HI ALL, SORRY FOR SPOILING THE VERY NICE BLOG WITH THESE RED WORDS! REMINDER AGAIN. PLEASE REPLY MY SMS REGARDING THE MANPOWER AND REPLY WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! HAHA, OR ELSE PREPARE TO DAIIIIIIIIIII! (A)
THANKS AND LOVE MANY MANY! ♥
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Buddhist Boy and Strive on ppl!
A reminiscence of a composed song Buddhist Boy
Enjoy!
Strive! Strive on for a CEP 2010!
Not without you!
Thank you all for being with us for all these years. We'll not be here without your support through these years. Lets enjoy this song by Reaching Jhana
Enjoy!
Strive! Strive on for a CEP 2010!
Not without you!
Thank you all for being with us for all these years. We'll not be here without your support through these years. Lets enjoy this song by Reaching Jhana
BUDDHISM WITHOUT WORDS
From Piya Tan
The academic study of Buddhism has reached such a level today so that we have an ever better idea of who the Buddha was, what he taught, and how the disciples of his times (and after him) lived. An important reason for this is that the scholars have applied various disciplined approaches to studying the Buddha and his teachings.
Such scholarly approaches are, of course, mostly western or westernized disciplines. These scholars are generally aware that we tend to create (at least project our own ideas onto) the religion we are studying. J Z Smith, in the Introduction to his “Imagining Religion” (1982), insightfully observes that
“Religion is solely the creation of the scholar’s study. It is created for the scholar’s analytic purposes by his imaginative acts of comparison and generalization. Religion has no existence apart from the academy.” (1982:xi)
We can similarly say that Buddhism is solely the creation of the Buddhist teacher, the sutta instructor, the titled professional, the undergraduate, the adolescent, the child who tells you about it. But then, don’t we all create our own worlds by projecting our familiarities and fancies onto our experiences?
There lies the rub. We KNEW things, that is, our experiences, our Buddhisms, our religions, are but expressions and reflections of our undead past. We have projected our own imaginings and aspirations onto the present. After all, we are our thoughts; or more exactly, we are what we HAVE thought. Past perfect tense. We are perfectly tensed up by our past.
However, is there a chance that we are not deluding ourselves? Is there a chance that what we have created and projected actually overlaps with what the Buddha himself has experienced and taught? But how would we know this? Perhaps we could rely on the primary sources, the suttas, or the Abhidhamma, or our perfect guru, or even our favourite speaker.
But, as we have noted, we have merely created and projected our own meanings onto them. They are, after all, what we have been looking for. They are what we want them to be. We have created them in own image. Looks like we have a double-bind here.
We need to get down to basics: we must get down from our Zen cloud, as it were, the wordy fuzz and silly sounds we all are capable of fooling ourselves with. So what if we have tasted a koan? Are we better people, or are we merely better at talking about koans? We are all, we might say, Zennists at heart: that’s the ultimate koan. We are liable to be fooled by words.
Some may charge me as knocking down Zen, but I can think of many other examples. As D T Suzuki, the famous 20th century Zen exponent, humorously observes: “Zen claims to be ‘a specific transmission outside the scripture and to be altogether independent of verbalism,’ but it is Zen masters who are the most talkative and most addicted to writing of all sorts.”[1]
Frankly, I am completely ignorant of koans. My great doubt, I’m sure, keeps me safe from being slapped, finger-chopped and cut in half with koans!
If we are already feeling a bit miffed at this point, that’s good :). (It’s even more healing to examine what REALLY is making us miffed: surely not these dead dry letters.) We are noticing ourself in the present moment.
Or worse, we might actually like these foolish words from my pre-breakfast epiphany. Hunger has a way of invoking what being fed up deprives us of.
Some might say this is just being clever with words. But we forget that we ourselves could excel so, given a chance to speak before an audience, or post something about it online, or write a book. Words, words, words. We can be naked and lost without them.
Imagine we are suddenly deprived of words and language. How then can the Zennists blurb their zen? Or the preacher sell his God? Or the conmen con? Notice how children, not so sophisticated in language, befriend one another as easily as they quarrel. We smiled at their childish squabbles, and thought we knew better. Then we ourselves squabbled, only to know much later how childish we were. Aren’t we still living in the past?
Amidst the words and noises of our lives, we vitally need to feel a constant silence in between. Our wisdom arises from the spaces separating each letter and mark, the silence spacing every word; and do beauty, harmony and peace. They are like the still spaces in between our beautiful breaths. It is from such stillness that our vision of joy, beauty and truth arises. This is the vision of emotional independence, of being truly happy for itself.
We need to cut down the forest of words, but not the tree of wisdom. Religion is a forest, Buddhism is a forest; the Dharma is a tree. Cut down the forest, but not the tree (Dh 283).
Piya Tan ©2010 101129
The academic study of Buddhism has reached such a level today so that we have an ever better idea of who the Buddha was, what he taught, and how the disciples of his times (and after him) lived. An important reason for this is that the scholars have applied various disciplined approaches to studying the Buddha and his teachings.
Such scholarly approaches are, of course, mostly western or westernized disciplines. These scholars are generally aware that we tend to create (at least project our own ideas onto) the religion we are studying. J Z Smith, in the Introduction to his “Imagining Religion” (1982), insightfully observes that
“Religion is solely the creation of the scholar’s study. It is created for the scholar’s analytic purposes by his imaginative acts of comparison and generalization. Religion has no existence apart from the academy.” (1982:xi)
We can similarly say that Buddhism is solely the creation of the Buddhist teacher, the sutta instructor, the titled professional, the undergraduate, the adolescent, the child who tells you about it. But then, don’t we all create our own worlds by projecting our familiarities and fancies onto our experiences?
There lies the rub. We KNEW things, that is, our experiences, our Buddhisms, our religions, are but expressions and reflections of our undead past. We have projected our own imaginings and aspirations onto the present. After all, we are our thoughts; or more exactly, we are what we HAVE thought. Past perfect tense. We are perfectly tensed up by our past.
However, is there a chance that we are not deluding ourselves? Is there a chance that what we have created and projected actually overlaps with what the Buddha himself has experienced and taught? But how would we know this? Perhaps we could rely on the primary sources, the suttas, or the Abhidhamma, or our perfect guru, or even our favourite speaker.
But, as we have noted, we have merely created and projected our own meanings onto them. They are, after all, what we have been looking for. They are what we want them to be. We have created them in own image. Looks like we have a double-bind here.
We need to get down to basics: we must get down from our Zen cloud, as it were, the wordy fuzz and silly sounds we all are capable of fooling ourselves with. So what if we have tasted a koan? Are we better people, or are we merely better at talking about koans? We are all, we might say, Zennists at heart: that’s the ultimate koan. We are liable to be fooled by words.
Some may charge me as knocking down Zen, but I can think of many other examples. As D T Suzuki, the famous 20th century Zen exponent, humorously observes: “Zen claims to be ‘a specific transmission outside the scripture and to be altogether independent of verbalism,’ but it is Zen masters who are the most talkative and most addicted to writing of all sorts.”[1]
Frankly, I am completely ignorant of koans. My great doubt, I’m sure, keeps me safe from being slapped, finger-chopped and cut in half with koans!
If we are already feeling a bit miffed at this point, that’s good :). (It’s even more healing to examine what REALLY is making us miffed: surely not these dead dry letters.) We are noticing ourself in the present moment.
Or worse, we might actually like these foolish words from my pre-breakfast epiphany. Hunger has a way of invoking what being fed up deprives us of.
Some might say this is just being clever with words. But we forget that we ourselves could excel so, given a chance to speak before an audience, or post something about it online, or write a book. Words, words, words. We can be naked and lost without them.
Imagine we are suddenly deprived of words and language. How then can the Zennists blurb their zen? Or the preacher sell his God? Or the conmen con? Notice how children, not so sophisticated in language, befriend one another as easily as they quarrel. We smiled at their childish squabbles, and thought we knew better. Then we ourselves squabbled, only to know much later how childish we were. Aren’t we still living in the past?
Amidst the words and noises of our lives, we vitally need to feel a constant silence in between. Our wisdom arises from the spaces separating each letter and mark, the silence spacing every word; and do beauty, harmony and peace. They are like the still spaces in between our beautiful breaths. It is from such stillness that our vision of joy, beauty and truth arises. This is the vision of emotional independence, of being truly happy for itself.
We need to cut down the forest of words, but not the tree of wisdom. Religion is a forest, Buddhism is a forest; the Dharma is a tree. Cut down the forest, but not the tree (Dh 283).
Piya Tan ©2010 101129
Sunday, November 28, 2010
So proud to wake up in the morning and seeing you guys on the papers. This place has been my home through my growing years and glad to know that it will continue to be a haven for you guys, and hopefully for future generations of teenagers to come. It made me think a lot today and especially the pioneers of the group and the mentors from the previous committee before me, whom you have to admit established the pillars of the group. Though thru' the years, people come and go and differences arose, we should still be mindful that everyone was only serving the Mission in ways in which he/she felt was for the best.
Continue to work hard and keep the group growing in spirituality, wisdom and compassion. Remember that spiritual friendship should always be at the very heart of this group and that the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha shall always be our Refuges.
- Brother BEar
Continue to work hard and keep the group growing in spirituality, wisdom and compassion. Remember that spiritual friendship should always be at the very heart of this group and that the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha shall always be our Refuges.
- Brother BEar
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sneak preview
Illusions of your fantasy
All dots and lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do
We are the color symphony
We do the things you wanna see
Frame by frame, to the extreme
Our friends are so unreasonable
They do the unpredictable
All dots lines that speak and say
What we do is what you wish to do
It's all an orchestra of strings
Doin' unbelievable things
Frame by frame, to the extreme
One by one, we're makin' it fun
We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper
Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian
Welcome to the toon town party
Here comes Superman, from never-neverland
Welcome to the toon town party
We learned to run at speed of light
And to fall down from any height
It's true, but just remember that
What we do is what you just can't do
And all the worlds of craziness
A bunch of stars that's chasing us
Frame by frame, to the extreme
One by one, we're makin' it fun
We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper
Here comes Spiderman, arachnophobian
Welcome to the toon town party
Here comes Superman, from never-neverland
Welcome to the toon town party
You think we're so mysterious
Don't take us all too serious
Be original, and remember that
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
What we do is what you just can't do
We are the Cartoon Heroes - oh-oh-oh
We are the ones who're gonna last forever
We came out of a crazy mind - oh-oh-oh
And walked out on a piece of paper
There's still more to come
And everyone will be
Welcomed at the
Toon (Toon)
Town (Town)
Party
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Hello brothers and sisters! There will be a sharing by brother KEVIN LEE this Saturday, topic is on uppekha! So do come down this weekend, 3pm @ SBM!
AND the blockbuster CAMP EHI PASSIKO 2010 is just merely 24 days away! for those who haven't sign up for this camp, please do so now ya as seats (beds) are LIMITED!
For th...ose who have already signed up, stay tuned to this page and also our blog for any important updates!
one more important announcement, we are currently in the process of moving our Singapore Buddhist Mission (Youth) group page to an official Facebook page, more details will be shortly released!
From our Facebook Page.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Camp Ehi-Passiko Pre-Camp
To Eugene, Xinyi and Wufeng, and the rest of the Camp Committee, Group Leaders and Organisers... Good job with Pre-Camp. Hope it has been an enjoyable time for all of you.
I know it isn't an easy job to organise a camp for more than 100 teenagers, especially since everyone has to cope with studies and sacrifice lots of personal time, but let me remind you that yours is a valuable service to the community. It is a blessing to receive help and likewise it is a blessing to render help. You guys have been putting on a solid front for the youth group and for that I am thankful.The journey will not be smooth but at the end of the day, when you see the smiling faces on the campers, you will know that all your hard work, sacrifices and weekend is well spent.
With the blessings of the Enlightened Ones and the unity of the group, I am confident that Camp Ehi-Passiko will be a success. Remember and be mindful that the camp is not only organised for the youth participants but also for you, the youth volunteers and organisers, and I pray and hope that all of you will find meaning in the message of the Buddha and make good spiritual friendship that hopefully can last for a long time.
Remember, we are all one big family in this mission together to share the teachings of the Buddha and to cultivate lifelong spiritual friendship.Now onwards to Camp Ehi-Passiko!
I have been following the writings and works of Reverend Heng Sure across the Pacific and via the Internet since my army days 5 years back. I have sought solace in his wisdom and have found inspiration in his Dhamma music. His song, Dedication of Merits, is also sang by the youths in Camp Ehi-Passiko and Camp Lions.
So it seems almost like coming to a full circle to finally meet Reverend Heng Sure in a youth dialogue here in Singapore, a rare appearance from the revered American Buddhist monk.
Jianyong was so inspired by Reverend's talk that he requested a solo picture.
Having being a Buddhist since I was a child, the story of the 4 Sights has already become quite routine. But Reverend Heng Sure telling of the story brought the audience closer to the psyche of Prince Siddhartha and made the story alive before culminating with a catching folk song titled Yashodara, Prince Siddhartha's wife.
You can downloand songs by Reverend Heng Sure here at this link. It's for free but there's a catch! You have to do a good deed and then submit it, before you can receive the music for free.
Another spiritual recharge on an inspirational weekend. Sadhu.
So it seems almost like coming to a full circle to finally meet Reverend Heng Sure in a youth dialogue here in Singapore, a rare appearance from the revered American Buddhist monk.
Jianyong was so inspired by Reverend's talk that he requested a solo picture.
Having being a Buddhist since I was a child, the story of the 4 Sights has already become quite routine. But Reverend Heng Sure telling of the story brought the audience closer to the psyche of Prince Siddhartha and made the story alive before culminating with a catching folk song titled Yashodara, Prince Siddhartha's wife.
You can downloand songs by Reverend Heng Sure here at this link. It's for free but there's a catch! You have to do a good deed and then submit it, before you can receive the music for free.
Another spiritual recharge on an inspirational weekend. Sadhu.
Sharing Sessions
Dhamma discussions during our weekly sharing sessions. We have 2 more sessions to go before we break for the year as we parepare for the blockbuster of 2010: Camp Ehi-Passiko!
Want to hear more
Want to hear more
Saturday, November 20, 2010
angry buddha (HUH)
I'm proud of myself because I managed to catch myself and ask: why am I angry. For nothing. So i didn't retain the anger in me. =]
anyway I came across a really cute story, but as you read and laugh, also reflect: what does "practice" really mean?
and I must say that I like sharing all these stuff with you, because as I share, I reflect and make new resolutions. So, thank you guys for letting me share =]
ANGRY BUDDHA
From "Being Peace" by Thitch Nhat Hahn
"A woman who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, is very tough and recites "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she is doing this practice for over 10 years, she is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her recitation, he came to her door and called out: "miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen!".
As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it." And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more oppressive.
She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA...
The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen..."
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"
The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!"
mabel, happy
anyway I came across a really cute story, but as you read and laugh, also reflect: what does "practice" really mean?
and I must say that I like sharing all these stuff with you, because as I share, I reflect and make new resolutions. So, thank you guys for letting me share =]
ANGRY BUDDHA
From "Being Peace" by Thitch Nhat Hahn
"A woman who practices reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, is very tough and recites "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she is doing this practice for over 10 years, she is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. She starts her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her recitation, he came to her door and called out: "miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen!".
As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it." And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more oppressive.
She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA...
The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, miss Nuyen..."
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"
The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!"
mabel, happy
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Mexican Fisherman
In a quiet Mexican fishing village, an American on vacation was watching a local fisherman unload his morning catch. The American, a successful professor at a prestigious US business school, couldn't resist giving the Mexican fisherman a little bit of free advice.
"Hey!" began the American. "Why are you finishing so early?"
"Since I have caught enough fish, Senor, replied the genial Mexican, "enough to feed my family and a little extra to sell. Now I will take some lunch with my wife and after a little siesta in the afternoon, I will play with my children. Then, after dinner, I will go to the cantina, drink a little tequila and play some guitar with my friends. It is enough for me, Senor."
"Listen to me, my friend." said the business professor. "If you stay out at sea until late afternoon, you will easily catch twice as much fish. You can sell the extra, save up the money, and in six months, maybe nine, you'll be able to buy a bigger and better boat and hire some crew. Then you'll be able to catch four times as many fish. Think of the extra money you will make! In another year or two, you will have the capital to buy second fishing boat and hire another crew. If you follow this business plan, in six or seven years you will be the proud owner of a large fishing fleet. Just imagine that! Then you should move your head office to Mexico office, or even to LA. After only three or four years in LA,you float your company on the stockmarket giving yourself, as CEO, aqa generous salary package with substantial share options. In a few more years - listen to this! - you initiate a company share buy-back scheme, which will make you a multi-millionaire! Guaranteed! I'm a well-known professor at a US business school. I know these things."
The Mexican fisherman listened thoughtfully at what the animated American had to say. When the professor had finished, the Mexican asked him, "But, Senor Professor, what will I do with so many millions of dollars?"
Surprisingly, the American professor hadn't thought the business plan through that far. So he quickly figured out what a person would do with a millions of dollars.
"Amigo! With all the dough, you can retire! Yeah! Retire for life. You can buy a little villa in a picturesque fishing village like this one, and purchase a small boat for going fishing in the morning. You can have lunch with your wife every day, and siesta afterwards with nothing to worry you. In the afternoon you can spend quality time with your kids anad, after dinner in the evening, play guitar with your friends in the cantina,drinking tequila. Yeah, with all that money, my friend, you can retire and take it easy."
"But, Senor Professor, I do all that already."
WHY DO WE BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE TO WORK SO HARD AND GET RICH FIRST, BEFORE WE CAN FIND CONTENTMENT?
~from Opening the door of your heart by Ajahn Brahm
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Following up on the Mudita session by Amy, it struck me because I'm the epitome of A&A- anger and angst. And i'm not afraid to admit since everyone already knows it and realisation is the first step to making an effort for improvement! (Heehee)
Anyway, while mugging, there is a section of my textbook devoted to anger which I found useful. Making the resolution that I'll be more mindful of my A&A syndromes in future, I'd like to share some of these tips in my textbook which I found close to me, and hopefully close to you!
Anyway, while mugging, there is a section of my textbook devoted to anger which I found useful. Making the resolution that I'll be more mindful of my A&A syndromes in future, I'd like to share some of these tips in my textbook which I found close to me, and hopefully close to you!
1. Relax.
Practice relaxation techniques when you think of/experience something that presses on your anger button. This will slowly train you to associate unhappy events to relaxation more than anger.
Practice relaxation techniques when you think of/experience something that presses on your anger button. This will slowly train you to associate unhappy events to relaxation more than anger.
2. Try to interpret situations in alternative manners that would otherwise cause anger.
When you're on the road and someone drives recklessly, instead of being angry at the driver, reflect on it and think: perhaps more can be done by driving institutes to enforce safe driving. Or when someone does something unpleasant, think: This is something that I can learn not to repeat.
When you're on the road and someone drives recklessly, instead of being angry at the driver, reflect on it and think: perhaps more can be done by driving institutes to enforce safe driving. Or when someone does something unpleasant, think: This is something that I can learn not to repeat.
The above two are aimed at expressing anger safely.
3. Learn to let go of unrealistic goals that feed the anger- such as the naive belief that expressing anger will motivate others to "do the right thing". I definitely fall prey to this.
Although people believe that "bottling up" emotions risks uncontrollable outbursts, research has proven otherwise. When you are angry with someone, "getting it off your chest" by aggressively confronting the individual will not neutralise your bad feelings. Instead, you will intensify them.
Source: Psychology Core Concepts, Chapter 9: Emotion and motivation, Controlling Anger
With more love than anger/angst,
Mabel =]
3. Learn to let go of unrealistic goals that feed the anger- such as the naive belief that expressing anger will motivate others to "do the right thing". I definitely fall prey to this.
Although people believe that "bottling up" emotions risks uncontrollable outbursts, research has proven otherwise. When you are angry with someone, "getting it off your chest" by aggressively confronting the individual will not neutralise your bad feelings. Instead, you will intensify them.
Source: Psychology Core Concepts, Chapter 9: Emotion and motivation, Controlling Anger
With more love than anger/angst,
Mabel =]
Monday, November 15, 2010
Fuzziewuzzies
Something that happened yesterday at Sbm touched me deeply :) Someone told me that an auntie wanna contribute food to CEP! When I went to talk to her, I realized she's not very young. And she was more than happy to cook something for one of our meals. While talking to her, I was really very very touched, almost, just almost, touched to tears! I mean, she's quite old already and she's willing to cook something for 150 people! She's gonna cook sambal egg (yumyum!) for everyone! Some people might tell me it's just a simple dish, some others might say she always cooks for CEP! But meh I'd say the intention and effort, really makes me fuzzywuzzy all over!
Hehe, with CEP GLCAMP/BONDINGCAMP/DRYRUN coming in less than a week, and CEP coming in a month, let's jiayouuuuu and end this year with a memorable experience for everyone (apart from qgy wheeee!) anddddddddd, I thank and appreciate everyone's effort and time so far even though I know alot of you are extremely busy and all :)
Whee, alrightiez! See most of you on Saturday! :) Details will be up soon! :)
With load of love,
Xinyi :)
Hehe, with CEP GLCAMP/BONDINGCAMP/DRYRUN coming in less than a week, and CEP coming in a month, let's jiayouuuuu and end this year with a memorable experience for everyone (apart from qgy wheeee!) anddddddddd, I thank and appreciate everyone's effort and time so far even though I know alot of you are extremely busy and all :)
Whee, alrightiez! See most of you on Saturday! :) Details will be up soon! :)
With load of love,
Xinyi :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Temple always calms me down and spiritually recharge me for another round of race around the mundane world, the track that is samsara. We as laymen and especially young people have a lot of responsibilities to fulfill, but this is not a good excuse to drown ourselves in senseous pleasure. Dhamma is everywhere, even in our day-to- day interactions. Everything we do and see, we speak is Dhamma and a chance for us to cultivate.
Piya Tan's Reflection: 3 Nov 2010 (Wed)
Close your eyes, see better
Whatever original teachings of the Buddha we can know mostly comes from the Pali Suttas and the Chinese Agamas (the first two volumes of the huge Chinese Tripitaka). This is of course to simplify a complex problem, as scholars would tell us that parts of ancient passages or teachings can be found in the canons of a number of other Indian Buddhist schools.
Although the Buddha has himself not written down any of his teachings, we can know enough from the Suttas and the Agamas to reconstruct a good working idea of his teachings. And we also have the living experiences and teachings of the forest monks of today. Using the discipline and imagination of Buddhist scholarship and what we can learn from other related disciplines, even other religions, we can look ever closer into what really happened in the Buddha’s life and teachings.
All this is of course “constructed” from various records and sources, which must be tried and tested by our own practice and meditation. It is like keeping our telescope directed in the right quadrant of the heavens. All we need to do now is to keep the telescope steady as we focus closer onto the heavenly body we wish to study. The final true picture of the Buddha Dharma can only come from the calm clarity of our inner peace. Only when we experience this inner peace can we truly know what the Buddha is talking about, and to become Buddha-like.
Buddhism today is an open forum. Anyone who can talk or click a computer keyboard can express his knowledge of Buddhism. This would of course benefit others who know less. But if we do not go beyond this, it is like spending our time chatting with our travel guide or reading travel guides, and missing the real journey to our destination. The Buddhist journey can only be made on our own. For, it is an inward journey to explore inner space.
In our inner journey, there is no one we can trust, no one to trust. For, all we have are the mind and the body. Whatever exists is either physical or mental. Either way, everything is impermanent. To exist is to be impermanent. Nothing eternal exists, even if we try to define it with deep faith or great power (religiously or politically). The point is that we cannot define anything into existence.
If we carefully examine the experiences of the great mystics in religious history, we often hear of how they feel a sense of “abandonment” or “alienation” by the very goodness they believe in or by the very people they are helping. It is as if we are ignored, even discouraged, when we try to do good. Our heart, as it were, is enshrouded in a dark night. Darkness, however, is simply the absence of light.
Let us constantly recall and reflect on the radiant image of the Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree. Let every tree we see joyfully remind us of the Buddha. This is the epitome of the whole universe, of all being at peace with itself. Despite being abandoned by those very friends who have avowed to serve him, he continues to shine alone like the sun lighting up the universe. In the night of worldly ignorance, we must be like the full moon reflecting this light in a cloudless sky.
A Christian pastor once privately asked me how he could teach Buddhist meditation to his flock. (He was sadly disappointed that his congregation expected God and the pastor to answer all their prayers, some of which were simply unrealistic, and wondered if meditation could appease their hearts.) I recall the Udumbarika Sihanada Sutta (D 25)[1] where the Buddha replies such questions in terms of the latter’s understanding. Look at Christ crucified, I said, and you might just see that he appears to be in deep meditation. He is poised mid-air spanning earth and heaven, as it were, yet untouched by both, and looking deep inwardly.
In a way, a meditator must “crucify” himself, or rather, leave the self behind. The cross is a powerful reminder for me of the Buddha Dharma. It is a giant “I” cancelled out with a great bar. When this cross turns, it becomes a Dharma wheel with eight spokes. But when a wheel is really spinning, really working, it appears empty. In spiritual life, we need to empty ourselves of all bodily actions and all thoughts. The more we can do this, the more inner stillness and oneness we feel. In meditation, to feel is to directly experience true reality.
Pearl S Buck, in a brief scene in her classic, “The Good Earth” (1931, ch 14), gives us a dramatic and moving angle of human perception. During the sojourn of Wang Lung and his family in Nanking, he is confronted by a tall, thin, foreign man who hands him a piece of paper. The man has blue eyes, a hairy face and arms, and “a great nose projecting beyond his cheeks like a prow beyond the sides of a ship.” Wang Lung sees characters on it that he is unable to read, and the picture of a half-naked dead man “who hung upon a crosspiece of wood.”
Wang Lung is horrified, and later that night, he discusses the bizarre picture with his father, who offers the only plausible explanation reflecting pre-Revolutionary China: “Surely this was a very evil man to be thus hung.” This is a logical surmise for someone who has never seen an image of the Crucifixion, and so can only interpret the image from his own painful experiences. A Western religious icon is seen merely as depicting a gruesome execution.
Sadly, some of the most peaceful sacred moments in spiritual faith become lost in the tyranny of worldliness, wordiness and missionary measuring. There are, for example, those who misconstrue the still Buddha under the Bodhi tree as a figure who rejected the world. But his eyes are not closed to the world. The Buddha rejects what the eye fools us of the world, so that he truly sees into our hearts. He teaches us to look deep into our own hearts, and heal ourselves. Wherever something truly beautiful or deeply sacred is depicted we can see this profound joy and peace, if we look deep enough.
Piya Tan ©2010 101101
[1] Link to Udumbarika Sihanada Sutta: http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1.4-Udumbarika-Sihanada-S-d25-piya-proto.pdf
Whatever original teachings of the Buddha we can know mostly comes from the Pali Suttas and the Chinese Agamas (the first two volumes of the huge Chinese Tripitaka). This is of course to simplify a complex problem, as scholars would tell us that parts of ancient passages or teachings can be found in the canons of a number of other Indian Buddhist schools.
Although the Buddha has himself not written down any of his teachings, we can know enough from the Suttas and the Agamas to reconstruct a good working idea of his teachings. And we also have the living experiences and teachings of the forest monks of today. Using the discipline and imagination of Buddhist scholarship and what we can learn from other related disciplines, even other religions, we can look ever closer into what really happened in the Buddha’s life and teachings.
All this is of course “constructed” from various records and sources, which must be tried and tested by our own practice and meditation. It is like keeping our telescope directed in the right quadrant of the heavens. All we need to do now is to keep the telescope steady as we focus closer onto the heavenly body we wish to study. The final true picture of the Buddha Dharma can only come from the calm clarity of our inner peace. Only when we experience this inner peace can we truly know what the Buddha is talking about, and to become Buddha-like.
Buddhism today is an open forum. Anyone who can talk or click a computer keyboard can express his knowledge of Buddhism. This would of course benefit others who know less. But if we do not go beyond this, it is like spending our time chatting with our travel guide or reading travel guides, and missing the real journey to our destination. The Buddhist journey can only be made on our own. For, it is an inward journey to explore inner space.
In our inner journey, there is no one we can trust, no one to trust. For, all we have are the mind and the body. Whatever exists is either physical or mental. Either way, everything is impermanent. To exist is to be impermanent. Nothing eternal exists, even if we try to define it with deep faith or great power (religiously or politically). The point is that we cannot define anything into existence.
If we carefully examine the experiences of the great mystics in religious history, we often hear of how they feel a sense of “abandonment” or “alienation” by the very goodness they believe in or by the very people they are helping. It is as if we are ignored, even discouraged, when we try to do good. Our heart, as it were, is enshrouded in a dark night. Darkness, however, is simply the absence of light.
Let us constantly recall and reflect on the radiant image of the Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree. Let every tree we see joyfully remind us of the Buddha. This is the epitome of the whole universe, of all being at peace with itself. Despite being abandoned by those very friends who have avowed to serve him, he continues to shine alone like the sun lighting up the universe. In the night of worldly ignorance, we must be like the full moon reflecting this light in a cloudless sky.
A Christian pastor once privately asked me how he could teach Buddhist meditation to his flock. (He was sadly disappointed that his congregation expected God and the pastor to answer all their prayers, some of which were simply unrealistic, and wondered if meditation could appease their hearts.) I recall the Udumbarika Sihanada Sutta (D 25)[1] where the Buddha replies such questions in terms of the latter’s understanding. Look at Christ crucified, I said, and you might just see that he appears to be in deep meditation. He is poised mid-air spanning earth and heaven, as it were, yet untouched by both, and looking deep inwardly.
In a way, a meditator must “crucify” himself, or rather, leave the self behind. The cross is a powerful reminder for me of the Buddha Dharma. It is a giant “I” cancelled out with a great bar. When this cross turns, it becomes a Dharma wheel with eight spokes. But when a wheel is really spinning, really working, it appears empty. In spiritual life, we need to empty ourselves of all bodily actions and all thoughts. The more we can do this, the more inner stillness and oneness we feel. In meditation, to feel is to directly experience true reality.
Pearl S Buck, in a brief scene in her classic, “The Good Earth” (1931, ch 14), gives us a dramatic and moving angle of human perception. During the sojourn of Wang Lung and his family in Nanking, he is confronted by a tall, thin, foreign man who hands him a piece of paper. The man has blue eyes, a hairy face and arms, and “a great nose projecting beyond his cheeks like a prow beyond the sides of a ship.” Wang Lung sees characters on it that he is unable to read, and the picture of a half-naked dead man “who hung upon a crosspiece of wood.”
Wang Lung is horrified, and later that night, he discusses the bizarre picture with his father, who offers the only plausible explanation reflecting pre-Revolutionary China: “Surely this was a very evil man to be thus hung.” This is a logical surmise for someone who has never seen an image of the Crucifixion, and so can only interpret the image from his own painful experiences. A Western religious icon is seen merely as depicting a gruesome execution.
Sadly, some of the most peaceful sacred moments in spiritual faith become lost in the tyranny of worldliness, wordiness and missionary measuring. There are, for example, those who misconstrue the still Buddha under the Bodhi tree as a figure who rejected the world. But his eyes are not closed to the world. The Buddha rejects what the eye fools us of the world, so that he truly sees into our hearts. He teaches us to look deep into our own hearts, and heal ourselves. Wherever something truly beautiful or deeply sacred is depicted we can see this profound joy and peace, if we look deep enough.
Piya Tan ©2010 101101
[1] Link to Udumbarika Sihanada Sutta: http://dharmafarer.org/
Looking for Each Other
The moon of freedom has returned to me,
everything I thought I had lost.
From that moment on,
and in each moment that followed,
I saw that nothing had gone.
There is nothing that should be restored.
Every flower, every stone, and every leaf recognize me.
Wherever I turn, I see you smiling
the smile of no-birth and no-death.
The smile I received while looking at the mirror of the moon.
I see you sitting there, solid as Mount Meru,
calm as my own breath,
sitting as though no raging fire storm ever occurred,
sitting in complete peace and freedom.
At last I have found you, Blessed One,
and I have found myself.
There I sit.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Halloween 2010!
Well it's really just an excuse for us to get together, play dress us and have some good youthful fun!
Little Red Riding Hood (went wrong), Demoness, Cry Babi and... Pontianak?
With Sister Jackie from Wat Ananda.
Notice the ninja behind?
Hadoken. No need for special effects. This is the real stuff.
Boys.
"Eh? No kangaroos?"
League of Ordinary Gentlemen.
"Orange juice very nice"
Cat falls in love with the big spider, to the envy of vampire. Copied from Facebook.
Mohawk Boy is going to see the dentist!
Two is better than one.
Hoho! Amigos! Now a chopper is sensitive!
Modern-Day Ghosts.
Hmmm.... tension.
What? Iron Man?
Cry Babi and her father, Shughar Dadi.
Green Tea, not blood.
Flying Iron Man in Shorts and Slippers.
Jimmy Xiao Mimi
Cat Woman.
Scary hor
Amigos is really a kind-hearted vegetarian. Really.
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