Serene Stone Carving

Every time I pass by this corner shop at Chinatown to Yi Xin Vegetarian, I am always impressed by the stone carvings that it displayed. Especially their Bodhisattva sculptures, such as the one in picture, which one couldn't resist to stop for a moment to silently pay respect to.

Lofty Peaks in Little Sayings - Part2

More quotes from Lofty Peaks in Little Sayings :

If you are not influenced by states when you are moving, then your movement is the same as stillness.
If you are not disturbed by idle thoughts when you are still, then your stillness is just like movement.
If you can cultivate to the point where movement and stillness are the same, then your skill is mature and there is neither movement nor stillness, neither emptiness nor existence.
That is the Middle Way.

Why is the world in such trouble?
It is because of fighting.
People have let their tiger-like tempers and fiery ignorance get the best of them.
People fight with each other, families feud with families, and on a greater scale,
nations battle with nations.
Such fighting will surely be the end of us.
But even when we die, we still will not have realized what happened.

Holding the precepts means watching for and correcting your own mistakes at all times.
It does not mean minding others' mistakes and not doing anything to correct your own.
That would be like doing other people's dirty laundry.

What is the Way?
It is just the truth.
The truth is such that no one can overturn it.
The truth is absolute, not relative.
There is only one truth, not two.
The Way is common to all true cultivators.
It can be explained in Confucianism, in Taoism and in Buddhism as well.
The Way is the Truth, and any religion can teach it.
When the Buddha became enlightened, he exclaimed in surprise at what he had discovered,
"How strange! How strange!
All living beings have the Buddha nature."

Lofty Peaks in Little Sayings

My 1st encounter to Teachings by Master Hsuan Hua was about 2 years ago when their branch in Singapore set up a free book distribution booth at the book fair at Bras Basah Complex and as then I just read about Rev. Heng Sure, hence the booth attracted my attention. There are many wonderful books.

Recently, they are reducing their operations in Singapore and distributing their collection of books and this small pocket-sized booklet is one of the treasures I have got.

Below are some of the quotes compiled in the booklet.:-)

When you seek nothing, you find true happiness.

Your nature will be steady, you will be at peace.

Wishing to climb high, we start low.

wishing to go far, we begin with what is near.

Parents are living Buddhas right in your home so do not neglect what is near to seek afar.

Everything is made from the mind.

If your mind is not true, even the true becomes false.

If your mind is true, then even the false can change.

A great response can happen.

If we do not look within ourselves to find our own mind,

then we will miss the chance to see things clearly.

For the sake of momentary pleasure, we may do things that we will regret for the rest of our lives. There is an old saying: "Content with what we have, we are always glad.

Being patient with what comes, peace is always with us."

How true that is!

First of all, we should work on not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not pursuing personal advantage, and not lying.

These principles are very simple. we should start from what is simple, moving from near to far, and from shallow to deep.

You cannot just get angry when you feel like it, you cannot think, "This is wrong. This is not right." Do not be so negative. Things are not always going to go your way, so take a step back and think, "Patience! Patience!Got to have patience!" Then things will turn out fine.

The effect fits the cause. Do good and good will come to you.

Do evil and you will get evil back.

This is natural law.

Create a perfect result and get a perfect result.

Plant a haphazard cause and get a haphazrd effect. Be clear about this.

Do not let it go in one ear and out the other.

Do not fight. If we do not fight with people, then people will not fight with us.

Even if people do fight with me, I will not fight back. If we can be like that, then disputes would just not happen.

Whatever is in our minds will also exist outside.

If there are no wars going on in our minds, there will be no wars outside.

A Relaxing Sunday

This is one of the rare days that mum wanted to visit Bright Hill Temple (kmspks) and of course I have to make time to accompany her.

A beautiful sunny Sunday and blessed to enjoy a hearty breakfast at their canteen which served delicious porridge. A simple dish with lots of love inside. :-)

Passed by the side of the Hall of Great Strength and saw that there is Foot & Shoulder massage each at $12 for 30mins. It is service performed by the blind.

Having a stiff shoulder (stress from work?) & a tired & slightly sprained feet from new sandals worn, with the consent of my impatient mum who surprisingly was willing to wait for me, I decided to give it a try.
In the windy environment, enjoying the breeze & enduring the occasional pain by the professional hands, it is relaxing moments amidst chanting music played by the uncle selling CDs behind the Hall of Great Compassion.

For the price, and the professionalism, it is indeed value for money. I definitely felt my strained muscles relaxed & was it psychologically, I seem to have a better sleep that nite & my prolonged flu & cough that did not seem to have recovered completely for long was gone the next day.
Wonders... haha, mum who usually don't like such session was somehow impressed by their professionalism from observing them and asked for their operation hours.
( I think she is tempted to try during next visit:-))

So next time if you visit the temple on Sundays & 27th of each lunar month (celebration day of the temple), maybe you could consider their service too. :-)

Mani Recitation Retreat 2009

At the suggestion of Crystal, an extract of what I had summarized from the Dharma talks given by His Eminence , the 12th Nubpa Rinpoche, ( also greatly appreciate the translator who did a great job translating from Mandarin to English ) during the Mani retreat 2009 shall be posted.
Pardon is sought if there is any wrong remembrance or misinterpretation.

25/12/09 MorningSadness is a nature of life where they appear & disappear, therefore, we should treat sadness as a form of practice.
We should develop a Renunciation mind. (Chu Li Xin)
It is important to recognize that nature of samsara is suffering and the root of samsara suffering is: our ignorance!
We see an “I” or ego, the clinging to the idea of “My” friend /foe gives rise to attachment, greed & hatred.
With karma & karmic results, cause & effect relationship gives rise to samsaric rebirth of the 6 realms.
We know the lower 3 realms consist of sufferings, even the 3 higher realms with human realm also facing suffering of Birth, death, sickness, and old age.
Look at our body, we have to take care of this body that gives us problem and trouble.

Our mind and body is constantly being tormented by suffering.
To eradicate suffering, we must find a way, similarly as finding a good doctor to heal the sick.
Sick is not just body pain but great illness of birth and death and who could be the doctor for that?--> The Buddha!

First of all, we need to take refuge in the Triple Gem.
The Buddha is the doctor; the Dharma (Teachings of the Buddha) is the appropriate medicine necessary to cure the illness. Taking refuge to Dharma is like taking medicine to liberate suffering. During treatment process, friends, nurses’ support help one to cure, hence, good companion (Sangha) to practise the Dharma is important too.
Refuge in the Triple Gem helps one to accomplish greatly.

Today we are here to visualize the 6 syllabuses & refuge is also important & inseparable.
Out of Compassion, Guanyin manifest as Bodhisattva form but He had already attained Buddhahood.

Taking refuge before Him is as good as taking refuge in the Buddha.
Reciting the 6 syllabuses is as good as taking refuge in the Dharma.
Understanding the Dharma helps to remove emotion and bad karma and allow inherent wisdom to arise.
By practicing together in this retreat, is as good as taking refuge in the Sangha (Community).
Therefore, in this practice today, we have incorporated taking refuge in the retreat.

Renunciation mind is important and Refuge naturally arise.
Be Relax & at ease with what you are doing and you will have a good experience. :-)

Continuing ~ part2

Mani Recitation Retreat 2009

Part2

Below is extract of what I had summarized from the Dharma talks given by His Eminence , the 12th Nubpa Rinpoche, ( also greatly appreciate the translator who did a great job translating from Mandarin to English ) during the Mani retreat 2009.
Pardon is sought if there is any wrong remembrance or misinterpretation

25/12/09 EveningTo attain Buddhahood, it is necessary to generate Bodhicitta.
There is Relative Bodhicitta and Ultimate Bodhicitta.

Relative Bodhicitta requires training the mind to give rise to the thoughts of 4 Immeasurables.
All sentient beings are our fathers and mothers who protect us till we grow up.
We should develop Equanimity towards all beings, as they could be parents of our past lives.
We should think of sufferings of beings in lower realms & generate compassion towards them.
To save all sentient beings, we must become Buddha and this is Bodhicitta --> Bodhisattva.

26/12/09 MorningThe Ultimate meaning of all traditions is to be liberated from sufferings.
There are 2 kinds of accumulation: merits & wisdom.
We should practise the 6 Paramitas and Mahayana tradition has more methods:
1) Generation stage;
2) Completion stage.

Under generation stage, there are many methods but among all, easiest to visualize is Avalokiteshvara.
For ordinary beings, easiest way is to do Mani recitation.
It is the embodiment of all Buddhas.
Every sentient being has this inherent Buddha nature and through this recitation, it can bring out our Buddha nature.

State of emptiness - Our body is not physical but form of emptiness (rainbow like state of Avalokiteshvara).
We are sentient beings with karma and visualization could purify our karma.
Within our heart center, imagine light emit to all directions into all sorts of offerings to make to all the Buddhas.
When light returns & dissolves in us, we receive blessings from Buddhas of all directions& purify ourselves.
While reciting with great compassion, visualize with lights to all directions and purify all obscurations of all sentient beings who turn into Guanyin.
Visualization helps enhance our Bodhicitta.
It helps purify own body, speech & mind and all beings.
It enhances our practice. Even if short time using this method, every individual would have their own experience and it is a beneficial practice.

Mani Recitation Retreat 2009

Part 3

Below is extract of what I had summarized from the Dharma talks given by His Eminence , the 12th Nubpa Rinpoche, ( also greatly appreciate the translator who did a great job translating from Mandarin to English ) during the Mani retreat 2009.
Pardon is sought if there is any wrong remembrance or misinterpretation.

27/12/09 Morning
We are fortunate to be human among the 6 realms and have the opportunity to meet & have trust in the Dharma.
Few people have such opportunities to practice and fewer to gain attainment & achievement.
Especially in such a developed nation of Spore that we took time to practice in accordance of Dharma.
We are always working hard but when we are about to leave the world, what follows us?
The positive and negative karmic deeds follow us like shadows.

3 most important steps of practice (not quite sure if this 3 identification header is right)


1) Take Refuge & Motivation
As Buddhist, we take refuge; without good motivation, we could not label ourselves as Mahayana practitioner.


2) Generation of Avalokiteshvara: accumulation of merits & wisdom are the causes & conditions for Perfect Buddhahood.
When practicing, we see our body as Avalokiteshvara, our mind in terms of Loving-kindness, our speech into 6 syllabuses.


3) Purify Body, Speech & Mind.
While reciting, visualize the 6 Syllabus to all ten directions to make offerings to All Buddhas & also light to all sentient beings who convert to Avalokiteshvara. All beings are Avalokiteshvara and all our thoughts Bodhicitta.


Visualize oneself as Avalokiteshvara and on crown of our head:
Amitabha Buddha --> our Root Guru and visualize always having blessings.
We receive Guru’s blessings, progress on to recognize own nature of mind.


Methods: 1) Gather accumulation; 2) Guru’s blessings
Root Guru dissolve into light to our heart & hence mind of Guru and us is the same. As we rest in this state, Relative & Ultimate Bodhicitta is generated.

Today is 3rd day & best opportunity to accumulate merits and benefit all beings.
Practice is long run.
From now on, we should try all ways & means to generate Bodhicitta.
It is only with Bodhicitta that we can truly practise & not make mistakes in our practice.
27/12/09 Evening Closing SpeechDedication is important. Why we had not become Buddha?
It is because we do not know how to dedicate our merits.
When practise along the path, we gathered good deeds and accumulation but because we do not dedicate enough, merits exhausted & greed, jealousy, etc generated affect the merit.


Therefore, while dedicating merits, we need to have a goal & having done good deeds we should be dedicating to all sentient beings (past parents). This helps generate Bodhi & accumulate merits to Buddhahood. This way to dedicate with goal is with Form.


What goal? The Goal to liberate all sentient beings to Buddhahood.


Ways to dedicate from Ultimate Bodhicitta ---> Emptiness of 3 Spheres.


Concept of “I” & “Others” not existing --> Dedicate


Finally, Rinpoche wishes all of us Good Health, Progress in Practice, Always watch our mind, develop Loving-kindness & Compassion within us, and open up our personal wisdom.
Wisdom and Compassion is together. (Like bird with 2 wings)
Wisdom is knowing what to do & not to do, and then one will not lose direction..


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Amituofo

May All Beings Be Well & Happy

May All Progress along the Right Path

Om Mani Padme Hung