Bite-sized Dharma on the go!
Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! ^_^
An amazing Buddhist nun, Venerable Tri Thuan, who left Vietnam for the US in 1971, and in 1985 left the United States and went to France to study Buddhism under her Vietnamese master, the late Most Venerable Thich Huyen VI.
In 1989, under the advice of her late master, headed for India and has been there ever since and made India the base of her humanitarian work.
Yesterday, I went on a mini-quest with my long time friend Yong Hee to fix a flickering LCD monitor. 😉
A quick trip to SIM LIM Tower got us the components.
Total component costs: S$6.50 (inclusive of spares)
If we do not repair it, it may just be sent to the dump. This will put an end to all the resources, manpower and energy put in to manufacturing the monitor. By replacing the 6 capacitors, the monitor’s useful lifespan has been extended by say another 2 – 4 years. With the spare caps, we estimate that it will continue to be useful until the CFL die out. ^_^ (y)
To Repair or To Get a New One
Read More …
Experience a simple monastic life together. Cultivate compassion and wisdom for inner joy and peace.
http://www.kmspks.org/events/novitiate-programme-2013/
| KMSPKS Monkhood Novitiate Programme 2013 | |
| Date: | 27 Sep 2013 – 06 Oct 2013 |
| Venue: | Sam Poh Wan Futt Chi Temple | Cameron Highlands | Malaysia |
| Fee: | S$480.00 (Fee includes 2-way coach transfer, accommodation, vegetarian meals, transportation and travel insurance) |
| Registration: | Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery | Reception Office |
| Registration Date: | Now till 4 August 2013 |
| Requirements: | 16 – 60 years old, male only |
| Application Form: | Novitiate Program PDF |
| Enquiries: | Tel: 6849 5300 | Email: sem@kmspks.org |
| Remarks: | Shortlisted participants are required to attend a preparatory course on 31 August |
Someone emailed me a question:
Hi shifu, can a gay person be ordained as a monk/nun?
I replied:
Thank you for writing.
Heterosexual men and women have to transcend their heterosexual desires if they are going to be ordained. Similarly, gay person can be ordained as a monk/nun, as long as this person can transcend this inclination.
Hope this clarifies.
With metta, ^_^
In which case, can such a person still be considered gay or heterosexual? Asexual perhaps?
Suki hontu! ^_^
A sharing from a Buddhist on Checking One’s Motivation to become a monk.
“So what makes you want be a monk?” the nun asked me back
I explained to her that my Lama had previously done a divination for me: I was a monk in my previous life
“So I wanna continue the good work that I did in my previous life, and I thought that life as a layman is quite a waste of my past life’s efforts” I explained
Read it here … http://boh-tak-chek.blogspot.com/2010/03/check-your-motivation.html
Just the other day, I was talking to a Dharma class student and he was telling me that things are stressful at work. I mentioned to him about how our last Group Practise* session was on the quality of Patience, the Perfection of Patience or Forebearance, and that he should have attended. His reply was that he did not attend it precisely because he cannot do it yet**!
I really do not know to laugh or to cry. Why do people cling onto such an obstinate and obsolete view that you have to be good at something before you attend the Dharma classes or Group Practises. This is ABSURD!!
This reminds me of the time when an aunty tells me that her son cannot become a monk because he still have defilements. I’m like … thinking “Duh! If he is perfectly free from defilements, he wouldn’t need to be a monk, now would he?”
It is an upside down view that people seem to have and does not help anyone here. We should strive to be more energetic in our learnings and practices!
Take Away Piece
It is precisely because you do not know about something, that you go attend a class to learn it.
It is precisely because you have not mastered it that you go attend a regular Group Practise* in order to master and perfect it.
Tibits
若有人請我作自己未知之事，這名為學習。
If someone ask you do something you do not know, that is for you to learn.
若有人請我作自己已知之事，這名為練習。
If someone ask you to do something you already know, that is for you to practise.
若無人請我自己作已知之事，這名為溫習。
If noone ask you to do anything, and you do it, that is revision.
* Group Practise
Time for some blatant advertisement. ^_^
Join us at SBF on the first three Wednesdays of every month for a quiet time to do some puja, meditation and listen to the sweet song of the Buddha’s teachings. Then close the evening with Dharma discussion and merits dedication. 7:30pm ~ 9:00pm.
SBF – Singapore Buddhist Federation is at 59 Geylang Lorong 24A.