Life

In Buddhism (or frankly, any religion), we're often taught that life is a gift, and it is precious. When I used to attend meditation classes in New York City, I was reminded how life is not only precious, but also fragile, and it can be taken away at a moment's notice. We humans, including myself, tend to focus too much on the future, when we should take care of the present moments. The future is not guaranteed, but simply our imagination of wishes and desires. If we don't train our minds properly, we can easily get carried away and worry incessantly about life's trivialities.

Last week, while I was busy having sun and fun in Boracay, I found out that a former teacher colleague of mine passed away. I didn't know him well, but he was my next door neighbor last year. He kept to himself, but I got the impression that he was a brilliant man. He authored a number of books, and he was well-respected by the rest of the faculty and his students. The only downfall that I noticed, was his incessant drinking (he reeked of bai jiu all the time) and smoking. In fact, I once got into an argument with him because his smoking set-off the fire alarm for over an hour, and he was pretty drunk and incoherent.

Point is, I never really thought about him passing away. But I guess that's how life is. One minute, you're here, next minute, you're gone, and the only things you leave behind are eerie traces of yourself before the final moment. So, as morbid as this may sound, tomorrow is not a guarantee. Laugh as much as you can, enjoy every present moment, perform good deeds and embrace life. I would hate to pass away at a point in time when I'm busy worrying about silly things. In other words, don't sweat the small stuff.

RIP Richard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gordon_(Scottish_author)