FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - 8:30
PETER is having screen time.
PETER (V.O.): Wow, somebody traded stocks for a year and lost his 15 years' saving.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Isn't that a timely warning bell for me?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since mid-September this year, I've been buying stocks and holding them.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I thought Hong Kong stocks were cheap. Now, they're cheaper.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I intend to take risk and be enterprising. Isn't it never too late to be what I might have been?
Act 2
EXT. NAN LIAN GARDEN, DIAMOND HILL - 10:00
A city park with Tang Dynasty temple style wooden structures. Peter is touring with FRIENDS.
FRIEND#1: I'm so pleased you could join.
PETER: If I'm available, I won't miss our gatherings. We were classmates in Tsinghua U 25 years ago.
Peter takes photos of the environment.
PETER (Cont'd): It's my first time here.
FRIEND#2: I've been here a couple of times.
They see local tour groups.
FRIEND#3: Here's a near substitute for those who want to see Japanese-like gardens.
They arrive at a temple.
FRIEND#1: Peter, is it okay for you visit it?
PETER: Of course. I was converted to Buddhism around age 11. My religious name is Gautama Ching Fai (釋靜輝).
Peter's friends look surprised.
PETER (Cont'd): I studied in a Buddhist primary school. I thought the Buddhists' belief that the human life was one of suffering was right.
FLASHBACK
EXT. PO KOK BRANCH SCHOOL, HUNG SHUI KIU - DAY (1965)
Garden. Peter (11) is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.): The school is asking us to consider to be converted to Buddhism.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I abide by the Buddhist morality, in particular, abstaining from killing living beings.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If spiritual labour and good behaviour would lead to nirvana or enlightenment, I'm all for it.
RETURN TO PRESENT
They see statutes in sitting or standing positions on display.
FRIEND#2: The sculptures differ in their details.
FRIEND#3: For Buddha, the minute parts make a difference. What are those non-distinctive ones?
PETER: They're arhats. Buddha attained enlightenment by himself whereas arhats did that by following others' teachings.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd):The statues are meant to be visible images to associate with Buddhist's teachings.
Pausing.
PETER(Cont'd):However, believers might habitually worship the statues as gods.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd): That's what I don't like as I'm not feeble-minded.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd): Another limit of Buddhism is that one has to help oneself to be enlightened.
FRIEND#1: But if anyone can save himself/herself, that would be good enough.
PETER: True.
Act 3
INT. SITTING ROOM - 22:30
Having taken a look on his entrepreneurship fund, Peter focuses on one screen image depicting arhat (羅漢).
PETER (V.O.): Have I released myself from my existential being and its inherent suffering?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Probably not. At least, my fire of deriving profit from my entrepreneurship fund hasn't been extinguished yet.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.): Would I gain insight into the nature of my existence like an arhat?
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I enlighten myself...
FADE OUT
THE END
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