Other Going-Ons

Perhaps it is true that I am blogging too much about Go, which of course is not a bad thing, but the fact is that for a Jack of All Trades like myself, there are other things that is happening that I would also like to talk about or update. My geeky friend (as I have called her since the first time I wrote on this blog) who is now in Hong Kong already complained that this blog of mine is becoming a blog exclusively about Go! Where did all the movies go? That is true.

Anyways, for a fact, I have not spent time exclusively on Go, which explains why I am still so bad at that game. Perhaps a short update on recent activities is due?

Non-Go related book that I am currently reading:

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life by Gerald Martin.

I have been quite a fan of Gabo (as he is affectionately called) and I wonder who wouldn’t if they have spent some time reading such works as ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE and LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA.

On his last visit to Malaysia, my dear friend Dr. Sudah whom I refer to as the Sexy Doctor or the Mahler lookalike (here is his blog:The Physician Anthropologist), was reading the aforesaid book and I was intrigued. Luckily I found the book in MPH which was a surprise after looking high and low in Kinokuniya and Borders to no avail.

Gabo’s story is very inspiring, a rags to riches story and I am currently at almost half of the book and is enjoying it very much. The opening chapter on the family genealogy can be quite confusing but should not be something that anyone who has read ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE cannot handle. After the opening chapter, the rest is a breeze and an enjoyable read. At a certain point, I thought I really wanted to be an author like Gabo too.

Movies Watched:

Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO ON THE CLIFF. Oh my goodness. I have been wanting to watch this for the longest time but alas! it was not shown in Malaysian cinemas. I managed to get a 2-DVD set while in Korea and have watched it. What an amazing piece of art this is. Ponyo is just so cute and adorable, the soundtrack is superb as usual and it is very uplifting. Both my wife and myself felt so much happier after watching this movie.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. I have also been waiting for this for the longest time and it did not disappoint. Typical Quentin Tarantino extravaganza of unforgettable scenes and dialog. I was quite worried about Brad Pitt before the movie but after watching it, I felt he is perfect for the role.

POKER KING. Despite being a fan of Texas Hold’em, I do not find this movie to be really good and I felt that the twist at the end of the movie rather lame. However, this is an enjoyable movie and quite entertaining. I like Wong You-nam very much in the movie. I cannot but compare it to ROUNDERS and I find ROUNDERS a better movie, although perhaps on the enjoyment level, POKER KING is at least at par. After the movie, I chatted with my geeky friend over the phone and she highlighted to me the subtleties in the movie, on the state of affairs in Macau and how the industry is wrecking havoc on the economy and such. Anyways, lovers of Hong Kong movie should not miss this movie though.

Well, that’s a few things that I am doing or have just recently done this week that is not Go related.

I am planning to start reading a novel but I can’t decide which one to read. Hmmmm……

Jeonju, Korea

So I am now back from Jeonju, Korea. It is a very nice town, serene and beautiful. It is a very good blend of the traditional and the modern. I could have lived there. It is also the hometown of Lee Changho, the top Go player who has won more than 20 world titles. Here is my picture with him. I was so fortunate to be able to have a photo with him. I met him in Singapore during the Ing cup but didn’t manage to take any photos, so here it is, one of my missions in Go has been accomplished :)

Photo credit: Billy

Jeanju is a nice blend of the traditional and the modern. On one side of the town we can see very traditional houses but just walk for a while and cross the street, it is a completely fashionable area with lots of teenagers and modern things to feast the senses.

Photo credit: Jayden

One of the dishes that Jeonju is famous for, the Bibimbap:

Photo credit: Xinwen

The Jeonju trip is for the Korea Prime Minister Cup (KPMC) Baduk (Go) Tournament. Here are some pictures:

Photo credit: Xinwen

Photo credit: Jayden

Some friends:

Handy – Indonesia Official

Sharen – Brunei Official

Jayden the superb photographer

Extremely blur guy Xinwen

Our player, the superb Zaid Waqi.

On the last day, we had a simultaneous game with professionals as well as touring. Here is the photo with the cute professional that I played with:

Some photos of the area (all thanks to our superb photographer Jayden.)

The champion from South Korea on the left versus Japan.

Bango Report

In my earlier post, I have made a vow to treat each game seriously and play seriously. I think I have more or less done that, I have tried to play more seriously although there are games that I have tried some new fuseki ideas (those I played with will know what I am talking about).

However, playing seriously is different from playing the most severe move every single time. You still can have a serious game but yet the moves may not be the most severe that one can imagine or play. This is because when you have a game that is won, you can safely play the moves that do not take the highest risks but play perhaps a second best move that can safely lead to a win. I am sure Hane Naoki sensei will endorse this idea as he has himself said this in his book “The Way of Creating a Thick and Strong Game”.

For example in my game with Anthony (one of the up and coming player, who is very determined to improve) yesterday, the first game I played him I gave him 4 handicap stones and won. Then we played a second game and Chyn playfully asked us to play a 6 handicap game which I thought, well why not? I won that game by 55points and Anthony said how come he lose so much more in a 6 handicap game compared to a 4 handicap game? I told him that it’s because in a 6 handicap game, my moves will be much more severe compared to a 4 handicap game. In that way, it is like what Hane Noaki sensei said, there is no need to take the highest risk and play the most severe move. Sometimes a low-risk second best move will win the game too.

Okay, today’s topic is about the 2nd Gobango Game that I have played. Since per my post below, I will write briefly on the bango games, here is something that I must pay more attention in my next game. I missed a handful of endgame moves and I realise I tend to really make mistakes in my endgame.

The game is against Philip (2d). I took black with no komi and I won that game by 22 points on the board. However, although it doesn’t affect the result of the game, I could have done something in the diagram below (approximate position only since we didn’t record the game). Black to move. What is the status? Can Black do anything? (this position is probably a 6-8kyu question. haha).

So Much To Study

There is so much to study on Go. It is only slightly lesser compared to the time when I self-studied my way to the ACCA qualification. Studying Go now gives me the same self-study feeling. A rundown of the study materials as are currently on my desk which forms part of my self-devised study plan:

1. Fuseki

a. Dictionary of Basic Fuseki by Rin Kaiho. This is to read through and understand the fundamentals of fuseki. Although a bit dated, it is really an excellent survey of fuseki thoughts and ideas.

b. A Dictionary of Modern Fuseki – Korean Style. This is to complement the above, to bring it more up to date, although fuseki ideas keep on improving by the day. One has to put a line for study, furthermore, just by understanding this materials will be good enough to up my games by at least a couple of stones.

2. Joseki

a. Dictionary of Basic Joseki by Ishida Yoshio. This is an excellent survey of joseki. The explanation of moves and why they are good and why some others are bad is really illuminating. Joseki is like contact fighting. By understanding joseki, one will have a better understanding on fighting.

b. After Joseki by Kim Sung Rae. Joseki is just that many moves but what happens after that? This book explores some of the common joseki, in fact so common I just played some of it in my last game. But the book succeeds in showing me all the danger points after the joseki and how to defend or exploit those points.

3. Problems (Tesuji/Tsumego/Reading)

a. Segoe Kensaku and Go Seigen – Tesuji Dictionary
b. Segoe Kensaku – The Book To Increase Your Fighting Strength At Go
c. Gokyo Shumyo
d. Shuko – The Only Move Vol. 1 & 2

[already recently completed the Lee Chanho Tsumego and Tesuji set of 6 volumes in each set]

4. Pro Games

a. The Complete Games of Go Seigen – I am now only focusing on volume 4 and 5, covering his games in the early 1933 and all his Jubango games.
b. Gu Li Games compilation. Gu Li inspire me a lot. I like his style.

[already read and studied Kamakura twice and all of the Shusaku vs Ota Yuza's Sanjubango, also twice. Went through about 30 Lee Changho games seriously once. this is besides the normal reading of current pro games that is freely available from the internet.]

Quite a lot of things to study and now with the Gobango series, there is now good avenue to put into practice the lessons learned and Confucius would have been proud.

The Obvious and the Not

“sharpening the eye that observes and the eyes that see”

Day by day, I appreciate Musashi’s words more and more. What brilliant insights.

What is obvious may not be the truth, the truth may not be obvious. If one relies only on external signs and jumps to conclusion, how foolish indeed. To be able to “see” beyond the obvious, to be able to deduce the truth from both obvious and not obvious signs, it is a deep skill indeed, a skill that is worth cultivating. Only then will one steer clear of danger.

As Sun Tzu also said, “Warfare is the Tao of Deception. Although you are capable, display incapability” etc. Therefore, since time immemorial, to have mastered the skill in seeing through deception, to be able to see things as they really are, and not only what they appear to be, will therefore lead a person out of danger and steer safely through a jungle of deception and false appearances.

This is applicable to many aspects of our life, whether playing a game of Go, bringing up our children, negotiating a business deal or going to war.

Disastrous Game

For the fun of it, we have started a Gobango series in the club. The gobango is inspired by the old Japanese masters where they have a series of 10 games but because we don’t have that much time, we reduced it to 5 games and thus Go bango. Each player in the club is free to choose his or her opponents. My opponents confirmed so far are Alex, Xinwen and Philip. I have two more slots of which to fill.

Yesterday I had my first game with Alex and it was a disaster especially towards the late midgame/early endgame where I lost a lot of points and needlessly throw away stones because I have failed in my second precept in Go, i.e., to always think and verify before playing. I failed to do that and as a result my opponent captured the stones that I have carelessly played and increased his territory. If not the result won’t be as disastrous as this.

At the beginning, it was still ok but a joseki mistake and some psychological problem resulted in my stones getting sealed in. The joseki mistake was the star point-kakari-pincer-jump joseki which I am not very good at but somehow chose. I have used the low Chinese Fuseki which I am currently studying and below is the board position up to move 8:

I have had a game with Alex previously and the board position up to here is exactly the same. And Alex made the same jump. As I was studying this fuseki, none of the games in the database suggested this jump. Here is the board pattern search of over 100,000 professional and high dan amateur games. The most common reply for White is at “a”, i.e. san-san. There must be a reason why no one in that 100,000 plus games played the jump as Alex did with move number 8. I wanted to experiment to find the answer but the results for me was disastrous. Perhaps I am not strong enough. Maybe someone strong reading this can help.

My theory is that it is bad for White to let Black get territory on both sides of the board, i.e. the right side and the top side. But I am not sure.

Below is the position up to move 81. I notice my weakness of loving territory too much and getting sealed in everywhere, resulting in my opponent getting a huge center framework. I am working towards improving this psychological weakness and be more daring to venture into the center and be non-attached to corner and side territory.

As per above, I have failed strategically to limit White’s center potential and did not exploit the weakness in the formation and this breaks my first precept, i.e. always have a plan. I have failed to evaluate strategy and failed to formulate a plan to counter that central potential.

So I deserve to lose this game but my next game, I will improve and do my best again. Go is such an enjoyable game. Even more so when playing with great friends :)

Innuendo-Belaian Jiwa

Old song but quite nice.

Emptiness

Wrongly viewed among people of the world, not understanding anything is itself considered emptiness. This is not real emptiness; it is all delusion.

Without any confusion in mind, without slacking off at any time, polishing the mind and attention, sharpening the eye that observes and the eyes that see, one should know real emptiness as the state where there is no obscurity and the clouds of confusion have cleared away.

Wisdom exists, logic exists, the Way exists, mind is empty.

- From the Book of Five Rings.

When Giants Fart

Ok, well, I could have used a less offensive word but I can’t think of one that has the punch. Anyways, sorry if you find it offensive, although it is funny if anyone would have found something that we do perhaps everyday offensive. Something like digging nose. Okay okay. Let’s move on.

Nowadays I am getting more and more aware of the environment, not that I am not previously especially after Al Gore’s excellent awareness generating campaign. This is because I am now (well, actually since April) the champion (the term is EMR) for our company’s ISO140001 :2004 Environmental Management System program. We should get certified by November 2009, which is soon and thereafter we are targeting a Green Certification either from the New Zealand Ecolabel or the LEED from the US.

Enormous amount of work! We have to look at each and every aspect of our raw materials and processes and each one of them must meet stringent green criteria.

I feel really great about this actually although this is an extra project that I have got to take on besides other stuffs I have to do. It gives me a feeling that I am contributing to something important.

Anyways, the thought of China and India and Brazil etc. coming out as upcoming economic super power is one of happiness but is also something that is of concern. Happy because we need a multipolar world. A world dominated by only one superpower is not going to be good. But above all, the thought of millions and millions of people is going to come out of “poverty” and have the opportunity to live a better life is very good.

But with all these there is a price to be paid especially the damage that is to be done to the environment (not only the damage to Man’s soul). Development eats natural resources. Lots and lots of them, from oil to aluminum, steel, coal, etc. And the burning of fuel contaminates the environment badly, especially from the burning of coal.

The thing is countries must grow but how to grow intelligently without great damage to the environment is the way forward. The old way of burning ourselves to death does not work. We need to work out new and better ways of doing things, use clean and renewable energy, etc. China contributes a lot to the world’s CO2 emission but China is also at the forefront in spending on new environmentally friendly energy. In fact China is focusing a lot on environmental issues as seen in the new laws that is being passed, as well as it is number one in the world in terms of green spending.

One of the nice thing I observed was when you buy books in Beijing, they wrap it in paper and tie it with strings. If you want a plastic bag, you have to pay more. This kind of practices is really good and I hope to see this happening in Malaysia as well. Also, architects have a great responsibility in designing houses or offices or factories that is environmentally friendly, by using natural lighting, solar and wind power, intelligent power management systems, natural air-ventilation systems, etc. We are already seeing a lot of these in new buildings in China.

After all, we have to take care of our house. But we also have to grow and make our people live a better life, lead a better quality life. But we can do it much more intelligently, with our new technologies and insights, our new understanding of science and engineering. If we continue to grow using the Industrial-Age methods, we will burn ourselves to death.

Vengeance

Finally managed to find some time to go and watch VENGEANCE, the new Johnnie To movie. One could not but think of Park Chan-wook’s vengeance trilogy (SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, OLD BOY and SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE) and make mental notes.

However, I feel that Johnnie To’s motive is not the same as Park’s also touching on the same subject. Johnnie To is more inclined to make visually stunning movies, cool movies. Watch SPARROW. What a cool movie it is. Johnnie’s movies are more about brotherhood and honour, about being cool, about “Yi Hei”, which reminds one of John Woo’s brotherhood movies such as A BETTER TOMORROW, only that Johnnie’s films are more extravagantly cool looking (the killer’s black raincoat uniform even though it was not raining, the cigarette smoking scene in SPARROW, the umbrella scenes in both SPARROW and VENGEANCE, the bicycle shooting scene in VENGEANCE, etc. etc.)

In fact, Johnnie’s films has always been cool. The scenes always so idiosyncratic and memorable (remember the shopping complex shoot-out scene in THE MISSION?).

So what is this VENGEANCE movie about? The plot is simple. Everything is in the execution. The topic of vengeance was not touched upon the way Park Chan-wook did. The movie is just about a family got killed by some killers and the wife’s father came and wanted revenge. And he himself hired killers to hunt his enemies down. That’s all. But go watch and see for yourself how the film was shot.

By the way, Wong Kar Wai’s ASHES OF TIME REDUX is now showing in the GSC International screens.

Also, I watched UP and love it! Don’t miss UP.

A Vow re Go

Here is something that I have been thinking about. I think I haven’t really put enough seriousness in playing Go. I mean I do play very serious games which all that is in my mind is to find a way to win, and win I must but a lot of my games are not serious at all. I noticed that all the strong players treat each game seriously, and they play to win. That mindset is the mindset to getting stronger. And I believe it and must now try to think that way too.

I am actually quite sick of having to say, “oh it’s just a teaching game, so the moves are to prompt the student”, or, “oh, I was just playing there to see if the ’student’ replies correctly or not”, or “I was just testing my moves”, or “I ‘let water’ only”. I am truly getting quite sick of this and I think this is a major roadblock to anyone wanting to improve Go. I don’t think any good and strong Go player thinks like this. To improve Go, there is only one way. To play seriously together with a desire to win, or at least this is what I believe now.

Come to think of it, it really makes no sense to lose and then give excuses. Why not win first then only talk? Why must one lose to teach or experiment? Why not win first then teach the student what he played wrong or win first then only say you could have ‘let water’? I think it is all excuses and to cheat oneself, to want to believe one is actually strong but could not take the fact that one is actually not as strong as one would like to believe. And thus the masking and the excuses.

This whole idea is wrong. It feels wrong.

Anyways, from now on, I vow to treat every game seriously. Played seriously with a desire to win. So if I lose, there shall be no excuses. There is only one reason why I lose. I am weaker than my opponent. At least for the game that has just concluded. And this shall be admitted. Only then will there be a path to become stronger.

And of course, if I win, I will refuse all the excuses my opponent gives me. I will just think he or she is weaker than me. At least for the game that we just played. I will assume he or she played seriously. If not playing seriously, why waste time and play at all? Better go to a movie?

Remember: If you lose, YOU are weaker. No excuses. Just go and study and practice more instead of giving excuses why you “could” have won. Face the fact. Face reality.

“It’s not denial. I’m just selective about the reality I accept.” -Calvin and Hobbes

Ego

I remember many years ago, in one of my training, the facilitator asked what is “Ego” and my friend Ashok who is always very clever and is also a big movie buff answered that Ego is what is between the Id and the Super-Ego. He is absolutely right. What a clever answer.

Anyways, what we learned was that Ego in itself is not a bad thing, contrary to what many people believe. In fact, having an Ego is a good thing and is essential to one’s psychological health. However, it is also a double edged sword when it is left unchecked.

I learn the lesson quite young, around 16 years old. I am sure I had my lessons before that but what happened when I was 16 impacted me greatly and even until now, I can still remember the scene vividly.

It was one of our usual band practice and being one of the leaders of the band then, I am seen as a fierce a**hole. Then one fine day, after the practice, a guy whom I was quite friendly with came up to me and told me this:

“You know, HD, what is your problem? Your problem is that you always, ALWAYS, have to win an argument, no matter if it is right or wrong”.

I remember that and appreciate it until now because firstly, it takes the guy considerable guts to dare say that to my face and secondly, he cares about me enough to tell me the truth while others may be caught in the emperor’s new clothes syndrome. For that I am thankful to that guy even until now. He even came to my wedding ;-)

What he told me really made me think. Why am I so stuck up and has to be correct all the time? Isn’t it possible that I be wrong sometimes too? Should I listen to what others have to say too?

My second lesson came after I started work. It just struck me deep and I still can remember my boss’s face as he told me:

“If you don’t know, just say you don’t know”.

So I begin to think, do I really HAVE to know everything? It is just impossible, so to stick to the idea that I HAVE to know everything when I don’t, I sometimes just Bullshit. And people know it when you bullshit. Or you parrot someone else opinions or thoughts. And people will know that you are just a parrot. People just know that YOU DON’T KNOW and you PRETEND that you know.

Nothing is more damaging to one’s reputation than being found out that you are just a pretentious parrot.

So these two are really important lessons. First, you are not always right, so be humble, listen to others. Then only will you learn.

Secondly, it is impossible that you know everything. There are bound to be things that you don’t know. And when you don’t know, just be humble (really humble, not pretend to he humble), and just say you don’t know (and bloody well get to learn it and know it).

Only then can one be truly humble, because to know what you know, and to know what you don’t know, that is a great wisdom.

So stop bullshitting and start living.

p/s: Other lessons I have learned:

Most of the time:
a. You are at most only half as clever and good as you think you are.
b. When you point one finger at others, always realize that there are at least three fingers pointing at you.
c. Confidence is when you are strong and willing enough to admit defeat, to acknowledge that you are inferior but with a belief that you shall overcome them, and you overcome them and emerge better. Confidence cannot come from pretending to know all answers and pretending to be good in everything when you are not.

Weekend Movies

I begin to watch more movies nowadays. That is probably because I have spent less time on Go now. Playing Go can sometimes be so frustrating. You invest so much time and effort in it but the results can be disappointing. And when you keep on losing, you really feel like giving up. But quitting is a bad word. Quitting is a sign of weakness. You can get away from it for a while, but you should not quit. You should not quit for the wrong reasons.

As is stated in the Book of Five Rings, the Fire Scroll under the chapter:

“To renew” applies when we are fighting with the enemy, and an entangled spirit arises where there is no possible resolution. We must abandon our efforts, think of the situation in a fresh spirit then win in the new rhythm. To renew, when we are deadlocked with the enemy, means that without changing our circumstance we change our spirit and win through a different technique.”

Anyways, here are the few movies that I thought is worth your hard-earned money that is still showing right now:

1. OVERHEARD (Hong Kong)
2. SETEM (Malay)
3. DISTRICT 9 (USA)

Hong Kong owes us a good movie. It owes us big time. OVERHEARD is one good one, although it cannot be said to be really superb. It is just a normal good movie, i.e. it is not a crap movie. The normal ingredients are there; greed, action, brotherhood, etc.

SETEM is a movie by Tayangan Unggul, my dear ex-company and the movie is good not because of sentimental values but is definitely a much more intelligent movie compared to the huge bunch of crap, ahem, locally made movies out there. It reminds me of BAIK PUNYA CILOK, only better. If you would like to watch a nice Malay movie, this is a good bet.

DISTRICT 9 is worth to be watched not only one time but perhaps two or three times. It is worth watching not because it is a big budget movie but because of the meaning it carries. It occurs to me more than just a few times how it reflects our human conditions although it is supposedly a movie about “aliens”. How we as human has inside us the seed for discrimination, of creed, of race, of greed and of class distinction. But also how, inside us too, there is a seed for great compassion and equality and a sense of justice. It is a movie very worth watching.

By the way, I am tuning in to Astro’s channel 110, a tribute channel to Yasmin Ahmad. SEPET is playing now. I have watched SEPET for so many times I lost count but each time I watch it, I am amazed by it. It is such an excellent, excellent movie.

The channel is quite nicely put together but it will be so much the greater if we can have RABUN, SEPET, GUBRA, MUKHSIN, MUALLAF and TALENTIME all together. I know the complications about rights and censorship etc. but it will just be such a great dream to be able to watch her movies freely, without all unnecessary interventions, just a pure appreciation of Yasmin’s vision and interpretation of the human condition, of a Malaysian’s Malaysia. Through her films, we can really and truly see that Malaysia is a great, great country and all the propaganda to make us feel less Malaysian, all those crap that makes us hate each others guts, is just so puny, so unnecessary and above all, so stupid in comparison.

My Problem With Buddhism

Normally, when people ask me what is my religion, I get stuck without an answer. Sometimes, to to escape, I will simply say Buddhism but the reality is that it is not the true answer. I can only say that I am more attracted to Buddhism as a practical philosophical system.

My problem with Buddhism is that I cannot accept or perhaps have not understood, if that is the better term, the concept of rebirth and Nirvana. From my previous post, I can understand that everything in this universe is a constant, nothing created, nothing destroyed. It is perhaps just a big recycling machine. So in this sense, “rebirth” as in the elements recycle itself do make sense to me.

But the rebirth as a continuous karmic existence, that I am not very sure. Also, according to Buddhism, when one achieves enlightenment, one achieves Nirvana which is a state of mind and one is no longer subject to rebirth and thus will be free from suffering. Or something like that as I understand it.

However, thinking again in terms of the Heart Sutra as in my previous post, what exactly is not reborn? If it is said that one achieves Nirvana and is not subject to the cycle of rebirth, then there must be something that is not reborn. And what is that? Your soul? In Buddhism, it is believed that the “soul” does not exist. If there is no “soul”, then what exactly is not being reborn?

I still can’t clear that hurdle. Perhaps I am still a little sparrow stuck in this world and enlightenment is still far, far away. But for what I am worth now, I cannot still get it.

The Heart of Understanding

The Heart Sutra is not an easy piece of work to understand. I have heard this sutra since I was young and all these while, the idea behind the sutra is at best a poetry to me and at worst, meaningless rhetoric.

Consider these sentences:

“Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”

Sounds cool, ain’t it? Not only does it sound cool, it also sounds romantic.

But what exactly does it mean, I really have no real clue and no real understanding. It just felt cool, that’s all although when sometimes not so good things happens to me, I will just tell myself, “Ah…. have it is no different from not having it, so not having it is fine. Life goes on…”. Something along that line.

It is not till recently where I bought the book again, this time with commentaries by Thich Nhat Hanh that I gain some small insight into the real meaning of the Heart Sutra.

He started his commentary rather simply. He said that the paper that I am looking at now is not paper but is really cloud. Why is it cloud while it is obviously paper? Is that guy trying to pull some tricks and tries to be mysterious and vague? You see, one way to make people think you are greater than them is to say something that is very vague but very grand sounding. By doing so, you give an impression of greatness because your mind is so advanced, normal mortals can’t understand what you are saying. Better still, start to create your own vocabulary. Now, you will be immortal, maybe like Hegel.

What he was trying to put through is something not new, especially in this age of science and technology. What he merely said was that because of clouds, we have rain, because of rain, we have trees, because of trees, we have paper. And the cycle goes on and on and on. The form changes but it is actually the same thing. This is not nuclear science. I think anyone who has some education will understand this, no? In science class, the teacher taught us that energy cannot be created and cannot be destroyed. It merely changed from one form to another. Not too hard to understand that I think.

So it goes on to ask, “empty”, empty of what? When we say something is empty, it has to be empty of something, no? When we say the cup is empty, it is empty of water, perhaps, but it is not empty of air. It still contains air. So when we say form is emptiness, emptiness is form, then it has to be empty of something. It is not just pure talk and BS, spoken to impress.

So it is empty of what?

He goes on to explain the sutra, and the answer is it is empty of itself. What does it mean by it is empty of itself? That means that something cannot exist by itself alone, it’s existence contains the existence of other things (recall the paper-cloud analogy) and thus because it cannot exist by itself independent of other things, therefore it is empty of itself. In short, it has no “self”.

So then one goes on to ask, hey if you say that I have no self, that I am not myself, then who the hell is the person typing away at the keyboard now or reading this blog now? It has to be something right?

Wow, this is going to be tough but there is actually an answer to it and it is right there in the book. If I continue here, it will be a very long post.

Suffice to say that the sutra is getting clearer to me now thanks to Thich Nhat Hanh. If you are interested in it, please do get it. The beauty is that there is are logical answers and there is no forcing to believe based on blind faith. And if you still can’t get to understand it? Well, fine. Just simply that when you eat, be mindful that you are eating. When you work, be mindful that you are working. And just be a good person, mindful of what he is doing. And in that, lies the dharma in its simplest and most original form.