FAID

Today, I would like to share a new English word, which is ‘FAID,’ that I create through out the Buddha’s teachings. Grammatically, ‘faid’ could be a ‘verb’ or a ‘noun.’ For the term of verb, faid means – somebody say / act / do something wrong or inappropriate whether he or she knew / know that was/is wrong or inappropriate or not. For the term of noun, faid stands for incorrect or inappropriate action or activity of somebody whether he or she know / knew that action / activity is/was wrong or inappropriate.

Each letter of ‘F’ ‘A’ ‘I’ ‘D’ stands for different specific reason and all four combinations become the new English word, ‘faid.’

In the word, ‘faid,’ the letter F stands for ‘Fear.’ I believe in that any one of us has had enough experience that we say/act/do something because of fear even though we know/knew it is/was incorrect or inappropriate. We did/are doing/will be doing those incorrect or inappropriate matters because of fear. We fear of dying. We fear of losing our jobs. We fear of losing relationship with somebody. We fear of losing something. We fear of ……..

Let me give you a true example for this. We often hear that many soldiers and officers in Burmese Army say they are doing many kinds of army duties even though they know those orders and duties are not right or inappropriate; but they are doing it because of fear – fear of their future, fear of losing their promotion, fear of consequences, etc. Next month, people of Burma will be voting an election, which will have invisible result/s because of many reasons. Any result of the election can become ‘illegal; any party in the election can become ‘illegal; any candidate in the election can become ‘illegal’ or ‘violence of state law’ or something like that for any reason of any mean by any high authority in any time. But Burmese people will be voting it because of fear though they all know / knew the election is inappropriate or not in the right way. And yet, some years or a few decades later, children or grand children of current voters might have chance to vote again in another new election for new kind of invisible future because of the election that their parents and grand parents voted was ‘illegal.’ But they all also will be participating in it because fear. That’s an example of F – Fear.

The letter A in ‘faid’ stands for ‘Anger.’ I knew it was inappropriate but I hit several times to my kids already because of my ‘anger.’ How many people are in the jail already because they did things those were not suitable or not right but they did it because of anger? I believe in that millions! Some people even kill some people because of anger. Any way, we all have had more than enough life-long experiences about these kinds of consequences of anger by ourselves and by the others as well. That’s A – Anger.

I stands for ‘ignorance’ in this word of ‘faid.’ We often do wrong or unsuitable things because of we do not know which is the right or suitable way. We did it; we are doing it; and we will be doing those matters because we do not know exact the right way/s. We often see in the courts – people say that they did not know it was right or wrong at that time, and so on, and so forth… That’s I – Ignorance.

The last letter, D of ‘faid’ stands for Desire. We often say/act/do incorrect and inappropriate things because we desire; we want; we wish though we know it is incorrect and inappropriate. But we are doing it because of our desire, which could be our greed, our jealous, etc.. That’s D – Desire.

So now, we have new English word, which is ‘faid,’ and we know the meaning of it, already.
I have a frank question for you my friend that how many times do you faid in a day? How many times other human beings in the world are faiding? Can you imagine about it? Since then, the world (humans’ world) is full with those ‘faids.’ In other words, whether we / you like it or not, we or you are living with FAIDs.

Thank you and have a great day!

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The Hold and the Freedom

(Let our children grow more innocently than we are!!)

A few weeks ago, I went to a park with my children. One of my daughters had grape-tomato in her hands and the other one was holding her little toys. The problem was that they both could not be able to climb or play around in the park because their hands were not free to hold the other things. In other words, they could not go higher because of their holding; kind of self-hinders on the way of higher, further places or freedom.

Then, I remember one of the Buddha’s examples about - how the holds make us away from freedom.

Once, a hunter set up a couple coconuts to catch the jungle monkeys. He made a little hole at one side of the coconut/s and put monkeys’ favorite foods inside. On the other side of coconut/s, he put a small and strong string. He grabbed the string/s and hided in a bush.

When the monkeys came, they found coconuts full of their favorite foods inside. Monkeys even fought each other to get the coconuts. Finally, the biggest ones of the group won the fight and they got the coconuts. The giant monkeys began to eat foods that were inside of the coconuts. The holes those the hunter set up in coconuts were big enough to put monkeys’ hands but when they hold food inside, they were not able to take their hands out. The clever hunter put food that made such tasteful smell for monkeys. Because of the smell, as well as they felt foods in their hands, hungry monkeys tried to take out their hands from the coconuts. However, the tighter they hold foods, the more difficulties they faced to take their hands out. At the same time, the hunter was pulling the strings into the bush where he was hiding, till the monkeys reached for good enough place to be caught.

Poor monkeys knew lately that the more they were holding foods (their favorites), the further from freedom or the nearer to the danger.

The stories demonstrated many lessons for us and some of them could be the followings:

- Our greediness often leads us to be in danger or it makes us to go far away from freedom.

- Because of our holds, we are not able to get the other things. (Ours are full already with what we have.) In other words, we cannot go higher, further and into the true freedom, with holding those (our favorite, loves, hates, beliefs, isms, etc….) matters. Even it is difficult to see or accept the others’ favorites, loves, hates, beliefs, isms, etc. Eventually, we become self-slaves of our favorites, loves, hates, beliefs, isms and so on. Humans, the highest thinkers among all creations, should live above of them, but instead, we are under of them, and become the slaves of them, and even we are fighting, killing and destroying each other as slaves of those matters. The worse and more sorrowful thing is that we consciously or unconsciously are setting our innocent new generations to actively participate in those slavery matters (because of our weaknesses) and to our children get troubling futures where there never will be ending!!!

- The tighter we hold the further from true freedom. And yet, nothing of them is not permanent since all things are moving, changing, occurring and disappearing in its or their time.

At least, let us try to not to be self-slaves of what we have, love, hate, favor and believe. After we pass this stage, we will have grand opportunity to see clearer each other!

Please remember that the more we hold / grab the further from freedom or higher places!

Thank you!

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