The Negrense “Merci” Now Serving at Iloilo Airport

From the Iloilo City’s modern shopping center along Ledesma Street, Merci Pasalubong treats, bread, pastries and purified drinking water is now within the convenient reach of departing Iloilo passengers as the 27th branch was opened last December 19 inside the newly renovated Iloilo airport.

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True to its mission of “effectively attracting new clients and opening new markets”, the 27th branch of the multi-awarded Negros-based Merci is conveniently located at the third floor, pre-departure lobby of the Iloilo airport passenger terminal building selling the classic Negrense Pasalubong products and Nestle Alegria coffee.

Its mission clearly read, “We aim to continually provide our consumers with the highest quality products to maximize their money’s worth.”

Managed by CM and Sons Food Products, Inc. which started way back in 1995 in a single store selling bakery products at the Libertad Market, now the 27th Branch of Merci Pasalubong Products in Iloilo Airport is but an expansion of its market now covering the entire Island of Negros, Tuguegarao City, Zamboanga City, Manila, Cebu, 2 branches in Iloilo and the whole Panay.

With such massive expansion, the maker of Merci Pasalubong Products, CM and strive to make its present client base happy and fully satisfied,” as they are the most effective advertisement any business could ever have.

The same world famous Negrense pasalubong goodies are offered in Iloilo airport as those in other parts of the country – piaya, biscocho, barquillos, tarts and a lot more.

Customers can get a 10 percent discount on all Merci Pasalubong Products with its Travel Plus Promo.

CM and Sons Food Products, Inc. also offer Bread and Pastry Products in all Merci bakeshop outlets and also snacks and meal all over Negros at affordable prices for most number of people.

As a complement to its food products, CM and Sons Food Products, Inc. diversified into a purified bottled drinking water back in 2003 and continually captured a sizable market in Negros despite competition from national brand.

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Delicioso: Something to do with Ambiance and the Versatility of a Garde Manger

Three days after the grand opening of Delicioso at Breizh Building along Lacson Street, the initial interview with Chef on Heels Mari Stelle J. Estrella of Silay was very tempting.  I had a taste of Delicioso Panizza and Po’ Boy which the management of Delicioso burned candles to perfect the concoction, according to Mari Stelle.

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“This,” she said, “Will be the flagship of Delicioso, a concoction of Pico de Gallo, arugula and alfalfa sprouts.  The reason why you should come and let Delicioso stand out among them all.”

 

“Po’ Boy, on the other hand, is buttered fish fillet with tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts in remolade sauce between grilled sesame or wheat buns,” Mari Stelle added.

 

Must the food be Italian or Italian sounding for a watering hole to be “opulent and genteel”?  “No,” says the beautiful Chef on Heels Mari Stelle who was fearless but did not compromise her giggling Filipina character in responding to my needs not as a connoisseur but a writer with a little motive for probing intelligence.

 

The Italian sound is style but Delicioso’s American trained Chef ruled the kitchen with the culinary artistry of a Filipino mind.  Delicioso in the first place is Spanish which does not connote heavy dietary stuff but a “delight”.  This could be the food, wines from different parts of the world, specially formulated delicacies for Negrenses with discriminating taste, specialty coffee and gourmet gift baskets.

 

Delicioso is a cozy place where friends can meet and unwind in a perfectly charming ambiance to sip a glass of wine, savor the aroma of rich specialty coffee and have a taste of something differently concocted from years of a “garde manger” chef experience.

 

After all, not everything in culinary arts is Italian, “garde manger” is a French word which means a chef’s expertise at seasoning, poaching, simmering, searing, roasting, frying, curing, drying, smoking, marinating, grinding, pureeing, forming, molding, piping, spreading, slicing, cutting, carving, rolling, crimping, tossing and finally presenting.

 

It is usually the plate presentation that gets all the attention and Delicioso’s Chef on Heels Mari Stelle qualifies the garde manger.

 

“True Garde Manger Chefs have a distinct passion for their work. They are able to traverse the canyon between classical and modern cuisine, because in order to be successful in today’s market they have to understand the fundamentals that today’s cuisine is built on. Every culinary professional should understand this. There is no substitute for education and experience.”(garde manger.com)

 

Delicioso has this in Chef Mari Stelle J. Estrella.  Visit the place at Breizh Building, Lacson Street, Bacolod City, Philippines.

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2012 Miss Royal Thai: Massage Therapy not in Conflict with Bikini

Dumaguete City – This was the winning statement of Miss Marionette Rubio of the Dumaguete-based Royal Thai Massage in response to the final “Q and A” portion critically decided by six judges in her favor. Twelve Massage Therapists representing the six branches of Royal Thai Massage Clinics gathered last December 13 at the Sizzlers Sports and Resto Bar mainly to celebrate a pre-Christmas offering by way of vying for a beauty title.

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Young entrepreneur and Department of Health (DOH) credentialed therapist Roshell Sator succinctly explained the essence of the promotion – that as she succeed in presenting the Royal Thai Massage clinics as alternative therapy and created a niche as a wholesome destination for the medically oriented tourist, “Ways must be thought of in creatively convincing young people to consider massage therapy as a means of livelihood or a career itself.”

The young Roshell, who is presently the President of the Dumaguete Spa Association (DUMSA), admits difficulty in facing the fast employment turn over owing to demands of Filipino therapists here and abroad.

Roshell Sator likewise shares the same burden with the Bacolod-based Spa Alliance of Negros (SPAN). Other than the massive investments in health training required by the DOH, spas all over the Island have to contend with the staying power of their well rounded therapists.

For Roshell, the DOH requirement is but a small price to pay for the general public to seriously consider “a Spa as a Spa”, a clinic offering different modalities for clients to experience relaxing environment in a highly stressed work oriented character of society, robe and slippers, soothing music, and high quality treatment devoid of the so-called “extras” ingrained in peoples mindset for quite a long time.

The DOH requirement is a small price to pay for as long as the general public understand the massage therapy is a profession bound by ethics and social responsibility, “which is not in conflict with bikini” to show the dynamism of healthy therapists.

Sizzlers Sports Resto Bar itself is very unique in a University Town Dumaguete, it can accommodate 12 lovely therapists in bikinis, young and old, foreigners and locals jam-packed the watering hole for a glimpse. The pacing was fast and therefore grooved the attendees to a hip hop mood. The 12 lovely therapists performed a production number, display their uniforms thus the show hosts had the chance to explain what is expected when availing the Royal Thai Massage services, they romped their bikinis and finally the cocktail dress.

As the show progresses, the six branches of Royal Thai Massage were introduced. These branches are in Dumaguete (operating two branches), San Carlos, newly opened Guihulngan, Iloilo and Bacolod, at VSB Building along 6th Street. This is a feat for Miss Roshell Sator who built these branches while enjoying life in her late twenties.

Will she produce a similar show in Bacolod City? Let us count the cost, Miss Roshell said.

In Bacolod, visit or inquire at the Royal Thai Massage at the VSB Building, 6th Street, telephone (034) 707-3960

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Romeo J. Gamboa, Jr.: Portrait of a Working “Executive” Vice Governor

I heard of a Silay “distant” uncle running for vice governor through an original campaign song composed at home.  It was years later that I met Mrs. Ruska G. Mihailovich herself in two mental health conferences, loving wife of the late Vice Governor who won then using that song.

Searching for Vice Governor Romeo “Roy” J. Gamboa, Jr.’s family line, I found out he was not a distant relative at all.  Tito Roy was a grandson of Movimiento de Cinco de Noviembre flag maker Olympia Severino while I am a great grandson of Lola Olympia’s older brother Donato.  We are all great grandsons of the first documented Son of Silay who made garnered a national seat, Filipino nationalist Melecio Severino. Tito Roy left government service to face his Maker living up to the greatness of his forefathers.

 

We hear of popular questions classically floated, “Who among the government officials these days have clean hands before the courts of law”?  Implying that none such soul existed or survived given the politicking system, but which I vehemently disagree.  Before the Negros Daily Bulletin family last December 7, 2011, who themselves used their pens not for self-aggrandizement, is the family of Vice Governor Roy Gamboa who came continually serving the Negrenses rather than receiving from Negrenses. Vice Governor Roy Gamboa was the “one and only” vice governor who functioned as an executive during his stint over and above his legislative headship, accomplished assigned executive tasks to him “like a general without an army” and not a single centavo left unaccounted.  The Republic of the Philippines should include this Vice Governor’s life in the annals of Philippine History.  He is a living proof that honesty exists in Philippine government and Negros Occidental was the home.

 

I was already a writer when Tito Roy served the fishing and farming communities in those “maligwin” areas of the province far from the coverage of media.  His only son Ryan narrated his personal experiences at the Necrological Service held in Panaad Stadium of how his Dad worked.  For me, that was the first and probably the last public report of his father’s gargantuan tasks thus the writing of this piece.

 

I stayed long enough with former Governor Rafael Cosculluela the night before the Vice Governor’s remains was laid at their Silay ancestral home.  Through the words of the former Governor, he recalled Vice Gov Roy Gamboa’s function as the legislative department head, plus, the setting up of artificial corral reefs in critical sea areas and he took charge of mangrove plantations, the irrigation at Patag and Bago, road construction and repair being an engineer and the befitting tribute, the construction of the Panaad Stadium and Sports Complex which its robustness was felt and people judge it today as better, if not best, in the Philippines.

 

Let us not forget, he officially identified the present site of the Bacolod-Silay International Airport.

 

Philippine History will soon judge why his last “kabilin-bilinan” was to hold his Necrological Service in his second home – the Panaad Stadium.  “Balay-balay sa higad Panaad” was Ryan’s description of his Dad’s second home and site office, “ang sud-an sa panyaga, tapa”.  His Governor, Lito Cosculluela attested the highest regards of construction suppliers as both governor and vice governor did not demand any “SOP”, absolutely none at all.

 

You can make a “killing” with these assigned projects.  Proudly, however, media icon Ryan and motherly Tita Ruska walked the streets on foot with heads up for having a loving Padre de Familia who had lived simply and very honestly, an exemplary leader who worked for government and left a legacy for the country to emulate.

 

Thank God for a government official like Vice Governor Roy Gamboa.  Thank God that Tita Ruska accepted the offer of Negros Daily Bulletin’s humble token so at least we have reasons to write about his greatness.  Tito Roy, in the first place was “allergic” to facing media and public speaking in public.

 

What could have become of Negros Occidental without a Roy Gamboa?

 

The succeeding generation is fortunate they will have the life of Vice Governor Romeo J. Gamboa, Jr., whose honesty and integrity will eternally shine for their own sake.

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Wilson P. Gamboa, Sr.: The Sweet Life of a Cane Cutter’s Son

Imagine a national legislator who climbed the wooden political ladder infested with termites because this is the only resource he can afford to buy.  He entered the Batasang Pambansa after a historic victory in 1979 riding a tricycle without the benefit of media coverage.  It was not the vogue that time as it is exploited today by those media savvy guys.  He was not allowed entrance, of course, but did not put his weight over the Batasan security.  Instead, he waited for a colleague to usher him in and congratulated the security guard for a job well done.  This is how his only daughter Wilma described Wilson P. Gamboa, Sr.

Humbly, Wilma told me not to hype this because their home in Manila is almost walking distance from the Batasan, it is more convenient not to drive; beside the classic Wilson P. Gamboa, Sr.’s Red Beetle Volkswagen bogged.

If we have to picture Wilson, Sr. as a politician today, he is like his son and namesake Wilson C. Gamboa, Jr., who freely roams the barangays, sits in any kapehan more frequently than in “Cafes” and buys the Negros Daily Bulletin despite his updated subscription.   The younger Wilson, however, cannot claim poverty.   Unlike his father whom I am privilege to hear, a month before his demise, he reminisced his childhood and exhaled his last reply sitting in his banig and papag, “Ngaa ka imol gid sa amon man?”  He was that same cane cutter’s son when refused by the security guard at the Batasan.

In Elementary, he managed to be first honor and graduated Valedictorian in High School.  He was Magna Cum Laude when he took Accounting and Cum Laude when he finished Law at West Negros College.  The son and namesake Wilson recalled his Tatay graduated without books because of poverty.  He managed by bringing one notebook tucked in his trouser’s back pocket and he memorized his lessons as this is the only way to pass.

Wilson, Sr. did not just pass but managed to be consistent honor student, speak and write English with the qualities of an erudite and articulate with eloquence, undefeated debater and student politician, he blamed me for not bringing a tape recorder during my very last interview.  He was skinny then, his overall physical condition is not good, I was hurriedly dismissed because he was busy with his PLDT appeal and defense.

A bit of sadness struck me because countless times, I saw him “naga waswas” (passionately discussing) while driving the Bacolod-based Red Beetle Volkswagen.  The fatal cancer devouring his health so weakened him rushing a media man was not Wilson, Sr. at all.  He was a darling of the local media, Mr. Ruperto Toga will attest to this.

My late grandfather and father were not close to Wilson Gamboa, Sr. because of his Nacionalista affiliation and we are die-hard Liberal working for Don J. Amado Araneta.  Those countless times I saw him driving the Red Beetle was because my father called my attention and pointed to a neat looking Councilor named Wilson Gamboa, Sr.  Obviously my father was a fan.  Who would not?  Our family suffered to some extent during martial law being Araneta employees and we can identify while Wilson, Sr. fought the dictatorship at the Batasan.  He was the first high government official present while the corpses of the Escalante Massacre were still fresh.  This is fearlessness in the midst of security risk at that time.  This is very meaningful for a politically involved family like ours.

One truth came out a month before he died. Wilson P. Gamboa, Sr. acknowledged me as a relative and presently I am gathering broods and siblings of a certain Pedro Gamboa whom his mother Nanay Conching identified as the great grandfather of her husband Leopoldo.

It is an honor to be a relative of a great nationalist Wilson P. Gamboa, Sr. under the line of Melecio Y. Severino, two great Negrenses who held national offices and who stood their grounds unperturbed by higher powers.

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A Visit to the Lorenzo Ruiz Basilica in Binondo

BINONDO, Manila – It was timely to visit the Binondo Church, otherwise known to the whole Christendom as the “Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo Ruiz”; by the looks of empty streets and the Binondo Basilica itself, the timing was apt for “slow before God” reflection as the population of Manila seems to be flocking cemeteries.  It was November 1, 2010.

Reflection in an almost empty historic Binondo Church was a luxury, the sophistication of its interiors is beatific and when one looks up to the piteous image of San Lorenzo Ruiz against such awesome sight, the virtue of “may pananagutan ka”is very compelling.For this is what the First Filipino Saint “Tsinoy” Lorenzo Ruiz stood for – it is in Binondo Church where he served as sacristan, trained under the Dominican order, he must have learned the “denial of self” in faith and for others at such a young age.  When given the chance to be a missionary to Japan, he fearlessly faced martyrdom for the sake
of Jesus Christ.  He refused to renounce his faith before his persecutors.

An hour of stay inside the Binondo Basilica may not be enough.  Sights around the Church itself offered more stimuli for reflection and a limited digital camera can capture only so much.  After 30 years of being away from this part of Manila, the Tsinoy parishioners continued to maintain the octagonal bell tower which is uniquely Chinese (remember the Number 8?).  Two photos of its façade were taken, one angle showing at outset, the American “moda” fountain design and the other angle showing a glassed structure “housing” the Virgin Mary (hidden). These photos are symbolic of timelines estimated to be more than a hundred years gap retaining the idea that the front area of a Church should be a “paseo” for the family to bond after hearing mass.

Once inside, a reception of lighted candles encountered the faithful devoted to the Virgin Mary.  The church goers are too few, says the “Candle Tindera” outside but the vigil for the Virgin is perpetually full of life.

As a reporter “lost” for 30 years, my eyes rove and ramble of what is novel to me.  It was countless.  The paintings above me are definitely not the Raphael Michelangelo type; no one was around to give me answers, not even the websites as of this writing.  An amateur art critic, however, could stay and relish the cathechetical value of 24 large paintings lined above divided into twelve for each side of the huge Church ceiling.

“The poor will always be there,” says the Good Old Book.  Indeed, there were those who seek refuge within spaces of the Church most livable for the homeless.  One wonders, while the camera took photos of them fast asleep, whose world is a better place to live?  They who live outside the Church or those inside the Church who call themselves Christians looking at them with unknown feelings?

My last “mission” was to look for the “Street Shrine” where I used to wonder at a concrete manifestation of the Chinese-Filipino syncretic Catholicism.  I found the shrine along Tomas Pin-Pin and Ongpin streets.  Here the faithful Tsinoys who had embraced Catholicism and let their prayers be heard through incenses are gathered, an approach they learned from their forefathers of Tao origins.

The Binondo Church withstood Chinese rebellion in 1603 and 1614 and the bombardment of the British Colonizers who attempted to occupy the country in 1872.  This, however, belong to another article that should interest every Filipino.

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Unilab’s Biogesic Kid John Lloyd Meets Bacolod Media and Bloggers

Screen endorser of Unilab’s Biogesic tablets and micronized-tech Biogesic for Kids John Lloyd Cruz himself met mainstream media practitioners and Negros Bloggers over the weekend to personally bring the message of how said product helped him biologically since childhood.

The ABS-CBN box office king admitted allergic reactions to other drugs and said, “lumulobo ang mata ko at hindi ako makahinga kapag ibang gamot ang iniinom ko (my eyes swells and experienced difficulty breathing with other drugs).”

Stress and working until the wee hours of the morning took a toll on this 27-year-old Star and felt safe with Biogesic in his bout with headaches, in fact since his childhood days.

Not only this, John Lloyd publicly declared that his endorsement of Unilab’s Biogesic for the past five years became the watershed of his endorsement career, recalling that five years ago, it was Biogesic that started the succession of other endorsement offers it is now difficult for me to refuse renewal of partnership with my most trusted brand.”

Through the years, John Lloyd attests to Biogesic’s safety and efficacy in relieving headaches and his signature “Ingat!” shifted many Filipinos’ choice to the safer alternative among other pain relievers.

The blockbuster actor is here to celebrate this “Five Ingat Years” of success in Bacolod City and had a special “Ingat Fans Day” last Saturday at SM City Bacolod where he spent the whole afternoon with thousands of fans.

Its generic name “Paracetamol”, Biogesic is manufactured by United Laboratories, Inc. using the Micronized Technology therefore dissolving easier in the body’s digestive system and accelerating relief from headaches and other pains. Biogesic comes in 500 mg.

Biogesic for Kids Suspension (Oral Drops) on the other hand uses the TasteRite Technology, which is a unique taste making system, developed specifically for liquid dosage forms.

This technology significantly reduces the bitterness of medicine so that children taste the flavor and not the medicine.

John Lloyd said, “Passion, hard work, dedication plus being safe and healthy, all these are key ingredients to doing what you do well.  Success and the recognition are just bonuses in the equation.”

To millions of Bacolodnons, “Ingat!” or “Halong!” he said.* (Photos courtesy by Giselle Nolan)

Filed under: Uncategorized, Biogesic, Ingat, John Lloyd Cruz, micronized-tech, Negros Bloggers, Unilab

June 19 Reflection: ‘Kaginhawaan’ Not ‘Kalayaan’ (2)

Not many knew that even this June 12, 1898 Emilio Aguinaldo declaration of Independence was such a rush, the Sublime Paralytic Apolinario Mabini tried to thwart the idea until the Americans officially recognized it.  Admiral George Dewey was in position while Aguinaldo and elite cohorts was relishing the French cuisine, rode a European a ‘la Prince William carriage surrounded by ceremonial guards recruited from a nearby “funeraria” donning the “pamburol” of course and Mabini was relegated into oblivion saved by true followers of Philippine History.

Only the true followers of Philippine History can pin point the “fiesta mentality” bad habits of Filipinos shown in the Malolos-based Independencerush which we now embraced in form not in essence.  Inside the minds of Aguinaldo and his elite cohorts is that same “kalayaan” which we are now bound to defend but quite problematic because of its estrangement from the Bonifacio-Mabini “kaginhawaan” paradigm.  Thus, the dramatization of “malaya nga ngunit hindi sa kahirapan” (freed but in dire poverty) espoused by the pa-cute Senator Chiz Escudero who was the culmination propaganda tool of the City of Bacolod.  He spoke of the truth but disconnected from Philippine History unconsciously binding us to repeat it.  The week-long baseless celebration of the City of Bacolod was formal not essential; it was “fiesta” long condemned by Jose Rizal.

Now, Mayor Evelio Leonardia thought it wise by declaring June 18 as the Charter Day but totally forgot Republic Act 7724 and the preceding Congressional proceedings as Congressman Anthony Golez pointed out.  “Fiesta na, illegal pa”, untangled legalities turned festivity.  Arguments will ping-pong and to what end? 

Feeling more Skinnerian operant conditioning than Philippine History, the June 18 fiesta was followed next day June 19, by Jose Rizal’s 150^th birthday which is another reason for “photo ops” than investing in the study of who the hero should be in our lives as a nation.  All these formalized historical observances but essentially meaningless were once dramatized in the exciting Municipality of San Diego.  The pivotal Chapters of Noli Me Tangere read:

“So there are people who are not happy,” Maria Clara murmured – (Maria Clara was somewhere in San Diego with fiance’ Crisostomo Ibarra watching at the victim of injustice crazy Sisa amusing herself by intimately touching the town leper causing disgust to onlookers). Arriving at her door…

Maria Clara went upstairs thinking what a bore are the fiesta days, “when strangers make their visits.” (Chapter 27, Noli Me Tangere)

Written within the context of a fiesta, parallel the above with Pilosopo Tasio’s “If on your return you are met with a smile, beware! for it means that you have a secret enemy.”—quoted from the “Florante” (Chapter 26, Noli Me Tangere)

(Tomorrow, meant as a social commentary, what could all these words meant?)

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June 12 Reflection: ‘Kaginhawaan’ Not ‘Kalayaan’ (1)

The title of this piece is an “extreme dichotomization” of perhaps two of our most beautiful Tagalog words which is the aspiration of the millenarianist Katipunan under Andres Bonifacio and the brain of the movement Emilio Jacinto.  The Katipunan ideal of “kalayaan” (freedom) is a future state when the Philippines succeed in the demise of the Spanish colonial rule unleashing its people to the bliss of “kaginhawaan” (prosperity).  Before the alien colonizers came, the Filipinos had long been enjoying a life of “kaginhawaan” and only “kalayaan” will a Filipino ever go back to this blissful state.

We need to dichotomized “kaginhawaan” and “kalayaan” because of today’s 113^th Philippine Independence Day theme “Kalayaan, Paninindigan ng Bayan”.  While it uses the ageless Filipino aspiration of “Kalayaan”, I asked, in what sense?

Today’s observance is because of our understanding of the Philippine History.  Did we ever learn that “history does not repeat history” but rather, “people repeat history” and the vast richness of this Ambeth Ocampo rephrase?  The 113^th Independence theme is mustering the Filipino people to stand (maninindigan) and defend (paninindigan) for the Kalayaan conviction of the Katipunan and the entire compendium of all local heroes: but wait – How do we make sense of “kaginhawaan”?  Look, one hundred thirteen years of this “Kalayaan” now yet among the founding Fathers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines remained the poorest, overtaken, and out smarted by Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.  In fact, many of us now fear that one of our nearest neighbor war-torn Vietnam is about to overtake us economically!

The theme “Kalayaan:  Paninindigan ng Bayan” should rather be explained in historical context.  What Kalayaan are we going to defend when this did translate to Kaginhawaan?  The City of Bacolod, instead, went into a week-long “Fiesta” celebration with nary a conscience for the “poorest of the poor” which until now is undefined.

One hundred thirteen years of Independence and we never learned from our past mistakes.  We pride ourselves of “yan ang Pinoy” intelligence and made legends of the Filipino resiliency but we remained the poorest among the ASEAN Fathers and one of the most dysfunctional nations in the whole world.  With all those puffed up pride, the “only in the Philippines” frivolities became favorite national conversation pieces ourselves in every drinking spree corner stores.  “Paninindigan ang Kalayaan”, defend our freedom, “Kalimutan ang Kaginhawaan”, forget about prosperity?  Until we make sense about kalayaan and kaginhawaan, until we be true to the letters of Philippine History which has been taught to all of us since childhood, we will stand and defend as Filipinos in shame and hypochondria.

We take Philippine history for granted then true to what the Filipino monk Ambeth Ocampo said, we are cursed to repeat history.

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TEMPLE THOUGHTS: Buddhist Perspective on ‘Death and Life’ (2)

It appears that “Death and Life Studies” as a curriculum took shape in the early 70s but there are books that had been written about the subject as early as the 1950s.  Eventually, these studies of death became known as the science and social science of “thanatology”, from the Greek word thanatos meaning death.  The study basically deals with the context of death, the condition of the dying and reaction of their love ones, individual and social practices leading to acceptance and patterns of burial.  

In a Dharma Talk at Yuan Thong Temple along Burgos Street, Buddhist scholar and academician, the Venerable Heui Kai, explained last May 25 that after witnessing despair arising from individuals approaching death and how loved ones suffer depression and exhaustion themselves, he decided to explore and follow the path of the Buddhist perspective in dealing with such suffering.

In a simple but profound manner, Ven Huai quipped, “It is not in the dying…death is not a problem, it is how we die.”  This roused laughter from the listeners after a dose of the Venerable’s mathematically structured presentation of thanatology from “A Modern Buddhist Reflection on Life and Death”.

Thanatologists examine all aspects of death, including biological (the cessation of physiological processes), psychological (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses), and social (historical, cultural, and legal issues)-(cliffnotes.com) but Buddhism, according to Ven Huai, approached all issues of death within the Reincarnation paradigm based on the no-soul anatta doctrine of Buddhism.  The issue of death and how to confront it fits the reincarnation paradigm since the Buddha himself in Vajracchedika (Diamond Sutra) alluded that “Life is a journey. Death is a return to earth.  The universe is like an inn.  The passing years are like dust…”

Death is inevitable in reincarnation, “otherwise life without death is unbearable”, says Ven Huai. The Diamond Scripture further acknowledge that death is part of life as a journey, the “passing years” described as “dust” that can be swept away to take on a new path of journey until “Nirvana” or the beginning of real life in eternal bliss begins.

Ven Huai recalled that not much despair could have been experienced if people realized the role of death in a life’s journey and its position in the passing years, the reincarnation belief in short. 

People suffer in confronting death because at the time of good health, spirituality plays a small role in their lives compare to careers which offered money.  Within a short span, as health deteriorates and approaching death, only then will people begin to reverse their life situation by allowing spirituality to predominate their careers, the academician Ven Huai lamented.

The loved ones of the dying suffer much as well because of their unenlightened attitude towards death.  It will always be this way until the annatta, the impermanency of life, is fully understood.  Death is a relief for those who had led a good life.*

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