Now I'm In Your World Like Hip Hop: Rediscovering Inner Peace..

"We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all." - Kalu Rinpoche

I think, for anyone to really understand that quote, they would have to reach a level of self understanding, self acceptance and enlightenment.. getting to that point is truly serene and self rewarding. I rarely ever get religious, so bare with me on this one.

I was at home by myself; bored, a little lonely, thoughts and memories ran through my head, with energy inside that wanted to be released in every ADHD form possible (youuu know how I get when I'm bored). I was trying to think of ways to distract myself in times like these, trying to remember what I use to do when I was younger or even recently. Out of nowhere, I remembered how much I use to meditate and pray before bed and how much comfort it brought to my soul whenever I would hear monks chant Buddhist prayers.

I searched youtube in hopes of possibly finding any familiar prayers, and sure enough, I found some. Hearing them makes me laugh a little, only because it brings me back to my childhood memories.

My dad use to force us, all 3 of us kids plus him, into the tiniest closet where he had our Buddha shrine set up and he would force us to sit there for what felt like 3 hours and pray for every night. He forced us to learn a prayer, word for word and line for line, until we were too big to all fit into that closet and he decided to stop. Every Lao New Year at the temple, we would sit and pray for hours and honestly, for me to be able to sit there and chant along to some of the prayers, it makes me proud; because a lot of Laotians of my generation are losing their cultural values, they go to Lao parties for face but don't show up for blessings.. just ridiculous. I owe my appreciation and love for my culture to my parents, without them, I'd be Plain Jane living life colourlessly in Canada.

Here's an example of one of the prayers:

Calming huh? I love it! Haha.

ANYWAYS, as promised.. Here are some pics from my brother's and sister's birthday party. I got them a cake, pinatas, presents and was on crowd patrol... I'd like to think that I'm the best sister ever! Enjoy and comment if you have any balls to! :)