Category: Dharma

What shall we celebrate?

Posted onAuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

 

SG50 is upon us in two days time.  Celebrations abound all over the island.  As we celebrate our nation’s 50 years of modern nationhood, what do we celebrate?  (rightly speaking, Singapore can be traced back to Temasek, which would make Singapore 200+ years old)
For the longest time, we celebrate successful entrepreuners and business man and woman for their business acumen and material success.  We celebrate actors and actresses for their acting, beauty and looks.  We celebrate singers and musicians for their talents and mastery of vocals and instruments.  We celebrate top students for their academic excellence.Don’t get me wrong, not suggesting to undermine people’s success and effort.  But are there other things worth celebrating?  Fortunately, there is.
“Seeing the happiness in the eyes of the Syrian refugee children is just priceless. We started our journey to happiness with making others happy.”
These are such beautiful words that speak of such loveliness in the Turkish couple who decided to get married in a different way.  Makes me feel so inspired!
Let’s celebrate this couple’s wisdom and kindness!  Isn’t this as worthwhile emulating, if not more?We may know of those around us with wisdom, kindness and compassion in Singapore.
Why not celebrate and share this?  You might just inspire someone to do some good today! ^_^
Thank you Jay for sharing this video on facebook!

 

Precepts 101: Is it wrong to eavesdrop?

Posted onAuthorShi ZhiXingLeave a comment

So a student shared with me a question on whether eavesdropping is against the precept on stealing.

This is a common situation where people start applying Buddhism in their daily life.  They start literally applying it everywhere, including where it is probably not needed.

You see, take eavesdropping for example.  It is just plain bad manners and rude to eavesdrop.  We don’t need to bring in the precepts or religion to tell us that we should not eavesdrop.

But if we are in a bus and some other passengers decides to chat so loud that it becomes difficult not to overhear their conversation, it is still not us “stealing” their conversation.  Although it would be good to not focus on it just as well.

When we are in a busy food court having lunch with our friend, surely bits and pieces of fellow lunchers’ conversation would spill over, hopefully without their lunch!  We have the ability to tune into and focus on our friend, filtering out the chatter from the others.

So likewise, we can do that when we are alone, we can tune out, so that we do not listen in on others’ conversation.

Lastly, even if we do not formally observe the precepts through the ceremony, if we take things without asking or outrightly steal, we are not absolved of the consequences of stealing.

Respecting others’ right to their property, we undertake the precept to abstain from stealing.

Keep Calm, Breathe, Be Happy. ^_^

The Significance of Vesak

Posted onAuthorShi ZhiXing2 Comments

Had an interfaith sharing with Nanyang Girl’s High 26 May 2015 last week. The students of class 111 did a video interview on the significance of Vesak day.

A celebration of the conquering of suffering, of our potential to be better, to be perfect, to be Buddha! ^_^

Happy Vesak!

 

Find out more on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/wakeupnow/posts/10153874250224008

If I have a Special Power

Posted onAuthorShi ZhiXing1 Comment

cropped-IMG_20150422_085951.jpg

A friend asked me what I would like to have if I can choose any special power.  Anything at all.  Here’s what I would like to have:

I would like to be able to just snap my finger and have all sentient beings be completely, perfectly free from suffering, to be perfectly awaken, to be perfect, to be Buddha!

But alas!  No one can make others enlightened.  We must work on our own liberation, we must do the cultivation ourselves.  Enlightenment is not granted or or conferred.  It is not given.  It is through our own humanly possible effort that we work on shortcomings, flaws, faults, defilements and agitations in the mind.  To work on the habitual tendencies that compels us to repeat our mistakes.

Until one day, we cut the fetters that bind us.

That may seem bleak to some, that no one is there to save us, that we have to do it ourselves.  The good news is that we are not alone in doing this.  We have the teachings of the Buddha as our guide and instruction manual if you will.  What it means is that we are responsible for our happiness and no one else.  It also means that we are in charge and do not have to submit to someone else’s whims and fancy, to placate or please, to cajole or beg for liberation.

Two weeks from now, we celebrate Vesak in Singapore.  We celebrate this conquering of suffering through humanly possible effort.  We celebrate this potential, this Buddha nature, that is in all of us, in every sentient being, regardless of our race, language or religion.  Or for that matter, species.

May all beings be free from fear, free from harm,
May all be well and happy!

PS: So my friend, what super power would you like to have? 😉

Reference

Dhammapada XX: Maggavagga 275 – 276

275. Walking upon this path you will make an end of suffering. Having discovered how to pull out the thorn of lust, I make known the path.

276. You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way. Those meditative ones who tread the path are released from the bonds of Mara.