Dharamsala 2009: The Four Noble Truths

This is going to be a long long entry. Or maybe not.

Well, for those who are in the know, I was supposed to attend His Holiness Dalai Lama's Teaching Tour in Dharamsala. To cut the long story short, I did go, but I didnt get the chance to see him. There was a family emergency and we flew home on the same day that the teaching was starting.

So....was it our karma? Or as another friend (new age) suggested, that I didnt believe nor give strong enough intent that I may see him?
I suppose both was possible, but I am inclined to think that it was my/our karma.
Yet before I left SG, I already had the fear/feeling that I won't meet him. So is this intuition, or self fulfilling prophecy?
It's anyone's guess.

The topic of the teachings was "The Four Noble Truths"....
And honestly, our experience of the family emergency truly reflect the lesson that the four Noble Truths were trying to teach.

1. There is Suffering
- The fear of losing a loved one
- Our daily lives can be a form of suffering due to our delusion and ignorance
- The pain and unhappiness of things not loved nor wanted

2. Cause of suffering
- The attachment towards your loved one brings about your suffering as you fear that they will no longer be in your life
- The deluded mind thinking that you have an identity, that things should go your way
- The ignorance of the ultimate nature of reality leads us to perceive things in the conventional (but mistaken) way that we were taught

3. End of suffering
- Well, it can "end", but how many of us can reach that level at our current stage
- If we truly understood the nature of impermanence, of our cyclic existence, than there is realisation, and with that, comes the understanding of death, and hence the lack of fear towards death
- Or seeing dependent origination, that our life depends on so many others, we cease to see the distinction between us and others, and thus the need for expectations or to compete, etc.

4. Path to the cessation of suffering
- And that, is the Noble Eight fold path
- Most important is Right Understanding/View: of the true nature of reality, of karma, of the Four Noble Truths, of emptiness, of reunciation, of compassion, of wisdom....

My birthday wish for 2009

I did sort of make a wish afterall. But it was more of an aspiration.
On recollection, I cant remember what it was that i really said, but I do know the gist of it.

May I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
May I live my life in accordance of my motivation of full enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.
May I continue on my path towards enlightenment, with the right conditions to learn and realise the truth.
May I be able to share the Dharma with compassion and wisdom

Amituofo

Another crashing (Aug)

2009 is indeed a year of transformation for me.

And truly, with only three quarters thru, my so called life has already crashed twice. And while I managed to pull thru when e house of cards fell, I m not so certain this time round, because this "attack" was all rounded and struck at e most foundamental, which was obviously missing.

It made me question all that I believed in, all that I thought I knew, all that I was trying to achieve. Not that e theory or logic was faulty. It was my interpretation and subsequent actions that might have been misguided. And herein lies e suffering. I tot I was right, but now I might not be, and I don't quite know how to adjust and adapt to e "changes".

I m too tied and attached to my old understanding, to my ego that I was right and am better than e rest. How does one humble e self and relearn all e fundamentals? I'm struggling with e process and do not see e way out. Yes I m addicted to results, to expectations, to a structure. I m going to faint.

Dukkha is all so present in our everyday life, and it is often amplified by our sense of self, by our perspectives, by our selfishness.

Have I truly learnt e four noble truths? I think not. There is learning and there is LEARNING. My foundations are based on e superficial, on e logical. Not from experience or real understanding. It was never internalized, never fully grasped. Hence I often fail to do it RIGHT.

How than can I move on from here? I m still waiting for an answer and trying to figure it out. I was given very sound advice (which I m taking) which is to seek guidance and help from e Buddha. At this point, that is all that I can manage with a clear mind. Amituofo

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Takes Refuge In The Triple Gem II

My thoughts on taking refuge.


It is interesting to note that parallels can be drawn between the Buddhism Taking Refuge, and the strong faith of other religions in their gods.


Buddhists take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma & Sangha, believing that the Triple Gems will guide and protect them. Similiarly, other religions do the "same", and trust that their gods will take good care of them, or answer their prayers.


So is there a distinction?



When we take refuge in the Triple Gems (in the Buddha), we are not worshipping any particular Buddha.
We are paying our respect to the enlightened one, the awakened state that the Buddhas are in.
The stage of liberation that we should all set out to reach. It serves to also remind us of the suffering that we may penetrate and see thru when we are liberated.

If the Buddha wanted us to question his teachings, why is faith necessary? Or does the faith come after understanding and accepting the Dharma?

No regrets

Now that I am "seeing" death, I find (true at my current mind state) that I have no regrets and can leave anytime.

Of course I have yet to set my will and leave funeral instructions. Been meaning to get down to it. But e fact that I have yet does suggest that I have yet to fully comprehend impermanence.

I still seem to think that I have more time. So will I have regrets or not when I die?
It's anyone's guess.

Universal response

Just wanted to share some incidents that have happened recently. Tho the theory is nothing new to me.
But it never fails to amaze me when syncronicity strikes.

I have been facing issues surrounding death recently, and no surprises, e universe hears and replies.
Books, materials, friends, have all came forth, to share, to encourage, to advise.

Thank you all and e universe for providing support and more importantly love and compassion into my life!

Consciouness and fish

Attended a talk about consciousness.

The speaker shared about consciousness and drew a conclusion (based on his research) that fish does not have consciousness.

Well, from a scientific viewpoint, if their nerve circuitary is vastly different from humans, I can understand where that came from. Yet I find it hard to accept that they do not suffer when they are killed simply because they do not have e capacity to feel pain.

Yes, they might not feel pain but does that make them any less? Is it really conclusive that they do not have consciousness? Maybe their level of consciousness is underdeveloped; who's to know. Or maybe their equivalent of consciousness is something totally different.

I find it unfair to comment (based on level of consciouness) that fish can be eaten vs other more social animals like pigs.

In all fairness, e speaker did say that he is vegetarian and doesn't eat fish.
Just fyi fish is meat too. White meat.

And whether or not fish has consciousness, i still maintain that it is cruel to eat them.

Actually, there is no real end to this argument, because one has to draw the line somewhere, as we still need sustenance to survive. And no matter what we eat, there is still life (to different degrees and nature)!

A peaceful mind is one that knows suffering

Is that a weird statement?
Those who really comprehend will fully appreciate it.

Peace and suffering are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand in hand and could even be said of as a pair.

Peace typically comes after suffering; suffering leads to peace.
Well, it only makes sense that u can find peace at e end of suffering. And seeing thru suffering will bring u peace.

Still confused? Look for suffering to learn this hard lesson.

Tools of trade

I asked this question twice to my spiritual senior.
How does one balance between new age tools/ teachings and Buddhism?

Well, the fact that I had to ask twice suggests the fact that I had yet to balance or internalize the lesson.
It really depends on your perspective, but as a general rule, tools are just tools, and we should not get/ be overly attached to it or its outcome. It is a good to have or use, but should never become the whole or all of our lives.

We must be mindful and not be caught up with the results of our "tools of trade".

Another test of fire

Well there are two actually.

The first being the trip to India for HHDL's teaching.
Certain events have happened such that I am concerned I won't be able to go. But I will stay positive and seek divine guidance, create more merits and the cause to be there.

While I seek wisdom, now is not the best time for that long awaited tooth to pop out. My gums are slightly swollen and eating a little difficult. But I will persist. Short of death or anything that major, nothing will keep me from HHDL's door. But I do have to watch out for over attachment to the trip.

The second is the more important and major test. There had been hospitalization in e family, and everyone is fearful of the test results.

Personally I have a lot of views on this, but let me erase all that and focus on " this is suffering". To view it and accept it as suffering, to release attachment to our loved ones, to understand e nature of death and of impermanence.

Honestly there is a lot of lessons to be learnt from death. And as a spiritual friend pointed out to me, now is the best time to test my Dharma knowledge and understanding, to see what I can put into action, to apply my understanding of Buddhism philosophy.

Am I ready? There is not much I can do except rise up to e occassion, and pray for divine intervention

Chopin's heart

"Chopin was buried in Paris but following his dying wish, his heart was removed and sent home to his native land Poland."

Read that somewhere, and assume it to be e truth.

Which leads me to wonder : why are people so attached? To material things, to status, to beliefs, to tradition... Such that even at the point of death, you are still concerned over where u will be buried.

You are dead! It won't make any difference! Will you be in heaven and upset that your heart is in Paris and not Poland? I truly think not. Not if heaven is that happy and peaceful a place.

Every one starts their life with the same end point: that of death. The only thing I can be reasonably sure of in this life is the fact that I will die. In such case, why not be prepared for death, why not accept it and face the fact that we all will die.

Once we accept and realise the fact, than we can start to live. To live without e fear of death. To live in each and every moment for that might be your last. To treasure all, to live in gratitude...to Simply to be

Homework: To try a little kindness

Firstly, this isnt a kindness movement kind of homework/thingy.

i am taking a class on the six perfections, and generosity/giving is the first perfection. so obviously to make the lesson stick, the Ven. wanted us to do some homework, by doing some giving.

it could be simply giving your smile, your eye contact, acknowledgement. or giving of your time to aid others, or maybe going out of your way to help someone. anything goes, as long as you have the compassion to help.

and no surprises, i failed my homework. in the one week since she set the homework, i have not once managed to fulfil it.

Is it so hard to smile at people? it is hard for me, coz i lack social interaction skills.
but if i were to analyse further into the rationale behind finding it hard to smile at strangers (it is not solely because they are strangers), i would have to admit that my self/ego is at play.

it is the tot that i am different, that they are not worth my time, that i am more important....that i m too tired to smile, that i have other better things to do

i will no doubt fail all the other homework that will be set in the coming weeks.
but i am grateful that i am at least looking at the issues with my eyes open, and learning more with each passing day.

To understand suffering

That is one of the core teaching of Buddhism, and the central learning of my life these days.

Well, almost everyone knows about suffering. but are we viewing suffering in the right manner, ie having the right view and understanding about suffering?

After learning more about the First Noble Truth, I must admit that my understanding and consequently realisation of/about suffering is so so limited and superficial.

Suffering is not simply a word to describe pain or agony. There are many different levels to suffering as it is. To put it simply, as long as you are not happy, you are suffering. And most often the case, that is all the time
And who can deny the fact that we are constantly seeking happiness from external sources? But those happiness are typically fleeting, impermanent.

I am only at the stage where to understand suffering is to be able to objectify suffering, and say "This is suffering"....

That is my mantra these days. This is SUFFERING

Picnic talk

At smu for a talk.

Wow I m old. E kids are so young and feels so different.

Interesting experience. I wonder if I still look like a student? But there's a wide range here.

All laptops. I'm so backward. : ) sigh and early.

This is suffering. Understand suffering...

It's like a picnic on here.

May I

May I always have favourable conditions to practice

May I forever remember to take refuge in e Triple Gems

May the four Noble Truth be realised in my life

May I constantly practice e Noble Eight-fold Path on my journey of enlightenment

May each and every action and thought be for e benefit of all sentient beings

May I be disciplined to live each and every moment in practice, to develop Bodhicitta

May I forever have e right motivations in my thoughts, actions and speech

May I have and make the right aspirations to aid and guide me on my path towards enlightenment

Deaths and joy

I volunteer at tan tock seng hospital. And recently one of e patients died.

And I experienced so much compassion and love from e other volunteers who went out of their way to assist e family etc. And I thought to myself, what have I done for them? Pretty much nothing.

I felt joy at seeing e sharing and compassion that was going around and ashamed that all I did or could do ( due to my own obstacles) was so limited.

And if I may be selfish, that patient was one of those whom I loved to visit coz he was at peace (seemingly) and enjoyed e activity that we do with/ for him.

I m happy at some level that he left coz he would no longer suffer and I can only hope that he left feeling at peace