Last words Last thoughts

These are words spoken from a religious leader ending his last phase of life in this worldy world. Its his Last Words, Last Thoughts and Last Chance to inspire the world. Many people can proclaim how one should be detacted from this body and let go of this vessel (physical body). But none can examplify it more than Late Chief Rev Dr K. Sri Dhammananda in his Last speech to the world... He is the "real Buddhist Leader" as claimed by his friend, Dr Annuruddha Maha Thera.

"I never actually thought that I would have the chance to see and talk to you (again). Half of my body is dead, but my heart, my mind still has energy (to go on).What is this diseased body? Is it life? (Our body) is not life, but just a house (containing this physical body). Life is "energy". The coming together of mental, kammic and cosmic forces - that is life. "

"When the body decays, life goes away. Actually we must be happy when the time comes to depart without suffering. To crave so much for the body, we spend our whole life decorating it, looking after it. One day it will decay and when the body elements dissipate, then the mental energy will go on to build another house."

He actually did it...Happy was he to leave this world without suffering. May his teachings continue to guide us and inspire us... It inspired me. Hope it will for you.

**the rest of the article can be found in Shi Xiong's Blog. http://pipalatree.blogspot.com/**

-Zeming

Dhamma in Action Conference!

Dhamma in Action Conference!!! - 23 August 2008
www.dhammainaction.net

Some pictures!!!

This picture was taken with Venerable Bodhi after her closing speech. We managed to catch her before she left.

This picture was taken with newly made friends from NUSBS

This picture was taken directly after the Milestone Projects session which I presented on Camp Ehipassiko and its history.

- Zeming

Pictorial Sharing on Myanmar Cyclone Victims

Here’s my thought after Venerable Visuddha's sharing, I realised how fortunate we are as we do not have natural disasters here in Singapore. However, many people still do not know how to be contented with what they have and still want more. I am also amazed at how all of the villagers could be so calm and line up patiently while receiving the food. If I were to be there, I doubt that I could stay calm under such hunger and upon seeing food, I might even rush to grab it. I want to learn from the way they are easily contented and the way of them not taking more when they have their share. These are all little things we can learn from them. Although the people from Myanmar might be poor and suffering in hunger, they have things which cannot be found here in our rich and hunger-free country – contentment. That is what we all want to learn, to be more contented with the lives we have now.

- Fu Zhong



This was how bad the situation over at Myanmar was:




However, even in times like this, they are able to come together and work as one and cook for everyone.

De Yuan Shi Fu with all the rebuilding tools and necessitiesThey started their rebuilding plans
The children are still able to smile sweetly, even after what they’ve gone through.

Squeezing two classes into one. Happy students despite what as happen. they are so eager to start school. Are we?

-Xin Yi

Lord, How do I Love Thee?

02082008

Venerable Bodhi once again made sharing an interactive one by encouraging us to being small portions of offerings to offer to Lord Buddha. One by one, we went, talking about how we got in touch with Buddhism and our personal connection with Buddha.

Although the connection has yet to be found in some,they are currently seeking it, while in others, the connection is already evidently established. To a few, the Buddha is a character whom they always look towards when they have problems, someone whom they look to for guidance. To others, just by thinking of the Enlightened one calms their soul, clears their mind of all the clutter that has been accumulating through the day/week.There are some who have respect as the basis of their relation with the Lord Buddha.

To me, it was indeed an insightful session. This is a question I have never asked myself. When I did contemplate about it, yes, I did find my connection with him; I realised that his presence has helped me to calm my own emotions and find peace within myself. When I pondered upon this question and found my answer to it, I could feel my faith and belief in him reaffirmed. Then, came in gratitude, for his guidance in my life.

As we can see, this special feeling and connection towards the Buddha varies from individual to individual and we all have our own ways of relating ourselves to him.

Have you, contemplated on your connection to the Buddha?

With metta and joy,
Mabel.

The session started with a short Puja before Venerable Bodhi presented us with her continuation of the topic she spoke on during Vesak at Orchard, Buddhist Youths-Superheroes.

The crux of the session was to let us understand that we have to take the initiative to make changes instead of passively accepting facts. Instead of complaining how pressurizing or stressful the society is, we ought to take the initiative to change the society because we make up the society; we can start of by ridding ourselves of Greed, Anger and Delusion.

Venerable also brought to us the analogy of painting our own lives, to fill our lives with colours; to help ourselves and not wait for someone to come and help us. To illustrate this, she used Cyclone Nargis as an example. It was said that the people in Rangoon were dismayed at the actions of the governments but they found strength in what the monks taught them- Don’t be angry, stay calm and tide over your own bad Karma.

The idea of superheroes was then introduced at this point. They are known to be people who can react of respond to situations in a surprising manner:
When met with anger, they react with calmness;
when encountered with greed they respond with generosity;
when faced with ignorance they act with understanding.

They are people who stand out from the rest when faced with crisis and when others are experiencing unrest.

It is untrue that Buddhists do not experience sadness; they are just able to find their motivation and move on quickly. Thus, they are not above sadness, but able to let go of these negative emotions and move on faster than others do. The key to this is to acknowledge that we all have weaknesses and identify Greed, Anger and Delusion when they surface in any form.

She then taught us, to make bring about positive impacts, we have to learn ourselves and that to learn is to change. To change, we have to be mindful of our own actions and emotions such that we are aware of our own weaknesses before we proceed to tackling them.

We also learnt that Buddha helps us by allowing us to be aware of the presence of Greed, Anger and Delusion such that we can detect them and make a positive change. To facilitate the process of learning, Venerable has also encouraged us to find a learning point that is, in her words, sustainably actionable, from every Dharma talk that we attend. (ie we can practice what we learn consistently) It was also taught that we have to diligently practise because Greed, Anger and Delusion come from within us.

A further step Buddhists take is to make the change can be seen in the latter-
We accept our weaknesses, what life is and be happy.
We accept our weaknesses, what life is and put in effort to get rid of these defilements.

Therefore, a Buddhist Youth need not be of a young age of appearance but bears the spirit of youthfulness in him, i.e, to be always seeking for new things, truth and motivation to make a better change so as to rid himself and others of Greed, Anger and Delusion.

The session was then ended with an aspiration of herself that Venerable Bodhi shared with us, urging us to make this aspiration along with her:
We aspire for ourselves to be peaceful within ourselves by ridding Greed, Anger and Delusion, in turn inspiring others.

With Metta,
Mabel