I am an official Dharma Teacher

I am an official Dharma Teacher today. It was coincidence and unexpectedly. Now I know the true meaning of unexpected happiness when you least expect it. It happened out of sudden when I enrolled my kids to a Dharma School in one of the Buddhist Organization in Malaysia. Yes, all the while since my awakening, I was intended to be a Dharma Teacher. But somehow in my heart, I thought to myself as I am not qualified to be one. Who am I? I am just a beginner who has just realized and awakened about this spiritual path about 6 months ago. I did a lot of research and reading on my own about Buddhism since awakening. My love and passion towards this wonderful , meaningful and noble journey has deepen day to day. I am actually glad that I know so little as I will have more opportunity to learn as much as possible. Honest speaking, this is the first time I wish for myself, I have never prayed for anything for myself except for my family members and others. But somehow, this is my exceptional. I wish to be permanently with this Buddhist spiritual path until I reach Nirvana to help more sentient beings reaching enlightenment in their lives. I am happy that my prayer has been heard. Thank you, Lord Buddha.  May I be blessed with higher attainment to help end suffering among all beings reaching enlightenment. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!  

Quotes and Journal From My Facebook Since Awakening

"Buddha" in Sankrit literally means the awakened one. Here, to be awakened means his mind was fully awakened in the form of great compassion and wisdom - a wisdom about the true nature of reality and a compassion that encompasses all living beings. It is these qualities that are referred to here in the word Buddha - to be awakened.

I have actually stopped myself from receiving any helps from anyone but someone has awakened me today. We need a benefactor to help us achieving our dreams. I thought of that way because I didn't want to owe anyone anything but the true is receiving is actually giving too. Maybe the benefactor needs my help or skill to achieve his/her target too. It's a win win situation. Then I realise and I accept.

This is truly miracle and inspiring! Don't know why I have these "unexplainable" thoughts all these years. I know we are "related" and will be united under one God but I thought this is just my believe. Never knew that this video revealved and answered all my "abstract" belief. Moreover, I was told about my future this morning. God is showing me something Dato' and I think it's time and I am ready to dedicate it whole heatedly. 

(I used the term God because I was not realized yet) 

We are one from the very beginning and we will unite back as one very soon!

Life is actually a circle. Whatever you have encountered before, you'll encounter it again and it does not stop but continues to return when you reach back that circle.

If you really see within your sight, feel within your heart and think within your mind, you will see more things, more things around you that have not been discovered yet.

The same circle can be both good and bad. If we ignore it, it will return after a period a time when you reach back the full circle. If good, then it's great. If bad, then we must face and solve it properly before it return.

If good, we must grab it because it won't be that great as time is passing by and we are getting older. If we miss again, we need to wait for another round and sometimes can be too late because life is temporary.

             Do you believe in past lives or cause and effect? Your present life is the effect of your past life. Your present life is the cause of your next life and your next life is the effect of your present life.

With a focus mind practicing from meditation, you can help creating world peace by lessening sufferings among people. Let's unite and meditate.

Everything happens for a reason. You will know it when you understand the fundamental and origin of existing in this world.

Each of us is unique and has a purpose to be brought into this world. What is your purpose of life?

Punishment is not the best solution of everything but compassion, love and encouragement are.

Forgive, forgave and be forgiven. It starts from forgiving yourself before forgiving others.

We will go through different stages in our lives. The stages will be in a circle form. Once we have passed every stage, we will be back to the basic where we came from.

Stop sharing and spreading bad news and negativities that pollute our mind, heart and soul. Help to share and spread good news to help this world a better world. Appreciate it very much. P E A C E 

·          I've learnt that what we have and posses from the outside is just something surface and temporary. What we really have and posses comes from inside which is permanent.

Do good deeds. Speak good words. Think good thoughts.

Life is just about doing, speaking and thinking all the good and wonderful things in the world. Nothing more than these.

It's okay to feel lost or down sometimes as it's part of our lives. Just accept it and grab the moment to reflect deeply and meditate on how to improve in our lives that matters. Never give up.  

Now I know the true meaning of charity. Nothing is greater than be part of the goal to free all beings from sufferings and to reach universal peace. Admire the effort, time and determination of all the organizers and the participants. Life is truly wonderful. 

P E A C E 

The basic of giving is forgiving. The basic of forgiving is forgiving ourselves.

What we can see is just something surface. What we really live comes from within.

·     I'm going to continue my path no matter what. Ain't no mountain can't be climbed. Ain't no sea can't be crossed. Ain't no problem can't be solved. I'm going to finish, finish strong, steadily and calmly. This I promise to myself.

Helping people in needs is my passion and responsibility. P E A C E

         There's a fine line between LOVE and COMPASSION. Love comes from feeling; compassion comes from wisdom. Love is impermance but compassion permanence.

    Now I know the true meaning of charity. Nothing is greater than be part of the goal to free all beings from sufferings and to reach universal peace. Admire the effort, time and determination of all the organizers and the participants. Life is truly wonderful.  

       

         The basic of giving is forgiving. The basic of forgiving is forgiving ourselves.

            The three most POISONOUS things in our lives are greed, anger and ignorance.

Let it flow by itself as it is destiny to be. There's no use rushing. Time will decide when it is right. Be patience.

We are living in the world of cause and effect (Karma). First, learn to accept that the sufferings that we are facing now were the effects of our actions in the past. Then, seek for forgiveness and learn to let go. Lastly, do deeds and merits. With these, sufferings from all beings will be stopped and universal peace will be created. 

The 3 Learnings as according to Buddhism:

Discipline, Concentration and Wisdom

Discipline cures vice. Concentration cures confusion. Wisdom cures foolishness.

 Why people can't just let go and stop thinking about the past? Why they want to keep trapping themselves in this stressful and suffering lives? Why can't they just accept, forgive themselves and move on to be a better people as present is more important? Stop complaining, blaming and giving excuses! We should be thankful that we are given chance. Find solution is the only answer for now and not others!

·  We are the creator of our own world. If we live in hell, it's because we create hell within us. If we live in heaven, it's because we create heaven within us. No one else except ourselves.

In life, whatever we own regardless relationship, achievements and materials are impermanence and changing frequently. Being too attached with them will only result of never ending sufferings. 

If I know I have only 3 years left, I would live my life by the fullest and appreciate every little thing that I have surround me. I achieve that by setting very specific SMART goals, plan in details and take massive actions accordingly without looking back and I know I would achieve all my goals within 3 years. Why? Because I know I only have limited time, so I grab every opportunity possible and ultilize my time wisely without wasting any of them.

Life is actually filled with trials and errors. It is meant to test our patience and understanding of the message appears along our path. Just remember to remain positive no matter what as the result will be seen when the time is right.

We don't get everything that we give in return. The right way is to give without expecting anything in return.

We don't have to struggle too much to achieve something. The right way is to put enough effort and time to achieve something that we want. It is achievable when the time is right. Patience and persistency are what we need.

What we experience from the outside is the result of what we think within. If we think peace, we experience peace. If we think war, we experience war. It's just as simple as that and nothing more.

In Buddhism, love is based wisdom. This is called compassion.

Buddhism Activities in Malaysia

Welcome to KCBA English Section Activities Update:

20.5.12 Sunday

8.45 a.m.   -  Buddha Puja & Chanting (in Mandarin & English) @ Main Shrine Hall, GF

10.00 a.m. – Dhamma talk Bro. Tan Huat Chye  entitled:  "Parents' Love: Buddhist Perspective" at Meditation Room, 2^nd Floor.

Guided Pali Chanting (Thai Style) lesson on every Monday night by Bro. Wan Wah Boon,

Time    :  8.30 p.m.

Venue  : Main Shrine Hall, Ground Floor

For further detail, please contact Bro. Wan @ 0123779815.

22.5.12 Tuesday

Come and join us for a devotional night in Pali chanting, Dhamma sharing and hymn singing. 

Time    :  8.30 p.m.

Venue  :  Main shrine hall, Ground Floor

For further detail, please feel free to contact Bro. Michael @ 012 6951817 or Bro. Lee Ee Chai @ 016 6626030.

May  you be well, happy and peaceful always.

 With Metta

KCBAenglish Section Moderator

E-mail : KCBAenglish@yahoogroups.com

The Klang & Coast Buddhist Association

Lot  465, KM 2, Persiaran Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, 41200 Klang, Selangor,
Malaysia. Tel / Fax : 603-33721902

Let's learn more about Buddhism

The Story of Buddha

Siddhartha - whose name means "the one whose objective is attained" - was born into a noble family around the year 560 AC. in the city of Kapilavastu in Nepal. 
     Queen Maya had a vision: six elephants, each one with a lotus flower on his back, were coming in her direction. The next instant, Siddhartha was conceived.
     During her pregnancy, Queen Maya, his mother, decided to call the wise men in the kingdom to interpret the vision she had had, and they were unanimous in affirming that the child about to be brought into the world would be a great king or a great priest. 
     Siddhartha's childhood and adolescence were very like ours; his parents wanted by all means to protect their son from knowing about the misery of the world. So he led his life confined between the walls of the gigantic palace where his parents lived and where everything seemed perfect and harmonious. He married, had a son and knew only the pleasures and delights of life. 
     One night, however, when he turned 29, he asked one of the guards to take him into town. The guard objected, for the king could become furious, but Siddhartha was so insistent that the man eventually gave in, and they left the palace together. 
     The first thing they saw was an old beggar with a sad expression on his face, asking for alms. Further ahead they came across a group of lepers, and right after them a funeral procession passed by. "I have never seen this before!" he must have said to the guard, who may have answered: "Well, that's old age, and that's disease, and death." On their way back to the palace, they came upon a holy man, his hair shorn and wearing only a yellow cloak, who said: "my life was a torment, so I have given everything up so that I don't have to incarnate as myself and suffer old age and sickness and death all over again." 
     The following night, Siddhartha waited until his wife and son had fallen asleep. He entered the room quietly, kissed them both and again asked the guard to escort him out of the palace; there he handed him his sword with the jewel-set hilt, his clothes made with the finest tissues that the human hand could weave, asking him to return them all to his father; then he shaved his head, covered his body with a yellow mantle and set out in search of an answer to the suffering of the world. 
     For many years he wandered all over the north of India, meeting monks and holy men who traveled around there, learning the oral traditions that spoke of reincarnation, illusion and paying for the sins of past lives (karma). When he felt that he had learned enough, he built himself a shelter on the banks of the River Nairanjana, where he lived doing penance and meditating. 
     His life style and will power ended up drawing the attention of other men who in their search for the truth came to him for spiritual advice. But after six long years, all that Siddhartha could notice was that his body was weaker and weaker and the constant infections did not let him meditate as he should. 
     The legend says that one morning, when he went into the river to make his toilet, he no longer had the strength to rise. When he was about to drown, a tree bent down its branches and let him clutch to them not to be swept away by the current. Exhausted, he managed to reach the river bank before fainting. 
     Hours later, a peasant passed by, a milk-vendor who offered him a little food. Siddhartha accepted, to the disgust of the other men who lived there with him. Believing that saint no longer to possess the strength to resist temptation, they decided to leave him immediately. But he gladly drank the milk offered him, feeling that it was a sign from God and a heaven-sent blessing. 
     Encouraged by the meal he had just eaten, he lent no importance to being abandoned by his old disciples; he sat himself down next to a fig-tree and decided to go on meditating about life and suffering. To test him, the god Mara sent three of his daughters to try to distract him with thoughts of sex, thirst, and the pleasures of life. But Siddhartha was so absorbed in his meditation that he did not notice any of this; at that very moment he was experiencing a sort of revelation, remembering all his past lives. As he did so, he also recalled the lessons he had forgotten (all men learn the necessary, but rarely are we are able to put to use what we have learned). 
     In his state of ecstasy, he experienced Paradise (Nirvana), where "there is no earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, it is neither this world nor another world, and there is no sun, no moon, no birth and no death. There lies the end of all of man's suffering." 
     When that morning came to an end, he had reached the true meaning of life and become Buddha (the Enlightened One). But instead of remaining in this state for the rest of his days, he decided to go back to living among others and to teach everyone all that he had learned and experienced. 
     He who once was called Siddhartha, now transformed into Buddha, left behind him the tree under whose branches he had managed to reach enlightenment, and set out for the city of Sarnath, where he met his old companions and drew a circle on the ground to represent the wheel of existence that leads constantly to birth and death. He explained that he had not been happy as a prince who owned everything, nor had he learned wisdom through total renunciation. What human beings should seek in order to reach Paradise was the so-called "middle way": neither seeking pain, nor being a slave to pleasure.
     Impressed at what they heard from Buddha, the men decided to follow him on his pilgrimages from town to town. As they heard the good news, more and more disciples joined the group, and Buddha began to organize communities of devotees, following the principle that they could help one another mutually in the duties of body and spirit. 
     On one of his journeys, Buddha returned to his home town, where his father grieved deeply on seeing him begging for alms. But he kissed his father's feet and said: "you, Sire, belong to a lineage of kings, but I belong to a lineage of Buddhas, and millions of them also lived begging for alms." The king remembered the prophecy that had been made when his son was conceived, and made his peace with Buddha. His son and his wife, who for so many years had complained of having been abandoned, eventually understood his mission and founded a community which began to spread his teachings.
     When he was approaching the age of eighty, he ate something spoiled and realized he was going to die of food poisoning. Helped by his disciples, he managed to travel as far as Kusinhagara, where he lay down for the last time beside a tree.
     Buddha called his cousin Ananda and said:
     - "I am old and my pilgrimage in this life is nearing its end. My body looks like an old cart that has been used a great deal and is still working only because some of its parts are precariously tied up with straps of leather. But that's enough, now it's time to go."
     Then he turned to his disciples and asked if anyone had any doubts. Nobody said a word. He asked the same question three times, but they all remained in silence. 
     Buddha died smiling. His teachings, today codified in the form of a philosophical religion, are spread across most of Asia. In essence, they consist of understanding oneself profoundly and having a deep respect for one's neighbor. 

http://warriorofthelight.com/engl/edi72_brev.shtml

Buddhism in Perspective (Summary)

1.  Eight Sufferings

     Birth, decay, sickness, death, seperation, meeting the unfriendly, failure and aggregates

2.  Five Characteristics of Life

     Sickness, old age, seperation, death and kamma

3.  Five Hindrances in the Mind

     Craving, ill-will, laziness, restlessness and doubt (indecision)

4.  Three Evil Roots

     Greed, anger and delusion

5.  Eight Worldly Conditions

     Gain & loss, fame & blame, honour & dishonour, happiness & sorrow

6.  Ten Fetters

     Illusion of self, skeptical doubt, belief in rites and rituals, craving for worldly pleasure,  

     anger, hatred and ill-will, craving for fine material world, craving for non-physical body, 

     pride, restlessness and ignorance.

7.  Four Elements

     Earth, fire, water and wind

8.  Five Aggregates

     Form, sensation, perception, conception and consciousness

9.  The Middle Path and The Three Advices

     Not to go to extremes. Not to do bad actions, to do good and purify the mind.

10. Dependent Origination

      Cause and Effect

11. Four Noble Truths

      Suffering, cause of suffering, cessation of suffering and the path leading to the 

      cessation of suffering

12. Three Universal Characteristics

      Change, suffering and soul-lessness

13.  Twelve Links in Dependent upon Origination

       Ignorance, conditioned activities, relinking consciousness, mind and matter, six 

       spheres of senses, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, volitional activities, birth and 

       death

14.  Thirty Seven Constituents of Enlightenment:

       -   Noble Eight-fold Path - right understanding, right thought, right speech, right 

           action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration

       -   Four foundations of mindfulness - concentration on the body, concentration on 

           feelings, concentration on the mind and concentration on mind objects.

       -   Four mind efforts - Efforts to abandon, effort to prevent bad thoughts, effort to 

           develop and effort to maintain good thoughts

       -   Four bases of success - Zeal, effort, wisdom and mindfulness

       -   Five faculties - Faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration and understanding

       -   Five powers - Faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding

       -   Seven enlightening factors - Mindfulness, truth investigation, effort, joy, 

           tranquillity, concentration and equanimity

15.   Noble Eight-fold Path already mentioned

16.   Ten Meritorious Deeds

        Generosity, discipline, meditation, reverence to teachers, sympathetic, joy, learning 

        the Dhamma, spreading the Dhamma and straightening one's view

17.   Ten Perfections

        Generosity, discipline, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, determination, 

        truthfulness, universal love and equanimity

Q & A about Buddhism

It is best to ask or clear our doubts on what we do not understand. The clearer we are, the nearer we are to the path of enlightenment. Let's share some of the common questions asked about Buddhism.

Does KARMA explain why there is so much inequality of life around us?
People have always wondered about the fairness of life, and everyone is not born equal. Questions are always asked about why is one person so healthy, and another born with many physical afflictions. Why is one person born into a wealthy family, and another born into abject poverty. Why is one person able to enjoy a long happy life, and another having their life cut short by violence or accident. Buddhist do not believe that all these inequalities are because of chance, or the explainable  will of an unseen and omnipotent heavenly being. We believe that Karma and the principle of Cause and Effect account for most of these differences in people's lives.   (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)

If there is REBIRTH, why don't people remember their past lives?
Memories of the past lives lie deep in the subconscious mind. We are usually unable to access these memories because our minds are not clear, or disciplined enough. For example, very few of us can recall what we did on the same day of even just a month ago! However, research has shown that some young children whose minds remain reasonably clear, may be able to spontaneously recall their past lives. Western psychoanalysts are now using methods of hypnotic regression to help patients with psychological problems, and some of these patients seem to be able to recall their past lives under such therapy. Monks with highly disciplined minds and who are able to enter into deep meditative states are also said to be able to recall their past lives.  (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)


Does  MEDITATION allow demons or evil spirits to enter and possess the mind?
Meditation has been practiced in many different forms, and by many different cultures for thousands of years. It is taught and practiced all over the world and is gaining much popularity, especially in Western countries. Large international corporations are sending their staff and executives for lessons and retreats in increasing numbers. They recognize the benefits of meditation to be improved concentration and clarity of mind, as well as better management of stress, pain, aggravation and anger. Neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, by studying the brain waves of people who meditate regularly, have shown that they are more peaceful and tranquil than non-meditators. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Centre, have shown that because of meditation, Buddhists really are happier and calmer that most other people! Some people might discourage us from practicing because of their own irritation fears. It would be wise to treat such talk as superstitious nonsense. (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)


Buddhism teaches CONTENTMENT, but people have ambitions in work and also want better lives for their families. How can this be reconciled? 
While it is true that Buddhism considers contentment to be a virtue, it also realizes that everyone may take different paths to attain their own peace and happiness. In such cases, the Buddha would recommend taking the Middle Path. Be not too ambitious that you may cause harm or hurt to others in achieving your ambitions. And also don't be too contented that your own livelihood and family be adversely affected. (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)


Is being Vegetarian a must for Buddhist?
In Buddhism, being vegetarian or not depends entirely on the individual. What is emphasized in Buddhism is not the purity of the diet, but the purity of the mind. Of course, many Buddhist eventually realized the cruelty involved in eating meat, which is nothing more than the flesh of a helpless animals. Many succeed in eliminating the craving and attachment of eating meat, and eventually become vegetarian on their own accord. However, if coming vegetarian is not convenient or too difficult, then take the path you are comfortable with. Nonetheless be a vegetarian at least once of twice a month is a good way of practicing compassion for all living beings, by consciously abstaining from meat for that day at least. A book that deal extremely well with the Buddhist perspective on vegetarianism is Philip Kapleau's " To Cherish All Life."  (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)


Why do some monks eat meat?
The Buddha refused to prohibit the eating of meats among his followers. He had very practical reasons for this because sufficient vegetable food may not be available in some areas, or could be very scarce in times of drought. For example, vegetable food is extremely limited in places like Tibet. Monks survive on alms and if alms were restricted to only vegetarian, then could be a great burden on the lay people supporting the monks. Thus monks eat whatever they are given, even it is meat, as long as the animals were not specially killed for them. Nowadays though, many monks and temples do have a preference for vegetarian food. However, it should be noted that most monks in the Mahayana tradition are strict vegetarians.  (Anyone can go to Heaven. Just be Good! by TY Lee)

Buddhist TV

Siddhartha was born in a royal Hindu Kshatriya family. He was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati.^[37] By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering. (Wikipedia) Watch this video for a better understanding of how Buddha reached enlightenment. 

Beautiful Buddhist Quotes for us to understand and realize the true meaning and message of the quotes.

Cause And Effect 因果 


"The life of Human Being is within his one breath. Once the breath is stopped the man will die. Suppose I was able to live for one hundred years. Indeed, among the millions of people, how many can really live for one hundred years? - Soon Guo Sen

 Karma (Sanskrit, also karman, Pāli: Kamma) means "action" or "doing"; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma. In Buddhism, the term karma is used specifically for those actions which spring from the intention (Sanskrit: cetanā, Pali: cetana) of an unenlightened being.

These bring about a fruit (Sanskrit, Pali: phala) or result (S., P.: vipāka; the two are often used together as vipākaphala), either within the present life, or in the context of a future rebirth. Other Indian religions have different views on karma. Karma is the engine which drives the wheel of the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth (S., P. saṃsāra) for each being. In the early texts it is not, however, the only causal mechanism influencing the lives of sentient beings. 

As one scholar states, "the Buddhist theory of action and result (karmaphala) is fundamental to much of Buddhist doctrine, because it provides a coherent model of the functioning of the world and its beings, which in turn forms the doctrinal basis for the Buddhist explanations of the path of liberation from the world and its result, nirvāṇa."^[1]. (Wikipedia)


Once we understand that everything happens to us in the present is the result of our actions of our pasts, we eliminate our sufferings. We sow what we reap and that's all. Why there some good people live in bad conditions and poverty? At the same time, why there are bad people live in good wealth and prosperity? This understanding answer all of our doubts which we think unfair. Nothing else for us to blame if things gone wrong but we ourselves. Once we realize it, we accept it. After accepting it, we forgive ourselves. After that, we move on. Most of us stop right there, don't just more on, instead do more good deeds as what we do in the present guarantee the results of my future lives, but of course depend on the maturity of individual karma. Remember, we will leave this world one day. Just remember to create more good deeds and merits for yourselves as these are the only things that we can bring along and nothing else.

W I S D O M