Hsi
Morning alms round in Metta Forest Monastery a.k.a Wat Metta, in
Main hall (sala) of Wat Metta…
This is me (left) with two other guys in Wat Metta. I think the one on the right has been ordained. (Peter, can you please confirm?)
Related posts in another blog:
In 2005, it was reported that US interrogators in
Guess what is Ajahn Brahm’s answer?
“I’ll call the plumber.”
Ajahn Brahmavamso, the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in
Now this is my personal opinion:
“Concentration” may also imply focusing one’s attention to one point. Many meditators don’t focus on a single point, but instead mentally note whatever which arise in their mind. As such, “stillness” may really be a better term in this context too.
Now, some people would tell me, “You were mindful, therefore you were happy.” This is certainy true, but I still think that there was something else. I believe observing the Eight Precepts helped too. On top of that, I was associating with happy people…
Scientists from
The study found that:
Knowing someone who is happy makes you 15.3% more likely to be happy yourself. A happy friend of a friend increases your odds of happiness by 9.8%, and even your neighbor's sister's friend can give you a 5.6% boost.
(Read the story here.)
Back to my retreat at Metta: The monks were happy. The Thais/Lao who offered food to the Sangha were happy. So were the other yogis. No wonder I was happy too.
Buddhists who follow Theravada tradition often fast on Uposatha Days (full moon, new moon, half moon), or when they are having a retreat in monasteries.
The world is facing a food shortage problem, as a result of poor harvest and the use of biofuels to replace crude oil. Perhaps Buddhists should fast more often now.
Of course, we can only slightly reduce our food consumption if we fast a few days a month, but we can raise awareness in wider society. Many people have been too wasteful during good times.
Please also read a related post in my other blog.
In Vipassana meditation centers, we often come across signs which read, “Noble Silence”. We are told that we should avoid talking whenever possible when we are in a retreat. If we talk, we lose mindfulness.
However, a meditation instructor and a Dhamma friend of mine interpret the phrase in a different way. According to him, Noble Silence doesn’t mean “shut up”. Instead, it means “no mental chattering”.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life recently conducted a “religious landscape survey”. Here are some interested facts about American Buddhists:
Percentage of Americans who identified themselves as Buddhists: 0.7%
The
Racial composition of American Buddhists: 53% White (non-Hispanic), 32% Asian, 6% Hispanic, 4% Black, 5% other/mixed.
It is tempting to think that most American Buddhists are Asian immigrants or their children. This survey result suggests otherwise.
Percentage of American Buddhists with tertiary education: 22% with college degrees, 26% with post-graduate degrees.
Only Hindus and Jews have higher percentage of postgraduates. National average is 11%
Marital status of American Buddhists: 45% married, 12% divorced or separated, 31% never married, 8% living with partners, 4% widowed.
Unlike many other religions, marriage is neither sacred nor a duty in Buddhism. No wonder only 45% of Buddhists are married. (National average is 54%.)
On Aug 23, 2007, I wrote a post, Shaolin Monks, in which I asked a question: Should Shaolin monks practice deadly martial arts.
On Jan 29, 2008, I came across an article on www.buddhistchannel.tv which scrutinizes commercialization of
Many believe the Shaolin have abandoned their monastic traditions of leaving the world and severing worldly desires and pursuits, and have become a tourist recreation center obsessed with money and reputation.
Full article is here.
We all know that
Yet in my recent trip to
Is cross a religious symbol or a fashion statement? Do Thais understand the religious significance of it? Do missionaries purposely mislead Thais into believing that Christianity is trendy???
I came across the tagline of Swiss watch Patek Philippe, which reads, “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.”
But I am thinking of something else:
You never really own your children. You merely look after them until they can be independent.
There have been many tragedies whereby depressed women killed their children before committing suicide. They probably thought that they owned their children, and therefore have the right to ‘destroy’ them. What surprise me is that, these tragedies, also known as filicide-suicide, happen not just in
The fool worries, thinking, “I have sons, I have wealth.” Indeed, when he himself is not his own, whence are sons, whence is wealth?
- Dhammapada verse 62
I was overwhelmed with anxiety and depression when I heard the dreaded "C" word – my mom was diagnosed with colon cancer.
I realized that, even after years of meditation, I still couldn’t cope with fear, the fear of losing my loved ones.
It also shows that the practice of meditation alone is insufficient. We still need to have Right Understanding, the understanding of anicca (impermanence) and dukkha (unsatisfactory).
Fortunately, my mom was diagnosed at the early stage of cancer, and she is recovering after undergoing a surgery to remove the tumor.
Metta Meditation, as many of us already know, is a practice commonly used to develop loving-kindness and compassion.
In practicing Metta, we first direct loving-kindness to ourselves; as we are at peace with ourselves, we proceed to extend the goodwill to others – not just people, but all living beings.
Rev Sujiva of
(Reference: Sujiva, Divine Abodes – Meditation on Loving Kindness and Other
Traditionally, we are told that lovable person cannot someone of opposite sex. This is to avoid turning goodwill into lust. While we can, and are supposed to, direct our goodwill to all people in the subsequent stages, we should never do so to a person of opposite sex in Stage 2.
But I always have one doubt: can’t a man select his mother to be that lovable person? Or, can’t a woman direct her loving-kindness to her father at Stage 2?
How about gay men and lesbians who practice Metta Meditation? Should they actually direct loving-kindness to a person of opposite sex???
Metta is a Pali word which means loving-kindness, or good will. Its Sanskrit equivalent is maitre. Metta is one of the Four Divine Abodes which Buddhists are expected to practice. The other three are karuna (compassion), mudita (appreciative joy) and upekkha (equanimity).
Buddhist meditation masters have conceived of a method to cultivate loving-kindness. It is called Metta Meditation or Loving-kindness Meditation. In practicing Loving-kindness Meditation, we repeatedly recite, in the mind, these verses:
May [someone] be free from enmity and danger
May you be free from mental sufferings
May you be free from physical sufferings
May you be well and happy
(Note: there are many variations of these formulae.)
A teacher told us to add an additional step at the beginning of meditation:
If we have done something that has upset another person, mentally say, “Please forgive me.”
But I can’t help but wonder: Wouldn’t it be better to actually apologize to that person, rather than doing it silently?
I notice that many Buddhist meditators have come to equate metta to Loving-kindness Meditation. This misconception is more evident following the anti-junta demonstration led by monks in
Some Buddhist teachers in
It looks like metta is all about right thoughts. But do we need right actions?
[This post is a response to PeterAtLarge’s question: Who inspired you? I only touch on spiritual side here, even though Peter allows a broader scope.]
Who inspired me? That's a tough question to answer.
I am a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Chinese traditionally practiced a religion which combined Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. I knew a little bit about Buddhism when I was young. When I was studying in the university, I learned that the Buddhist Society organized a meditation retreat, and I grabbed the opportunity. The rest was history.
One teacher whom I respect very much is Rev Sujiva – a Malaysian monk who was trained in Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, and founded the Santisukharama Hermitage. He told us not to fear the pain when we sat. “If you cannot bear the pain in meditation, how can you bear the pain when you are dying?”
Then, I had a chance to work as a contract engineer in
Now I am back to my home country.
Since my university days I mostly associate with Theravada groups, or, more specifically, Vipassana groups. One shortcoming I feel is that we are not so close to the teachers. To the average practitioners, interview in a retreat is about the only time we can have dialogue with them, and the topic is strictly on meditation only. I can’t tell them my career is at a cross-road. I can’t tell them I had relationship problems… I know some of the advanced meditators will dismissed these issues as trivial, but I am a slow learner.
Sometimes I do wish that we have the kind of teacher-student relation so common in Tibetan Buddhism...
Anti-junta demonstration led by Buddhist monks in
I don’t know how this could happen. Perhaps they thought monks should not be involved in politics. Perhaps they thought that was the karma of the Burmese. A respected teacher told us that democracy might not be good for the Burmese. But the unrest in
Thai monks also took to the street a few months ago when they demanded an official religion status for Buddhism. I do NOT agree with them. The protest in
In
