Eastern Horizon - September 2011 Edition by Eastern Horizon by YBAM

Wesak International Film Festival (WIFF) 2011 Penang, June 2011

Singing the Triple Gem Song at the opening ceremony

A cross-section of the audience

YBAM Penang Liaison Committee chairman 戴礼良 delivering his speech

Accompanied by Bro. Yew Cheng Keat, Ven. Zhen Ru, and Bro. 戴礼良, Ven. Wei Wu hitting the bell to declare open the WIFF 2011 in Penang

Ven. Wei Wu delivering the opening speech

The premiere of ‘Master Jianzhen’ in progress

Learning from the Festival of Hungry Ghosts

Forty Years Turning the Wheel of Dharma As this issue goes to press, the Festival of Hungry Ghosts is just over. Asians, Chinese in particular,

love festivals. Now we are celebrating the Moon Cake festival. As Buddhists living in Malaysia and

Singapore, we witness the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts every year. Many Buddhists and nonBuddhists continue to be baffled by the significance of this Festival – is it a Buddhist festival or just a Chinese cultural festival? The origin of the Ghost Festival can be traced to a popular Mahayana discourse, the Ullambana Sutra. Ullambana, meaning “to hang upside down” connotes the extreme sufferings of hungry ghosts, which can only be alleviated by making offerings to the Buddha and the Sangha. According to the Sutra, Maudgalyayana, a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha, turned to the Buddha for guidance when he was unable to lessen the miseries suffered by his mother who was reborn as a hungry ghost. The concept of Hungry Ghosts is also found in Theravada Buddhism. In The Stories of Ghosts (Petavatthu) found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pali Canon, the 51 verse narratives describe how the effects of bad actions can lead to rebirth in the unhappy world of hungry ghosts (petas). In the Janusonni Sutta, the Buddha explained that only beings reborn as petas can benefit from our offerings. So hungry ghosts are acknowledged as part of the Buddhist cosmological system. However, people today make all kinds of offerings during the festival - food, Chinese opera, scantilyclad female singers, puppet shows, pop concerts and other spectacles. It has become one huge joyous celebration! It is no wonder then that many “educated” and “modern” Buddhists look on with mockery and condemnation at such “uncivilized” behavior, considering them mere superstitions and foolhardiness. But is this all there is to the Hungry Ghosts Festival? Whatever our personal inclinations, there is meaning to be found in the observance of this festival after all. Looked at it in the right spirit, it is a festival which celebrates filial piety. But more than that, it is an exercise of compassion as we transfer merits and extend loving-kindness to all sentient beings. By observing such a tradition mindfully, we can also develop our own spiritual practice. We can do good deeds in the name of the deceased, who we believe might have been reborn as a hungry ghost and dedicate merits to them. We can also offer prayers by chanting, in the hope that they may learn the Buddha’s teachings, thus alleviating their suffering by practicing them. Openly sharing and listening to the Buddha’s teachings is also meritorious. Food offerings – usually vegetarian - can also be made for hungry ghosts and wandering spirits too as a harmless Asian cultural practice. Donating food and necessities to worthy members of the Sangha and charities instead of burning paper items creates more merits. Indeed excess fire, ashes and smoke from all our burning might displease the ghosts, just as they displease humans who are irritated by the smoke. EH

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Contents

Lead Article: I do? Love, Buddhism & Marriage Vows

september 2011

by Susan Piver

Feature: A Buddhist Wedding in Singapore

Feature: Ten Mindful Ways to Use Social Media by Lori Deschene

by Tok Meng Haw

Feature: As I see it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Shamatha with Heart and Imagination by Low Chwee Beng

Teaching: Shamatha and the Four Immeasurables

Teaching: Patience by Michele McDonald

by Dr Alan Wallace

News: Seeing in the dark

by Smruti Koppikar, Sheela Reddy, Dola Mitra, Harsh Kabra, Pushpa Iyengar

Face to Face: Cultivating a Good Heart by Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche

Feature: Nan Tien Institute of Higher Learning by Man Wong

Teaching: Listening Beyond Words by Ajahn Chah

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EasTern HorIzon

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Teaching: Should a person with mental illness meditate? by Dr. Phang Cheng Kar (M.D.)

radiating the light of dharma

September 2011 Issue No. 35 (Published 3 times a year)

eastern horizon publication board

Feature: The Western Buddhist Teachers Council by Sumi Loundon Kim

chairman Liau Kok Meng editor B. Liow <Bennyliow@gmail.com> sub-editors Tan Yang Wah / Dr. Ong Puay Liu manager Teh Soo Tyng art director Geam Yong Koon

Teaching: The wisdom of kindness of Ani Tenzin Palmo

publisher YBAM <ybam@ybam.org.my> printer Vivar Printing Sdn Bhd(125107-D) Lot 25, Rawang Integrated Industrial Park, 48000 Rawang, Selangor, MALAYSIA. Tel : 603-60927818 Fax: 603-60928230

by Vasana Chinvarakorn

Cover Design: Geam Yong Koon

Face to Face: Non-Sectarian Buddhist Practices At Songdhamma Kalyani Monastery by Lai Suat Yan

Dharma Aftermath I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think by Rasika Quek

eastern horizon is a publication of the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM). A non-profit making project, this journal is non-sectarian in its views and approach. We aim to inspire, stimulate and share. The opinions expressed in eastern horizon are those of the authors and in no way represent those of the editor or YBAM. Although every care is taken with advertising matter, no responsibility can be accepted for the organizations, products, services, and other matter advertised. We welcome constructive ideas, invite fresh perspectives and accept comments. Please direct your comments or enquiries to: The Editor

eastern horizon

Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia 9, Jalan SS 25/24, Taman Mayang, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MAlAYSIA Tel : (603) 7804 9154 Fax: (603) 7804 9021 Email: ybam@ybam.org.my or Benny Liow <Bennyliow@gmail.com> www.ybam.org.my website :

KDN PP8683/01/2012(026895)

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I do? Love, Buddhism & Marriage Vows by Susan Piver Susan Piver is the bestselling author of six books, including The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say “I Do,” and the awardwinning How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life. Her new book, entitled The Wisdom of a Broken Heart was released in paperback in January 2011. A student of Buddhism since 1995, Piver teaches workshops on meditation, relationships and creativity. She wrote the relationships column for body + soul magazine, is the meditation expert and contributor at drweil.com, and is a frequent guest on network television, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, and The Tyra Banks Show. In 2011, Piver launched The Open Heart Project to teach anyone who would like to learn how to meditate. Special thanks to Susan for kindly allowing Eastern Horizon to publish this article for the benefit of our readers.

ast week, we celebrated our 12th wedding

Buddhism. We told each other a bit about ourselves,

anniversary. Twelve years. Long enough to have some

including what we did for work, whether we were

sense of what we’ve gotten ourselves into. Not long

married, had a family, etc. He was wondering about

enough to know what to do with it all. As we were

moving in with his new girlfriend--much younger

getting ready to celebrate 12 years of wedded bliss,

than he, more enthusiastic about living together than

(yes, but also of wedded hell, confusion, mystery and

he--hoping, he feared, for what we all eventually

passion), I felt like going back to a piece I wrote for

discover is impossible--to stabilize a relationship.

the Shambhala Sun just before our eighth anniversary

He was also concerned about giving up his solitude

to see what had changed. What did our vows mean,

and really didn’t know how long he would want the

all these years on? Did they bear any resemblance to

relationship to continue. Given all this, should they

what we imagined when we gazed into each other’s

live together, could this work? he asked.

eyes and said “I do?” I was totally ready with “I have no idea,” when a voice The short answer is yes. And no, definitely no. So

popped into my head and said, “Of course it can work.

here is my take on the marriage vows I actually made,

As long as you don’t expect it to make you happy.” So I

whether I knew it or not...

reported these words and we had a moment. We were kind of embarrassed--yes, Buddhists are supposed to

A few years ago, I was at a Buddhist meditation

know that craving creates suffering, but I guess we

center for a month-long retreat. At dinner on the

still secretly hoped that a relationship could make

first evening, I struck up a conversation with the

us happy, if only we could get the circumstances just

guy sitting next to me. He looked to be in his early

right.

sixties and I found out he was a longtime student of

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wanting to have sex with him for the rest of my life-desire is unpredictable. And ask him to commit to me? Which me? I couldn’t commit to remaining the same me. So if you can’t say yes to love, sex, or remaining the one each fell in love with, what are you agreeing to when you commit to a relationship? It’s just now that I’m finding out what, apparently, I said yes to. I said yes to the unfolding, impenetrable arc of My new pal and I talked about this, about how

uncertainty. I guess I thought that finding love was

relationships can blind us to the dharma quicker

an end-point, that some kind of search was over and

than anything. As we said goodbye and I watched him

I would find home. We would leap over the threshold

walk away, I wanted to call out, “Don’t be afraid to

together into whatever we imagined our ideal cottage

tell yourself the truth about relationships” and then I

to be. But really we stepped through a crazy looking

wondered, well, what is the truth, exactly? Do I really

glass. No matter how hard we tried, how madly in

believe they’re not supposed to make you happy?

love we were, or how skillfully we planned our life together, there was complete uncertainty about what

When my husband and I first started to talk about

the connection would feel like from day to day. I could

getting married, we covered lots of topics: who would

give all the love I had (with great joy) and get back

marry us, who to invite, what to wear, whether or not

a blank stare. I could wake up as my crankiest, most

we would be able to convince our favorite Cajun band

sullen and narcissistic self, roll over, and greet the

to learn “Hava Nagila.” (We were. Shout out to Steve

face of unconditional acceptance. Or not. It’s like the

Riley and the Mamou Playboys.)

weather: you can try to read the signs and guess about atmospheric conditions, but really there’s no telling.

Then the most important question came up: what would we say to each other to mark this commitment?

As far as I can see, the relationship never stabilizes,

What were our intentions and which words expressed

ever. In which, case you can’t actually promise each

them best?

other anything. This is how it works. I have no idea why. But like when I’m listening to a meteorologist

We spent time reading various liturgies, Buddhist

explain why it’s going to rain, I think, “Who cares

and otherwise, and talking about what we liked and

why? I’m just trying to figure out what outfit to wear

disliked about other people’s weddings. As we read the

today.”

words that other couples had spoken to each other, I became increasingly uncomfortable. Most of them

It seems that I committed to a lifetime of delight and

ended with “I do.” I do...what?

sadness, inseparable from each other. Every time I

Marriage is a commitment to share love, have sex

look into my dear one’s eyes and feel how deeply

and try to stay together with this one person, right?

we’re connected, the moment disappears before I

Well maybe, but I couldn’t promise to do these things.

can actually hold it--and I have to watch that happen.

I knew I couldn’t say, “I do” to love--feelings change,

It’s excruciating. It’s much easier to do this with

and keep changing. I also knew I couldn’t say yes to

your thoughts when you’re meditating than with

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structure has been reinforced. I no longer have any idea if I love my husband or not. I can’t imagine what the feelings I have for him could be called. I’ve even given up trying to love him. Our relationship is what gives us love, not the other way around. This is how it is. And finally we’re saying “I do” to good-bye. This bond will end. Hello can only mean goodbye, one way or another. Some relationships are just mistakes. the feeling you get from his breath on your shoulder

Or people grow and change. Relationships crater

as you fall asleep. But now I get that I have to repeat

and nobody knows why. And if all else fails, we will

this until the end of my life, and that somehow this is

certainly part at death. Saul Bellow once called this

love’s road.

acknowledgment “the black backing on the mirror that allows us to see anything at all,” and isn’t that

I wish I had known that when you live with someone

just the key to the whole thing? The deeper our

for a long time, there is continuous, mind-blowing

connection becomes, the more I know the reality of

irritation. (Okay, I did know this, but I forgot.) Often

its ending and the more passionately I’m able to feel

the irritation arises when you try to replace your

his touch. I know this even when I hate him (and he

actual partner with who you wish he or she was,

can really be an asshole--I’m not kidding) and when I

because they always figure out a way to tell you how

love him so much that I plead for the opportunity to

unlike your projection they really are. Once you pick

be married for all our lifetimes.

yourself up, that gives you yet another opportunity to choose between who this person is and who you sort

Each time my love expands by a molecule, it grows a

of hoped he or she was. No matter how many times

molecule of sorrow. The more I love, the edgier it all

I prompt my husband with the correct lines for his

feels, and the more courage is required. Where you get

role, he does not get into character. This irritates me.

this courage, I really don’t know. Surprisingly, it just

We have to throw away the script and just begin to

seems to be there. And if you’re looking for a crucible

improvise. You’re playing you and I’m playing me. Go.

in which to heat compassion, this is a really good one. Someone once told me that compassion is the ability

I didn’t really understand that love does not arise,

to hold love and pain together in the same moment.

abide, or dissolve in connection with any particular

So at least we’re learning something, which is what I

feeling. It has almost nothing to do with feeling.

tell myself.

(Nor does it seem to be a gesture, a commitment to stay, becoming best friends, or anything else I

And here’s something else I’ve learned about a

might have thought.) Love has become a container

relationship: Okay, so it’s not what you think it’s going

in which we live. Through time, riding mysterious

to be, the feelings are always changing, and you’re

waves of passion, aggression, and ignorance (and

going to have to say goodbye someday. But when you

boredom), I think we began to live within love itself.

find your true love, there is something inside that

At least I did. Each time I have opened up, extended

simply and inexplicably says hello to him. Yes to him.

myself, accepted what was being offered to me,

Of course to him. Certainly. Obviously it’s you. There

stepped beyond my comfort zone to embrace him, the

is no choice. I do. EH

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A Buddhist Wedding in Singapore by Tok Meng Haw

ithout a doubt, marriage marks an important

passage in the life of most people. My wife and I are Buddhists and we wanted to mark this significant event in our lives with a Buddhist element. Many people think that Buddhism is all about Enlightenment and has nothing to do with “lay” concerns like weddings and marriages. However, if we study the suttas in detail, we will find numerous passages where the Buddha gave advice to lay followers on the duties of husbands and wives, as well as what constitutes a happy marriage. So certainly marriage and Buddhism are not mutually exclusive. My wife and I had numerous discussions on how to incorporate this Buddhist element into our wedding. We considered the merits of holding the ceremony at a temple or a Buddhist wedding service for our Buddhist friends only. In the end we decided to hold the Buddhist service during the wedding banquet. We wanted all our friends and relatives to witness this important occasion. However, since most of our friends and relatives are nominal Buddhists or belong to other faiths we had to be mindful not to appear “preachy” or to make them feel uncomfortable. We were also conscious of presenting Buddhism as an intelligent and rational religion, and not a “pray pray” religion which many people wrongly perceive it to be.

So in the end, we decided to have a short, simple but meaningful Buddhist service, with the kind help of Buddhist teacher Dr Wong Yin Onn from Metta Lodge, Johor. We picked an excerpt from the Sigalovada Sutta where the Buddha talked about the duties of the husband and wife, to be read out during the Buddhist wedding. We kept pali chanting to a minimum and added English translations where required. Our emcee also gave a summary of the ceremony in Chinese so that our Chinese speaking guests were aware of what was happening. To conduct the Buddhist wedding service, we wanted to pick a respected Buddhist senior and teacher. We asked Dr Wong to conduct the service for us and were delighted that he agreed. Later we learned that Dr Wong has conducted Buddhist wedding services for other members of Metta Lodge and strong supports Buddhist couples who wish to incorporate Buddhist services in their weddings. We are grateful to Dr Wong and all the helpers who made this Buddhist wedding service possible. We hope our wedding would create greater awareness among other Buddhist couples of the options available for incorporating Buddhist elements in their wedding services. Lastly, we also hope that the Buddhist wedding service would help to plant the seeds in the minds of our nominal Buddhist friends and relatives and hope that someday it would blossom and they would come to learn and appreciate Buddhism more.

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Wedding Ceremony of Meng Haw and Yin Yin, Swissotel, Singapore 19th June 2011 Dr Wong: Dear Guests Today we are gathered here to be witnesses as Meng Haw and Yin Yin walk into the next phase of their livesâ&#x20AC;Ś that of a matrimonial union. We have a very important role as witnesses to their vows of Love and Devotion to each other. May Yin Yin and Meng Haw always be Mindful of the LOVE to each other, HELP each other in stress and in woe, keeping themselves PURE in Mind and Body, and ENCOURAGING each other in the cultivation of Virtues; both must WORK HARD to ensure a successful union forged out of Mutual Love and Respect. These are the essentials of a happy marriage and the way of life in accordance with the Teachings of the Buddha. (MC Jayson translates into Chinese.) Homage to the Triple Gem Dr Wong: Let us first pay respect to the Lord Buddha, the Teacher; the Dhamma, the Teaching; and the Sangha, the Spiritual Community Dr Wong and Married Couple and Buddhist guests: Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhasa Homage to Him, the Exalted One, the Enlightened One, The Supremely Self-Awakened One Tisarana Dr Wong and Married Couple and Buddhist guests: Buddham saranam gacchami Dhammam saranam gacchami

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Sangham saranam gacchami I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha MC Jayson mentions that Dr Wong will read a short verse from a Buddhist discourse (sutta), which is about a couple having to love and respect one another. To the Couple… Dr Wong: I am going to read a short Buddhist teaching about marriage: “In five ways, young householder, should a wife… be ministered to by a husband: (a) by being courteous to her, (b) by not despising her, (c) by being faithful to her, (d) by handing over authority to her, (e) by providing her with adornments. The wife thus ministered to… by her husband shows her compassion to her husband in five ways: (a) she performs her duties well, (b) she is hospitable to relations and attendants, (c) she is faithful, (d) she protects what he brings, (e) she is skilled and industrious in discharging her duties.” The teaching reminds us that we should be loving and faithful to our spouse and carry out our responsibilities towards each other. To Meng Haw Will you, Meng Haw, take Yin Yin as your wife for the rest of your days and undertake to do as the teaching? I DO To Yin Yin Will you, Yin Yin take Meng Haw as your husband, for the rest of your days and undertake to do as the teaching? I DO EH

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Shamatha and the

Four Immeasurables

by Dr Alan Wallace Dr Alan B. Wallace was born in

In 1975, at the request of the Dalai

Pasadena,

1950

Lama, he joined the eminent Tibetan

and was raised and educated in

Buddhist scholar Geshe Rabten,

the United States, Scotland, and

in Switzerland, first at the Tibet

Switzerland. In 1968, he enrolled

Institute in Rikon, and later at the

in the University of California at

Center for Higher Tibetan Studies

San Diego, where for two years he

in Mt. PĂ¨lerin. Over the next four

prepared for a career in ecology, with

years, he continued his own studies

a secondary interest in philosophy

and monastic training, translated

and religion. However, during his

Tibetan texts, interpreted for Geshe

third year of undergraduate studies

Rabten and many other Tibetan

at the University of GĂśttingen in

Lamas, including the Dalai Lama,

West Germany, his interests shifted

and taught Buddhist philosophy

more towards philosophy and

and meditation in Switzerland, Italy,

religion; and he began to study

Germany, France, and England.

California

Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan language.

At the end of 1979, he left Switzerland to begin a four-year

In 1971, he discontinued his

series of contemplative retreats,

formal Western education to go to

first in India, under the guidance

Dharamsala, India, where he studied

of the Dalai Lama, and later in Sri

Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, and

Lanka and the United States.

language for four years. During his

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first year in Dharamsala, he lived in

In 1984, after a thirteen-year

the home of the Dr. Yeshi Dhonden,

absence from Western academia,

personal physician of H. H. the

he enrolled at Amherst College

Dalai Lama. Throughout his stay in

to complete his undergraduate

Dharamsala, he frequently served

education. There he studied physics,

as interpreter for Dr. Dhonden, and

Sanskrit, and the philosophical

under his guidance he completed

foundations of modern physics,

a translation of a classic Tibetan

and in 1987 he graduated summa

medical text. In 1973, he began

cum laude and phi beta kappa. His

training in the Institute of Buddhist

honors thesis was subsequently

Dialectics, in which all instruction,

published in two volumes: Choosing

study, and debate were conducted

Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics

in Tibetan.

and the Mind (Snow Lion: 1996)

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and Transcendent Wisdom: A

Bridge of Quiescence: Experiencing

Seven-Point Mind-Training (Snow

Commentary on the Ninth Chapter

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation (Open

Lion 2001). After leaving UCSB in

of Shantideva’s Guide to the

Court Press, 1998).

June 2001, he spent six months in

Bodhisattva Way of Life (Snow Lion, 1988).

a solitary contemplative retreat in During the period 1992-1997, he

the high desert of California. He

served as the principal interpreter

now lives in Santa Barbara, where

for the Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche,

he is the president and founder

Amherst, he spent nine months

a senior Lama of the Nyingma

of the Santa Barbara Institute for

in contemplative retreat in the

Order of Tibetan Buddhism. During

Consciousness Studies, and he

high desert of California. Then

this time, he translated five classic

teaches Buddhist philosophy and

in 1988, he joined the Tibetan

Tibetan treatises on contemplative

meditation throughout Europe

contemplative Gen Lamrimpa to

methods for exploring the nature

and North America.

assist in leading a one-year group

of consciousness. From 1995-

contemplative retreat near Castle

1997, he was a Visiting Scholar

Rock, Washington, during which

in the departments of religious

ways were explored for refining

studies and psychology at Stanford

and stabilizing the attention.

University. During this time, he

Following

his

sojourn

and his wife, Dr. Vesna A. Wallace, In the autumn of 1989, he entered

produced a new translation from the

the graduate program in religious

Sanskrit and Tibetan of the classic

studies at Stanford University,

text A Guide to the Bodhisattva

where he pursued research in the

Way of Life (Snow Lion, 1997), and

Low Chwee Beng, a retired lawyer,

interface between Buddhism and

he also conducted research for his

has been serving as a volunteer

Western science and philosophy.

primary academic work thus far,

English language teacher at a

These studies are closely related

The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward

monastery in Chiangmai for the

to his role as an interpreter and

a New Science of Consciousness.

last 5 years. He is the editor of

organizer for the “Mind and Life”

the quarterly newsletter of the

conferences with the Dalai Lama

From 1997-2001, Alan Wallace

Buddhist Library in Singapore

and Western scientists beginning in

taught in the Department of

(The Path of Joy) and has written

1987 and continuing to the present.

Religious Studies at the University

Dharma articles for several

In 1992, sponsored by the Mind and

of California, Santa Barbara,

publications such as Silkwinds,

Life Institute, which he helped to

where he held classes on Tibetan

The Bangkok Post and Eastern

found, he traveled widely in Tibet,

Buddhist studies and the interface

Horizon.

conducting a preliminary survey of

between science and religion. His

living Buddhist contemplatives. In

most recent academic books are

Low Chwee Beng from Singapore

1995, he completed his doctoral

The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward

attended Alan’s Shamatha

dissertation on attentional training

a New Science of Consciousness

meditation in Phuket, Thailand, in

in Tibetan Buddhism and its relation

(Oxford University Press, 2000)

June 2011, and interviewed him

to modern psychological and

and Buddhism and Science:

about the synergy of Shamatha

philosophical theories of attention

Breaking New Ground (Columbia

meditation and the Four

and consciousness. A modified

University Press, 2003), and his

Immeasurables.

version of his dissertation has

latest popular book is Buddhism

been published under the title The

with an Attitude: The Tibetan

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Participants at the program in Phuket, Thailand

EH:

How many people get to join your 8-week

shamatha retreats?

single-pointedly on the experience of being aware. This is regarded by many Buddhist contemplatives as being the most profound of all shamatha practices, despite its

AW: Through the spring of 2012, we have limited the

apparent simplicity.

number to 36, but we shall open the fall retreat of 2012, focusing on the Four Applications of Mindfulness, to

You stress the importance of following a proper

more people who would like to attend for either 4 or

path that leads to enlightenment, rather than just

8 weeks.

receiving teachings, blessings and empowerments piecemeal, as often happens. Please elaborate.

You teach 3 methods of shamatha meditation – mindfulness of breathing, settling the mind in its

Scholars debate on the degree of samadhi required

natural state and awareness of awareness. Our

to reach the ‘path’, or marga, whether they refer to

readers are probably more or less familiar with

the stage of stream-entry on the path to becoming an

mindfulness of breathing. Can you briefly explain

arahant, or to the Mahayana Path of Accumulation, at

the other 2 methods, including what contemplative

which one first becomes a bodhisattva. Some suggest

traditions they belong to?

that ‘momentary concentration’ is sufficient, without achieving even access concentration to the first dhyana,

The practice of ‘settling the mind in its natural state’

while others, such as the eminent scholar Kheminda

entails focusing one’s mindfulness on the domain, or

Thera, insist that full achievement of the first dhyana

space, of the mind, and on all the mental events that

is necessary.

arise within that field of experience, including thoughts, mental images, emotions, desires, and so on.

Based on my own research and the oral tradition of teachings I’ve received from my Tibetan teachers, I’ve

While many people may regard this as vipassana

come to the conclusion that access concentration to the

meditation, the Dzogchen tradition of Buddhism presents

first dhyana is necessary, but not sufficient, for achieving

it as a shamatha practice in which one cultivates ever-

either stream-entry or the first stage of becoming

increasing stability and vividness of attention, which are

a bodhisattva.

necessary pre-requisites for the fully effective practice

the firm basis of ethics, the achievement of access

of vipassana. The shamatha practice of awareness

concentration to the first dhyana, coupled with the Four

of awareness is very similar to the ‘viññana kasina’

Immeasurables, or Brahmaviharas.

Therefore, I initially emphasize, on

practice presented in the Pali canon. On that basis, one may then focus on the practice of This method is also emphasized in the Dzogchen school

vipassana and, if one chooses, on the explicit cultivation

of Tibetan Buddhism, and it entails with drawing one’s

of bodhicitta, in order to reach the path of one’s choice.

attention from all appearances to the mind and focusing

In the long run, when we consider the multiple lifetimes

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An international audience at the Phuket workshop

that face us in the future, reaching the path or marga of

‘sweeten’ and ‘nourish’ one’s practice of shamatha.

one’s choice is of the utmost importance.

Simply put, shamatha is helpful for focusing one’s mind, while the Four Immeasurables are vital for opening

Otherwise, one may simply engage in a variety of

one’s heart.

Dharma practices, experience their beneficial results, then fall back into the ocean of samsara with no clear

During the retreat held from 10 April to 5 June 2011

direction to liberation.

(‘the retreat’), you described a meeting between His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, and the Austrian

A common theme in Buddhist practice is to progress

physicist, Anton Zeilinger. Please repeat this

from the coarse to the subtle. There’s a similar thread

incredible story for the benefit of our readers.

in the sequence of the 3 methods of meditation taught in your retreats, isn’t there?

When the Dalai Lama heard Anton Zeilinger explain how elementary particles have no inherent existence of

Yes, generally speaking most of the people whom

their own, independent of the system of measurement

I’ve taught find mindfulness of breathing the most

by which they are detected, the Dalai Lama expressed

accessible of the 3 shamatha methods I emphasise.

his amazement that physicists could have come to

Settling the mind tends to be more challenging, and

this conclusion without knowing the ‘Middle Way’

awareness of awareness is often the most elusive

(Madhyamaka) view of Buddhism.

practice among the 3. He then gave a brief explanation of this Buddhist Your shamatha meditation retreats also include

philosophy, and when he had finished, Anton Zeilinger

meditation on the Four Immeasurables – loving

expressed his amazement that Buddhists could have

kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity.

come to such conclusions about the ‘empty’ nature

At first glance, the Four Immeasurables seem out of

of all phenomena without knowing about quantum

place. But they actually prevent meditators from

physics!

developing what Tsoknyi Rinpoche calls

‘aloof

indifference to the plight of others’ (quoted in your

This dialogue is narrated in the book The New Physics

book, Genuine Happiness). Also, shamatha and the

and Cosmology: Dialogues with the Dalai Lama, edited

Four Immeasurables enjoy a certain synergy together,

by Arthur Zajonc.

don’t they? Despite your western and scientific background, you Yes, they are deeply synergistic. The more stable and

are a person of great faith. You believe in karma,

vivid one’s attention, the more potent one’s practice of

rebirth, even Pure Lands. Where does your faith come

the Four Immeasurables becomes; and the more deeply

from?

one cultivates the Four Immeasurables, the more they

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My confidence in the integrity and depth of insights

almost entirely overlooked by the scientific community.

of the Buddha and the many generations of Buddhist

At the same time, I am equally skeptical of modern

adepts who have followed him stems from many

Buddhists who seem intent on reducing the whole

sources over the past 40 years of my engagement with

of Buddhism to a simple set of meditative practices,

Buddhism.

such as mindfulness (in the modern sense of ‘bare attention’).

It is variously based on the compelling nature of the reading and many teachings I have received during

In one generation they are reducing Buddhism to a

this time from highly accomplished Buddhist masters

minor school of psychotherapy, instead of helping

from the Theravada tradition (including Balangoda

this ancient wisdom tradition revolutionize modern

Anandamaitreya Mahanayaka Thera) and many Tibetan

understanding of the mind and its role in nature.

masters from all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also based on years of careful theoretical investigation

I am also skeptical of sectarian Buddhists who regard

as I’ve examined Buddhist claims in light of modern

their own teacher or lineage as being the only ‘pure

philosophy and science, including physics, psychology,

Dharma’, often accompanied by many rituals and

and cognitive neuroscience.

beliefs, without ever carefully evaluating how effective their version of Dharma really is in alleviating the

Finally, I’ve devoted tens of thousands of hours to

mental afflictions and unwholesome behavior of those

meditation over this period, and my confidence also

who follow it.

stems from my own experience. This has gradually grown over the years, like trust in a friend and a

The Buddha’s teachings are highly rational and empirical,

community who have proven their deep integrity and

but the potential benefit they can bring to the world is

wisdom.

obscured by materialists who ignore them on dogmatic grounds and by Buddhists who disempower the

Your forthcoming book is called Meditations of a

Buddha’s teachings either due to their own simplistic

Buddhist Skeptic. What are you skeptical about and

understanding or their closed-minded sectarianism.

why? In the retreat, you talked about different contemplative I am deeply skeptical of many materialistic claims

traditions possibly converging, the deeper we delve

about the nature of the mind and consciousness and

into them, an idea you also discussed in your book

their relation to the material world made by people

- Mind in the Balance. But since theistic meditation

who conflate the unvalidated metaphysical claims of

is all about God and Buddhist meditation about

scientific materialism with the empirical facts based on

emptiness of phenomena, it is difficult to imagine

rigorous scientific inquiry.

such a convergence. How can this problem be resolved?

Consciousness remains one of the greatest mysteries in modern science, but this ignorance is commonly

It all depends on how you define ‘God’.

obscured by materialistic claims that are nothing more than groundless conjecture.

If one takes this word to mean a personal God who created and governs the universe, punishing the wicked

The Buddhist tradition has devised many rigorous

and rewarding those who obey Him, then Buddhism

experiential and rational ways of exploring the nature,

is simply incompatible with such beliefs. But if one

origins, and potentials of consciousness, but these are

looks to the experiences, for example, of some of the

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greatest Christian contemplatives of history, such as

the most senior nun has to respect the most junior

John Scotus Eriugena, Meister Eckhart, and Nicholas

monk. Is this a case of sexual discrimination?

of Cusa, one discovers far more experiential accounts

These rules laid down by the Buddha more than 2,500

of the divine, which bear similarities to the Buddha’s

years ago were established during a time in India when

teachings on the unconditioned state of awareness

women were regarded as being essentially the property

that is present after the passing away of an arhat.

of their fathers or husbands.

The Buddha refered to such consciousness, which transcends the 5 psychophysical aggregates, as being

So it was quite revolutionary for the Buddha even to

nonmanifesting, timeless, and unconditioned.

allow them to take monastic ordination, thus granting them freedom from their traditional bondage in a

Specifically, in the Kevaddha Sutta, the Buddha raises

patriarchal society.

the question: When first presented with the request for women to ‘Where do earth, water, fire and air no footing find?

be allowed to become ordained, the Buddha hesitated,

Where are long and short, small and great,

recognizing how unsettling this would be in the face of

fair and foul —

the social norms of Indian society at that time.

Where are ‘name and form’ wholly destroyed?” And the answer is:

But when he was asked whether women had the ability

“Where consciousness is signless, boundless,

to achieve nirvana, he acknowledged that they did and

all-luminous,

then granted them authority to become ordained. It is

That’s where earth, water, fire, and air find no footing,

at such intersections between societal norms and the

There both long and short, small and great, fair and

timeless truths of the Buddha’s teachings that modern

foul—

people sometimes feel discomfort at the apparent

There ‘name and form’ are wholly destroyed.

sexism in Buddhism.

With the cessation of consciousness this is all destroyed.’

But this always has to be seen within the historical context in which these events first occurred.

If you look in the writings of the Christian mystics cited above, as well as the writings of contemplatives of the

Now that global society has changed to a considerable

Vedanta and Taoist traditions, for instance, you may find

extent by granting women more equal opportunities

significant parallels.

and rights, there are no longer any grounds within Buddhism for discriminating against them in any way.

These are deep issues, and they should be examined carefully by accomplished contemplatives from different

Note: Interested readers may wish to visit Alan’s

traditions to determine how deeply these apparent

webpage - http://www.alanwallace.org/

similiarities run. Such comparative research should not

Kevaddha Sutta [About Kevaddha, DN I 223] cf. Walshe,

be left to scholars who confine their investigations to

The Long Discourses of the Buddha, 179–80.

texts alone.

Kevaddha Sutta, [About Kevaddha, DN I 223], cf. Maurice Walshe, The Long Discourses of the Buddha:

More than half of the meditators who attended the

A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya (Somerville, MA:

retreat are women. Religions are often criticized for

Wisdom Publications, 1995), 179–80. EH

discriminating against women. In Buddhism, nuns have to observe more precepts than monks and even

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Seeing in the dark Buddhism returns to its birthplace as urban Indians find in it an emotional anchor for their troubled lives by Smruti Koppikar, Sheela Reddy, Dola Mitra, Harsh Kabra, Pushpa Iyengar

Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh at Teen Murti

Why Buddhism Is Catching On In The Land Of Its Birth • Appeals to the rational urban Indian fed up of organised religion and its rituals • Provides a moral and ethical framework suitable to modern times • It’s highly individualistic, not requiring you to bow down to any god • Makes you responsible for your own happiness • It provides a community and support system to fill a vacuum in city life

ot perhaps since Buddhism’s heyday, some 2,200 years ago, did such a power crowd gather

to pay their tribute to Gautama Buddha in the land of his birth. Among the 6,000 of India’s wellheeled and well-connected who assembled at the opening of the country’s grandest monument in recent times to the Buddha—the Rs 100-crore Global Vipassana Pagoda, “the largest dome in the world”—in Mumbai’s Gorai island last Sunday were the President, a governor, several central and state ministers, an industrialist, a media baron and the Buddha’s star new-age disciple, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Like Priyanka, there’s a new wave of Indians—affluent, rational, metropolitan, English-educated individuals impatient of organised religion and willing to experiment with alternate spiritual forms—who are increasingly turning to the Buddha’s teachings for anwers to their dilemmas. A far cry from Ambedkar and his Dalit followers who converted to Buddhism 50 years ago as a way of getting back at Hinduism and its hierarchy, these small bands of new-age spiritualists shy away from the very word ‘Buddhist’ with all its political baggage. Their Buddhism instead is more therapy than religion, a self-help practice that enables them to cope with the daily pressures of city life—nuclear families, generation gap, divorces, collapse of family support

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systems, relationships, pressures of jobs and joblessness, lifestyle diseases, teenage angst and loneliness—even as it unlocks their hitherto hidden potential. For business executive Archana Sehgal, 32, who migrated to Delhi with her first job some eight years ago, her spiritual journey began when a friend invited her to chant nyam myo ho renge kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese. Desperately unhappy with her feuding family, Archana decided to give it a try, chanting for two-three hours a day for a week. It worked for her, she says, giving her the inner space to resolve her anger and start believing in her power to change “anything in my life”. Today, Archana is the leader of the young women’s division in her locality of the Bharat Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society, BSG) inspired by the teachings of 13th century Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren, adapted to contemporary times by its mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, and now flourishing in 192 countries with a membership running into tens of millions. Archana is expected to make at least two “home visits” a week in a system that is unique to BSG: each leader being charged with responsibility for the happiness and well-being of every individual in her “block”. Such a block is limited to 10 or less members to ensure that each member gets individual attention. It’s a practice, Archana says, that gives her deep fulfilment by mentoring other young women like her facing job insecurity and social turmoil of other kinds. “If one person has a problem, everyone rallies around. It’s a philosophy which is easy to apply to daily life. You begin to understand how your inner life works and learn to take responsibility for your own happiness.” The combination of community chanting, individual counselling and a support system that works like an extended family without its handicaps has turned the BSG into an impressive organisation of over 38,000 members in 300 cities in India in a little over two decades. To sceptical outsiders, especially educated middle-class professionals with their horror of anything that smells of organised religion, the extreme organisation and zeal to induct newcomers into the practice, along with the strict rules of confidentiality, seem almost masonic sometimes. But within the BSG, it’s hard not to be moved by members’ sincerity and genuine concern for others. And it’s impossible to spot an unhappy face. It’s not as if they don’t have their problems, some of them huge, like cancer. But as BSG head Naveena Reddi explains, the chanting works as a way of transforming negative thought into positive. More important, members are taught to chant for the happiness of those they don’t like. What also keeps them upbeat is sharing their experiences—under strict confidentiality—of how the practice has changed their lives. Countless stories emerge of daily miracles wrought by individual and community chanting—improved relations within the family and at work, promotions that come without pulling strings, jobs that land suddenly in one’s lap, cancers that recede, eyesight restored.

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But it’s not just spiritual therapy, as Reddi stresses. What the practice hopes to bring about is a change in the world through a “human revolution”, leading members to fight for a world in which Buddha’s core values of peace and non-violence are propagated in contemporary times, whether it is in dealing with issues like global warming, the anti-nuke campaign or greening the earth. Other new-age forms of Buddhism arrive at the same idea of the interconnected universe through different paths, but inspired equally by the Buddha’s teachings. Vipassana, which means “to see things as they really are”, is a meditation practice popularised by the Buddha, and returned to the land of his birth by an Indian businessman domiciled in Burma, Satyanarayan Goenka. Having become an ardent practitioner in Rangoon, Goenka came back to India in 1969 to revive it here. Vipassana, as he points out in his talks and books, “involves no dogma, rites, rituals, conversion. The only conversion is from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation.” When he brought Vipassana to India 40 years ago, there were about a dozen people, including Goenka’s parents, willing to sign up for the meditation course. Now there are more than 55 centres in India, from Sonepat in Haryana to Chengannur in Kerala, from Jaipur and Ajmer to Dehradun and Durg. Over a million have joined up for the 10-day retreat, where beginners are taught “mental purification through self-observation”. Students lead a frugal life—no talking, sex, meat, drinks, newspapers, TV, music—while they learn to focus their mind in near-total silence. Just refraining from these familiar distractions is the first step for the mind to calm down, followed by three-and-a-half days of anapana meditation focusing on your breath, followed by six-and-a-half days of a guided meditation where the student learns to observe changes in his body and its sensations as a way to gain equanimity. So popular have the courses become that the waiting lists are growing by the day. This mushrooming of new-age forms of Buddhism is a recent trend in our cities, points out Pankaj Mishra, whose book—An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World—is a voyage to rediscover Buddhism in the land of its birth centuries after it was wiped out. “Several members of my own family, even my landlady in Defence Colony, all with an upper-caste Hindu upbringing, have signed up with some Buddhist organisation or the other,” he says. For Mishra, this second coming of the Buddha is in the fitness of things because it has found an audience similar to the one the Buddha originally aimed his message at: a modernising society and its rising commercial classes. “Buddha was conveying his message at a time of huge social upheaval when close-knit societies were falling apart, and with people migrating to cities, traditional bonds were being weakened, whether in community or family networks. For people newly arrived in cities, alone and anonymous, traditional religions were of little help.”

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It’s only natural, as Mishra points out, that a post-liberalised India, with its “spiritual and emotional exhaustion”, is increasingly attracted to a form of Buddhism that provides spiritual sustenance at such times. “The more society changes, the greater Buddhism’s appeal,” he says. Besides, “the idea of an individual not affiliated to any caste or community being a new one in India”, the Buddha’s revolutionary concept of shifting the onus of spiritual health on the individual is bound to resonate. This hunger for a new moral and spiritual framework for how to live your life meaningfully without God as an intermediary is what is driving thousands of Indians to the Dalai Lama’s teachings. Until a few years ago, the pontiff ’s engagement diary was almost completely booked with his tours abroad or his teachings in Dharamshala, attended predominantly by his followers from abroad. No longer, says his representative in Delhi, Tempa Tsering. There’s a distinct shift, with nearly 60 per cent of his engagements reserved for his talks across India. In the last month-and-a-half, for instance, the Tibetan leader was invited to address meetings in Rajasthan, Delhi, Hyderabad, Gulbarga, Chennai, Pondicherry, Delhi again, before returning to his home in Dharamshala for 10 days, then going for a brief tour to Germany and Italy before leaving again for Bangalore and Mysore. Everywhere he goes, whether university campuses or hospitals—he was in Meerut recently to open a charitable hospital—thousands gather to hear his simple, down-to-earth teachings, shorn of all dogma. The same thing happened when the Vietnamese Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, came to India last October. Unlike his two previous visits—once in 1988 on a private pilgrimage, and again in 1997, when he spoke before a small audience in Delhi and Chennai—the response to his last visit was overwhelming, says Shantum Seth, who runs the Ahimsa Trust for propagating his Zen teacher’s Buddhist practice. “His teachings are clear, useful and timely, and appeal to a generation that was schooled in scientific rationalism.” Unlike other religions, Seth points out, Buddhism encourages a spirit of true inquiry—if it works for you, adopt it without getting caught up in any ism. “Its emphasis is on personal practice and self-development, which is hugely attractive to the intelligentsia.” So will it last, or will Buddhism vanish once more as it did in the past, wiped out by a disastrous mix of circumstances, including co-option into Hinduism and ritualism, and a decline of the commercial classes? Undoubtedly it will last, according to Mishra, who hails the Buddha as “the greatest thinker India has ever produced by a huge margin”. At a time when so many of our shiny modern ideologies have been discredited, says Mishra, the Buddha’s teachings grow increasingly relevant as the guide to an ethical life. There’s no way out for us except the Buddha’s way. Source: Outlookindia.com Magazine, Feb 23, 2009 EH

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Cultivating a Good Heart by Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche is the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche who passed away in 1991 at the age of 81.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991) was one of the great luminaries of Tibetan Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was a highly realized and accomplished master dedicated to the transmission and preservation of Tibet’s spiritual legacy. Khyentse Rinpoche was widely regarded as one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of his time and was the teacher of many important lamas including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzigar Kontrul Rinpoche, and other teachers from the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

EH: Rinpoche, we understand that during this tour you are teaching about the importance of having a good heart. Could Rinpoche please explain what is this “Good Heart Lineage”? YKR: As human beings, it is our nature to help others. But our focus is usually on those whom we care and love, such as our friends or family. But if we develop a “Good Heart”, it means we have the intention to help all sentient beings, to free them completely from mental and physical suffering in their progress towards the path of enlightenment. This is the meaning of a “Good Heart”. Sakyamuni Buddha, in his lifetime, taught many teachings - I heard around 84,000 teachings. If you put all these teachings together, it is basically about developing the “Good Heart”. All Buddhist practitioners should study and practice the Dharma to develop a “good heart” which will also result in inner peace. In fact, all human beings have inner peace but it is covered by ignorance due to our deluded mind. For instance, a crystal ball is pure and clean. When it is placed in the sunlight, it will

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Even in his later years, Khyentse Rinpoche traveled throughout the Himalayas and the West, transmitting and explaining the teachings to his countless students. His books have been translated into many Western languages, and his inspiration is still strongly felt today. His achievements in different fields each seem more than enough to have filled a whole lifetime. He spent 20 years in retreat, wrote over 25 volumes on Buddhist philosophy and practice, published and saved countless texts, and initiated numerous projects to preserve and disseminate Buddhist thought, tradition and culture. But above all, what he considered most important was that the teachings he had realized and transmitted were put into practice by others. When Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, his close students requested Trulshik Rinpoche, his most senior and accomplished disciple, to find his incarnation. He had numerous dreams and visions that clearly indicated the identity of the incarnation. He was the son of Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche Mingyur Dewai Dorje, the third embodiment of Chogyur Dechen Lingpa, (himself the son of Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche), and Dechen Paldron. His Holiness Dalai Lama confirmed that this child is the incarnation of Khyentse Rinpoche. Yangsi Rinpoche is being educated in the quiet of Bhutan under the guidance of Rabjam Rinpoche, the grandson of Khyentse Rinpoche. He studies a complete Shedra (nine-year philosophical college course) in Bhutan. He is also receiving the teachings and empowerments that his predecessor, Khyentse Rinpoche, held. Every year he travels to Nepal for the Tibetan New Year to visit his family and partake in the annual ceremonies at Shechen Monastery. In Bhutan he also officiates in a number of drupchens (10-day ceremonies) as did Khyentse Rinpcohe during his lifetime. Her Cher Sun interviewed Rinpoche for Eastern Horizon during his recent visit to Malaysia on October 28, 2010 on the topic of developing a good heart as a core Buddhist practice.

shine. But if it is put in the mud, it becomes dirty and loses its shine. Our mind is similar. From the Buddhist point of view, the minds of human beings are pure and good. But our minds are covered by the mud of ignorance. The way to clear this ignorance is to practice Buddhism. Then we will realize that we are living in a world where everything is made up of our deluded mind. Our lives are impermanent. Thus we cannot predict how long we can live. Hence, we must do whatever that we want now. We cannot postpone our study and practice of the Dharma. We should use each and every moment to practice. Rinpoche, you mentioned that one way to clear this delusion is to practice Buddhism. Could you elaborate on the practice of Buddhism? We all have inner goodness. But it is hard to come out. It is covered by negativity. As I have mentioned before, all of Buddhaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teachings relate to developing a good heart which will bring us inner peace. With a good heart, we will be able to continue to help others even if we are faced with emotional problems or depression. We will also

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Shechen Monastery in Nepal

Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)

understand that this is the suffering in life that Buddha mentioned. Then our inner peace will not be disturbed by our negative thoughts because we have developed the insight to recognize it. With a good heart, we can push as much as possible - every day and every moment - to help others, always thinking about others as being more important that ourselves. How do we cultivate a good heart in our daily lives? You cultivate a good heart by putting it into practice! For instance, if I have hurt someone badly, I will go and apologize to the person in a very sincere manner. In this way, I clean away all the bad things that I have done to him. Even though I cannot change what I had done to him, I can apologize and make him happy. And after that we can try to remain as friends. This is one basic step but it can really change your life too. Is developing a good heart the same as compassion? Or does cultivation of a good heart leads to cultivation of bodhicitta? Bodhicitta is compassion. It has a very deep meaning. Having a good heart is one major step towards developing bodhicitta. But a good heart is not the same as bodhicitta. There are many steps to developing bodhicitta. A good heart is the step immediately preceding bodhicitta. Are we born with a good heart? Is it inherent in a person or is it something that we can cultivate? We are all born with a good heart. Time changes when we develop ourselves as we grow older. Even though a good heart is strong and pure it gets covered up by ignorance along the way. We do not realize its existence. And we cannot ask our teacher or pray to the deities to give us a good heart. As we practice, we cultivate our good heart. In the process, we clear away all negativities, like clearing away the mud that covers the good heart. 33!}!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!TFQUFNCFS!3122

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For a beginner, how does one clear away the layers of mud? Well, you can go out today and make someone happy. It may be one simple step but it is a good action. And it is an important step that clears away a little bit of the dirt. Then you contemplate and analyze that our mind is covered with illusion and ignorance. Each moment when you realize this insight, it is another step towards clearing away more dirt from your good heart. It does not mean that you need to do major practice. Each moment in our daily life we can take steps to do good things and this will clear away the negativity. In Buddhism, observing the percepts would be towards cultivating a good heart. That can be our daily practice? That is not just the daily practice. That is our main practice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to cultivate a good heart. That is the whole essence of Buddhist teachings. Is it important and relevant to cultivate a good heart in this current world? Yes, I think so. If we do not have a good heart, then everyone will be fighting each other. Our whole lives will be filled with negativity and misery. Youth these days are becoming increasingly individualistic. What is your advice to youths to live a spiritually fulfilling life? I am not able to give advice to anyone at this moment in time. Presently, even I have to seek other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advice! However, I would like to share with the youths that even though their lives and mine are quite different - they lead a normal life and I live a reincarnated Tibetan lama life - the things that we like or feel are quite similar. My one regret is that my whole life up till now seems just too perfect. Everything is being done for me. I do not need to do anything myself. But we need to go through life and experience hardship to realize how it really feels. This is what I lack. In our lives, we will go through depression and many ups and downs. At a certain time, we will then ask ourselves what kind of life we want to follow. It is about what we really feel what we want. Right now my life has been planned and it is up to me to follow it and do it. If I were a normal child, who knows what I would become! If you want to do something, you must have a passion and put all your effort to achieving it. This is what I would like to share with the youths. With regards to passion, sometimes a person gets drawn into it and not being able to detach oneself from the energies of the passion. How can we deal with that situation? In this world everything has a limit. Both nature and the material world have a limit. If you go through the limit, then, that is a problem. For example, if a person drinks alcohol TFQUFNCFS!3122!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!}!34

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Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, one of Rinpocheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teachers.

Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche with lamas during celebrations at Shechen Monastery

without limit, then it will burn his liver and he may die. There is a limit but the person cannot see it or does not care about it. The same applies to smoking. If one smokes every day, one may eventually get lung cancer and die. It is very clearly shown to us that whenever we exceed the limit in our actions, there will be a negative effect. We must recognize, respect and adhere to that limit. Is there a limit to acts of compassion? In the case of compassion, there is no limit. Is there a difference between mundane acts and supramundane acts which have to do with spirituality and virtue? Humans should perform as many acts of spirituality as possible because this is helpful for us. Mundane acts do not help us. Rinpoche, would you one day consider becoming another Sakyamuni Buddha, leaving the beautiful palace and family and walking out the front gates? Who knows, I might! I cannot predict the future. I am not a fortune teller. Everything is possible. Everything is impermanent. In my heart, I want to become a good student of a perfect teacher. I do not want to become somebody that I cannot become. I want to become who I want to become. So I want to become a good student of a perfect teacher and serve my teacher. And of course, help anybody in any way possible. The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s richest billionaire may end up being the poorest and weakest beggar on the street. Everything is possible in our life. We cannot predict the future. We have to realize that this is impermanence. We must try to push and have the effort to keep up with our part of life.

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Rinpoche, like many other young tulkus who come into positions of their predecessors, do you feel that at this point in your life, you have a vision of what you may want to do with your position and your role, liketo continue teaching or to carve out a whole new way of relating Dharma to people today? I do not really have a vision. I am still living my usual life. I do not know of the future so much. There are many other young tulkus, such as Karmapa, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Ling Rinpoche. There would be a new way, new idea, new system to practice Buddhism and to apply Buddhism to ourselves, the new younger generation of students. New generation means the 21st century kids. What I have heard from a teacher is that Buddha taught by relating to the people. For the people who are not that intelligent, he gave one teaching and for people who are more intelligent, he gave another teaching. Everything is related to the people. I believe there would be a teaching that is related to the mentality of the younger generation of kids. So it will be easier for them to apply the teachings. I personally do not intend to just teach and help people in the traditional “teacher – student” role. I want to share with people what I feel as a friend, in a more personal approach. Right now, I have to be tamed in order to become a good student of a teacher. How do you define a good teacher from your point of view? An authentic perfect teacher is someone like Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Even though I am a reincarnation of him, he is still my true teacher and he will be my root teacher. And of course, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is also my root teacher. I have many other teachers - Trulshik Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche, and Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche. But my main root teacher is Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche because I have received many teachings from him. What I have heard about an authentic perfect teacher is that whatever he does, it comes from his pure wisdom and compassion. The teacher will never do anything just for himself. How about being an authentic student? How would you describe being an authentic student to an authentic teacher? I cannot really say that I am an authentic student or the best student. I can explain that a student needs to have strong, stable devotion and confidence to his teacher. He really needs to have a pure vision of his teacher. He needs to follow whatever his teacher tells him. It is not just serving the teacher by being his attendant but by following sincerely the practices given by the teacher. That is a good student. What is the purpose of being a good student to an authentic teacher? If you want to follow and practice a good heart, then you need an authentic teacher. If you want to follow the path of enlightenment or to follow some profound teaching or practice, then you need an authentic teacher. EH TFQUFNCFS!3122!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!}!36

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Ten Mindful Ways to

Use Social Media by Lori Deschene For the last two years, I have provided a daily wisdom quote through a Twitter account called Tiny Buddha. Since the follower count has grown by leaps and bounds, people have suggested I tweet more often throughout the day. I’ve realized, however, that the greatest lesson we can all learn is that less is enough. In a time when connections can seem like commodities and online interactions can become casually inauthentic, mindfulness is not just a matter of fostering increased awareness. It’s about relating meaningfully to other people and ourselves. With this goal in mind, I’ve compiled a list of 10 tips for using social media mindfully.

1. Know your intentions. Doug Firebaugh of SocialMediaBlogster.com has identified seven psychological needs we may be looking to meet when we log on: acknowledgment, attention, approval, appreciation, acclaim, assurance, and inclusion. Before you post, ask yourself: Am I looking to be seen or validated? Is there something more constructive I could do to meet that need? 2. Be your authentic self. In the age of personal branding, most of us have a persona we’d like to develop or maintain. Egodriven tweets focus on an agenda; authenticity communicates from the heart. Talk about the things that really matter to you. If you need advice or support, ask for it. It’s easier to be present when you’re being true to yourself. 3. If you propose to tweet, always ask yourself: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Sometimes we post thoughts without considering how they might impact our entire audience. It’s easy to forget how many friends are reading. Two hundred people make a crowd in person, but online that number can seem insignificant. Before you share, ask yourself: is there anyone this might harm? 4. Offer random tweets of kindness. Every now and then I ask on Twitter, “Is there anything I can do to help or support you today?” It’s a simple way to use social media to give without expectations of anything in return. By reaching out to help a stranger, you create the possibility of connecting personally with followers you may have otherwise known only peripherally.

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5. Experience now, share later. It’s common to snap a picture with your phone and upload it to Facebook or email it to a friend. This overlaps the experience of being in a moment and sharing it. It also minimizes intimacy, since your entire audience joins your date or gathering in real time. Just as we aim to reduce our internal monologues to be present, we can do the same with our digital narration. 6. Be active, not reactive. You may receive email updates whenever there is activity on one of your social media accounts, or you might have your cell phone set to give you these types of alerts. This forces you to decide many times throughout the day whether you want or need to respond. Another approach is to choose when to join the conversation, and to use your offline time to decide what value you have to offer. 7. Respond with your full attention. People often share links without actually reading them, or comment on posts after only scanning them. If the greatest gift we can give someone is our attention, then social media allows us to be endlessly generous. We may not be able to reply to everyone, but responding thoughtfully when we can makes a difference. 8. Use mobile social media sparingly. In 2009, Pew Research found that 43 percent of cell phone users access the Web on their devices several times a day. It’s what former Microsoft employee Linda Stone refers to as continuous partial attention—when you frequently sign on to be sure you don’t miss out anything. If you choose to limit your cell phone access, you may miss out online, but you won’t miss what’s in front of you.

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9. Practice letting go. It may feel unkind to disregard certain updates or tweets, but we need downtime to be kind to ourselves. Give yourself permission to let yesterday’s stream go. This way you won’t need to “catch up” on updates that have passed but instead can be part of today’s conversation. 10. Enjoy social media! These are merely suggestions to feel present and purposeful when utilizing social media, but they aren’t hard-and-fast rules. Follow your own instincts and have fun with it. If you’re mindful when you’re disconnected from technology, you have all the tools you need to be mindful when you go online. Lori Deschene is the founder of @TinyBuddha on Twitter and tinybuddha.com, a multiauthor blog that features wisdom and stories from people all over the world. She is the founder of tinybuddha.com, a community of thousands of people interested in sharing wisdom for a happier life. She is a regular speaker at Wisdom2.0 and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in national magazines. Her first book is Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions. Eastern Horizon thanks Tricycle for their kind permission to reproduce this article which first appeared in the May 12, 2011 Tricycle Daily Dharma section, and also to the author for her kindness in sharing this article. Source: Tricycle: The Buddhist Review (www.tricycle.com) EH

Are you searching for a spiritually challenging work? Do you enjoy meeting fellow Dharma practitioners, Buddhist leaders, and Dharma masters? Would you like to introduce the latest Buddhist book you read recently? How about researching into the latest web-sites on Buddhist activities around the world? And of course, what about telling us how you first came in contact with the dharma and what the dharma means to you today. Well, if you find all of these interesting, we can make it spiritually challenging for you too! In every issue of EASTERN HORIZON, we publish special chat sessions with leading Buddhist personalities, essays on all aspects of Buddhism, book reviews, and news and activities that are of interest to the Buddhist community. We need someone to help us in all these projects. If you are keen to be part of this exciting magazine, please e-mail to the editor at Bennyliow@gmail.com, and we will put you in touch with what’s challenging for the next issue! Let us share the dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings!

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As I see it – Shamatha with Heart and Imagination – An 8 week Meditation Retreat in Paradise by Low Chwee Beng ‘I have been to 12 retreats before but I have never been to one like this.’

Australian Peter Kent was speaking to his fellow

I have been to several meditation retreats myself but

retreatants about

this retreat was like no other.

Thanyapura Mind Centre (TMC)

and its 3 star-hotel facilities –airconditioned rooms – one for each meditator – with attached bathrooms,

To begin with, few, if any, Buddhist teachers teach

fridges, comfortable twin beds, prepared meals, quiet

shamatha (concentration) meditation, preferring the

and spacious surroundings – and, not least, excellent

more exciting vipassana (insight) meditation.

service, always with a smile, from its English-speaking Thai staff.

Indeed Alan taught us not one, but 3, methods of shamatha meditation –

mindfulness of breathing,

Between 10 April and 5 June 2011, Peter and 35 other

settling the mind in its natural state and awareness of

meditators from all the world’s continents, except

awareness.

Africa, attended a shamatha meditation retreat (‘the retreat’) under the guidance of Dr. B Alan Wallace,

Mindfulness of breathing was taught by the Buddha and

former Buddhist monk, science and religious scholar,

commented on by the 5th century monk, Buddhagosa,

translator, author and contemplative.

in Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification). The other 2 methods, both from the Tibetan tradition, were taught

I was fortunate enough to be among them.

by Lerap Lingpa and Padmasambhava respectively. But their roots can also be traced back to teachings given

Surrounded by rubber plantations, TMC lies in a quiet,

by the Buddha in his lifetime as recorded in the Pali

lush valley in Phuket, Thailand.

Canon.

Phuket is famous for its scenic beaches and bustling

In particular, a simple stanza spoken by the Buddha in

bars. But the meditators weren’t looking for mundane

the Bahiya Sutra encapsulates so concisely and pithily

happiness. Travelling great distances, some flying up to

the essence of settling the mind in its natural state –

20 hours, they braved a strange land, unfamiliar food and customs and a challenging climate in search of

‘Then, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus:

genuine happiness. In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. Genuine happiness? In his book of that name, Alan

In reference to the heard, only the heard.

defined it as ‘happiness gained not through the outer

In reference to the sensed, only the sensed.

conquest of nature or the acquisition of wealth and fame,

In reference to the cognized, only the cognized.

but through the conquest of our inner obscurations and

That is how you should train yourself.’

the realization of the natural resources inherent in our hearts and minds.’

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In addition, we also practised meditation on the

accomplished. We ended the retreat with a sense of

Four Immeasurables – loving kindness, compassion,

self-assurance, enthusiasm and joy.

empathetic joy and equanimity – adding heart to mind, so to speak. Alan combined shamatha and the Four

But whether this confidence translates into progress,

Immeasurables in imaginative ways, each supporting

only time will tell.

the other, to make it a rich experience. A few retreatants planned to embark on long term From the start, the emphasis was on creating

retreats (of 1 year or more). Others resolved to keep

environment as conducive as possible for a spiritually

up the practice at home while retaining their active

rewarding experience for everyone,

lifestyles.

regardless of

religious persuasion. To me, settling the mind in its natural state is a And so there were no rites and rituals. Precepts were

particularly powerful tool. Because every idea, be it

not taken, although meditators

obviously had to

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Einstein’s theory of relativity

behave ethically. There was no dress code. The meals,

or the plot to destroy the World Trade Centre begins

both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, were delicious

with one thought.

but healthy. Meditators were encouraged to practise diligently but intelligently, neglecting neither health

Osama bin Laden was killed while we were at the

nor comfort.

retreat. To the retreatants, it was an opportunity to develop and nurture equanimity. To view him, not as

In short, they observed the golden rule of Buddhism

a terrorist or a martyr but simply as a fellow sentient

- seeking to achieve a sense of balance. So important

being who sought happiness for himself and others

was balance that it cropped up time and time again

but got sidetracked with horrendous consequences.

to the extent that Alan joked that if the order of the letters in his name (B. Alan Wallace) were slightly

As I write these words, I can’t help thinking that

altered, it would read ‘Balance Walla’ (the person in

the world might have been spared so much agony

charge of balance).

if Osama bin Laden had been able to observe his mind dispassionately, without distraction and without

Jokes aside, we were extremely fortunate to have been

grasping.

able to receive teachings and meditation guidance from someone so knowledgeable, experienced,

As if to confirm this line of thinking, I watched Li Na, the

compassionate and generous.

Chinese tennis player, who had won the French Open Tennis Championship, being interviewed by CNN.

At the end, Alan showed us how to sustain the

Li Na is known for her outspokenness. Once, she

momentum of our meditation once we re-entered

shouted at her own supporters to ‘shut up’, an action

the mainstream of life. Quoting Mark Twain’s famous

she later regretted. ‘If I had time to think, I would never

line – ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, at best it sometimes

say this word,’ she confessed.

rhymes’, Alan remarked that we would never again live

Unlike Li Na, I have time to think before I act. And I

the same old lives.

have been given these life-changing tools of the mind by Alan.

Alan’s aim was to empower us to continue practising all or any of the 3 methods of shamatha meditation

One thing I know for sure. Whether I go on long term

on our own with confidence. That he certainly has

retreat or practise at home, I know that, on my dying

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day, I will rue the missed opportunity if I’ve allowed

Note: Interested readers may listen to Alan’s teachings

the Phuket 2011 Spring Shamatha 8-week retreat to

and guided meditation

become a fond but distant memory.

podcasts.sbinstitute.com/spring2011/

at the retreat at

http://

From that perspective, there’s really only one thing I can do.

Venue for the 8-week meditation retreat in Phuket with Alan Wallace

Wat Chalong, one of many Thai temples in Phuket

What some retreatants said about their retreat experience CHAGDYR SANDZHIEV (Russia, Chief Translator) ‘For sure, there’s a big benefit. I studied Buddhist philosophy at Sarnath University for 5 years. I studied a lot of different schools but I never had experience of such meditation because we were using analytical meditation. I belong to Gelug tradition. But shamatha is something special.’ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------YEN-HUI LEE (TAIWAN) (University Professor) ‘I have never seen this kind of systematic teaching anywhere else.’ ‘Actually, for me, the Four Immeasurables benefitted me so much. They transformed me inside. I learned about them in Mahayana Buddhism but they did not have this kind of practice with imagination - to open your heart to all beings, including yourself.’ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------VENERABLE BAASANSUREN KHANDSUREN (Mongolia, monk) ‘I became a monk 20 years ago. For 10 years, I just memorised texts and became the chanting master. Last 10 years, I attended university in the capital. When I came back, I built a school for little monks, gave teachings to prisoners, studied Buddhist philosophy but strangely not much meditation. Here, I understand clearly. Now I observe my mind whatever I do, when I eat, even as I am talking to you now.’

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SILVIA HAYASHIDA KOBASHI (Mexico, Housewife/Business Administrator) ‘… when I came, I was really, really upset, out of my mind. Because I had (problems at home)… After 8 weeks, I now have to go home. Things will be the same but my mind has become clearer. I know now that it’s my responsibility to be good enough for my children, for me, for my neighbourhood. Now I know that if they want to change, they will change. I will do anything to help them. I think everyone deserves to be happy.’ HAGAI GOLD (Israel, Software Analyst) ‘A friend was in Dharamsala. He got to know about Alan. He read his book, ‘Attention Revolution’. He told me to check Alan’s website. I checked and after one day, I was registered for the retreat. This was last August. I left my job and I am here! My inspiration is to find confidence to go on a long retreat, to follow this path more seriously and this is what I found. After 8 weeks, I have confidence to continue doing this.’ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RENATE MARGRIT GADE (Germany, Theoretical Physicist) ‘There are 2 great benefits for me from this retreat. 1st, I now feel quite confident in practising shamatha by myself provided that I can find a suitable place. 2nd, at the Dharma centres I went to so far, I always found the Four Immeasurables practice a little boring, not so inspiring. I knew it was of crucial importance but I could never approach it. Alan presented it in a very creative manner.’ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TRISH LEE (USA, Fire Fighter) ‘It’s been quite a ride. Very challenging and very rewarding. In the past, I used to have a regular meditation practice but it had fallen apart. I kept to a very reasonable expectation, that is, to develop a regular meditation practice. And I feel that I have definitely reached that. The Dharma teachings were so rich. The path is laid out so clearly and skillfully. This really tied the pieces together in a coherent picture. Now I can deepen my understanding.’ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------MARISSA BROWN (Australia, Psychotherapist) ‘When I return home, I want to practise as many hours as I can – perhaps 4 hours a day. Off the cushion is also important so if I can keep mindfulness going, there is much to be gained.’ EH

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Patience How to survive a traffic jam-on the road, or in the heart by Michele McDonald Michele McDonald co-founded Vipassana Hawai’i in 1984 with Steven Smith. She has taught Insight meditation for thirty years. Beyond her commitment to the Vipassana Hawai’i Sangha, she teaches extensively throughout the United States, in Canada, Burma, and various locations around the world. Michele has been a quiet pioneer having being the first woman to teach a formal retreat in Burma, side-by-side with a senior monastic figure, Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Abbot of Kyaswa Monastery. Having worked with a wide range of Asian and Western teachers, Michele is most inspired by her practice with Dipa Ma and Sayadaw U Pandita and more recently in Burma with the Mya Taung Sayadaw. She appreciates teaching at many levels of practice and has enjoyed teaching three-month retreats for experienced students as well as developing meditation retreats for youth. Her style of teaching emphasizes helping individuals find entry points into stillness that are natural for them. She encourages an understanding of the path of insight and a gentle strengthening of mindfulness and concentration so that, ultimately, people can access the peaceful depths of their experience in every moment. Michele is thrilled when students begin to love their practice.

hen I was a child, I was told many times, “Be patient” or “Patience is a virtue.” I would

relate to these words in much the same way I would to the order “Eat your spinach.” To me, “Be patient” meant “Grin and bear it,” or that I should repress my feelings about the disagreeable aspects of life. This is not what is meant by patience from the Buddhist perspective, however. Patience, or khanti, is the sixth of the ten perfections, or paramis (the virtues that one has to perfect in order to fully awaken; there are ten paramis in the Theravada tradition, six paramitas in the Mahayana). The clarity of wisdom and the softness of compassion are the companions of each of the perfections. Patience is motivated by our desire for inward and outward peace and by faith in our ability to accept things as they are. In Buddhism patience has three essential aspects: gentle forbearance, calm endurance of hardship, and acceptance of the truth.

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Gentle Forbearance The first aspect of patience is gentle forbearance. We may be the exhausted parent of a child who is having a fit over some baffling homework; perhaps patience in this case means taking a few deep breaths instead of yelling in frustration. Or we may be on the verge of making a brilliant retort to a coworker, but we hold our tongue rather than say something hurtful. Even though our impatience is triggered, we can tap into the deeper reservoir of our motivation not to do harm. Gentle forbearance may feel difficult—even contrived—because it doesn’t constitute true acceptance of how things are. But it is nonetheless a critical aspect of patience because it helps us restrain ourselves long enough to determine the most skillful action for the moment. Gentle forbearance helps to anchor our attention in the movement of the breath. Can we truly receive just one breath? Can we sustain the attention from the birth of the breath, through its life, and through its passing away? We notice that in these moments of attention we are temporarily freed from mental torment. There is no need to focus on our expectations or attachment to results. Impatient thoughts come and go by themselves, just as the breath comes and goes by itself. Any time we want life to be different than it is, we are caught in impatience. We lose our sense of humor; and self-pity, despair, and blame seep into the heart. Gentle forbearance includes the spirit of forgiveness. When we feel conflict with others, understanding their suffering is the first step in being able to communicate, forgive, and begin again. The practice of forgiveness happens when we are able to realize the underlying cause of our anger and impatience, and this allows us to distinguish between someone’s unskillful behavior and essential goodness. Serenity and calm develop as we learn to accept imperfection in others and ourselves.

Endurance of Hardship The second aspect of patience is the calm endurance of hardship. The Buddha said that the world rests on suffering. But endurance of suffering doesn’t mean doing nothing to alleviate it. Patience isn’t passive; it’s motivated by an acceptance of and compassion for suffering rather a desire to eradicate it. When we feel impatient with our relationships, our work, or our spiritual practice, we need to realize that we are resisting how things are. A sense of humor and curiosity about our lives can also help us confront impatience. My five-year-old niece complained to me recently, “I hate school.” I replied, “Oh, that’s too bad. Why?” “Because it’s so boring,” she said. She loves the movie Finding Nemo, so I reminded

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her how Dory and Nemo’s father, Marlin, endured the obstacles on their long journey to liberate Nemo. I asked, “What did Dory say to Marlin when they were lost and ready to give up?” She remembered “When life gets you down, just keep swimming.” She laughed, and she became interested in exploring why she gets bored in school. I challenged her to tell me one interesting thing that is happening every time she thinks she’s bored. Through investigating boredom instead of concluding that we are wasting our time and disconnecting from what is, we can pause, explore, and begin again. In a frustrating situation, it helps to ask ourselves the question, “What would being patient mean right now?” We can explore what happens to our relationship to our experience when we find ourselves rushing around, always anticipating the next moment, the next event. The more we practice patience, the more time we find we have. Perhaps we’ve become accustomed to eating so fast we don’t even taste our food. Asking ourselves this question slows us down enough to appreciate receiving our food—receiving our life. Gratitude and contentment arise. Many of us try to do so many things at once that there is no space for serenity. We wonder why we are unhappy, why we feel alienated. We just need to remember to practice relaxing into our life, in all its joys and sorrows, and to relinquish the need to know what’s going to happen next.

Acceptance of the Truth The third aspect of patience, acceptance of the truth, means that we accept our experience as it is—with all its suffering— rather than how we want it to be. We recognize that because our experience is continually changing, we don’t need it to be different than it is. This acceptance of “things as they are” requires profound wisdom and compassion, which take a long time to evolve; we must therefore develop a longenduring mind that will enable us to understand time from a radically new perspective. As we come to this understanding, we gain the strength to be present for the long haul, and we are less likely to get caught in being overly insistent, frustrated, and demanding. There is great power in patience because it cuts through arrogance and ingratitude. It is the path that lets us move from resistance to acceptance and spontaneous presence. Holding on to our judgments about others and ourselves is a major cause of impatience. Repeating softly to ourselves, “May I be happy just as I am” and “May I be peaceful with whatever is happening” helps us accept our vulnerabilities, imperfections, and losses: everything from chronic physical and emotional pain, to the death of loved ones, the end of a job or relationship—even nightmare traffic jams. By accepting the agreeable and disagreeable aspects of life, we are no longer limited by our longing for life to be different than it is. We have all the time in the world, in the spaciousness of every moment. EH

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Nan Tien Institute of Higher Learning – The Road to an Enlightened Education lay people attracting students from a wide range of backgrounds. There are also a wide variety of shortterm continuing education programs including: meditation, mindfulness, Chinese language classes and others. Single non-award courses from the Master of Arts (Applied Buddhist Studies) program, allows for students with limited time or specific areas of interest to acquire knowledge in subjects such as Buddhism in Chinese History, Mindfulness-Theory & Practice, Buddhism and Contemporary practice. Ven Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan

Local Australian students can enroll on a full or part time basis; overseas or international students must

he “Education is a process which involves

changing for the better with purification of the mind based on compassion and morality. The Nan Tien Institute of Higher Learning is a secular institution of higher education with a spirit of humanity and compassion” says Grandmaster Venerable Hsing Yun, founder of Nan Tien Institute, Australia; Fo Guang University, Taiwan; Nan Hua University, Taiwan; and University of the West, California USA.

postgraduate course on the 27th February 2011, with students enrolling in the Master of Arts in Applied Buddhist Studies program. The Master of Arts in Applied Buddhist Studies at Nan Tien Institute is an 18 month program that combines graduate level seminars with extensive research programs in a range of areas of the history, philosophy and contemporary aspects of Buddhism. This course allows students to start with a short Graduate Certificate, then progress to the Graduate Diploma and work towards a Master’s Degree. Applied

Buddhist

Studies

gender, culture, religion or belief and age. There are 2 intakes each year in February and July. International students can work up to 20 hours per week while your course is in session and unlimited hours during holidays. For information on courses, please contact info@nantien.edu.au or view at www.

Scholarships and Bursary are available to students applying for the post graduate course in Applied Buddhist Studies. Students are advised to apply early as there is a closing date. Information on Scholarships and Bursary can be obtained from the Admissions Office by email: info@nantien.edu.au When asked what are the benefits of studying the course in Applied Buddhist Studies, Anita (a student from the Master of Arts program), in her own words says “The study I am undertaking at Nan Tien Institute is the most challenging and rewarding of

programs

are

conducted in English, and are open to monastic and 47!}!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!TFQUFNCFS!3122

discrimination on student enrolment regarding

nantien.edu.au

Nan Tien Institute (NTI) commences its first

The

enroll in a full time basis. NTI has a policy of non-

my life.

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she felt that she is a better person now. She will not hesitate to recommend the course to others. Almost all students believe that the knowledge learned can be applied in their daily lives, whether at work, with family or friends and in almost all situations of their social lives. Having a positive outlook and acceptance of life changes are key improvements in becoming a better person. Other Nan Tien Temple, Wollongong, Australia

students comment that they can use the knowledge in other areas such as nursing, counseling, psychology, health & mental wellbeing, pastoral and palliative care. Education is the process that will change people and change society and for us to have a better world; and education is the key to that. Mid-life issues are being widely recognized within our society. Some people are resorting to medication to resolve their issues. Others, however, are seeing the benefits of applying Buddhist principles such as

Students & Nan Tien Temple

mindfulness, meditation and causal conditions of change to overcome their issues in a more relaxed and positive way. The course in Applied Buddhist Studies deals formally with these Buddhist principles and applications. One of the unique advantages of studying at the Nan Tien Institute is that it is located within walking distance of the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple, and students of the Applied Buddhist courses are

Administration & Lecture Buildings, Nan Tien Institute

easily and conveniently able to observe or immerse themselves in the practice of Buddhism.

The exploration of the Buddhist Path and its application in my personal and professional life

NTI are developing courses in other disciplines

has been insightful and enriching. I am inspired by

including Health and Social Well-Being, Business,

the commitment and enthusiasm of the Lecturers

Environmental Studies in their pursuit of being

and their role modelling of the Buddhist way. I feel

recognized as a comprehensive university offering

extremely fortunate to be able to access this learning

a wide range of programs at Bachelor, Master and

opportunity in such an inspiring environment.â&#x20AC;?

Doctorate levels.

Another student mentions that the course has

The University of Wollongong (UOW) has established

changed her perspective when looking at situations.

a complementary relationship with NTI providing

She has become more accepting of changes in life and

students access to their extensive library facilities

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as well as collaborating with NTI ’s three other sister

teaching and lecture theatres, student services

universities in a long-term relationship.

centre, auditorium, dining areas, library, art gallery, accommodation and on-site parking for both tertiary

The vision of NTI is to provide an opportunity

facilities and the art gallery. Until then, students have

for local and international students to share and

the privileged opportunity to study across the road at

exchange western and oriental perspectives of arts

the beautiful Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist

and culture. NTI’s goals are to promote learning in a

Temple in the Southern hemisphere. Set on 56 acres

Buddhist framework within the arts, philosophy and

of land and situated between the impressive Illawarra

humanistic subjects that provide the potential for

escarpment and the ocean; students can spend their

individual development and a global understanding of

time in between classes amongst the lakes, ponds,

humanity. NTI is dedicated to:

walkways, and the serene sounds of the bird life

•

Providing a safe and ethical multi-cultural

and temple. Nan Tien provides the perfect learning

environment

environment to offer a spiritual approach to study.

• • •

•

Promoting the abilities and personalities of students in a harmonious Buddhist Environment

As the institute is privately funded with initial

Preparing students to meet the challenges of a

donations being made by devotees and members

globally interdependent Society

of the public, and additional donations from the

Developing awareness of the scientific method

Buddhist fraternity and the general public world-wide

and its application in understanding social

are welcome to enable the construction of the campus

problems

to proceed smoothly. (To support Nan Tien Institute

Using the knowledge and skills obtained through

please contact IBAA College Building Fund on Tel:+61-

these studies to engage in problem-solving in

2-4272-0600 or info@nantien.com.au )

today’s society •

Developing a community of scholars, academics,

Finally, the dream of establishing an institution of

skillful practitioners and students not only

higher learning offering courses related to Buddhist

rich with knowledge and skills but also with an

philosophy and other courses in the Arts and Social

aspiration to enrich their spirituality so as to

disciplines in Australia is coming to fruition. This

become meaningful members of the society

project would not have been possible without the support of the Government and its agencies, the

NTI is a non-profit, private higher education

devotees, members of the public in Australia and

provider registered with the Education Department

overseas. It is this support coming from diverse

of Australia. It is located in Wollongong, New South

groups of people that truly reflects the co-operation,

Wales, Australia. Nan Tien Institute is Australia’s

goodwill and harmony among the people here and

first institution providing courses of higher learning

overseas and what the founding principles of Nan

grounded in humanistic Buddhist wisdom and values,

Tien Institute are. EH

offering an enlightened and holistic education for the 21st century. It is one of four universities established

Man Wong

by the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order.

Volunteer Nan Tien Institute,

Earth work has been completed and construction

Wollongong, Australia

of the state of the art $30 million campus is about

Sources: Student Handbook Nan Tien Institute

to commence. The new campus will include an

www.nantien.edu.au

administrative centre, faculty and academic offices,

www.immi.gov.au

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Listening Beyond Words by Ajahn Chah (1918-1992)

Wat Pa Nanachat Monastery, Northeast Thailand.

eally, the teachings of the Buddha all make sense. Things you wouldn’t imagine

really are so. It’s strange. At first I didn’t have any faith in sitting in meditation. I thought, what value could that possibly have? Then there was walking meditation - I walked from one tree to another, back and forth, back and forth, and I got tired of it and thought, ‘’What am I walking for? Just walking back and forth doesn’t have any purpose.’’ That’s how I thought. But in fact walking meditation has a lot of value. Sitting to practice samādhi has a lot of value. But the temperaments of some people make them confused about walking or sitting meditation. We can’t meditate in only one posture. There are four postures for humans: standing, walking, sitting and lying down. The teachings speak about making the postures consistent and equal. You might get the idea from this that it means you should stand, walk, sit and lie down for the same number of hours in each posture. When you hear such a teaching, you can’t figure out what it really means, because it’s talking in the way of Dhamma, not in the ordinary sense. ‘’OK, I’ll sit for two hours, stand for two hours and then lie down for two hours’’ You probably think like this. That’s what I did. I tried to practice in this way, but it didn’t work out.

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It’s because of not listening in the right way, merely listening to the words. ‘Making the postures even’ refers to the mind, nothing else. It means making the mind bright and clear so that wisdom arises, so that there is knowledge of whatever is happening in all postures and situations. Whatever the posture, you know phenomena and states of mind for what they are, meaning that they are impermanent, unsatisfactory and not your self. The mind remains established in this awareness at all times and in all Aruna Ratanagiri Forest Monastery), Harnham, UK.

postures. When the mind feels attraction, when it feels aversion, you don’t lose the path, but you know these conditions for what they are. Your awareness is steady and continuous, and you are letting go steadily and continuously. You are not fooled by good conditions. You aren’t fooled by bad conditions. You remain on the straight path. This can be called ‘making the postures even.’ It refers to the internal, not the external; it is talking about mind. If we do make the postures even with the mind, then when we are praised, it is just

Amaravati Temple, Herfordshire,UK, and cloisters

so much. If we are slandered, it is just so much. We don’t go up or down with them but remain steady. Why is this? Because we see the danger in these things. We see equal danger in praise and in criticism; this is called making the postures even. We have this inner awareness, whether we are looking at internal or external phenomena. In the ordinary way of experiencing things, when something good appears, we have a positive reaction, and when something bad appears, we have a negative reaction.

Women monastics of Ajahn Chah’s Forest Tradition in Northern California, USA

Like this, the postures are not even. If they are even, we always have awareness. We will know when we are grasping at good and grasping at bad - this is better. Even

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When we have this kind of awareness, we know phenomena as they occur. We know that if we form attachments to phenomena, there really will be suffering. If we are not aware, then grasping at what we conceive of as good or bad, suffering is born.

though we can’t yet let go, we are aware of these states continuously. Being continuously aware of ourselves and our attachments, we will come to see that such grasping is not the path. We know but can’t let go: that’s 50 percent. Though we can’t let go, we do understand that letting go of these things will bring peace. We see the danger in the things we like and dislike. We see the danger in praise and blame. This awareness is continuous. So whether we are being praised or criticized, we are continuously aware. For worldly people, when they are criticized and slandered, they can’t bear it; it hurts their hearts. When they are praised, they are pleased and excited. This is what is natural in the world. But for those who are practicing, when there is praise, they know there is danger. When there is blame, they know the danger. They know that being attached to either of these brings ill results. They are all harmful if we grasp at them and give them meaning. When we have this kind of awareness, we know phenomena as they occur. We know that if we form attachments to phenomena, there really will be suffering. If we are not aware, then grasping at what we conceive of as good or bad, suffering is born. When we pay attention, we see this grasping; we see how we catch hold of the good and the bad and how this causes suffering. So at first we are grasping hold of things and with awareness seeing the fault in that. How is that? It’s because we grasp tightly and experience suffering. Then we will start to seek a way to let go and be free. ‘’What should I do to be free?’’ we ponder. Buddhist teaching says not to have grasping attachment, not to hold tightly to things. We don’t understand this fully. The point is to hold, but not tightly. For example, I see this object in front of me. I am curious to know what it is, so I pick it up and look: it’s a flashlight. Now I can put it down. That’s holding but not tightly. If we are told not to hold to anything at all, then what can we do? We will think we shouldn’t practice sitting or walking meditation. So at first we have to hold without tight attachment. You can say this is tanhā, but it will become pāramī. For instance, you came here to Wat Pah Pong; before you did that, you had to have the desire to come. With no desire, you wouldn’t have come. We can say you came with desire; it’s like holding. Then you will return; that’s like not grasping. Just like having some uncertainty about what this object is, then picking it up, seeing it’s a flashlight and putting it down. This is holding but not grasping, or to speak more simply, knowing and letting go. Picking up to look, knowing and letting go - knowing and putting down. Things may be said to be good or bad, but you merely know them and let them go. You are aware of all good and bad phenomena and you are letting go of them. You don’t grasp them with ignorance. You grasp them with wisdom and put them down. TFQUFNCFS!3122!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!}!52

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In this way the postures can be even and consistent. It means the mind is able. The mind has awareness and wisdom is born. When the mind has wisdom, then what could there be beyond that? It picks things up but there is no harm. It is not grasping tightly, but knowing and letting go. Hearing a sound, we will know, ‘’The world says this is good,’’ and we let go of it. The world may say, ‘’This is bad,’’ but we let go. We know good and evil. Someone who doesn’t know good and evil attaches to good and evil and suffers as a result. Someone with knowledge doesn’t have this attachment. Let’s consider: For what purpose are we living? What do we want from our work? We are living in this world; for what purpose are we living? We do our work; what do we want to get from our work? In the worldly way, people do their work because they want certain things and this is what they consider logical. But the Buddha’s teaching goes a step beyond this. It says, do your work without desiring anything. In the world, you do this to get that; you do that to get this; you are always doing something in order to get something as a result. That’s the way of worldly folk. The Buddha says, work for the sake of work without wanting anything. Whenever we work with the desire for something, we suffer. Check this out. Ajahn Chah was born into a large and comfortable family in a rural village in Northeast Thailand. He ordained as a novice in early youth and on reaching the age of twenty took higher ordination as a monk. As a young monk he studied some basic Dhamma, Discipline and scriptures. Later he practiced meditation under the guidance of several of the local Meditation Masters in the Ascetic Forest Tradition. He wandered for a number of years in the style of an ascetic monk, sleeping in forests, caves and cremation grounds, and spent a short but enlightening period with Ajahn Mun, one of the most famous and respected Thai Meditation Masters of this century. After many years of travel and practice, he was invited to settle in a thick forest grove near the village of his birth. This grove was uninhabited, known as a place of cobras, tigers and ghosts, thus being as he said, the perfect location for a forest monk. Around Ajahn Chah a large monastery formed as more and more monks, nuns and lay-people came to hear his teachings and Ajahn Chah, 1918 -1992

stay on to practice with him. Now there are disciples teaching more than forty mountain and forest branch temples throughout Thailand and in England. On entering Wat Pah Pong one is likely to encounter monks drawing water from a well, and a sign on the path that says: “You there, be quiet! We’re trying to meditate.” Although there is group meditation twice a day and sometimes a talk by Ajahn Chah, the heart of the meditation is the way of life.

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Monks do manual work, dye and sew their own robes, make most of their own requisites and keep the monastery buildings and grounds in immaculate shape. Monks here live extremely simply following the ascetic precepts of eating once a day from the almsbowl and limiting their possessions and robes. Scattered throughout the forest are individual huts where monks live and meditate in solitude, and where they practice walking meditation on cleared paths under the trees. Discipline is extremely strict enabling one to lead a simple and pure life in a harmoniously regulated community where virtue, meditation and understanding may be skillfully and continuously cultivated. Ajahn Chah’s simple yet profound style of teaching has a special appeal to Westerners, and many have come to study and practice with him, quite a few for many years. In 1975 Wat Pa Nanachat was established near Wat Pah Ajahn Chah with some Western disciples.

Pong as a special training monastery for the growing numbers of Westerners interested in undertaking monastic training. Since then Ajahn Chah’s large following of senior Western disciples has begun the work of spreading the Dhamma to the West. Ajahn Chah has himself travelled twice to Europe and North America. Wisdom is a way of living and being, and Ajahn Chah has endeavored to preserve the simple life-style of the monks order that people may study and practice the Dhamma in the present day. Ajahn Chah’s wonderfully simple style of teaching can be deceptive. It is often only after we have heard something many times that suddenly our minds are ripe and somehow the Teaching takes on a much deeper meaning. His skillful means in tailoring his explanations of Dhamma to time and place, and to the understanding and sensitivity of his audience, is marvelous to see. Sometimes on paper though, it can make him seem inconsistent or even self-contradictory! At such times the reader should remember that these words are a record of a living experience. Similarly, if the Teachings may seem to vary at times from tradition, it should be borne in mind that the Venerable Ajahn speaks always from the heart, from the depths of his own meditative experience. In 1979 the first of several branch monasteries in Europe was established in Sussex, England by his senior Western disciples (among them Ajahn Sumedho, who is presently senior incumbent at the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, England). Today there are ten branch monasteries in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Ajahn Chah passed away in January, 1992 following a long illness. Source: Forest.sangha.com EH

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Should a person with mental illness meditate? by Dr. Phang Cheng Kar (M.D.)

I am not crazy!

functions in life. This includes our spiritual pursuit and meditation practice. As the mind is closely

Should a person with mental illness meditate?

connected to the body, mental illnesses are also

This is one of the frequently asked questions that

medical conditions that affect our brain functions and

I encounter in my effort to promote mental health

physical health.

education in the Buddhist community. At a glance, you may think that this article has nothing to do with

For easy understanding, mental illnesses are divided

you, “I’m interested in Buddhist meditation, but I’m

into two big groups: psychotic disorders and neurotic

not crazy!” You may be surprised to know that in

disorders. Psychotic disorders, e.g. schizophrenia are

the last National Health & Morbidity Survey (2006),

characterized by bizarre signs and symptoms, e.g.

it was found that about 10% of Malaysian adults had

auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoid ideas,

significant psychological distress. Whenever I give

feeling of being possessed, odd religious beliefs,

sharing in Buddhist temples or centers, I often meet

talking non-sense, abnormal body movements

people with psychological distress. I am definitely not

or gestures, violence, etc. Neurotic disorders are

saying that you are crazy; this is such a derogatory

less severe and include features such as excessive

term. What I mean is many of us in the Buddhist

sadness, fears and worries, loss of interest in life,

community do have mental health problems, and a

sleep difficulties, significant appetite and weight

significant number would have been diagnosed with

change, irritability, unexplained tiredness, poor

mental illness if we had sought help from mental

concentration, feeling useless and hopeless, suicidal

health professionals. Of course, many people never

thoughts, etc. How do we know whether we may have

do so due to lack of awareness on mental illness and

mental illness? If one has some of the symptoms,

social stigma. Hence, this article may be of relevance

having them almost every day for two weeks or

to you.

more, and they are disturbing your daily functions (e.g. difficulty at work, unable to study or cannot

What is mental illness?

manage household), it is a good idea to consult a mental health professional for clarification and

Other names for mental illness include mental

assessment.. You may email me at pckar@yahoo.com)

disorder, psychological illness, emotional sickness,

for information on where and how to do that.

etc. It is basically a group of psychological conditions, e.g. major depression, generalized anxiety disorder,

As mental health awareness in Malaysia is still in its

schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc., that negatively

infancy stage, I have repeatedly seen people with

affects the way we think, feel and behave, to the

mental illness who had sought help through a psycho-

extent that it seriously interferes with our daily

spiritual pathway, e.g. meditation practice, instead

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As mental health awareness in Malaysia is still in its infancy stage, I have repeatedly seen people with mental illness who had sought help through a psycho-spiritual pathway e.g. meditation practice, instead of consulting mental health professionals.

of consulting mental health professionals such as

of meditation-based program to overcome stress,

psychiatrist, clinical psychologist and counselor.

anxiety, and depression. The local MINDFUL-Gym

This is understandable, and it is probably a useful

program that I have developed has also been found

community-based mental health strategy in Malaysia

to be beneficial for medical students in coping with

whereby mental health services are relatively scarce.

stress in their studies.

However, when people meditate with wrong attitudes, they are bound to worsen their situation. It gets worse

So, Buddhist meditation can be a helpful option

when there are unrealistic expectation, and ignorance

for overcoming stress, anxiety, depression and to

as to how meditation can interfere or worsen the

complement the treatment of physical and mental

existing mental illness. One also may not know how

illnesses. However, it should be done correctly for

to adjust their meditation practice in a way that is

optimal benefit. The following points are guidelines

helpful for the mental illness.

for those who have or may have mental illness and wish to try meditation for mental health and wellness.

What is meditation? Meditation & Mental Health Guidelines: The word ‘meditation’ is now very popular and used with diverse meanings. From a Buddhist perspective,

Seek help from mental health professionals

meditation is described as mental cultivation or

besides meditating, as treatment of mental

bhavana. It is a mental training to develop spiritual

illness should be holistic. Do not use meditation

wisdom and positive mental states such as composure,

as a treatment for psychotic disorders, such

confidence, loving-kindness, compassion, and

as schizophrenia. Psychosis is a very serious

appreciative joy. Common Buddhist meditation

psychiatric condition that requires medication

methods that you may have come across include

treatment and professional help. Trying to

Vipassanā/Insight/Mindfulness Meditation, Loving-

meditate without supervision when you are

kindness (Mettā) Meditation, Breath Meditation

mentally unstable, e.g. suicidal, very restless and

(Anapanasati), Medicine Buddha Visualization, Tonglen

irritable is also not helpful; it may even make

Compassion Meditation, etc.

things worse. Unsupervised meditation is usually only helpful when the mind is relatively stable.

Recent scientific research by Dr. Herbert Benson (Relaxation Response), Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn

Do not stop your psychiatric medications without

(Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction - MBSR),

prior discussion with your doctor. It is fine to

Dr. Mark Williams (Mindfulness-based Cognitive

continue medications while meditating. Please

Therapy - MBCT), etc. has supported the effectiveness

tell the meditation program organizers that you

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However, when people meditate with wrong attitudes, they are bound to worsen their situation. It gets worse when there are unrealistic expectation, and ignorance as to how meditation can interfere or worsen the existing mental illness. One also may not know how to adjust their meditation practice in a way that is helpful for the mental illness.

are on treatment for mental illness. If you have

If you have any new or unusual experience,

medication side effects that can interfere with

remember to discuss with your meditation

meditation, e.g. drowsiness, discuss with your

teacher and mental healthcare provider.

doctor on options to overcome the problem, e.g.

Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate

dosage adjustment or change of medications.

a spiritual experience from a psychotic phenomenon, e.g. auditory hallucinations in the

Inform your mental health provider if you are

form of voices from spirits giving advice.

planning to meditate. If you think that they do not understand enough about meditation and

If you are restless or agitated (a common

your need to meditate, you may want to seek

symptom in neurotic disorders) and have

a second opinion from Buddhism-influenced

difficulty to sit still for sitting meditation, it may

mental health professionals at http://www.

be better to do walking meditation and mindful

klbmha.com/online-therapy/helpline.

awareness of daily activities. Chanting, hymns singing, and simple relaxation exercises such as

Join a meditation group and practice under the

progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing

close supervision of a well-trained meditation

may also be helpful.

teacher. Practicing in a group is less fearful and more reassuring. Please start slow; do not straight

It is not a must to close your eyes in meditation.

away go for intensive meditation practice, e.g.

Closing the eyes may generate more fear and

continuous one-week meditation retreat or

promote wandering mind in individuals with

retreat in the forest, especially without close

neurosis. As for individuals with psychosis,

supervision. A meditation teaching that teaches

the dark ‘mental screen’ of closed eyes may be

you to be aware/mindful in daily living is more

fertile ground for the development of visual

suitable.

hallucinations and psychiatric delusions. It is safer and may be even more effective to meditate

It is important to have adequate sleep, food,

with the eyes naturally open.

water and rest if you are going for meditation retreat. Relapse of mental illness during

Loving-kindness (Mettā) meditation, e.g.

meditation retreat due to sleep deprivation and

cultivating kind thoughts and actions to self and

intense fasting has been reported. If you find that

other sentient beings is relatively easy to do,

your meditation is making you more stressful, it

safe and helpful for many symptoms associated

means that you need to check the way you are

with neurosis, e.g. sleep difficulty, irritability

meditating. Do discuss with your meditation

and guilt. It can be practiced with eyes opened,

teacher.

in any posture, at any time, and anywhere. It

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The role of meditation in mental illness is to compose the mind, develop understanding of the psycho-spiritual factors that contributes to one’s mental illness, and cultivate positive mental states that are conducive for mental health.

is easier and more helpful to begin practicing

10. It is extremely important to have the Right

mettā to ourselves, and those whom we had

View (Samma Ditthi) in meditation. Meditation

pleasant experience, before extending it to

should not be used as an avoidance strategy,

more challenging ones, e.g. neutral and hateful

e.g. repeatedly going for meditation retreats to

individuals. Meditation on appreciative joy

avoid necessary negotiation with wife on marital

(Mudita), e.g. rejoicing on one’s strength, good

issues. The role of meditation in mental illness is

deeds, meaningful achievements, and cultivating

to compose the mind, develop understanding of

gratitude (Katannuta) are useful antidotes for

the psycho-spiritual factors that contributes to

depression. Equanimity (Upekkha) meditation, e.g.

one’s mental illness, and cultivate positive mental

mountain or lake imagery, and recollection on

states that are conducive for mental health.

the spiritual qualities of the Triple Gem are useful for building confidence and overcoming fears in

Last but not least, if you wish to find out more

neurosis.

information on mental health and mental illness from a Buddhist perspective, you are welcome to visit the Kuala Lumpur Buddhist Mental Health Association (BMHA) website at http://www.klbmha.com/

About the author: Phang Cheng Kar, M.D., received his medical degree from the Putra University of Malaysia (UPM) & postgraduate training in psychiatry from the National University of Malaysia (UKM). He’s a senior medical lecturercurrently lecturing in the UPM Medical School & practicing as a psychiatrist at the Kuala Lumpur & Kajang General Hospital. His research interest is on mindfulness-based psychotherapies & he has developed MINDFULGym™, which is a local mindfulness-based stress reduction & wellness program. He’s the founder president of the Kuala Lumpur Buddhist Mental Health Association (BMHA). His hobbies include meditating, doing voluntary service, reading, writing and watching trees. EH

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The Western Buddhist Teachers Council, June 2011 by Sumi Loundon Kim

n early June, I was lucky enough to attend a

conference of about 200 Buddhist teachers who teach in the United States, Canada and Europe. The experience of that week was so rich and transformative for me that I would like to write about it over the next few columns. You’ll get a good idea of what kinds of discussions teachers in the West are having about how to preserve, practice, and transmit the Buddha’s teachings. One afternoon of the conference was dedicated to exploring the balance of depth and breadth. A panel of well-known Buddhist teachers opened by looking at how to “preserve and adapt the Dharma in new conditions without losing depth.” I was asked to address the issue of breadth. I would like to share my remarks with you, here. ~*~

Sumi Loundon (in the middle) with two young teachers.

the traditional Buddhisms of Asia and Western spiritual

aspirations.

From

that

perspective,

it is astonishing that not just the spark of the Dharma was somehow translated from East to West but, if I could be so bold, the depth of Dharma was transmitted, as well. I don’t think we can underestimate the enormous challenge it was to take the deeply cultural Buddhisms of Asia and somehow make that accessible to the West. That was made

“Not long ago I was watching a film about the

possible by the outstretched hands of Asian teachers

Tibetan Book of the Dead with the Buddhist students

who themselves were thought of as modernizers

at Duke University, where I live and work. Much of

and reformers by their more traditional monastic

the documentary follows the story of the death of

peers and the curiosity and passion of Westerners

one Ladakhi village elder, his family, and the local

willing to plunge themselves into seeing what, in

lama’s progression through the rituals prescribed

this religion, could be useful to their spiritual path.

in the Book. At some point, I stepped into an anthropologist’s perspective, watching the film as

“I have long stood in awe at the courage of my

a cultural rather than spiritual exploration. And

teachers and others in the baby boom generation

it suddenly struck me how incredibly and utterly

[those born after WWII, from 1946 to 1964]. I try

foreign this practice is for those unfamiliar with

to remember that in their time Buddhism was far

Buddhism. If Evenz-Wentz hadn’t translated the

outside mainstream American culture and that

text into English 84 years ago, making these rituals

as they received profound teachings they had to

familiar to us today, we would find them, in truth, as

grapple with enormous cultural issues around

far removed from our cultural framework as that of,

authority, the place of women, power, hierarchy,

say, the Hindu practice of suttee [widow burning].

sexuality and more. In that regard, those of us born after the baby boomers should bear this in

“It was at that moment that I understood the

mind when we are critical of the elder generation’s

immense gulf that, fifty or so years ago, lay between

missteps,

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confusion,

and

incomplete

efforts.

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[Laughter.] And given that Buddhism came to the

back to Italy such that, if you’re in Rome today

West by way of monastics for the most part, is it

you just might come across the American chains

any wonder that the initial scope of Buddhism in

Domino’s Pizza or Pizza Hut. It might surprise you to

the West has been rather monastic-like, with the

hear that Buddhism is having it’s own Pizza Effect –

primary form of institutional expression being the

and I don’t mean this in a demeaning way. That is,

silent meditation retreat center?

the translations of Buddhism in the West are now being introduced back to Asia, and these exports

“So, after this initial great and stunning translation,

are having a noticeable impact on changing the way

what next? We are beginning to see a tremendous

Buddhism is done there.

diversification of models of teaching, of community, of styles of practice, of creative exploration, and

“A wonderful article was recently published by the

even of the conventional definition of Buddhism.

Korean monk Haemin Sunim, a professor of Buddhist

Both the first generation as well as those of us

Studies at Hampshire College.

following in their footsteps are carrying out these explorations. Today there are those of us working

“The title is: Countercurrents from the West: “Blue-

with prisoners, the dying, the homeless, on suicide

Eyed” Zen Masters, Vipassanā Meditation, and Buddhist

hotlines, with refugees, with marginalized groups

Psychotherapy in Contemporary Korea1

in other countries; teaching in the medical world, in public schools, at yoga centers, in universities,

“And here’s what his abstract says:

with corporations, in the tech world; and creating connections between Buddhist teachings and the

One surprising and yet relatively unknown

environment, social justice, art, music, pop culture,

aspect of contemporary Korean Buddhism is the

alcoholism, eating disorders, Christianity, social

significant influence of American and European

media, and of course, motorcycle maintenance

Buddhism.

[refers to a popular book from the 1970s, Zen and the

Koreans witnessed well-educated “blue-eyed”

Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]. [Laughter.]

monastic residents via the Korean media, and

Between 1989 and 2009, South

the emergence of new bestsellers by authors “In the preconference meeting a few days ago, the

like Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield,

younger generation of teachers presented three

written initially for Western audiences but

statements to the older generation. One of these

since translated into Korean. The new teachings

expresses beautifully, I think, what’s to come:

from the West have inspired a sudden growth of interest in vipassanā meditation as an

And in the spirit of gratitude and responsibility,

“alternative” to Kanhwa Sŏn practice, and the

and following in your pioneering spirit, we will

emergence of a new academic field: Buddhist

transform the Dharma. In outward expression

psychotherapy. This new wave of transnational

the way we teach may not look like yours; yet we

influence from the West has changed not only

will be continually working in our teaching to

the way Koreans practice Buddhism but also how

honor the deepest truth of the Buddhadharma.

they perceive Buddhist history and their own identities. In addition, the perceived “prestige”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of the term “the Pizza

of Buddhism in the West has provided a new

Effect.” For those of you in academia, it’s more

rhetorical strategy to defend Buddhism against

properly known as the “hermeneutical feedback

other religions, particularly Korean evangelical

loop.” The idea here is that somehow Italian cuisine

Christianity.

was reinterpreted by Americans and then exported TFQUFNCFS!3122!FBTUFSO!IPSJ[PO!}!62

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“Fascinating, isn’t it? So when we think about the breadth of Buddhism in the West, we really now must think globally, that the work we’re doing here has far-reaching implications. And, I wouldn’t be surprised if twenty years from now a new form of

Korean-vipassana-psychotherapy

somehow

comes back to the shores of other countries. We are entering a whole new era in Buddhism, a new translation and transmission that offers promise and accessibility to a great diversity of people.” ~*~

Two Western and two Tibetan teachers

Sumi Loundon Kim is the chaplain for the Buddhist

Let me say that a number of people in the audience

Community at Duke University and ordained lay

were very surprised to hear that Buddhism in the

minister for Buddhist Families of Durham. She

West was having any sort of impact on Buddhism

has published two books on the path of young

in Asia. One female scholar of Korean Buddhism

Buddhists in the West: Blue Jean Buddha (2001) and

at the conference, however, noted my abundant

The Buddha’s Apprentices (2005), among other articles

enthusiasm and offered an additional perspective,

and chapters. After receiving a master’s degree in

which Haemin Sunim agrees with. First, that

Buddhist studies and Sanskrit from the Harvard

Korean Buddhism continues to change on its own,

Divinity School, she was the associate director for

regardless of what’s happening in the West. Second,

the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre,

that Buddhism in the West affects some but not

Massachusetts. Originally raised in the Soto Zen

all of Korean Buddhism and I should not mistake

tradition, she has been following the Theravada/

the article as saying this (it doesn’t). Nonetheless,

vipassana lineage for the past 20 years. Sumi and her

Haemin Sunim’s article reminded us here in the

husband, a native of Korea and professor, have two

West that we should keep a global perspective in

children, ages 3 and 5, and live in Durham, NC. EH

mind and not assume we are doing what we do in isolation.

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The wisdom of kindness of

Ani Tenzin Palmo by Vasana Chinvarakorn

espite spending most of her life pursuing enlightenment, Ani Tenzin

Palmo, one of the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, gives remarkably straightforward advice This scene could be a projection of the mind - a cut from an on-going movie that has been recycled again and again. But to have Ani Tenzin Palmo playing a role in it, with an immaculately clean kitchen filled with nuns and lay women at Suan Mokkh forest monastery as the setting, makes this a scenario no film director could have conceived or even dreamed of. And yet here she is, sitting snugly on a plastic chair, chatting, gesturing and laughing her hearty, joyous laugh. Although there are differences in language and robe color of the “cast”, the 63-yearold Tibetan Buddhist nun seems to be mingling well with her new Thai friends. This is not surprising given these friends share Tenzin Palmo’s gender and, more importantly, her aspiration to attain enlightenment - if not in this lifetime then in one of the numerous sequels they believe are likely follow. That’s exactly the message that the venerable bhikkuni (female monk) repeated throughout her recent whirl-wind tour of Thailand. “Don’t waste your time,” she urged the different groups she spoke to, be they Thais Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, HP, India, set up by Tenzin Palmo

or foreigners meditating at Suan Mokkh - business people in Bangkok, Mae Chi students at Mahapajapati Buddhist College for nuns in Nakhon Ratchasima or the general public at retreats held in Nakhon Nayok and Chiang Mai. To all she stressed the importance of nurturing a constant state of mindfulness. “Don’t waste your human birth, for if you do, the opportunity may not come again for many, many lifetimes. “When I discovered the Buddha-dharma through a course [which was] actually on Thai Buddhism, when I was 18, I recognized immediately that this is the only thing in the world that is important. Therefore, I decided I should try to lead a life that would not distract me from the main point of Buddha-dharma: To attain enlightenment as much as one can in one’s lifetime in order to benefit others, because what else could matter?”

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three in strict isolation, she led a rugged, precarious existence surviving on basic foods in the sparsest conditions while enduring the extreme weather of the Himalayas. Now, in the dimmed light of the kitchen at Suan Mokkh, such a legendary feat seems a lifetime away. But is it really? The topics of Tenzin Palmo’s chats with the nuns and upasikas (lay practitioners) here During her visit to Suan Mokkh forest monastery after a gap of 40 years, the venerable `bhikkuni’ gave a dharma lecture to the monks and lay public. She was offered a prestigious seat once occupied by the late founder of the monastery, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. Also present was Ajahn Pho, the monastery’s current abbot. Tenzin Palmo has lived her life in pursuit of what she now teaches. In 1964, aged 20, she left her home in London to undertake a spiritual journey in India. A year later, shortly after meeting her Tibetan guru, the late eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche, Tenzin Palmo was ordained as a novice. (She received full bhikkuni ordination in 1973.) In the following years she diligently studied both Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and the myriad rituals and meditation techniques of Vajrayana Buddhism. At one time, she was the only nun practicing at a temple of 100 monks. Her journey has been far from easy. Cave in the Snow, Tenzin Palmo’s biography, written by journalist Vicki Mackenzie, details the patriarchal atmosphere within the Tibetan monastic community (a situation found in many Buddhist countries). In 1970, she received permission from her guru to move to another temple in the Himalayan valley of Lahaul. After spending six years at that snow-bound land, Tenzin Palmo took a radical step on her quest for enlightenment: She began a solitary retreat in a cave 4,000 meters above sea level. For 12 years, the final

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range from Hollywood movies like Groundhog Day (she thinks it’s a very Buddhist film) and The Matrix (much too violent), to how to achieve a balance between spiritual retreats and community work and whether living in a cave really helps get rid of one’s ego. Tenzin Palmo’s serene, light-hearted persona belies her incredible internal strength. Despite her frail health and the packed schedule of her recent visit - almost every day she had to travel, give dharma lectures and answer difficult questions on spirituality - Tenzin Palmo maintains her lucid sharpness. And her immense kindness also. Every now and then, when she senses anguish or a need for solace, she approaches one of the women she’s chatting with and gives them a bear hug. This motherly embrace is the manifestation of kalayanamitta (true friendship). “That’s why you need a female monk,” she says after hugging a woman in tears. “Because [male] monks can’t do that.” This casual giving of love is mixed with an indescribable sense of non-attachment, an awareness of space that enables Tenzin Palmo to accommodate others but never cling to them. During her lecture at Suan Mokkh (where she was offered the prestigious speaker’s seat once occupied by the monastery’s late founder, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu), Tenzin Palmo told a story about her mother’s love as an example of a love that does not bind.

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movie, we can still enjoy it, but we don’t have to take it so seriously.” The cultivation of mindfulness, she says, can enable us to see “through” the rapid movement of those “frames of thought”. Once we master this practice, the “mind moments” will become remarkably slower, slow enough for us to catch the gaps between each frame. “When I was 19 years old, I wanted to go to India

And what lies beneath the illusory “truth” of the

to find a spiritual teacher. Finally, I got an invitation

mind? Tenzin Palmo describes the presence of the

letter. I remember running along the road to meet

true, original mind (“Buddha nature”) as the sky

my mother as she was coming from work and saying

stripped of clouds or a mirror without dirt. Something

to her ‘I’m going to India!’ And she replied ‘Oh yes

clear, luminous, and infinite. “It’s always there, it

dear, when are you leaving?’ Because she loved me,

belongs to everybody. There is no ‘I’, no centre.”

she was happy for me to leave her.” She went on to explain the moral of the story. “We mistake love

But for most of us most of the time, we are trapped

and attachment. We think they are the same thing,

in our relative mind. A mind that “naturally makes a

but actually, they are opposites. Love is ‘I want you

division between the thinker and everyone outside

to be happy.’ Attachment is ‘I want you to make me

the thinker. That thinks in terms of past, present and

happy.”’

future.

Tenzin Palmo’s dharma talks are simple yet moving

“The point is to get some glimpses of the clear blue

because every word she says is tinged with sincerity.

sky behind the clouds or the mirror beneath the dirt.

As she speaks, her words seem to spring from within

So even though there’s thick layers of clouds or dirt,

through a process as natural as breathing. In a way

you know that it’s not the real thing and that there’s

she is like a tree, sucking in pollution and harm and

something beyond that.

releasing it as positive energy. “When we are completely in this state of naked How does she maintain this crisp state of awareness?

primordial awareness all the time, 24 hours a day,

To be “in” but not “of” the world? One analogy Tenzin

whether we are awake or asleep, we become Buddha.

Palmo often uses is to compare one’s existence

Until then, we are still on the path.”

to a movie. Most people let themselves become completely immersed in the drama that is their life.

But do we all have to cocoon ourselves in a cave in

But if you take a step back, you can see a completely

order to seek enlightenment? From her experience,

different picture.

Tenzin Palmo describes intense solitary retreat as a “a pressure cooker. It gives you the chance to

“What you’ve got, really, is just a projector of light

really look inwards.” But, if the practitioner becomes

and in front of that light are little transparent frames

addicted to the quiet atmosphere or thinks they have

that are moving very, very fast. And that projects

become superior to others, then “the practice has

what looks like reality. When we see that it’s just a

gone wrong”, she says.

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starting a nunnery (see sidebar), the priest straight

Non-Sectarian Buddhist Practices At Songdhamma Kalyani Monastery

away recommended the second option.

by Lai Suat Yan

In serenity there is liveliness _ Tibetan Buddhist nun Tenzin Palmo stresses that the true, original nature

of the mind is `luminous, vast and cognitive’. The

Associate Professor Chatsumarn Kabilsingh at

realization of this truth, she says, will enlighten one

Thammasat University. She obtained her B.A.

to the interconnectedness of life and to the value of

with Honors in Philosophy from India and M.A.

putting others before oneself.

in Religion from McMaster University, Canada.

For Tenzin Palmo, true dharma is found in daily life. It is the ability to “be here and now and put others before oneself. This helps us to overcome our innate selfishness and our innate concern with only me, me, me.” One story she often shares tells of an invaluable piece of advice she received from a Catholic priest. Asked if he thought Tenzin Palmo should resume her retreat or undertake the far more formidable task of

enerable Dhammananda was formerly

Her Ph.D. thesis was on “A Comparative Study of “He said we are like rough pieces of wood. If we rub

the Bhikkhuni Patimokkha”. She has published

ourselves with silk or velvet, it may be nice, but it

over 80 works most notably Thai Woman in

won’t make us smooth. To become smooth, we need

Buddhism. In addition, her translation of the

sandpaper.”

Lotus Sutra and Freedom in Exile, an autobiography of H.H. the Dalai Lama, makes these works

Minutes pass into hours. At some point, Tenzin

accessible to the Thai public. Having taught

Palmo closed her eyes while still sitting in the same

for around 30 years including three years in

plastic chair. It has been an exhaustingly long day

Canada she opted for early retirement to lead

for her. But is the venerable monk sleeping? Or is

the monastic life. As Venerable Dhammananda,

she meditating like she did for most of her time

she creates “herstory” by becoming the first

in the mountains 20 years ago? The two frames

Thai woman in this century to be ordained

of possibility almost merge, almost transcend the

as a bhikkhuni in the Theravada Buddhist

boundaries of space and time. Which is real? And

tradition. She was ordained as a sramaneri in

which is just a projection from the perpetually rolling

2001 and a bhikkhuni in 2003 in Sri Lanka. Her

film of the mind?

knowledge of Buddhism, courage and faith in the Buddha’s wisdom that women too can attain

Source: Outlook, Bangkok Post. Sunday January 28,

enlightenment enables her to pave the way for

2007 EH

other Thai women to follow suit in claiming the Buddha’s bequest of ordination to women.

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The author as a Samaneri in monastery

While Venerable Dhammananda was speaking at the

in bringing about the completion of the four-fold

Buddhist Gem Fellowship in Petaling Jaya a few years

Buddhists.

ago, Lai Suat Yan was inspired by her to pursue her Ph.D in the field of women and religion. The interview

What is the difference between what you are

below is part of her fieldwork and edited from a series

doing from the present male Sangha?

of interviews with the Venerable at the monastery during the July-October 2006 rainy season retreat.

We are doing exactly the same thing. However, the

The interview illustrates the non-sectarian Buddhist

fact that we are women means we can handle many

practice at Songdhamma Kalyani Monastery. A special

social problems that are not appropriate for monks,

note of thanks to Benny Liow for connecting us.

for example, educating girls. When you see monks conducting a Sunday class, he can go to at boy and

What is the significance of having bhikkhunis

hold his hands but he cannot do that with girls. We are

or female monks?

also in a much better position to express our concern as socially engaged Buddhists to handle social issues

The Buddha established Buddhism by entrusting the

such as prostitution, battery of women and issues

responsibility on the four-fold Buddhists, namely, the

affecting underprivileged women.

bhikkhus (male monks), bhikkhunis (female monks), the upasaka (laymen) and upasika (laywomen). The

Engaged Buddhism is frequently associated

Buddha entrusted them to study his teaching, put

with

it into practice and be able to defend the teaching

Venerable please comment as to whether this

should anyone criticize it. I see it as our responsibility

concept exists in Theravada Buddhism?

purely

Mahayana

notion.

Can

to establish the Bhikkhuni Sangha as we never had one in Thailand since we have been a nation for the past

The term socially engaged Buddhism came from Thich

700 years. By establishing the Bhikkhuni Sangha we

Nhat Hanh who follows the Mahayana tradition. He

are expressing our respect and faith in the Buddha

is a great Mahayana monk from Vietnam who also

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Bhikkhuni Dhammananda leading the nuns on alms round in the morning

founded Plum Village in France for Buddhist practice.

Venerable is also taking bodhisattva vows?

Nonetheless, the spirit of engaged Buddhism is apparent in Buddhist history. After his enlightenment,

In my studies, I read only the Tripitaka, which is a

the Buddha did not live the life of a recluse. He

Theravada text. I see this spirit of engaged Buddhism

traveled widely to propagate his teachings so that the

in the Theravada text. Later on in my life as I have

populace can lead a happy life. When the Buddha sent

more exposure to the Mahayana tradition because of

out the first batch of 60 monks, he told them to go

traveling and meeting others, I find that not only the

in different directions and gave this instruction, â&#x20AC;&#x153;be

Mahayana but also the Vajyarana tradition have many

beneficial to yourself and be beneficial to othersâ&#x20AC;?. Our

good points that we can learn from and be supportive

monastery adopts this guideline. In whatever we do,

of each other. I never close my doors, if they are

we strike a balance between being beneficial to others

Buddhists I am willing to learn from them. Even if

and to ourselves. We do social work and care for the

they are not Buddhists, if they have something worth

welfare of society but at the same time also look into

learning, I say why not. I find among my best friends

our mental development and care for our own well-

Catholic nuns and I know a Hindu swami who gives

being. I am a Buddhist; what is best of Mahayana I do

these wonderful teachings. Let us not be Buddhists

not mind following, what is best of Theravada I am

in a way that we close our eyes to all the goodness of

keeping and what is best of Vajrayana I am taking.

others because all of us are sentient beings.

Therefore, let us be good Buddhists. We tend to

Similarly, we would like our monastery to be a

focus on being just Theravada forgetting that it only

gathering space for all women. I am not limiting

elaborates the type of Buddhists we are. When there is

the place to only Buddhist women. All women who

so much emphasis on being Theravada, Mahayana or

are interested in the religious path are welcomed

Vajyarana, we forget about Buddhism in the process. I

irrespective of their religious affiliation. As you

think we first have to be good Buddhists.

saw there were eight National Museum Volunteers who came on the 23rd last month. They are not

Personally,

what

inspired

engaged

Buddhists, but they live in Thailand and need to know

Buddhist practice; is it a combination of the

Thai culture and its people. Conflicts in the world,

Mahayana and Theravada traditions since

to a small or large degree, stem from people not

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your

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The second strand is Brahmanism that came with the Buddhism we adapted from Indian traders. For example, we pay respect to Brahma, Ganesh; all these are Hindu beliefs and practices that are integrated into Thai culture. While we see many Hindu Gods, the one that maintains its identity as a god in Thailand is Ganesh. Thais have never accepted other figures from Indian literature such as Rama and Sita as God. However, the Hindu God themselves have to go through the whole cycle of samsara. We have accepted Hindu Gods but transformed them with Buddhist understanding. On the Buddhist part, we know so little. We believe understanding each other. We open our monastery

in the basic concept of karma, â&#x20AC;&#x153;whatever we sow, so

as a space for all people to come. During the daytime

we reapâ&#x20AC;?. There is a positive and negative side to this

men can also come. We are willing to learn from

understanding of karma. The positive side is that Thai

others who are truly interested in religious issues and

people are not revengeful as they believe that you will

share with them whatever understanding, information

bear the result of the bad karma. The negative side

and materials that we have.

is that we tend to be negligent and not respectful of social justice as we always wait for karma to take its

What then are the common features or roots

own toll. This is a misinterpretation of the concept of

of the three traditions?

karma. With this concept of karma, we emphasize the practical side of merit making. All Buddhist people

The highest spiritual goal must be the same; that is

love merit making. When they say merit making it

nirvana. The concept of nirvana and no-self is one

can mean physical observance as you do not have to

and the same. They are two sides of the same coin.

reach into your pocket at all. You can give by doing,

This spiritual goal cuts across the three traditions.

for example, you are here taking eight precepts, there is already lots of merit in itself. Thai people are very

What about the distinctive character of Thai

ready to make merit by offering dana. When we go for

Buddhism?

alms round we receive more than we can consume. You will see at the coming kathina ceremony how

Thai Buddhism is a mixture of three strands

people are so ready to make offerings of material

intertwined together. One is animism, the belief

things. Sometimes this can get too much. Material

in spirits particularly spirits of the land. The word

giving should be balanced with spiritual practice or

rukhadeva refers to spirits or gods residing in trees. In

change within. The shortcoming of Thai Buddhists is

north Thailand, they pay respect to the grandmother

the lack of focus on change from within. In Thailand

and grandfather spirit of the paddy field before they

we do not talk about our spiritual goal and each one

start working to ensure a good yield. We also believe

of us practice on our own. As we do not share the

that in a mountain there is a god who presides and

spiritual goal, we become distracted and lost easily.

takes care of those who pay respect and make proper

Due to this situation, there are many social ills. If

offerings to them.

you understand only karma, merit making and the

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requirements without knowing what the goal is, you

Venerable’ life if we were to look at it from

will be reborn again. Therefore, you end up making all

when Venerable was a child to an adult?

this good merit to be reborn again. I know certain spiritual ingredients that go into It seems that their goal is to have better

this pot; one is Taoism. It talks about the simple

karma so that they will have a better next life.

life and reminds me not to do the extreme. Taoism also influences me to appreciate art, nature and art

The real essence of Buddhism is not to be born again.

through nature. It does not matter how long it is going

When we look back in history, the senior monks

to take for me to get there in Mahayana Buddhism as

previously said that because the concept of nibbana

the number of years could be immense since in the

is too abstract from people’s lives they might not

Mahayana Sutra a figure follows with forty-two zeros.

understand it. So, there is no focus on nirvana as

The number of lives is always immense; it does not

nobody understands it. Because it is not talked about,

matter as long as you are on track. It is not just about

people may not have an understanding of it. Even

reaching the end but the process of getting there is

for those who understand, they may lose track of it

also beneficial. The means also provides for that end.

because it is not their focus! They do not know why

Insight meditation in which Theravada tradition is

they have to make merit. What is the goal? That is

strong in is also helpful in my own life. When I have

why our message here is patipatti or practice. Practice

the understanding of insight meditation to see the

is to take a U-turn for ourselves. I often talk about the

nature of things I can let go of it much easier.

last moment before we die where we are completely alone and have to be mindful of our actions and

I see some Theravada practice and also

thoughts. We need to be accustomed to wholesome

Mahayana practice being observed at the

acts so that when this moment comes we will go in

temple, for example, observance of two

a good death. We have to acquaint spiritually with

meals a day, alms round and chanting in

something wholesome.

Pali and Thai in the morning and evening is Theravada and the Medicine Buddha is more

How does Venerable conceive the journey

of a Mahayana practice. Can Venerable

in Venerable’s personal practice in terms

please comment?

of the Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana tradition?

They are all Buddhist practice; I do not separate. I try to give the message that all are Buddhist practices

I am not separating them at all. Whatever works

even though my lineage as an ordained person is from

for me, whatever makes me feel great practicing

Theravada. In terms of teaching, I draw from the best

it, whatever makes it easier for me to lessen my

for the way it works. Observance of eating two meals

defilement, I take that practice. I do not say that oh,

a day is because of my ordination and yes, alms round

it is Mahayana before I touch it. I do not separate. Any

and chanting in the morning and evening are all

teaching that comes from the Buddha through this

Theravada. The Medicine Buddha is more Mahayana.

lineage or that lineage, I take all.

In Theravada Buddhism, they also have that but they do not call him by that name. They have this small

I understand that Venerable accepts all

Buddha image and when you shake it, you will know

of them in Venerable’s practice but does

that there is a small ball inside. It is called Phrakring,

Venerable see a more dominant influence in

Phrakring is a Medicine Buddha. And this Buddha is

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holding a medicine bottle but the Thai people do

look up my book. If somebody says something about

not call him Bhaisajyaguru which means medicine.

this, you can go and double check in the book. That

So, they have the concept but they do not make any

is the least I am trying to tell the female sangha here,

connection between the two.

that they must be fluent with Buddhist knowledge.

Venerable have taken the bodhisattva vows

What about things that Venerable have

and the concept of bodhisattva is associated

continued from the past, for example, your

with Mahayana.

mother is a healer and there is a Medicine Buddha here. Is that totally unrelated?

It is not Mahayana per se. The Buddha was a bodhisattva before he became the Buddha. Somehow,

They are not totally unrelated. People have always

when it comes to Thailand, we tend to limit it to the

been looking for help or spiritual assistance. I do not

previous lives of the Buddha. In Thai history there

want to project myself as being out there helping

are at least three kings who wished very clearly

them. It so happened that in my meditation I saw

that they would like to become a Buddha. So they

the Medicine Buddha, seven years ago before my

were bodhisattva first. They were King Lithai from

ordination. I thought maybe this is given to me as

the Sukhothai period; King Boromtrilokanat from

my mission. Once the Medicine Buddha shrine is

the Ayudhaya period and King Thaksin from the

completed, there will be a service to heal people once

Thonburi period. As they were kings, people did not

a week on Sunday. Of course there are requirements

mind. If ordinary people said they want to become a

for those who want to attend. Firstly, they have to

bodhisattva, people would kind of look at you. But the

take 8 precepts. Secondly, they must know how to give

idea is there.

life. This is only logical since they are ill and asking for life. If you cannot give life, we cannot give you

If we look at the “herstory” of this monastery

service.

from Venerable mother’s time to the present what remains the same and what has

What is the progress of the project?

changed? In 1994 during my meditation, I suddenly saw this Venerable grandmother did lots of social work and

big huge Buddha. The setting is Chinese because

I cannot compete with her. My question is how we

I saw Chinese characters on the cliff. It was like a

can help person so that she can work on her own

valley. In this valley there is this big huge Medicine

without me having to feed her every time. This

Buddha carved out of stone. As he sat cross-legged,

is one of the major differences between us. Not

people could walk through his right knee. I see the

having a female sangha is a shortcoming and I see it

door entrance through his right knee. On the cliffs,

as my responsibility to establish what is not there.

there were some Chinese characters. I understood

Venerable Grandma was very good with her divine

that those characters were the names of people who

eyes and she could see through you. She was a healer.

donated to build this big Buddha. The imprint was

I have not been far in that area. Nevertheless, my

very strong and has always been with me so when I

spiritual path is well-established and I am not shaken

became ordained I thought about it. In the beginning,

by that. I provide society with academic support for

I was thinking of carved stone but this is not possible.

the establishment of the Bhikkhuni Sangha in the

You have to carve out of a rock and transportation

Theravada tradition. Even after I am gone, others can

is impossible. I was concerned with making the face

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just like the one I saw. I look through those made from

you likeâ&#x20AC;?. I asked him how many years it would take

cement like what we usually do in Thailand but there

me to finish this vihara. He gave me seven small white

is not one good-looking Buddha image. Then I thought

conch shells and asked me to make a wish. Then I

about casted brass because Thailand is supposed to be

throw it in a dish and three of them turned up and

the best in the world with casting brass in a whole

four down. He said it would take me three years.

piece. I went to talk to this artist and he said he could make one for me from knee to knee (measurement for

You

started

around

two

years

ago

making Buddha in Thailand, which means 2.7 meters

hopefully it will be completed in 2007?

tall. He started working on a wax model for almost a year until we were happy with it. As it was wax, we

It will be completed for the centenary of Venerable

could correct it anyway we like until we were satisfied.

Grandma. We planned to celebrate, not only the

Then we ordered for it to be casted. We spent 700,000

vihara but the renewal of the whole temple. We

baht on the brass. For the second pouring, they

comfortably have another year plus to finish it. The

turned the Buddha image upside down. Firstly, there

details of the building, it takes time, what to do with

must be clay inside and then they cover it with wax. It

the windows, what to do with the floor. However, we

is hollow. Wax gives you the perfect shape and when

aim to have it completed by 6th April, 2008.(It turned

you are okay with the wax model, they cover it with

out as planned)

a big plaster to hold the wax in place. Then they turn the Buddha image upside down and pour the melted

What is the purpose behind the building of the

brass in it to take up the space of the melted wax. The

shrine, is it for healing those who come since

second pouring was 32 bah of gold just around the

it is the Medicine Buddha?

face and eyes and it cost 384,000 baht (1 bah of gold cost 12,000 baht). Then we pasted gold leaf. The body

It is the use of skillful means. We start with healing

of the Buddha image is sprayed with metallic blue and

because people are sick and only when they are sick

the civara is gold. It was very interesting that they

physically, they look for help. They seldom look for

lifted the Medicine Buddha with a crane. In the olden

help when they are spiritually sick. This physical

days, you would say he flew in but we lifted him up by

sickness is an excuse for us to tap into their spiritual

the crane and placed him down at exactly 9:00 am. We

illness. The Medicine Buddha or Bhaisajyaguru said

could not finish the vihara first. Otherwise, we would

in his vows that he meant to help people spiritually.

not be able to put him in, as he is so big. He fills the

That is the underlying goal with physical illness as

inner hall. The outer hall would be for the audience.

the pretext. The spiritual healing should eventually

We have finished the foundation, so now we are

be able to help us to liberate ourselves from all

constructing the roof and the details.(the Vihara was

the defilements and clinging to greed, hatred and

inaugurated in 2008)

delusion. Eventually, we should be able to give up holding onto the concept of self. That is the true

How much more would you need to finish the project? It will cost around 5 million baht for the roof, the wall and the windows. While in Burma last year I saw a soothsayer. I asked him how much. He said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;no you are an ordained person, I cannot ask, give whatever

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message. EH

Eibsnb!Bgufsnbui

Dharma Aftermath by Rasika Quek

I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think The world seems to be a much angrier place than it used to be. Perhaps the all pervasiveness of the mainstream and social networking media appears to make it so. So bad news sells well. But why is it that something so “dark” can be appealing to us? Throughout history, the struggle of “good” against “evil” or “the oppressed” against the “oppressors” are the stuff where revolutions and wars spring from. Yet they solve nothing. The “equilibrium” which they attempt to achieve, where the state of evil or oppression is “eradicated” can only be temporary. Over time, there would be other forms of evil and oppression to be got rid off. And so the cycle is repeated again and again. And so the story of samsara remains pretty much the same, the need to get rid of wanton greed, corruption, stupidity, etc., the objects of our rage. For the majority of humanity, it has always been about doing something to fix what is out there (the external world) rather than doing something to fix what is within us (the inner world). It seems we never quite get it. In order to change anything, we first have to change or transform from within, at the personal level. Only then will the change or transformation be long-lasting. We are so busy hurrying over things that we forget to take the time to reflect. I am not talking about meditation but rather the simple practice of pausing and reflecting over our own thoughts and actions throughout the day. Should I be caught in someone else’s drama? Should I continue to be so angry? Is there a better way than this? Will this bring me more peace or more drama? Is there a happier way to achieve the same result? And so on ..... When we do not pause and reflect often, we run the risk of speeding along life’s highway and losing our way, simply because we lose sight of the signs and milestones. When we refuse to be involved in other people’s drama, it does not mean that we do not care. We will do what is within our power, which includes the creation of strong mental intentions to effect the necessary change we want to see. We need not be rebel rousers just to show our solidarity with those we have sympathy or compassion for. If others want to be more expressive or vocal, it is their choice and right to do so. But for me, there is another choice. I make sure that every morning my thoughts of peace and love are sent out, immersing the streets of Kay El so that all will be well. I “pray” likewise for the whole world, that there would be peace and that all sentient beings would be happy and loving. I wish for clean air, clean water, and good earth so that all beings on Mother Earth would live happily and comfortably.

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Eibsnb!Bgufsnbui

The thoughts I radiate out to all the 10 directions are only powerful when my intentions and positive emotions converge with unity of purpose. I am twice “blessed” because to effect the change I want to see in the outer world, I first have to create the change in my own inner world. Which do you think is more superior - trying to change the outer world using anger over some perceived injustice or changing your perception of the outer world by changing your own inner perception? When we change our own inner world, we are cultivating virtues which are akin to developing mental “muscles”. When we resort to anger, we are merely strengthening a negative emotion and become trapped with the notion that “good” effects can come from a destructive emotion. An obvious wrong view! Enlightened beings such as Buddhas do not teach that “good” effects can come from “bad” causes. If we want good health and long life, we have to refrain from killing even small insects. If we want to have a pleasant appearance and many friends, we have to avoid venting our anger. It is a terrible misconception that to effect change and transformation in the world, we must bring ourselves to a lower level of consciousness, such as the state of anger. This would not be in keeping with the teachings of the great beings. During the time of the great sage Siddhatta, robbers and killers were transformed to harmless and peaceful men when they suddenly realized that all the vengeance and anger they vented solved nothing. Peace eluded them as the direction of their anger was still to the external world. But the moment they listened to the great sage, their own inner world was transformed. They realized the utter futility of blaming and hitting out at others because of their own unresolved inner turmoil. Anger is never justifiable. We are never angry for the reason we think. Anger is an emotion - an effect. We all know that thoughts have the potential to be causes. Imagine this, after getting angry (an effect), we try to justify the reasons for our anger with thoughts that someone harmed us, was cruel to us, etc. The real cause of that effect happened a long time ago but we conveniently look for a perceived cause to explain/justify our anger. That perceived cause could be anything, the dog, our neighbor, the Government, ad infinitum. There is no causal link between the perceived cause and the effect but in the moment of anger, we make that “connection.” We start believing that our anger is associated with present “causes” (circumstances) when actually the seeds of our anger were planted a long time ago. Even if we argued that our anger is due to an “actual” perceived cause occurring at the present, say an injustice, it is still unjustifiable. What started out as mere fleeting thoughts became “monsters” because we allowed them to fester and magnify. We took delight in exaggerating our thoughts to the extent they became toxic. We merely used anger to mask and fuel these harmful thoughts. Eventually, they may even manifest as actual physical events. And so the seeds of conflict are sown again and again. If there is only one thing I could do, I would wish for my fleeting thoughts to be “angels” rather than “monsters.” What I perceive has the power to determine my own reality and the world around me. EH Rasika Quek 7 Aug 2011

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Wesak International Film Festival (WIFF) 2011 Kuala Lumpur, June 2011

Sangha members from all traditions at the opening ceremony.

Dr. Ong See Yew, President of YBAM presenting his speech during the opening ceremony of WIFF.

Invocation by Sangha members.

Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting, Lay Advisor of YBAM presenting his opening remarks.

Presentation of souvenir to Guest of Honor, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting.

Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting officiating the opening of WIFF by beating the traditional Gong.