By Wakeupnow, on 17th March, 2009 2) Can the venerable give me some advice on how to cope with laziness and internet addiction?
Hmmm … laziness and internet addiction. Quite an interesting pair … ‘cos laziness is inactivity, while addiction is not.
We can be lazy about many things. For example, I’m “lazy” when it comes to killing mosquitoes. So I’ve not killed one (in my knowledge) for many many years. I’m also “lazy” with making money. So I’ve quit my job and become a monk, and have not made any cash for all these years; the up side is that you cannot be retrenched as a result! :p We are lazy about some things and passionate about others, even to the point of being addicted to them. The difference between the two, lies in interest.
We are lazy about things that do not interest us. Life, unfortunately and frequently, requires us to do things that are less than interesting. Take work for example. Most of us are not interested in our work. Really. We are driven mostly by what it can bring us or others. Sometimes that is monetary gain, sometimes it is a sense of satisfaction derived from identifying ourselves with the profession. Without . . . → Read More: Q&A: Laziness and internet addiction
By Wakeupnow, on 17th March, 2009 Below is part 1 of my reply to an open question posted on Leave a Message
1) My dad says that we must respect books because some divine beings might be living inside it, if we disrespect the book( e.g stepping on them, putting them in an untidy manner etc.), we will not get good results in examinations and will not gaining enough knowledge. Is that true?
So there are two parts to your father’s claim: 1. That there are some divine beings living inside books, and 2. By disrepecting them, there will be some consequences, such as poor exam results and being knowledgeable.
First off, there sure are beings living in books, but divine or not, I know silver fishes lives in books, especially the old ones. There are some legends that some spiritual beings or guardians protects books, and that they may get pretty angry if anyone mistreat the books they protect. Such legends probably evolve or develop from earlier legends about guardians of knowledge or wisdom, which books are the physical representation of. These latter legends may themselves have been derived from the view that knowledge or wisdom is sacred and thus should be respected and held . . . → Read More: Q&A: Respecting books
By Wakeupnow, on 12th March, 2009 Recently I’ve been thinking, that since many people in the city suffers from bouts of insomnia, I could share my thoughts about it and how one could potentially deal with it.
First of, I don’t suffer from insomnia. The one major time I couldn’t sleep was when I downed a whole tin pot of coffee-tea brew that my good friend Ivan (NTU Hall XI, you know who you are! :p ) made for me. He did it with the best intention and in a twisted way, I’m grateful for his intentions, but boy I only managed to catch a wink at 5am only to have to wake up at 7+am to do an exam paper for Japanese.
Then there was the other time … … hmmm … … either my memory is failing, or I really don’t have problem with sleeping.
Seriously, I rarely have problems with sleeping. But I’ve met people who face this difficulty (in some part of the world, they call it a medical condition) and here are some common traits I observe:
Anxiety or worry (about some matter or their lack of sleep itself!) Bad pre-sleep habits No sleeping habits
I’ll deal with 2 and 3 . . . → Read More: Howto: Sleeping well
By Wakeupnow, on 3rd March, 2009 How To: Pureland Practice (100 ~ 200) By Wakeupnow, on 3rd March, 2009
Preface
In this HowTo series, we explore the Pureland Practice. The contents herein is set at level 100 ~ 200, meaning it’s targeted at introductory to beginners’ level.
100 – Introductory 200 – Beginner 300 – Intermediate 400 – Advanced
This article was first drafted in 2007 and intended for publication on this blog. It was later revised and published in the December issue of Vaidurya 2008. It is now published here for public reading.
Introduction
Pureland Buddhism is ubiquitous in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Throughout most, if not all, Chinese temples and monasteries in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hongkong, China, worldwide, pureland practise is more well known than perhaps meditation practises like anapanasati (breathing meditation) and satipatthana (Four foundations of mindfulness). In certain cases, a Buddhist may even know only to chant “Amituofo” and nothing about the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold path. Sometimes this is due to the literacy level in the audience and other times, due to the level of the sangha community. Try explaining the Four Noble Truth and Eightfold path to an 80 year old granny who can barely understand you or try getting . . . → Read More: How To: Pureland Practice (100 ~ 200)
By Wakeupnow, on 4th June, 2008 Daily Exercise II From the earlier Daily Exercises (Vesak Exercises), one should have determined certain traits about oneself. One should become aware of certain patterns in one’s life that may be beneficial or harmful. With that in mind, it is then time to move to the next stage: Practice!
1.Practice Day 2.Practice Week
. . . → Read More: Daily Exercise II
By Wakeupnow, on 2nd January, 2008 Here’s an article I would like to share with you all. While the ‘princess’ in the blog is a lady, the lesson from it applies equally to all, men and women alike.
awomanagainstfeminism.blogspot.com
An extract below … complete post after the break below
I’ve made some profound changes in my life since then. First and foremost, I stopped blaming everyone else for my own problems. This was the hardest. For my entire life I was told – and I believed – that as a woman, I could do no wrong, that I was not responsible, that I was always the victim in some way. Over and over I had to tell myself that only I am responsible for my happiness.
Once I learned to stop blaming the world, I taught myself to be pleasant and nice. This was hard as well. I had always mistaken pleasantness for weakness. This is not the case. A new colleague at work – a woman from the South – showed me very clearly it’s quite easy to be nice and be strong at the same time.
. . . → Read More: A Middle-Aged Princess Grows Up
By Wakeupnow, on 27th December, 2007 
Earthlings – Make the connection
EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity’s absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called “non-human providers.” The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR) and features music by the critically acclaimed platinum artist Moby.
|
@BL
Tue Morn Translation
Tue Nite Meditation
Sun Puja-talk-Bodhikids
Wed, Fri - Consultation
Thu SIMBB Dharma classes @PMT
Sun Monthly talks @SBM
@Metta
Sun Nite 佛法概論
|
