Year: 2011

Metta Charity Walk cum Family Carnival 2011 慈光义走与嘉年华会

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Metta Charity Walk cum Family Carnival  2011

慈光义走与嘉年华会 

Sunday, 20 March 2011
9am – 5pm

Metta Building
32 Simei Street 1 Singapore(529950)

Free Shuttle-Bus Service between Simei MRT and Metta Welfare Association, 8am to 5.30pm.

More info: Metta Charity Walk cum Family Carnival 2011

Why you should support this Carnival?

This annual carnival serves a two-prong purpose:  1) It is a day for the beneficiaries, students, volunteers and supporters to come together to celebrate the great service that Metta Welfare has been providing to the people in Singapore, inclusive of all, regardless of race, language or religion.  2) It is to raise awareness of its services it is running and to raise fund for its operations.

Playing a pivotal role in realising its mission are nine welfare centres and a social enterprise that are located islandwide. Currently serving over 900 beneficiaries from various races and religions, these centres are segregated into the following areas:

Disability Care

Metta Day Activity Centre for the Intellectually Disabled (a day care centre for the intellectually disabled)
Metta Home for the Disabled (a residential home for the disabled)
Metta Home Day Activity Centre (a day care centre for the disabled)

Medical Care

Metta Day Rehabilitation Centre for the Elderly (a day rehabilitation centre for elderly and stroke patients)
Metta Hospice Care (home hospice care for the terminally ill)

Children Care

Metta PreSchool @Simei and Punggol (preschools that offer early intervention programmes to young children aged three to six with special needs)
SE CDC – Metta Student Care Centre

Special Education

Metta School (a special education school for children aged seven to 18 with mild intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorders)

Social Enterprise

Happy Arts Enterprise Ltd (a social enterprise that creates vocational training and employment opportunities for adolescents aged 18 and above from special education schools)

“Talks on Peace Very Often Are Just Talk, with No Action”

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Just came back from a Religions For Peace conference @ Furama City Centre (@Furama Hotel).  One of the message that struck a chord in me was about how talks on peace very often are just talk, with no action.  After all these years of talks on peace, and yet, we still have strife and conflict.  It seem the ones who attend conferences on peace are already advocates of peace, while those who really need a dose of it are not attending it.

While it feels that way, I think if even just one of the religious leaders were to internalise the message and bring back it back to his or her community, it would be worth it.  We got to keep it up!

Interestingly, one of the theme in today’s session was about how the individual must be at peace before the group or the nation can be at peace.  This resounded strongly with the Buddha’s words, that the mind is the forerunner of all, and only when we defeat our defilements can there be peace.

So, my dear friend, how was your day?  Is it peaceful?  Or did you get upset over the same thing again?

May you be well … … may you be happy … … ^_^

Water, Power, Food Scarce in Vast Waths of Japan

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110313/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

To the south, in Miyagi prefecture, or state, the police chief told a gathering of disaster relief officials that his estimate for deaths was more than 10,000, police spokesman Go Sugawara told The Associated Press. Miyagi has a population of 2.3 million and is one of the three prefectures hardest hit in Friday’s disaster. Fewer than 400 people have officially been confirmed as dead in Miyagi.

I feel compelled to stop existing classes and volunteer myself to join aid services in Japan.  Dedicating merits and send metta just does not cut it for me.  Can someone enlighten me on this?

Suki hontu. -__-

Japan Suffers Major Damage from Tsunami after Earthquake Hits

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http://www.suntimes.com/4255573-417/8.8-magnitude-eathquake-tsunamis-hit-japan

A magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan’s northeastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland. Fires triggered by the quake burned out of control up and down the coast.

Prayers, support and aid goes out to them.  If there is any support group setup, please share and disseminate.

Suki hontu. -__-

南無觀世音菩薩 (Hokkien)

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This is a short prayer commonly said by lay Chinese Buddhists in Singapore from 60s till perhaps early 90s.

南無觀世音菩薩 佛祖保佑 x 3
Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Buddha Bless x 3

一家大小
The whole family from the eldest to the youngest

平安順順
to be safe and sound, have little obstacles (in their day and life)

爸爸大賺！
and may my dad earn big bucks!

^o^

While some may find it bordering on being materialistic, I think it reflects on the very simple needs that people had — Safety and physical Well being and not have difficulty time (be Happy) whether in school, at work, at home or away from home.

Singaporeans in the 60s and 70s had it tough.  Most families were very closely knitted and had to chip in to make ends meet.  The last line reflects this.  Perhaps it is place last because it was very crucial or perhaps it was not as important as safety and the likes.  Or maybe this was just how our parents were taught.

 

Today, I see this as a precursor to Metta Bhavana, the Cultivation of Loving Kindness.  While Metta extends to all sentient beings, this prayer starts with the family, wishing for the family members to be Well and Happy.

Even simply wishing for this, I believe, is a good start.  For, I have counselled many families where the parents and children do not even speak to each other or they hate each others’ gut, and I think for them, it would be difficult to even say the above prayers wholeheartedly.  So if a family can even start with this simple prayer, each encompassing their heart with love-kindness and compassion for each other, it would be really wonderful.

Further if someone reflects on the Matta sutta http://bit.ly/gWhRrt then the “whole family 一家大小” expands and extends to include all sentient beings.

This would then pave the way towards higher bhavana (cultivation), towards Final Liberation, Nirvana!

 

Suki hontu! ^_^

PS: This prayer is usually said in the heart and not chanted or recited out loud.  The video is a chant sang in the tune of “This is the Buddha’s Light of Mine”.

 

Image of Guan Yin Bodhisattva courtesy of Rebecca Arnett from Castleton, Vermont, USA via wikimedia Commons.

Debaptism in UK or Is It Ok for A Buddhist to Attend Church Service

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When I was a teenager, I’ve heard of how Buddhist parents were afraid when their children get drawn to attend church services because if their child should get baptised, then it is a one
way path, and their children in future, could not or would not pay respects to them, or remember and honour them with an ancestral tablet either in the temple or at home.

I myself went to, let me see, three or four services when I was a student in JC and in NTU.  The first1 when I was in NTU was through the invitation of my then girlfriend who was a Christian Catholic (I was a lay person back then!).  Actually, she was not quite my girlfriend yet but we were more or less headed in that direction.  I was not about to jeopardise my prospects with her.  My mom had a very different idea.

When she saw me wake up early (7+8am or so) on a Sunday morning, her mommy-spidey senses alarms went off faster than you can finish reading this line!  She grilled me on where I was going and basically charged me with LIM (Clan of the Forest) Family Penal Offence #348 Section 28A Clause 132, “… wherein a member of the family shall make an attempt to enter the premise of a church for the purpose of attending a service, either intentionally, unintentionally, wilfully, knowingly, or otherwise, with premeditation, in person or proxy, alone or with groups of two or more, such a member shall be … “, you get the idea. Read More …