Life observer 2

離開地面一尺

不是市集小販們此起彼落的叫賣聲。

不是從遠處聖母大教堂傳來的娓娓鐘聲。

也不是西貢河上擁擁攘攘的漁船所發出的引擎聲。

是轟隆隆的電單車聲，以千軍萬馬之勢，先把胡志明市這座法殖港城給吵醒的。

天微亮了，車龍出現了，震耳欲聾的車聲源自四面八方。大路上，小徑邊，窄巷內，川流不息着，為越南人開始鋪上一天的生活節奏。

每日進出市區的電單車不少過兩百萬輛，以第五區的唐人街為甚，其次為第一，三，十及十一區。

吵，是難免的。亂，也是無可厚非的。

居住在胡志明市而不聞電單車聲，那你的神識肯定是遺留在睡夢中了。

無所不在的車聲，是胡志明市的生活音符，翻滾着，充塞着整個空間，經由公路表面往地底深處下鑽。想要諦聽它跳動的脈搏，最好選擇離地面越近越好。

太高，觸目盡是一大片鋼骨水泥及稻田茶地。太低，又只能窺見污泥水道及高腳浮屋。

貼近地面觀察一個城市的精神面貌，比較接近真實記錄中的原汁原味。而“身入其境”指的，當然是自身對周遭的環境感受。

跳上一輛 Xe Om（越語為電單車之意），屏住呼吸，飛馳在房與樓之間的公路上。Xe Om 車伕擅操捷徑。所謂捷徑，多為民房住宅區內又長又窄的陋巷。好處是，少了公路上的水泄不通及烏煙瘴氣。而一路上，尚可親睹形形色色的人生百態。

依偎在母親懷里哭鬧的嬰兒，上學去的天真孩童，嬉笑玩樂的小伙子，晝夜辛勞不停的小販們，恩愛的情侶們，吵架的夫婦們，還有握着拐杖坐在曬太陽的老婆婆。

一幕緊跟着一幕的生命實相，以生老病死的詮釋方式，用極快的速度在我眼前呈現着，又如閃電般地消聲匿跡。在雙腳離地面一尺的水平線上飛馳着，盡入眼簾的每一幕都是一場活生生的戲。戲中的主角雖不是自己，卻總是息息相關。

場景和主角一直在更換着，聲音和空氣中的味道也隨着境界的不同而改變。還沒來得及明察眼前當下這一幕，下一幕又呼然而至。幕幕匆忙交替中顯得有點混亂，但又亂中有序，像小時候寫字用的大方格簿子，一格接一格地迅速被填滿，又一格格地被塗擦掉。

離開地面一尺不算高，在腳不着地的虛幻空間中飛走着，少了高空遨翔的遼闊自在，卻多了一份踏實之感。

我的靈魂騎在車背上，在一個又一個不經意的拐彎處，我總會帶有些期待，驚喜及一絲許無法自拔。

離開地面一尺，我尚未脫離娑婆世界的業力牽引，依舊在半真半假的時間空隙中飛馳着。經過眼前的景或物，是如此神速，如露亦如電。

闔上雙眼，把色塵拒絕在外境的門檻上，心不作他想，意不作他解，渾然忘我地飛越在有和無之間的生命長廊上。

只知道，雙腳一着地，"現實"即刻尾隨而至。

進出胡志明市區的電單車

Healthy living 3

多說好話

家人病時，你會關心慰問。好友不如意時，你會好言相勸，甚至心儀的寵物受驚時，你也會抱抱或摸摸它。

但當我們體內的器官受到壓迫時，你可曾好好地和它說過話？如果說一切生命皆有佛性，那器官內的每個細胞亦復如是。

大陸著名作家賈平凹害了多年的肺病，尋遍名醫都治不好。他把心一橫，索性隱居起來。幾年后重出文壇，肺病卻離奇地痊愈了。

記者追問他來龍去脈，只見他輕描淡寫道：我什麽藥都沒吃，這幾年就只是每天和我的肺說好話。

關懷的一句好話，勝過華佗的仙丹靈藥。

日本科學家已經證實，一杯水的分子結構能因一句好話而徹底改善。更何況是我們體內一個個生氣勃勃的細胞呢？

除非似木頭，一切生命皆有佛性

Healthy living 2

戒口

爬了幾百級的楷梯，終于登上了蘇瓦莆迪那大佛塔。

迎面撞上了一位喝得酩酊大醉的年輕藏人。他追着問我的名字, 我告訴了他。他窮追不捨，又問我吃肉或不吃肉。

我先是一征，然后回答：吃。

你吃肉？他口齒不清的咆哮着，用他的手指頭在我的手背上捻了一團肉，又大言不恥地說：你吃肉！你吃肉！

我被他這突如其來的舉動給震懾住了。回返曼谷后，我真的把肉給戒了。先從豬牛羊開始，接着是雞鵝鴨。

我和那位年輕藏人平生素未謀面，有緣相遇，多半為業力牽引。他那天雖喝醉了，心卻還是清醒着的。

時時提醒自己少吃眾生肉。

Life observer 1

凌晨兩點的飛機聲

凌晨兩點十分，躺在床上倘若還未墜入夢鄉，可以很清楚的諦聽到飛機劃過公寓上空的隆隆聲。

離我頭頂上方三萬五千尺，有一架載着各地乘客的747緩緩而行，我不知道它要飛往地球上的那一端。但每逢此刻，方察覺自己失眠了。

地上的人為了瑣碎塵事而睡不着。天上的人呢？

在寺廟旁偷睡懶覺的老人

Healthy living 1

有洞的菜才好吃

鄉下長大的人應該有聽說過，農夫自己種的瓜果蔬菜，自己也不敢食用，主因是農藥打得太多了。

你可能會反問，農藥成本貴又對人體有百害，打這麽多幹什麽？

若我們捫心自問，尤其是家庭主婦們，上超市買菜時，會否買有蟲洞的包菜？會否買帶疱的番茄？會否買表皮粗糙的黃瓜？

答案是非常明顯的，大家只要買漂亮的果菜，農夫們為了漂亮的收成而拼命打農藥把蟲蟻趕走。這些外表美觀的果菜，都沾滿了一層層毒性極濃的農藥，好看不好吃呀！

自己種的瓜果蔬菜不打農藥

Well beings 2

Tagore's house

Sufferings, in Rabindranath Tagore’s eyes, had become a good medicine for his questioning mind. From the close encounters he had with the people living off the dusty street, he penned what would become the world’s best literary works as judged by Nobel committees.

He was also under great influence from the Japanese masters at that time. He traveled extensively to the land of the rising sun, and immersed himself in the art of tea ceremony, meditations, paintings and Buddhist teachings.

One glance at his poems you would not wonder why. There was almost a zen touch in one of his Bengali poems that goes like this…

"Where movement is not all movement
and stillness is not all stillness;
where the idea and form,
the within and the without are united;
where infinite becomes finite,
yet not losing its infinity."

On 7 August 1941, Tagore breathed his last in the
comfort of his house, ending a life so beautifully lived.

Well beings 1

Mother Teresa's chair

I was particularly moved to see two chairs exhibited at a crammed room next to Mother Teresa's tomb. One was labeled as her regular wooden stool which she used to sit while working in her office. The other, a cushioned chair which she always refused to sit at work, at least not until when she was in great pain in her last ailing year.

She sat on that cushioned chair briefly for one last time on the morning of 5 september 1997. On the same day at 9.30pm, she peacefully passed away. Her last word: " Love one another as I have always loved you."

Another sentence also caught my teary eyes when I read from the exhibition material. I could hear her voice calling the world afar... " What you cannot do, I can. What you can do, I cannot. But together we can do beautiful things for God."

I got out of Mother House through the entrance where I was led in. The signboard, next to the door, made such a great impact on me. It read: MOTHER TERESA. IN.

I knew she still is. I could tell from the faces of those nuns and devotees.

The miracle of faith and selfless compassion

Lost & Found

The boy that has no name

I took pictures of him in a classroom last year in December. It was an orphanage near Thamel, not far from where I stayed.

I didn't know his name. Worst still, I lost the email address he gave me.

Tomorrow when I arrive Kathmandu, the first thing I will do is to try to locate him. And give him this picture I promised a year ago.

I hope he will not find me a stranger. Wish me luck.

The young orphan whose name I forgot

On the road 10

In the comfort of a stranger

I do not know how others feel. But being with a stranger, to me, can be quite a refreshing experience.

When you are on the road travelling, you are bound to meet some.

Be they the taxi driver that takes you around, the waiter that serves you, the hotel manager that accommodates you, or the bunch of kids that always pesters you for candies or money.

You can't walk away from them. For you can't probably survive in a strange country alone.

A stranger, if you observe it mindfully, provides you with a great opportunity to practice non-judgmental way of looking at things. When you see him or her for the first time, you have no burden from your previous baggage, and therefore you are more likely to look at the person as he or she is.

You will not label that person as good or bad, interesting or boring, hardworking or lazy, until you know him or her better. That's the trickiest part, once you know a person in details, you begin to judge with your own dualistic notions based on the information you yourself collected.

I like meeting strangers on the road. That feeling of non-judgment really releases me.

An old stranger I met in Patan

Viral buddhism

Karmapa on Facebook

When asked what his life mission was for the 21st century, the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, now 23 years old, promptly replied: " My mission in this life time is mainly dharma activity. However the dharma must change in order to suit the time and the needs of society and its people. I may give the Buddha dharma a new external shape. I will update its expression so it can most effectively benefit the people in this modern time."

Indeed, his statement comes timely, especially in this high tech era where playlist.com replaces conventional hi fi, and sms spreads the news faster than BBC and CNN.

I was on the net last night. and to my surprise I came across the 17th Karmapa on the Facebook too, with thousands of fans across the globe checking out his activities on a daily basis. He has quickly risen to be an iconic star in the west after confirmation by the 14th Dalai Lama that he was the incarnation of the 16th Karmapa who used to reside at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.

His recent visit to the USA proved he has more than just good looks. His presence at the venue drawed in as many as 30,000 faithful devotees. His talks inspired many who came close to tears.

Even I was tempted, though not successfully, to become a fan on his Facebook.

www.facebook.com/pages/Karmapa/10737498099

In Rumtek or any part of Sikkim I saw him everywhere

Moroccan touch 1

說走就走

旅行，其實就是短期離家出走的經歷。

每一趟的出走，我把家人、朋友、工作及熟悉的環境擱置一旁，全心投入一個陌生的國度，讓自己疲于奔走的心暫時沉澱于異國風情的空茫中。

和其他旅人相比，我每一回上路，都不攜帶《孤星》旅游指南，只隨着性情和喜好，不管任何季節，一興起，背上背包，說走就走。

發現 Quarzazate，也是一次沒有設防的遊歷。

從卡薩布蘭卡 一路往南下，途經馬拉喀什，整十個小時的旅程中，我風塵僕僕地在高速公路上穿行于荒漠及峽谷間。當日光漸漸依山盡，夜幕低垂下的阿特拉斯山脈，美得難以言喻。

那柔柔的淡黃色月光撒瀉在覆蓋着微微發光的雪白山坡上，像剛抹上脂粉的回族少女。四周一片山靄蒼蒼，時有倦鳥歸巢，偶爾經過山區的小村落，藏有幾許零星燈火，儼如夜空中的朦朧辰星，閃閃爍爍叫人難以捉摸。

山迴路轉處，都是鬼斧神工只有阿拉真神才能造就的雄偉峰嶺，還有那些用石板及泥塊層層疊疊建構起來的傳統民居，在一片田野好山水之中勾勒出家的形象，給予夜間趕路的我一份沁人的靜謐。

我知道，這一路上的月落烏啼，今生沒有多少個機會能再讓我重遇。

Quarzazate 古城入口處

Moroccan touch 2

獨享山空

張開雙眼，面前晨光流滿一地，石土建造的房子聳立在眼前，而冬晨懶懶的陽光正為眼前匠心獨運的一磚一石，一樑一瓦，鋪添瑰麗的色彩。甚至是生了鏽的鐵門，依稀還展現出巧奪天工，釋放出幽幽的摩洛哥文化精粹。

多年游走的經驗告訴我，那些通俗平凡的地方，往往天意安排無數次的重訪，而那些山明水秀人情豐厚的地方，卻往往總是匆匆一瞥。

所以，每回被眼前的景象觸動，我都恣意貪婪地吸收、品味、沉澱。

就在一個拐彎處，期待已久的景象排山倒海般向我涌來，如此的震撼和悸動，已是如今鮮有的體驗了。

五層高的 Ait Benhaddou 大古堡近在咫尺，泥磚古堡櫛比鱗次大放異彩，輝煌的金褐色在晨光的折射下有如一件稀世古老珍品。令我驚悚的是，卑賤的爛泥巴也能孕育出如此氣勢磅礡的雄偉建築。

我小心翼翼趨近，伸手觸摸那扇住滿歲月精虫的大拱門，感受古堡體內蘊藏的一點一滴精華。此時的我，早已變成一台攝影機，時刻警戒地發掘身旁的事物，惟恐錯過眼前的龐巨荒漠峽谷、匪夷所思的泥磚古堡，以及隨時在面前經過，身着鮮艷衣飾又笑容靦腆的巴巴里人。

古堡旁的一角，樓房牆壁的花巧裝潢與手繪紋樣，也同樣叫我傾心凝足近觀，我細心地將每個映入眼簾的畫面留下，永遠保持着原來的面目。

我低頭鑽進那些隱蔽的角落，迎着冷冽的北風，徐徐拾級而上。也幸好是旅游淡季，我不用在人潮推擠中亂了腳步和思緒，可以用冷靜的一顆心獨享山空。

爬上堡頂，居高臨下的角度很適合坐看這座天際山城，我循着崎嶇地面，進入每一間荒廢的房間尋幽探密，窗口外的景觀也隨着每一間不同的房間而變化。

雖是空山不見人，但聞人語嚮，古堡內似有似無的幽靈依舊徘徊不去，彷彿還浸淫在千年王朝的浩瀚記憶中。

卑賤的爛泥巴也能孕育出如此氣勢磅礡的雄偉建築

Moroccan touch 3

冬夜的饗宴

負責載我到 Ait Benhaddou 大古堡的司機叫Mohamad, 風趣的他曾參與好萊塢大制作 Gladiator 的場景布置。由于Quarzazate的地勢得天獨厚，地平線一覽無遺，許多經典名片如 Cleopatra, Kingdom of Heaven, Kundum 皆取景于此地。

Mohamad 是個典型的巴巴里人，友善率直又好客，他帶我回家作客，其妻子和孩子們皆對我的到訪雀躍不已。

傳統的摩洛哥家居有點類似中國的四合院，四周建有房間、廚房和客廳，中間的露天庭院則是冬日取暖的好地點。

在盛意難拒之下，我留下來和他們一家五口用晚飯，大伙兒圍坐在矮小的圓桌邊，一鍋地道的 Couscous 在冷冷的冬夜里吃起來，叫我這個過客感到異常的溫暖。

現在回想起來，那一頓飯雖然不是山珍海味，卻是我生命中最豐盛的饗宴。

Quarzazate 當地流行一句家戶喻曉的格言：登門造訪的客人是上帝派來的，給予他們你所擁有的。

我有幸親身體驗這句格言的含義，實屬人生一大樂事。

Mohamad和他的傳統摩洛哥家居

Give a little

The Little Painters

Saigon Children's Charity approached me to help them design two sets of greeting cards, one for Christmas, the other for Tet Vietnamese New Year.

A total of 200 children paintings was sent to me for my perusal and selection.

In those colourful strokes I saw hope and ambition, and a new generation eagerly to explore the world of opportunities outside.

The charity kicked off with a spectacular live performance by HCMC Ballet Symphony and Orchestra at the Conservatory of Music, followed by an Art and Photography exhibition sponsored by HSBC Bank.

Ms Thu, the organiser from Saigon Children's Society, called up one day, and told me the greeting cards were doing very well.

In return I wished her all the best for the year of 2009.

One of the Christmas paintings.

One of the Tet Vietnamese New Year paintings.

Going home

回家

離開家鄉已經整整15年，由于工作因素，曾先後定居新加坡、曼谷及胡志明市。

總覺得自己活像一個居無定所的游牧民族，一路上隨着周圍環境的改變而更換目的地。

就這樣來來回回十數年，從湄公河邊的寧靜公寓，密密麻麻的政府組屋，機場旁的法式民樓，到土生土長的民居板屋，回家，因地點不同，感受也不一。

唯一的不變，是家的味道。

身為一位廣告創意工作者，自己確實是比常人較能接受新奇事物。家的詮釋對我來說，也有了不同的精神與物質層面。

一個創意是先從一張白紙開始的。而一個家也是始于一個陌生的空間，經過日月精華的悉心照料及主人和房子的朝夕相處，家的氣氛才會全然地釋放出來。

住不久的房子不會有家的味道。就像床頭上的舊被單的味道，往往令我們更容易入眠，新的被單在怎麼華麗，也取代不了舊的。

最近回一趟吉隆坡公幹，才赫然發現茨廠街賣福建麵的金蓮記有了新家，但我還是喜歡坐在舊攤前享受嘈雜的叫賣聲。

上個月回曼谷，常光顧的那家日落街老字號餐館也已搬家，取而代之的是一棟別墅洋樓。

家，不會永遠固定在一點，不會永遠不變，但百變中依然不會離開主人的存在。

家和主人是互相依存的。

偶爾一連幾個星期到幾個不同國家出差，家的界線也隨着出入境的頻密而變得模糊起來。有時候，晨早醒來，時空的交錯下也難免混淆，不知自己身在何處。

家，時時隨着“境”轉。但對我來說，回到哪一個家，我似乎完全已不在乎。

記得把心也帶回家去。