Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Misconceptions of Buddhism
This week is the Buddhism Awareness Week in NUS! Here are the Misconception posters that NUS Buddhist Society made. Enjoy!
Response to the Response of Pastor rony blast buddhism
Urgent Message From Pastor Rony
I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.
When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.
After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other belief and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.
Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority.
The above is taken from his website. So let us all forgive and forget, just take the moral from this incident and not cause any harm or feeling of ill will towards anyone. This post is to make sure that the readers generate feelings of peace and love instead of the opposite. So don't increase our bad karma by being angry... but increase our good karma together by being loving.
I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.
When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.
After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other belief and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.
Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority.
The above is taken from his website. So let us all forgive and forget, just take the moral from this incident and not cause any harm or feeling of ill will towards anyone. This post is to make sure that the readers generate feelings of peace and love instead of the opposite. So don't increase our bad karma by being angry... but increase our good karma together by being loving.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Pastor Rony blasts Buddhism, response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYJ07V_YxX8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryTe7HAWaL4&feature=related
Just tonight I've seen these videos and
I'm sorry that this is going to be quite long, as they mentioned various things in 20 minutes. I shall attempt to clear up the misconceptions that the interview is trying to portray and extract some moral values for us to learn here.
Mantra: I believe what Joseph Wee was chanting was Pali words, which can be called Puja (the chanting). The lure of chanting to gain power not entirely true, chanting can help one to calm one's mind and to cultivate a pure heart. With a pure mind and a calm heart, one can act more rationally, be happier and therefore be healthier. This positive influence can spread on to the people around oneself and make the world a better place, one person at a time. That's the "power" of chanting. One who is more inclined to faith can initially be lured to chant without knowing its meaning, however as one progresses on, one should learn the meaning behind the words, the attitude when chanting (not relying on external superpowers to solve one's own problem), and how to chant (maintain good thoughts, pure mind) before the chanting can be useful to oneself. Even if one doesn't know the meaning, the collective effect and the atmosphere when chanting is of peace and smoothing nature, so it can help calm one's mind (not unlike the choirs in the church).
"Higher than GOD" (Wrong): There's no such concept as a omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being (aka GOD) in Buddhism. So the phrase "Higher than GOD" has no meaning in Buddhism. However there are powerful beings known as devas (or gods with a small 'g') in Buddhism. They have limited power and are beings who live in heaven, but they are also subjected to birth, decay and death. Aim of Buddhism then is not to gain power, but to find the end of suffering, the end of birth, decay and death. According to Buddhism, all beings have the potential to be free from suffering.
Moral: Define the word god or GOD properly when making a statement.
Rebirth: There are 31 planes of existence where beings can be reborned into. These include humans, animals, hell, ghost, and heaven.
http://www.aimwell.org/assets/31%20Planes%20of%20Existence.jpg
There's even planes for Beings who deluded themselves (by being very powerful and long lived) to believe that they are the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being (aka GOD) who created the world. The difference between Rebirth and Reincarnation is that Rebirth doesn't involve the concept of a soul transferring from one body to another. Buddhists do not believe in a permanent self but believe human consciousness (the "I" or self) dissolves at death and that only a subtle mindstream remains. The mindstream carries with it karmic imprints from prior lives and gets a new consciousness in a new body. Evidence of rebirth: see works of Ian Stevenson, who had investigated 3000 childhood cases that suggested to him the possibility of past lives for 40 years. Logical arguments are unnecessary in the face of empirical evidence.
Workings of Karma in Rebirth: "Do good deeds and Hopefully reborn in heaven, but not certain." In determining which plane to reborn into, karma plays the main role, firstly, there's the heavy karma: if one committed heavy bad karma, one would be instantly be reborned in hell; then comes the last moment thought, if the last moment thought is wholesome, one would be reborned in a wholesome state. If not, then comes the normal, habitual karma, the habitual thoughts that fills our mind all the time, eg. if one thinks of love and compassion in between lessons, in between talking, always holding up this thought, one would surely be reborned in a higher realm. Lastly, comes the residual karma. Looking at this complex conditions, it can be summarized in "not certain", but then it is easily misunderstood.
Ex-monk: Being only a novice monk for 2 weeks, Joseph cannot be qualified to be introduced as an "Ex-monk" in the beginning as this carries the intonation that he had studied Buddhism thoroughly and yet find Christianity more suited for him. It is obvious that he has very superficial understanding of Buddhism despite years of being in a temple. Carrying an important position in the temple only reflects one's capabilities, not one's spiritual training.
Deny yourself: The training of a monk is to renounce the world of sensual pleasures. That means to give up the sweetness of life brought by the 5 senses, but it doesn't mean that one would torture oneself, it is also to give up the bitterness of life by the 5 senses. This is important to calm the mind down, so as to train the mind through meditation and then using a clear, sharp mind to see the world as it truly is. To train the mind while indulging in sensual pleasures is very difficult and unhealthy as one might get to think that the purpose of life is to seek ever more pleasures.
Resident monk: As a treasurer, he must handle money, therefore he is a layperson, a layperson cannot be a resident monk. No novice monk for 2 weeks will be considered to be asked to be a resident monk. Contradiction from his statement.....
To get to Nibbana: Must be doing good deeds as a base for practicing concentration meditation as a base for practicing insight meditation to gain knowledge of the true nature of phenomena. Not necessary to be celibate. To be a monk is to take up celibacy, and to be a monk is to help one to meditate in a more conducive environment. To meditate more is to train the mind to a higher concentration more so as to be able to perpetrate into the real nature of the world when practicing insight meditation.
Virtuous life as a monk: To observe the 227 precepts, not to promote violence, killing, bad deeds, to promote and share the good deeds, to provide a way for layperson to donate and practice generosity, to set an example for the devoted lay person to follow, to inspire the devotees to do good deeds, to teach the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), to spread love and peace wherever they go (by practicing themselves as an example to follow), not to get angry or lustful with anyone, to help whenever possible, to practice meditation fervently so as to attain the sainthoods (stages to Nibbana) and thus inspire the followers by becoming the living proof that enlightenment is possible, to guide the others to Nibbana, and not to show off that they are doing all these good deeds (so that's why people generally think monks do nothing).
Music: As explained before, monks are not to indulge in sensual pleasures, music is the pleasure to the ears. Therefore monks are not to listen to music for pleasure. The chanting is meant to be inspiring sounds that redoubles the effort to enlightenment. To accommodate with the lay followers and youths, chanting can sometimes be made into pleasurable sounds.
Nibbana: The state of enlightenment, neither here nor there, timeless, ultimate happiness, no suffering, unchanging, soulless.
Below from: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca3/nibbana.html
The enlightened, constantly absorbed in jhana, persevering, firm in their effort: they touch Unbinding, the unexcelled safety from bondage. Unable to explain in mundane terms, to be self-experienced.
Karma as fatalistic (Wrong): There're 5 laws that govern how things happen: Universal laws (physics), Organic order (biology), Inorganic order (chemistry, atmospheric and earth physics), the law of the mind (partially covered by psychology), and the Law of Karma (that good begets good, bad begets bad). So karma is just one of the conditions that determine what happens. So not everything that happens is due to karma. And since karma is constantly being created, one can change one's karma by doing good/bad deeds and influence what will come to one in the future. For one who understands karma, he'll be practicing good deeds constantly and avoid all bad deeds. This is also not to highlight that one practice good deeds just to get the rewards, but it is just a simple application of a law of nature e.g. Hammering one's finger is painful, so one doesn't do it. This also empowers the individual to change his own fate instead of hoping on external sources.
Women and men in Buddhism: Main difference is in the physical body. The Buddha raised the position of women in ancient India, He even allowed the order of nuns and monks to coexist together. There're more rules (no nun should go out alone) for the Nuns as women are not considered equal in the society (rape victims), the rules are not to belittle the nuns, but necessary due to physical body difference.
Overall Moral: Never belittle the other religions just to increase the faith in your own one. Even when you got their previous people converting into your own religion, don't make them give a public interview just to belittle their previous religion.
P.S.
Urgent Message From Pastor Rony
I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.
When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.
After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other belief and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.
Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryTe7HAWaL4&feature=related
Just tonight I've seen these videos and
I'm sorry that this is going to be quite long, as they mentioned various things in 20 minutes. I shall attempt to clear up the misconceptions that the interview is trying to portray and extract some moral values for us to learn here.
Mantra: I believe what Joseph Wee was chanting was Pali words, which can be called Puja (the chanting). The lure of chanting to gain power not entirely true, chanting can help one to calm one's mind and to cultivate a pure heart. With a pure mind and a calm heart, one can act more rationally, be happier and therefore be healthier. This positive influence can spread on to the people around oneself and make the world a better place, one person at a time. That's the "power" of chanting. One who is more inclined to faith can initially be lured to chant without knowing its meaning, however as one progresses on, one should learn the meaning behind the words, the attitude when chanting (not relying on external superpowers to solve one's own problem), and how to chant (maintain good thoughts, pure mind) before the chanting can be useful to oneself. Even if one doesn't know the meaning, the collective effect and the atmosphere when chanting is of peace and smoothing nature, so it can help calm one's mind (not unlike the choirs in the church).
"Higher than GOD" (Wrong): There's no such concept as a omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being (aka GOD) in Buddhism. So the phrase "Higher than GOD" has no meaning in Buddhism. However there are powerful beings known as devas (or gods with a small 'g') in Buddhism. They have limited power and are beings who live in heaven, but they are also subjected to birth, decay and death. Aim of Buddhism then is not to gain power, but to find the end of suffering, the end of birth, decay and death. According to Buddhism, all beings have the potential to be free from suffering.
Moral: Define the word god or GOD properly when making a statement.
Rebirth: There are 31 planes of existence where beings can be reborned into. These include humans, animals, hell, ghost, and heaven.
http://www.aimwell.org/assets/
There's even planes for Beings who deluded themselves (by being very powerful and long lived) to believe that they are the omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent being (aka GOD) who created the world. The difference between Rebirth and Reincarnation is that Rebirth doesn't involve the concept of a soul transferring from one body to another. Buddhists do not believe in a permanent self but believe human consciousness (the "I" or self) dissolves at death and that only a subtle mindstream remains. The mindstream carries with it karmic imprints from prior lives and gets a new consciousness in a new body. Evidence of rebirth: see works of Ian Stevenson, who had investigated 3000 childhood cases that suggested to him the possibility of past lives for 40 years. Logical arguments are unnecessary in the face of empirical evidence.
Workings of Karma in Rebirth: "Do good deeds and Hopefully reborn in heaven, but not certain." In determining which plane to reborn into, karma plays the main role, firstly, there's the heavy karma: if one committed heavy bad karma, one would be instantly be reborned in hell; then comes the last moment thought, if the last moment thought is wholesome, one would be reborned in a wholesome state. If not, then comes the normal, habitual karma, the habitual thoughts that fills our mind all the time, eg. if one thinks of love and compassion in between lessons, in between talking, always holding up this thought, one would surely be reborned in a higher realm. Lastly, comes the residual karma. Looking at this complex conditions, it can be summarized in "not certain", but then it is easily misunderstood.
Ex-monk: Being only a novice monk for 2 weeks, Joseph cannot be qualified to be introduced as an "Ex-monk" in the beginning as this carries the intonation that he had studied Buddhism thoroughly and yet find Christianity more suited for him. It is obvious that he has very superficial understanding of Buddhism despite years of being in a temple. Carrying an important position in the temple only reflects one's capabilities, not one's spiritual training.
Deny yourself: The training of a monk is to renounce the world of sensual pleasures. That means to give up the sweetness of life brought by the 5 senses, but it doesn't mean that one would torture oneself, it is also to give up the bitterness of life by the 5 senses. This is important to calm the mind down, so as to train the mind through meditation and then using a clear, sharp mind to see the world as it truly is. To train the mind while indulging in sensual pleasures is very difficult and unhealthy as one might get to think that the purpose of life is to seek ever more pleasures.
Resident monk: As a treasurer, he must handle money, therefore he is a layperson, a layperson cannot be a resident monk. No novice monk for 2 weeks will be considered to be asked to be a resident monk. Contradiction from his statement.....
To get to Nibbana: Must be doing good deeds as a base for practicing concentration meditation as a base for practicing insight meditation to gain knowledge of the true nature of phenomena. Not necessary to be celibate. To be a monk is to take up celibacy, and to be a monk is to help one to meditate in a more conducive environment. To meditate more is to train the mind to a higher concentration more so as to be able to perpetrate into the real nature of the world when practicing insight meditation.
Virtuous life as a monk: To observe the 227 precepts, not to promote violence, killing, bad deeds, to promote and share the good deeds, to provide a way for layperson to donate and practice generosity, to set an example for the devoted lay person to follow, to inspire the devotees to do good deeds, to teach the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), to spread love and peace wherever they go (by practicing themselves as an example to follow), not to get angry or lustful with anyone, to help whenever possible, to practice meditation fervently so as to attain the sainthoods (stages to Nibbana) and thus inspire the followers by becoming the living proof that enlightenment is possible, to guide the others to Nibbana, and not to show off that they are doing all these good deeds (so that's why people generally think monks do nothing).
Music: As explained before, monks are not to indulge in sensual pleasures, music is the pleasure to the ears. Therefore monks are not to listen to music for pleasure. The chanting is meant to be inspiring sounds that redoubles the effort to enlightenment. To accommodate with the lay followers and youths, chanting can sometimes be made into pleasurable sounds.
Nibbana: The state of enlightenment, neither here nor there, timeless, ultimate happiness, no suffering, unchanging, soulless.
Below from: http://www.accesstoinsight.
Defined in terms of what it is...
"This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Nibbana."
— AN 3.32
There's no fire like passion, no loss like anger, no pain like the aggregates, no ease other than peace. Hunger: the foremost illness. Fabrications: the foremost pain. For one knowing this truth as it actually is, Unbinding is the foremost ease. Freedom from illness: the foremost good fortune. Contentment: the foremost wealth. Trust: the foremost kinship. Unbinding: the foremost ease.— Dhp 23
...and in terms of what it is not
"There is that dimension where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising: without stance, without foundation, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress."
— Ud 8.1
"There is, monks, an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated. If there were not that unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn — unbecome — unmade — unfabricated, emancipation from the born — become — made — fabricated is discerned."
— Ud 8.3
Where water, earth, fire, & wind have no footing: There the stars do not shine, the sun is not visible, the moon does not appear, darkness is not found. And when a sage, a brahman through sagacity, has known [this] for himself, then from form & formless, from bliss & pain, he is freed.
— Ud 1.10
Karma as fatalistic (Wrong): There're 5 laws that govern how things happen: Universal laws (physics), Organic order (biology), Inorganic order (chemistry, atmospheric and earth physics), the law of the mind (partially covered by psychology), and the Law of Karma (that good begets good, bad begets bad). So karma is just one of the conditions that determine what happens. So not everything that happens is due to karma. And since karma is constantly being created, one can change one's karma by doing good/bad deeds and influence what will come to one in the future. For one who understands karma, he'll be practicing good deeds constantly and avoid all bad deeds. This is also not to highlight that one practice good deeds just to get the rewards, but it is just a simple application of a law of nature e.g. Hammering one's finger is painful, so one doesn't do it. This also empowers the individual to change his own fate instead of hoping on external sources.
Women and men in Buddhism: Main difference is in the physical body. The Buddha raised the position of women in ancient India, He even allowed the order of nuns and monks to coexist together. There're more rules (no nun should go out alone) for the Nuns as women are not considered equal in the society (rape victims), the rules are not to belittle the nuns, but necessary due to physical body difference.
Overall Moral: Never belittle the other religions just to increase the faith in your own one. Even when you got their previous people converting into your own religion, don't make them give a public interview just to belittle their previous religion.
P.S.
Urgent Message From Pastor Rony
I have received a number of emails from people who have been saddened and hurt by the testimonies of an ex-monk and an ex-nun. I realized that my presentation and comments were wrong and offensive. So I sincerely apologize for my insensitivity towards the Buddhists and Taoists, and solemnly promise that it will never happen again.
When we have received those emails, we immediately removed the video clips from our website. I urge those who have posted those clips on the YouTube to remove them as well.
After reading the frank views from those emails, I was also prompted to tell my members not only to continue to love souls, but also to respect other belief and not to ridicule them in any way, shape or fashion.
Let's put our goal to build a harmonious Singapore a top priority.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Today is yet another Wednesday!
I guess I better update myself of my recent activities in life before I forgot it all. This Wednesday afternoon was Infusion time! I saw really cool dancing and eat quite nice stuffs at the booths showcasing countries that international students came from to NUS to study full time. Incidentally, I've been to Chatter twice today, to decorate the stuffs for Buaya-Buayee, where the participants are supposed to stalk each other without the victim knowing who's stalking. So I won't say who I'm stalking here. However, from the amount of clues in the decorations I've put, it's entirely possible for the girl I'm stalking to deduce who I am.
Oh and I've just applied for CHIP, China Immersion Programme, from 11th-24th May 2010. We'll be visiting Shanghai and the World EXPO! There's more than 50 people applying already since the first email came 2 days ago.... I suspect. So it's extremely hot. Oh and they are choosing only 30 people. We pay $900, 1/3 of the whole cost which covers everything but souvenirs. Hmm.....And my supervisor, Valerieo's back! Wonder what to do later on..............for UROPS.
Oh and I've gone for Nam Wah Pai training for the weekend Saturday Afternoon and Sunday night! That's right! Sunday night! We are training for a competition in April! Cool huh?
Oh and I've just applied for CHIP, China Immersion Programme, from 11th-24th May 2010. We'll be visiting Shanghai and the World EXPO! There's more than 50 people applying already since the first email came 2 days ago.... I suspect. So it's extremely hot. Oh and they are choosing only 30 people. We pay $900, 1/3 of the whole cost which covers everything but souvenirs. Hmm.....And my supervisor, Valerieo's back! Wonder what to do later on..............for UROPS.
Oh and I've gone for Nam Wah Pai training for the weekend Saturday Afternoon and Sunday night! That's right! Sunday night! We are training for a competition in April! Cool huh?
Buddhism and Science
These are the posters of Buddhism and Science that I've made, it may contain some factual error, but as far as I can see it's ok. So don't 100% believe in it but to investigate yourself.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Make War or Make Love with Exams? (18SX) Bewarned
I've just realized, after watching Universal Soldier: Regeneration, how violent I am......... towards my academics that is.
I was imagining me beating up Physics, my modules one by one and other commitments like how the Universal Soldier is. Just unmercifully, ruthlessly, and using brute force. I think it somehow kinda linked with how some people say exam warfare. That we, as students have many wars to go, the biggest ones are the Final exams! And that we'll survive through the war, just as a hero or as a wounded soldier, it all depends on our preparations. And as a hero will receive a good reward: high pay, and a wounded soldier has to live his life dealing with his deformations.
It started since we were in UPSR, PMR, SPM, STPM.... and Uni life and so on....there's only so many wars one can go through in one's life without getting disinterested in it, disliking it, and even hate it! No wonder there are some people want to go work early, and no wonder the majority of the people regard graduate students as insane people. And no wonder PhD=permanent head damage. The problem of calling exams as wars is that that will cause people to take up the attitude of a soldier, we don't have to like what we study, as long as we master the enemy (study) , we know the battle field (exam techniques), and keep a cool head (calm), we'll ace this thing.
And thereafter the society clamors for straight As student, feed-backing to them that exam is everything in a student's life. "You don't have to love the subject, just be good in the subject. You can hate it, you can make your life miserable, just get me As in the exams." That's what students in general got from their parents, teachers, friends.......
All these I denounce!
There's a better way! To make love with the things that you're studying with, whether you choose the subject for yourself or not. Imagine this: you're given a wive and many mistress to sleep with (sorry male domination here, if you're female please imagine the opposite like having many husbands etc... and if you're uncomfortable with this kinda topic, pick something you like, for example: video games) . You naturally wanted to know more about everyone of them, if possible everything about them. How to court them, how to make them happy, what they look like, what's in their wardrobe? What kind of clothes they like to wear? How to think like them?
You want to love them, to care for them, and finally when the Finals comes, you're going to have sleep with them. So that's when you know what to say during the intercourse, what to do and what not to do, what to think of and how to relate to them. Because you know them before hand (Study), and you practiced with them a few times (Exam techniques), and you keep a cool head because you know what to do.
I'm sure it's easy to translate the above to video games, or comic readings, or paintings or just about any other skills. I just choose the making love thingy to attract more readers. Please note that I'm in no way promoting sexual activities or sleeping with more than one person at a time literally. You got to read it beyond the meanings and see the connections towards changing your feelings towards studying.
And now that you get the idea, you can start to change your attitude towards the subject your studying now. Love them, by liking them first. Like them, by not disliking them. Not dislike them by not hating them. Not hating them by using the technique I highlighted above.
And so I finally know why my wive, Physics, been ignoring me for so long, and why I don't get the passion of learning physics that much anymore. I got to start to care for her, love her, look at her in the eye and fall in love once again, and not strike her anymore. So whenever you think of your work, job, studies, and you feel like another sigh coming through, and another burst of energy to go through it, Stop. Stop and spread loving-kindness to the job, work, subject at hand then. Stop and see it in a different light, stop disliking them, start liking them, start loving them. And see the change.
P.S. Opps, just realized that I may have introduced to many a young students the world of 18SX...... but I think it is still healthy to them. In fact it can be said as the most healthy of them all!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Happy Birthday Ruby Lin!
It's been 3 years since I've wish Ruby Lin Happy Birthday, now I'm waiting for the clock to strike 12 to send her this message on her blog.
Happy Birthday! 生日快乐！不快乐就看看自己，看看那心情是无常的，然后笑一笑心情就好多了。
祝：找到好男人，不帅也好只要好心，真心，有爱心。-------暗念妳的黄信照。
Incidentally, I know of more people who's birthday falls on the 27th January. My cousin, Loh Jia Long of course, then there's Jeanne from NUSBS 30th MC. And last but not least, May Han, my senior in SPS and Physics. Here's the card I made for her!
It's the strongest card yet. Got to go now.
Happy Birthday! 生日快乐！不快乐就看看自己，看看那心情是无常的，然后笑一笑心情就好多了。
祝：找到好男人，不帅也好只要好心，真心，有爱心。-------暗念妳的黄信照。
Incidentally, I know of more people who's birthday falls on the 27th January. My cousin, Loh Jia Long of course, then there's Jeanne from NUSBS 30th MC. And last but not least, May Han, my senior in SPS and Physics. Here's the card I made for her!
It's the strongest card yet. Got to go now.
Pokemon Cards
I've just made over 10 pokemon cards of the people in SPS. Hope you like them, if you want one, just tell me.
It really is fun making them
all, and it takes a lot of cards to know the balance, so that none of them gets too imbalanced (imba). It also trains your creativity to think of what to use as an attack, the names, the effects, and the other status. Most importantly it motivates one to actually get to know your friends better, so that they will not mind you writing these about them and you can write it without having to ask for their opinion too much. I think I'll make a full deck once I've made enough cards to play with.
It really is fun making them all, and it takes a lot of cards to know the balance, so that none of them gets too imbalanced (imba). It also trains your creativity to think of what to use as an attack, the names, the effects, and the other status. Most importantly it motivates one to actually get to know your friends better, so that they will not mind you writing these about them and you can write it without having to ask for their opinion too much. I think I'll make a full deck once I've made enough cards to play with.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Today is another Wednesday!
Wow, today what a fruitful and varied day it is. From 12a.m. to 4a.m. in the morning, I've watched the big bang theory, selected a scene for my presentation, compose the meditation participants list, done (partially) my particle Physics homework, and then I fall off to sleep until 9a.m. when I woke up and try to meditate a bit before being called up and rushing to my room and bath.
At 10a.m. this morning, William, my dear cousin, yes, William Goh came to Singapore and NUS! I accompanied him to my room to put down his bags, and then we went to SPS room for a little rest while I compile the list of people in meditation to give them SMS reminder. Then we went for luncheon and visiting the Science Coop and the Central Coop, where I spend my $20 voucher on chocolates and sweet foods. Then I've gone to Center for Quantum Technology to attend a talk by a 4th year student on black box tomography, and I wasn't fully blur about it, I kinda understand what he is saying! a vast improvement compared to last week!
Then at 3:00p.m. I went to buy a book for William and then gone to University Hall to attend a talk by Nathan Ball, an engineer turn entrepreneur who is eager to share the innovative culture of MIT to NUS and also sharing his experience!
After that, I sent William off to our uncle's home in Woodlands and then gone to make preparations for the night's meditation session. There were a lot of helpers and they are all eager to help! I feel so lucky to have them and the night's session went on smoothly and nicely, with 33 people satisfied and leaving with more understanding of Buddhism and meditation.
And after cleaning up at 9p.m. , I have stumbled upon the after party by RVR people and there're still loads of fffffffffffffffffrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee food left! And so I call some SPS people to come and take it back and share. Now it's still outside SPS and waiting for people to fill their stomach with it!
What I really want to share is that no matter how tough organizing a NUSBS activity is, no matter how mundane and seemingly not connected to Buddhism it is, it is the real training. The real training is not just to read the Dharma, to learn it and to teach it. It is also to apply it! The various processes of applying the room, getting helpers, organizing the participants, running the thing in general might be frustrating, and leave lots of room for negative emotions to arise, but in the training of the Dharma, we can identify when it arises, and deal with it as it does. We can also help in creating the conditions for the learning/teaching process to happen. So to everyone who's reading this, I highly recommend a Committee job in a Buddhist Society or temple, in order to train all that you've learned in the field! Like today, it's possible to organize an activity successfully, hang out with an old good lifelong cousin, attend to our personal seminars (physics and MIT), and have fun with SPS all in the same day!
At 10a.m. this morning, William, my dear cousin, yes, William Goh came to Singapore and NUS! I accompanied him to my room to put down his bags, and then we went to SPS room for a little rest while I compile the list of people in meditation to give them SMS reminder. Then we went for luncheon and visiting the Science Coop and the Central Coop, where I spend my $20 voucher on chocolates and sweet foods. Then I've gone to Center for Quantum Technology to attend a talk by a 4th year student on black box tomography, and I wasn't fully blur about it, I kinda understand what he is saying! a vast improvement compared to last week!
Then at 3:00p.m. I went to buy a book for William and then gone to University Hall to attend a talk by Nathan Ball, an engineer turn entrepreneur who is eager to share the innovative culture of MIT to NUS and also sharing his experience!
After that, I sent William off to our uncle's home in Woodlands and then gone to make preparations for the night's meditation session. There were a lot of helpers and they are all eager to help! I feel so lucky to have them and the night's session went on smoothly and nicely, with 33 people satisfied and leaving with more understanding of Buddhism and meditation.
And after cleaning up at 9p.m. , I have stumbled upon the after party by RVR people and there're still loads of fffffffffffffffffrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee food left! And so I call some SPS people to come and take it back and share. Now it's still outside SPS and waiting for people to fill their stomach with it!
What I really want to share is that no matter how tough organizing a NUSBS activity is, no matter how mundane and seemingly not connected to Buddhism it is, it is the real training. The real training is not just to read the Dharma, to learn it and to teach it. It is also to apply it! The various processes of applying the room, getting helpers, organizing the participants, running the thing in general might be frustrating, and leave lots of room for negative emotions to arise, but in the training of the Dharma, we can identify when it arises, and deal with it as it does. We can also help in creating the conditions for the learning/teaching process to happen. So to everyone who's reading this, I highly recommend a Committee job in a Buddhist Society or temple, in order to train all that you've learned in the field! Like today, it's possible to organize an activity successfully, hang out with an old good lifelong cousin, attend to our personal seminars (physics and MIT), and have fun with SPS all in the same day!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
NUSBS MC meeting
This whole day, Saturday has been given to my Co-Curricular Activity (CCA), the NUS Buddhist Society. As one of the Management Committee, the Deputy Dharma Director, I'm starting to feel the weight of the job mounting onto my shoulders now. Last semester the previous post holder, Kyaw has already settled everything nicely for us, we just had to oversee and "run" the thing. But this semester we're really doing it for the first time and so it's a bit of trial and error learning I'm experiencing here. There's some trouble with the venue booking and I spend the whole 1st week of my sem worrying, fixing it. There's even time when I was so low that I considered not taking up another post next sem. But then the sms, email reply to my call for help came from the MCs, and it does help me keep my spirits up.
Today morning, after overseeing my handover files and preparing myself, I've gone to the 1p.m. meeting of NUSBS Management Committee. Well, at there, I immediately forgot my troubles as I see all these beautiful faces of my friends. One could not be down for more than a few seconds when one is with them. They are there, working, doing, sacrificing their time and themselves in order to spread the goodness of the Dharma to more students of NUS. And as we do the meeting, (now that I reflect on it) we are attentive, helpful, nice, and only gone off topic for some small amount of time. We are really serious on doing our jobs!
We even have a birthday celebration for Eddy! And we kinda waited for Lin Myat and Kyaw to come back and join in the rest of the meeting. Then there came the issue of selecting the next post, I wanna rejoined before in the last sem and made it clear, so they just kinda assume that I will (my raised hand did help too). And I now ask myself: What am I thinking?
Next academic year I plan to be a Junior mentor in SPS, take 6 modules including graduate modules and still going to take up the responsibility of a NUSBS MC. It's inertia from the past aspiration that made me want to do it again. And this initial setback is common and should be expected, besides, for my lack of experience and not being too serious in my job, I kinda deserve this. As to why am I wanting to take up the post again? Partly it's to contribute more, partly it's to stay in the BS community more, But more so partly it's to allow myself more opportunity to stay in touch with the dharma and to train myself more, to be better and better, until enlightenment. It seems that I am still kinda ego driven....So maybe I should give up the post, should a better and more suitable person and take it up. Well anyway, I think I'll have no qualms about taking up the post next semester. I can certainly do the responsibilities that comes with it!
And here's to all my fellow MC friends: Thank you for being there! May all of you attain to enlightenment and always keep in touch with the dharma until then.
It seems like a good place to end, so I won't say that we had a 6 hour (wow) long meeting and had a good dinner together after that.
Today morning, after overseeing my handover files and preparing myself, I've gone to the 1p.m. meeting of NUSBS Management Committee. Well, at there, I immediately forgot my troubles as I see all these beautiful faces of my friends. One could not be down for more than a few seconds when one is with them. They are there, working, doing, sacrificing their time and themselves in order to spread the goodness of the Dharma to more students of NUS. And as we do the meeting, (now that I reflect on it) we are attentive, helpful, nice, and only gone off topic for some small amount of time. We are really serious on doing our jobs!
We even have a birthday celebration for Eddy! And we kinda waited for Lin Myat and Kyaw to come back and join in the rest of the meeting. Then there came the issue of selecting the next post, I wanna rejoined before in the last sem and made it clear, so they just kinda assume that I will (my raised hand did help too). And I now ask myself: What am I thinking?
Next academic year I plan to be a Junior mentor in SPS, take 6 modules including graduate modules and still going to take up the responsibility of a NUSBS MC. It's inertia from the past aspiration that made me want to do it again. And this initial setback is common and should be expected, besides, for my lack of experience and not being too serious in my job, I kinda deserve this. As to why am I wanting to take up the post again? Partly it's to contribute more, partly it's to stay in the BS community more, But more so partly it's to allow myself more opportunity to stay in touch with the dharma and to train myself more, to be better and better, until enlightenment. It seems that I am still kinda ego driven....So maybe I should give up the post, should a better and more suitable person and take it up. Well anyway, I think I'll have no qualms about taking up the post next semester. I can certainly do the responsibilities that comes with it!
And here's to all my fellow MC friends: Thank you for being there! May all of you attain to enlightenment and always keep in touch with the dharma until then.
It seems like a good place to end, so I won't say that we had a 6 hour (wow) long meeting and had a good dinner together after that.
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