Tuesday, August 05, 2003
Your wealth is not measured by how much you own, but how little you need.
I attended a dharma lecture by Dr. Eric Chan at the temple tonight. And I was really glad that I went. Dr. Chan was fantastic. Always sensitive to the mood of the audience, he engaged us with his over the top humour, flamboyance, quirky cartoon illustrations and unexpected bursts into songs. He threw in an element of fun into everything, even making the dharma seem usually modern. I've never seen buddhism presented in this context before and it was really endearing to me. His talk covered events and transition points pertinent to the lives of youths and I found it extremely useful and appealing.
Of love and laughter.
He spoke of how two people who fell in love were like the tips of icebergs in the ocean. They are attracted to what they see, but what they find out later is the bulk of what is immersed under the water. And then there are two paths that we can go from there. Either we lose our identity by trying to become the person that our significant other perceives as perfect, or we end up quarreling.
Of choices and Decisions
It's ok to be indecisive! At least I know that I"ve made the choice not to make a choice at that point of time and that's completely acceptable. We need to assess teh consequences of our decisions and then love to learn the consequences after we have made the decision.
Of negative feelings
When people do things that make us angry, it's because we have allowed them to judge us or expect them to do us a favour. And when they fail to perform up to our expectations, conflicts arise. Also relevant, is our anger towards towards world events, towards people who are causing suffering for others. We should not feel angry, but sad. Sad in knowing that the buddha spirit in each of them is grieving for their ignorant actions. THey will find enlightenment one day, but right now the bad karma generated will only serve to harm. We should grieve for them and try to be compassionate instead of raging at them. Why rage when it doesn't change anything? You must take actions to help, but anger will only serve as a hinderance in your mission.
There was a lot more issues discussed and I found myself accepting more and more of the dharma. Though I still have hesitations in embracing the mythical part, I am totally agreeable to the way of living suggested by the great Buddha.
Na Mo Shi Jia Mo Ni Fo
I attended a dharma lecture by Dr. Eric Chan at the temple tonight. And I was really glad that I went. Dr. Chan was fantastic. Always sensitive to the mood of the audience, he engaged us with his over the top humour, flamboyance, quirky cartoon illustrations and unexpected bursts into songs. He threw in an element of fun into everything, even making the dharma seem usually modern. I've never seen buddhism presented in this context before and it was really endearing to me. His talk covered events and transition points pertinent to the lives of youths and I found it extremely useful and appealing.
Of love and laughter.
He spoke of how two people who fell in love were like the tips of icebergs in the ocean. They are attracted to what they see, but what they find out later is the bulk of what is immersed under the water. And then there are two paths that we can go from there. Either we lose our identity by trying to become the person that our significant other perceives as perfect, or we end up quarreling.
Of choices and Decisions
It's ok to be indecisive! At least I know that I"ve made the choice not to make a choice at that point of time and that's completely acceptable. We need to assess teh consequences of our decisions and then love to learn the consequences after we have made the decision.
Of negative feelings
When people do things that make us angry, it's because we have allowed them to judge us or expect them to do us a favour. And when they fail to perform up to our expectations, conflicts arise. Also relevant, is our anger towards towards world events, towards people who are causing suffering for others. We should not feel angry, but sad. Sad in knowing that the buddha spirit in each of them is grieving for their ignorant actions. THey will find enlightenment one day, but right now the bad karma generated will only serve to harm. We should grieve for them and try to be compassionate instead of raging at them. Why rage when it doesn't change anything? You must take actions to help, but anger will only serve as a hinderance in your mission.
There was a lot more issues discussed and I found myself accepting more and more of the dharma. Though I still have hesitations in embracing the mythical part, I am totally agreeable to the way of living suggested by the great Buddha.
Na Mo Shi Jia Mo Ni Fo
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