts, one will identify an object and use it as a focus for our meditation.  This is most often our own breath, a mantra or an image.  So what makes someone a great listener is that he or she will use the other person as that object and fully attend to him or her.  There is complete openness to whatever that will be taken in, just like the fact that one will not judge his or her own breath and will simply let it flow.  There is purely an integrated presence.  And again, analogous to meditation, when distraction arises we gradually bring our attention back to the other person.  

Curiosity Killed the Cat (But Satisfaction Brought it Back)

As the idiom suggests, one's inquisitiveness can be hazardous, especially when it extends to areas that one does not need to know about.  But the initial idea is to warn someone against prying into others' personal affairs.  There are indeed risks associated with unnecessary probing or investigation.  However, the rejoinder also indicates that the risks, if any, would lead to resurrection because of the satisfaction felt after finding out.

In a more unconventional way, I am referring to self-curiosity here.  So is self-curiosity also dangerous?  It could be.  When innocent young children ask adults questions, they are incessant enquiries that commence with  "How...", "What..." or "Why...?".  And you will notice that they are never afraid of what answers they might get.  It is simply driven by the urge (or rather urgency) to know.  But if you are to turn such curiosity inward at your mature self now, you may actually shy away from any questions which have the slightest chance of directing us to our hidden wounds.  Those actions and behaviour that we resist, consciously or unconsciously, often stem from our intention to protect ourselves and mitigate the risks of us getting hurt.  As human beings, this just naturally happens when we have had past experiences when were once injured but never healed.  So if it is a protective mechanism, why would we have the incentive or motivation to be self-curious?  True, it is not for those who only respond with negativity when asked to change.  But little that they know that self-curiosity always go hand in hand with vulnerability - a gateway to self-awareness and creativity.  When you can let your hair down and replace any resistance with questions like "How might I...", "What could I..."."Why did I...", your creativity will bring you the unlimited possibilities that can become available instantly.

A little self-introspection can go a long way.  When you can taste the fulfilment created by the demystifying process, the world is truly your oyster.