Saturday, November 23, 2013
About Death
Here’re some thoughts / notes after
attended a talk “Christian Perspective on Death Preparation出生入死 岀死入生"
on 16th Nov 2013 by 庐惠铨牧师 – this is part of a series of talks on “Preparing for Death, Appreciating Life 生死预演”.
on 16th Nov 2013 by 庐惠铨牧师 – this is part of a series of talks on “Preparing for Death, Appreciating Life 生死预演”.
Death is a fact. No one is immortal. Nothing could guarantee
a person would escape bodily death. As
long as there is life, there will be death. And to dust we shall return (Gen
3:19). We cannot control how long or how
short we want to live. We cannot avoid the coming of death.
When a person passes
away, what really dies is the physical body. The soul 灵魂remains, the
soul is alive. The existence of soul explains the mystery of how two persons
can feel connected even though they are physically apart.
Death can be a learning lesson. Remind/teach others to value
life, to live in the present.
Since we cannot avoid death, let’s live fully活得丰盛. Let’s
live in the present活在当下. Living fully and in the
present is more meaningful than thinking of ways to die or ways to avoid death.
Often, a person commits suicide because he/she wants to reduce the pain or
avoid certain problem – it’s not really a desire to die.
Life is happy if we live fully in the present and we live with
hope and faith. Have hope and faith that
our soul lives on and will return to God, our Creator – thus we attain eternal
life 灵魂归属 得到永生.Even if we have to die
tomorrow, we will not be afraid or sad 迎向死亡 不再死亡.
Faith is the only and reliable way to eternal life.
Some interesting
and thought provoking questions/topics during Q&A session:
How and what do we look like after we die? Are we at the
same age and look at the time of death?
The speaker responded with: Does it matter? Are you really concerned about
your look? He then spoke about a dying
friend who refused visitation except visit by selected few people. The dying
friend even contemplated to do away with funeral ritual/memorial service as she
did not want to bother others. The
speaker asked his friend to reconsider: would she be denying the chance for
people who knew her, people whose life she may has touched, to accompany the
last journey with her, to say their goodbyes?
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
A Tribute to Bruce Lee 李小龙
On 4th Sept 2013, I had a date with the legendary
Bruce Lee李小龙at
Hong Kong Heritage Museum to celebrate his passion for Kung Fu, Art and Life.
A Man-Lee Jun Fan (汉子-李振藩) Bruce Lee was born in November 1940 in San
Francisco. His father, Lee Hoi Chuen 李海泉, was a celebrated Cantonese opera actor.
Bruce spent his childhood in Hong Kong but pursued his higher studies in the US
from 1959. He married an American, Linda
and the couple had a son, Brandon and a daughter Shannon. In 1971, Bruce returned to Hong Kong to make
films again. He died suddenly in July 1973 at the age of 32. This year is the 40th anniversary
of his passing.
Bruce was fond of acting, obsessed with martial arts and
highly skilled at the cha-cha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eed6xYupHj8.
He meticulously & methodically recorded, in words and drawings, cha-cha dance
steps, martial art movements etc. He also loved reading and writing. He signed his name and wrote notes in many of
his books he read. He wrote many poems http://sandrapalmer3.tripod.com/brucelee/id32.html and oh, his
handwriting was beautiful! Bruce was a
man with great courage, determination, perseverance and focus. He subjected
himself to painstaking martial training programme. At the age of 29, he put in
writing, His Definite Chief Aim ”to be the
first highest paid Oriental superstar in the United States.” http://strengthandsong.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/personality-analysis-of-bruce-lees-handwriting/. Bruce was also a philosopher. Check out his
many quotes at http://www.bruceleequotes.org/
Actor-Bruce Lee (演员-李小龙) Bruce Lee made
his screen debut as a baby in the film <Golden Gate Girl 金门女>
shot in the US. He went on to cast in
Kung Fu Master-Bruce Lee (武术家-李小龙) Bruce Lee was
passionate about martial arts. He was a student of Wing Chun 詠春Master
Ip Man 叶问at
the age of 13. When Bruce was
studying in the US, he founded his own martial arts school and studied the
styles and techniques of other martial arts in great depth. He later went on to
develop his own martial arts system called Jeet Kune Do 截拳道. He considered that, in any sports, yin
(tenderness) and yang (forcefulness), act as a pair of mutually complementary
and interdependent forces to form an inseparable whole.
My thoughts Bruce Lee’s learning attitude
impresses and inspires me. He believed
in a meticulous and systematic approach to learning, whether in dancing or
martial arts. To learn new things
thoroughly and systematically, layer upon layer. Take time to master each new idea or skill
before feeling comfortable enough to move on to the next. While we rejoice, take pride in Bruce’s
achievement and try to emulate him, let’s also remember to slow down at times,
to allow our body and mind to rest. Let’s strive for a happy, fruitful,
meaningful life!
Empty your mind. Be formless, be shapeless like water. Water can
flow or it can crash. Be water my friend
