Weeeeeeekends!!!!!!!!!

1) Ananda drinking bandung at Bugis Parco
2) Hanbin aka Teddy with Ananda
3) Ananda & Sumantri (no, its not sukandar) ready for meditation

Sorry kean yap, i duno why i lost some of the pics with u in the process of transfering... lost the v nice one i took for u all on MRT :( Paiseh...

The meditation this evening started off terribly. Like what Ven Yuan Fan taught us, a troubled person becomes more troubled after/during meditation. This is becos in the midst of his work, he has not time to reflect. His mind becomes like pond water, with the daily activities equivalent to the constant digging up of mud from the bed of the pond. The mind is messy and unclear. When he finally gets to settle down for meditation, the mud settles down as well, and he begins to see his problems clearer... => feel more frustrated and troubled.

I guess it happens to me. .for the past one week, my life has been quite hectic. I know i am stressed and tired, but i have not much time to reflect. This evening when i meditate, scenes of my work place kept flashing in mind.. projects, tasks, expectations all came flooding me once i settled down for meditation. Fortunately, they went off after 10-15 min.... and the meditation became better gradually, with relatively deep concentration. Unfortunately, there were pretty much disturbances this evening, hp rings, watches alarms etc... awww... i lost my concentration during the 2nd half.

Well, most of us have heard that meditation allows us to see into our past lives... which can be 1 life to countless and eons of lives back. Ajahn Brahm shared his experiences repeatedly on recalling his days as a baby... he is powerful enough to remember the 'scent' of his baby pram.

As for me, i could remember some of the incidents tat took place when i was v young. Not that i deliberately force myself to recall, but i remembered 2 very kind souls whom i am very grateful to.

I was about 3-4 yr old, when my brother and me went to A&W to buy fast food. The set meal we bought came with a set of stickers... the cashier was a young lady, abt 20 yr old. After giving us the set of stickers we were entitled, she bent down and get one more set of me, saying : give u one more set lah, in case the 2 of u fight over it. I was too young and blur to react or even say thanks then. But i remembered her face and words vividly, till today.

Further back, was an incident that took place when i was not even 2 yr old. I was hospitalized after i fell down, cracking my skull. I remembered all my four limbs were tied to the corners of the bed, as the nurses scared i might fall off the bed or struggle around. I tried very hard to move but in vain, and my wrists were in great pains. (My mum confirmed this incident with me many yrs later tat my wrists and ankles were full of bruises, resulting from my struggles).

During my miserable days in the hopstial, i remembered this young gal, about 6-7 yr old, totally dressed in blue, with long sleeves t shirt and long pants. She was standing by my bed looking at me, smiling. Her smiles kinda stopped me from struggling. I knew I liked her presence. Eventually, she gave me a banana (must be requested from her own parents, who came visit another patient). The nurse finally released my hands, and i took the banana and bite it without peeling the skin! haha. ..

I remembered all these incidents vividly, esp the 2nd gal, even though i was barely 2 yr old then. I also find it strange myself, mabbe its due to my karmic link with these 2 kind souls. I wonder how are they now. . and i will nv get to recognise them even if i see them on the streets now.

The most bizzare incident i can recall was when I was jus a few months old. My brother studied in the Bethestha Cathedral Kindergarten, and my mum had to bring me along when sending him to sch. I remembered she put me sleeping on those long long benches u can find in the church... and as i faced up, i remember vivdly the sight of the pointed ceiling (like those u can find in a typical cathedral). The 'sight' was the only thing i can remember, nothing else... but its very vivid.

Well.. of cos there are rightful reasons why we meditate and look into our past lives, but its something deep and profound to be explained here online + my concept of it is not v strong. Shall end my blog here cos too many incoming icq msgs...