Recent Reading

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: A MEMOIR OF WAR, DISASTERS, AND SURVIVIAL By Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper's surprisingly personal and often gruesome account of the tragedies both in his own life and that which he covered as a foreign correspondent over the years: Somalia, Niger, Bosnia, Rwanda, Israel, Iraq, Tsunami, Katrina. Cooper witnessed some of the most horrific events in human history and many of the detailed descriptions of the plight of those he met and the condition of the corpses he had seen are hauntingly disturbing and disturbingly haunting. As a Vanderbilt, he certainly grew up rich and comfortable but also continuously puts himself at the front lines and in some of the most harrowing corners of the world. He also revealed in this book the deep sadness he feels for the deaths of his father and older brother and dedicated considerable length of this not-lengthy book recounting his childhood memories of them.

Memorable Quotes:

"[I]n truth, the world is constantly shifting: shape and size, location in space. It's got edges and chasms, too many to count. They open up, close, reappear somewhere else. Geologists may have mapped out the planet's tectonic plates - hidden shelves of rock that grind, one against the other, forming mountains, creating continents - but they can't plot the fault lines that run through our heads, divide our hearts. The map of the world is always changing; sometimes it happens overnight. All it takes is the blink of any eye, the squeeze of a trigger, a sudden gust of wind. Wake up and your life is perched on a precipice; fall asleep, it swallows you whole."

"To my mom and dad, and the spark of recognition that brought them together."

Quotable Quotes

"In whatever situation you find yourself, strive to be your best in that situation, not in some illusion you fear or crave. When things change, change with them."

"Why would anyone want to add to his or her suffering by posing as someone else's ideal, as someone else's illusion? Most often our suffering derives from unrealistic demands that we make or others make upon us."

By Zen Master Sheng Yen

The Elusive Happiness

我們所有人的身心內部都有一種鬥爭的傾向。

我們相信幸福只有在未來才會成為可能。

認識到我們已經到達了，

我們不必再遠行了，

我們已經在這裡了，

可以給我們帶來安寧和快樂。

我們幸福的條件已經具足了。

我們只要允許自己活在當下，

就能體會到它。

為了幸福，

我們還要尋找什麼?

一切東西都已經具足。

我們不必在自己前面放置一個追逐的目標，

然後相信在得到它以前自己不可能幸福。

初戀三摩地 By 一行禪師 (Thich Nhat Hanh)

臨江仙

夜飲東坡醒復醉，歸來彷彿三更。

家童鼻息已雷鳴。　　　　　　　

敲門都不應，倚杖聽江聲。　　　

長恨此身非吾有，何時忘卻營營。

夜闌風靜榖紋平。　　　　　　　

小舟從此逝，江海寄餘生。

蘇軾（1037—1101）

心藥方

大師諭世人曰：凡欲齊家、治國、學道、修身，先須服我十味妙藥，方可成就。

何名十味？好肚腸一條，慈悲心一片，溫柔半兩，道理三分，信行要緊，中直一塊，孝順十分，老實一個，陰騭全用，方便不拘多少。此藥用寬心鍋內炒，不要焦，不要躁，去火性三分，於平等盆內研碎，三思為末，六波羅密為丸，如菩提子大。每日進三服，不拘時候，用和氣湯送下。果能依此服之，無病不瘥。

切忌言清行濁、利己損人、 暗中箭、肚中毒、笑裏刀、兩頭蛇、平地起風波，以上七件，速須戒之。

此前十味，若能全用，可以致上福上壽，成佛作祖。若用其四五味者，亦可滅罪延年，消災免患。各方俱不用，後悔無所補，雖有扁鵲盧醫，所謂病在膏肓，亦難療矣。縱禱天地，祝神明，悉徒然哉！況此方不誤主顧，不費藥金，不勞煎煮，何不服之？

偈曰：　　此方絕妙合天機，不用盧師扁鵲醫。普勸善男並信女，急須對治莫狐疑。

石頭希遷禪師(AD 700 - 790)

Recent Reading

LIAR's POKER by Michael Lewis

Lewis' insider account of Salomon Brothers during the heady days of bond market boom in the 1980's. The description of the creation of the mortgage trading market and the resultant/subsequent savings and loans crisis echoes the sub-prime crisis we are seeing in the financial market (and quickly spreading to the rest of the economy) today.

Memorable quotes:

"[A British customer] disapproved of workdays longer than eight hours because, he said, 'you then arrive at the office in the morning with the same thoughts your left with late the night before.'"

"You don't get rich in [investment banking], you only attain a new level of relative poverty. You think Gutfreund feels rich? I'll bet not."

"Note to members of all governments: Be wary of Wall Streeters threatening crashes. They are tempted to do this whenever you encroach on their turf. But they can't cause a crash any more then they can prevent one."