Curtis Wong – Page 3 – KPYUSA Student blogs

Another early realization in my Dhamma practice – Knowing vs “KNOWING”

November 10, 2016

After attending Dhamma discussions for a while, my teachers started talking about internalizing. It is one thing to know, but another to believe. LP Anan related it to the stories about the enlightenment of Buddha’s disciples. One saw the petals falling off and flower, related it to impermanence and became enlightened…..WOW. I understand that! Why am I not enlightened? It goes beyond understanding, they truly believed. The first time I…

Collecting watches and other nice things

November 3, 2016

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Starting in college I started to like nice things. I bought nice pens, when I started working it became clothes and after working a couple of years, I got into collecting watches. I was looking at an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal for a Patek Phillipe watch. It was a simple design. Porcelain white dial with roman numerals, sub-second hand, 18kt case, with a leather strap. The bezel had…

The Movie “Lost in Hong Kong” and regret

October 27, 2016

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I was flying back home last week and saw a movie on the plane called “Lost in Hong Kong” It was basically a story of regret. There were these two art students who grew close to each other. While working on painting projects, BUT every time they were going to kiss, they were interrupted by some one. In the end, they the female student left for an art program at…

Double Standards

October 20, 2016

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One morning at the KPY retreat, I heard someone talking. I was awake already and took a look at my watch. It was 6am. My first thought was “wow that person is talking loud and there are other people who are probably still asleep.” AND YES, I said to myself, that I wouldn’t do that, I’d be more considerate. We’ll I got up a little while later and after cleaning…

Early realization in my Dhamma practice – “My Expectations”

October 13, 2016

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One of the major milestones in my Buddhism practice came about in 2013. By way of background, my son came to the US in mid 2012. He was nine years old, didn’t speak English and was spoiled by his grandparents in Thailand. I made an assessment (judgement) of him based on my limited interactions with him when I spent time with him in Thailand. I explained to my wife that…

Penny Dreadful

October 6, 2016

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I started watching the Netflix show Penny Dreadful. In one episode, this dialog occurred. Dorian Gray – I won by the way. Flash Jack. Ninety seven on the nose…Not that it matters. Cowboy – Why not? Dorian Gray – It’s not as diverting as it use to be. Once you get use to something, why bother? It’s just repetition… For those who don’t know, Dorian Gray is a character in…

Ramsey Bolton and Karma

September 29, 2016

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I was watching The Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 9. In the episode, Ramsey loses his battle with Jon Snow and loses his Castle. Sansa Stark (who is married to him and mistreated by him) gets her revenge. Ramsey is an evil man. He tortures and kills people. He feeds people to his dogs. He is cocky and will do what he needs to do to get what he…

Sharing a “Secret” Recipe

September 22, 2016

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If you hang out at the temple or if you are friends with me on facebook, you’ll know that I love to cook. I usually get recipes off the internet or take cooking classes in Bangkok when I’m on vacation. Once I know how to cook a dish, I would bring it to the Wat and offer it to the monks or share with friends there. Lately, I have been…

Karma – Curse or Blessing?

September 15, 2016

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This month in Buddhism class, we are talking about the Jataka (Stories about the Buddha’s prior lives). When the Buddha encounters a situation, he relates it to one of his prior lives and in telling the story, if one pays attention, one can see how mistakes made in prior lives are made again in the current life OR how they are corrected. KARMA SCARES ME. Like the biblical verse of…

The Juicer

September 8, 2016

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I was at the temple the other day helping them prepare for the Memorial Day weekend food sale at the Polo Fields in SF. I was helping make lime juice. I used a small juicer. LP Anan said it would be nice if we had two juicers, but the second one was broken. I checked to see if I could use the juicing head on the device, but I couldn’t….

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