2008 NEW YEAR FIREWORKS , TAIPEI

Hold the hand

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.
The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter,
"Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand."

"What's the difference?" Asked the puzzled father.
"There's a big difference," replied the little girl.

"If I hold your hand and something happens to me,
chances are that I may let your hand go.
But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go."

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.

So hold the hand of the person who loves you rather than expecting them to hold yours...
This message is too short......but carries a lot of Feelings.

GREAT WORDS

Burmese doctor awarded for humanitarian efforts

By Hungfu Hsueh
Taiwan News, Staff Reporter
Page 1
2007-12-14 01:30 AM

Burmese human rights worker Dr. Cynthia Maung yesterday received the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award in recognition of her contribution and 19 years of service in humanitarian work.
ADHRA, inaugurated in 2006, is given by the Taiwan Foundation of Democracy to human rights workers or organizations in the Asian Pacific region, and includes a US$100,000 cash award.

TFD said that Maung was selected by the final review board for her tenacious and long-term commitment to the thousands of Burmese refugees and migrant workers who seek refuge from oppression and violence by the Burmese military junta that governs the country, as well as for her dedication to training and educating those refugees in order to build a community based on respect for life and human rights.

President Chen Shui-bina presented the award yesterday to Maung, who called on the international community to pay more attention to human rights atrocities.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Maung said that after her 19 years of forced exile on the Thai-Burmese border, she still sees the Burmese people being subjected to oppression by the military junta amid deteriorating human rights conditions.

"Burma's military regime is one of the most corrupt one in the world," she said. "Without the assistance and support provided by the international community, the human rights condition in Burma would never improve."

Maung also stressed the importance of human rights education, saying that only by having people understand the importance of respecting human lives can lasting peace become feasible.

An estimated 150,000 Burmese refugees are in camps on the Thai-Burmese border, and around one million Brumes refugees are in exile in Thailand. It is also estimated that there are several hundred thousands of refugees inside Burma who have been displaced.

Maung, 48, is a member of the ethnic Karen minority and a refugee herself. In 1988 she was working at a hospital in Burma when clashes broke out between demonstrators and the military government and Burmese soldiers opened fire on civilians. Maung and 12 other hospital workers, running for their lives, fled to the jungles of Thailand and ended up at the Huay Kaloke refugee camp.

Maung started a makeshift clinic in 1989, close to the town of Mae Sot, in an effort to help victims of the deteriorating situation within Burma. The clinic now has the capacity to provide medical care to some 200 patients a day, free of cost.

The clinic's staff, which consists of five physicians, 140 health workers, and 100 support staff, provides, in addition to basic health care, such services as occupational training, health education and counseling, and HIV/AIDS prevention education. The clinic also provides housing for unaccompanied children and facilitates cultural and community events.

President Chen Shui-bian yesterday offered his congratulations to Dr. Cynthia, and said the crackdown on Burma's Saffron Revolution in September this year reminded him of the brutal response by a dictatorial regime to the 1989 democracy movement at Tiananmen Square in China.

Chen called on all democratic countries around the world to unite in pushing for the democratization of autocratic regimes.

The Buudha's Eight Conquests

MOTHER

M - O - T - H - E - R

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold;
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,

Mettā

Mettā (Pāli) or Maitrī (Sanskrit) means unconditional and unattached loving kindness. It is one of the ten pāramitās of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmavihāras. The mettā bhāvanā (cultivation of mettā) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.
The object of mettā meditation is to cultivate loving kindness (love without attachment, non-exclusive love) towards all sentient beings. The practice usually begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves (though this is not specifically recommended by the Buddha himself in the relevant suttas/sutras), then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers and finally their enemies. It is a good way to calm down a distraught mind because it is an antidote to anger. Someone who has cultivated mettā will not be easily angered and can quickly subdue anger that arises. They will be more caring, more loving, and more likely to love unconditionally.[citation needed]
Buddhists believe that those who cultivate mettā will be at ease because they see no need to harbour ill will or hostility. Buddhist teachers may even recommend meditation on mettā as an antidote to insomnia and nightmares. It is generally felt that those around a mettā-ful person will feel more comfortable and happy too. Radiating mettā is thought to contribute to a world of love, peace and happiness.

Article from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metta

WHAT IS LIFE ?

1. A characteristic state or mode of living; "social life"; "city life"; "real life" .

2. The course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living; "he hoped for a new life in Australia"; "he wanted to live his own life without interference from others" .

3. The experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities; "he could no longer cope with the complexities of life" .

4. Animation: the condition of living or the state of being alive; "while there's life there's hope"; "life depends on many chemical and physical processes" .

5. The period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he lived a long and happy life" .

6. The period between birth and the present time; "I have known him all his life" .

7. Liveliness: animation and energy in action or expression; "it was a heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to it" .

8. Biography: an account of the series of events making up a person's life
the period from the present until death; "he appointed himself emperor for life" .

9. A living person; "his heroism saved a life" .

10. Living things collectively; "the oceans are teeming with life" .

11. A motive for living; "pottery was his life" .

12. The organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones; "there is no life on the moon" .