FROM THE EDITOR Chief Editor Willson Nicholas Writer Anthony Morgan Danry Lim Olivia Agatha Ong Zhi Huang Layout Designer Anthony Morgan Chan Zhen Yuan Foo Ching Yen Jeko Lonardo Olivia Agatha
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” This is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American philosopher in the mid-19th century. It was late at night when I could not sleep, surfing through Facebook and Instagram randomly when I saw this quote. It struck me, my mind. I was fascinated by how true it is. Flashback to the time when I was a high school student, I clearly remember that my life was so mundane. Woke up early, went to school and continued with tuition sessions, returned back home, and then called it a day. The cycle repeats everyday. Nothing special happened. It was just the days where you have to fulfill your responsibility as a student, and that is it. Things start to change when I get to enter university. There is that feeling of excitement and enthusiasm to be able to attend one of the best universities in the world with endless opportunities. The feeling that were long gone has finally come back again. I can say that university life has changed me in a way that I can see things in a better perspective, and I am always excited to see what will happen next. All this because of one thing: I take the decision to step out of my comfort zone, or as Ralph said, to experiment. Life is a journey. You will walk down on the paths that you have no idea where they lead to. What you can do is to predict where they lead to, and to take that path, to experiment, to confirm your prediction. Be bold, be brave.
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Therefore, in this edition of Prajna, I introduce to you “Life: A Journey”. The Publication Team has prepared amazing contents that will hopefully be relatable to “your journey”, and along the way, I hope that you will also learn a thing or two about Buddhism, and how principles of Buddhism can be applied to your daily life. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the magazine!
contents 5 Messages Messages from Patron, Spiritual Advisor, Alumni, and President 11
History of NTUBS
13 Photos 35th NTUBS Committee Members 17 Article Stress and Anxiety: How Mind Can Heal Yourself 21 Interview An Interview with Dr. Ng Wai Chong 24 Article Is Wishing to Look Beautiful Wrong? 25 Article Happiness, Where Are You? 27 Poem Boy Meets Girl 29
Fun Stuffs Dharma the Cat & Buddha Side Story
31 Article Death 35
Chinese Article 你微笑了吗？
36 Photos NTUBS Past Events
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NTUBS would like to convey our heartfelt appreciation to all sponsors for their kind donations. It is with your generous support that NTUBS is able to continue spreading the Buddha’s teaching and sowing the seeds of virtue in NTU. Sadhu!
LEONG HWA MONASTERY LIAN SHAN SHUANG LIN MONASTERY AMITABHA BUDDHIST CENTRE KWAN IM THONG HOOD CHO TEMPLE BUDDHIST RESEARCH SOCIETY MR. CHUA GEOK ENG KUANG CHEE TNG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION THE BUDDHA VOYAGE SOCIETY THE DHARMA CAKRA SOCIETY 4
SAN CAO GEN SINGAPORE BUDDHIST YOUTH MISSION CHARITABLE ASSISTANCE SOCIETY FOO HAI CH’AN MONASTERY EVERGREEN BUDDHIST CULTURE SERVICE PTE LTD MANGALA VIHARA KONG MENG SAN PHOR KARK SEE MONSTERY SIM SWEE HIA SECK WAN CHIN PALELAI BUDDHIST TEMPLE FO GUANG SHAN
In the past, I used to regret my speech and action as I dreaded offending people. I was also worried what people would think of me and talk adversely about me. My life was tense and unhappy. Upon reading the Bhaddekaratta Sutta, statements elaborating on fear and worry caught my eyes: “Do not regret the past. Do not worry the future. The past no longer is. The future has yet to come. Looking deeply at life as it is in the very here and now, the practitioners live in stability and freedom.” How could I live a carefree life here and now ? The Buddha said, “Mind is the forerunner”. He described the body as a cart and the mind as a cow. The cow pulls the cart. Our mind decides our thought as well as directs our speech and action. Right thought brings happiness as it keeps us away from greed, anger, arrogance, jealousy and suspicion which cause our wrong speech and action. Therefore, mind training on right thought is very important. Which right thought would help me in my speech and action? After the Buddha attained his enlightenment, he stood in front of the Bodhi tree, gazing at it for seven days in meditation to show his gratitude to the tree that provided him shelter as he was striving for enlightenment. To me, the Buddha did not take the Bodhi tree for granted. He appreciated it. This is the first teaching of the Buddha. I tell myself not to take things for granted. Due to my past life, I am lucky to own a human body. I can be what I am today is attributed to my parents for bringing me up, my teachers for imparting skills and knowledge to me, the community for providing me a liveable environment and all beings for contributing to my living in one way or another. I owe all gratitude. I decide to keep gratitude in my thought always, showing it in my speech and action to my family members, my domestic helper, my neighbours, my colleagues, friends, strangers, even someone I dislike.
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Waking up in the morning, I gave myself an appreciative smile for being still alive. I ask my body to practise gratitude together with me for good health and happiness. After stepping out my room, I smile and greet all at home. For breakfast, I am grateful to farmers, businessmen and my helper for providing me good food. On the way to work, I smile and greet everyone I meet, be he an acquaintance or a stranger. I render a helping hand to others when possible, such as pressing the button of a lift, holding a door for others, giving my seat on public transport or helping in picking up things dropped by others. I thank those who help me. I also give friends words of encouragement and hope when they face adversity. Every evening, I review and reflect on my thought, speech and action of the day to see what I can improve. Gradually, I find myself maintain a peaceful and happy mind – free from regret and worry.
The First Step in Your Life ta saw the four sights – an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a hermit. All this while, the prince had been living in his palaces and was unaware of the realities outside the palace walls. Prince Siddharta was surprised, confused and sad as he had never known that the problems of old age, sickness, and death could happen to anyone. He exclaimed, “A man searching for the true meaning of life should look for a solution.”
Life is a journey. This threadbare expression might sound familiar, but can it encompasses the whole meaning of “life”? In actual truth, there is no precise answer in defining “life” since everyone may have different perspective on “life”. The word “life” always reminds me of the question “what is my life purpose?” I wish that I can share with you the magic that leads me towards understanding my life purpose, but there are no special circumstances that make me realize it. A process is needed for me to explore the world, to understand them better, and to truly reflect on my inner self their significance in my life. Before I get too philosophical, allow me to clear some of your doubts by using a simple explanation, the famous life story of The Buddha. The Buddha, who was once Prince Siddharta, lived a luxurious and comfortable life as a youth. His father, King Suddhodana, wanted him to remain in the palace and inherit the kingdom instead of leaving the royal family to become an ascetic. Thus, the king always entertained the prince so that palace life would appear enjoyable for the prince. One day, the prince begged for his father’s permission to explore places outside the palace. Throughout the journey, Prince Siddhar-
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These four sights had given him a new insight to the meaning of life. They caused him to reflect on the problems of life and soon he was determined to find the truth and the solution. He knew that he could not find the truth by remaining in the palace, so he decided to renounce his position, leave the comfortable palace life, and lead the life of an ascetic to search for the solution to the problems of old age, sickness, and death. The decision was an important turning point in the life of the prince – the start of the 6-year journey in seeking the Truth, before he finally realized it and attained enlightenment. His realization is the foundation of Dhamma (Teachings of the Buddha), which is known as the Four Noble Truth. The story depicts a very important life lesson, that finding life purpose is a life-long journey. It is not something that is inherited and destined to always be ours, just like how the prince would prefer to be an ascetic instead of inheriting the kingdom. Life purpose is not something you need to create. You have to uncover it in order to create the life you want by exploring and discovering what does the world means to you. Although it seems from the story that the prince simply came to a decision after encountering the four sights, he constantly reflected on his inner self to truly actualize and understand the significance of the incidences to his life. The life journey of Prince Siddharta did not stop after he set his life purpose. Indeed, it was just the start of a new chapter for his life, the start of his journey in striving for the goals and ultimately in achieving the life purpose. Without a life purpose as the compass to guide you, your goals and action plans may not fulfill you ultimately. To conclude, bear in mind of the saying “when you are at the start of your path, your destination matters the most, but when you are at the end of your path, your journey matters the most”.
A common request by students is to learn how to apply the Dharma in their daily lives. This is heartening and reflects the pragmatic approach of Singaporeans. If it is as good as it claims, it better work in my life. While wanting to apply Dharma in our daily lives is great, some are unwilling or impatient to go through the process of learning Dharma. They want to quickly learn to apply it without learning what it is first. It is like wanting to apply mathematics in life without taking the time to know or understand what mathematics is at the first place. Then there are those who wants to be able to understand it all at the get go. Why are we ready to spend hours, days and years mastering a field of study, a sport, a hobby, but wish or demand the way to enlightenment to be spontaneous and instantaneous? There’s a sequence of cultivating wisdom in Buddhism, namely: Hearing. Hearing is termed the first stage, as this is the first exposure to the concept or principle. It reflects the oral tradition of learning prevalent in the Buddha’s time 2600+ years ago. Today, it would include learning through various forms of media, such as reading a book, a blog, listening to a podcast, a video on YouTube, etc. From ‘hearing’, we gain an idea of what the principle is. A crucial aspect of this stage is retention. If we hear something and shortly after, forget about it, then it is as though we have not heard of it. To develop this into knowledge, we need to remember it. Sometimes, we receive request to learn in a ‘collaborative’ way, to have discussions and skip the ‘lecture’ part of learning. Is it truly possible to figure things out simply by discussion without prior knowledge of some fundamentals or principles? If we try to understand something without having any knowledge of it, what exactly are we understanding? So ‘hearing’ and remembering leads to knowledge which forms the basis for the second stage. Contemplation. After gaining knowledge of something, we need to contemplate on it, to pour through its details in our mind, to ponder over it
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figure it out. To understand it. We may even have a discussion with others on what we know (from stage one) and what we understand of it. Through contemplation on our own or discussion with others, we develop our knowledge into an understanding, leading to the next stage. In Buddhism, it is insufficient to merely conceptualise or theorise the teachings. We need to also cultivate accordingly and to verify it. The teachings of the Buddha comprises two broad aspects, Dharma and Vinaya. Dharma refers to the teachings and Vinaya, the precepts. Within Dharma and Vinaya, we can group them into Principles and Practices. Principles refer to principles of the practices and principles of reality. Practices refers to the actual steps to be undertaken, such as the three stages of Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom. For each of these three stages of cultivation, we apply the three stages of hearing, contemplation and cultivation. For example, we first hear of the precepts, the undertaking of training rule to abstain from kill-
ing. We hear about the way to observe it, its support and the fruits of observing it. We hear of the way one transgresses, its support and the fruits of transgressing it. Hearing it and retaining it, we know about it but we may not fully comprehend why it is so. If we observe the precepts at this stage, it is out of faith that we do it. This is not ideal, but serves as a start. Through contemplation on our own and discussion with our friends and teachers, we have an understanding of it. With an understanding of it, we become more convinced why observing such and such precepts is the compassionate thing to do and meaningful way of life. Then as we observe the precepts in our life, we verify the process and consequences of observing or transgressing the precepts as described in the teachings and understood by us through contemplation. Seeing it for ourselves, then we are affirmed in our knowledge and understanding. The same goes for concentration via samatha meditation. Samatha is the meditative techniques that still and quieten our mind. We first hear of the way to meditate and the fruits of meditation. We learn of the supporting conditions for us to meditate, develop quietude and calmness in our mind. We also learn of the counter conditions that obstruct such cultivation. When people just dive in and meditate without any understanding, we may have doubts. And with doubts, we may unconsciously put in only half-hearted effort, resulting in a failure, forming a vicious cycle. Others may dive in without first having any knowledge or understanding. This is called blind cultivation. Instead, one need to put in the time and effort to learn from a proper teacher on the ways to meditate, to contemplate on it, discuss and to seek clarifications if we still do not understand. But all these learning is again, for naught if one does not put it to practice. Here, it means to actually meditate according to what we’ve learnt and understood from the teacher, and not through some methods we think up on our own. After meditating, we may have some observations and experiences that go beyond what we have learnt. We should then repeat stage 1 and 2, to ask
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the teacher about how to progress. In this way, we gradually develop competency and eventually mastery of concentration. While observing precepts purify our bodily and verbal actions, the practice of samatha-meditation purifies the mind. It frees the mind of discursive thoughts and drowsiness, sensual desire and hatred ill-will, albeit temporarily. With the power of Jhana, the five hindrances are suppressed. With the mind purified in this way, one can then observe and see the reality of the body and mind, material and mental processes. And in so doing, we verify the knowledge we have heard and the understanding from our contemplation. When we have our first glimpse of how the mind and body arising and existing due to conditions with no permanent unchanging entity that persist, we see clearly for ourselves that the resultant notion of a self, an identity that persist actually do not exist. We directly see through sakaya-ditthi, we verify the absence of a self. #1 In this way, view is purified. Whatever doubt we may have in the Buddha, the Dharma (teachings) is removed. More correctly, the doubts that used to be present, do not arise anymore. Doubts that there is such a thing as enlightenment also ceases as we ourselves has attained first fruit. There is no more doubt in the Sangha. As we consider the path we have taken, we see clearly the path that worked, the impediments and defilements removed consequently. No more doubts in the precepts and practices arise. We also see how peripheral practices are just that. Peripheral and non-essential. We no longer cling onto or get caught up with rituals, rites and practices that do not lead to the awakening of truth. Collectively, this is the removal of the three lower fetters, sakaya-ditthi, doubt. First fruit, sotapanna has been attained. One has entered the stream, and would attain Nirvana in at most seven future rebirths as a human. Congratulations!
References 1. Ten Fetters - https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka an/an10/an10.013.than.html 2. One in Training - https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipita ka/an/an03/an03.086.than.html 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
Journey of my working life is sweet and sour. After 21 years of teaching, I begin to reflect upon my journey. I am grateful that I have the Triple Gems - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to support and guide me all these years. With the understanding of Karma, I learn to be thankful and appreciative. So what are the sweet and sour along the journey? Most of my friends only see the sweet sides of my journey through my post in facebook and instagram, hardly do they see the sour side, except for those who are in the teaching. As we are living in the samsara world, there bound to be happiness and suffering. The Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha have shown us what is sufferings, reason of sufferings, end of sufferings and path to end the sufferings. Everyday in work, I am facing challenges in work just like all of you. I have students who are ill disciplined, emotional unstable, hyperactive, not motivated and more. I have demanding supervisor who expected me to be role model, efficient and effective. I have supervisees who are not committed, competent and cooperative. Whenever I faced all these situations, I will try to generate a lot of metta (loving kindness). Sometimes, I really felt helpless and down, and I will be very quiet and withdraw from people. This method does help me to have time and space to reflect and re-charge. Travel is my best way to recharge. I usually travel alone which allow me to have time to rest and reflect. Through reflection and contemplation, I accepted all things are subjected to cause and effect. When you want to have good effect, you must cultivate good action. I always remind myself what I have sowed, I may not see the result. I have understood only when the right conditions took place, then will I see the result. The sweetest of my work is to see my students grow and live happily which is the fruit of my cultivation. I have been keeping in contact with my students from my very first batch till the most recent. Over the years, I have so many batches that sometime I also forget which batch they are from. There is a Chinese idiom, “It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a
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man�. My deepest heart-warming memory is my first batch of students gave me a treat because they have received their very first annual bonus after working for a year. This really caught me by surprise and it has left me with the sweetest moment. There are also sweet moments in my daily work, not sour every day. I have students who always want to make me smile or laugh out loud, but most of the time failed. I have students who listen to advice and make progress. I have good colleagues who care for each other, go for buffet and tour together, most importantly support each other at work. I have good Vice Principals and Principal who really guide me over the years, take times to share with me and advise me along the way. They are the one whom I am very grateful to in my career. These are all the sweetness in my work that has kept me going these years. Sweet and sour is part of our encounter in our daily life, or in term of Dharma it is the suffering and happiness. I will always remind myself to practice and verify the Dharma that I have learnt as much as possible.
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1982 1983 NTIBS officially gazetted by ROS.
1985 A bodhi tree sapling was planted outside Nanyang House by Mr. Yeo Choo Kok. NTIBS was voted best society in a survey conducted by the Department of Student Affairs (presently SAO).
NTIBS Magazine renamed to “Prajna� as suggested by Ven. XiaoYun.
Pro tempore committee for NTIBS was formed with 13 members.
1984 The first annual magazine NTI Buddhist Society Magazine was published.
1987/88 Prajna stopped publishing due to financial constraint.
1989 1st major reorganisation of the Management Committee structure.
1991 NTIBS was renamed Nanyang Technological University Buddhist Society in EOGM following the change of NTI to NTU.
1994 FOC, combined with Youth Camp was renamed Camp Nirvana. Bro. Kenneth Phua designed the leaping deer camp logo. NTUBS received National Youth Award from the late President Ong Teng Cheong. The first Compassion-In-Action was organised to raise fund for Ren Chi Hospital.
1993 The first BS Freshman Orientation Camp was organised by Bro. Lam Seng Yip. 2nd major reorganisation of the Management Committee structure. 1st Friends of NTUBS (FNTUBS) Committee was formed by 16 graduates and undergraduates.
H I S T O R Y
1996
FNTUBS was successfully registered as NTU Buddhist Society Alumni.
1998 The song “A Place Called Home” which was written for the 1996 Annual Dinner, was modified and later became the de facto BS song.
2000 NIEBS merge into NTUBS following NIE’s relocation to the Boon Lay campus.
Reopening of NTUBS Library.
2007
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Huge ceremony of 25th NTUBS Anniversary was held.
2010 Claimed the 1st Rank in Awaken Challenge for two consecutive years.
2013 v
Celebration of the 35th Anniversary of NTUBS, together with the 25th Anniversary of NTUBSA and 15th Anniversary of LBSCC, with the theme “Cherish the Past, Embrace the Future”
Claimed 1st Rank in Awaken Challenge, an Inter Buddhist Youth Competition. Public talk by Bhante Dhammika with a total of 200 participants.
First Buddhism Awareness Week was held with the theme, “Reflection: Mind, View, and Compassion”.
2018
Decision was made to remove Youth Camp from CNS permanently.
v
2011
3rd major reorganisation of the Management Committee structure.
2009 v
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O F N T U B S
2004
2003
Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of NTUBS, together with 20th Anniversary of NTUBSA and 10th Anniversary of LBSCC
Left to right: Danry, Willson, Andre, Donking, Ryan, Michelle, Zhi Huang, Elmer, Dedrick, Alene, Yan Da, Yi Wei, Willis, Erik, Jeffrey
MAIN COMMITTEE
The Main Committee, consisting of 4 coordinators, 3 solo fighters, and 8 portfolio directors, are the heart of NTUBS, ensuring the vision and mission of NTUBS into each of its activities.
Left to right: Marshall, Deryne, Danry, Jia Hui, Qi An, Jonathan, Zhi Huang Not in picture: Thomas
DHAMMA PROPAGATION TEAM Have you ever attended our Dharma Talk sessions, or maybe Meditation Class? Well, these people are the ones that have been organizing these dharma sessions and also Dhamma Camp! If you are curious or need discussions on dharma topics, feel free to approach them! 13
Left to right: Sri, Yi Wei, Qi Yun Not in picture: Benny
FELLOWSHIP TEAM
Presenting to you, the Fellowship Team, who have organized various events to ensure the fellowship, bonds and not to mention, providing spiritual and moral support to our members! Well, you know who to find now ;) Left to right: Jeko, Anthony, Olivia, Willson, Zhen Yuan, Zhi Huang Not in picture: Ching Yen
PUBLIC ATION TEAM Here’s the Publication Team, who have been pressing the shutter to preserve the memories of NTUBS, writing articles for our newly-launched newsletter, and of course, designing our annual magazine, Prajna. You are reading it! Left to right: Regina, Jun Hang, Kelvin, Chee Kai, Jeffrey, Eric, Wilson, Kevin
EVENTS TEAM
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For every event, there must be organizers, planning out the flow of each activities, looking into the details of everything, to ensure a successful event. Presenting to you, the Events Team!
Left to right: Daniel, Zhao Kuang, Alene, Kenny, Kelvin
METTA TEAM Ever heard of the term “metta”? Metta means loving kindness, and these lovely people are always spreading metta around to others! This year, the Metta Team organized Little Bodhi Outing to bring children to a very fun and exciting outing. Lovely isn’t it?
Left to right: Mellita, Felix, Cindy, Willis, Frederick, Albert
MARKETING TEAM Have you ever visited NTUBS’ website? Or our event posters around school and in social media? These are the people behind those beautiful website, posters, and also the design of the newly-launched newsletter. Not only that, they are also in charge of the branding of NTUBS and the annual Welcome Week! 15
Left to right: Jin Chung, Mei Ling, Andre, Yin Yi, Hon Lin Not in picture: Mun Pin
WELFARE TEAM Attended Exam Supper, anyone? We bet you all have! They are the ones who have cooked delicious food, prepared refreshments for every dharma classes and talks, and of course, ensuring the welfare of every of our members.
Left to right: Surya, Erik, Michelle, Elbert
RESOURCE TEAM Ever wondered who is in charge of our logistics? Well, presenting to you, the Resource Team, who have been taking a good care of the logistics to support every event of NTUBS. And do you know that NTUBS has a library? If you are keen to know more about Buddhism by reading books, feel free to approach them! 16
Stress and Anxiety: How Your Mind can Heal Yourself Written By: Willson Nicholas Assignments? Arghh.. Not Again! Too much work to do? Never-ending assignments? Feeling stressed? Anxiety attacks? These seem like very common situation we face in our daily lives. In fact, some people have now regarded stress and anxiety as the problems that they need to deal with almost everyday, until these things begin to look like their ‘staple food’ already. The expectations that the society and, more often than not, the expectations that your ownself, weigh on each of us have led to these seemingly insignificant problems grow on us each passing day, and this does not only apply to working adults; even students also face the same problems. As students, we are always burdened with the expectation to perform well both in academics and non-academics. A survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2017, where 76% of 5,825 primary level students in Singapore are worried, anxious of their examination results even if they are well-prepared. This survey has clearly shown that stress and anxiety have also invaded, or even, haunted students from primary level, and we will still continue facing it for almost the rest of our lives. That being said, appropriate stress level can actually be a motivating force to face challenges 17
that lie ahead waiting for us. However, if you let stress and anxiety grow on you every day, they will eventually evolved into something potentially very serious and problematic - depression, illness, anxiety disorder, and worst: acute mental disorder.
Mental Disorder? No, I Don’t Want That! Well, we heard you right. Of course, no one wants to experience mental disorder. However, we have to face the fact that the cause for depressions and mental disorders - stress and anxiety are nearly inevitable. The Buddha gave a good example on this in the Cula-dukkhakkhandha Sutta. “If the clansman gains no wealth while thus working & striving & making effort, he sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught: ‘My work is in vain, my efforts are fruitless!’ …… If the clansman gains wealth while thus working & striving &
making effort, he experiences pain & distress in protecting it: ‘How will neither kings nor thieves make off with my property, nor fire burn it, nor water sweep it away, nor hateful heirs make off with it?’”. In this context the clansman was stressed in both situations rich and poor, because on each condition the expectation is different. After fulfilling one expectation, another expectation arises, and hence, leading to disappointment, anger and stress when the next one is not achieved.
Well, let us restart and trace everything back. We discussed that stress and anxiety have been very common these days. Too much stress and anxiety can lead you to serious and problematic mental state. But, remember that we did mention that stress and anxiety can be caused by your expectation? In the example of the clansman, when he had achieved one expectation, another one arised. So, where did these expectations come from? Himself, his mind! And in this case, specifically it is a state of greed and clinging in your mind.
You might then be wondering: Is there any cure or solution to this? Well, there have been cases where people are unable to cope with such extreme level of stress until depression lead them to take their own life, believing that it is the only solution to eliminate stress. Obviously, we do not want you to think that way! And yes, there is actually a solution to deal with, but not eliminate, stress and anxiety. And, what is that? It is not pills of medicine, not gallons of alcohol nor herbal drinks, not drugs, obviously. Then what is it?
It’s Yourself, Your Mind! You might have guessed it from the title of this article: It’s your mind! I hope that you are not expecting some bombastic answer - if you are, I am so sorry to disappoint you. However, the next part will not leave you disappointed. Did something go across your mind when the answer is ‘your Mind!’? “Yes, why is it my mind? How come?”
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Now, you have understood that the root cause is in your mind. The next question is: what can we do with our mind to deal with stress and anxiety? The answer is pretty straightforward: relax and calm your mind, try to achieve a state of tranquility, and most importantly reflect on yourself.
Calm Your Mind Down Simple right? Calm your mind down, and from my experience it has been very effective. However, there is another problem: most
people find it very difficult to calm their mind down, especially in their busy and hectic schedule. Yes, it is totally understandable. However, that does not wipe out your chances of calming down your mind, right? After all, calming down your mind may not take a long time - it all depends on yourself.
Practice mindfulness
What is most important is how you take your first step towards calming your mind down, and continue doing it.
Label your thoughts
“But how? It’s easier said than done!”. Yes, it’s true, and that is why I will be sharing a few tips on how to help yourself calm your mind down: First thing first: Get a good sleep! Yes, the very first step is to have a good, enough sleep. Studies have shown that people are more likely to get stressed when they have less time to sleep. Moreover, lack of sleep can hinder our brain to think and focus properly. Immune system may also drop. To be able to calm your mind down, you need to have your brain and body be in a state that can ‘operate normally’. So, remember: have enough sleep, around 7-8 hours per day, and maintain a regular sleep schedule!
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To be able to calm your mind, you need to know the state of mind that you are in at that particular moment, meaning your thoughts at that particular moment. And this is the time that you need to be mindful: observe your thoughts. Whenever any thoughts come by, especially those that potentially make you feel stressed and anxious, observe them, know them, rather than reacting immediately to those thoughts. When you know that your thoughts are not worth reacting to, then you will easily relax, calm yourself down, and simply move on.
This is actually related to the previous point - practice mindfulness. When any thoughts arises, you are aware of it, mindful of it, and label the thoughts that you are feeling, rather than paying attention to the ‘content’ of that thought. When you notice that you are going to experience loss or failure, label that thought: worrying. When you notice that you are hitting on yourself too hard, label it: criticising. This will give you more awareness of your mental processes and gets you away from the literal content of your thought. Then again, consider whether they are worth your time. If not, calm your mind down, and move on. Breathe! Remember to catch your breath! This is one of the fastest way to help relax yourself. Take a long breath through your nose and breathe it out through your mouth. You’ll
Meditate Meditation is one of the most effective methods to calm your mind. Anyone can meditate. What matters is your will to start practicing meditation. Like any other things, practicing meditation will not be easy at the beginning. However, once you got a hold of it, then you will realise how helpful meditation can be. The beauty of meditation is that you can do it practically anytime, anywhere you want. How long? It’s totally up to you. If you have one-minute spare time to meditate, go ahead. You want it to be 30 minutes? No problem. There are many ways to meditate. You can go and surf the internet to find which methods suit you best. There are also several mobile apps that you can try
Lastly: Maintain a Positive Thinking Attitude This is also equally important: stay positive! After all you want to keep yourself away from stress and anxiety, right? Stay positive and you will have a happier, more cheerful and calmer version of yourself. However, this does not mean that you have to be hyped up all the time. Stay positive means that when something good happens to you, rejoice it. When something bad happens to you, do not take it negatively. Instead, observe, realise that this may be a result of your karma. If it is a problem that can be solved, then find a way out to solve it with a positive attitude. If not, then let it go, realise that this, and everything in this world is impermanent. This way, you will not get stressed or sad easily and have a better state of mind.
“ Anxiety is a thin stream of fear
trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all thoughts are drained. a
“
be surprised at how much more relax you are now! It seems like an inadequate way to calm yourself but it is actually recommended by scientists. The reason is scientifically complicated, but just remember this: when you feel stressed, breathe!
-Arthur Somers Roche-
to help you meditate. So, if you have never tried meditating, I really recommend you to try it out, and I believe you will experience the difference!
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And there are still many ways to calm your mind, but these 6 points above can be your starting point. When you have a better understanding how your own mind works, how does your mental processes run, you will be able to find ways that is unique to yourself to calm your mind down! And that’s it, how mind can heal yourself from stress and anxiety! Good luck trying and I wish you all the best!
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INTERVIEW WITH DR. NG WAI CHONG It was on a tuesday evening, Dr. Ng had just come back from one of his meditation retreats overseas. Despite his busy schedule, he made the time to meet me at one of the malls in Jurong area and had the interview session at the mall’s foodcourt. Indeed, it was quite noisy there, but it did not reduce the enthusiasm of dr. Ng answering each of my questions. Now, aren’t you curious on what dr. Ng has to say?
Hi! Good evening Dr. Ng. Before going on to specific questions, can you introduce more about yourself to the readers, especially your experience as a doctor and a Buddhist? Hi, I am Dr Ng. I am a medical doctor, I graduated from NUS Medical Faculty in 1993 and I am a registered family physician. I currently hold the position of Chief Clinical Affairs of a non-profit organization called Tsao Foundation which has been working hard to positively transform the experience of aging in Singapore for the last 25 years. I joined the Foundation in 2000, first as a volunteer doctor, and later I became a part timer. In 2001, I became a full-time staff as a doctor for homebound seniors, working in a team with nurses and social workers. So that is my day-job. In terms of my Buddhist ‘career’, my main engagement at the beginning was with the Medical Dharma Circle in NUS. Slowly over the years, I started to speak on the Dhamma to different Buddhist societies and organizations. But in terms of my breakthrough in the understanding, 1999 was important because that was my second meditation retreat. That was like a turning point for me. Subsequently, I went for more retreats mainly in Pa Auk Forest Meditation Centre in Mawlamyine and Brahma Vihari Meditation Centre in Pyin U Lwin, both in Myanmar. Since 2002, I have been a committee member of Cakkavala Meditation Centre. Briefly, that is my medical career and Buddhist career.
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So Doctor, the title of PRAJNA this year is “Life: A Journey”. Personally, how do you describe life? How do you define this life? This life of ours is a period of existence. It is a combination of five interdependent, but distinct, phenomena: material phenomena, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness that a living being clings on to, in a way, as a ‘life’. It begins as ‘birth’ and ends in ‘death’, only to recur again with a different ‘life’. Most Buddhist translators call them the Five Aggregates of Clinging in English. This is in fact the First Noble Truth, the Truth of Suffering. I need to explain further... During each existence - or life as we know it these five aggregates are sustained primarily by the kammic force to continue on. And during this existence, there is a bombardment of contact ‘hitting’ the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, and also the mind. Whatever the eye sees, thoughts are triggered, and thus the mind is also ‘hit’ frequently. This is the same when we taste or smell or hear or touch something. When there is contact, there are bound to be feelings. And the ‘Five Aggregates’ want to experience the pleasant feeling ONLY. In fact, all of us are born because we want to experience happy feeling, never mind if there are unhappy feelings in between. Once this happy feeling goes away, we want to experience yet another happy feeling. This motivation goes on and on. In order to do that, we need more ‘contact’, we want more and more out of life.
As we grow older in this life, we realize something amiss and become a bit more sensitive to the unhappy feelings. Then, perhaps with the right teacher and the right spiritual practice, you will start to understand that this happiness of sensual pleasure is very short-lived and unstable. This whole life is just chasing after happiness through the six sense doors. And what kinds of ‘contact’ we are hit with are not fully under our control. And then we will start to see that this existence is just like a cloud. Karma causes this to happen and the karma sustains the whole life span. And once we see this, you start to appreciate the Buddha’s Second Noble Truth. In order to be reborn in a good place, there must always be good kamma. And the intention, the motivation behind a good karma is always based on ignorance and craving. For example, because we want to have good food and love from family and friends in a harmonious society, we work. Sometimes we work with altruistic intentions, but sometimes it’s just work so that we don’t have to depend on others. Altruistic or not, work is good karma if we work respectfully, gratefully, harmlessly and mindfully. We keep precepts, we send metta (loving kindness) to our boss. These are good karmas, but for what? For our salary mainly. We are attached to your salary because we can exchange it for food, for medical treatment, for housing, comfort, nice holidays and security to ensure we have a whole life of continued access to pleasures. So that attachment is ignorance- and craving-related, but the work, the respect that we have for people, those are good karmas. Good karma supported by ignorance and craving causes us to have a new rebirth. A rebirth is ultimately helpless and tiresome. But because of good karma, you have a good rebirth in a good place. So this is life, in terms of the first two Noble Truths. Doctor, most of us, very soon will graduate, go into the workforce and some of us will even start a family soon. So according to you, what is the right way to live our life, based on your description of life just now? So even though ultimately this life is an episode of just five aggregates going through motions and emotions, in order to understand this, the
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mind needs to be very well cultivated. It has to be habitually grateful, respectful, humble, mindful, have a lot of love and compassion, very generous, very virtuous, very principled, do not want to break even a single precept (the Five Precepts are: not killing, not stealing, not committing sexual misconduct, not lying and not taking intoxicating substances like alcohol). In other words, we need a habit of wholesome mind. This is very important, otherwise you cannot see the real meaning of life like I described to you. In practice, if we work, we have to understand why we work and what kind of work is suitable. We work so that we do not have to steal or rob, so that we can have sensual pleasures, happiness, without breaking precepts. Work is also a training ground. At work we have to socialize with different people. Through them, we practice humility, respect, contentment, mindfulness, keeping precepts. We start to learn how to lead without being bossy, learn how to lead by following, by serving, and by being an example. We will also learn that people respect us more when we keep precepts, when we are humble, respectful of ourselves and others, kind and compassionate. If we have the right attitude, work will eventually polish our character. If we devote the whole life to polishing our character, our life becomes meaningful. The same goes for why we have a family, have children, care for our parents etc. We cannot deny that we need love and we need to learn how to give love with commitment and learn how to sacrifice our lives for others. Next question, Doctor. You have been active, as a doctor, in this successful aging program, and I believe this is something that can be started since we were young. So any advice for us, the youths, to have successful aging? Aging happens all the time. Some people think that you we die any moment, so they don’t prepare for aging. It is true that we can die any moment, but it is also true that we may die only after the age of 101! There is no certainty as to how long we will live. We need to be prepared for all scenarios.
To prepare for old age, we have 4+1 areas to consider. we need to consider health - how do we keep ourselves healthy as long as possible. We have to prevent diseases, to prevent accidental loss of lives and limbs. Health is one “Pillar” of successful aging. The second “Pillar” is security. Security in Singapore is much more about income security than crimes and wars, fortunately. We need to have a good income. After we have a good income, we need to have financial literacy and planning, clarity of our cashflows and assets. We need to save and budget our expenses, wisely manage our investment and insurance etc. The best income security is to work, I find. Investment is also important, but from my own experience the best is still work. The third “Pillar” is participation. Participation is about having a social life where we give and take love and care. Most of us need to have a close relationship, even intimate relationship, so a life partner and a family is needed. You need to have friends. Participation should go beyond just families and friends, such as our neighbourhoods, our community and our society, even the whole world. Find a cause that moves us, and work to improve the situation! The fourth “Pillar” is lifelong learning, learning different things. Because learning helps us continue to engage with the world. The world is not very friendly to people from an older generation. So, as we grow older, in order to have a friendly world, we need to always learn. When we learn, we are always youthful. So lifelong learning is crucial, and the world is always accessible to an avid learner. We will not marginalized if we love to learn. The fifth “Pillar” is the extension of the fourth “Pillar”, which is growth in a spiritual way. It is about finding the answer to the questions related to why we live, what is the purpose of life and why is the world like this. In order to know these “why” questions, you need to have the wisdom sharp enough to penetrate life. In order to have a sharp wisdom to penetrate life, you need to have a deep concentration. Deep concentration requires a habit of wholesome mind.
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So, this whole life, while looking after the other four “Pillars”, we don’t break precepts even as we use the lifetime to build the fourth “Pillars” that we need, We work towards softening our character, making it string and resilient; cultivate a habit of gratitude, of mindfulness, of humility and respect, and so on. Then we can learn concentration and then wisdom. And then we will understand all the “why”. Last question, Doctor. Any final advice to the readers? Whatever I said just now, use this opportunity as a lay person to cultivate this goodness in character. Keep the five precepts, do not need to do more than the five precepts. Do not need to like, quit seeing movies, just keep the five precepts. And then, use all the opportunities in school and workplace to cultivate our character. And learn about what is really meaningful. You can study the Buddha’s teachings but it is also good to mix it with the question of “why?”. Because we need to have deep questions for the Buddha to answer to. If we do not have questions, whatever we come across will not move and transform us. So, always have questions. Cultivate faith. Do not just be an intellectual Buddhist. Faith may be more important than wisdom because wisdom needs a lot of effort. Anyway, they need to be balanced – faith and wisdom. Faith is a bit faster and it can help with relieving anxiety around aging, sickness, and death. How to acquire Faith? Through spiritual friendship. Regularly hang out with Buddhist friends. Always know where to find them. Ultimately, if you can have a good fortune to meet one of such friends who can teach, then cling on to him or her like a life-saving raft.
IS WISHING TO LOOK BEAUTIFUL
WRONG??? Is it wrong to see something as beautiful? Does considering something beautiful lead to attachment? Does the concept of beauty not exist in Buddhism? In fact, Buddha did not teach us to disregard beauty. Lotus, for example, is a symbol of great beauty. It represents how spiritual growth can flower from humans. Many meditation teachers also teach their students to imagine Buddha in his beautiful, proportionate self with a warm smile during the meditation, also known as Avada Buddha. Yet, the concept of beauty is not the normal concept we use every day, which is the physical beauty or subha. “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” is not something we learn in Buddhism. Beauty, in the concept of Buddhism, refers to inner or moral beauty or sobhana and it is something all beings possess with no difference in amount. No one is more beautiful than the others. It is not something you should use as a basis to like or dislike someone because doing so leads to attachment. Now that we understand that Buddhism values inner beauty a lot, it seems that caring about our outer appearance is totally wrong. Before we try to delve into the topic of outer beauty, let’s first discuss personal hygiene. The Buddha did not encourage us to neglect and torment our human body. He recognized the value of the human body as the means to improve oneself and ultimately reach enlightenment. He too was aware of the essence of good health, and hence to necessity of keeping personal hygience for the sake of keeping good health. He too instructed his monks and nuns to wash and shave regularly, as well as to keep their clothes clean. When one has good health, it is a blessing and one should use the opportunity to practice Dhamma. Yet, when one gets sick, with determination one can overcome this difficulty and continue on practicing Dhamma. “Though my body be sick,
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Written by: Olivia Agatha
my mind shall not be sick.” This however shall be another topic further discussed at another time. Now going back to the topic of personal hygiene, we are now aware that we are not to ignore our daily hygiene. So being concerned with how we appear is not totally wrong, at least if it is for the purpose of staying clean and healthy so that we can practice Dhamma properly. However, when we live our life too comfortably, we start to be concerned more than staying clean but to appear young and beautiful, with the reason of wanting to impress someone, or just wanting to be happy. People nowadays even wear makeup and undergo plastic surgery to be beautiful in their standards and feel happy about it.When this happens, we should all remind ourselves that life is suffering. Impermanence is the cause of this suffering. It is because everything can change that we worry and hence suffer. There are times when we feel happy. But happiness too is not forever lasting. Because the happiness we are talking about is not the ultimate happiness. “If you want others to be happy practice compassion; and if you want yourself to be happy practice compassion.” This, on the other hand, is the happiness we learn in Buddhism.
“So trying to stay beautiful to find
happiness will not bring true happiness. And also, this body is impermanent, so attaching ourselves to it and to the concept of beauty and ugly will only bring us suffering.
”
In the end, we should remember that the most important beauty is inner beauty. We still need to take care of ourselves. Yet, do not be overly attached to ourselves.
Happiness Where Are You? Written by: Anthony Morgan Tjoe
Happiness, Where Are You? Let’s compare Student A and Student B, classmates at the same university taking the exact same modules. Student A: “Do you even have time to be happy? GPA, FYP, Assignments etc. No time to sleep.”
mistic. In Buddhism, the Buddha may break the news of suffering, but also prescribes proactive courses for treatment. However, let’s take a look at a general perspective. Purpose of Life
What are the differences? Why Student A just cannot find happiness while Student B seems to enjoy life?
Once, I was sitting in my room after a long tiring day. Just reflecting on what has been going on, thoughts burst into tears. There have been a lot of things happening recently. Final Year Projects, assignments, quizzes, and securing full-time job. All of these are part of daily life of students. No time to enjoy life. At some time, I just wonder “What is my purpose of life? It seems I just cannot find my happiness.”
What does happiness mean to you? Does it mean more money inside your pocket? Does it make you feel achieved when you see someone else happy? In Buddhism, the path to happiness starts from understanding the root cause of suffering. However, take note that the Buddha is not pessi-
I was born in a Buddhist family. But I never really practiced it from the very young age. First encounter with practical Buddhism was my freshmen year in NTU. Joining Nanyang Technological University Buddhist Society has been one of my significant milestones in my university life. It en-
Student B: “I am so bored. I have visited everywhere in Singapore many times. I have so much time.”
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ables me to reflect on Buddhism and its application in daily life. Through the sessions and interactions, it gives me better understanding as well to understand purpose of life. What is yours? Slow Down? At some point, you might realise everything around you is too slow. When is the lecture going to end? However, we often see the opposite. Twenty-four hours in a day is not enough. Do you remember the last day when you did not multitask? Do you remember the last time when you slow down? Research shows only 1 in 5 employees take a lunch break in America. Even if they do take lunch break, they are not away from desk. One of the news in America state that, students from one school even only gets 10 minutes of lunch break. In stark contrast, it is a commonplace in France to schedule at least 90 minutes lunch break. Moreover, lunch break is far from their office desk. Thus, do the employees in America perform better compared to those in France? You’re welcome. Buddhism and Happiness “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. If one speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows one, like a shadow that never leaves” Dhammapada Verse 2 Many people thought Buddhism is a pessimistic one. However, the Buddha actually taught Four Noble Truths about suffering as His fundamental teaching. To complement this teaching, the Noble Eightfold Path as a whole is said to help
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one achieve these qualities. Buddhism teaches us to pursue happiness by using knowledge and practice to achieve mental equanimity. In Buddhism, equanimity, or peace of mind, is achieved by detaching oneself from the cycle of craving that produces dukkha. So by achieving a mental state where you can detach from all the passions, needs and wants of life, you free yourself and achieve a state of transcendent bliss and well-being. Happiness also relates a lot to mindfulness. We have to be conscious towards ourselves and our surroundings. One of prominent example includes communication. Just be mindful of how you communicate with each other, e.g. providing constructive feedback, no personal feelings attack, etc. Conclusion In order to attain happiness, we have to understand the reality of dukkha (suffering). Buddhism is a philosophy and practice that is extremely related with the mind and its various delusions. Nonetheless, once all misunderstandings and cravings are eliminated, we see a way out through higher consciousness and mindful practice. At the end of the day, it is because of this seemingly dim view of reality that happiness in Buddhism is so tremendously full; the ideas contained in Buddha’s teachings point to a thorough engagement with lived reality. Equanimity, a deep sense of well-being and happiness, is attainable through proper knowledge and practice in everyday life. References: http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/ buddha/ http://www.dailyfoodfacts.com/slowing-down-your-life/
Impermanence: Hanging his head low after a loss Clinging to what he used to have Walking down the path Reminiscing of the past Wishing that she is holding his hands A soulmate lost through a painful breakup A soulmate lost through a change in feelings A soulmate lost through impermanence A soulmate, he questions A soulmate, he starts doubting A soulmate, he lingers for A soulmate, he thinks, may be is not her A soulmate, he thinks, may be the girl.. The girl he is just about to cross path with Suffering still, But with a new hope, .......................... He walks down the path
Holding her chin up before a gain Clinging to what she does not have Walking down the path Believing in the future Wishing that he is holding her hands A soulmate not yet met A soulmate out there A soulmate, the right person A soulmate, she questions A soulmate, she is confidence A soulmate, she lingers for A soulmate, she thinks, may be is him A soulmate, she thinks, may be the guy‌ The guy she is just about to cross path with Still suffering as she continues waiting, But with the same old hope, .......................... She walks down the path
They walk, they walk If fate allows them to bump, They will believe in soulmate Yet, they don’t bump Cause fate does not allow them to bump But they have met So it means the conditions have been met They don’t bump But they turn around to introduce themselves Hoping for a change Hoping for a new beginning
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Boy Meets Girl by: Olivia Agatha A year passes, Another year passes, Things are impermanent .... Clinging to what they have, Begging for things to stay, They worry They suffer A year passes, Another year passes, Some things seem to change They hate They love They learn not to care All burns in distraught All sinks in distress The feelings seem to diminish The commitment though still exists
A year passes, Aother year passes, The commitment still exists The solution is still in progress The feelings may grow again Or may diminish even further
A year passes, Another year passes, As impermanent as a feeling, Soul is too impermanent And so the contract between souls Soulmate, does it exist? Commitment though exists
A year passes, Another year passes, Their story will remain as theirs For them to know when it will end For them to know how it will end For them to know And kept to them And so the story ends At least here‌
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TAMING THE RAMPAGING ELEPHANT Buddha had a cousin, Devadatta, who was extremely jealous of him. Devadatta felt that he himself was as good as Buddha and was jealous that people ignored him and did not honour him the way they honoured the Buddha. He was always thinking of ways to harm the Buddha. One day he devised a plot to kill Buddha. He knew that day Buddha was going to pass through a particular town. Before the Buddha came into the town, he brought the elephant to the town, hiding it beside a wall. He then fed the elephant a lot of liquor to make it drunk. His plan was to make use of the drunken elephant and trample Buddha to death. When he saw from a distance that the Buddha was coming, he immediately use sticks to beat the elephant brutally. The drunken elephant was in great pain and was totally enraged. Seeing this, Devadatta immediately released the elephant in the direction of the Buddha. Overwhelmed with anger and pain, the elephant was now mad and started at full speed towards the Buddha. It raised its ears, tail and trunk, making a lot of noise. It was as if thunder was striking. All the disciples who were with Buddha was horrified at this terrible sight and scrambled to flee from harm’s 30
way. Only Ananda, Buddha’s attendant, stood firmly beside the Buddha. At that time, Buddha himself remained totally at ease and composed. He took a look at the elephant and felt great love and compassion for the poor beast. He stood where he was and radiated his loving-kindness towards the elephant. Buddha’s love and compassion was so strong and powerful that the elephant could feel it. Just a few steps before it was about to charge into the Buddha, it stopped in its path and calmed down. It then trotted towards Buddha and respectfully bow its head. Buddha stroked the elephant’s trunk and comforted it with soft & kind words. The elephant was totally tamed.
death Written by: Danry Lim Death – a taboo topic that people tend to avoid. It is hardly a topic that anyone would touch on – whether it is a lunch chat or a HTHT with our closest of friends. Most of us would even go all out to avoid talking about it, ever, with our loved ones. Somehow, it is as if we ignorantly choose to believe that death would never ever come. This topic struck me strongly recently when my grandmother suddenly told me how she would like her funeral to be like, and as usual, I would say things like “Touch wood! Choi! (ignorantly thinking words can dispel the taboo)”.
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Guess what? Death is all around! If we were to slow down our steps and observe, death is bombarded to us every day – we hear about it on the news, we see it on social media and we even watch it in many movies! Instinctively, we know that there is an end to this very life, but we somehow choose to run away from such thoughts rather than to face the very reality of life. Once life is launched, like a bullet, it accelerates towards its destination – death. To be considered free in life, we must also be free from the fear of death. Why fear Death? We know for a fact that we will all die at some stage. All of us. That includes you and I. And your loved one(s). Nobody is immune. Death is as much a fact of life as breathing air is to survive. So why do we often try to ignore it? Could it be uncertainty? Uncertainty scares us – the inability to foresee, predict and control what is in our way can seriously put us in a fearful fit. As a rule, we tend to prefer certainty to uncertainty. We want to know what would happen before its experiencing it, whether it is to be physically or mentally prepared. I was once told a story that was deeply embedded in my mind. Once, there was a rich businessman that was obsessed over knowing his future and went around searching for different fortune tellers to get his fortune told. However, instead of gaining certainty over his future, he became even more uncertain of it as each fortune teller told him differing (and sometimes contradictory) information, making him confused and doubtful. Desperate for help, he decided to turn to the local monastery. Arriving at the monastery, he demanded to speak to the abbot, but was declined by the junior monks since the abbot was dwelling in meditation. The rich man shouted and made a lot of noise, aggressively demanding to see the abbot. The abbot overheard and out of compassion, arose from his meditation and went down to meet the rich man.
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“Bhante,” the rich man suddenly placed his palms together while bowing his head, “I have turned to many fortune tellers, but it seems like none is reliable. I heard that you have practised to the point where you can see others’ future. Is that right?” the rich man said is a vulnerable voice. “May I take a look at your left hand please?” the abbot said in low, fatherly voice. Immediately, the rich man’s eyes lit up, prompting him to kneel down in front of the abbot as he excitedly whipped his left hand out.
But what about the fear of death? It has seemed to be ingrained in us for centuries and millennials that death is something fearful and such fear can never be overcome. Just like us, there was once where a Brahmin named Janussonin went to visit the Buddha and challenged Him that there is absolutely no one that is not afraid of death. Sounds logical right? (I mean, really, who isn’t afraid?). The Buddha, however, debunks his claim, saying that there are indeed people who are not at all fearful of death! He mentioned four types of people that are unafraid of death, and they are:
“Your life, young man, …” whispered the abbot in his husky voice, “is…” as he suspends the rich man.
1. One who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for sensuality.
“You will die.”
2. One who has abandoned passion, desire, fondness, thirst, fever, and craving for the body.
“What?” the rich man exclaimed as anger started to arise in him. “With birth, comes death, no one can run away from it. Yes, life is uncertain, but death is for sure certain.” the abbot spoke. Immediately the rich man understood, bowed down on the ground and thanked the abbot for his teachings. For most of us, I think we are unlike the rich man. We know for a fact that death is certain. It is quite fascinating how the human mind works – we claim that we are afraid of uncertainty (and not afraid of certainty). But since we already know that death is certain, why are we still afraid? Could this fear be unnecessary? If you reflect closely, it is the uncertainty of when death would come that could bring chills down our spines.
3. One who has done what is good, has done what is skilful, has given protection to those in fear, and has not done what is evil, savage, or cruel. 4. One who has no doubt or perplexity, who has arrived at certainty about the Sacca-dhamma (True Dhamma). That means that we can also surely overcome our fear of Death! The Buddha provided us with not one but four methods to do so! YAY! But of course, as usual, ehipassiko, try and verify for yourself! Buddhist thoughts on Death
How do overcome our fear of Death?
The Buddha revealed the truth when he exclaimed the following verses to a congregation of monks at Jetavana monastery:
We all know it could be possible to overcome our fears – fears of heights, fears of speed, fears of examinations (maybe?).
“Sabbe sankhara anicca’ti … … Sabbe sankhara dukkha’ti … … Sabbe dhamma anatta’ti … … yada pannaya passata; atha nibbindati
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dukkha; esa maggo visuddhiya.” - Dhammapada Verse 277-279 “All conditioned phenomena are impermanent… All conditioned phenomena are subject to suffering… All phenomena are non-self… when one sees this with Insight-wisdom; one becomes weary of dukkha (khandhas). This is the Path to Purity.” - Dhammapada Verse 277-279 It is thus clear that the Buddha wants us to understand that conditioned phenomena (sankhara), from internal to external to bodily conditions are non-self and it is in their nature is to change. A simple analogy to illustrate would be water of a river. Naturally, it flows down the gradient; never against it – that is its nature. Today, if a person, seeing the water flowing swiftly down its course, but foolishly wanting it to flow back up the gradient, he would be greatly disappointed. His wrong thinking would allow him no peace of mind. He would be unhappy because of his wrong view, thinking against the stream. If he had right view, he would see that the water must inevitably flow down the gradient, but until he realized and accepted that fact, the man would be agitated and upset. The river that must flow down the gradient is like our body. Having been young, your body would naturally become old it is inevitable to meander towards death. The Buddha advised us to see and know the reality as it is (yathā-bhūta-ñāna-dassana) and then let go of our clinging to them. Even the Buddha had to pass away! The account of the Buddha’s Mahaparinibbana (great passing away) serves as a foundation to Buddhist thought towards Death. As an arahant, Venerable Anuradha did not weep at the Buddha’s demise. However, at that time, Venerable Ananda, who has not
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become an arahant, could not but express his deepest sorrow, resulting in streams of tears (probably just like anyone of us). The weeping bhikkhu, was then given a timely contemplative reminder, which is something we should all reflect upon: “Has not the Buddha told us, Ananda, that what is born, what comes to beings, and what is put together, is subject to dissolution? That is the nature of all conditioned phenomena; to arise and pass away. Having once arisen they must pass away – and when such phenomena cease completely, then comes parinibbana.” - Mahaparinibbana Sutta (paraphrased) Final thoughts on Death Indeed, to most of us, death can be a painful experience for the deceased and his/ her loved one(s). But to understand death is synonymous to understanding life in its very essence. Life is on a lease - that means we must make life more meaningful. It is thus about fully embracing the lives we currently have. The Buddha’s last piece of advice for all of us is perfect in concluding this article: “Aniccā vata sankhārā Uppāda vaya dhamminō Uppajjitvā nirujjhanti Tesam vūpasamō sukhō” “All conditioned phenomena are impermanent They arise and pass away Having arisen they come to an end Their coming to peace is bliss” So maybe death isn’t that much of a taboo! It is really about recognising and being at peace with it, while embracing the river of life as it flows through the streams of our consciousness!
你微笑了吗？ Written by: Ong Zhi Huang
变得更美好，让 切 一 让 ， ” 笑 微 “ 是沙漠中 它 ， 恼 烦 有 没 中 你我的心 种人人都能 一 是 笑 微 。 ” 的绿岛 人们欢乐，忘 给 带 它 。 为 行 的 做到 却烦恼。 微笑使人快乐。以科学的角度分析，当我们微 笑时，嘴角肌肉会上扬，并发送讯息至大脑， 告诉大脑“我很快乐”，并释放“快乐荷尔 蒙”，安多酚。因此，微笑能“制造”快乐。 当我们觉得生活烦闷或心情烦躁时，微笑能有 效地、短暂地让我们觉得快乐。你说微笑有什 么好处？时常微笑来保持快乐，能降低血压， 压力下降，长远来说，能避免许多疾病发生。 微笑是一种布施。布施有三种，财布施、无畏 布施与法布施，而微笑可以属于无畏布施。无 畏布施是指别人有难时，我们适时地提供帮 助，让人身心安稳，远离恐惧。当我们对他人 微笑，他人能够感受我们的欢喜，让他生起欢 喜心；当别人有困苦时，我们的微笑能成为暂 时的OK蹦，让人正面地面对问题。身为佛教 徒，我们或许认为布施仅仅只是捐钱而已，但 我们能做的很简单，比如微笑。这种布施不须 成本，日常中都能做到。能够使人微笑，使人 远离恐怖，给人信心，给人欢喜，何尝不是一 种布施。 最近我去了印尼旅行。当我们到海边看海时， 巨大的海浪激起的浪花打向游客。游客湿成落 汤鸡的样子，让当地居民都笑开怀。当下看到 此场景，发觉自己好久没真正的笑了。
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活在喧嚣城市的我们，比起当地居民，物质上 我们并无不缺。但，我们在日常生活中很少微 笑。是不是因为拥有了很多，忘了拥有很少就 能快乐？当我们的心向外攀谈，想要拥有更多 时，别忘了向内心寻找，不忘初心，问问自己 的心最需要的东西。清楚自己需要什么，保住 真心，就能真诚的微笑。 有人说，为何我们需要伪装自己微笑来生活？ 微笑其实不需伪装，也不须勉强。我们清楚知 道，“苦”是生活的一部分，生活不会永远一 帆风顺，挫折、迷茫总会发生。面对它、接受 它、处理它、放下它，才是正确的方法。当我 们能够面对挫折后，就可以微笑、正面地面对 生活。
“就这么小小的微笑，
挂在 脸上像雨后太阳暖 暖的照。” 可能我们觉得微笑 很简单，但 在其他人眼中却能 带来开心、 欢乐。今天的你微 笑了吗？
别忘了微笑哦！
NTUBS PAST EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES Curious about our activities for the past year? Want to know more about what you can do at NTUBS? Flip this page and feed your curiosity!
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past events and activities Camp Nirvana Singapore 2017 Once Upon A Time Camp Nirvana Singapore (CNS) is NTUBS’ annual camp to introduce NTU and NTUBS to freshmen, as well as people who are interested in Buddhism. Field games, bonding sessions, dharma courses, all are featured in CNS. Surely, all the participants had a very enriching experience, and, definitely, loads of fun!
Buddhism Awareness Week 2018 Buddhism Awareness Week (BAW) is an annual exhibition to introduce NTUBS and Buddhism to NTU and NIE population. Not only featuring booth exhibition around campus area, this year’s BAW has a new exciting feature - Human Library. During the booth exhibition, visitors had the chance to learn more about Buddhism basic concepts, including the Noble Eightfold Path, mindfulness, etc. As for Human Library, few Buddhist practitioners were invited to answer any questions on Buddhism asked by the curious and enthusiastic participants. Definitely, a week full of knowledge and insights!
Booth Exhibition
Human Library 37
Free Books Distribution
past events and activities Dharma Class and Talks For this year, NTUBS have organized 1 Dharma Class and 5 Dharma Talks. We kicked off with a Dharma Class on “Why Buddhism?” We went on with 5 Dharma Talks, by various speakers, discussing various topics - “Path to Happiness”, Dharma Class by Bro. Kweh “Why Loving Kindness”, Finding Love in Life”, “The Gift of Giving”, and “Appreciating Dharma through Buddhist Etiquettes”. New to Buddhism? Or want to deepen your knowledge on Buddhism? Then this is surely the right platform for you! Dharma Talk by Ven. Chuan Guan and Ven. Rathanasara
Meditation Classes
Dharma Workshop
This year NTUBS organized three series of meditation classes led by Dr. Ng Yuen Yen. In these classes, Dr. Ng gave basic theories related to mediation and guided the participants to meditate in the right way. Each classes focuses on different aspects - mindfulness of breathing, feeling, and the Dharma itself.
An initiative from NTUBS. In this Dharma Workshop, we invited Sis. Marcelly to give a workshop on sales and sales skills in Buddhism context, like sharing and raising awareness on Buddhism and the Dharma.
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Another new, fascinating insight for the participants!
past events and activities Dharma Camp 2018 SamsaRUN! Dharma Camp is an annual camp organized by the Dharma Propagation Team of NTUBS. This time, bringing the title “SamsaRUN!”, the camp itself aims to allow participants to gain insights into the lives of monastics, as well as on how to apply Dharma into various stages of life: youth, adulthood, aging. Various classes, talks, and interactive sessions were introduced to give the very best of experiences to all the participants. A truly insightful and enriching camp! If you are a keen learner of Dharma, or even just at the beginner level, make sure that you register for the next one!
Exam Supper
Committee Day
Who doesn’t love food? Especially at the end of the study week, everything feels like: “All I need is food”. And yes, our Welfare Team understand you! They organize not only one, but two exam supper sessions! You can have free and delicious food, specially prepared by our experienced Welfare Team, chillax session with your friends, plus freebies! (This event is only for NTUBS members)
Committee Day is an event, specially organized by the Fellowship Team, to foster fellowship among the newly formed committee members of NTUBS. And this year, the Fellowship Team organized a cooking competition and everyone had a “grand” and delicious dinner together! Of course, the winner of the competition was rewarded with prizes! What could possibly beat good food, good friends, and good prizes to be won?
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past events and activities NTUBS 35th Anniversary Cherish The Past, Embrace The Future Officially formed in 1983 with the name NTIBS, NTUBS has walked along the path of Dharma for 35 years now, a journey of learning, practicing, realizing, and sharing the Dharma. And therefore, this is the celebration, the night to commemorate the fruitful journey that NTUBS has gone through, together with the 25 years journey of NTUBSA and 15 years of LBSCC. A huge milestone for NTUBS, and we hope that NTUBS will continue contributing to the society, nurturing its members, and, most importantly, propagating the Dharma. Happy 35th Anniversary NTUBS!
Little Bodhi Outing 2017 to Singapore Sports Hub Missing the good old days of your kindergarten or primary school years? Are you reminiscing those times where you can play, have lots of fun without worrying on those projects and assignments, piling up day by day? Feel like spending one whole day with these cute little kids? Then LBO is the one for you! Organized by the Metta Team, this year’s LBO brought children from Little Bodhi Student Care Centre for an outing to Sports Hub! Laughter and smiles on their faces while playing all the games set by the Metta Team, surely you do not want to miss this one, right? 40
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弥勒菩萨诞 - 正月初一 公元2018年2月16日 星期五，上午9点30分
卍 慈
观音诞- 二月十六日（提前） 公元2018年 4月 1 日 星期日，上午9点30分 法师领众 卫塞节-四月十三日（提前） 公元2018 年5月27日 星期二 ，上午9点30分 法师领众
地藏法会- 七月十四至十六 公元2018年8月24日至26日 星期五、六、日，上午9点30 分 法师领众
航
观音诞- 九月十三日（提前） 公元2018年10月21日 星期日，上午9点30分 法师领众
念 佛
药师诞-九月二十七日（提 前） 公元2018年11月 4日 星期日，上午9点30分 法师领众
佛
每个星期日早上9点30分 八十八佛经
观音诞- 六月十七日（提前） 公元2018年 7 月 29日 星期日，上午9点30分 法师领众
社
2018年全年活动时间表
陀
南 無
阿 彌
卍
弥陀圣诞-十一月十七日 公元2018年 12 月23日 星期日，上午9点30分 法师领众