Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Dear friends

Having come home from Bangladesh...I realise how confined and minute our worldview has been all these while in an utopian as sheltered as our sunny island home.

Lets work hard for not only our spiritual cultivation, but also our lay duties! We are after all lay people with lay responsibilities to your teachers, your parents, your results and your bosses.

So students, learn to work hard while at the same time, play hard. Young adults who are working, see meaning in your work and be thankful that your little action can have an impact on the lives of others.

To practice the Dhamma is precisely to appy the Buddha's teachings in our day to day life. Recalling the Buddha's teachings, be mindful of our thought, speech and action, and always stand upright with confidence and wisdom, like a strong tree against the storms of this world. Keep your mind clam and clear.

While we live in an imperfect world, beauty and happiness can still be found, from the faces of your family, friends, your loved ones and even those on the faces of the auntie and uncle in the morning wet market.

IT's mid week and a good reminder to always do good, just like the Buddha. Keep the faith going and keep buildin the community. As we can see from recent events here, there is stiull a lot of work for us to do to build up a good and comfortable place for youths like you and me to learn and practice the Dhamma. We are no where enar perfection and it is precisely this reason why we are working hard. Give us a chance.

Your little contribution to the society will have an impact, no matter how small.

On a parting note, a little gift..a little video I amde from my time in Bangladesh. The people of Dhaka city will always remind me of how poor they may be materially, but how rich they are spiritually. Yet their poverty does not make them gloomy and borrding at each moment of the rising sun.

The Bird that Shakes the Jute Fields from Liew Shi Xiong on Vimeo.



Buddha Bless!

Shi Xiong
Vice-President (Operations)

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