What is happening guys? Two days ago, Aunty Susan found a brown golden retriever wandering around the Bandar Utama area. It had a collar and was well trained. Aunty Susan brought the dog all the way back to Bangsar and allowed the doggie to stay in the back area. So kind :D

Before leaving to volunteer with some stuff at my spiritual guide, Tsem Rinpoche's, household I decided to make a video about this dog.





 

The next day, I put the video up on a facebook page called Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better. I found the owner.

The owner who's name I will keep private for privacy issues came to my house the next day (Today) and picked up the dog. The owner was extremely happy. She even gave me and Aunty Susan a hamper that came with a card.

I found out that the dog's name was Ricky. A very cute name for a cute dog.

 The owner and Ricky reunited.


The hamper she gave us. Such kindess.


I hope the owner and Ricky will have an awesome life together!

Love,
Sean
www.facebook.com/AnimalBefriendersCoalition
www.youtube.com/user/SeanSays97
 
I was reading the blog of H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche and I found an article regarding 20 of the weirdest dishes from around the world. I will only be writing about 10 of them.

http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/20-things-you-dont-wanna-eat-or-do-you.html

I will be writing about my take on the various foods mentioned in the post. Why? It is because I am a food lover hehe.. 

1. Cambodia: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Yikes! I have arachnophobia  and that sense of fear is coming. Spiders are extremely scary little bugs (or arachnids). I find it very odd that people are willing to eat them. I know, I know, Cambodia was once a poverty-filled country and it still is. But eating spiders is going a bit to far. But I must say, the presentation for the dish is not half bad if it weren't for the spiders.

Weird factor: 6/10

2. Philippines : Balut



This is a snack that is made from half-fertilized duck or chicken egg. Yucks! I guess PETA was right this time with eggs having the life of a animal (or not really as the ones we eat are unfertilized). It is served with a little bit of salt (hopefully while it is not alive)  after being boiled (Ok...It most probably died while being boiled which is still bad). It apparently as popular as hotdogs in the US in the countries that do sell them. Yikes.

Weird factor:  8/10

3. Snake and Scorpion Wine



After a few days of fermentation, the venom is dissolved and it is ready to drink. I wouldn't drink that! One, I am creeped out by scorpions (even though they are a bit cool) and I wouldn't want them in my drink. And it seems that they drowned them in the wine. Disgusting!

Weird factor: 4/10

4. Cobra heart



This takes being bloodthirsty to a whole new level. It is like being a vampire except you are not glittered up and it is cobra blood instead of human blood. I would accept that I could be something that natives drink to prove their manliness but I would not have expected that people sell this commercially.

Weird Factor: 5/10

5. China : Birds Nest Soup



I actually do not know why this is on the list but it is still a bit weird as a lot of people spend a lot of good money on this! It is one of the most expensive dishes that people buy due to the difficulty in obtaining it.

Weird Factor: 1/10

6.  Baby Mice Wine

Traditional in China and Korea, this type of wine is said to be a "health tonic". People say that it tastes like raw gasoline. Yucks. The baby mice are drowned in the rice wine and left to ferment. Disgusting!

Weird Factor: 5/10


7. Casu Marzu, Sardinia

 This is maggot cheese. You know, when I first saw the word "Sardinia" I thought it would be infected Sardines but it was cheese. I am a cheese lover but I would never eat this cheese. If the larvae died, the cheese would be toxic. It is like eating a poisoned apple. Just, yuck.

Weird factor: 7/10

8. Indonesia: Kopi Luwak

This takes the term "This coffee tastes like shit" to  a whole new level. This coffee is made by a cat-like animal called the luwak. It is found in its shit. Yuck. It is also one of the most expensive and rarest coffees ever. So, now you can really tell people to eat shit!

Weird Factor: 6/10

9. Tuna's eyeball


 According to many people, it tastes better than it looks. I just find it odd to have a meal that looks back at me. Instant guilt trip!

Weird Factor: 9/10

10. Rocky Mountain Oysters



Yummy oysters! Oysters were once my favorite seafood. Well... These are not oysters. They are bull testicles.  I can guess why they decided to call the dish "oysters". I guess people will feel uncomfortable when the waiter says, "Wanna have some testicles on a plate?" People might be weirded out!

Weird factor: OVER 9000!






Ah, South Korea, it is a land full of wonderful scenery, the homeland of K-Pop artists and the birthplace of the popular Gangnam Style music video. South Korea is a very beautiful place. Or is it?

South Korea is also the land of dog meat consumption. In western countries, a lot of kids plead their parents for a pet dog. I would guess that some of the readers of this blog also had once longed for a dog, man's best friend, your companion that loves you even more than your wife in certain cases. 


Looks yummy, doesn't it?Well, that is the meat of an innocent puppy. The dish is called Gaegogi Muchim.

Nureongi

This is one of the common types of dogs fed to the South Koreans. They are called the Nureogi. They are so cute. Imagine cuddling with them as they lick you and love you.


Oh dearThat above, is the fate that these innocent Nureogi (or Old Yeller) in South Korea will have to endure. It is so saddening. How can cute doggies become food? It is so cruel.
Well, you may say that animals like cows and chickens are also cute and used for slaughter. That is true and that is one of the many reasons why I am vegetarian but the method of slaughter for these innocent doggies is very cruel and relentless and can even be more painful than the method used for slaughtering cows, chickens and other meats.

The way that these doggies is killed are that they are beaten after being prodded by electricity. Even though the electric prod had dulled their senses a bit, the dogs can feel the full amount of pain from the beatings they are given to help increase their tenderness.

After the painful beatings, the slaughterer will bring for the knife and use the popular method amongst all forms of slaughter, bleeding. They stab the knife into the throat of the dog and let it hang as it bleeds out while still alive.
Then after bleeding out a certain amount, the dogs, still alive, would be boiled to help make skinning the dog and removing its fur easier. The dog is drowned in the boiling water.

This cruelty must be stopped.
There is a solution. Go to facebook pages and spread awareness of this cruel practice. Email your friends. Tweet. The internet is a more powerful than the pen or the sword. Use it!

Kukkuripa

Kukkuripa, not to be confused with Kukumalu, is an indian mahasiddha, an indian saint. Kukkuripa means dog lover. That was because he loves dogs. He even had a dog with him while he did his meditations.

He meditated so well that at one point, he achieved many high attainments and got to go to Kechara Paradise (Not the one in the shopping center lah!)

paradise-engineering

He received many teachings and ate many feasts. In Kechara heaven, everything is a Dharma teaching, even a feast. But Kukkuripa could not stop thinking about his little doggie pal back in his cave.

stray dog

So, he left Kechara and went to his dog. He took care of the dog. And when he scratched the dog's back, the dog turned into a dakini.

She said, "Well done, you gave up Kechara Paradise to be with just a dog, it shows you have given up attachments, now your dakini will give you the final paradise (enlightenment)."

---------------------------------

This story is retold by me after learning of this story through His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche.  The story is here http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/heavenly-feast-or-a-dog.html

I think that the story is about how we should be detached from our "happinessess". Kukkuripa had so much compassion for his dog, he returned from a paradise to spend time to care for the dog.  It was not that he was "attached" to the dog, although it outwardly looks like it, but in fact, he returned to the dog to take care of it as he saw that the dog was lacking care. He was overwhelmed by compassion. It is a very moving story. What do you think? Do share it with your friends :)

Love
Sean














Two days ago, I was invited to Haven which is the abode of His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche to attend a teaching on Lama Tsongkhapa. I have made a blog post about Haven before, so do check it out.

The link is:
http://tenzinkhenchen.blogspot.com/2012/06/haven-experience.html

The teaching Rinpoche gave was about Tsongkhapa. I will type out what I learned from the teaching. Basically, what stood out for me and also, partially, in my own words.

First, Rinpoche taught the lineage of Tsongkhapa. The lineage that we practice, which is the Segyu lineage, is as follows:

Buddha Manjushri
V
Je Sherab Senge
V
Je Pelden Sangpo
V
Gyuchen Tashipa
V
Je Samdrub Gyatso
V
Tsondrupa
V
Dorje Sangpo
V
Khedrup Sangye Gyatso
V
 Kyabje Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo
V
Kyabje Zong Dorje Chang

Buddha Manjushri first taught the Guru Yoga as part of the Emanation Scripture.

The name of this lineage, Segyu, derives from the words 'Se' and 'Gyu'. 'Se' is a region in Tibet, it is the region of Tashi Lhumpo monastery. 'Gyu' means lineage. So, Segyu means the lineage of Se.

It is important to learn the lineage. Why? Because by learning the lineage, you would know that this teaching is not something just pulled out of thin air. Instead, you would understand it as something substantial as it had been practiced by many great lamas of the past.

Next, Rinpoche taught about the prophecies about Lama Tsongkhapa. 

During the time of Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, the Bodhisattva Strength-of-Mind had incarnated as the son of a Brahmin, the highest caste of the caste system. When meeting Shakyamuni, he offered a clear crystal mala up to the Buddha.

After receiving the mala, Shakyamuni placed his holy golden hands on the young boy's head and predicted to his disciple Ananda that 1500 years in the future, approximately, in the land to the North, of the red-faced barbarians, this young boy's future incarnation would be an emanation of Manjushri, he would establish a monastery by the name of "Ge" which means virtues, between the areas of Dri and Den.

 "After I pass away
And my pure doctrine is absent,
You will appear as an ordinary being,
Performing the deeds of a Buddha
And establishing the Joyful Land, the great Protector,
In the Land of the Snows."
~Buddha Shakyamuni in the Root Tantra of Manjushri

The conch shell story was also told. To read that story, kindly purchase the Lama Tsongkhapa comic book or box set!  You can buy them both here : http://vajrasecrets.com/the-illustrated-life-story-of-lama-tsongkhapa.html and http://vajrasecrets.com/tsongkhapa-boxset-english.html

Rinpoche also spoke about the benefits of practicing the guru yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa. 

The benefits are as follows:
  • Protection from Spirit Harm
  • Wisdom
  • Compassion
  • Spiritual power
  • Stability
  • Great Blessings
  • Powa Practice - the practice of being able to reincarnate at will and choose where you want to go.
  • Protection from Outer, Inner and Secret Obstacles
  • Avoid harm and weapons (Rinpoche jokingly stated that do not do this practice and say, "Shoot me!")
  • Crops, Food and Livelihood
  • Travel
  • Blessing Animals
  • Blessing Vitamins
  • For our parents
  • Enlightenment
Then, an explanation on how to do Mandala offerings was done. I will post the video on how to do it here in an update when the blog post on Rinpoche's blog comes up. 

Then, Rinpoche explained to us the meditation for Seven Wisdoms. The meditations are all similar, only the objects are different.

The "base" visualisation would be that you imagine that there is a tube from your crown to your heart. The tube is red on the inside and blue on the outside. At the bottom of the tube is a white light, it is your mind. It is surrounded by an 8-petal lotus. When you look up from the tube, you will see Maitreya Buddha in Tushita heaven and Lama Tsongkhapa. 

Visualise Lama Tsongkhapa and his 2 heart sons fuse into one light which is orange in colour, then that light is filled with millions of a specific object which will be listed below. Then, the light goes down the tube. Then, it fuses with your mind, which is the white light on tops of the lotus and from there, the light radiates and fills your whole body.

The items and names of the wisdom are as follows
  1. Great Wisdom ---- Manjushri
  2. Clear Wisdom ---- OM ARA PATSA NA DHI
  3. Quick Wisdom ---- DHI
  4. Widom of Teaching the Dharma ----Scriptures
  5. Profound Wisdom ---- Scripture and Sword
  6. Wisdom of Spiritual Debate ---- tiny wheels of swords
  7. Wisdom of writing the Dharma text ---- scriptures and small swords
The benefits for each wisdom:

1. Great Wisdom ---- ability understand and explain the scriptures
2. Clear Wisdom ---- understand and clarify the subtle teachings
3. Quick Wisdom ---- cuts non-understanding
4. Profound Wisdom ---- Understand and explain the scripture with depth
5. Wisdom of Teaching the Dharma ---- Teaching the Dharma with skillful means
6. Wisdom of Spiritual Debate ---- To be able to bring out your point skillfully
7. Wisdom of writing the Dharma text ---- When people read the text you write, they will understand better.

That concludes the part I remember about the teachings. The video will soon be up and will place it here.

I have so much gratitude to be able to learn the guru yoga from Rinpoche as it must mean that I had amassed a lot of merit to be able to learn this. I do not know what I had done in a past life to be this fortunate.

There is a difference from learning from a book and learning from a living, breathing Lama. When you listen to a Lama you will be hearing the pure teachings from someone that has a lot of compassion and you can also ask questions and understand better.

I also remember reading somewhere online, I forgot where but the thing is, if someone teaches you something, your mind receives it better than reading a book.

Thank you for the teaching, Rinpoche and thank you to the Ladrang staff who arranged for the event.

Here is a link to learn more about Tsongkhapa from Rinpoche's blog:

Bye!


Last Saturday, I went to Kechara Forest Retreat  that is in a forest (hence the name) near Bentong which is in Pahang. It is located in a place called Chamang.

According to the website:

"The Kechara Forest Retreat will be a place like no other, nestled in the deep mountains of Chamang, Bentong, about 1 1/2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur. This village is being created within the green tropical forest, with natural streams of crystal clear water running through it.
Within this lush eco-friendly environment, there will be buildings and features designed for students and visitors to enjoy various activities to calm the mind within the beauty of nature.
The land has been successfully acquired by Kechara House under the leadership of Kechara House President, Datuk May and her team. Datuk May is working hard with her team and everyone else in Kechara to fund raise for the development of the land and servicing of the loan.
Ground works have already begun with the team building a temporary abode for our Lama, His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche to live in. With the sheer dedication and hard work of Datuk May and her team, the temporary abode has been constructed, and soon, Rinpoche will frequent the land to do prayers and blessings in preparations for the construction works."
Here is a picture of the site from the website of Kechara Forest Retreat.
We left after lunch in a bus. The trip included a talk from Pastor Susan about Pujas and Stupas. The puja is fueled by our motivation. For example, if we pack out things for the trip with a good motivation, our puja begins there, at home, while we pack. 

In the bus, some people were sleeping, some people were talking. Lucas Tan and I were joking around with some of the people near us by asking riddles and telling jokes.

She even gave the attendees quizzes to win some incense, which you can purchase at Kechara Paradise outlets throughout Malaysia. 
The bus arrived at KFR at 5:30 p.m. Everyone bought candles and flowers to do their offerings. I did a candle offering. The people who came had the meritorious opportunity to offer candles and flowers to both Vajrayogini and Shakyamuni. Some of us also circumambulated the butterlamp house. 
After giving a tour of an area, Pastor Susan lead us in a very short but effective prayer. It was the refuge prayers and Shantideva prayers. 
The lovely dinner was catered by Kechara Oasis. (The word "Kechara" will bring you to the website, whereas the word "Oasis" will bring you to the fan page )
The food mainly consisted of Bi Hun, Fried Rice, White Rice, Fried Chicken and many other local and international delicacies and the best part was that it is completely vegetarian (obviously!). 
I waited for the older people to get their food first to be polite. When I went up, the fried chicken was finished but I got some delicious fried rice and some international-style food (I think Indian but not sure :P ) 
I sat with my friends, Lucas Tan, Lucas Roth, Julien, Jenny and Jason and many, many more of my friends and some new faces too! 
Then, the movie began after everyone sat down on a mat laid out for us. I will post the movie, which is The Village, right here:


It was a very interesting movie. It was not scary but it makes you think deeper of certain things. I shall not have a complete review of the movie or else I will completely spoil it but I can say that there are a lot of twists and turns in this movie. Hint: The thumbnail is already a spoiler :(

Amazingly, there were no mosquitos but there were a few bugs who sat on the screen because of the light. I was also surprised that it was not too hot and not too cold. The temperature was just right.

A big thank you to the KFR team who organised this trip!

Okay! Gotta go! Bye!


Dear all readers, here is a very interesting video about Stephen Hawking's view on the existence of god. It caused somewhat of a controversy.

I also made some notes of certain points in the video that I was interested in. I will also include my own personal views in the post in conjunction with the notes, so the notes are not just a transcription and the notes are also in my words too. Enjoy!




The video is based of the opinions and commentary of Stephen Hawking. This program examines the creation of the universe.

Stephen Hawking describes himself as a physicist, cosmologist and a dreamer. He may not be able to communicate like a normal human being and has to speak through a computer. However, he believes that unlike most humans, his mind is free. His question is whether there is a god that controls the universe, that controls all the stars and the planets and even both you and I. He introduces this as a research on how the universe was created and how it really works.

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (just kidding), the answer to all natural phenomena was  the god or gods made everything. The world was scary and everyone had to trust one god or another as an explanation for the strange habits of mother earth.

Even the mighty vikings are terrified of gods! They also place their faiths in gods like Thor!



(NOT THIS THOR LAH AIYO!!)

There is a story about a wolf god called Skoll (Not the WoW character). The wolf god would once in a while gobble up the sun. The vikings would be scared. They responded by screaming loudly and shouting and drumming and chanting war cries.

The sun would return because of their actions. At least that was what they believed. A hundred years later, this thing would be called a solar eclipse.


(Curse you, Skoll!)

Without a scientific explanation, think about how would it feel to have your sun that gives you warmth and light, suddenly disappear. You would be scared.

The vikings believed that by doing all those chants, they scared away Skoll. Now, with the scientific explanation. It comes to show that the universe is not as supernatural or mysterious as it seems.

Knowledge on how the universe works was supposed to be a god privilege. However, mortals have been able to understand how it works too. Anaxagoras is a greek philosopher who became interested about solar eclipses and figured the whole damn thing out and also proven that the Earth does not rotate around the sun.


For centuries, people with disabilities are referred to as a end-product of a curse from god. Stephen Hawking prefers to understand that it was because of the laws of nature.





There are two sets of laws. The analogy of tennis is used. There are the man-made laws. Whether it is an in or an out or whether it is a foul or not. 


Then, there are the laws of nature. It governs what happens when the ball is hit. The angle and the power, even to the energy from the muscles is all under the power of nature.



Unlike the laws of man, the laws of nature is unbreakable.


Because of this law, Stephen Hawking believes that there would be no role for God.


People would counter this by saying that god created these laws of nature.


Stephen Hawking proceeded to tel Galileo's story. He said that the discoveries that scientists made lessened the need for a god to exist.


Science does not deny religion, it just offers a simpler alternative to simple things like the eclipse.


Now, let us cook up a universe.


Ingredients:
999999 grams of Matter
2999999 Joules of energy
99999999999999 cubic kilometers of space
(numbers are purely fictional)


Albert Einstein had also proven that matter and energy are in fact the same thing. Thus, there are in actuality just 2 ingredients.


Space exists everywhere. Matter is anything that has mass. Matter is the same as energy. You can get a whole universe for free. 


Also, the laws of physics demands the existence of a negative energy. Imagine a man wants to build a hill on a flat piece of land. There is a hill and a hole now. It is still in balance.


When the big bang happened, there was a lot of positive and negative energy that equally balanced out and equals to zero. So, in the end our universe equals zero.


If the universe summed up to zero, you do not need a god to create it. Why would you need a god to create when nothing is created?


Then, the question is shifted to who made the big bang? Who started all of this? The answer is quantum mechanics.


On a sub atomic level, particles can appear and disappear at random.


Time actually began with the big bang. If you were to send a clock into a black hole, it would eventually stop (assuming it did not get crushed). Thus, time did not exist before the big bang as the universe was a big black hole. Thus, a god did not exist due to the lack of time for a god to exist.


According to Stephen Hawking, there is no afterlife. So, YOLO!!!


My personal belief is that god exists but not as a creator. God exists as a deity or supernatural being that is more powerful than regular humans. They do not govern but they live in a paradise called the god realm in Buddhism. I prefer the Buddhist belief and also Buddhism does not care about a creator god as that was already in the past and it would not be beneficial.


Ok, so peace out!





















The haven is the ladrang or household of my spiritual guide, His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche.  I spent the day there. It is such an honor to be able to serve my spiritual guide through helping to do chores in his house. 

A few minutes after I arrived, Li Kheng gave a short talk about Social Grace. Like how you should look, talk think and stuff like that. It was very interesting because it teaches you how to behave in a proper manner when speaking to people of high status, or people in general. For example, if we want to wear a specific type of color (cold or warm), we must maintain it from head to toe and things like that. 

After the class, I had some lunch. It was fried rice and some mushroom soup. It was very delicious. It was made by Levi, she is a very good cook. After having that delicious lunch, I helped to clean some of the plates. 


After that, I helped to cut the grass in the garden with hedge shears. It was a bit tough as I had trouble bending down but it was fun. It would have been easier with a lawn mower but I guess it would be too noisy. 

After cutting the grass on the front lawn, I went to cut the grass at the back lawn near the vegetable garden that Haven has. 

After that, I took a break by going on the blog of His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. The link is: http://blog.tsemtulku.com/. I was chatting with some of Rinpoche's followers like Timothy Miller and Terri Hellerich. I also played with the dog's at Haven (Yogi, Oser, Dharma and Dzamkar). Did I mention that Rinpoche is an really big animal lover? 

After the break, I went to the working area and Jean Mei made a little box for me on the whiteboard for my assignments. My assignments were to share Rinpoche's blog on 20 different facebook groups and write this blog post. Both are very fun to do! 

While doing my assignments, I was called to help Pavara wash out some maggot-infested potatoes and to do so without killing them. We couldn't figure out what to do. So, we threw away the rotten potatoes and washed the tray that once held the rotten maggot-infested potatoes.

My day here has not ended but I think all the interesting bits are said already. Most likely gonna have some tasty food for dinner later too.







Disclaimer: All humans have different tastebuds, so if the food tastes bad for you, it is just you. Thank you.

A vegetable stir-fry with eggs is a perfect dish for a family supper, this is very easy to prepare. Serve with either rice or crusty bread. Italian Ciabatta is highly recommended.

Ingredients:

  • 30 ml/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 225g/ 8 oz courgettes
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper, both seeded and thinly sliced
  • 10ml/2 tsp paprika
  • 400g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes (or cut your own)
  • 15ml/ 1 tbsp of tomato puree
  • 4 eggs
  • 115g/4 oz/1 cup cheddar cheese
  • salt and black pepper
  • fresh crusty bread, to serve
Method:
  1.  Heat the oil is a deep, heavy-based frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry over a medium heat. Stir for 4 minutes  until it softens.
  2. Cut the courgettes into 5cm/2 inches long batons or strips. Add the courgettes and red and yellow peppers to the onion and cook gently, stirring frequently, for 4 minutes, until the vegetables are beginning to soften.
  3. Stir in the paprika, tomatoes and tomato puree. Boil it then lower the heat and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
  4. Add egg
  5. Let it set.
  6. Add cheese slices on top.
  7. Wait for cheese to melt
  8. If possible fold in half or if that is to hard, scramble a bit.
  9. Serve with crusty bread.





In Confucian ideals, filial piety is a virtue of respect for one's parents and ancestors. According to the Classic of Filial Piety, Confucius once said: "In serving his parents, a filial son reveres them in daily life; he makes them happy while he nourishes them; he takes anxious care of them in sickness; he shows great sorrow over their death; and he sacrifices to them with solemnity. For Confucius, filial piety was not merely blind loyalty to one's parents. More important than the norms of xiào were the norms of benevolence and righteousness. For Confucius and Mencius, Xiao was a display of rén, which was ideally applied in one's dealings with all elders, thus making it a general norm of intergenerational relations. In reality, however, xiàowas usually reserved for one's own parents and grandparents, and was often elevated above the notions of rén and yì.

Now, for a Buddhist point, Hinayana Buddhism did not have a strong notion of filial piety. Buddhism in India involved many men leaving or abandoning their families, parents, wives, and children to become monks (Buddha himself was said to have done so). The true Buddhist had to reject all family ties, just as they had to reject social and class ties if they were to pursue Nirvana. Family was viewed as just another encumbrance of mortal life that had to be dealt with. Sorrow and grief were said to be "born of those who are dear. Buddhist monks were obligated to sever all ties with their family and to forget their ancestors. Theravada Buddhism stressed individual salvation, and had little room for the interdependent society that Confucianism had created in China, which stressed the good of the community more than the good of the individual. In India, Buddhism also advocated celibacy among its monks, which was unacceptable in the Confucian worldview, given that it was viewed as the child's duty to continue the parental line.

Judeo-Christian thought stresses following the Ten Commandments, which are recognized as the moral foundation in Judaism and Christianity. Lee et al argues that it is rarely practiced in the West and most children from a Judeo-Christian background do not honor and care for parents to the extent of those from Eastern backgrounds. This is, they argue, because in the West, the individual is more important than the family and when an elderly parent becomes a burden to the adult child, the needs of the adult child to be burden-free supersedes any feeling of obligation to care for the elderly parent.

In summary, Filial Piety is an attitude that is common amongst any race, religion or creed. Respect for one’s parents is universal!
Pujas are extremely beneficial. They can benefit yourself or others in many ways. Here is a place where you can get some pujas done for you :D

http://vajrasecrets.com/off-puja-say-a-little-prayer.html
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