Shi ZhiXing – Page 54 – Ramblings of a Monk

When Are We Allowed to Have Expectations?

Posted on14 December , 200630 April , 2020AuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

When are we allowed to have expectations?

I know, I know. Some of you are probably thinking “But I thought having expectations leads to distraught and suffering?” Well, matter of fact, having expectations is part and parcel of everything. Because we expect to quench our thirst by drinking water, so we drink. And experience has shown that it did in the past not just for individuals but for almost all known cases. So we solve our thirst by this expectation and/or assumption, acquire water, drink it and ultimately quench our thirst. Will a day come when water won’t quench our thirst? Maybe, when the conditions are different, but in the mean time, drink … water, that is.

But that is not the point of this post. The point is this. Just as such simple expectation helps us along our simple basic needs of sustenance of our body, perhaps other forms of expectations are justified as well?

Should I Integrate This Blog into the Current Forum or Leave It Separate?

Posted on1 December , 20066 August , 2015AuthorShi ZhiXing6 Comments

Now that I’ve migrated the news column in the main site with the news board in the forum, I was wondering if this blog could benefit from integration. Granted, the entries I write over here are largely unrelated to Digital Buddha Vacana so maybe it may still be a good thing to keep it separate.

Thoughts?

Of Brushing or Cleansing Our Teeth?

Posted on21 October , 200630 April , 2020AuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

This is just another placeholder for future entry … 8)

1st December, 2006

Some of the folks who come across my desk may wonder why a toothbrush is on my desk and not in the toilet where it belongs. Most people either miss it or are too polite to ask, so I shared with the Youth Ministry in Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery during their YMers retreat.

You see, sometimes in the day, I would find a piece of food stuck in my teeth, or find my teeth too grimy for myself, and no amount of rinsing or flossing ( … talking about flossing, they are there on my desk too! 😉 ) will cleanse it. I’m sure we have that once a while … or maybe we don’t notice.

A Bowl of Delicious Laksa … 8′)

Posted on21 October , 200630 April , 2020AuthorShi ZhiXing3 Comments

If there’s such a thing as writer’s block, this is it. I inserted this entry like weeks ago in the hope of pushing myself to pen down my thoughts about emptiness via the illustration of a bowl of delicious laksa, and yet as I sit here weeks later, there is just no impetus to write anything. hmmm ….

I think I’ll just write down what I explained during my workshop about the laksa, instead of making it into a proper article.

So back in August and October, I conducted two four-day workshops on the Heart Sutra. It was mooted by the Youth Ministry of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery during one of the informal “Dharma discussions”. While the heart sutra is
famous for its “form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form; form is emptiness, emptiness is form” verse, apparently many books on this sutra are incorrect or misguided to say the least. Consequently, many people also have a somewhat tinted idea of what this sutra is about. Hence the Heart Sutra workshop.

Don’t Drink and Drive … No, Don’t Drink.

Posted on13 September , 200630 April , 2020AuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

So I’ve been asked many times, if drinking red wine counts towards flouting the fifth precept (See “Five Precepts” … to be added later), and time and again, I gave a resounding yes. Drinking wine, beer, alcohol, or taking any form of intoxicants dulls one’s mind, impairs judgements, if not now, it develops one’s inclination towards such mental states in the future, be it tomorrow, next week, year or life.

Sometimes people tell me that they have to drink because they are in sales or because of certain social settings. It seem as though we do not have a choice. But do we take beer, wine, hard liquor, or anything that is offered? How about gin, rum or vodka? The fact is that we do say no to certain drinks. We do have a choice. If we can say no to one type of alcohol drink, we can say no to them all.

But why do we refrain from alcohol? We mentioned earlier about impairment of our judgement. Under the influence of alcohol, we may make the wrong choices or act wilfully, harming others and ourselves, breaking any of the first four precepts. While most find it difficult to relate to themselves commiting murder etc through drinking, more often than not, it’s through an accident.

Fatal accidents through drunk driving take away more lives than terrorism and many other forms of diseases. And it is not just the person who drank, but innocent bystanders or passengers in other vehicles who get badly hurt or killed in these accidents.

Whether it is drunk driving, speeding or texting while driving, please do the right thing. Stop. Spare a thought for others and yourself. Think of your loved ones who will be hurt deeply should you get into an accident. Think of others’ family who would be devastated.

Drive safely. If you are driving, don’t speed, text or drink.

For that matter, don’t drink. Think about it, do you really need that drink? If you need that vitamin red wine offers, try Ribena drink or fresh grapes!

Don’t Give Dhamma Talks for the Sake of Giving Dhamma Talks

Posted on1 September , 20066 August , 2015AuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

So the other day, I was having a casual ‘one to one’ session with someone and he mentioned that he aspires to be a Dharma teacher.

(continued … )

While it is heartening that he aspires to be a Dhamma teacher, it is important not to become one for the sake of being a Dhamma teacher. Or simply put, not to give Dhamma talks for the sake of giving Dhamma talks.