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Mahabodhiyana is "dead". He was beaten up by a road bully on October 26, 2010 equivalent to 19th day of the 9th lunar month - Kuan Yin Pu Sa's renunciation day).
Well.. one version has it that Kuan Yin saved him and the road bully manage to control his anger and didnot do any violence. Which version is correct will depend actually. If old habits die hard, he will be resurrected and live again, and the yidam will have no chance of manifesting on his body.
No, I am not sure who I am. Who is this "I"? If it is the impatient, angry, desirous peson that had lived for the alst few decades, then it is Mahabodhiyana again. If it is a gentler, patient, less desires person, then it is more of the yidam taking over. I realise that letting the yidam take over is the purpose when we dissolve it into our body, mind and speech. During that process, your old "self" has to give way to the enlightened yidam to manifest. If after your meditation period, the old habits still persist, then it means you have not effectively transformed yourself into the yidam. "You", as you know it, has to die!
So, on that fateful day, two important lessons learned:-
1. The old self has to give way. I got to let the enlightened energy of Amitabha's Primal Vow manifest and take over me so that I can benefit more people.
2. It is when our lives are at stake that we truely experience the realisation of the precious human rebirth. When our lives are not at stake, the experience of precious human rebirth will not truely sink into our hearts and mind.
So, I have to monitor myself for the few weeks, few months, few years... to check if the old Mahabodhiyana still lives or that he had indeed died. We'll see.
Anyway, I thank the Great Bodhisattva of Compassion of allowing compassion to manifest on that day and saved a life...even though that life is of not much worth. But he will try to make it worthy of your saving his life in the future. And thank you for the availability of the Masters programme. Namo Kuan Shih Yin Pu Sa! Namo Amitabha!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
A Conversation between a Christian Evangelist and a Buddhist
This is a conversation between a Christian Evangelist and a Buddhist. Let's just call them Mr C and Mr B respectively. They were sitting next to each other in a plane. All along the trip, Mr B did not know Mr C was a Christian until the plane was just about to land. It was not until Mr C decided to "take his opportunity" against this simple looking guy, that looked probably somewhat naive, perhaps. So, he took out his bait and hope that Mr B would bite it. He opened the conversation with a seemingly innocent question. He might have noticed all the coloured strings or threads around Mr B's wrist, and that seemed perfect topic of conversation to lure Mr B into God's protection instead of the mantra-ed strings given to Mr B. Or, perhaps that was to check if Mr B was not a Christian.
Mr C: What are those strings that you are wearing?
Mr B: O - these are obtained from the temple.
Mr B seemed peculiar about Mr C's motive. He was sure Mr C knew what those strings were. So, he kept the answer short and direct. He didnot say anything anymore.
Mr C could just muster: I see, you got them from your temple.
Then the conversation between them went dead. Because of Mr B's silence, Mr C's opportunity to turn the conversation into a religious one that would probably emphasise the uselessness of those striongs for protection, did not materialise. I feel Mr B's silence was appropriate since it defused a potential arguement or debate.
Then the plane landed. And as he was preparing to unbuckle himself (as he was sittign on the outer seat, nearest the aisle), after failing to stir an evangelist opportunity, he gave his last shot.
Mr C: So.. good luck to you and remember, Jesus loves you. Come to the church anytime.
The he unbuckled himself and was about to get up.
Mr B thought quickly and I am not sure why he had to even say anything else... but he retorted after some quick thoughts.
Mr B: I am sure Jesus loves me. Did you know that I had a dream of Jesus once?
Mr C's eyes sparkled. That was his opportunity that he must not missed. He grabbed it immediately and his true colours could be seen now.
Mr C: O- then you should come to the church...that's a sign.
Mr B : ...but Buddha also loves me. I also had dreamt of Buddha. And even those of other gods such as Hinduism. I am sure they love me too.
Mr C was stumped. He did not know what to say for a few seconds.
Mr C: then you must be a good spiritual person.
Mr B humbly said: Hmm...not really. I am a bad person... that why they come to me.
Mr C then asked: What do you work for a living?
Mr B: Oh, I keep records, etc...
Mr C: ...then you must be cheating on the records.
Mr B knew he meant it as a joke. Mr B did not mind that last bit of salvo from Mr C. It was to save Mr C's face and also to avoid any tension between them. It was not a debate. There's no Mr B's ego to be saved anyway. And they both laughed. Mr B wished Mr C a safe journey as Mr C grabbed his hand-carried bag and walked away.
Mr B felt it was a good conversation. There was something to be learned for Mr C and I am sure for Mr B too. It was blessings from the Buddha and Jesus that his wit was quick at that moment and that turned the conversation around and stopped Mr C right on his tracks. But Mr C was also intelligent and knew he had "met his match" and smartly turned the conversation into a more jovial mood. Mr B must learn this technique too.
On an end note, I am wondering if that's the way Mr C engages in conversation with strangers he meets anywhere. Is Mr C typical of other Christian evangelists? Do they always look for an opportunity to invite people to the church? Anyway... that's their business. On their side of things, that's nothing wrong. But on others' side, being approached by other religions and attempts to convert Buddhists over cannot be looked on as insignificant. And that's because Buddhists who do not know their Buddhism well enough are easy targets of these evangelists. And I understand from Mr B that that was not the first time he had had conversations with other Christians. He had actually previously learned from his past conversations. And that had helped him prepare for any such attempts. I had been told that there are many young Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore who had this problem with being approached by this kind of evangelists. And they have voiced their concerns in Buddhist forums. That's one of the reasons I decided to relate Mr B's story on the plane here in this blog. Oh.. one more thing. I asked Mr B about his dreams...and it apepars that he did actually had had all those dreams he talked about. They were not lies. He had even dreamt of the Muslim azan (Islam's call for prayer) from a mosque which he interpretes as a sign from the Islam's God.
I just hope there is something useful to be shared from this blog post. Cheers and Namo Amitabha Buddha!
P/s: don't ask me who is Mr B, ok? He had asked his name not to be mentioned. Thanks.
Mr C: What are those strings that you are wearing?
Mr B: O - these are obtained from the temple.
Mr B seemed peculiar about Mr C's motive. He was sure Mr C knew what those strings were. So, he kept the answer short and direct. He didnot say anything anymore.
Mr C could just muster: I see, you got them from your temple.
Then the conversation between them went dead. Because of Mr B's silence, Mr C's opportunity to turn the conversation into a religious one that would probably emphasise the uselessness of those striongs for protection, did not materialise. I feel Mr B's silence was appropriate since it defused a potential arguement or debate.
Then the plane landed. And as he was preparing to unbuckle himself (as he was sittign on the outer seat, nearest the aisle), after failing to stir an evangelist opportunity, he gave his last shot.
Mr C: So.. good luck to you and remember, Jesus loves you. Come to the church anytime.
The he unbuckled himself and was about to get up.
Mr B thought quickly and I am not sure why he had to even say anything else... but he retorted after some quick thoughts.
Mr B: I am sure Jesus loves me. Did you know that I had a dream of Jesus once?
Mr C's eyes sparkled. That was his opportunity that he must not missed. He grabbed it immediately and his true colours could be seen now.
Mr C: O- then you should come to the church...that's a sign.
Mr B : ...but Buddha also loves me. I also had dreamt of Buddha. And even those of other gods such as Hinduism. I am sure they love me too.
Mr C was stumped. He did not know what to say for a few seconds.
Mr C: then you must be a good spiritual person.
Mr B humbly said: Hmm...not really. I am a bad person... that why they come to me.
Mr C then asked: What do you work for a living?
Mr B: Oh, I keep records, etc...
Mr C: ...then you must be cheating on the records.
Mr B knew he meant it as a joke. Mr B did not mind that last bit of salvo from Mr C. It was to save Mr C's face and also to avoid any tension between them. It was not a debate. There's no Mr B's ego to be saved anyway. And they both laughed. Mr B wished Mr C a safe journey as Mr C grabbed his hand-carried bag and walked away.
Mr B felt it was a good conversation. There was something to be learned for Mr C and I am sure for Mr B too. It was blessings from the Buddha and Jesus that his wit was quick at that moment and that turned the conversation around and stopped Mr C right on his tracks. But Mr C was also intelligent and knew he had "met his match" and smartly turned the conversation into a more jovial mood. Mr B must learn this technique too.
On an end note, I am wondering if that's the way Mr C engages in conversation with strangers he meets anywhere. Is Mr C typical of other Christian evangelists? Do they always look for an opportunity to invite people to the church? Anyway... that's their business. On their side of things, that's nothing wrong. But on others' side, being approached by other religions and attempts to convert Buddhists over cannot be looked on as insignificant. And that's because Buddhists who do not know their Buddhism well enough are easy targets of these evangelists. And I understand from Mr B that that was not the first time he had had conversations with other Christians. He had actually previously learned from his past conversations. And that had helped him prepare for any such attempts. I had been told that there are many young Buddhists in Malaysia and Singapore who had this problem with being approached by this kind of evangelists. And they have voiced their concerns in Buddhist forums. That's one of the reasons I decided to relate Mr B's story on the plane here in this blog. Oh.. one more thing. I asked Mr B about his dreams...and it apepars that he did actually had had all those dreams he talked about. They were not lies. He had even dreamt of the Muslim azan (Islam's call for prayer) from a mosque which he interpretes as a sign from the Islam's God.
I just hope there is something useful to be shared from this blog post. Cheers and Namo Amitabha Buddha!
P/s: don't ask me who is Mr B, ok? He had asked his name not to be mentioned. Thanks.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
What did you do on 20.10.2010 on 2010th hour?
Yes, Oct 20th, 2010 at 8.10pm, I did the same thing on 10.10.10, 1010th hour. And that is, to take refuge in Amitabha Buddha and aspire to take rebirth in His Land of Ultimate Bliss. I also wished that my family members, friends and others who aspire to reborn there also be successful in their aspiration upon the death fo the current physical body.
I also shared this with a few friends and told them that if there is anyone they know who is sick or having problems, they can take make a special wish for the recovery of these persons and the resolution of their problems. Even if they are not Bddhists, they can pray to whoever is their God on such a moment when the numbers are all in a symetric arrangement.
In Buddhism, when external happenings meets with internal factors or deeds, it will definitely result in a potential karmic seed. I regard it auspicious that my dad had given me his previous Nokia handphone. He had bought a new one. I regard it as his gift to Amitabha, through me. And with the deed done, his aspiration for rebirth in Amitabha's Pure LAnd will have a good causal factor now. Amitabha's Primal Vow never fails to liberate.
You see, what happened was that one day he had informed me that he had brought back a book of blank Heart Sutras in chinese for copying by hand. He just need to use a pen to go over the words. I was surprised that he had done so. He never had any interest in copying sutras or read much Buddhist books before. I am not sure what happened but I regard it as timely. It is very good that hsi good karmic connections with dharma had ripened. He is already over 70 years old and I am not sure how long he has left of his life. So it is good that he has begun copying sutras. When he had completed the whole book, he sms me what next he need to do. Earlier I did tell him that he just need to take the completed book to a temple or library. Or, if he has to burn it, he is to recite "Om Ah Hum" 3 times and visualise all the holy words flies out of the book and goes to the Buddha' Pure Land, before burning it. But my dad might have forgotten about what I had tld him and it was actually very good. This is because this time I didnot reply to him immediately. But I took the time to think. And it occured to me I should take this opportunity to benefit him and commit him to the dharma path inwhat could be his last phase of his life.
A few days later I replied back to him via sms. This is what I texted him. I told him to keep the copy he had completed, and get more sets to copy, i.e. 5 to 10 books. I said that it is believed that if a person can complete another 5 to 10, he will have booked a place in Amitabha's Pure Land. About 2 days later, my mother told me he had already got additional copies of the book and had immediately set out to copy the Heart Sutra, in the hope of securing a place in Sukhavati. I was happy when my mother told it to me. I was at once relieved that what I did worked. Before that, I was worried that it might not work. But then I told myself, what would be the the worst results. If it didnot work, worst is my dad will just stop copying. And I had nothing to lose. Hence, I went ahead and sent him the sms.
My only worry thereafter is his own karma might prevent him from actual rebirth and then he will think that I lied to him. But now that he had made "an offering" to me, through that sincerity, I have now no cause to worry much, but leave it to Amitabha's Primal Vow to take my dad across the sea of samsara. I am just glad he aspires to be reborn there. And a few days ago, my mother said he wants me to get him more books to copy. WOW! Talk about motivation! The causal factor is completed on 20.10.2010 at 2010th hour. So, what did you do at that moment? Nothing? Could not remember? It's okay. No worries if you didnot do anything special. As long as you are still alive, it's still not too late to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha"!
I also shared this with a few friends and told them that if there is anyone they know who is sick or having problems, they can take make a special wish for the recovery of these persons and the resolution of their problems. Even if they are not Bddhists, they can pray to whoever is their God on such a moment when the numbers are all in a symetric arrangement.
In Buddhism, when external happenings meets with internal factors or deeds, it will definitely result in a potential karmic seed. I regard it auspicious that my dad had given me his previous Nokia handphone. He had bought a new one. I regard it as his gift to Amitabha, through me. And with the deed done, his aspiration for rebirth in Amitabha's Pure LAnd will have a good causal factor now. Amitabha's Primal Vow never fails to liberate.
You see, what happened was that one day he had informed me that he had brought back a book of blank Heart Sutras in chinese for copying by hand. He just need to use a pen to go over the words. I was surprised that he had done so. He never had any interest in copying sutras or read much Buddhist books before. I am not sure what happened but I regard it as timely. It is very good that hsi good karmic connections with dharma had ripened. He is already over 70 years old and I am not sure how long he has left of his life. So it is good that he has begun copying sutras. When he had completed the whole book, he sms me what next he need to do. Earlier I did tell him that he just need to take the completed book to a temple or library. Or, if he has to burn it, he is to recite "Om Ah Hum" 3 times and visualise all the holy words flies out of the book and goes to the Buddha' Pure Land, before burning it. But my dad might have forgotten about what I had tld him and it was actually very good. This is because this time I didnot reply to him immediately. But I took the time to think. And it occured to me I should take this opportunity to benefit him and commit him to the dharma path inwhat could be his last phase of his life.
A few days later I replied back to him via sms. This is what I texted him. I told him to keep the copy he had completed, and get more sets to copy, i.e. 5 to 10 books. I said that it is believed that if a person can complete another 5 to 10, he will have booked a place in Amitabha's Pure Land. About 2 days later, my mother told me he had already got additional copies of the book and had immediately set out to copy the Heart Sutra, in the hope of securing a place in Sukhavati. I was happy when my mother told it to me. I was at once relieved that what I did worked. Before that, I was worried that it might not work. But then I told myself, what would be the the worst results. If it didnot work, worst is my dad will just stop copying. And I had nothing to lose. Hence, I went ahead and sent him the sms.
My only worry thereafter is his own karma might prevent him from actual rebirth and then he will think that I lied to him. But now that he had made "an offering" to me, through that sincerity, I have now no cause to worry much, but leave it to Amitabha's Primal Vow to take my dad across the sea of samsara. I am just glad he aspires to be reborn there. And a few days ago, my mother said he wants me to get him more books to copy. WOW! Talk about motivation! The causal factor is completed on 20.10.2010 at 2010th hour. So, what did you do at that moment? Nothing? Could not remember? It's okay. No worries if you didnot do anything special. As long as you are still alive, it's still not too late to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha"!
Monday, October 18, 2010
My Blog Statistics
Statistics from January to Oct 2010 (till to-date)
Total Pageloads – 8211 (average 821 per mth)
Total Unique Visitors – 5223 (average 522 per mth)
Total first time visitors – 4347 (average 435 per mth)
Total returning visitors – 876 (average 88 per mth)
Compare to Jan to Oct 2009
Total Pageloads – 4044 (average 404 per mth)
Total Unique Visitors – 2331 (average 233 per mth)
Total first time visitors – 1851 (average 185 per mth)
Total returning visitors – 480 (average 48 per mth)
Visitors from Elon University , North Carolina
152.33.65.131
152.33.55.232
152.33.45.202
152.33.70.245
152.33.46.176
152.33.74.116
152.33.47.22
Note: Besides Elon University, there is another University in Texas that is interested in my blog on "cloned humans". I believe there are other articles that have been read by an education institution in Japan. Please remember to give credit to my blog. And if you wish to communicate to me, please give me a comment, and if you donot wish it to be published, please indicate. You can give me your email in your comment and i will respind back to you.
Visitors on Mahamayuri (Peacock Queen)
59.189.242.44 (Sgp, 3m 42s)
210.24.212.159 (Sgp, 4m 52s)
119.56.16.4 (Sgp, 9h, 51m 8s)
64.215.209.1 (Texas
91.197.171.7 (Ukraine
190.198.245.82 (Venezuela
124.13.149.38 (Penang , 3m 28s)
116.86.242.10 (Sgp, 27m, 46s)
116.86.242.13 (Sgp, 2h, 39m, 54s)
174.6.79.141 (Canada
60.49.89.160 (Penang , 58s)
115.135.59.63 (Penang , 32m, 15s)
114.57.157.241 (Indonesia
The below are Stats with visit length > 0 second. I am not sure how accurate it is but I believe some of these people do read my blog even though their length of time shows zero. This is because sometimes I get comments, but when I checked their stats, their length of time shows zero. I am not sure why.
Recent visitors 10 Oct 2010 until 6.30pm
5 from US
3 from UK
1 from Singapore
1 from Mexico
1 from Australia
1 from Busan, Rep. of Korea
Visitors on 11 Oct
- 1h 59m 6s,
- 13s
Visitors on 12 Oct
Folsom, California
Sgp – 4m 1s
Visitors on 13 & 14 Oct
Unknown (192.168.151.15) 20m 9s
- 6s
Yahoo (Sunnyvale , California
Sgp (119.74.234.224) – multiple visits (length of time not stated)
Sgp (219.74.45.251) – 10m 16s
Visitors on 15 Oct
Sgp (203.125.55.22) – 4m 31s
Unknown (172.16.24.198) – 30s
Pg, Msia – 8s
Visitors on 16 Oct
BM, Pg – 56s
Visitors on 17 & 18 October
Sgp (59.189.146.77) – 42s
Recently I have been exposed to the possibility of monetizing my blog. And this is not because I have suddenly become greedy. I will probably include some advertising banners and place it discreetly at the side and not in a way that will affect readers of my blog. I will probably be selective in the type of advertisement that can be placed. I will do it on a trial basis and if it affects the blog negatively, I will take it off. However, with the extra money from these ad banner, which is not expected to be much anyway, I can do the following
i. be able to upgrade to a webhost with better features. With the contents in my own web domain, I will be able to do more things than the free blog sites.
ii. any extra I will be able to sponsor visits by lamas, Rinpoches, other Buddhist teachers, or donate for the beneficial projects. I donate quite often to FPMT projects such as their Eye Hospital in Amdo, Jade Buddha for Universal Peace, and I have even sponsored one man for a long term 3 year retreat in a Karma Kagyu center in Germany (if I remember correctly the location). That was through e-sangha before the forum ceased. Or, I can use the extra RM50 or RM100 for printing sutras. I am thinking of printing Amitabha Sutra (english version) for people to copy. In this way, people who cannot recite Amitabha's name will also be able to plant seeds of their rebirth to Amitabha Pure Land after they pass away. Any money from this blog adverts will not be enough for sure but the extra money from the ad banner will certainly help a little. I will see how it goes.
Conclusion: From the above, it appears that my readers are from other countries, rather than Malaysia. Some of my articles have also been featured in search engines such as Ask.com and visited by "stumble" and "yahoo". There was at least once where my article had been translated into another language. So, it is not really doing that badly, considering only one person completed my poll question. I would like to thank all my readers.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
What did you do on 10th sec, 10.10am, 10 Oct, 2010?
So, did you do anything special on 10 October, 2010 at 10.10am, 10th second? If not you still have tonight at 10.10pm. But technically, 10.10am is better.
Anyway, is the day any special day in Buddhism? Does it have any Buddhist significance? Not that I know of. However, that does not mean I cannot make it special since many people think it is special because of the number 10, which signifies "completeness".
So, I took that opportunity to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" at that exact moment and make a wish to be reborn in His Land of Ultimate Bliss when my day on Earth is over. I leave the rest to the power of Amitabha's Vows. Just one recitation with sincerity is enough to enable one to cause one's rebirth there eventually. It is so important that I got a few family members to do it, i.e. by texting them. I am not sure they do it or not but at least I know I did it with someone who lives with me. :)
Anyway I didnot want to go to the Nine Emperor Gods shrine near my place and be there at this special moment. I delayed going there until I had recited Amitabha's Name at that very moment. We must know our priority, right? 10.10.10, 10.10 o'clock 10th second does not come every time, does it?
So, what did you do at that time? Did you let it go by just because it does not have any significance? I think you have missed the chance if you didnot do anything significant at that moment. You could ahve done your yidam meditation then. Or make a wish for the long healthy life of your guru and His Holiness the Dalai Lama? Or, you could have made a special wish for someone who is sick to recover quickly. It is a chance to expand your bodhicitta on such a rare occurence. If you really think, there are so many things you could do to make this moment a special one - something that enhances your dharma practice and benefit sentient beings. Of course, you can do it anytime, but doing it on this rare moment where everything is perfect 10 adds to its significance and will go a long impact in your future dharma practice.
I also received a sms message that says that October 2010 is special because it has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, and this happens only once in 823 years. And according to the sms, that is supposed to be good fengshui because it indicates money bags. But I checked the calendar and January 2010 also has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. So much for good fengshui, huh? We should check before we believe in anything, not just blindly believe, right?
P/s: I have updated this post as well as "Monkey God and the pilgrimage to the West" post. I will be away for a few days and won't be able to update my blog for a while. Happy reading.
Anyway, is the day any special day in Buddhism? Does it have any Buddhist significance? Not that I know of. However, that does not mean I cannot make it special since many people think it is special because of the number 10, which signifies "completeness".
So, I took that opportunity to recite "Namo Amitabha Buddha" at that exact moment and make a wish to be reborn in His Land of Ultimate Bliss when my day on Earth is over. I leave the rest to the power of Amitabha's Vows. Just one recitation with sincerity is enough to enable one to cause one's rebirth there eventually. It is so important that I got a few family members to do it, i.e. by texting them. I am not sure they do it or not but at least I know I did it with someone who lives with me. :)
Anyway I didnot want to go to the Nine Emperor Gods shrine near my place and be there at this special moment. I delayed going there until I had recited Amitabha's Name at that very moment. We must know our priority, right? 10.10.10, 10.10 o'clock 10th second does not come every time, does it?
So, what did you do at that time? Did you let it go by just because it does not have any significance? I think you have missed the chance if you didnot do anything significant at that moment. You could ahve done your yidam meditation then. Or make a wish for the long healthy life of your guru and His Holiness the Dalai Lama? Or, you could have made a special wish for someone who is sick to recover quickly. It is a chance to expand your bodhicitta on such a rare occurence. If you really think, there are so many things you could do to make this moment a special one - something that enhances your dharma practice and benefit sentient beings. Of course, you can do it anytime, but doing it on this rare moment where everything is perfect 10 adds to its significance and will go a long impact in your future dharma practice.
I also received a sms message that says that October 2010 is special because it has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, and this happens only once in 823 years. And according to the sms, that is supposed to be good fengshui because it indicates money bags. But I checked the calendar and January 2010 also has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. So much for good fengshui, huh? We should check before we believe in anything, not just blindly believe, right?
P/s: I have updated this post as well as "Monkey God and the pilgrimage to the West" post. I will be away for a few days and won't be able to update my blog for a while. Happy reading.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Obtaining Wealth Through Deities
There was an article that came out in a local online news link showing a report of a non-Buddhist making fun of Buddhism by saying that Buddhists worship all kinds of gods such as Tua Pek Kong, Pau Kong (I think he got this wrong, I am not aware of anyone who prays to Pau Kong who is a historical Chinese magistrate), Datuk Kong and he said probably even King Kong. At this point he and his audience laughed.) He also said that people hope for wealth and safety by worshipping these deities. Online readers commented on it and there was a subsequent article that included comments from a youth Buddhist organization. And from these comments these Buddhists just say that all the deity worship is not Buddhism but is Taoism. This post hopes to explore the issue of praying for wealth and put things into perspective.
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If Buddhism is the religion of King Kong, so be it...and I am proud that I have the same religion as King Kong. I am not going to be apologetic about it and say that all that deity worship is Taoism... nothing to do with Buddhism. Are you sure Buddhists do not have all these myriad deities as well? There are, in fact, plenty of deities in Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism, for example, and I am not ignoring these deities just because someone from another religion who do not understand our practices/ religion trying to practice divisive strategy into Buddhism and Taoism.
Let me just say this. It is far better to pray to Tua Pek Kong or any of the so-called "kongs" in the hope of wealth but live an honest living than to believe in One God or many gods BUT involve in swindling people's money through cheating others by fraudulent direct selling schemes, illegal deposit taking promising fake investment returns, and property scams. It's the same with Buddhists. You can pray to any Buddha, Bodhisattvas or Lamas, or any of the myriad of protectors in Buddhism... but still if we involve ourselves in cheating the public, to get rich, it is really useless no matter what is our religion. It would have been far better and lesser negative karma to be the simple woman who goes to her tua pek kong shrine and make a simple offering of flowers and pineapple and pray for herself to strike numbers. At least she's not cheating anybody else. It doesnot matter if she will never strike it rich this way. Perhaps she will strike a little sum of money now and then and giving her hope in her tua pek kong. Compare that with the millions of people who does not pray to deities, and even if they do pray to God, how come they end up with so much greed in their daily worldly living? All the senseless killing, rape and corruption we read in the news everyday... what happened to these people? Yes, some of them are Buddhists too...I admit. But they are all the same. They don't follow the teachings of their respective religion. So, it's not about whether you pray to one "Kong" or many "kongs". (note: In hokkien Chinese, they refer to deities by adding the word “kong”, meaning grandfather. So, Jade Emperor or God of heaven is usually referred to as “Ti Kong”. The God of Earth is called “Tay Choo Kong”. The local God of Prosperity is called “Tua Pek Kong” and so on). It's whether you know the proper way to wealth or not whether through these "kongs" or other normal human ways of honest, smart, and hard work to wealth.
You only need to open your eyes and look around to see that there are Tibetan Buddhist centers that have seemingly accumulated more and more wealth. People who are supporting them seem to be increasing and pouring donations more and more. Clearly they are invoking the right deities. Whether this is right or wrong is another issue. But here I just want to demonstrate that invoking wealth through deities can and does work. Praying to deities for wealth gives people hope.. even if the wealth may not materialise all the time. People who have no hope will resort to all kinds of illegal means to gain it. And it is evident more and more people are re-sorting to illegal means to get rich. It is worrying. Hence, there is a positive side to placing our hopes on these deities like Tua Pek Kong, Dzambala or any other wealth deities. Whether they are Taoist or Buddhist deities, or whether they are worldly god or enlightened deities are beside the point and these are other issues to be explored elsewhere.
I interpret “King Kong” in two ways.
Among all the pantheon of deities that Buddhist worships, who is the highest, i.e. the King of all the “Kongs”? In Buddhism, the highest is the Buddha since he has achieved full and complete enlightenment and has liberated himself from samsara. All the other gods (and “Ang Kongs”) in heaven have not. Hence the Buddha, especially in his Dharmakaya aspect, is the “King Kong” so to speak. In Taoism, the highest is the Tao itself.
“King Kong” is also referring to the Monkey King called Sun Wu Kong in legends of the pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty monk together with his three disciples to the Western Pure Land to obtain Buddhist scriptures back to China. Whether the Monkey King actually exists or not, or whether he is the same as the Hindu god Hanuman, does not dilute the intrinsic and often subtle dharma teachings that the whole story is conveying. It can be understood in many different levels, one of which is that I understand it as mapping out the entire journey to spiritual enlightenment.
Therefore, to the question of whether Buddhism is the King Kong religion, I would say in the affirmative, if “King Kong” is interpreted in the above two ways. Isn’t it therefore ironic that the non-Buddhist who was trying to ridicule Buddhism end-up with something we can re-define to our advantage? If this is not transforming the negative into positive, what is? With the above explanation, the attempt by the person to ridicule Buddhism falls flat miserably and it only showed his own ignorance of his former religion in the first place before he converted. Some of “them” are so afraid of being “influenced” by other religions that they refuse to even participate in any inter-faith dialogue. But Christians are more open and they even conduct so-called Buddhist classes in the churches. They do it not because they are really serious in learning about Buddhism. Rather they do it with other motives in mind. Of course, the Buddhism that they supposedly teach at their church classes is not accurate Buddhism. They only know a little bit here and there and then they think they know everything and go on to teach these “distorted Buddhism” to their members and claim that that is Buddhism. I have met many Christians who shared with me what they have learned in their classes. One person even seemed a little arrogant when sharing with me, like conveying the message, “I also know Buddhism”. But when they speak of Buddhism I knew instantly that the Buddhism they were taught is not accurate/incomplete. It only gives them a partial picture, and when you get partial glimpses and thinks that it is whole picture, it can get you into a lot of problems. Buddhists have better things to do than to study other’s religion. Not because we are arrogant but because we think that we should spend more time to understand our own religion better. After all, Buddhism, especially Mahayana Buddhism, teaches that there are many different types of teachings to suit different types of persons. Even in Theravada, the Buddha did mention that what he taught is only a handful of leaves compared to the forest of trees. In general, Buddhists do not criticize other religions is also because of these mentioned reasons.
In this article,
i. I have not criticize nor made fun of any other religions
ii. I have not “kicked the ball” to and transfer the ridicule to Taoism as others have done.
iii. I have transformed the person’s ridicule into something positive. The practice of praying to these deities is protected regardless of whether they are Taoist or Buddhist deity.
Therefore, there is nothing for Buddhists to be upset or angry with. His ridicule has fallen flat. If he hopes to win the hearts and minds of other religions, this kind of ridiculous remarks on other religions must stop. End of story.
Let me just say this. It is far better to pray to Tua Pek Kong or any of the so-called "kongs" in the hope of wealth but live an honest living than to believe in One God or many gods BUT involve in swindling people's money through cheating others by fraudulent direct selling schemes, illegal deposit taking promising fake investment returns, and property scams. It's the same with Buddhists. You can pray to any Buddha, Bodhisattvas or Lamas, or any of the myriad of protectors in Buddhism... but still if we involve ourselves in cheating the public, to get rich, it is really useless no matter what is our religion. It would have been far better and lesser negative karma to be the simple woman who goes to her tua pek kong shrine and make a simple offering of flowers and pineapple and pray for herself to strike numbers. At least she's not cheating anybody else. It doesnot matter if she will never strike it rich this way. Perhaps she will strike a little sum of money now and then and giving her hope in her tua pek kong. Compare that with the millions of people who does not pray to deities, and even if they do pray to God, how come they end up with so much greed in their daily worldly living? All the senseless killing, rape and corruption we read in the news everyday... what happened to these people? Yes, some of them are Buddhists too...I admit. But they are all the same. They don't follow the teachings of their respective religion. So, it's not about whether you pray to one "Kong" or many "kongs". (note: In hokkien Chinese, they refer to deities by adding the word “kong”, meaning grandfather. So, Jade Emperor or God of heaven is usually referred to as “Ti Kong”. The God of Earth is called “Tay Choo Kong”. The local God of Prosperity is called “Tua Pek Kong” and so on). It's whether you know the proper way to wealth or not whether through these "kongs" or other normal human ways of honest, smart, and hard work to wealth.
You only need to open your eyes and look around to see that there are Tibetan Buddhist centers that have seemingly accumulated more and more wealth. People who are supporting them seem to be increasing and pouring donations more and more. Clearly they are invoking the right deities. Whether this is right or wrong is another issue. But here I just want to demonstrate that invoking wealth through deities can and does work. Praying to deities for wealth gives people hope.. even if the wealth may not materialise all the time. People who have no hope will resort to all kinds of illegal means to gain it. And it is evident more and more people are re-sorting to illegal means to get rich. It is worrying. Hence, there is a positive side to placing our hopes on these deities like Tua Pek Kong, Dzambala or any other wealth deities. Whether they are Taoist or Buddhist deities, or whether they are worldly god or enlightened deities are beside the point and these are other issues to be explored elsewhere.
I interpret “King Kong” in two ways.
Among all the pantheon of deities that Buddhist worships, who is the highest, i.e. the King of all the “Kongs”? In Buddhism, the highest is the Buddha since he has achieved full and complete enlightenment and has liberated himself from samsara. All the other gods (and “Ang Kongs”) in heaven have not. Hence the Buddha, especially in his Dharmakaya aspect, is the “King Kong” so to speak. In Taoism, the highest is the Tao itself.
“King Kong” is also referring to the Monkey King called Sun Wu Kong in legends of the pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty monk together with his three disciples to the Western Pure Land to obtain Buddhist scriptures back to China. Whether the Monkey King actually exists or not, or whether he is the same as the Hindu god Hanuman, does not dilute the intrinsic and often subtle dharma teachings that the whole story is conveying. It can be understood in many different levels, one of which is that I understand it as mapping out the entire journey to spiritual enlightenment.
Therefore, to the question of whether Buddhism is the King Kong religion, I would say in the affirmative, if “King Kong” is interpreted in the above two ways. Isn’t it therefore ironic that the non-Buddhist who was trying to ridicule Buddhism end-up with something we can re-define to our advantage? If this is not transforming the negative into positive, what is? With the above explanation, the attempt by the person to ridicule Buddhism falls flat miserably and it only showed his own ignorance of his former religion in the first place before he converted. Some of “them” are so afraid of being “influenced” by other religions that they refuse to even participate in any inter-faith dialogue. But Christians are more open and they even conduct so-called Buddhist classes in the churches. They do it not because they are really serious in learning about Buddhism. Rather they do it with other motives in mind. Of course, the Buddhism that they supposedly teach at their church classes is not accurate Buddhism. They only know a little bit here and there and then they think they know everything and go on to teach these “distorted Buddhism” to their members and claim that that is Buddhism. I have met many Christians who shared with me what they have learned in their classes. One person even seemed a little arrogant when sharing with me, like conveying the message, “I also know Buddhism”. But when they speak of Buddhism I knew instantly that the Buddhism they were taught is not accurate/incomplete. It only gives them a partial picture, and when you get partial glimpses and thinks that it is whole picture, it can get you into a lot of problems. Buddhists have better things to do than to study other’s religion. Not because we are arrogant but because we think that we should spend more time to understand our own religion better. After all, Buddhism, especially Mahayana Buddhism, teaches that there are many different types of teachings to suit different types of persons. Even in Theravada, the Buddha did mention that what he taught is only a handful of leaves compared to the forest of trees. In general, Buddhists do not criticize other religions is also because of these mentioned reasons.
In this article,
i. I have not criticize nor made fun of any other religions
ii. I have not “kicked the ball” to and transfer the ridicule to Taoism as others have done.
iii. I have transformed the person’s ridicule into something positive. The practice of praying to these deities is protected regardless of whether they are Taoist or Buddhist deity.
Therefore, there is nothing for Buddhists to be upset or angry with. His ridicule has fallen flat. If he hopes to win the hearts and minds of other religions, this kind of ridiculous remarks on other religions must stop. End of story.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
2010 Asia Blogfest and the lessons learned
This post is one of the few non-Buddhism related posts but shall post it anyway because at the end of it, there is still some lessons to learn from it.
I friend went to the 2010 blogfest Asia conference held in Penang since 2 days ago and the below was what he reported. This is an event for Asian bloggers (so it seems but Americans attended too...so it may not be stricted actually...or maybe it was because the Americans were working in Asia) held only for the second time. The first time was held at Hong Kong.
Security and Privacy awareness
This was one of the smal breakput sessions and was conducted by one guy called "Bobby". He is supposedly the internet security expert. He shared with the audience and made most of the audience think that the new media is not safe. If you are in a group photo and someone posted in the facebook, there is no way you can take it out... unless he/she is your close buddy. Otherwise anyone can just misuse the photos you put up there. And he gave an example of how people can find out you are gay or not by the "annoucements made by a feature in facebook that tells people "so and so is now friend with so and so." If they are both males, Bobby said people may think they are gays. Gosh! males and males cannot be normal friends, but must be gays? His example is not so good. Maybe another appropriate example would be any married or not married couples thinking of flirting with other partners, may be more careful who they are friends with on facebook. That's because by your comments and chats on facebook, your spouse (who presumably may be on facebook too) can find out. But of course, there is the option of blocking her/his account...then again he/she can always create another fictitious account under another name unknown to you right?
Then Bobby told us about the possibility of an "evil twin" existing in cybercafes with wifi facility. He was saying that places with wifi that does not have user and password may not be safe. That's because another person sitting in the same cafe may also have a name similar to the wifi login id as the cafe operator. Sounds scary?
We were also adviced to use "https" in our internet address instead of just "http". "https" is more secure.
OMY
Another breakout session that was interesting was the one conducted by one Singaporean called Alvin. It is a web created in Singapore and bloggers can submit their blogs to them for evaluating and if approve, omy.sg will have your blog link in their weblink. They give out blogger wards for interesting and original content blogs. There are several criterias on what they look for in a blog. Alvin shared with us some of the technics on how to increase internet traffic to your blog. One of the suggestions was to be controversial. He gave example of this lady named xiaxue in Singapore who commented negatively on a handphone and attracted so much attention all over the world that she eventually became the ambassador for some phone manfacturer or something.
WELCOME DINNER
There was a welcome dinner held at QE2 near the ferry terminal and near Hainan restaurant. The food was good and the environment was "chic". Before the event, there was the 988 fm radio people givin out stuffs such as Eu Yan Sang chicken essence, Bio-essence creams, umbrellas, etc if you can answer their questions.
COUNTRY sharing
On the first day as well as the second day, there were some sharing of usage of blogs/ facebooks and other similar new social media in their respective countries. It was very eye opening as we now knwo that internet usage in some countries are very expensive (such as Myanmar) and in some countries like communist countries, they are very heavily monitored. But then we were also informed that in some supposedly democratic countries, their internet access and thuings that they write are also monitored by the government agencies. It was good to hear people from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Phillipines, Indonesia speak about internet usage , in particularly use of these new social media in their own countries. There was even one American speaker who enlightened us on the situation in China. He name is Peter.
YB Liew Chin Tong and Mr Foo session
On the second day there were some sharing between these 2 people from the political divide. One is from DAP and the other MCA. But because it was more of a sharing session, they didnot really bash each other up. It was good as they were both candid in sharing abouyt the realities of using the new social media in Malaysia.
And here comes the dharma lesson - at the last day, the organising chairman mentioned a word that strucked a cord within. It was a lesson so central in Buddhism that it just had to be mentioned here. He said that no matter how good this is (referring to the blogfest), don't get attached to it! My goodness... is he a manifestation of Buddha? These are wise words from him. My thoughts were that it applies to every other things in life. Ok.. then "No attachment" "Let go". Somehow everywhere I go, there sems to be something that reminds me of important dharma lessons. Gurus seems to be everywhere. And the guy who said it may not even be a Buddhist.
So there you are, we still have some Buddhist elements in this blog. Cheers!
Reference links: http://www.2010.blogfest.asia/
I friend went to the 2010 blogfest Asia conference held in Penang since 2 days ago and the below was what he reported. This is an event for Asian bloggers (so it seems but Americans attended too...so it may not be stricted actually...or maybe it was because the Americans were working in Asia) held only for the second time. The first time was held at Hong Kong.
Security and Privacy awareness
This was one of the smal breakput sessions and was conducted by one guy called "Bobby". He is supposedly the internet security expert. He shared with the audience and made most of the audience think that the new media is not safe. If you are in a group photo and someone posted in the facebook, there is no way you can take it out... unless he/she is your close buddy. Otherwise anyone can just misuse the photos you put up there. And he gave an example of how people can find out you are gay or not by the "annoucements made by a feature in facebook that tells people "so and so is now friend with so and so." If they are both males, Bobby said people may think they are gays. Gosh! males and males cannot be normal friends, but must be gays? His example is not so good. Maybe another appropriate example would be any married or not married couples thinking of flirting with other partners, may be more careful who they are friends with on facebook. That's because by your comments and chats on facebook, your spouse (who presumably may be on facebook too) can find out. But of course, there is the option of blocking her/his account...then again he/she can always create another fictitious account under another name unknown to you right?
Then Bobby told us about the possibility of an "evil twin" existing in cybercafes with wifi facility. He was saying that places with wifi that does not have user and password may not be safe. That's because another person sitting in the same cafe may also have a name similar to the wifi login id as the cafe operator. Sounds scary?
We were also adviced to use "https" in our internet address instead of just "http". "https" is more secure.
OMY
Another breakout session that was interesting was the one conducted by one Singaporean called Alvin. It is a web created in Singapore and bloggers can submit their blogs to them for evaluating and if approve, omy.sg will have your blog link in their weblink. They give out blogger wards for interesting and original content blogs. There are several criterias on what they look for in a blog. Alvin shared with us some of the technics on how to increase internet traffic to your blog. One of the suggestions was to be controversial. He gave example of this lady named xiaxue in Singapore who commented negatively on a handphone and attracted so much attention all over the world that she eventually became the ambassador for some phone manfacturer or something.
WELCOME DINNER
There was a welcome dinner held at QE2 near the ferry terminal and near Hainan restaurant. The food was good and the environment was "chic". Before the event, there was the 988 fm radio people givin out stuffs such as Eu Yan Sang chicken essence, Bio-essence creams, umbrellas, etc if you can answer their questions.
COUNTRY sharing
On the first day as well as the second day, there were some sharing of usage of blogs/ facebooks and other similar new social media in their respective countries. It was very eye opening as we now knwo that internet usage in some countries are very expensive (such as Myanmar) and in some countries like communist countries, they are very heavily monitored. But then we were also informed that in some supposedly democratic countries, their internet access and thuings that they write are also monitored by the government agencies. It was good to hear people from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Phillipines, Indonesia speak about internet usage , in particularly use of these new social media in their own countries. There was even one American speaker who enlightened us on the situation in China. He name is Peter.
YB Liew Chin Tong and Mr Foo session
On the second day there were some sharing between these 2 people from the political divide. One is from DAP and the other MCA. But because it was more of a sharing session, they didnot really bash each other up. It was good as they were both candid in sharing abouyt the realities of using the new social media in Malaysia.
And here comes the dharma lesson - at the last day, the organising chairman mentioned a word that strucked a cord within. It was a lesson so central in Buddhism that it just had to be mentioned here. He said that no matter how good this is (referring to the blogfest), don't get attached to it! My goodness... is he a manifestation of Buddha? These are wise words from him. My thoughts were that it applies to every other things in life. Ok.. then "No attachment" "Let go". Somehow everywhere I go, there sems to be something that reminds me of important dharma lessons. Gurus seems to be everywhere. And the guy who said it may not even be a Buddhist.
So there you are, we still have some Buddhist elements in this blog. Cheers!
Reference links: http://www.2010.blogfest.asia/
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Using Peacock Queen feather to heal
A friend recently went to a Peacock Queen (Mahamayura) puja done at the end of the chinese 7th lunar month in conjunction with the Month of the Hungry Ghost festival. It was a puja done by the monks and nuns invited from Taiwan. At the end of the 3rd day, each participant was given a long peacock feather. The monk explained that it can be used to bless a child who cannot stop crying by using the feather to touch his head a few times. The friend of mine used it to heal some illnesses, especially the light ones such as fever or influenza or cough that won't go away. He uses it to "suck" out all such illnesses by slowly touching the sick person on the affected part with the "eye" (the colourful part at the end of the feather that looks like an eye) of the feather and reciting OM MAYURA KRANTE SVAHA 3 times. Of course, this is in addition to taking medicines.
In Buddhism, receiving blessings does not mean you donot need to go see a doctor and hope for a miracle. Blessings makes any unseen or unknown karmic obstacles blocking the medicine from working into your physical body reduce. It works through inter-dependent origination. In easy to understand terms, there is fresh new karma to help you heal. The only problem often faced by many sick persons is that this "fresh new karma" is not that easy to create. If you donot have this feather obtained after the puja, you can go get any peacock feather and recite the mantra above 108 times over the feather for many many days such as the next 108 days. It is believed that any mantra recited over any objects will effectively make the object charged with its "blessings". And remember to pray to the Peacock Queen herself (you can refer my previous posts on Mahamayuri, the Peacock Queen deity) to give her blessings. It's important to do that so that you donot develop any ego (subtle or otherwise) that it was you the one who managed to heal the sick. So, give it a try!
In Buddhism, receiving blessings does not mean you donot need to go see a doctor and hope for a miracle. Blessings makes any unseen or unknown karmic obstacles blocking the medicine from working into your physical body reduce. It works through inter-dependent origination. In easy to understand terms, there is fresh new karma to help you heal. The only problem often faced by many sick persons is that this "fresh new karma" is not that easy to create. If you donot have this feather obtained after the puja, you can go get any peacock feather and recite the mantra above 108 times over the feather for many many days such as the next 108 days. It is believed that any mantra recited over any objects will effectively make the object charged with its "blessings". And remember to pray to the Peacock Queen herself (you can refer my previous posts on Mahamayuri, the Peacock Queen deity) to give her blessings. It's important to do that so that you donot develop any ego (subtle or otherwise) that it was you the one who managed to heal the sick. So, give it a try!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Steven Seagal Rinpoche
Quite sometime ago, he was recognised as a reincarnation of a previous lama. Hence he has the right to the title "Rinpoche". His Tibetan Buddhist name is said to be Chungdrag Dorje. In full, Chungdrag Dorje Rinpoche. Watch this video.
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