The Right Response

 

"If anyone should criticise me, the Teachings or the Community, you should
not on that account be angry, resentful or upset. For if you were, that
would hinder you, and you would be unable to know whether they said
right or wrong, would you? So, if others criticise me, the Teachings or
the Community, then simply explain what is incorrect." - The Buddha

For a more complete read on the above quote: The Daily Enlightenment 
Timely to revisit Agree to Disagree project.

The poster in question found in NUS & NTU:

Peace out.

The most important teaching in life that you'll need to know!

Today, we had an insightful session at SBM on "happiness" and "4 noble truths". While preparing the sharing materials and doing my research online, I stumbled upon some wisdom an Ajhan (Teacher/Venerable) shared in his website. This is the extract from his introduction to 4 Noble Truths:

Within the Buddhist world, there are not many Buddhists who use the Four Noble Truths anymore, even in Thailand. People say, ‘Oh yes, the Four Noble Truths - beginner’s stuff.’ Then they might use all kinds of vipassana techniques and become really obsessed with the sixteen stages before they get to the Noble Truths. I find it quite boggling that in the Buddhist world the really profound teaching has been dismissed as primitive Buddhism: ‘That’s for the little kids, the beginners. The advanced course is....’ They go into complicated theories and ideas - forgetting the most profound teaching.

The Four Noble Truths are a lifetime’s reflection. It is not just a matter of realising the Four Noble Truths, the three aspects, and twelve stages and becoming an arahant on one retreat - and then going onto something advanced. The Four Noble Truths are not easy like that. They require an ongoing attitude of vigilance and they provide the context for a lifetime of examination

Ajahn Sumedho


Ajhan Sumedho's statement has struck a chord in my heart and made us reflect on the experiences that we had. From some of the instances we have experienced, there are usually two ends of the spectrum. On one end, there are Buddhists who have been faithfully practicing for years but when questioned on the beauty of the religion, fall short of being able to answer. On the other end, there are many who need to learn as much "Dhamma" from the Suttas (Scriptures) before feeling confident enough to be called a practicing Buddhist. In reality, the "Dhamma" that we have been cultivating is as simple, yet as difficult as the 4 Noble Truths!

Simple - simply because we really do not need to look that far. Difficult to practise - because if it was truly that easy, we all would have become Arahants and Buddhas!

The 4 Noble truths is simply the essence of the Buddha's teachings. Every Sutta or teaching out there can be categorised under the 4 Noble Truths! The Buddha's teaching is about realising Dukkha and eradicating Dukkha. Even cause and effect can be seen in the 4NT.

1. In life, there is Dukkha (dissatisfaction/impermanence/Change/Sianness) - Effect
2. The cause for Dukkha is Craving - Cause
3. There is a way to get rid of Dukkha - Effect
4. The way to get rid of it is the Noble 8 fold Path - Cause


As such, this is the beauty of the 4 noble truths and it cannot be emphsised more that it was the basis for the very first sermon that the Buddha made after gaining enlightenment.

There are many current Buddhist, new Buddhist or hibernating Buddhist which in time to come may want to know the essence of Buddhism. So what is it that we should be sharing with them? Life story of the Buddha? Who the Buddha was? Dependent origination? Miracles and Supernatural powers? 5 Aggregates?

I think its very clear that as a Buddhist or interested Buddhist, we should know or intellectually try to understand the 4 Noble Truths. You do not even need to know Who the Buddha was. Why? Because if the teaching is so great and inspiring, the end user would naturally be interested to learn more about the Enlightened One.

The Buddha himself knew alot of things and his knowledge was vast beyond comprehension. However, what he taught to us was the essence of liberation and happiness - SN 56.31 Simsapa Sutta: The Simsapa Leaves.

Metta,
Zeming

Reference:
http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble.htm

SN 56.11 First Sermon, Turning of the Dhamma Wheel
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html

SN 56.31 imsapa Sutta: The Simsapa Leaves
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.031.than.html

Manjusri Buddhist Orientation Camp

True Aspirations by Bro. Piya Tan

Most of us forget our new year resolutions simply because they are made only once a year. Or, perhaps they are too difficult or too frivolous for us to take them seriously. Or, maybe only the head resolves, but not the heart. After all, even as the years pass, like it or not, we have tasted a yearful of lessons, if we choose to reflect on them.
However, there are some universal resolutions that we can make every day of our lives, such as before turning in. These are failsafe resolutions reminding us that we are still an evolving process like the days we have been living: sometimes the sunrise is beautiful, some­times not; sometimes the day is clear, sometimes not; sometimes the afternoon is cool, some­times not; sometimes the evening is peaceful and night restful, sometimes not. But we pass through them all the same.
The great difference we can make is how we pass through our days. Here are five vital daily resolutions, reminders of the moment, that we can use to centre ourselves in the peaceful eye of life’s storms.
“May I be well and happy!” Happiness does not always come to us. We need to invite it in to stay: I want to be well and happy, I am well and happy. Since the opposite state­ments work, too, we might as well keep in mind the posit ive ones. As we think, so we are.

The breath is the most precious thing we have. More correctly, we are our breath. If we breathe happily, we become happy; if we breathe peacefully, we are peaceful. We have learned to walk, but we might still need to learn to breathe, or to remember to truly breathe.
Breathe in, visualize the most beautiful place we have been to. Breathe out, picture the most wonderful people who have touched your lives.

“May all be well and happy!” Whomever we meet, even the unfriendly, we should welcome them into our hearts, “May you be well and happy!” It is written across our faces. People may not read or heed it at first, but this is how others’ goodness can surprise us. Our lovingkindness is the key, the passepartout, to the door to true happi­ness.
“May the suffering be suffering-free!” We may not always be able to help others in need, but we can keep an open heart to them, wishing them well that they may quickly rise out of their difficulties and miseries. Often enough, we may be able to stretch our hands out in kindness and succour. This works best when we feel the joy of giving. For, such a peace builds up a firmer foundation for deeper meditative bliss and libera­tion.
“May the joyful ever joyful be!” Then there are those who seem to be better off than we are. For various good reasons, they are enjoying great wealth, fame, power and goodness. Even if we think the reasons are not good enough, we must accept that jeal­ousy does not help. For, our fortunes are outrageously uncertain, and the more we are preoccupi­ed with them, the less satisfied we are with them — and ourselves.

For true happiness is not really in what we have, but in what we really are. A fulfilling life is to fully enjoy the moment. For, the past is gone, and the future never comes. If we are at peace with the moment as it arises, then we are wealthy beyond measure. For, the real meaning of “wealth” is a state of weal, being well. If we truly live now, then we have freed the past and tamed the future.

“Whatever good we do will fruit in time.” Our greatest weakness is a moral one, that is, to think that there is no point in doing any good. The second weakness is to think that we can be happy only by and for ourselves. And thirdly, that we can be forever happy with the world. The world — what our senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind) create and sustain for us — is ever shifting. The world is time and space: we have been all these years, we have moved far distances to come to the here and now. Yet, the moment I say this, it is gone. We have changed, and we will continue to change.
Goodness is basically an understanding and acceptance that change is about becoming better. Even if there are hiccups and upheavals in between, the ground will level again if we work at it. We are capable of great healing and goodness. The sky is not the limit, our heart is. A loveless heart, a hating mind, is small and limiting. A loving heart, an open mind, is capable of boundless truth, beauty and peace. That is why we love the beautiful.
Piya Tan ©2012

Psychological Gardening

Yesterday my lecturer said something that struck a cord :

"Our mind is like a garden. Without psychological gardening, we will be continuously infested with weeds of negativity.

Only when we continuously take care of these weeds and clear our minds will we be able to stay positive and clear-headed."

Have you guys been doing your psychological gardening?

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Hello Everybody!

How have you people been doing? Collecting enough angpows and eating enough bakwas and pineapple tarts over there?

CNY over here is equivalent to normal day around life, except for the fact that we can't pack four season's roasted duck home to eat :(

Living here is like living around a retreat center, where it gets dark before 5pm, streets get deserted, and all around is peace and quiet. (Maybe not so peaceful outside the house, since it's kinda dangerous.)

If not for Jelicia entertaining me with cereal prawns, ondeh ondeh, and Ernest tempting me with the infamous ahlian beehoon, life here would be like a retreat. (Yes, our director of welfare services is extending her services and love all the way to Hertfordshire with the assistance of whatsapp).

I'm not saying it's that bad, because there's no reason to procrastinate. It's the perfect day to walk down the path where trees are bare, where squirrels fly around and apples fill the floor. The weather is never too hot, and the radiator is never too warm. Everyday I walk down the streets looking at the scenery.

My friends commented that the blue-ness of the sky here is a lot nicer than Singapore's, and another commented that we don't even take note of the sky in singapore, which is very true. How many times have we slowed down to look at the awesomeness around us?

There's a dedicated room in school for meditation, though for now doing it in my room provides me with good conditions. AThere's literally nothing to distract me/give me reason to procrastinate. I'm looking forward to attending the Buddhist service on Thursday, although in the photo i see lots of white hair. Let's go surprise them with some youngster walking in :)

It's so peaceful down here, and I'm enjoying this slow motion pretty much :) (But there's still this part of me that's waiting for Amy to come over soon so I can hop around town with her. Sorry zeming!)

Don't worry, all is good here. And how are you guys?

Relics of CEP

 

Post-Spring Cleaning. Relics of Singapore Buddhist Mission (Youth). Will post the camp booklet from the inaugural Camp Ehi-Passiko 1997, of which yours truly was only a young and innocent 12 years old boy.

Above are documents from the planning of Camp Ehi-Passiko Dec 2004 and June 2005.

Celebrating 30 Years of Dhamma Propagation

 

Singapore Buddhist Mission may be a small and humble Buddhist centre but it has been influential and innovative in the spread of the Buddha’s teachings here in Singapore. It is the first Buddhist organisation in Singapore to publish Dhamma books and conduct classes and talks to the general public in the English language. In recent years, the Mission is also the creator of one of the world’s first Buddhist application on iPhone and iPad, the pocket Pali Chanting.

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the Mission’s founding, members of the Maha Sangha, devotees and friends of Singapore Buddhist Mission come together on 3 December 2011 for a Gala Dinner

 A ten-course vegetarian dinner was accompanied with a variety of song and dance performances put up by youth members. The audiences were treated to a candle light procession to the tune of Chattavimana Gatha, a flash-mob dance performance, Buddhist hymn singing and Buddhist rock songs performed by our very own youth members. SBM also had the honour of having Messengers of Dhamma, a popular Buddhist choir group in Malaysia, to perform a number of original Buddhist hymns.

The Singapore Buddhist Mission has been a family to all its members and friends because of the hard work and effort of its spiritual advisors, members and volunteers. May we also applaud and appreciate the efforts of all who have contributed to the Mission in one way or another. The Mission will not be what it is today without you. As the spiritual journey of the Mission continues, may it continue to grow in faith, wisdom and compassion and continue to be a family to all its devotees.

 

30th anniversary has been such a spiritual uplifting journey to see how SBM has grown from a simple mission to what we are today. To see how the young and old are able to celebrate as one together with the Sangha evokes a sense of belonging not only to SBM but to the greater mission of serving the Buddhist community. It has been my pleasure to organise such a joyous event. 
-   Kerwin Kwek Zeming. Chief Organiser, 30^th Anniversary Gala Dinner.

Every member of the audience was also entitled to an exclusive door gift; a tote bag specially designed by youth member, Liew Yuanyi for the event. Yuanyi is inspired by the love and compassion of the Buddha and aspires to express her faith within her artworks.

Newly revamped Tri-Monthly Newsletter!

The newly revamped tri-montly newsletter of SBM is the brainchild of Kassapa House of Communication! Thank you Team for the great job. Refreshing to see a new design. Cheers to Comms. Director Png Zhenyu and House Advisor Ryan Lee!

CEP Post Camp Activities