Hello Temptation ;-)

A 24-year-old who loves to listen to hip hop music on his iPod and plays war video games to soothe his nerves. This is the revered Karmapa Lama, Trinley Dorje - a Buddhist monk who can be true to his beliefs, and yet enjoy the perks of the 21st century.

We often think of salvation as giving up of worldly desires. A trip to the mountains, where lies no temptation. There was a very interesting question asked years ago at a Miss India beauty pageant. The question was, “Adam and Eve were warned with dire consequences against eating the apple. Yet the snake in the park was persuasive, he tempted them into eating the forbidden apple. Now you are the police; whom would you arrest for this act?”

The ladies were clear, “Of course, the snake. He tempted them, and he knew it was wrong. God had forbidden it.”

You know what they missed? Adam and Eve. Temptations are presented to you in life to test your courage, ethics and faith. You trip, and you fail! You cannot banish all the snakes (temptations), but you must learn to control your desires. Simple example, you are on a diet and your friend sends you a box of Belgian pralines. What do you do? Live with it! Let your family enjoy it, but don’t break your diet because, hey, this is Belgian pralines duh…!

I think living in the real world, with your desires is far more difficult then retiring away in the hills with basic necessities. A holiday is welcome, but a lifetime…hmm, too early to decide!