Tag Archives: Buddha

Words Of Wisdom

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

So true. Life is about baby steps, and patience. Anything worth having is worth waiting for, and this teaching serves to remind us that life is all about the little things.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”

Essentially, our thoughts become our actions. Filling your mind with positive thoughts results in positive actions.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Harboring hate and resentment lowers your quality of life, not the person you are resenting. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

“However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?”

Actions speak louder than words. You can talk about doing great things and having high ambitions, but unless you act on them, that is all they are: words

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

Self discipline, self control, and self awareness are all essential elements to living a good life. There is no one in this world holding you back, except for you.

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Being thankful is the direct result of appreciating what you have. Appreciating each day for the opportunity simply to live it. You didn’t get to where you are, so be thankful for the experiences – good and bad- that have brought you to where you are.

“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”

Never stop moving forward. life is all about making the best of it, and as soon as you settle, you stop learning, growing, and achieving.

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What about traveling Sri Lanka with those Buddhist tattoos?

So before heading off to Sri Lanka I was googling around for visas and cool places to surf and stumbled upon this article – it’s about a British woman who got arrested and deported from Sri Lanka for displaying her tattoo of Buddha. And it seems to have happened to a few other travellers to… travel advice from the British is

The mistreatment of Buddhist images and artefacts is a serious offence and tourists have been convicted for this. British nationals have been refused entry to Sri Lanka or faced deportation for having visible tattoos of Buddha.

Ehrm so Pax has not one but two sleeves with Buddha on his arms. So this is going to be interesting I thought while Pax suspected I was playing a trick on him. Anyways off we went and took the good advice not to wave our arms around passing through immigration. And then – well quite a few local people reacted when they seen Pax arms but I suspect only because of hearing about that British woman not because they felt offended in any way. And when we asked why it would be offensive it was hard to get a proper answer the best one we got is something along the lines that if you have Buddha on your arm and then do something bad it’s disrespectful to Buddha. But altogether I would say nothing to worry to much about – Sri Lankan people are cool.

Midigama Temple

On Buddhas birthday we also went up to the temple at Midigama. Here are some photos of the temple & some of the cool locals we meet..  the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-2Some monks, you know, just standing around 🙂
the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-3
the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-4 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-5 24 Buddhas but i could only get 10 in the photo 🙂the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-6 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-7 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-8 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-9 I wanted to get a photo with me and Sara with the monk boys, but monks can’t touch or be seen with woman, so i had to go it alone..the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-10 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-11 Some photos of the local hipsters, a cool lot of kids, they where happy to try to talk to us and get their photo taken…the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-12 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-13 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-14 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-15

Buddhas Birthday

Buddhas birthday is one of the major festivals in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the first full moon day of the month of May. People engage in religious observances and decorate houses and streets with candles and specially made paper lanterns. Some stores give out free meals for people. They give all types of food away from rice & curry to ice cream and the place where we have been eating a lot  was one of the places that gives free food on this day. This day is like Christmas in  the west, but the big difference is the Sri Lankan people don’t just give to family and friends – they give to everyone. If you are driving, walking, flying past they will wave you over and make you eat. Its not a big ego day of what did you got, its a day when everyone gets the same free LOVE.. The coloured flags are also put up everywhere, they are the buddhist flag, The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism.  This is one day I wish we had in the west, its nice to know that everyone gets to eat on this day (even the homeless dogs)  and the people are so happy to give ..  Peace & LOVE x

Ps – HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDHA   🙂the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-1 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-2 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-3 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-4Me with Mama she’s been feeding us for the last 7 weeks

The homeless beach dog he’s cool the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-6 the-sidewalk-secrets-travel-blog-surf-sri-lanka-midigama-mirissa-surfing-sunset-8