a christmas fable

Oh well...

Once upon a time, there lived in Japan a feudal warlord. He had an only daughter. The general would do anything the princess asked. Well, the general would make the servants do anything the princess asked.

One day, it poured down outside. When the rain stopped, bubbles formed on the pond in the garden. "Wow," the princess gasped when she saw the colourful bubbles, "they're so beautiful!" She begged the general to string some of the bubbles into a necklace for her.

So the general summoned his gardeners, and ordered them to do the job. The men peered at the bubbles and then at each other, slowly shaking their heads. "Dear Master," they ventured, "this is impossible. Bubbles burst upon touch. How are we supposed to work with them?" "If none of you could carry out my order," the general threatened, "you will not be leaving yourselves much choice besides hara-kiri."

In the unsettling silence, the court's sideshow fool came forth. "Piece of cake, my master," he volunteered, "I'll do it." "Good, good," encouraged the warlord. "If you really could come up with the necklace for my beloved princess, I will spare these men's lives."

"Your Highness," the fool respectfully approached the princess and asked, "such pretty bubbles in the pond: big ones, small ones, shiny ones, colourful ones. They are so lovely. Sadly, the fool is too stupid to know which ones tickle the Princess's fancy. Would Your Highness pick out those you like? The fool will make the necklace right away."

The princess went to the edge of the pond to choose the bubbles. As you might expect, each one that she touched burst at once.

"What could be the delay, Your Highness?" the fool humbly inquired. "The Princess does not want the bubbles anymore?" "Yes, yes," answered the princess. "I have changed my mind. My Highness rather prefers a hoop of pretty flowers now." The general watched how the situation unfolded, and laughed heartily. "Your necks," he growled at the gardeners, "are spared. Now get your silly peasant asses out of my sight!" The folks followed the command immediately with a brisk jog. Making the flower-hoop for the princess, the sideshow fool turned around and looked at the warlord with a puzzled smile. "My dear master, would you like some bubbles?"

The "official" moral of the Japanese fable: Like the iridescent bubbles, which come from rain-water hitting pond-water, people and events are simply impersonal products of causes and conditions. As attractive or ugly as they seem, they have no intrinsic, independent existence. Due to their nature of flux, when you become attached to people, they change; when you cling to things, they disappear. More peace of mind is attained by expecting less from them than forcing life to always unfold your way. As the Buddha advises in the Arya Vajra Cchedaka Prajña Paramita Nama Mahayana Sutra: All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew and also lightning. Thus should they be contemplated. The sideshow idiot's private take: Avoid saying "no" directly into the boss's face, and leave the ladies to do their own Christmas shopping. Anyways. My wishes of a blessed and peaceful Holiday Season, folks. Yell if you feel like getting together for a pint of Guinness.

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濕碎

What's below is pretty self-explanatory. 不過要留意：以下大部份係古印度（唔係神州中華上國）o既概念。睇睇對恆河o既 reference 同 D 梵文字根就知。

大事：

• 10⁰ = 一
• 10¹ = 十 = 10
  （一個零）
• 10² = 百= 100
  （兩個零；如此類推）

• 10⁸ = 億
• 10¹² = 兆
• 10¹⁶ = 京

• 10⁴⁸ = 極
  （「極」原來唔係終極）

• 10⁵² = 恆河沙
• 10⁵⁶ = 阿僧祇
• 10⁶⁰ = 那由他
  （梵文 niyūta；不是「那便由得他」forget it 的意思。）
• 10⁶⁴ = 不可思議
  （That's incredible!）
• 10⁶⁸ = 無量
  （「無量」原來有「量」）
• 10⁷² = 大數

• 10⁷⁵⁺ …冇咯。（中亞 D 人幾千年前諗到o黎呢度都算誇張）

小事：

• 10^-1 = 分 = 1/10
  （一個零）
• 10^-2 = 釐 = 1/100
  （兩個零）
• 10^-3 = 毫 = 1/1000
  （三個零；如此類推）

• 10^-8 = 沙
• 10^-9 = 塵
• 10^-10 = 埃
• 10^-11 = 渺

• 10^-13 = 模糊
  （都開始咯…）

• 10^-15 = 須臾
• 10^-16 = 瞬息
• 10^-17 = 彈指
• 10^-18 = 剎那

原來「須臾」、「瞬息」、「彈指」、「剎那」都唔關時間事；係十進制單位…… 「須臾米」技術 as opposed to 「納米技術」？

• 10^-20 = 空虛
• 10^-21 = 清淨

10 X 清淨 = 空虛…… i see.

By the way，與其係數手指，佛家用比喻o黎形容一「劫」（梵文kalpa）o既長度：若每百年用絲巾將一座高十二由旬（一「由旬」≈ 9km）o既山輕輕抹o下。座山磨到冇o左，一「劫」都應該未過哂喎。

是這樣的。

cool money

This must be the most stylish "central bank" in the world. Yup, the "bank" is the building in the note.

And this is the flip-side with, besides the dragons, a dorje (Tibetan. Sanskrit: vajra):

What doubles this piece of paper's coolness is that virtually everyone david knows doesn't even know that the country exists.

And what makes it truly chic is, well {chuckle}, check out the length of their tai-pan's name across the bottom.

diamond life

Yeah, there are times to celebrate.

buddy bar

尋晚個牛一夜飯都算係俺咁大個仔最成功o既生日聚會咯。人齊、和洽、冇冷場、D o野都幾好食。

阿踢（上圖）仲泡製o左個 Buddy Buddy 扭蛋擦紙膠公仔送俾小衲：

嘻，個公仔加埋個背景比 Buddha Bar 自己個封面更加貼題…

aquellos ojos verdes

Old friend Craig—and Millie his much better half—bought david an exquisite birthday dinner this evening.

Or the evening of the 27th is supposed to be "yesterday evening"? No, sun's not up yet; this evening.

The couple then brought david to a new-age sort of tea house in SoHo to hang a bit before their journey home:

Well, david saw "lotus" in the menu, and asked for it:

Sipping the "lotus tea"—which actually was quite nice and refreshing—david saw a black cat lounging on the mat outside the restaurant across the small street:

The cat so utterly ignored the patrons entering and leaving the restaurant that she stirred up some wondering:

Oh I see.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License

中招

個 blog 兩個月冇更新，係因為前排發生o左 D 事，david 唔痛快o左一陣。冇耐諗通o左「若事還可救，云何不歡喜？若已不濟事，不樂有何益？」於是就結夏安居，專心搞o下漫畫（三十期嘍），個 blog 本來決定初秋先再理。

唏，點知都係要俾阿修羅揪番出o黎。

這個串連遊戲嘛…前排睇到，覺得不以為然。要自揭所謂「怪癖」… 嘿，抖得出o黎o既，睇白都唔 fetish、唔「怪」得去邊。唔通喜愛 PVC 易服、震蛋或男人都公告天下？況且 Sidekick 話齋，俺係關人隱士，冇乜同 D 自詡 “blogger”o既街坊來往。若果有人點俺出o黎，俺個 response 相信同太公唔會差好遠。

不過呢次呢，OK 啦，推薦三本好書，比之前個有意思得多。況且係阿修羅兄叫到…

講起阿修羅，我倆素未謀面；但仁兄佢對藏傳佛法 — 特別係甯瑪派「大圓滿」、「大中觀」所知甚深，所以小衲耐不耐會向佢請益（用o黎諗漫畫）。不過，阿修羅兄 D 回覆門檻勁高，唔係個個小衲都抵受得住。睇睇：

般若智慧能斷煩惱，如「金剛」能斷萬物。然般若智能被斷乎？曰：能。唯斷般若智者亦般若智也。

般若經有大般若(十萬偈)、中般若(二萬二千偈)、小般若(四仟偈)。中般若含攝大般若之精要，小般若則為中般若之攝集(見《大智度論》)。小般若之攝集更兼具堅利之性者，《金剛經》也。

佩服。

言歸正轉，三本俺最喜歡o既書。唔……

Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse 大膽咁將釋尊同釋達多太子分拆成兩個人，然後用優美絕倫o既 prose — david D prose 都係同大哥老笠o既 — 將王子由富貴（皇宮享福）變閉翳（苦行）又變富貴（富商）又變閉翳（船夫）然後睇穿摩羅面紗成佛o既古仔娓娓道來。呢本著作既奧妙之處係：逢五年多o左人生經驗，佢又變o左第本書；再過五年再多 D 人生經驗，佢又再變第本書… 我o個本揭到條書脊散哂；抵睇。

Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea

海明威寫《老人與海》用o既英文簡約到接近禪家妙境。示範o左用文字時愈克制唔濫情，個故事就愈見深刻。david 老友 Colan 話：睇見書中個老人家拼盡所有都結果係輸時，就明白「投哂降」係乜感覺…

村上春樹 - 1973 年的彈珠玩具

愉快o既嘻笑同銷費下面，係一個淡淡然但好傷感既古仔；好似一舊雨水色o既水晶。冇再版好耐咯。如果你好彩仲搵得到o既話，算執到好o野嘍…

呼，D hyperlink 打到手軟。留意呢三本書冇本過百五頁，可以想像 david 幾咁怕睇書…

Ta da！又到揀下家o既時間；答案係冇o既。唔係怕人炳，確實係乜人都唔識。

Voila! OK? 各位街坊，下不違例。再有 D 咁o既串連，唔該唔好搵我咯喎。

識時務者為俊傑

兩年幾前俺同何家超先生幫政府泡製o左個響 2002 年國際電聯亞洲電信展度代表香港o既「電子導遊」；叫 Nova。

我o地問秘書處可以玩幾癲；佢地阿姐出奇咁話：「去盡。」

於是我o地決定俾個滅火筒公仔同特首愈企愈近，含情默默咁望住佢笑。弦外之意盡在不言中。

呢個可能係香港第一個夠膽響「政府物料」裡面囉 “C.E.”o黎玩，又過到政府 approval o既 project。

順手玩埋響開幕禮唱歌o既 CoCo Li：

星沉海底當窗見，雨過河源隔座看。

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.....

A fanatically religious friend invited him one December to a Zen Buddhists' retreat at a monastery in Japan. "My man," the friend said, "you must join me this time! This retreat is yearly and special. It commemorates the Buddha's final enlightenment, and the training is double as tough!" He had turned down his friend twice before. He doubted the system of superstition and dogma which people had brewed since the Buddha passed away could produce another Buddha. But, this time, he accepted because his life was in a downward spiral. He wanted to get away for a while to check his bearing. "Who knows?" he thought. "It might even be fun..." The Zen Master gave everyone a private interview the first morning. "What are you doing here?" The master, who looked ordinary in each way, asked him bluntly. He noted, however, that the monk, in indescribable calm, never hesitated with anything the way he usually would. "To let go," he said to impress, but it was true. The master leaned forward, looked intently into his eyes for a moment, and grinned. "Sit outside at the porch through the night, and listen to the song of the wind," he ordered. "Sing me the song tomorrow." He was still scratching his head when he walked outside from the meditation hall that night. It was a clear night. Nobody was around; everyone else had been asked to just sit in the lotus posture and count their breaths. He lit a cigarette and settled down on the steps. "What the heck?" he asked himself again. There was only a little wind combing the trees. "Hell!" He snapped the cigarette into the dark, and wrapped the robe more tightly around himself. It was going to be a long night of vegetating in the cold. All he could hear in the stillness was the usual rapid chatter in his head, which was putting him to sleep. He wanted to stay awake, or the prefect might sneak up from behind and whack him on the shoulder with the bat. He decided that, if he was too stupid to understand what the wind had to sing, he would at least hear what his own mind wanted to say. He soon noticed that the chatter made no sense. The murmur was incoherent, fragmented, self-contradictory, and chased its own tail in loops. "If I wrote it down word for word, and showed it to people," he mused, "they'd think I'm mad." "So all this shit forms my thinking mind?" He became annoyed. As he had nothing better to do, he alternated his listening between the mind's gibberish and the wind. At three o'clock, the wind rose. Amidst the empty howling, other voices joined in. His dying mother, full of cancer, moaning softly in pain; the cry of his ex-wife, who followed through by throwing an ashtray into the back of his head; his kitten purring, asleep, in his lap like a tiny nuclear reactor; voices of everyone he'd ever seen; phone-calls, judgements, accusations... When he was aware of himself again, he was sobbing; but his mind had become still. The voices had become less distinct to each other. They were mingling to form a single stream. Then, like lightning, it struck him that the wind itself had never made a sound; the sound happened only when it brushed against something. People and events had no inherent meaning in themselves; the meaning came from his heart which he, alone, had spent years jerking around with abandon. He was listening not to the song of the wind, but that of his life. "Now; tell me," the master walked briskly towards him the next morning and asked aloud, "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" He straightened an arm and stretched the fingers. The master laughed heartily, and slapped the high five.

text ©1997-2005 idiotSupremo
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maverick meets nemesis

棋逢敵手。結果係我輸。

holland bank cheque

有日路過金鐘廊，見到 ABN-AMRO 擺人肉路障。個哥哥仔攔住我，問我要唔要信用咭，我話唔愛。跟住問我要唔要貸款，我又話唔愛。我反問佢可唔可以就地開個支票戶口，佢話我要自己去分行；但幾有興味咁問俺點解淨係要支票戶口。我老實講佢聽話我想開荷蘭銀行支票畀 D 老友記開心o下。哥哥仔一 D 都唔覺詫異，轉身繼續向其他行人推銷。

講開，holland bank 果然係 holland bank。佢o地個富人銀行服務叫

眾所周知，Vincent Van Gogh 佢老哥除o左畫風天下無雙之外，最出名就係窮。Van Gogh Preferred Banking 係咪表示佢地唔介意好似俺 D 兩袖清風o既客呢？想像又唔係喎，真奇怪。

dead ringers

david 有個 pet theory 解釋點解卓古華拉死後可以響拉丁美洲成為歷久不衰o既革命英雄標誌：

卓古華拉 1967 年十月被美國支持之玻利維亞軍人鎗殺

眾裡尋它千百度

	I may have the gift of prophecy, and know every hidden truth. I may have faith strong enough to move mountains, but if I have not love, I am nothing. Corinthians 14: 12 Figure 73. MONKEY STEALS THE PEACH This is the classical name for the upward groin slap. Drop to the right knee, swinging the arms like windmills to distract the enemy and deflect any defense he may offer. The left arm ends in jodan, the rising forearm block, protecting the head as you drop low and slide forward without stepping. The right arm swings up and back, circling from the shoulder. Turn the palm up as it swings between the enemy's feet to stun him (Figure 73). Figure 74. Application of the Monkey Steals the Peach Whip the arm as described and strike the enemy's groin with the open palm, fingers bent at the first joint in a Monkey Paw or Tiger Claw Fist (Figure 74). The impact will lift the enemy off the ground. Those skilled in chi kung can direct energy up the Ch'ueng Mo channel of the body and stop the heart. Followers of the Iron Hand styles immediately clench their fists tightly, with a crushing grip, and jerk the hand sharply back to the near hip, effectively ripping away the genitals. PS：出招前千祈唔好唔記得 swing the arms like windmills to distract the enemy and deflect any defense he may offer 喎。

釋摯友疑書

J；或者我應該補充一下…

david 響 My Funny Valentine 2005 o既結局篇曾經話：

「一個人不假思索地相信的所謂『實情』，通常不是真的 —— 往往些許質疑也經不起。」

J，須知多數人係相信：呢個世界係一個基於利益（唔係友情）o既互動遊戲；各人（媒體、商人、情人、同事、甚至子女）嘗試去影響他人時，都係從利益o既平衡或 maximization 出發。我幫人地洗腦、自己又俾另一批人洗腦、人云亦云，於是就產生o左呢個輕重是非不分o既反智世代：

• 「千祈唔好叫我用腦！」(點解冇人工加o既呢？)
• 「出o黎吹下牛，relax o下！」(亂講說話同鬆馳有乜關係？)
• 「我諗住疊樓實會升家嘛！」（兩、三萬蚊尺o個陣）
• 「你話點就點，我咪好冇面？」
• blah, blah, blah...

我唔係高高在上搞道德批判 (妳知我唔興)，而係經過o左無數教訓，我發覺o左如果學以上 D 街坊咁樣過生活，而仲想開心，成功o既機會非常接近零。

……

david o既朋友有兩批。一批係「甩甩漏漏」窮開心o既波希米亞「浪人」，另一批係「乜都有」o既所謂專業人士。Well，數數手指，前o個批統統冇事、自得快活。後者有近一半睇緊心理／精神醫生 — 思覺失調又有、緊張又有、抑鬱又有……

感慨良多。

Life is not remotely like what we're asked—or brainwashed—every day to see.

david 仔好彩o既話，一生已經過o左一半，唔好彩o既就過左大半咯。所以自知實行起上o黎對人o地、對自己o既安樂、自由都冇助益o既行動，幾 norm、幾「合理」(如炒樓、追名牌、求發達之類) 都無謂制咯。相比之下，俾人覺得所謂「唔合作」、「唔成熟」係小事一件。

是這樣的。

且送上（明）憨山德清大師o既《醒世歌》：

|休|生|麝|人|榮|喫|是|從|休|紅| |得|前|因|從|華|些|非|來|將|塵| |爭|枉|香|巧|終|虧|不|硬|自|白| |強|費|重|計|是|處|必|弩|己|浪| |來|心|身|誇|三|原|爭|弦|心|兩| |鬥|千|先|伶|更|無|人|先|田|茫| |勝|萬|死|俐|夢|礙|我|斷|昧|茫| |　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　| |百|死|蠶|天|富|退|彼|每|莫|忍| |年|後|為|自|貴|讓|此|見|把|辱| |渾|空|絲|從|還|三|何|剛|他|柔| |是|持|多|容|同|分|須|刀|人|和| |戲|手|命|定|九|也|論|口|過|是| |文|一|早|主|月|不|短|易|失|妙| |場|雙|亡|張|霜|妨|長|傷|揚|方| |　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　| |頃|悲|一|諂|老|春|世|惹|謹|到| |刻|歡|劑|曲|病|日|界|禍|慎|處| |一|離|養|貪|死|纔|由|只|應|隨| |聲|合|神|瞋|生|看|來|因|酬|緣| |鑼|朝|平|墮|誰|楊|多|搬|無|延| |鼓|朝|胃|地|替|柳|缺|口|懊|歲| |歇|鬧|散|獄|得|綠|陷|舌|惱|月| |　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　|　| |不|富|兩|公|酸|秋|幻|招|耐|終| |知|貴|鍾|平|甜|風|軀|愆|煩|身| |何|窮|和|正|苦|又|焉|多|作|安| |處|通|氣|直|辣|見|得|為|事|分| |是|日|二|即|自|菊|免|狠|好|度| |家|日|陳|天|承|花|無|心|商|時| |鄉|忙|湯|堂|當|黃|常|腸|量|光|

不知何處是家鄉……

五體投地。德清大師公認係「頂莊嚴」；苦口婆心，好明顯唔係敷衍緊我o地 D 小輩。

J；肺腑之言。共冕。

慵

兩岸猿聲啼不住，輕舟已過萬重山

	William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Orestes Pursued by the Furies 頭先有人o禁鐘，響個魚眼窿仔見到兩位女仕想傳教。 小衲即刻除o左件 T-shirt 同條 501，穿住孖煙通人字拖開門，用主恩賜o既肥美身體，嚇走o左兩位神o既使者；場面悲壯。

出土文物

小踢將小衲 1998 年個 homepage o既鬼魂招o左番o黎。

內文區幅圖片係千禧年第一個日出。呼，自己睇到都百感交集。