新加坡华人的五福

Counting our blessings as a Singaporean from five domains of life inspired by the traditional Chinese beliefs :

1. Being Alive: as represented by the Chinese character, 寿, which means lifespan. Being alive is not enough, we have to be full alive with mindfulness. That is, we have to live deeply in the peace and happiness of the present moments through our lifetime. Then, we can appreciate that being alive is really the first blessing in our life. Without this first blessing, we simply have no life. Isn't it so?

2. Being Rich: as represented by the Chinese character, 富, which means richness, abundance, more than enough. This does not imply material wealth only, of course. This implies that we are able to fully appreciate what we have in mindfulness state of mind. We know deeply that what we have is enough for us to live a happy life. To put it straightforward, it means it is only when we are no more greedy, we are able to see that we are rich by living mindfully.

3. Being Free: as represented by the two Chinese characters, 康宁, which means vastness in space and quietness in time. That is we are able to live in the ultimate dimension of human soul and enjoy the total freedom we are entitled to by the Mother Nature. We are all born free, aren't we? As long we are able to live deeply with mindfulness, we are able to enjoy this total freedom in our daily lives.

4. Being Kind: as represented by the three Chinese characters, 攸好德，which means what we are engaged in the journey of self-betterment. What we are interested in is about how to be a better self. We carry our best self wherever we go. By living deeply, we are able to communicate with people around all with goodwill and kindness, regardless how they behave. We are able to shower our love and kindness to the world endlessly by connecting to the ultimate dimension of life.

5. Being Ready to Go: as represented by the three chinese characters, 考终命，which means examining deeply with mindfulness at the end of our lives. That is we are able to accept our death calmly and take it like we are returning to our homeland  after finishing our travel in the foreign country.  We have well prepared for this big day to come long long ago and finally it is here. We are relieved as if we are greeting an old friend, we say hello with a smile to this big day.