Peace (Y)

@Wu Feng's sharing.. A group of monks were debating if  it is the sense objects that fetter the mind or the sense organs that cause the problems. Citta arrived at the monastery, and asked what they were discussing, and they told him. 

Citta said, "Sirs! sense objects and sense organs are different." 

He then used a simile: a black ox and a white ox were tied together with a rope. 

Now would the black ox be the fetter of the white ox 

OR

that the white ox  the fetter of the black ox?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Certainly not," answered the monks. 

The black ox  ≠ fetter of the white ox 

The white ox  ≠ fetter of the black ox

The fetter = rope

Citta agreed and further explained:

the eye  ≠ fetter of visual objects 

visual objects  ≠ fetter of the eye

But rather, the desire that arises from the meeting of the two, that is the fetter. And it is the same with the other sense organs and their objects.

DON'T UNDERSTAND RIGHT? 

Let me set an example. Items you should take note - the eye, the flower, the heart <3

One day you go to a garden and you sit down on the bench to enjoy the scenery. At the corner of your eye you saw this really beautiful flower growing. 

THIS IS WHEN the eye ( sense organ ) meets the flower ( sense object ). Initially you say what a nice flower and you left the park and went home. 

While at home, you suddenly thought of the flower and you began to want to have it because of its beauty. The heart ( desire ) comes into play and  makes you think of it every now and then. 

CONCLUSION:

So, neither the eye nor the flower becomes the factor of why your clinging on to. But rather the heart ( desire ) that wants you to acquire it. Thus the heart ( rope in the ox example ) becomes the fetter ( attachment ) to the flower. 

If seriously you do not understand still, please call me up or facebook me. I will explain to you until you understand. 

Sharing and Laughing Meditation

Hello everyone!

This week will be wufeng's first sharing on Citta!

And Brother Yam (a certified instructor) will be coming down to teach us some laughing meditation!

Do join us at 2pm for some fun and laughter!

Cheers
Mabel

Public Talk: Facing the Fears of the Changing World

Life is full of uncertainties. This is especially so in today's life where new media and technology allows for global communication within seconds.

We have invited Venerable Chuan Guan to share with us how we can Face and Cope with the fears we experience while being in such a fast-changing world.

Venerable Chuan Guan was ordained under Master MiuKing (Master MiaoJing) in 2002 (higher ordination in 2003) and began his monastic training in Fa Yun Monastery (New Mexico, United States), learning the sutras and practised meditation under the Mahayana Buddhist tradition while studying the Theravadin Pali Canon. Returning to Singapore in 2006, he continued his training under Ven. Kwang Sheng in Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.

Since 2009, he is resident in the Buddhist Library while giving Dharma and meditation classes at the library and various Buddhist organisations. Online, he reaches out to the Buddhist community via his blog at www.buddhavacana.net, facebook & twitter. He received his degree in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and worked in the IT industry prior to monkhood.


To get to Poh Ming Tse:

By Driving:
1A.From West, exit PIE into Eng Neo Avenue, then turn LEFT into Dunearn Road.
1B.From East, exit PIE into Adam Road, then turn RIGHT into Bukit Timah Road. After
Duchess Road, keep RIGHT. When near Hwa Chong Junior College, U-turn into Dunearn Road.
2.Along Dunearn Road, keep LEFT. After Watten Estate Road, turn LEFT into
Shelford Rd. Slow down before entering the basement car park on your LEFT.


By Bus:
1.From West, alight at the bus stop right after Watten Estate Road and Shelford Road.
2.From East, alight at the bus stop in front of Coronation Plaza and use the overhead bridge to cross the road. Then walk against the traffic flow until you reach Shelford Road.

Bus Number: 66, 67, 74, 151, 156, 157, 170, 171, 174, 540, 852, 961


By MRT:
1.Alight at Newton MRT Station.
2.Take 'Exit A' to Scotts Road.
3.Take TIBS Bus No. 171 heading towards Bt Timah Road.
4.Alight at the 8th bus stop, in front of Coronation Plaza and use the overhead bridge to cross the road.
5.Then walk against the traffic flow until you reach Shelford Road.

If you have further enquiries, please contact Mabel at 81396303.

May you be well and happy!

Sharing Session

Sharing Session by Brother Jianyong "Mohawk" on Devadatta.

Tathagata, thus gone.

Obviously someone wasn't doing his meditation to take this.

On Devadatta.


So who's falling asleep?

Camp Ehi-Passiko 2011 Recce Trip

Our annual youth camp, Camp Ehi-Passiko is coming again this December! Time to spread the words and get your friends to join the camp.

Meanwhile, preparations have begun, with the games team meeting every Friday while on Sunday, Camp Master Mao Mao and Camp Mistress Mabel had assembled a small 'crack' team to do a mini-recce trip to the North-East of Singapore.

Front seat.

These two old folks were really sitting under the shade of a pipala tree.

Serangoon River.

Lotus

Halus Wetlands

Halus Wetlands

Cicak Man

The Team (is missing the driver).

Cicak Man 2: The Rise of the Hairy

The Wetlands.

Camp Mistress

Camp Master

Happy Birthday Singapore!

at Marina Barrage.

Hello! This saturday Jianyong will be sharing with us about Buddha's cousin-- Devadatta!

we WILL start sharing at 2.15pm!

Cheers
Mabel

And fireworks go pew pew pew!

I hope everyone had a great time at the Marina Barrage, I know I did! :) Compared to the rest of the people who went on down to the barrage to chill, we were by far the most well-prepared. We had everything! Food, drinks, ice, a big space, kites - everything except tissue paper.

Thank you to our crew of chefs who went down to Mabel's house to prepare yummy pasta and finger food for us!

Thank you to Zeming, for fetching our food and logistics to the barrage. And thank you Pearson, for fetching the remaining logistics back.

And of course, thank you everyone for coming down to ulu Marina Barrage! What's the point of the event, without the attendees ? :)

National day comes by only once a year, but I am sure we can always find an excuse to just gather and chill with everyone! :P

A day to relax, fly kites, have a small picnic while watching fireworks with good friends is really a great way to sum up pretty much what we did a the Marina Barrage.

Let's go back there together again next year!

Especially to the gallery! :P

Happy Birthday Singapore!

Sprinkles of Joy from Sharing

It has been close to a week now since our sharing on “When Things Just Don’t Go The Way You Want”. Yes Yes…I hear you…I should have posted the link (as promised) a long time ago. And, glad that I finally found the time to peacefully pen down a few words in my first blog post!!!

You guys have been inspiring...

I enjoyed the session very much and found it really inspiring. Not because things have turned out the way I want it to be, but because it turned out to be so much better than I ever imagined it to be. And guess what, the joy that I felt was not whether I have done a great job or not. The joy was purely inspired by you guys (and girls, of course!) for making the sharing filled with laughters and interactive discussion.

My top favourite was the debate…it was really interesting to see how Fu Zhong stepped up to the challenge to share his inner most thoughts about “We should not have any expectations, so that we would not fall into the emo trap” and how Vivian rebutted with “Why should we be afraid about feeling down”. Then, we had our future psychologist, Kevin re-iterating (so much that we all start bursting into laughters when his leg cramp kicked in!) on how important it is to have expectations to drive us forward, with Mabel then putting a spin to the definition of expectations and said “We can have goals, not expectations and we can choose to not fall into the usual emo trap when things don’t meet our expectations”.

And, I love how the team spirit played out during the discussion, with Wu Feng searching for the meaning of expectations from dictionary.com, Jian Yong jumping to another group and when Kai Wen exclaimed out loud “Aspirations, I knew it!" (only after the answer was revealed!!!).

Sharing is caring…don’t be afraid of opening up, many might have the same thoughts as you

Now, this post is not any “Fame of Glory” that is meant to highlight any individual achievements but more of sharing with you guys what I observed to be encouraging to see how you guys opened up and shared your thoughts. Many times, we come to sharing viewing the sharer (I’m not sure if this word exists – pardon my Engrish!) as a subject matter expert and unless we have pre-requisite knowledge to the subject…most of the time we will just listen and accept, even when it makes no sense. What you guys have done this time, was impressive that it makes me think of certain perspectives that I might not have considered during the preparation.

So, yes…sharing is not a one-way street and we are all learning together as a family. And, it matters a lot, to have you guys (each and everyone of you!) to be in the sharing session. You will be surprised, how much joy and encouragement you bring just by being there – just a smile warms people up, what’s more sharing and learning at the same time…You guys do make a difference and I want to applaud and thank you for that beautiful effort that you have put in.

Without further ado, enjoy the lovely dhamma talk by Venerable Thubten Chodron and wishing everyone a sweet smile on your face, filled with abundance of happiness, and joyous Bodhicitta in your heart.

Sadhu sadhu sadhu :)

Love,
Amy

Link to dhamma talk: http://www.thubtenchodron.org/DealingWithEmotions/when_things_just_dont_go_the_way_you_want.html