I don't dismiss
the seemingly absurd
its every angle I search
some merit therein is uncovered

Is life the problem

   or is it you?

   Step back and think

   you'd know which is true

Let not your pursuit
be inimical to the truth
though what you desired
has been achieved--it'll yield no good

If you have inner splendour

it will be instinctively felt by another

Be such a person:

kind
empathetic
gentle
friendly
courteous
considerate
tolerant
patient
respectfu­l of others
charitable
generous
trustworthy
faithful and loyal
just
fair
helpful
humble
co-operative
grateful
prayerful
never judgemental

There will always be
people who are smarter
than I am---this I recognise-
but I'll continue to endeavour

not to compete or overcome
nothing is there for me to prove
only that myself I shouldn't let down
with awareness I have room to improve

I'm no vintage
nor any life's remnant
all that I can claim
is that I'm a free man

living a common life
with none do I contend
quietly attending to my daily task
with nothing to complain

I won't go beyond myself
there's nothing
to add or subtract
I'll make no other calling

what I am is adequate
with my warts and faults
no comparison do I need
I've no reason for remorse

Even the strongest
have hidden fears
though in agony
they fight back their tears

strength like weakness
is relative in nature
no one is a super-person
there's no such thing as a perfect measure

Life is endless talk

most of such has no worth

Whatever your cause
passion or reason
I can't ever agree
to be your spokesperson

Every life
is an unfinished coda
there's more
that has to follow

the song to be sung
the poem to write
love's loftier words to be said
past sweetest dreams to revive

a new path to chart
a fresh field to walk on
a vast sea to navigate
another dream to be born

there's greater beauty left
because the most sublime
hasn't been reached
to be ripened by waiting time

In response to a post on

'fighting your way to become the person you aspire to be':


I like your fine spirit but isn't there a gentler way to achieve this than fighting your way to become the person you aspire to be?

This is the way of Zen and Taoism:  achieving without struggling or striving.

That which you mention is the Western pugilistic way and it hurts.

It's easier
fine buildings
to construct
than creating
virtuous human character
but steel . bricks
cement and mortars
they don't have
a whit of feeling

thus, human nature
is superior-
this we must nurture
to rise higher
than the loftiest towers
become stronger
than the toughest
building structures-

this is the truth
forever:
we will always
be worth more
than building materials

In response to a post on teamwork:

This is at the very heart of the corporate philosophy of Panasonic Corporation---the team is more important than the individual.

This theme is treated in THE GENTLE ART OF TAO LEADERSHIP-  A 21st CENTURY PERSPECTIVE, distributed by Simon & Schuster

Some love life
some do not
there're yet others
who can't be bothered

as for me
life I respect
what's in store
I accept

moments that are joyous
even those that make me sad
the former to heart I'll take
of the latter I ain't afraid

life's myriad chimes
they ceaselessly oscillate
they carry us forward
until we're dead

The action is the liberation

I am more words
than body
I can't stop
writing poetry

The world
shall always be:
they, you
and me

Preamble to my book IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ZEN-

THE PATH TO A CALMER AND HAPPIER LIFE, 2018,

on sale in 15 countries:


When everything is nothing

and nothing is everything

that's the moment of truth.


I share the joy and laughter of happy faces,

but sad ones linger for a long time in my mind.


There's a latent candle in every heart

that awaits to be lighted.


copyright

Don't reject yourself
because of your faults
( all people have theirs too)
let your good part make the calls

there are so many out there
who hold you in such affection and esteem
reach out to them in fullness of heart
and your life will shine like a gracious beam

Be stuck
to nothing
you'll enjoy
your freedom
in everything-
being unfettered
and unencumbered
every happiness
will be beckoning

The why
is more important
than the what
and when
but the how
deserves serious attention

Social media-

don't copy

someone's idea

nor be a mouthpiece

of another-


different words

you might use

in devious guise

but will somehow

be caught stealing

and inevitably court

your moral demise

There's no happiness
without freedom
no freedom
without self-understanding
and letting
go of the past-
the self  must be
without cleavage
its thinking
must not be smudged
by what  went before-
the best yield
can't be reaped
by an infertile field

the old self
has to be reformed
or there would
never be true freedom

Don't under-estimate
the power of negative thinking
in negating the non-essentials
it is superior to positive thinking

I know no miracle
only that I alone make myself

In response to a post of Jordan Peterson, the famous motivational writer


There are many valid reasons for being silent--

some thoughts are best left to oneself.

I don't wish
to be wiser
only to be
gentler
kinder
warmer
humbler
calmer
and quieter

The best education
doesn't come from any university
but from our own life-experience
forget the BA, MA or PhD-

the trials and tribulations
our every joy and misery
are the lifetime teachers
that forge wisdom and maturity-

dull and isolated is learning
ideas and words are too many in philosophy
how they confuse and confound
and rob us  relentlessly of our liberty

life has no known formula
that does happiness guarantee
our greatest triumph and glory
we celebrate in overcoming every adversity

In response to a post on the existential thinking of Albert Camus:

It so happens, in the book I'm writing, that I'm comparing Confucianism with Western existentialism;  the former talks of life in the affirmative-- cultivate yourself, understand yourself and others, practise Ren ( humanity), be virtuous and ethical, serve your family, society and the nation, create social harmony and stability, know your role, duties and responsibilities,  don't speculate on the metaphysical and the after-life (we know so little of life, why discuss death?),  follow the Tao (the Way), live in harmony with your fellow-beings and the Universe, follow the Middle Path, live simply, be fair in all dealings with others,  be the Superior Person who talks of value , not the inferior person who seeks only profit, know your faults and don't fail to correct them, acquire all the arts,  call things by their proper names,  write and speak with clarity,  learn from past sages, be humble, don't do to others what you wish not to be done to you, hold everyone as your brother or sister, pursue only ethical pleasures, control your passions,  act always in decorum,  follow traditions and etiquette, death is not to be feared.    (In contrast with Western existentialism,  there is no sense of meaninglessness, despair, angst, futility or monotony in Confucianism).   Copyright 2025, Peter Lim

They asked:
Why don't you
put your photo
in social media?

My reply:
It's through
what I write
that more does matter

My ignorance
is a great asset
on sincere learning
my mind is set

that which is full
easily runs over
that which is empty
is filled in its every corner

If you must:
know what
I am not-
that would be
the wiser thought

Be your own inspiration
your life will never be the same

Don't underestimate tomorrow:
it might just be the day
that you've always aspired for
and you'll change forever

Dreams too many
they create misery:
the person is drowned
in his whim and fancy

give me one only
I'll work on it diligently
I'll wait patiently
for its maturity

Love at first sighting
    is uninteresting
    unexciting
   even boring-
   it wouldn't have
  any of the preceding:

   courting
   beseeching
   romancing
  hugging
  cheek-to-cheek dancing
  candlelight dining
  concert-attending
  tender texting
  swooning
  spooning
   midnight revelling
    anticipating
   fantasising
  sweet whispering
secret--sharing
  heart-baring
  promising
  vowing
  
  hugging
­  and lamentably
the kissing!

You aren't running
away from others
but yourself instead
because you're scared
as you are--
such fear projected
which makes
you feel
you've been exonerated

with this excuse
you're comforted:
'no mistake
have I made'

the night
made darker
as you've
shut the light

you'll live
under the shadow
of your fear
and no single day
will be ever bright

You'll search for me
at somewhere of time
we'd  know each other no longer
other selves we'd have become

we were once self-integrated
but would be then bud -grafted
our hearts by life's powerful forces divided
our dreams and purity irretrievably tainted

Life is an album
of memories
some sweet
some sour-
bittersweet
there are many!

Please delete
me from your list:
I've nothing
to contribute-
count me least

Would you
yourself recognise
in a distant time
when life's landscape
has changed
and your mind
has altered
being cast
in the crucible
of  experience
and trial?

Would you hold
to that self
that made
and shaped you
since you were
a child?

This is the battle
within yourself:
to decide
what would shape
your life
in that moment
of distant time

They said:
' Die for love!'
this I say:
' I'll live for love!'

I've travelled the whole world over--alone
yet my heart  bids that I must return home

End of another day
despite its chagrin
its moments of roughest grind
my hope shall not fade away

no Ubermensch nor Prometheus
no  Ulysses nor hero  
the weight of life I can bear
my heart I'll faithfully follow

I like those
  with doubt
   of any sort
   as I'm one too-
   those who are sure
   tend to be loud
   or even shout-
     contention
   they will stir
   here, there
  anywhere

  but does
  their certainty
  stand on
  solid ground
  or have they
  over-estimated
  their prowess?

Nothing
do I miss
by living
in doubt -
it's that
which gives
me strength
to move forward
to search
for meaning
and truth
even if
I were
to stand alone
far away
from the crowd

I'll emerge
from the night
of unknowing
to wake
in understanding
upon tomorrow's light

It's  so much better
(let this be said):
be a happy fool
than a miserable sage

I'm redundant-
the world
is replete
with wisdom

vox clamantis
in deserto
a voice
in the wilderness
none will hear
only the trees
and the breezes

but I'm free
that itself alone
will make me happy

Poetry-
a symphony
of the finest words
that creates
unparalleled beauty-

it leads love
to its infinite ecstasy-
a mystery
beyond
the loftiest philosophy