My Pick-Me-Upper!

Lately, I have been down in the doldrums and wallowing in a lot of self-pity for things I did wrong or decisions I did or did not make. I would like to think that there are many people out there would be able relate to where I am coming from and I felt that I was in need of a “pick-me-upper”. I am really glad that it finally came today in the form of an email sent over last Saturday.

Someone by the name of Teo Sheng Ee read my book There’s No Way But Up and appreciated what I wrote so he emailed me his appreciation. He really liked the honesty of the writing and even listed down scenarios in the book that inspired him. I was flabbergasted by this email! I am really glad that not all decisions I made in the past were all bad and it kinda brightened up my day. Perhaps, it will inspire me not to make too many silly mistakes from now on. Thanks Sheng Ee!

Hi David,

We have never met before. But after reading your book, I thought of writing to you.

Thank you for your generous sharing of your personal experiences in the Dharma as well as your training under Tsem Rinpoche. It is really amazing you can write so candidly about the things that had happened, especially those that did not put you in a positive light at all (i.e. the scoldings you received and the BFs that you went through). What a good learning in ego-destroying!

I truly think that you write from the heart and the book itself is not designed to become some sort of “marketing material” that is commonly found in autobiographies designed to paint a nice and rosy picture.

Your relating of your own experiences has allowed me to take a good look at myself and as much as I hate to admit, I too possess many of the flaws and undesirable attitudes that Tsem Tulku Rinpoche mentioned. Your book really serves as a good mirror for me to reflect on how I have been living. At the same time, it gives me hope that I too possess the same potential to transform my life to become a better person.

The recurring lessons that I drew from your book are as follows:

Running away from our Lama is only running away from ourselves
Devotion to the Lama will bring us results
Taking responsibility for our lives is the number 1 thing we should do, be it secular or Dharma activities
It is the little things that we do which reflect our inner attitudes, so to change, we need to be aware of the little things in our lives (i.e. switching off the lights, making sure the glass cabinet for VY is clean).

Once again, thank you so much for your sharing. I look forward to more writing from you!

Jia You! You are definitely a good writer!

Regards,

Sheng Ee