Some things always remain precious because they have a special meaning to it. It's not about the cost of it but the sincerity that goes along with it. 

A Gift from the late Luangpoo Liew, taken out from his own personal pouch and handed over to me himself. He has always asked me to stay in his Temple at Wat Kao Or (Nakhon Pathom) whenever I visited him telling me that staying in  a Hotel costs too much. He even liked to share his food with us and has always encouraged us to eat before we leave.

An amulet belonging to the late Luangpor Kreun who was my Gurus (Luangpor Lum's ) Master. Luangpor Lum went to his Water Jar which contains holy water he chanted everyday, picked up the amulet and gave it to me. It's the only one and it floats on water. A rare gift that I will forever treasure.

An old Takrud made personally by my Guru Luangpor Lum(Wat Samakitham). This Takrud was kept under a statue of his Master. He called me over when I was there in one of my usual trips, asked me to lift up the statue of his Guru and told me to take it. 

A Crossback Golden Arowana given to me by Ng Han Yong of Sianlon Aquatic SDN Bhd Malaysia in 2008.

A Green Tara amulet which was a personal belonging  of my Fengshui teacher Lillian Too that was given to me personally by her. Green Tara is one of my most favorite Bodhisattva, the one who answers prayers swiftly.

I feel very lucky to have met all the wonderful people in this life, of course there are many more things that was given to me by my other friends. The page is too small to put in everything but you know who you are and I appreciate it all. Thank you for your sincerity and all your precious gifts :-)

Heard this song over the radio since last year. I think most musicians like James Blunt simply share his life by experiencing his and other peoples adventures by putting them into his music. Music can be simple yet profound as it speaks volumes and even passes satirical messages across to it's listeners. 

It's one of the best ways to speak to those you can't speak directly to, saves you the embarrassment at the same time sending your message across in a diplomatic manner. That's the beauty about music and to me it's the best thing that Man has ever created apart from all the other destructive inventions  he made during evolution.

Thank You James Blunt, this is a wonderful piece of music that I can really relate to .

Many times I come across people asking me to verify their amulets if they would be real or fake and my usual respond is simple. If you think it's real it's real and if you think it's fake it's fake. Getting someone to "Verify" other peoples amulet is a very sticky situation. Some people will say anything when they do not have a particular amulet that you've showed them. What would you like to hear ? Real? Fake? If someone says your amulet is fake you wouldn't be happy but if they say it's real you'd definitely be but what if you're told it's real but in fact it is actually fake?

Therefore, you should do some serious research yourself and find out as much as you can about a particular amulet that you've always been a fan of. A certified amulet is obviously better but than again who was the one who deemed the authenticity of the amulet? It is therefore always better to conclude your judgement with your own understanding so as to avoid any conflict between the seller or the judge of a competition.

As far as I'm concern in (My Personal Opinion) there is no fixed price for any unique or specially made amulet by a highly respected Guru. Mainly because they are limited and made for some special occasion. It probably is a one time off thing and will never be repeated again. So should you be paying so much for an amulet such as this? Again the choice is yours, you are the one who would be paying for it not anyone else. If you think it's worth buying than do it by all means. Do not compare prices with shops selling the same thing, you might most probably missed out on a lot of things that went behind your back. It may be the same amulet, same batch and from the same temple but the details might be different, if it is better looking in terms of appearance and quality it definitely commands a higher price, again there is no fixed price on the differences in quality, it's between the seller and the buyer and also the limited number of amulets that is made available.

Some amulets even after they have been consecrated by the Guru gets another extra dose of mantra and sutra infusions when being specially requested, that is if you are in very good terms with the Guru. These amulets will look the same but will have that extra edge over the regulars. Some amulets made by the Gurus may never be displayed on the cabinets in the temples. These are specially made amulets that the Guru did to either give to his disciples or are prototypes. They go thru the same tedious process of consecration by the Gurus that may take months or sometimes years before they are being released.

As everyone now knows, unscrupulous manufacturers these days go about making fake amulets and sell them as real. This is very harmful and has great detrimental effects on the faith, temple and the Guru in general. Most fake amulets are not even consecrated even though they look like the real thing. Can you tell the difference ? Unfortunately No, especially if they are modern day amulets , even antique amulets are being skillfully replicated and it takes a very well trained eye to see the difference. They came from the same source except that those handed over to the temple had been blessed while those from the manufacturer were not.

Antique amulets are different, they do not normally share to much similarities in terms of shape and conformity as they are usually hand made but the ingredients from the same batch will somewhat be the same. Amulets do not sell like hot cakes as what most people think even if they were from very famous temples or Gurus and are worth thousands of dollars. An amulet that may be worth thousands on the market may not worth a single cent to someone who knows nothing about it. Even if you were to give them with a sincere heart the recipient may just take it home and dump it into the drawer which is the usual case. The only time when they feel that the amulet is important is when they are in a dilemma or when they have accidentally place the amulet in their bag unknowingly, went off for a vacation and than met with an incident that had their life saved.

If someone gave you an amulet with sincerity, you should be grateful and feel lucky to receive it even though you know nothing. Find out a bit more about it from the person who gave it to you, he would be delighted to share everything because when a person gives something like that to you, it means that you are important to that person and he would like you to be safe at all times. Most amulets share a common thing and that is protection. Some have mixed functions like charisma, wealth luck etc but the basic intention of a good amulet is to protect the wearer. A good and powerful amulet not only protects the wearer but even anyone near it. It is hard to fathom how such things work unless you have personally experienced it yourself .

I am not an expert on amulet verification but since I was asked this question many times thats my two cents worth of opinion on the above. Please do your own research.

   

Who else but the GREAT STEVE PERRY. Great music to listen to especially when you missed someone.