The Sunday afternoon (Aug. 3) game was kind of yawner to me, or maybe my mind was just not there.  When we arrived around 19:00 yesterday, the arena immediately caught my eyes----The UFO shaped arena, all lit, glittering against the burning sky of summer sunset.  The grand beauty of the stadium and the flooding crowds from all directions presented such a an amazing picture that I knew I was both in and out of it, and I knew it would be a memorable evening.

Not having the camera with me, I took the picture with eyes and heart, and that moment is still vivid.

The scalpers were all after our extra comp tickets, despite the policemen.  I decided to sell them cheaper to two guys who came a long way just to watch the game.  The tickets were just money to the scalpers, but they could be nice memories to the guys who really love the game. 

The floor looked beautiful, and I enjoyed the sound when shoes of the players scratched the floor with their fast moving.  It is weird.  I know. 

The game was  a success.

 I'm not a sports fan, but feel closer than ever to the games, those just played, and the Bejing Olympics----yeah, we've made our way out there.

Within 20 minute after the game, the arena became vacant.  Last year, in the same arena, about the same time, after the audience all gone, it was so quiet.  Doug said, " Every time I would feel so strange and wonder whether something had indeed happened here a moment ago."  I remember jokingly answering, "yes, beautiful fireworks."

There's an end to everything.  But we just know it was there ( or we were there ), and we were definitely shaped by its existence, in whatever ways, whether within our awareness or not.

When I drove out of QiZhong, I made a detour to go around the stadium, though it was already late.  It was dark, but I could see clearly into last year when I was doing exactly the same thing, but it was in the early morning. 

Approaching the gate, I said good bye.

00:25am, I was the only one on the road.

It has been a long journey, highly rewarding, and of high cost, too.  It has been a journey of challenges, failures, losses, accomplishments, satisfactions, and now, reflections and suspisions.

Two weeks ago, John asked me, " what do you want in your life?"  I said, " I'm still on my way of searching." 

I'm wondering where those dim but firm lights would lead me.

2.       “I feel sorry for people who don’t drink.  When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they are going to feel all day.” ---Frank Sinatra

3.       “When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.” ----Henry Youngman

4.       “24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.” ---Stephen Wright

5.       “When we drink, we get drunk.  When we get drunk, we fall asleep.  When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.  When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.  Sooooooo, let’s all get drunk and go to heaven!” ----Briand O’Rourke

6.       “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” ----Benjamin Franklin

7.       “Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.  Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.”  ------Dave Barry

8.       And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.  

One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm.  Here’s how it went:

“Well ya see, Norm, it’s like this…A heard of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo.  And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first.  This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.  In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells.  Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kill brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first.  In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That’s why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

The second engineer replied,"Well, I was walking along yesterday,minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said,"Take what you want.""

The second engineer nodded approvingly and said,"Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

Take Two
To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it need to be.

Take Three
A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers.

The engineer fumed,"What's with those blokes? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes."
The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such inept Golf!"
The priest said,"Here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him."

He said, "Hell, George! What's wrong with that group ahead of us?"
The greens keeper replied, " Oh, yes.  That's a group of blind fire fighters.  They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free any time."

The group fell silent for a moment.
The priest said, " That's so sad.  I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."
The doctor said, " Good idea.  I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague and see if there's anything he can do for them."
The engineer said, " Why can't they play at night?"

I received a fax on the AP news Jade Buddha Temple Monks are starting an MBA program. < Chinese > < English>

Before I made my comment on the Jade Buddha Temple, I'd like to talk about ShaoLin Temple, another prestigious buddhist temple in China.

ShaoLin Temple is about 1,500 years old now, established in North Wei Dynasty in 495 A.D.  It is regarded as the origin of Zen Buddhism in China. It has gone through a lot of glories as well as downfalls in its long history.    In recent years Shao Lin Temple attracted a lot of attention by the noise made by its "CEO", named Shi Yong Xin.  Shi started as a little Monk in ShaoLin Temple in 1982, and was inaugurated to be the abbot in 1999.   He has surprised the public by a series of what-he-call-pioneering activities---he organized the monks into a Kungfu performance team, which has put on show in more than 60 countries, and their next plan is to step on the stage in Las Vegas; he sued those who illegally took advantage of ShaoLin brand; he publicized part of the secret on medical and Martial Art of Shao Lin Temple;  he tried to bring UNESCO status to ShaoLin Temple, although failed; ---Generally speaking, Shi is bringing commercialism into ShaoLin Temple.

Shi Yong Xin claimed he was doing all these to let more people know ShaoLin, and let more people know Buddhism.  I have no problem with his intentions, but I do doubt his means. 

I was in ShaoLin Temple on April 23 this year, and all I saw was a big tourist playground, exactly "people mountain people sea":-)  I had had a lot of respect on this temple, and had expected to get some knowledge about Zen Buddhism.  The temple was under renovation, and a lot of buildings looked brand new,  but to my great disappointment, there was no place giving me clue of learning. 

On the contrary, the White Horse Temple left a better impression on me.  There were several frescoes near the entrance, telling in plain language the stories on the origin of buddhism, and the major buddha.  I left in full satisfaction after spending at least 20 minutes in front of those frescoes.  Later I got a VCD on White Horse Temple at the store in the temple.  Can you guess how much is it?  7 Yuan!  I could hardly believe it was sold that cheap!  You know what, a T-shirt with the chinese character of Shao Lin Si was sold at RMB60 in ShaoLin Temple!  The monk selling the T-shirt was jokingly saying " I feel like a salesman in strange uniform among all these tourists."

Apparently Shi Yong Xin has made his goal as "let more people know ShaoLin", but how about "let more people know Buddhism", which, in my opinion, should be the ultimate target for a buddhist abbot?  I admit I don't buy Shi's claim.  If he truly wants to let more people know ShaoLin, why all the shows, or what he call "cultural exchanges" are only on the overseas stage? 

There is no question he changed ShaoLin Temple radically, and he improves the living standard of the monks.  The monks don't have to work hard just for a living as they had to do before Shi came into power, and the monks even don't have to sweep the floor any more, which was one of the routine exercises in almost all temples.  Now the hired janitors take the job.  Are the monks all happy?  Not really.  One monk complained he could hardly find a quiet place to study the buddhism doctrines.

Then back to Jade Buddha Temple.  It's my favorite temple in Shanghai.  But the news about its management seeking MBA did bother me a little bit.  The PuTuo-district-based Jade Buddha Temple has been under substantial renovation and expansion for nearly 2 years.  In one of the local government statement, it's said the government is going to play a "culture card" and establish a buddhism-centered commercial circle around Jade Buddha Temple.  

With the economic growth, I do agree there's need to improve the management even in temples.  However, I don't see the necessity to associate the 6-month training with MBA, which is nowadays more a symbolic title than the management level.  What's the message underlying there? 

LongHua Temple has already been a "tourism card" for XuHui district, and the annual New Year Bell Toll cost RMB318 just for a single ring, let alone the entrance charge of RMB200 ( based on my experience in Dec.31, 2004 ).  I believe it is helpful to carate more harmony if people could have some religious belief, and Buddhism is an option.  And I hate to see temples are finally turned into sheer money-generator.

I hope I'm just over-concerned.