The weekly Group Practice will be held at Buddhist Librar:
Weekly Group Practice
Venue: Buddhist Library, 2-4 Geylang Lor 24A
Date: Every Wednesday
Time: 7:30pm ~ 9:30pm
Programme:
For a while now, whenever I am invited for a meal at my parents’ place, I would play a little game with my niece and nephews. I would give them a cookie or bread or something, but before I give them, I would hover infront of their mouth and count to them “One, … Two, … Three … ” before they get their treat.
My point to my sisters (mothers of my experiments) is that kids these days are too conditioned towards instant gratification. My count down approach is what I think would train them to learn to wait. Interestingly, my niece J would wait patiently, even when I sometimes delay the count down with 2.5, 2.75 etc … she (four years old now) would giggle and know that I am playing with her. My nephew R started off being rather haughty, refusing to open his mouth when I start the countdown. Granted, he is 1+ years younger than J, so perhaps he is slowly developing patience. Furthermore, the mental development of boys and girls are known to start at different ages.
Today, I read an interesting article about just that.
In the article, there is mention of a marshmallow experiment conducted to study how kids delay gratification. An interesting concept highlighted is “metacognition” in which one is knows one’s knowing or thinking. The ability to be aware of one’s thinking or way of thinking, its implications and to think of ways to deal with it.
“Their desire (for marshmallow) wasn’t defeated—it was merely forgotten. “If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.”
The above example is what in Buddhism is commonly known as “轉依所緣境”, or “to change one’s mental focus”. In meditation, we do that all the time. When the mind wanders away, or it becomes distracted, we direct it away from the distraction and back to the object of meditation. In the Mahasi tradition, one do not redirect, but instead channels one’s mindfulness onto the process of distraction, and not the distraction itself. So, instead of thinking of something, we become mindful of the thinking; instead of pondering about a sound or cough, as to who is the one coughing, why is he coughing, we direct mindfulness to hearing itself. So this is in a way, still a change in focus, from the subject to the process, from the content to the mechanism.
In 念佛法門, Buddha-nama recitation school, when one’s mind wanders away, we basically redirect the mind back to the Buddha-nama recitation. Again, it is a redirection. In the Contemplation of Fouliness, the mind is directed away from sensual visible datum towards the foul aspects of the body, as a direct counter for sense desire. This is not just redirection, but redirection towards the opposite of the original object. Such redirection makes use of another characteristic of the mind: that the mind cannot be in opposite states simultaneously. If the mind is filled with love, it cannot hate; if filled with foul contemplation, lust cannot arise; filled with generosity, one cannot stinge; filled with wholesome, unwholesome thoughts naturally cease. Hence, the various Buddhist practice of metta-bhavana, foul contemplation, practice of dana and wholesome aspirations.
Another technique mentioned in the article that resounds with standard practices in Buddhism is to modify the perception or conditioning the kids have of the marshmallow or candy.
But Mischel has found a shortcut. When he and his colleagues taught children a simple set of mental tricks—such as pretending that the candy is only a picture, surrounded by an imaginary frame—he dramatically improved their self-control. The kids who hadn’t been able to wait sixty seconds could now wait fifteen minutes. “All I’ve done is given them some tips from their mental user manual,” Mischel says. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter of learning how to control your attention and thoughts, you can really begin to increase it.”
In the Diamond Sutra, chapter 32, the Buddha said “一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀” “All conditioned phenomena, is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, an image (or shadow); like a dew and like a flash of lightning, thus should one reflect and observe”. The Buddhist technique is broader in ways of application and differs at the later stage. At the earlier stage, one may not have seen how that is possible, but may adopt the teachings as a new way (Mental Transformation) to look at things, thereby reducing attachment, whereas at the later more developed stage, one truly see (Direct Seeing) that all conditioned phenomena is indeed like a dream, an illusion etc, at which point attachment and craving naturally falls away.
The above list out various techniques that one can develop and use should one’s mind stray away. Prior to that, it is also important to develop mindfulness so that when the mind should stray or drift, we can know that it has, and not simply be swept along for the ride.
The names may differ, but the act of labelling or mental noting found in the Mahasi tradition, anapanasati (meditation) tradition, Zen meditation tradition or 念佛 Buddha-namanusati method all trains the mind to be aware of the present state. The object of focus and precise technique may differ, but they all lead to mindfulness of the present state of the mind. Through these techniques, when the mind wanders away, one is then able to more effectively ‘detect’ the wandering and then apply the appropriate mental counter-measures. Initially, one’s mind simply get sweep away by the torrents of mental proliferation, but slowly, the mental noting or awareness of this wandering becomes stronger and one’s attention and awareness builds up. It takes time and practice, but it does get better as one proceed.
We often think about our family at work and about work when we are with our family. We know that it is not helpful in both cases, but we cannot help it. Well, we can. Using the two techniques mentioned above, 1. Awareness of Mental Drift 2. Mental Redirection, we should train ourselves to be mindful of whatever we are doing at the present moment, the conversation we are having, the person we are talking to etc. When there is Mental Drift, we should be aware of it. We may note it quickly and redirect our mind towards our present activity. Do this often enough, and it becomes a mental habit to refocus, to redirect. Over time, we can become more attentive and “in the moment”, instead of “worrying about the future, or clinging onto the past.”
With this mindfulness, one can in time, observe and see directly, the common characteristics, anicca (Impermanence), dukkha (Suffering), anatta (No-self).
Instead of succumbing to our thoughts and emotions, we can live a more wholesome and meaningful life through the practice of Buddhism. We can slowly learn to master and manage our emotions instead of letting it run and ruin our life.
“We should say, ‘You see this marshmallow? You don’t have to eat it. You can wait. Here’s how.’ ”
Next time we desire something like the kid for the marshmallow, maybe we should say that to ourselves:
“You see this INSERT_YOUR_CRAVING? You don’t have to have it immediately. You can wait. Here’s how.”
Tried it before? Tell us how it work or not work for you.
Life sized statue of the Buddha from the Tang Dynasty period (618-906 AD)
應以何身得度者，即現何身而為說法 does not translate to “Teach the Dharma in the local language”. The Chinese text would translate loosely to “Depending on the need of the audience, (one) shall manifest in whatever form/appearance to teach the (Buddha) Dharma”. This is the crux of the teachings in “妙法蓮花經 觀世音菩薩 普門品” Saddharma-puṇḍarīka sūtra, chapter on Samantamukhaparivarto nāmāvalokiteṡvara-vikurvaṇa-nirdeṡa.
Confused yet? Ya, thought so. For those of us who are do not read sanskrit or Chinese, the above lines might as well have been written in greek or an alien language, which brings me to the earlier statement, that one shall manifest in whatever form/appearance to teach the Dharma, depending on the need of the audience. That should include adopting whatever language is appropriate for conveying the message. The language is but a medium, a tool while style and prose just an expression of that medium. The intended message is what is important. And because of that, language, style and prose should be chosen to encourage communication. The communication of the message, of the idea, rises above previous trio in importance.
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 youths to understand the dharma talks of elderly monks who only speak some native chinese dialects or who can only manage a strongly accented chinese dialogue. In such cases, it may prove trying for both parties.
Due to the increased literacy level of Singaporeans, such scenarios are fortunately, greatly reduced. The Sangha today are mostly conversant in English and Chinese and in certain cases even in a third or fourth foreign language. With language as a tool rather than a barrier, Buddhists can learn more about the Buddha’s teachings, as did the monks and lay folks did 2550+ years ago. This then bring us to the topic at hand, how do we learn and practise Pureland in today’s context? Is pureland practices only meant for the elderlies or can the younger generation embrace it just as well? Should we restrict ourselves to mere recitation of “amituofo” or should we do more? Is there such a need? If so, what else are we to do? These are some questions we will look at and offer some thoughts about it, hopefully intriguing you enough to think about it as well.
Read the rest of this entry »
http://confusion.tweakblogs.net/blog/1418/why-functional-programming-doesnt-catch-on.html
The above is an interesting article about functional programming and why it fail to catch on.
Every introduction to a programming language shows you the recursive method to calculate Fibonacci numbers. It’s abstract, many people do not relate to it very well, but it’s only a single example. However, the documentation for FP languages seem to consist solely of these kinds of highly mathematically inspired examples. No ‘Address’ class to be found there. Hasn’t anyone written a functional equivalent of the Pet Store application to demonstrate the power of FP for the regular work that most of us do?
This is sometimes the challenge I hear from people, that they find it too theoretical to apply certain religious concepts (be it Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or the religion you dig!) in their every day life. While some faith’s tenets and ideals are meant to be other-worldly, Buddhist teachings are meant for daily applications.
When we attend Dharma classes, we need to relate it to our daily experiences and reflect upon how our life can be further improved. Is there anything we could have done or said differently? What can we do in future to be more considerate towards others? Was there relevance at all?
People that want to improve the world often overlook one fundamental problem: you cannot improve the world just by being right. You need to convince others of that fact if you want to exert influence. If you cannot convince them, find out why you cannot convince them. I think there is a bright future ahead for functional programming, as soon as someone stands up to convince the masses.
We need to be convinced for ourselves that the teachings really do work out. We need to try it out and see for ourselves. The Dharma is meant to be explored and experienced, not merely for recitation.
So start now, see if you can pick something about your day that you can change about. And see if you can apply the Buddhist teachings, then share your findings here.
Hi all,
Here’s the web site for the Singapore Buddhist Federation
http://www.buddhist.org.sg/sbf/
A snippet here:
English Dharma Course
(Info on Chinese Dharma Course is available at the site above)
Objective:
To develop participants’ understanding in basic Buddhist teachings for life enrichment.
Contents:
Lectures and panel discussions on the life of Buddha, a brief history Buddhism, Buddhist teachings, application of Buddhist teaching in daily life.
Entry Qualifications: Age above 16 and fluent in written and spoken English.
Duration of Course: 3 years with 2 semesters per year.
Date: Every Friday from 6th of March 2009
Time:8.00pm – 9.30pm
Venue:Singapore Buddhist Federation
59 Lorong 24A Geylang, Singapore 398583
Tel: 6744 4635 Fax: 6747 3618
Registration
Fee: Adult $50; Student $25
Certificate of Completion: Certificate of completion of the course will be issued to each participant who has satisfied the set criteria Registration:
1. Photocopy of NRIC or Passport;
2. One recent passport sizes photo.
3. Registration at:
Buddhist Federation,59 Lorong 24A Geylang, Singapore 398583
Tel: 6744 4635 Fax: 6747 3618
Off hours: 0900 am to 5.00 pm Mon to Fri; 0900 am to 100 pm Sat
* Registration form is available for download at the above site.