Ramblings of a Monk » Monks

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

Shi ChuanGuan — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 10:59:29 +0000

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

Here's some programmes coming up at the Buddhist Library for this Chinese New Year:

Wednesday 2 Feb Chinese New Year's Eve 年除夕

8:30pm ~ 9:30pm
Special Chinese New Year Puja & Chanting led by Ven. B. Dhammaratana

Thursday 3 Feb (1st Day of Chinese New Year 年初一)

8:30am ~ 9:00am
Blessings by Ven. B. Dhammaratana

11am ~ 11:30am
Puja in Pali & English

11:30am ~ 11:45am
Dhamma talk by Ven. Chuan Guan

11:45am
Dana for monks

6:30pm
Evening Puja in Pali & English by Ven. B. Dhammaratana

8:00pm
Chanting in Chinese by Ven. Yuan Qing

Friday 4 Feb (2nd Day of Chinese New Year 年初二)

6:30am ~ 8:30am
Library opens for blessings

Saturday 12 Feb (10th Day of Chinese New Year 年初十)

1:30pm
Visit to Taipei Old Folks' Home

Sunday 13 Feb (11th Day of Chinese New Year 年十一)

11:30am
Chinese New Year Gathering

New Year House Blessing Service by Bhante B. Dhammaratana will commence from Friday 4 Feb (2nd Day of Chinese New Year 年初二).
Please contact counter staff for an appointment.

Suki hontu! ^_^

z20101024 Oct 24 Robes and Books Offering 供袈裟与赠书仪式

Shi ChuanGuan — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 06:15:50 +0000

Robes and Books Offering 供袈裟与赠书仪式

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117543831632158

Robes offering is an annual event in the Buddhist tradition. Monks during the 4 months of rainy season spend more time in temples and attend to lay devotees by teaching the Dhamma and helping them to practise meditation.
At the end of the season, in order to show their appreciation and to give thanks, lay devotees would choose one day to gather at temples to offer robes to the monks.

The Saffron robe symbolises monkhood and renunciation from worldly life. On the other hand, a robe is also one of the 4 requisites essential to monks in their daily lives. So robe offering is a great meritorious deed a lay Buddhist can do.

In the Buddhist Library, this tradition is observed and kept alive as one of our annual events.

Morning Service

10.00am – 10.30am: Puja & Chanting诵经法会
10.30am – 11.30am: Dhamma talk 佛理开示
11.30am: Dana for Mahasangha 供僧
11.45am: Lunch for participants 午餐

Evening Service

7.00pm: Arrival of participants 信众抵达
7.30pm: Arrival of the Mahasangha & Commencement of Puja 僧团抵达及法会开始
8.00pm – 8.15pm: Dhamma talk 佛理开示
8.15pm – 9.00pm: Robes Offering and Book Presentation 供袈裟与赠书
9.00pm – 9.15pm: Blessings by Mahasangha 僧团祈福
9.15pm – 9.30pm: Light refreshment 茶点招待

The Buddhist Library

2, Lorong 24A Geylang

Singapore, Singapore

Pls contact the counter staff at 67468435 to enquire about books / robes sponsorship.

Human Rights vs Human Responsibilities

Wakeupnow — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:07:20 +0000

The one place you would not expect to find demand of “Human Rights” would be in a college, a Buddhist College I mean. One would think that 1) a Buddhist College would be extolling values above and beyond mere human rights and 2) students (monks in this case) would not really care much about human rights (HR). Afterall, Buddhism as a whole seem to point towards an attitude of non-attachment and non-self (no-self or not-self if you will!), it seem strange that they while working towards these ideals, would be so concerned with human rights. After all, without a self, who is to enjoy the rights or suffer their absence?

But this article is not about that. This article is about what I think Human Rights is and its place in an Asian society vs the role of Human Responsibilities.

Human Rights as yours truly once explained to someone refers to the basic rights that a human being has, should be given access to and not denied of. (According to a UN declaration, it also includes “Freedom” http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html ). In a way, it defines the privileges and powers that we human beings have in relation to environment and people. Modern human rights as we know it include the right to “… … life, liberty and security of person. … …”, “… … freedom of thought, conscience and religion … …”, “… … freedom of opinion and expression … … ” etc etc. (In the good tradition of plagiarism, I’ve conveniently left out those clauses that I deem either uncommon to most people, or too common and accessible to us, or just because I didn’t want to quote the whole page here!)

Further, it is common belief that the western countries being the flag-bearer of human rights has the best human rights records! I say, au contraire! Apparently, there should be some correlation between establishment of human rights and its violation. But here there are two points to this. Presence of human rights violations does not necessarily lead to acknowledgement or formation of human rights; absence of such acknowledgement or formation does not imply absence of human rights violations. For one, it is because there are cases of human rights violation in western countries, that its citizens start advocating such rights! As mentioned above, we are not implying that there are no violations in Asian countries. There probably is, and should be prevented, but we should not assume that the west is all rosy and perfect examples of human rights.

The questions that then beget answering are 1) whether the lens through which we use to see Asian societies is relevant and 2) what is this Asian value system that seem counter intuitive to human rights ideals.

Just as it is difficult for us to understand others if we stand firmly in our views and not be empathetic to others, if we use western values and try to judge Asian societies or use Asian values to judge western societies, we won’ help anyone; at best, we start picking at each other’s “faults”. While human rights values are commonly agreeable, it is not the only value system that we all have. To use that as the final benchmark against which everyone is measured is to be both myopic and over simplistic in our assumptions of human psyche and community values. For example, each society and community may have their distinct religious, moral and cultural values. As I note on the internet, there are numerous videos of pranks played on friends which to me seem outrightly awful but the producers of such videos seem to delight in the plight of friends, even if it results in public humiliation or physical harm. Oddly enough, the “victims” in most cases seem to laugh it off and think it ok. In Asian societies, such “bullying” behaviour is not absent, but is generally deemed as unfriendly. On the flip side, westerners probably think of Asians being too uptight and not able to appreciate the humour. Whether it is humour or illwill seem to hinge on the cultural value. Add to that, an individual slant that everyone have, and it becomes unrealistic to simply assume that all societies (or countries) should simply adopt human rights as their banner.

As stated above, human rights is not out-rightly rejected in Asian societies but is amongst one of the values that Asians have. This probably applies to western and other countries as well, but human rights seem to be top on the agenda for westerners, in particular Americans. So what other values are there? We refer finally to our title “Human Rights vs Human Responsibilities”. Asian societies also recognise human rights but sees and emphasises on the responsibilities that come with such rights. While human rights focuses on the privileges and powers of human beings, human responsibilities balances it with the duties and responsibilities that we have towards others, things and the environment. Without responsibilities and duties, human rights is almost like a free ticket to do what as we pleases.

This disparity focuses on the impact that we may have on others and consequently defines both the restrains within which we can exert our basic human rights. In short, it is the simple recognition that the human rights of the majority is larger than the human rights of an individual. On one level, this seem to mean that Asian values and western if not human rights values are destined to be poles apart. The differences between a group centric focus vs an individual centric focus seem too overwhelming to reconcile. This is however untrue. The differences is more on the emphasis or the perceived emphasis rather than a black and white segregation.

Here, I want to draw attention to Article 29 and 30 of the Human Rights Declaration:

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Article 29.

(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Note the emphasis on the duties toward the community in 29.1 , however vague this may seem, and the limitations imposed in 29.2 for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others etc. And in Article 30, there is explicit removal of any ambiguity of implications that this Declaration grants anyone the right to destroy others’ rights. Again, group over individual.

Am I then saying that western and Asian values are the same? No. we are still different. But we have our similiarities. Perhaps if this Declaration were drafted by Asians, the Article 30 would be Article 1, and Article 29 Article 2, just to emphasise the importance of group over individual rights. But perhaps it is just the difference in linguistic expression that places different things differently. So maybe we are more alike than we think. Maybe the media has over sensationalised the differences and we chose to believe the media blindly. Yeah, let’s all stone the media and bury them alive. It is so much more convenient and easier to do as well. Much easier than to open our eyes and give up our prejudices, and see for ourselves who we and others really are. Or maybe we just want to believe that we are different. That western societies as a larger “individual” vs Asian societies as a larger “individual” both want to be seen as unique and different from the other fella. Yet, ironically, we still are not unique. We are bound by this universal need and desire to be unique! This desire and need to be unique makes us common!

As a footnote, monastics should perhaps think more about their duties and responsibilities vs their privileges and powers. For with all the powers that Bodhisattvas and Buddhas have, they don’t use them to acquire more privileges and pleasures, rather they only use them to aid sentient beings along the path to Nibbana!

Hmmm … … is the Buddha Nature the universal “rights” of all sentient beings? A universal sentient rights?

So What? … …

Wakeupnow — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:38:45 +0000

So What?
So What!
So What!?

“So what” … sweet sound to the ears, and perhaps the mind as well. Two over months ago, Jan 3 2008 to be exact, during a Dhamma talk at Taipei Buddhist Centre, an participant uttered these magic words “So What?”. To some it was a challenge to the explanations given, while to others, its a curt retort to the speaker. To me, I just love it! … if monks are allowed to at least ‘love’ some idea …

To me, it was excellent that that man thought of the question “So what?”. It implied to me that he was interested in not just listening to mere recitation of someone’s teachings, but is genuinely concerned about the practical implications of it. Or at least that’s how I interpreted his “So what?”. If he meant it any other ways, I didn’t know it.

I replied by congratulating him on his question; that we Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike need to open our eyes to see and our mind to inquire, to paraphrase myself that day. My point is that, when we read a book, or listen to a talk, we should listen with an open heart, but not just take everything as it is and leave it at that. We should inquire further on the practical implications of it in our daily lives!

Each time we attend a talk or a class, we should ask ourselves, how does knowing this help us? Or others? Or both? How do I apply it in my life to bring more peace and less stress?

For that matter, we should not just ask ourselves this question when it comes to Buddhist Teachings, but to other things as well. So you didn’t get that promotion this time round … so what? So she likes someone else and not you (or him you or otherwise) … so what? So your son failed in his exams … so what? Now I’m not advocating the other extreme of aloofness. Rather, I’m saying, put things in perspective. Make a checklist of things going right for you. By right, I don’t mean perfect, I mean “good enough”. Then compare the thing that didn’t work out for you. You’ve managed so far in your life without that one thing, so why should it, or the lack thereof, make you miserable now?

Sometimes we give ourselves reasons to be miserable and we should stop. And learn to be content and not spend our precious human life searching the world for a better life. Instead, we can and should learn to reflect more on our own life and be grateful. Having more does not always bring more happiness. More often than not, it leads to more worry and stress.

So the next time, you encounter something, be it a teaching or a difficulty in life, ask yourself … So what?

To my Mom and Dad! … :)

Wakeupnow — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 12:23:42 +0000

Today is not Mother’s day, nor is it Father’s day. It is also not my parent’s birthday. Least of all, it’s also not my birthday. Today, they accompanied me to run an errand to Funan. (Yes, sometimes monks also need stuffs … *grin*)

Here I am back in the monastery, after a meditation class/session with NUSBS in FuHai Monastery, reflecting about the day, thinking about how my parents accompanied me to run an errand to Funan at a short notice. Color me silly, but I found myself teary just reflecting over it.

I just sent them an sms and thought I would share with you all here:

Thanks Mom and Dad! For accompanying me to Funan today at such a short notice. For giving me your time, incessant care and love since my birth! For giving me this precious human life! For bringing me into Buddhism and giving me away to the Buddha! Thank you! THANK YOU! Thank you!

Before this day ends and we rest for the day, do take the time to reflect over the day. Ponder on the kindness, love and care that our parents had showered us. Give thanks. Ponder on the kindness that our friends had given us. Give thanks. Ponder on the assistance that sentient beings have in one way or another assisted us through our day, our life. Give thanks.

Whether you are a Buddhist, a Christian, Hindu, Muslim or Taoist (or believe in any other wonderful faith that I’ve missed out), take the time to give thanks. It does not have to be a special day to give thanks. And yet, on the other hand, everyday is special enough to give thanks!

Give thanks to our parents and fellow sentient beings by

Saying thank you to them
Being considerate to them
Helping them when they need help
Giving way to them
Refrain from harming them (like hunting, killing animals, insects etc)
Respecting their right to their belongings
Respecting their relationships
Being truthful to them
Maintaining clarity of mind by avoiding intoxicants such as drugs & alcohols
And if you are really up to it, be mindful of your body, speech and mind. That way you can truly be helpful to them and not harm them!

Have a nice day … unless you have other plans!

Back from India … the land that Buddha walked on moons ago

Wakeupnow — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:15:19 +0000

A few thousand moons ago, 30612+ moons ago, or 2551+ years ago, to be exact. … That was how long ago when Buddha was in India, walking the land, going on alms, teaching the Dharma, meditating under trees, in the caves, couselling the monks, enlightening the seekers of Truths. And last two weeks, we went and spent some time at Bodhgaya under the novice retreat programme.

It was pretty amazing, to say the least, to see constant throngs of people coming to Maha Bodhi to pray, to chant, to prostrate, to meditate, to be where the Buddha attained enlightenment! … and of course, not forgetting to take some pictures for posterity. What really touched me was to see people of various nationalities & religion, speaking different languages and dialects, inter-mingling there, like old friends coming back for a reunion!

The other interesting thing that struck me was how “un-strucked” I was about India as a whole. It seemed almost just normal to see it the way it is/was, that I didn’t felt awed, surprised or shocked, as some would put it. It was my first trip to India, but in a strange way, I just felt ‘normal’ to see the dusty streets, the beggars, the monks chanting, the crowds lining the streets etc. Some people suggested that perhaps I just felt familiar because maybe I was born in India in the past. Maybe eh?

I’ll write more later on, when I sort my thoughts out. In a way, having modern travel, shortening the time to go to and return from India, kinda mess things up for me. Am I really back from India already?

In the meantime, some of the retreat participants may have something to say about the trip. Just add to the comments and post away!

I’ll setup the photo album thingie in this few days so you can upload your photos.

With metta,

How much would you give?

Wakeupnow — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:53:13 +0000

The Buddha said “The Highest Gift of all is the the Gift of Dhamma”.

For most lay people, Dana, the practice of giving, means giving material support. This includes giving Robes, Food, Lodging and Medicine, the four requisites. Some communities provide avenues for lay people to offer food on a daily basis before noon. Others also put up their phone and utilities bill for voluntary offerings. All these requisites support existing sangha members in their monastic life, so that they can focus on their learning and practice of the Buddha’s teachings.

Lay people can also further their giving by making invitations of Dhamma books or Suttas to the sangha. This would help monastics have access to the Dhamma without having to go through the monetary route. Still, this is really external to us, and is relatively easy.

The toughest dana that a lay person can do is to ‘offer’ their child to Buddhism as a monastic! Time and again, I’ve seen how devote Buddhist would praise the virtue and wisdom of the sangha and how Buddhism has changed their lifes and yet cringe at the thought of their children becoming monastics.

Monks are not from outerspace. Neither are nuns.

The last I check, monks are not from outerspace and neither are nuns. But it is common to see monastics without their prior background as a lay person. Without that prior background, we loose the context in which to relate to them, and it becomes uneasy or unnatural for some to see that they were someone else’s son or daughter.

Not seeing this relation, it can then appear as a shock when one’s child expresses their wish to go forth as a monastic.

I think many parents fear for their child to become monastics because of a lack in knowledge of a monastic life. For most people, monastics are whisked around in entourages to perform prayers or to give Dhamma talks; then they are whisked back to their sanctury, away from human contact. That is a misconception. Buddhist monastics tend to be simpler and circles around learn, practising and sharing the Buddhist teachings. Sure there are those who prefer the quietude of the forest, and is recommended by the Buddha Himself, but many also have a good balance between personal practice, interaction and teaching of the Dhamma to the public. This of course includes his family and friends who are so inclined to learn more.

Most parents are afraid of ‘loosing’ their child upon their ordination, but if you consider how some families drift apart through marriages, careers or lifestyles, one have to rethink if ordination as a monk really causes the parents to loose their child. In reality, there is lesser conflict for parents with their child who goes forth, as they are taught and trained even more deeply on how they should relate to their parents and people around them. This can only improve communications, and not lead to ‘loosing’ them.

But my son or daughter has defilements and is not pure enough.

This is yet another misconception and invalid excuse for not allowing one’s child to be a monastic. The whole point of going forth to become a monastic, is to start an earnest course of learning, training and practise that help to reduce and ultimately eradicate one’s defilements, leading to Enlightenment. If one is already pure, then one is already Enlightened and does not need to go forth for training. But if one is indeed Enlightened, one would also go forth into the Sangha order, so that one can reach out to the masses, without the limitations and responsibilities of a family life.

Further, one should not think that having bad habits or defilements would disqualify oneself from going forth. Ven. Angulimala was a killer before he was transformed by the Buddha’s teachings and through going forth and training, became one of the Arahants! Since the first five monks, monks and nuns alike come from all walks of life, and while their background are different and their purity and defilements may vary, they have one thing in common: They all wanted to learn from the Buddha and train to put an end to Suffering and attain Enlightenment!

Since monastic life is conducive for happiness here and now and the attainment of Enlightenment, why should one fear for one’s child in becoming a monastic?

‘Giving’ one’s child to Buddhism

So think about it. Buddhists teachings advocates giving and sharing, why not ‘share’ and ‘give’ one’s child to Buddhism?

Giving starts from oneself. Start giving today.

Putting one’s money where one’s mouth is

Wakeupnow — Mon, 21 May 2007 08:18:34 +0000

Putting money where one’s mouth is basically means showing due support for what we advocate. Also interpreted as “stop giving lip service and taking some real actions.”

Yesterday, Puay Khim commented to me that there is an interesting debate going on in some online forum about how it is wasteful or pointless or both to have a stupa cast in gold. The theme here is that Buddhism should focus on its teachings and not so much on devotional aspects that it becomes the main focus. Such views are commonly upheld by a strata of Buddhists who are supposedly the intellects. They are inclined towards Buddhism because of its teachings and see little value in devotional practises like chanting, prostrations or having Buddha statues or stupas built.

Some even go on to suggest that monks should likewise focus on 1) study and practise of the teachings in suttas (Sanskrit: sutras) and 2) meditation, and not spend much time, if at all, on prayer ceremonies and the likes. They reckon that since the Buddha and his monks in earlier days, did pretty much that, monks in present day should do likewise.

All these are fine and good, and for the most part, right. In my stay and study in Fa Yun Monastery for 3~4 years, that’s what we ever do: Study of the sutras and meditate. We don’t conduct elaborate prayers nor do we fund raise. Our primary interaction with lay people were through the occasional visitors who happen to see our signboard along highway 64 in Taos, New Mexico, US. Others include visits by our lay supporters who only come over like once or twice a year. We do have daily prayer chanting sessions but it’s part of our daily practice and not so much of an event. Interestingly enough, we regularly receive donations from kind donors, both monthly from Taiwan and on an adhoc basis from Americans or US based Chinese who know about us. Not everyone can fully comprehend or accept our lifestyle of near seclusion and simplicity, but enough people deem it worthwhile for them to support us. We get by.

United States is officially a secular country, with a secular constitution and a separation between state and religion. Americans are, however, predominantly Christians. In this manner, Buddhist monasteries do not get special consessions or free access to utilities and the likes. As non-profit organisations, Buddhist monasteries such as Fa Yun Monastery do get tax exemptions in certain areas. The bills however still need to be paid. Fortunately, with the support of kind donors, we get by.

Singapore is similar to US in that it is also a secular (state) country. While non-profit organisations do get certain tax concessions, religious people as a whole do not necessarily enjoy any special treatment. Electricity, water and gas do not come free, and someone’s got to pay the property tax. In recent years, land provisions allow only 30 year leases on new articles of land for religious usage in certain parts of Singapore. This mean that the money spent on the land asset dwindles down (or amortize as it is known in the accounting world) to zero after 30 years. Compare this with Buddha’s time where the king himself would offer plots of land for the sole usage of monks to reside in and it seem like there’s a huge divide here. Now, note that we are not here to scrutinize or judge the government’s allocation of land use or its policies, we’ll leave that to the politicians and economists. Rather, we are trying to identify the differences between the conditions that monks in Singapore are facing compared to Buddha’s time.

Besides apparent social differences, the kind of support given by the lay supporters also differ. While it may be arguable what good a stupa cast in gold can do for one’s peace and happiness or wisdom, it is undeniable that the devotees who willingly donated for its construction geniunely believed in what it stood for, if not at least they believed sufficiently in whatever peace happiness and wisdom it may confer unto them. The point here is not so much whether what they believe in is justified or not, but that they were not just casual commentators or paying lip service to a belief. They honoured their belief in gold. Try beating that.

Sure, intellects and the likes can go on about the rhetorics of how they are blinded by their belief, but the fact is that their contribution supports their beliefs. If there are those intellects who believe that monks should concentrate on the study and practise of the teachings in the sutta and meditation, then they should support accordingly. Without the appropriate support from the lay community, these monks will either have to move to other countries that support them or garner support from those who do.

So, I say, it’s about time to put one’s money where one’s mouth is. Go on and show your support to the cause that you believe in. There are monks in Singapore who are earnest about the practise.

Footnote:

This is not a solicitation for funds, but a reply to intellects who frown on devotional practises.

The author is a resident monk in Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery and gives Dharma classes and Meditation classes to a variety of audiences. While he do not actively practise or advocate devotional practises, he does not dismiss the positive effect it has on people and for the right audience, he sometimes even recommend such practises as a start, before moving them onto sutta study and meditation.

Catching up with old friends … …

Wakeupnow — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 02:32:51 +0000

I recently met two old friends … no, not that they are old, but more that we knew each other a long time ago.

To protect their identity (I always like this! :p) … let’s call my friend … ok, ok, let’s cut the bull and get it over. If my friend has problem with his name appearing on my obscure blog, then he need to stop living under a rock!

So ChingWi messaged me one day that she has a friend Hanguan who needs some advice from a monk and referred him to me. I agreed but didn’t thought much about the name, though I thought she was referring to Angguan, another friend from awhile back, but that’s another story.

Friday came, and when this Hanguan came over my cubicle (monks have cubicles? *gasp*), I was like “Hey, I know you!” and he was like “Yeah, wow … you … ”

He turned out to be a friend from army days back in ~~T****n~~ an overseas base some 13 years ago! It’s hazy whether we knew each other in Singapore already or only in the overseas base, but nonetheless, it was really great to have bump into him again! 13 years came and went, fun had and gone, friends made and lost, and here we were in the cube. I later dug through my old photo piles at my parent’s place to find a photo of us, frozen in time, when the world was slightly less complex, mainstream internet was not heard of yet, and DBASE III was the defacto database for medium sized companies, and the two of us were just lads doing their ~~‘time’~~ service in the arm.

It took a serious enough matter for us to actually meet up again after all these years. I wonder when we’ll sit down again to chat and ~~do silly stuffs~~ catch up.

On reflection, the surprise was that he, Chingwi and me know each other, despite our different paths through life. hmmm …

… …

Sometime late last week, my mom told me that her aunty, whom I address as “Lao-Yee” (Yee with a higher TeoChew pitch, Old-Aunty), was in not doing very well, that there is a high chance that she was in her last days. I visited her on Sunday and did a short puja/prayer/chant with her and later on spent some time talking to her son (my distant uncle Patrick) and other relatives. I was told later that one of the uncles has a son who was the president of NTUBS some years back and was around my age. My mom did not know the name, but this mysterious ex-president’s a “Phua”. I reckoned it should be Kenneth Phua, a good friend whom I’ve not met for years but caught up online a few years back. On further query, I thought otherwise as other characteristics did not quite match the Kenneth I know, but I’ll figure out sooner or later.

As it turned out, this distant cousin is indeed Kenneth Phua! Again, someone whom I’ve not met for years, but met up because realities of life. And best yet was the fact that we now know that we are actually related! *gosh* what a small world!

At the rate things goes … I won’t be surprised that you may well be related to me in some ways, albeit distant and perhaps convoluted way … (oh, how I love the word convoluted. It makes the sentence sound so much smarter! … hahaha)

… …

Many years back, when I was in Secondary Four, I was told the news that a primary school friend drowned in an accident. At the wake, classmates met and shared in the loss. We lamented on the fact that we never catch up with each other in those four years and had to meet on such an occassion. Everyone felt that we should have met up more than we did. … … We never really met up again thereafter anyway.
It’s interesting how the departed has this ability to convene a reunion better than anyone else. We are so conditioned to just get on with life, to make ends meet, or to get that project done, to get that new phone etc … sometimes we forget to make time for people who really matters.

We are related and inter-dependent in more ways than we can imagine, but we live our life pursuing our individualistic lifestyle, goals and dreams. Maybe we should take the time to be grateful for all the kindness, friendship and time that others gave us. And out of gratitude, perhaps we can develop kindness and compassion for them and others in return.
Perhaps we may find a place in our heart to forgive others and make peace.

Indeed, didn’t the Buddha declared in SN15: Matta Sutta, that “A being who has not been your mother at one time in the past is not easy to find… A being who has not been your father… your brother… your sister… your son… your daughter at one time in the past is not easy to find”

Samyutta Nikaya 15: Matta Sutta