Jim Carrey's Commencement Address, Mahrashi University of Management Graduation 2014

A very inspiring speech by Jim Carey.


The entire speech is inspiring and the one minute starting from 10'18" sums it all.
When confronted between Love and Fear, choose Love.  I believe that we all know that, but many are too afraid to take that leap of faith. Isn't it funny?

Christmas 2009

I attended Christmas Service at the church where my sister sings in the choir and goes to regularly. In the chapel, there was a verse projected on the front wall, "But the Lord is in His Temple: Let all the Earth keep silence before him." (Habbakuk 20:20). I find that moving, as it is only in this silence that we can communicate with god.

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While reading the verse on the wall, I noticed that there is no cross there. I happen to speak to the pastor after the service and he said that it is so that the congregation will focus on the worship of Jesus Christ, rather the symbolism of the cross. Personally, I would go one step further to focus on the teachings of Jesus. That is, not to confuse the singer with the song.

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The sermon mentioned about the historical context of Jesus and Pilate, and how Jesus died for all so that we can have eternal life. The message ultimately was for Christians to live a surrendered life and make Jesus the king of their life.

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"But, how many people, Christians or otherwise, dare live a surrendered life?" I thought. Do we truly dare to follow our hearts? Follow the path that we believe is spoken from the holy spirit. Or would rationality and materialism takes precedence?

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Fears and fatigue abound in life in a city state. It is normal. In urban life, we no longer spend our waking and sleeping hours according to the sun. The rhythm of urban life violates the natural cycles of daylight and tires us. Besides, in Singapore, we don't grow our own food and the only way to survive is to work on a business or job to make money to buy food.

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Before the church service, whilst at the local coffee shop for breakfast, I chanced upon an old lady, probably in her 80s, who was perturbed about a Buddhist monk who had converted to Christianity.

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"I asked him if the church provide his meals, but he didn't get my sarcasm," she said meaning to wake the ex-monk into material reality.

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Did she really mean it to say that if the church does take care of the ex-monk's meals that it would have been worthwhile converting to Christianity? Sadly, even at her advanced age, she suffers the myopia of not being able to see beyond the physical, creature comforts of material survival.

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So contemplating a 'surrendered life' is a tricky one. All mainstream religions preached that. It is therefore down to one's faith and belief in providence and the abundance in our eternally regenerative universe. I think for that, changing one's religion is not necessary, but changing one's thinking and resolve does.

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Here is the choir:

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Patience

[Writing in progress... be patient! :) ]

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I have hurried to post this here before I lose my patience. Also, it is so that I can still capture my feelings about the subject accurately and understand what still keeps me (and my patience) going. :)
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What is 'patience'?
If I still think of when 'something' is going to happen everyday, am I still patient?

Hmmm... I am not obsessive, so I guess I still am.
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An impatient person is one that runs 'out of character' and loses his peace. He is the sort that would dig out the germinating seeds just because he cannot see the green shoots coming out from the ground. An impatient person lacks the trust that the seeds will grow on their own. And of course, having dug out the seeds, the seeds die.
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We have all seen impatient people at some point in our life. For instance, the wife who could not take it any more and left her eternally optimistic entrepreneur husband struggling with his fledging business. Or the impatient business partner who throw insults at his associates because of the prevailing frustrations without offering any better solutions to the problems. Some have even led to law suits over problems that neither party have a fair solution to.
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Conversely, I also have heard of the wife who has been patient and understanding and accepted her husband back, after he has strayed in the marriage. Her motivation for her patience is love.

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Most people are impatient because they have limited themselves to what they can 'see' and their lacking in their 'trust' in the bigger scheme of things.

There are many processes that we cannot see with our naked eye or five senses and we therefore have to based on 'trust' if we want to get anywhere. 'Trust' is easier when we understand more about what is around us. More importantly, 'trust' also means understanding that we are not alone to make things happen.

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For instance, all my achievements, will not be possible without the help of others. Along the process, many of my friends have come forward to offer me encouragement, help and even money to make things happen. They all seemed to trust me totally. This is perhaps because I, in turn, have total trust in what I do and that they will work. I 'trust' because I know everything I can conceive and believe will work. It may take many steps of refinements to work, but they will. And unless I continue to emit this energy, and attract the same to me, success will not come to me.

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So I shouldn't be surprised that 'patience' is considered a virtue by the major religions of the world. (I was surprised, when I first read the Wikipedia about the subject.)
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The Wikipedia defines 'Patience' as:
The state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without becoming annoyed or upset; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast.

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Patience is often described as a core virtue in religion or spiritual practices.

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In the Jewish Bible, Christian Bible and the Koran, Job endures near-apocalyptic calamities without losing his patience or reproaching Divine Providence.

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In Judaism, Patience in God, it is said, will aid believers in finding the strength to be delivered from the evils that are inherent in the physical life.

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In Christianity, increasing patience is viewed as the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian who has accepted the gift of salvation (salvation = self elevation). The Proverbs note that "through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone" (Proverbs 25:14-16, NIV);

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Through patience, a Muslim believes that an individual can grow closer to God and thus attain true peace. The Muslim faith believes that without a good spirit while enduring, the struggle will not bear its full reward, thus, patiently persevering, striving and going forward, despite the difficulty, is the pinnacle of behavior during challenging times.

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In Buddhism, patience is one of the "perfections" that a bodhisattva trains in and practices to realize perfect enlightenment. Patience is recognized within Hinduism in the Bhagavad Gita. In both Hinduism and Buddhism there is a particular emphasis on meditation, aspects of which lead to a natural state of mindfulness that is conducive to patient, effective and well-organised thought.