HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!

(Photo taken at entrance of Chinatown MRT near Pagoda street)

May the New Year be a Great year
for us to grow in Wisdom and Compassion,
May All be able to turn any Crisis into Opportunities,
May All be Well & Happy!!! :-)

Cheers:-)

Bliss Out Meditation Workshop

The Standing Amitabha Buddha at Singapore Buddhist Lodge now has a covering tent which is a good addition to at least reduce dust from the construction project next door as well as shelter from rain.:-)

Ajahn Brahm, at level 7 , of Buddhist Lodge conducting "Bliss Out Meditation Workshop" with main content on meditation similar to his last workshop on 11 Nov '08.

This round, he started with the meditation 1st before Dharma Talk. Under his guidance, we went through a relaxation session.:-)
Always loved his Q&A sessions, where his wisdom is always reflected in his answers. Someone asked how meditation can help in pregnancy & labours. We thought that it might be a difficult question for him to answer as he won't have the experience but jovially he answered, he could well have the experience in past lives...and he was quick to point out that meditation can help one to relax the body and overcome fear ( which is the main reason why one tense up) during labour. He also encouraged mothers to learn meditation as that will aid nurturing peaceful babies.
Angie commented that quite a number of questions were how to react for your pain & itchness while meditation. Unconventionally, Ajahn answered that just scratch & be kind to your pain, massage it. This is quite different from usual reply of just acknowledging it.:P

And a reward for those who attended the workshop amidst this busy season, a CD-MP3, comprising a collection of his Dhamma talks in Thailand 2005-2008, was freely distributed!
A great gift for CNY!:-)

Mani Recitation Retreat 2008

Om Mani Padme Hung

(What I interpret when I first heard about the mantra:

Own Money Pay Me (Mei) Home

I thought, Indeed, very reflective of truth, we have to work towards the final ultimate goal through our own efforts, savings of merits etc.)


I feel really blessed to be able to attend the Mani Recitation Retreat 2008 as full-timer, drawing a beautiful end to last 3 days of 2008.

This year, the retreat was held at Suntec City Convention Hall and led by His Eminence Thritsab Rinpoche, Rabsang Rinpoche and Drikung Kagyu Lamas.


Extracted from maniretreat.org:

Full Timed participants: 101,113,506
Part Timed participants: 12,787,806
Online pledged participants: 12,294,000
The total count of Mani mantra chanted after the deduction of 5 % due to omissions or unclear chanting: 119,885,546


(Phew, we were still very worried up to the last minute that we could not achieve the target, but by just counting Full timers' less 5%, we could just missed it! :P
Many Thanks to Part-timers and Online pledgers for their effort too in helping met the target!)

Why 100 Million??? (Pls Click on question or here for answer) :-)

Om Mani Padme Hung