Cultural Showpiece: Celebration of a Chinese Deity's Birthday

 In this post I share with you some photos and videos I have taken at a Chinese Temple in celebration of their patron deity, which is the God Erlang (or Erlang Shen). This is the Chinese deity with the so-called "third eye" who famously fought with the Monkey God (Sun Wukong) in the novel "Journey to the West".

The first picture is that of the Deity Erlang Shen. and the second shows is Howling Sky Dog (or, Xiao Tian Quan) and is often seen helping the God in his battles. There are a few versions of his earthly story and how he attains his deitification. In one of the popular versions, he was the son of a human and a heavenly goddess. His earthly name was Yang Jian. He helped fought against the Shang dynasty tyrannical king and brought its downfall. There is a Chinese drama on Yang Jian called "Investiture of the Gods". It is very interesting but also quite long - 65 episodes altogether. 

The celebration included a few days of Chinese Opera show. I believe the troupe was invited from China or Taiwan. Also invited to perform were 3 lion dance troupes and 1 dragon-and-phoenix dance troupe. It was really a spectacular sight to behold the dragon and phoenix. 

There were drum performances too by a group of boys and girls. 

The festival culminates with the medium going into a trance and then performing the rituals. The show ended with the deity, via the medium, taking Q&A from the devotees. I did not stay on but there was supposedly distribution of protective charm to those who wanted it. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GOD ERLANG SHEN! 

Hope you guys have enjoyed this blog post - which I hope is also sharing of cultures and traditions within the mixture of local Buddhism-Taoism and local practices. Do check out my post on Journey of the West in my blog. There are several posts, one of which is this - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2010/11/monkey-god-and-pilgrimage-to-west-pt-2.html

 #Erlangshen #chineseopera #liondance #dragondance

Pierce Brosnan's Buddhist Mala

This is a Youtube posted not too long ago on Pierce Brosnan's 10 Things Pierce Brosnan Can't Live Without. He was the former James Bond 007 before Daniel Craig took over. I do like him as James Bond. Now he portrays Dr Fate in DC's Balck Adam (also starring Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson as Black Adam). In about 4mins into the video, he took out a Mala (or a chanting bead/rosary). He says it is his travelling beads. It goes with him wherever he goes. So, that's how important the mala is to him. He has two travelling beads, i.e. the other one being a Catholic bead. He is both a Catholic and a Buddhist. 

He related how he obtained the mala. He went on a trip to India to visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was there for 7 days. On the way back to the airport, a Tibetan lama hitch a ride with him. They were on the same plane. The lama was a medium to the Oracle of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I think it is the Nechung. Anyway, during the journey, a turbulence happened in mid-air. The lama, sitting beside Pierce Brosnan, seeing his worry, took out a mala from his bag and put it over Pierce's head. And ever since then, it is always with him. It is one of Pierce's treasured Buddhist mala.

So, there you are, this is the story of one of Hollywood's famous actors' Buddhist story. And as many of you may not take notice of this story due to it being embedded within other stories in the same video, I decided to share it here in this blog. 

If you like this post, do read another of my old post here. https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2011/02/huge-pig-in-hell.html

#piercebrosnan #jamesbond #buddhistmala 

Awakening Hermitage

Early morning 360degree view. Peaceful. 

That's all for this post. #awakeninghermitage #retreat

Please consider viewing this post too https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2009/08/mantra-to-my-rescue.html

Bringing to Life Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta

Although it is common to translate the words Annica, Dukkha and Anatta as Impermanence, Suffering and Non-self, some of the other words I use to give me a better and deeper realisation during meditation sessions are as follows: - 

Anicca (impermanence)
changing
fleeting

momentary/not lasting

Dukkha (suffering)

ultimately disappointing

dissatisfaction

untrustworthy

Anatta (non-self)

illusory

fake

ultimately no owners

ultimately cannot hold /grasp on to anything 

Only the Vow of Compassion is true (for example, Amitabha's Vow). Shinran Shonin understood this very well. He said, "Only the Vows of Amida is true. The rest is false". Indeed. Indeed. He knew that reciting the Buddha's Name is not for us. It is for others. This is the true way of Pure Land Dharma. 

It is important not to just verbalise the common words but be able to reflect your own innate wisdom by being able to describe what it means to you. So, the words above are what the three words mean to me. I hope you reflect yourself what Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta means to you. 

When you are able to let these words sink into yourself, when defilements arise, for instance, feelings of desire, you reflect that such desirous feelings are fleeting and is bound to be ultimately disappointing, and that such feelings are illusory and thus untrue, then such desires will not be able to take root in you. You will then be able to cut it off. So, this is just an example why a vivid understanding of those 3 words is important in the prevention of arising fetters/defilements and to reduce such occurrences. That is how meditation is able to help in cutting of defilements. 

And why is the Vow of Compassion important? Because we then avoid to sink and get stuck into deep states of consciousness (especially the Jhana states) and unable to get out. By placing importance on Vow of Compassion, you realise that sentient beings need help, and you will come out of your meditation seat to take action to help the world... even if, sometimes, this means only helping your physical self. With bodhicitta, we avoid getting stuck in the quicksand of "voidness". We take control of this ability to "go in" and "come out" as is necessary. This underscores the context and validity of bodhicitta in our practice. That is why we have the Mahayana Spirit, as what I wrote in the last post. It is not about the superiority of your tradition or lineage. 

On another note, I am thankful the last 5 days had been more satisfactory than I had anticipated. I had performed another round of Dorje Khadro fire puja before I started this week's new chapter for me. This time, I saw many white sesame seeds after the fire puja. In a way, the last several months had been very transformative for me. Slowly I feel there are "things" that have changed. One thing, I may have subtly adopted a different attitude towards many things. I am no longer so fixated on things I was previously "holding on" to steadfastly. And it is this transformation that I feel is slowly shown in my meditation practice. I have always thought there is a problem in how I visualise myself as a yidam. I had always thought it is a way of hocus-pocus self-hypnotism. BUT today (1 Oct 2022) I realised the correct way to do it. I feel that today the yidam is truly self-generated and I truly receive the 4 empowerments. On earlier occasions, I was only false-thinking of the deity. And this is my recording it down just for my own reference. Perhaps in future I will write more on it. Okay, that's it for now. Stay safe, take care of your mind! 

Since currently we are in the midst of celebrating the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, do try to read my post here - https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2008/10/nine-emperor-gods-and-buddhism.html

#anicca #dukkha #anatta #bodhicitta #yidam #purelandbuddhism