GEDE PRAMA

Once upon a time, there was a mother with one son and a daughter. The son was an ice cream peddler, therefore the mother lamented for him during the rainy days for almost no one buy from him. The daughter was happened to be an umbrella seller and so the mother grieved for her on the sunny days for she could only sell a few of her goods. And there went the mother, filled her life with nothing but sorrow. Read More…

A friend who is a fan of Paramita Rusadi (an Indonesian actress) has a unique way in expressing his admiration by uttering the idol’s name every time he meets a beautiful woman. The place can be anywhere; on the street, market, mall, office; he practically brings the custom everywhere he goes. However, when he sees his own wife who doesn’t take care of him, he has another spell which is: “Really bad”. Read More…

Following the rapid emerge of disasters (such as tsunami, erupting volcano, terrorist bomb, hot-mud, flood and land slide) along with their countless victims, a lot of people then wonder if God is in fury. A query that, though simple, has become the major inquiry in many discourses. And, as usual, there are also two kinds of answers: positive and negative. Read More…

Take a look at my blossoming garden,
The flowers, some are white and some are red,
Watered are they everyday by me,
Roses and jasmines, all are beautiful.

Suffering and more sufferings are the mists of life taking turn in covering the world in recent years. The world has not recovered yet from the cold war when the terrorist suddenly devastated the twin buildings of the World Trade Center, followed by America’s attack on Iraq and Afghanistan. Earthquake, tsunami, storm, bomb, war, and conflict destroyed billions of life here and there. It is as if disasters never give up in plaguing mortals’ soul. A psychiatrist once quoted an ancient saying of “crazy world” upon witnessing a mother who, strained by life’s dilemmas, set fire on herself and her children.  Read More…

“The truth is awesome”. This might be the dominant nature of interaction between humans in the beginning of the 21st century. Being sure of his/her righteousness, someone might even do a killing. America and its allies felt certain of their righteousness thus they attacked Afghanistan and Iraq, and so were the terrorists with heir bombings. India – Pakistan, Palestine – Israel, and North Korea – South Korea are merely several examples on how the sense of righteousness might be followed by hostility. Read More…

Welcome to the lodge of contemplation. A mansion of sufferings where one shall experience the lamentation and grief for the countless melancholies in life. Nevertheless, as this small and modest book will briefly explore, the woes discussed here is not the common ones as they are the kind of misery that might be developed into substances for a soul’s evolution. They are sufferings granting opportunities to compensate karmic debts, acting as splendorous meditation materials, escorting souls into the realm of wisdom, and enlightening the path in discovering the ultimate healing. Read More…

Only a few among people wish to experience suffering. In times, suffering comes though uninvited. However, as what have been discussed about suffering (in Chapter 1) and about happiness (in Chapter 2), suffering is actually more than an inner feeling which is both feared and disliked. Suffering is a sign of an evolving soul. It purifies, grants opportunities to compensate karmic debts, and it is a splendorous material for meditation. Above all, suffering is also the one that might provide a very strong root to happiness that grows stronger inward (as bamboo). Read More…

Happiness is the wish of most people in this age. Everybody, from children to adults, desires it. Most of our activities as studying, working, praying, even doing social services, are in pursuit for happiness. In Dalai Lama’s words, there is one similarity among us: evading suffering and wanting happiness! Read More…

Suffering, sorrow, and misery seem to be the image of life in many parts of the world. Peace only made a temporary visit at the end of the strained cold war between two powerful countries over decades. The harmony was suddenly shattered by the terrorists’ wailing bomb that ruined the World Trade Center and indicated the beginning of a long suffering followed by sorrowful stories in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tranquility also stayed for only a brief moment in Middle East after its mourning for the late peace activist Jasser Arafat, resulted to another conflict involving machine guns and brutal violence. India and Pakistan have tried to sit together deciding strategies to create peace, still the killing devices refuse to cease creating misery in the lands that had borne a number of major religions. In Latin America, some outstanding world-peace makers (Paolo Coelho, to name one of them) have born, yet this does not put an end to the work of the suffering machines in the region. Nobel Prizes for the world peace has been granted yearly to the world’s famous people whose qualifications are beyond doubt, nevertheless peace is still a precious and luxurious commodity in this century. Read More…

In many occasions, His Holiness Dalai Lama mentioned that regardless of the religion, race, or ideology, there is one alikeness among us: “wish for happiness, denial for suffering”. Most people pray, work, and maintain household, in order to be happy and to avoid suffering. Perhaps this is why all works related to happiness are highly demanded by public. Read More…