~ Raymond Chng ~

Life and Death

2012-03-01T19:38:00.000+08:00

Scissor Paper Stone

2012-03-01T09:25:00.003+08:00

Just having some fun with Math using the classic game of Scissor-Paper-Stone (aka Rock-Paper-Scissor).

Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra 2

2012-02-17T21:42:00.002+08:00

The second instalment of the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra seeks todefine and understand what life is.

We use the word self[to refer to ourselves], but this word actually refers to the universe. When weask how the life of the universe is different from the life of each one of you,the only differences we find are those of your bodies and minds. Your life andthat of the universe are the same.

In the discussion on the philosophy of life,there are two common analogies used.

The first described life as tree. With thesource of life beginning from the roots or the stem, and each individual livesas the leaves or the flowers and fruits. In a sense, life begins from afoundational primal force and everything else is created from there. Suchthinking is common in many mythologies and the Abrahamic religions. It tends todefine the lives of each individual as having separate independent souls while beingdenominated to a common creator.

The Lotus Sutra, however, finds the aboveunderstanding of life lacking and aligned itself with the second analogy withviews lives as waves on the ocean. Perceiving each individual life as even moreclosely related than merely sharing a creator, it views that each life actuallycommon with the comic life itself.

For example, each of our lives is like waves on theocean. We interact with those close to us constantly. And the winds(representing karma) influence us heavily. When we are born, it is like the waveriding high. And when we die, it is like the wave returning to the embrace of theocean. But when we examine the nature of the waves, we find the same water thatis the ocean. When we fully accept this interpretation of life, then true compassioncan be developed. Because if every lives share the same entity, hurting anotherperson would be like the cancer cells destroying their host body, they are hurtingthemselves ultimately.

What is life?

It is an entity which is simultaneously the infinite macrocosm andeach of the microcosms that represent countless individual living beings. It isan enormous life-entity, always undergoing dynamic change and, at the sametime, eternal and everlasting. The Buddha and the Mystic Law are names that wegive to this undeniable entity--cosmic life. We are all embodiment of thissublime entity.

Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra 1

2012-02-06T17:32:00.002+08:00

This year's YMD study focus is on the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra. So here I am beginning to study this wonderful set of dialogues again. I should begin with the sharing of two segments from the opening instalment which provide the setting for my study.

First up, why do we study the Lotus Sutra?

Some people say that the prevailing mood in the world today is one of powerlessness. Whatever the case may be, we are all aware that things cannot continue as they are. Yet decisions about political, economic and environmental issues all seem to be made somewhere beyond our reach. What can the individual accomplish in the face of the huge institutions that run our world? This feeling of powerlessness fuels a vicious cycle that only worsens the situation and people's sense of futility.

At the opposite extreme of this sense of powerlessness lie the Lotus Sutra's philosophy of a single life-moment encompassing three thousand realms (ichinen sanzen) and the application of this teaching to our daily lives. The principle of one life-moment containing three thousand realms teaches us that the inner determination (ichinen) of one individual can transform everything. It is a teaching that gives ultimate expression to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in the life of each human being.

Basically, the core message in the Lotus Sutra is the empowerment of the individual. And we do need it more than ever this our contemporary world.

Another point to note is that the Lotus Sutra is described as the "King of Sutras". We have to understand here that "King" does not overwrite the other teachings. "King" here means to enhance the potential of all teachings. That means that the universality of the Lotus Sutra allows even non-Buddhists to benefit.

So how do we attempt to tap the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra?

German author and poet Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) write in his poem "Bucher" (Books):

All the books in the world

Will not bring you happiness,

But they will quietly lead you

Back inside yourself.

There you will find all you need,

Sun, stars and moon,

For the light for which you search

Dwells within you.

The wisdom you so long sought

In books,

Will then shine forth from every page--

For now that wisdom has become your own.

Books containing knowledge is only useful as far as we examine our lives against the teachings. With this, I turn the page.

Thoughts on Angkor

2012-01-11T19:30:00.001+08:00

Year 2012 is upon us. Actually, ithad already been a good ten-day since the start of the New Year. And it is alsoa traditional busy time with the evaluation of the previous year, preparing workplans and settling into a new rhythm.

Finally I had a small window of timeto write about my vacation in the zenith of year 2011. I visited Cambodia withthe fiancée in December 2011. Specially, Siem Reap. The main objective was tovisit Angkor and Angkor Wat in particular. As an enthusiast in religioushistory, I was hyped to explore this largest singular religious monument.

In brief, Angkor Wat was originallybuilt as a Hindi Temple. Centuries after Hinduism lost its influence inCambodia, it is still maintained by Buddhists. A religious building is one ofthe greatest acts of cultural expression. And I believed that despite thedifferences between Buddhism and Hinduism, I believe that it is this respectfor each other’s religious culture that allows Angkor Wat to survive today.

In contrast, the destruction of Sho-Hondo by Nikken due to his jealousy of the growth of Soka Gakkai seems utterly pettyand immature.

But if you think that it is becauseBuddhism and Hinduism have common roots in ancient Indian philosophy that theycan coexist, I beg to differ. Theologically, Buddhism was founded to confrontthe errors in the teachings of Brahmanism which is the predecessor of Hinduism.Hinduism is the evolution of Brahmanism to adapt to modern society.

But evidence of the conflict betweenthe two faiths can be found a short distance northwest of Angkor Wat – AngkorThom. Angkor Thom was the political centre of medieval Cambodia (Khmer). Khmerwas mainly a Hindu civilization with a window in its history where Buddhismthrived. In the centre of Angkor Thom was the temple known as Bayon. There wasa time when Bayon was an important Buddhist temple for the royal family. Butwhen Buddhism lost its influence among the Khmers, Hindu fanatics attacked theBayon and much of the grand structure was vandalized.

It is interesting to note that AngkorWat predates Angkor Thom. Why was Angkor Thom badly vandalized but not AngkorWat?

It is my belief that this is due tothe fact that Angkor Wat was a religious centre while Angkor Thom was apolitical centre. In medieval society, it is not possible to divorce religionsfrom politics. But there are fundamental differences. Both religions andpolitics are tools. Wield by the right people, they can be a force for eithergreat good or evil. But political tools are focused on the creation of structuresand environments for the people. It has great value. But it pales in comparisonto religious tools which focused on values and culture.

In a revolution, structures andenvironments are reset and rebuilt from the ground up. But values and culturesare eternal.

Politics has become a common point ofdiscussion in my country since the previous election. While I respect the goodthat good policies can have on people’s lives, it is more meaningful for me toimpart positive values and humanistic cultures to the people around me.Schooled in Nichiren Buddhism of the Soka Gakkai tradition, I am convinced thatI am equipped with the tools to influence others towards a more humanistic society.It is how I wield it that I must ponder deeply and with care that I will never becorrupted.

On a side note, the GCE O Level resultswere released 2 days ago. Technically, my students did not perform all that bad.But as any decent teacher would feel, I had hoped they would do even better. Bestwishes to them for the next phase of their education!

Tribute to my godmother

2011-10-10T16:18:00.002+08:00

On the morning of 8 October 2011, mygodmother passed away. She was actually an aunt of mine. My father was hardlythere when we were growing up. My mother had to work to support us. Hence, wewere left in the care of this aunt when we were children. She was one of theprimary caregivers of my childhood. Hence, it was natural that we acknowledgeher as our godmother. I broke down in tears uncontrollably while performing mymorning prayer that day after receiving the news as the magnitude of my debt ofgratitude towards her overwhelm me.

She is a speaker of the Teochewdialect. And I belonged to the generation of Singaporeans which was discouragedfrom dialects. I can converse decently in Hokkein and Teochew dialects, butadvance dialogue is beyond me. But she never needed to speak much with us. Her smileand shine in her eyes whenever we visited spoke clearly of her delight and prideat our growth into fine adults. Her love as she fussed over us is plain to see.

While coming to terms with herdeparture, the Buddhist concept of nine consciousnesses occupied my mind. Thenine consciousnesses can be summed up as such:

The first five consciousnessescorrespond to the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Thisis the level that we generally relate to our environment and people around us.
The sixth consciousness integratesthe perceptions of the five senses into coherent images and makes judgmentsabout the external world. In other words, it is our attempt to makes sense ofthe information provided by the first five consciousnesses.
The seventh consciousnesses can bedescribed as our awareness and attachment to the self. It is where we form ouridentity as an individual.
The eighth consciousnesses can beunderstood as our karmic storehouse. This is where the accounts of ourthoughts, deeds, and actions are stored as karmic potential.
And the ninth consciousnessesrepresent our shared Buddha nature.

There are 2 lessons we can derivefrom the nine consciousnesses:

Firstly, every individual possessestheir own nine consciousnesses. When we sleep, our first six consciousnessesactually enter a dormant state to “recharge”. And when we die, our seventhconsciousnesses also enter the dormant state to “recharge”. But the eighth andninth consciousnesses will continue to exist and will be carried forward to thenext life.

Secondly, many people can understandthat good causes beget good effect and negative causes beget negative effects.This account, as explained in Buddhism, resides in the eighth consciousnesseswhich transcend death. While alive, karma can be affected by our good deeds orevil deeds performed via the first seven consciousnesses. But in death, theonly way to generate positive karma is through prayers and the chanting ofNam-myoho-renge-kyo via the ninth consciousnesses.

The funeral rites will be performedtomorrow (11 October 2011) at Block 2 Hougang Avenue 3. It is rites of theprovisional Buddhism which is not the school of Buddhism I subscribed to in thislatter day of the law. But there is no reason not to participate in it out ofrespect. And in my heart, I will be furiously chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo withall my might to communicate to her via the ninth consciousnesses so as toquickly expiate her negative karma and for her to have the good fortune toacquire the Buddha’s body and attain enlightenment.

I love you, ma.

And my thanks to all well-wishers.

威风堂堂之歌

2011-09-17T01:01:00.000+08:00

A sing-a-long music video I made for the song I mentioned in my earlier post.

And the minus one version...

Singing Gakkai Songs

2011-09-12T11:02:00.002+08:00

最亲爱的前线同志，

Dearest frontline comrades,

我们都清楚创价学会有许多活动。活动变通是为了让会员们有新鲜感。修行久了便会发现所有的活动都环绕着信，行，学。例如题目会是为了鼓励与发挥信心而教学会是为了学习佛法。那座谈会呢？

We areall aware that there are many activities that the Soka Gakkai conducted. Wehave a variety so that we can keep things fresh and interesting. But those ofus who practiced all enough would realized that all our activities are basedaround our three pillars of faith, practice and study in various degrees. Forexample, a prayer meeting is based on faith – encouraging faith anddemonstrating faith. And our study meetings are based on study – to deepen ourunderstanding of Buddhism. What about our discussion meetings?

先生常提醒我们座谈会是幸福的城堡。因此座谈会是分享幸福，也就是佛的“行”。

Senseihad often reminded us that our discussion meetings are to be the bastions ofhappiness. Therefore, our discussion meetings have to be a place where we sharehappiness. And the sharing of happiness is our practice of Buddhism.

我们的座谈会通常有以下的事项：

1.      活动报告
2.      动人体验
3.      文化
4.      御书

Ourdiscussion meetings often have the following elements:

1.       Activity reports
2.       Motivating testimonials
3.       Culture
4.       Gosho sharing

活动报告是分享参于的幸福。所因不能只通知，而是要把喜悦呈现出来。

Activityreports are the sharing of the happiness of attending them. Which is why itshould not just be telling of upcoming event, but to share the joy we had fromattending them.

动人体验是分享显证的幸福。或说出人性胜利的故事。

Motivatingtestimonials are the sharing of the happiness of showing actual proofs. Or evento tell a story of the triumph of the human spirit.

文化下文会多加讲诉。

Prayers at 32

2011-08-16T16:58:00.006+08:00

I attended the funeral wake of another outstanding comrade in faith last night. She had fought vigorously against cancer for many years and triumphed on countless occasions. Her perseverance and positive outlook had inspired many. I was told that she passed away peacefully in the midst of fellow members of Soka Gakkai who were gathered at her house for a prayer session. Attending a funeral wake never fails to prompt me to reevaluate my life and focus on what is really important. And as my mentor had taught, there is nothing more important than a good death. And a good death can only be achieved through a truly fulfilling life dedicated to the noble cause of bettering our society and communities.

And here, I would like to reaffirm my personal eternal prayers:

I offer my deepest gratitude to my mentor Daisaku Ikeda and pray that he and his wife enjoys good health, longevity and continued success in their kosen-rufu endeavours.
I pray for the happiness, good health and good fortune of my family and friends.
I pray for the advancement and purity of Singapore Soka Association and the happiness and growth of all our members.

And so I recall that I will be 32 in a few days time. It was the age where my mentor fought and won the historic Osaka Campaign. What will I achieve this year?

For starters, there is plan to marry the girlfriend. We have been “shopping” for a venue to hold the wedding over the past few weeks. Haven’t settled on the venue yet. I had also completed my Masters in Education course. Attended the convocation with the mother and girlfriend. No swearing by the valedictorian though. I would say that I still enjoy teaching after so many years. It is always heartwarming to watch young people grow into outstanding individuals. And any display of gratitude by the students for the work we put in for them is reward beyond description. However, beyond fulfillment in my classroom teaching, I have a nagging feeling of stagnation in my current career path. Need to find a breakthrough somewhere. But I am still bonded for another year. All I can do is to fulfill my current responsibilities for now and see how things pan out.

And the Lion King District campaign is in full swing. Hear me roar.

Current prayers reads:

I pray for a successful wedding and a positive start to my married life.
I pray for the growth of my students into outstanding individuals.
I pray for a clearer direction in my career.
I pray for the great success of the Lion King District campaign.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Aubade

2011-06-10T11:23:00.000+08:00

I work all day, and get half-drunk at night.
Waking at four to soundless dark, I stare.
In time the curtain-edges will grow light.
Till then I see what's really always there:
Unresting death, a whole day nearer now,
Making all thought impossible but how
And where and when I shall myself die.
Arid interrogation: yet the dread
Of dying, and being dead,
Flashes afresh to hold and horrify.
The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse
- The good not done, the love not given, time
Torn off unused - nor wretchedly because
An only life can take so long to climb
Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never;
But at the total emptiness for ever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true.

This is a special way of being afraid
No trick dispels. Religion used to try,
That vast, moth-eaten musical brocade
Created to pretend we never die,
And specious stuff that says No rational being
Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing
That this is what we fear - no sight, no sound,
No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with,
Nothing to love or link with,
The anasthetic from which none come round.

And so it stays just on the edge of vision,
A small, unfocused blur, a standing chill
That slows each impulse down to indecision.
Most things may never happen: this one will,
And realisation of it rages out
In furnace-fear when we are caught without
People or drink. Courage is no good:
It means not scaring others. Being brave
Lets no one off the grave.
Death is no different whined at than withstood.

Slowly light strengthens, and the room takes shape.
It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know,
Have always known, know that we can't escape,
Yet can't accept. One side will have to go.
Meanwhile telephones crouch, getting ready to ring
In locked-up offices, and all the uncaring
Intricate rented world begins to rouse.
The sky is white as clay, with no sun.
Work has to be done.
Postmen like doctors go from house to house.

~Philip Larkin

Courage and Wisdom

2011-05-25T22:55:00.000+08:00

There is a Buddhist saying that goes: "Courage opens the door to Wisdom."
On the surface, courage and wisdom seems to be rather different virtues that have no relations with each other. But courage is the will to take action. And this is important for the development of wisdom. Why is that so?

Humans in their natural state are generally rational beings. But in the face of adversities, it is not common for us to make silly decisions. For example, we will be hard-pressed to find criminals who are not aware that their crimes are wrong. However, crimes are committed because these criminals are in a dire situation which they cannot handle. And when they do not have the courage to stop themselves, they ended up making irrational decisions.

Courage provided the calm needed to analysis our situations. And the practice of this calmness causes the development of wisdom.

So how do we develop courage?

From wisdom.

What?!

Wisdom is the capacity to discern right from wrong. When wisdom develops, we gain the confidence that our decisions are the right ones. And the more confidence we derive, the greater our courage in executing the decisions.

Wouldn't we obtain a cyclic logic then? How do we even begin to enter this cycle of courage and wisdom?

We know about satellites. We send them into orbit. How? We first generate a huge amount of energy to send the rocket carrying the satellite into the sky. This energy will help pierce through our atmosphere and bring the satellite into orbit. Once in orbit, it is a matter of tapping into the power of gravity.

In the same way, we first make a determined vow. This vow is the vow to have compassion for others. It is through this vow that our desire to improve our community, and the lives of the people around us meaningful.

Only this vow can help us to overcome our fundamental darkness and send us into the "orbit" of courage and wisdom. And tapping into the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is as though tapping into the power of gravity to keep us in the rhythm of constantly developing courage and wisdom.

"To be fearless no matter what happens--that is the root of true happiness. To move forward resolutely regardless of what lies in store--that is the spirit, the resolve, that leads to human victory." ~ Daisaku Ikeda

Voting and Maslow's hierarchy of needs

2011-05-05T10:19:00.001+08:00

Like many fellow citizens, I have been actively perusing news on the election here in Singapore over the past two weeks. In between, I took a short trip to Hong Kong with the fiancée over the Labour Day weekend. Incidentally, we encountered a demonstration on the streets of Hong Kong by the unions. Sights we never see in Singapore. It provided some perspective on how unions are conducted in Singapore. Another key reason why this election is exciting for me personally is because, like many in my generation, this is the first time I will be getting to vote despite reaching the legal voting age more than a decade ago. I had participated in countless national events such as the National Day Parade and singing the national anthem in the old stadium and the Padang. But I am sure I will never feel more Singaporean as when I am in the ballot box.

I am grateful to the PAP for their contributions to the nation over the past fifty years. But the unprecedented support for the oppositions is real. Why is this so?

Let’s examine the Maslow's hierarchy of needs: Physiological , Safety, Belonging, Esteem and Self-actualization.

The PAP had been very successful in providing for the physiological needs of the citizens. They had some success with Safety. But as the nation progress, our needs grew. And now they struggle with providing for the Belonging, Esteem and Self-actualization levels of need. Despite surveys showing that bread and butter (Safety) issues are the main concern, a growing number of citizens are starting to be more concern about the meaning of nationhood (Belonging). It is at these levels that the rallies are revolved around.

There are many issues in those categories indeed. I do not feel the need to repeat them. They are readily available. I should just highlight one that concerns me the most. I am most bothered by the astronomical minister pay. It is not that the number is high that bothers me. It is that the bonuses are pegged to GDP growth. This resulted in an “economic-growth-at-all-cost” mentality. Economy growth is good. It is excellence in providing for the Physiological and Safety levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. But it fares badly at higher levels. This is the system created by the founding fathers of the nation because this is the system that worked and addresses these early levels of needs. But a paradigm shift is needed now. This system has permeated throughout our society and its negative effects are becoming evident. Personally, as a school teacher, I see students getting overly stressed over the “academic-success-at-all-cost” mentality that echoes the system that currently governs us. The system rewards those who churned out results and wins awards of various kinds rather than those who worked at developing a love for learning. This is the reflection of a government that gives more emphasis to businesses and individuals who can contribute to the economy instead of those who are trying to make this nation a home and a pleasant place to grow old in.

Many politicians claimed track records in this election. Honestly, I am annoyed by that. Track records mean nothing under the framework by which I make my decision. In fact, the whole purpose of having an election every five years is to “erase” these track records and have everyone start again on equal footing. So under this framework, what needs to be done?

The PAP needs to evolve. They cannot sing the same tunes over and over again. They have done well for the first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. But they cannot ignore the higher levels anymore. They are unfamiliar in those levels. In that sense, they are rookie, just like the opposition. There is the counter argument that there is no guarantee that opposition will be able to produce results. That is also true. There is no way of knowing the future. Some of them will succeed, some will not. So they are rookies, just like the PAP.

So what is the voter to do?

I simply vote for the one that tries the harder.

Funny Video from MrBrown

2011-05-04T18:04:00.000+08:00

Had a great laugh listening to this. Creative fun!

Being Neutral

2011-04-28T12:40:00.001+08:00

Nomination was yesterday. Amidst all the excitement, we are reminded that as civil servants, we ought to maintain a neutral stand in our professional capacity. So here is my declaration:

I do not care which party you belong to; except that you belong to Singapore.
I do not care what you had done in the past or your track record; I am only interested in what you will do and intend to do in the future.
I do not care what you had achieved on a personal level; I am only interested in what you want to help others achieve and aspire towards.

Note that each time I say "you", I meant you and not your party.

I am not an expert in matters of governance. My experience is limited to maybe a couple of city-building simulation games on my computer. I have little knowledge of economics and estate management. And macro- and meta- planning usually escape me.

But I do know a sincere man/woman when I meet one. Humility and Honesty is all I ask from a politician.

Show me your sincerity, and I will show you my vote.

That is neutrality.

Graduation

2011-04-27T08:29:00.000+08:00

And so I submitted my final assignment for my masters course a two-day ago. Barring any accident, I should be graduating successfully as a Master of Education (Mathematics) degree holder. This journey as a part-time student has not been easy as any who attempted to work full-time and study part-time can relate. But it is done. And I now reflect on why I really embark on this journey.

I knew the reason once. I am a mathematics teacher by trade. Going for this degree seems a natural progression. Not so. I don’t really need it. It was optional, and it might even be detrimental to my career as I have to slow my pace at work to cope with the studies at times. An ironic situation. But deep down, I knew that I was doing these to compensate my poor showing as a student previously.

I am a teacher. And I am supposed to encourage students to be a good student. Was I one?

Not by the conventional standards used here. I went through primary school pretty much mindlessly. I never knew when are the tests and exams. I never bothered. I go to school thinking of home. I did my assignment as told. Never wondered. Never active in any other activities beyond the classroom. I went for my PSLE without any preparations. I treated it as a normal school day. Never studied the way children are doing it today. I did okay. I failed to go into the “Special Stream” by a whisker. I wept in anger.

But I did not change. My secondary school life is pretty much the same. I remembered being engrossed with the world created by Louis Cha and his sword-fighting heroes when my friends are mugging for their ‘O’ Level. I have my storybooks next to my 10-year series. And my attention is often on the one that did not help with my grades. I did not get the results I desired. But did enough to go to a Junior College.

It was at JC that I started to rebel. I did not complete my assignments like a dutiful nerd that I was. I had my share of cutting classes. I spent my time feeling the anguish self-torment common to many teens. But I did enough to go to a local university.

Maybe I was fortunate. But university was interesting. I was supposed to be reading engineering. It bores me. Instead, I was swept up with the desire to seek a meaning in life. September 11, 2001 just happened. The world seemed to be disintegrating. I was wondering about human nature. I studied the Sutras, the Bible and the Koran. I engaged in countless dialogues. I graduated in engineering with little interest in it, but instead fired up to do something that impact the society more directly. I chose the teaching profession.

But then I realized that I never actually apply myself to study something purely from an academic perspective. And that seems to be driving force that prompted me to take up part-time study. Not for upgrading of skills. Not for career advancement. Purely for academic reason. Really. And I did.

And I think I can close that chapter of my life. Happy with myself as a student. I graduated myself.

The Great Path of Mentor and Disciple

2011-03-12T16:05:00.000+08:00

In Nichiren Buddhism, we speak often of the importance of the mentor-disciple spirit. What does it entails? Why does the Lotus Sutra expound the mentor-disciple relationship?

The mentor-disciple spirit serves the purpose of enabling disciples to realize their mission that they were born with. This mission is explained in the Lotus Sutra as to be born to strive together with our mentor to lead all people to happiness. It is through establishing the bond of mentor and disciple that we are awakened to the purpose of life. Put simply, the purpose of Buddhism is “to realize happiness for oneself and others” via the process of strengthening the mentor-disciple spirit.

However, the egoistic nature that exists within our lives is particularly strong and overbearing. We can all attest to the fact that humans tend towards selfishness. This selfishness clouds our lives, and the egoism in us is what hinders us from realizing and accepting kosen-rufu as our mission in life. But by establishing the mentor-disciple relationship, we are able to overcome our egoistic nature and be awakened to our true mission in life.

To further understand the concept of mentor-disciple spirit, we need to understand the preceding concepts of “reality and wisdom” and “general transfer and specific transfer”. So what is “reality and wisdom”?

The fact that “anyone can become a Buddha” corresponds to “reality”. However, in order for one to become a Buddha, one needs “wisdom”. And this “wisdom” is derived from “faith”. By chanting daimoku and exerting oneself for the sake of kosen-rufu as a “Buddha”, we can achieve the “fusion of reality and wisdom”.

If one does not make any effort to carry out the practice of propagation and focus only on one’s own well-being, the “fusion of reality and wisdom” will not take place. In other words, such an individual is not a Buddha.

For example, a Buddha can be said to be like a physician or doctor in the context of Buddhism. If a doctor does not work to save the lives of his patients, then he or she would fail to qualify as a true doctor.

In other words, the Gohonzon is “reality” and faith is “wisdom”. With strong faith, our lives become one with the Gohonzon in essence. So by chanting daimoku with absolute conviction in the Gohonzon, we can manifest the Buddha’s wisdom in our lives.

How about “general transfer and specific transfer”?

Firstly, in the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha transfers the teachings of Buddhism to his disciples collectively as a whole. This is termed “general transfer”. However, the teachings expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha would lose its beneficial powers in the Latter Day of the Law. For this reason, for the benefit of the people in the Latter Day of the Law, Shakyamuni Buddha transferred the teaching of “Nam-myoho-regnge-kyo” hidden in the depths of the Lotus Sutra to Bodhisattva Superior Practices. This is termed “specific transfer”.

What that means is the in current times with centuries’ worth of teachings dilution it is very difficult to identify what is true and what is inaccurate. General good senses are classified as general transfer of wisdom. But the correct wisdom to acquire to fuse with our reality lies in the specific transfer of wisdom to Bodhisattva Superior Practices. Hence, what is important is to identify the correct person who is manifesting the virtues of Bodhisattva Superior Practices as our mentor or teacher.

What then are the requirements for a good or correct teacher?

The phrase, “desiring little yet knowing satisfaction”, means to discard one’s personal desires and to devote one’s life for the realization of kosen-rufu. With some investigation, we can realize that Nichiren Daishonin and also the three successive presidents of the Soka Gakkai are individuals who did devote their lives for kosen-rufu.

The term “honesty” means to be always grateful to the Gohonzon. The opposite of this is “arrogance”. The arrogant and conceited usually abandon faith when they are not recognized or praised. Those who live their lives based on a vow for kosen-rufu will never do so. The Daishonin practiced in exact accordance with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. This is what constitutes “honesty”.

Hence, millions of members of Soka Gakkai regarded Nichiren and the current president of Soka Gakkai International, Dr Daisaku Ikeda, as our mentor because they demonstrated the qualities of “desiring little yet knowing satisfaction” and “honesty”.

In summary…

To become a Buddha, we need a mentor. But it is important to choose the right mentor. So to ensure we chose the correct mentor, we have to apply the concept of “general transfer and specific transfer” to recognize the mentor.

And the correct mentor has to guide us to achieve the “fusion of reality and wisdom” so that we are not merely practitioners of Buddhism in theory, but also in actual application to improve our lives.

Chingay 2011 - Final Curtains

2011-03-12T11:44:00.000+08:00

The last day of term one today. Had a good CD meeting last night. A short conversation with S. reminds me that my blog is overdue for updating.

First off, I would like to report the successful completion of Chingay. It is the 30th participation in Chingay for Singapore Soka Association. What exactly is the true significance of participating in Chingay for regular citizens like us?

Chingay is a parade of props for us. Every year, we would attempt to create the most interesting props for the participants to dance with. That said, the dance is not the main concern of the choreographers. It is to bring the props to life.

But the props are only as good as the person controlling it. We often tell the participants that the most important thing is to thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere. And smiling has to come from the heart in order to truly bring joy to the performance. So in conclusion, Chingay is really an opportunity to demonstrate the joy we really do achieve in our daily lives. This is the key. It is about changing lives.

The Right to Human Rights

2011-01-17T18:50:00.004+08:00

This morning CARE Talk, the topic of human rights was shared with the students. My eyes moisten. As soon as the presentation was over, I gave a quick instruction to my form class’s chairperson and quickly seek solitude.

I wept.

A story goes that a soldier marched into a country his army had just liberated. He was full of joy that the fighting had ended. Along the street, he met a young child. Eager to make another human being happier, he reached into his pocket and offer the child some sweets.

“I don’t want any sweets,” cried the child. “I only want my brother back from the war. And to go home safely from work (no luxury of school for this child) each day without fear of stepping on a landmine.”

And it dawned on the soldier that he is not prepared to give the child anything.

I wept.

An educator during World War II opposed the military government of Japan at that time. For this protest, he was unjustly imprisoned. When he was released, he vowed to fight this injustice. Not the injustice to his person, but injustice of the war that devastated his country and his country’s neighbors. He vowed to kill the hate in people’s hearts and to rid the world of miserly. His last cries for his students, was the Abolishment of Nuclear Weapons.

It was not the weapon that he actually hated. But what the weapon represented. Traditional weapons were used to fight the enemy who were trying to kill you. Nuclear weapons, for the first time in history, was a weapon designed to kill innocent civilians and to strike terror into the hearts of the population. They represent the violation of the basic Human Right to live.

I wept.

One of this educator’s students wrote to the effect that when a mother gives birth to a child, she is not thinking that this child is an American or an African. She doesn’t care that he is a Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. It doesn’t not even matter that child is black or white or have any specific racial features. All she will want is for the child to grow up happy and healthy.

That is the Human Right to be treated simply as a human and respected as a human regardless of background. But many children today are still suffering from poverty, hunger and neglect.

I wept.

I once heard the following in jest, “Fighting for Peace is like Screwing for Virginity”. How myopic! “Peace is not the absence of War!”

Once, when I was younger and a lot more idealistic, I vowed to bring this message of human dignity to the masses. I always believe that my education was for the sake of expanding my sphere of influences so that I can be the part of positive changes for the future. This is one of the reasons I chose to become a school teacher.

But the apathy of youths hurts. There are no values to be inculcated until apathy is utterly demolished. When many of the youths are no longer interested in what the teachers say unless it is remotely related to their examinations and their own personal futures, it dulls the passion.

Have I fallen?

I wept.

The idea of Human Rights is a human construct. It is an idealistic construct. Many skeptics would dismiss it without a second thought. But do ideals not have its purpose and value? Without ideals, can there is hope for the betterment of society? Is that not what being human is truly about?

I am privileged in Singapore. My community is privileged. We do not suffer from the fundamental needs of humanity. But do we not have the responsible to drown the skeptics and bring hope to the sufferers even if their voices are far and their cries are soft? Isn’t that what education really ought to be?

I wept that the right to human rights is not cherished nearly enough.

It is a human right to care, and to dream.

New Year's Eve

2011-01-01T12:00:00.003+08:00

Spent the morning at work in a meeting followed by some spring cleaning. I moved to a new working cubicle. All neat and ready for once. Cheers.

Met up with the Soka trainers of Chingay 2011 to reccee the F1 pit where the event will take place. It rained.

We checked out the tents where we keep our props and float. And the holding area mainly. Got to ensure safety of the participants in the area.

Dark Clouds. But nothing cheerful hearts cannot overcome.

Brought the GF to Parkway for a foot massage after. Bought a new pair of trainers.

Happy NEW YEAR.

Gajukai

2010-12-30T23:36:00.002+08:00

Performed my final gajukai duty for the year 2010 in quick succession.

I was on duty for the Singapore Soka Association's commemorative meeting for the 80th Anniversary of SGI. Was assigned to man the admin area before the show begins. Once the show started, served as General Director's escort.

At TSC now for the second duty. Signing off.

Will be checking out the F1 pit tomorrow as preparation for Chingay.

Eat, Pray, Love

2010-10-09T10:29:00.002+08:00

And so I went to the movie with the girlfriend last night and we caught the show Eat, Pray, Love. Here’s a quick personal review of the film:

Enter this 32-year-old Elizabeth Gilbert played by Julia Roberts who was educated and had a home, a husband, and a successful career as a writer. But she gets all emotional and unsatisfied about life and threw all that away for a sabbatical year to Italy, India and Bali.

The girlfriend commented after the show that she could easily had gone for the soul-searching trip without destroying her previous life. I totally agree. It is not her circumstances that she had to change. In fact, her circumstance was GOOD by many standards. It was her perspective on life that needs to be altered. The protagonist came across as narcissistic and egocentric. Selfish in her dealings and unlikeable. But of course she made those mistakes due to ignorance about what a good life is and she redeemed herself through her philosophical musings and growth after that.

In Rome, she pondered about the impermanence of life at the tomb of Augustus Caesar. Life, in both the macro and micro sense, is always evolving and adapting. A good start. This is also the starting point of Shakyamuni when he first expounded Buddhism. The recognition of the impermanence allows us to set the priorities in our life straight. Wealth and status are useful in providing a quality standard in living, but they are not the deciding factor in our pursuit of happiness. We can pursuit them but never should they become the centre of our devotion.

In India, she finally learn to still her mind and concluded that “God exist within you as you”. Interesting take. Buddhism has often been accused as not being a religion because of Buddhists does not believe in an exterior Creator-God. In fact, we can say that Buddhism is fundamentally ascetic. Misinformed people will often think that Buddha is the Buddhists’ equivalent of God. That is incorrect. Buddha is simply a term for an enlightened human being. The key message of Buddhism is that the ability to become a Buddha exists within us. When we manifest courage, wisdom and compassion, Buddhahood is manifested as us as we are. What she did was really to redefine her previous understand of Abrahamic God as Buddha.

In Bali, she learnt to “let go” of her control and live life as it is. This, from the Buddhist perspective is progression to the concept of “Buddhahood is Daily Life” as taught by the Soka Gakkai. Buddhism is not a passive way of life mediating in some calm corner of existence. Buddhism is to take active steps to better our society based on our enhanced sensitivity to life.
Overall, her journey mildly mirrors Shakyamuni’s own from hedonism (eat), to ascetic (pray), to the Middle Way (love).

So I concluded that the philosophical musings are interesting, the plot is somewhere simplistic and lame, but the acting of Julia Roberts is excellence in portraying the mixed emotions. Richard Jenkins was outstanding and Hadi Subiyanto is adorable.

Ready for Chingay Audition

2010-10-04T11:41:00.002+08:00

The weekend past signal the start of Chingay 2011. The trainers gathered for the first time to learn the dance steps which will be used for the auditions. The recruitment will on the the 10th and 17th of October at Telok Blangah Soka Centre. 10am.

Side note: Invigilating language paper 1s always gives me the urge to write fiction again. But alas, not a priority.

The Power of Sound

2010-09-28T10:55:00.001+08:00

Last night I tweeted the following: The sense of hearing is the first to develop when we are forming in our mothers' womb. It is also the last to "shut down" at our dying.

There are many layers to this statement.

The first layer is the physical aspect of this. Medical sciences are revealing that foetuses react more sensitively to sound than light. Death is also a gradual process (in ordinary circumstances). The various organs of our physical bodies do not all die at the same time. Our ears never shut down until all other organs ceased.

This transits to our emotional attachments to our sense of hearing. We can shut our eyes. We can hold our breaths. And we can close our mouths. But we cannot turn off our hearing naturally. Yet the art of listening is one of the hardest skills to develop. Listening is such a powerful emotional tool that to have someone who listens from their hearts is thousands times more healing than to have a thousand words spoken to us in times of emotional stress.

The act of hearing and listening also has a deep significance spiritually. In the many cultures, emphasis had been placed on light and sight. The genesis began by declaring that God created that light first by saying “Let there be light...”

But my Buddhist studies led me to believe that this is inaccurate. I believe that sound comes first. (I know light travel faster and hence more obvious. But we are not discussing speed here.) Just like sound is first observed by the foetus, sound is the original building block of the cosmic energy. Sound is the energy that is most associated with vibrations which is the driving force for all reactions at the atomic and sub-atomic levels.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of Buddhism would know that Buddhist practices are usually revolved around meditation and chanting.

Meditation is a useful tool to calm our bodies and minds. But the question is, why do we need to calm? It is to heighten our sense of hearing. To hear our own minds. Seriously.

Chanting occurs when there is a rhythm we identified to be important and wanted to embrace. The purpose of chanting is for us to hear this rhythm, and to reinforce it into our lives. In Nichiren Buddhism, we learnt that the most important rhythm of life is manifested in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And that is the chanting I do. I do it, to hear it, so that I may embrace it in death.

Back

2010-09-27T23:01:00.000+08:00

Decided to revive this blog. Mainly in anticipation of my involvement in Chingay 2011 which I wished to be able to document meaningfully. More tomorrow.

Pre - Great Discussion Meeting 2010

2010-07-22T23:00:00.001+08:00

Getting ready for the Great Discussion Meeting 2010 .

And Back to School Again...

2010-06-26T12:40:00.002+08:00

Song of Youth

2010-06-25T19:31:00.004+08:00

Though clouds dot the sky
and the wind blows
the sun rises again today
the morning sun of youth
holding within itself limitless power
as it spreads its light abroad
advances on a correct course

~ "Song of Youth"

What is my correct course?

At age 30, I feel I had so much yet to accomplish. Will I be a worthy disciple to my mentor?

Must work harder!

Be Patient and Persevere

2010-06-05T18:52:00.002+08:00

"Don't despair when things don't go as you had hoped. Don't become depressed and sorry for yourself. Be patient and persevere, putting down solid roots and creating the cause for more fortunate circumstances to present themselves in the future. Faith is about putting down roots of happiness in the soil of our present reality. Eventually sprouts will appear and flowers will begin to bloom in beautiful profusion signalling the arrival of a spring of victory and success."

- Daisaku Ikeda

Revisiting The Three Poisons

2010-05-20T23:53:00.002+08:00

In most industries, when a man begins on a new job, he will be placed on probation until confirmation. While he is on probation, he does enjoy all the benefits of the job. But once the probation period is over, there will be expectation if he were to continue to flourish in the job. The same idea can also be applied to the Buddhist practice. When we start to practice Buddhist and chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, benefits will start pouring in and our immediate problems will be solved. But after practicing for some time, if we fail to develop a sense of gratitude and apply ourselves in the noble endeavors of Kosen Rufu, we will eventually be frustrated. We have to repay this debt of gratitude by encourage our fellow members, care for our families and be a positive source of energy in our social circles. The practice of Buddhism is ultimately the practice of compassion. The power of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is manifested in direct correlations to our efforts in this aspect.

Some time back, I gave a lift to a colleague when a conversation on the Three Poisons was initiated. I explained that the Three Poisons in Buddhism refers to the poisons of Greed, Anger and Foolishness which is the cause of all man-made disasters in human terms. Having come from a Methodist background, she commented that the concept of Foolishness is the most difficult to understand compared to Greed and Anger. The concept of Foolishness came to me quite naturally due to my upbringing. I understand it well enough as the delusional state of life where one fails to differentiate right from wrong. But receiving such feedback, I did come to realize that it can be difficult from those who are not familiar with oriental philosophies.

Given time to meditate and ponder deeper into the issue, I finally develop an understanding which I would like to share here. The key lies in the compassion. The Three Poisons are all human characteristics that run counter to compassion. There are the drivers of selfishness and egoism. It is the selfish materialistic impulses that generate Greed. And Anger is generated when selfish desires are not fulfilled. And finally, Foolishness. Foolishness is the result of selfish arrogance. It is when we lose our humble seeking spirit and turn away from wisdom thinking we are above it.

This is also why the practice of Kosen Rufu, or the practice of compassion is important. It is this practice that changes and transforms these inherent Three Poisons in our lives into medicines for societal improvements.

Since Vesak Day is coming, I would also like to briefly share about the efforts of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. Shakyamuni lived in a time where the extremes of hedonistic and ascetic behaviors are rampant. Note that both these extremes are inherently egoistic pursuits. Buddhism was born to correct that situation. Hinayana Buddhism was first developed to teach everyone that we are all inherently equal because we share the same Buddha nature. But with time, even Hinayana fell into the traps of the Three Poisons and become a ritualistic religion lacking in compassion for the masses. Mahayana Buddhism arose then to encourage the compassionate acts of encouraging the common lay people. But again, with the passing of time, Mahayana fell to egoism of another form. With the deitifying of Shakyamuni and his disciples, the acceptance of our Buddha nature is diluted and eventually, the concept of the equality of all life is lost and class distinction is formed.

It is the Nichiren who first recognize these and restore Buddhism to its original intent to teach both the existence of our Buddha nature and the importance of compassionate acts. And it is Soka Gakkai today who are putting Nichiren’s teaching into practice and going all out for Kosen Rufu. It is my greatest pride to be part of this movement.

Further Readings on The Three Poisons

Goofy - Teachers Are People

2010-05-16T11:58:00.000+08:00

Seeing the Good in Others

2010-05-15T18:01:00.002+08:00

"How do you see others? In most cases, your vision of others is a mirror that reflects your own mind just ad it is. If, for example, you are a greedy, covetous sort, you will not be able to perceive others' sincerity. Even honesty will appear dwarfed because of your enormous greed. It's not that others lack integrity. It's that you are too greedy."

- Daisaku Ikeda

The Weightage of Chinese Language

2010-04-26T12:05:00.002+08:00

The weightage of Chinese Language for the PSLE is in debate recently. Personally, I would call those who call for a reduction of the weightage quitters. Although the argument that English is the medium used in all administrations in Singapore, the value of the Chinese cannot be ignored.

I used to be rather good in my Chinese. I remember scoring A1s when I was a student. But the truth is that with lack of usage over the years, my standard in the language has deteriorated much. However, I pride myself as having once exposed myself extensively in the language. For the value in a language is not in the usage, but the appreciation in its culture. I cannot write or read as well in Chinese as when I was a student, but my appreciation for it grows with time. The tenacity to work on doing well for it is also a lesson well-learned.

If you worry about the “Brain Drain” due to an inability to do well in the Chinese, then maybe we should be aware that these are also “weaker brains” that can’t cope. Then they should just go. I will not miss them.

JC or POLY

2010-04-16T16:34:00.003+08:00

For the past few days, the local newspapers carried the story of whether the local universities should allow a larger percentage of POLY graduates to enter the universities (at the expense of the JC students). Here is a brief of my take.

Firstly, the JCs are designed to prepare students for universities.

I appreciate the embracing gestures of the universities to admit POLY graduates. I believe this allows "slow-starters" an opportunity for higher education. And I admire those who, having had to go to the ITE, work hard, and progress to POLY and then the universities. These are the fighters.

But I have no sympathy for those who qualified for JC, but chose to go POLY on their own free will and then whine about not being given a shot at the university.

Go to the JCs if the university had always been your target. If you can't make it to the JC, but still wished to study at the highest level, then you ought to prove that you deserve to be with the best.

And remember that an university offered to you means an opportunity lost to another. Universities graduates owes the society a profound debt of gratitude. It is a privilege, NOT a right.

Context

2010-04-14T22:47:00.002+08:00

Context...
Context...
Context...

One of the most crucial factor in writing encouragements.

Lesson from the Titanic

2010-03-31T16:02:00.004+08:00

Molly Brown was on board the Titanic as a first class passenger. When the passenger liner RMS Titanic tragically sinking in on April 14, 1912 after striking an iceberg. There was a chaos and panic all around.

She volunteered to help others board the lifeboats for most of the night until finally convinced to leave the ship in Lifeboat No. 6. Most of the passengers were desperate for the lifeboat to get to safety. But she insisted that the lifeboat to go back to look for survivors after learning that it was not yet carrying full capacity.

Initially she was met with strong opposition from Quartermaster Hichens, the crewman in charge of Lifeboat 6, who believed that nobody would be saved by going back as the boat would be pulled down by the ship's suction or by the force of everyone scrambling to get aboard.

But she shouted courageously to a panic-stricken fellow passengers: "There's no danger. It simply can't go down, because I'm on it and I'm unsinkable." Her bantering words, which rang out with the determination never to be defeated and never to give in to despair are said to have given courage to her fellow passengers.

Those who stand up at a crucial moment demonstrate genuine greatness.

This one for the Twilight Fans

2010-03-22T23:00:00.006+08:00

No. I don't think Vampires are cool at all.

The Return of Zalankai

2010-02-02T23:10:00.005+08:00

And so the month of January ends. I was thinking about how time seems to pass faster as we grow older; the DJ on the radio said the same thing. As we become busier and laden with increasing responsibility, time is indeed a luxury. I would like to think that I began the new year managing my time reasonably well and had fallen into a firm rhythm.

And highlight of the month of January for me had to be the return of the discussion meetings of the Singapore Soka Association. After half the year of suspension of the meetings due to the precautions measures taken against the H1N1 pandemic, the discussion meetings resumed with vigor across the country. In my chapter, we managed an attendance of 155 from 4 districts.

The discussion meeting is an informal gathering of people from all walks of life coming together to share their struggles and challenges, as well as to encourage one another to achieve victories over our various problems through the application of Buddhism in our daily life. The positive social force generated by this seemingly insignificant activity cannot be underestimated. In Singapore currently, over 400 districts were conducted simultaneous at various members’ homes with about 30-50 members and friends of the association attending at each session.

I learnt recently that the current top ‘O’ Levels student of the school I’m teaching at, Atreya, is also a member of Soka Gakkai. Hence, I invited him to speak at one of the discussion meeting I was facilitating. He shared frankly that it was the application of Buddhist principles that contributed most to his victory in his studies. Another student, Lup Seng, who made vast improvement from his preliminary examination to the ‘O’ Level was also in attendance. But he claimed to be too shy to share.

Atreya Sharing...

SRS District 2

SRS District 3

SRS District 4

Song of Human Revolution

2010-01-12T23:30:00.004+08:00

Minus One Version

Original Japanese Version

Localized Mandarin Version

Crash!

2009-12-14T13:25:00.003+08:00

This morning, as I was ferrying the girlfriend to work as per the routine every school vacation, a black Mazda 6 forced his way to overtake me along the merging slip road leading to TPE. Once we were on the expressway, a lorry immediately cut in front of me forcing me to slow down significantly. The next thing I know, the lorry swirled and I jammed my breaks. I managed to stop my car just before hitting the lorry.

The next few seconds feels almost like a slow motion feature when the black Mazda 6, which was now just ahead of the lorry, swung across the expressway in a fashion usually seen only in a Hollywood movie and crashed into the side railings.

In that instance, I felt the protective powers of the shoten zenjin. Had I not backed away at the slip road as he was trying to overtake me, the positions of our vehicles would be reversed and I would be the “Hollywood stuntman”. On my return trip after sending the girlfriend to work, I noted that an ambulance was at location. I guessed he sustained quite a serious injury. I wish him well and speedy recovery.

And I believe the hour plus daimoku I did during gajukai duty works.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nine Years On

2009-11-25T18:05:00.005+08:00

And so. Today is the 9th year anniversary since I met my mentor Daisaku Ikeda in person.

Have I done enough to help him fulfill his great goal of Kosen Rufu?

[ Kosen Rufu = A vision of social peace brought about by the widespread acceptance of the Buddhist core value of unfailing respect for the dignity of human life. ]

Need to reflect on myself seriously and renew my vow before the Gohonzon.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

As the school bell softly rings

2009-11-17T08:28:00.003+08:00

As the school bell softly rings

Time to say our farewells

We are no longer the same

After the hours spent together

It is your struggle and your toils

That brings a new clarity

To the window of wisdom

That shines forever within

As we blundered our way

We learn to find our paths

Hearts filled with treasure

We set sail with confidence

Let every youthful hearts venture forth

Into the great ocean of life

Riding every waves

Braving every storms

A thousand thoughts this day

With a single thank we sing

Cherishing gratitude in our hearts

As the school bell softly rings

~ Dedicated to the MF graduating class of 2009

The Heart of a Bodhisattva

2009-10-07T14:41:00.004+08:00

Haven't had the luxury of time to write a decent blog entry. So I will just share my latest desktop picture. It represents my vow to be devoted to the Lotus Sutra -- The sutra which emphasized the Bodhisattva Way.

30

2009-08-22T13:21:00.005+08:00

I am officially 30 years of age.

And the first thing I learnt is that emotionally, it is not as dramatic as when I turned twenty. I remember turning 20 in the guardhouse of our Singapore Soka Association penning my thoughts. I was on Gajukai duty that day a decade ago.

On this birthday, I went to work as usually, give extra tuition to my students who will be having their GCE ‘O’ Levels examination soon and then proceed to meet my fiancée for a simple dinner. Towards the end of the night, she asked how that felt like. I simply reply, “Nothing much.”

From birth to the age of 10 – A carefree childhood

From 10 to the age of 20 – Learning about the world

From 20 to the age of 30 – Defining my character

From 30 to the age of 40 – Contributing to my community

I guess that is it. It is simply a realignment of my personal priorities. Nothing more.

And my current priorities are as follows:

Repaying my debts to the Soka Gakkai

Not monetary debts. I remembered a time of observing how my mother struggled to raise three children of her own. And it is my conviction that she succeed due to our family’s involvement with the Soka Gakkai. Throughout my formative years, it had always been Dr Daisaku Ikeda’s encouragements that gave me strength when I needed it. It is he who taught me the correct way to live my life. And I know that his greatest wish is for Soka Gakkai to continue to develop far into the future and to develop innumerous youths who will shoulder the responsibility of Kosen Rufu. This is my vow, to always support the Soka Gakkai in any way I can.

Building my wealth

Buddhist principles stated clearly that money is not a requirement for happiness but is honest to point out that having money is useful in supporting that cause. Building wealth for wealth sake is dangerous and only invites the poison of greed into our hearts which is why I have to constantly remind myself of my original purpose in wanting to be rich. I control my money, sometimes so tightly that I had been accused of being stingy. But I see it as the only responsible thing to prepare for that day when I need to have enough to let my mother live a comfortable life after she loses her ability to generate income due to advancement in age. And also to ensure sufficient fund to start my own family unit which I have every intention to do so in the near future.

Developing the youths

I am fortunate to be in the educational industry – an industry which I sincerely believe has the potential to create the greatest values in life. In order for any society to prosper, there had to have some form of peace, culture and education. Building peace is the foremost requirement. For without peaceful conditions, it is almost impossible to better our society. But peace can only be sustained through the establishment of a positive culture which enhanced peace. To enrich lives, an appreciation of the aesthetics and the arts cannot be ignored. And finally, nurture creativity and inspiration for culture, education is the only means. I may or may not remain in the public education for the long term, but I firmly believe, at this point of time, that I will always be connected to the education business.

* * * * *

I was with the girlfriend at Borders yesterday when once again; I keenly felt the inadequateness of both the quantity and the quality of the books on Buddhism. I do write about Buddhism on a number of occasions and I have an intensive urge to organize them and have them published somehow in the future. But I have no concrete plans on this yet.

I may not have perfect understanding but I do pride myself on a decent amount of knowledge on matters religious having attended mission schools from kindergarten all the way till junior college. I like to think that my exposure to Christianity is not lacking. Adding my personal intensive study of Buddhism in my formative years, I concluded that the Buddhism practiced by Soka Gakkai has the quality to enhance and enrich our lives and would recommend it to anyone.

The Prime Minister in his recent National Day Rally’s speech; touched on the issue of race and religion in schools. As a teacher in a government school, I am aware of his concerns. And I am in full agreement of the importance of racial and religious harmony in Singapore. This is why I had stated the following countless times in this blog and would continue to do in the future as I know that some of the readers of this blog are young impressionable students:

I do blog about my understanding of Buddhism. And I do recommend the practice of Buddhism with the Soka Gakkai if you are seeking a philosophy to guide your life. But if you already have an alternative religion which may have conflicting views from mine, it is perfectly fine. I believe harmony must be maintained. Do not attempt to debate me on the finer points of our religions. I will not entertain you because undermining other faiths is never on my agenda. I only wish to share a philosophy which I sincerely believe can help to improve lives. I will only entertain honest questions if you are honestly seeking to learn voluntarily.

Nothing more.

Too Much Coffee?

2009-08-19T20:17:00.002+08:00

Busy times

2009-07-30T17:43:00.005+08:00

Tried out the new branch of Pepper Lunch at Punggol Plaza. Somehow I feel that for their cook-it-yourself concept, it seems improper for it to be in a food court. Their Ang Mo Kio or Hougang branches would do better with all the sauces available to the customers to experiment.

I started on a new module for my Masters course. A lot of deadlines staring in my face. I see busy times ahead. And I had yet to complete the assignment from the previous module.

But I felt the urge to blog after completing my letter to Sensei. It had been 3 months since I last reported to him. Time really flies. This round, I told him about

Jacky Kong’s receiving of the Gohonzon
My Mother’s victory over her fall in through the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
The Whampoa Zone MD&YMD Formation Day Commemorative Meeting

I will be turning 30 soon. It will be another milestone to seriously reflect on my life so far.

Anything 'Militant' Can't Be Good..

2009-07-25T13:42:00.001+08:00

Everyone can get smarter!

2009-07-17T23:58:00.003+08:00

Until about 20 years ago, most scientists thought that intelligence was mostly inherited, and that the environment’s impact was limited. Important findings supporting this view came from studies of identical twins who were separated at birth. Even though adopted into different families, they usually showed very similar intelligence, which indicated that genes dominated.

Now scientists think that those early studies underestimated the effect of the environment. First, adoptive families probably don’t vary that much — they are generally supportive and emphasize success in school. Second, other data have shown that moving kids from low-quality to high-quality schools boosts IQ scores.

The secret to getting smarter is really not a big secret: Engage in intellectual activities. Read the newspaper, watch informative documentaries, find well-written books that make intellectual content engaging. Perhaps most important; Watch less television. It’s rarely enriching, and it’s an enormous time-sink.

Just as exercise experts advise many small changes rather than a vigorous program (which will likely be dropped), I think the best way to get smarter is to put a little more learning into every day. The trick is to develop the habit of looking for those opportunities.

- theapple.com

The Just

2009-07-17T00:19:00.003+08:00

The powerful may appear great, but in reality they are not. Greatest of all are the ordinary people. If those in power lead lives of idle luxury it is because the people are silent. We have to speak out. With impassioned words, we need to resolutely attack abuses of power that cause people suffering. This is fighting on the side of justice. It is wrong to remain silent when confronted with injustice. Doing so is tantamount to supporting and condoning evil.

1260: Nichiren Daishonin submits his treatise "On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land."

The Perfect Ending

2009-06-09T16:15:00.007+08:00

Read about perfect numbers today. The first four perfect numbers are 6, 28, 496 and 8128. These are known since ancient times.

And they are beautiful numbers.

6 = 1 + 2 + 3,
28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14,
496 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248
8128 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 127 + 254 + 508 + 1016 + 2032 + 4064

Mathematics is beautiful.

= = = = = = =

Anyway, last weekend was the SD RUFU Run... My swan song for the SSA Students Division. "Grow Now Together~~~"

A day in the live of a teacher

2009-06-03T21:11:00.003+08:00

Student knocks and opens the room to the staffroom...

Student: 'cher, you free now?

Teacher: Obviously not. If I were free, I would be at home and not in school.

Cause and Effect

2009-05-10T14:17:00.003+08:00

That motivates me as a person. I would have to say that the only reasonable thing to say would be the understanding of cause and effect. When we want a certain effect, we will plant the cause. Simply. But there will be some people who will immediately object asking “Cause and Effect? Isn’t that a tad trivial?” Might be so. And might not be. The understanding of Cause and Effect is the basis of everything we believe in. The clarification of our understanding of Cause and Effect is the heart of our personal life philosophy or religion. And that will determine what kind of person we are and defines our identity. Therefore, the understanding of Cause and Effect is central to my Buddhist thoughts.

When a doctor wants to cure a patient, it is necessary to identify the cause of the problem. The wrong diagnosis could result in disaster. Therefore, the identification of the cause cannot be taken lightly. This is even more so when we try to identify the cause of human sufferings. Everyone seeks to be happy. Nobody can honestly claim that they reject happiness. But what is the cause for happiness?

There are people who subscript to the idea of indeterminism. These people will decide that life happens by chance. And there are others who hold on to the belief of determinism. But regardless of whether they think life happenings are predestined or otherwise, it is not hard to accept causality within the parameter of their current existence beginning with birth and ending with death. This understanding of Cause and Effect are represented by Confucianism, Taoism and many western rationalism including the Abrahamic religions as well as person who believe in the absolute secularity of modern science. But such understanding cannot provide satisfactory answers to questions such as “Why are people born into different circumstances?” and “Why are evil sometimes not punished and good not rewarded?”. Moreover, for people who attribute causes to the external forces of nature or to some deity or god, they run the danger of limiting human will and autonomy.

The alternative is to recognise the existence of karma and the cyclic nature of life. With karma, it simply means that we reap what we sow. It takes a lot of courage to accept the concept of karma however, as it means to take full responsibility of all the happenings around us even if we do not remember what causes we created. Further, it is not hard to realise that it is way easier to create negative karma than positive ones. Hence the despair that the odds of our lives going in the negative direction is higher than the positive. But I must choose to accept the concept of karma because the alternative cannot stand to the scrutiny of Cause and Effect.

To further our understanding of Cause and Effect, we have to realise that often, “scaffolding” is required. We cannot expect someone to understand calculus without first learning basic arithmetic. Similarly, the understand of Cause and Effect needs a certain sequence of building up. Many causal learner of religions recognise Buddhism only by the fact that it teaches the Four Noble Truth and the Eightfold Paths. But in reality, these teachings are merely preparatory for the main lessons of Buddhism. If one is to only base on these basics, they can be termed as practicing Hinayana Buddhism. The main characteristic of Hinayana Buddhism is to focus on the elimination of unhappiness thinking that this elimination is the cause of happiness. But that is highly passive and not the complete intent of Buddhism. Hinayana posits the cause of unhappiness as earthly desires. But since earthly desires can never be truly eradicated, there are limitation to Hinayana Buddhism. In contrast, Mahayana Buddhism focussed on helping others attain enlightenment, directly seeking positive causes towards happiness. This is termed the Bodhisattva Way which concentrate on creating positive karma by helping others rather than worry about our accumulated bad karma. I choose to be proactive in this respect.

We move on next to the idea of enlightenment, which is to manifest the state of absolute happiness regardless of our circumstances. Pre-Lotus Sutra Mahayana Buddhism described Buddhahood as an unattainable ideal much like the concept of utopia. The purpose is to develop a strong sense of yearning as well as to give everyone a common direction to strive for. This is another case of “scaffolding”. It is hence, not surprising that while many scholars recognise the status of the Lotus Sutra as the highest teaching of Buddhism, many lack the confidence to practice it as they view it as “post-graduate stuff”. In fact, it is within the Lotus Sutra that stated that “this sutra can only be understood among Buddhas”. But upon careful examination, we will find that it declare that Buddhahood is possible for all. Only with such confirmation that the destination is real can Cause and Effect have any meaning. Therefore, I choose to practice the Lotus Sutra.

But then comes an interesting twist. Deeper study into the Lotus Sutra (specifically in the Life-span chapter) reveals that Shakyamuni did not attain enlightenment in his current lifetime but rather, in the infinite past. What he is trying to explain is that his current enlightenment is possible only because he had already attained Buddhahood in the past. Therefore, it is not the case of his Bodhisattva Way being the Cause and the Enlightenment the Effect, but the other way around. His innate Buddha nature is the Cause for his Bodhisattva way. This is a new breakthrough in our understanding of Cause and Effect. We are all inherently Buddhas who continue to suffer for the sake of demonstrating the effectiveness of the Bodhisattva Way in bringing about happiness.

The final progression of the understanding of Cause and Effect is the fact that Shakyamuni declared: “At first, I practiced the Bodhisattva Way,“ when explaining about his enlightenment. This cyclic nature of Cause and Effect is consistent with the cyclic nature of life understood by Buddhist. Combined with the understanding that Buddha nature last for infinite among of time and that life is eternal, we can conclude that Cause and Effect of happiness actually occurs simultaneously. The moment we rouse the courage to make the determination to do good for others, our Buddha nature is also activated and compassion and wisdom will well forth. And when the good is done, we renew our conviction on our Buddha nature and derive fresh courage. And then to repeat that consistently. This, I believe, is the happiest way of life.

To recap, the provisional, pre-Lotus Sutra teachings are temporary expedients to set forth a view of enlightenment. The complete understanding of Buddhism has to come with the progression of the understanding of Cause and Effect from “teaching of cause and effect as disparate nature”, to “teaching of cause and effect as identical nature”, to “teaching of cause and effect as eternal existence”, and finally to “teaching of cause and effect in a single life-moment”.

The above essay is based on the author’s current understanding of the fivefold comparison.

Swill Flu

2009-05-04T22:40:00.003+08:00

It is the season to be careful again...

To abort or not?

2009-04-20T20:28:00.005+08:00

Today’s CE lesson was on the topic of abortion and I was to present this controversial issue to my students. The objective is to encourage them to think deeper into controversial societal issues. In some countries, the abortion issue remains one of the broader and more controversial societal issues. A broad spectrum of positions exists on this issue, from those who advocate abortion-on-demand at any point during a pregnancy on the one end (100% pro-choice), to those who oppose every form of abortion on the other (100% pro-life). Between these two there is a considerable range of positions.

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy early before the fetus can survive outside the womb. If it occurs spontaneously or naturally, it’s commonly referred to as a “miscarriage”. This is usually because the fetus has passed away in the womb. Under these circumstances, the pregnancy may be expelled from the womb naturally or may require surgery. Abortion can also be induced. The fetus together with the placenta is expelled from the womb before it is developed enough to survive and will result in its death.

An abortion is usually done through a day surgical procedure if the pregnancy is less than 12 weeks. Under anesthesia, a plastic hollow tube is inserted into the womb and suction is applied to empty the womb. The procedure is significantly more complicated beyond the 12th week.

Some of the risks of abortion include bleeding which may require hospitalization and blood transfusion. There may also be damage to cervix which may result in early delivery or pregnancy loss in subsequent pregnancies. Infection which can cause fever and pain may also result impairing future fertility.

Some of the basic local Singapore Laws are as listed:

The abortion must be performed by a gynecologist in a certified approved institution
Your pregnancy must be less than 24 weeks
You must undergo pre-abortion counseling at the approved institution where the abortion is to be carried out if you are above 16 years old or the Health Promotion Board Counseling Centre if you are below 16 years old (A Certificate of Attendance will then be issued to you. This must be shown to your gynecologist before you can be go for the abortion)
You can only undergo abortion 48 hours after the counseling
You must undergo post-abortion counseling which includes family planning education
The debate

Pro-life group often argued that abortion should not be allowed as the fetus is considered a life. Hence, abortion is equated to murder. They generally believe that human life should be valued either from conception or from fertilization. To advocate abortion is to be morally bankrupt.

Pro-choice describes the political and ethical view that a woman should have complete control over her fertility and the choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy. Some people who are pro-choice see abortion as a last resort and focus on a number of situations where they feel abortion is a necessary option. Among these situations are those where the woman was raped, her health or life (or that of the fetus) is at risk, contraception was used but failed, or she feels unable to raise a child.

Both viewpoints, to a certain extent, are reasonable in their own rights. The debate occurs however, when pro-life individuals accuse the pro-choice as being “pro-abortion” or “pro-death” while the pro-choice individuals accuse the pro-life as being “anti-freedom” or “anti-reason”. This is an example of political framing which is a technique of debate where you attempt to paint the opposition in an unfavorable light.

From the standpoint of the pro-life, there is nothing wrong in valuing life. In fact, life is the most valuable possession any human can have. However, we have to understand that life is not a discrete quantity. Life derives meaning only in the context of values. I believe in the infinite potential of good in all men. However, if one does not manifest this potential for the betterment of society, we cannot claim this life is more valuable than others.

Many had asked why as a declared, devoted Buddhists, I eat meat. And I loved meat. It is however, a misconception that meat is not allowed in Buddhism. The vegetarian diet is recommended in many Buddhists schools mainly because plants are regarded as life with less value than animals. But they are life regardless. It is not for the sake of not taking life that some Buddhists do not eat meat. It is simply to minimize the debt of gratitude one owns to the life of the animals that died for the purpose of sustaining our lives. If we eat meat, we simply have to develop a greater appreciation for that lives of the animals that died for us. The taking of another life to sustain one’s own cannot be avoided. What is more important is to kill the will to kill.

Returning to the topic of abortion, I would reckon that in certain circumstances, the value of the woman have to outweigh that of the fetus and abortion can be a reasonable consideration. No one in their right mind would willingly kill a baby. But in situations where calculated, responsible decision based on factors such as the health of mother or the unborn fetus, the consequence of rape, the ability of the family to raise the baby, etc, I believe abortion can be accepted.

The questions that I highlighted for the students to reflect on is where they truly stand in light of the “pro-life” and “pro-choice” debate, and of course one of the main contention of the debate – When life begins?

From fertilization?
From the stabilization of the fetus (approximately 2 months)?
After the actual birth?
Other?

My views on the nature of life can be found in this earlier post.

I chose others. For I believe life is eternal and we are ultimately all part of the same cosmic whole. Fetus, our lives, plants, animals, etc. We are just different manifestation of this cosmic life. We can only hope to create value within our capacity in order to enjoy the process of life. In the event that we hurt another life (like eating!), we can only strive to repay our debts of gratitude by contributing to the betterment of our community, our society, and our cosmic life.

Like a Waterfall (Video)

2009-04-18T18:40:00.002+08:00

You can't find true happiness online!!

2009-04-13T13:54:00.002+08:00

Activating the Infinite Potential Inherent in Our Lives

2009-04-11T19:15:00.002+08:00

The starting point of this short study is to recognize that the purpose of life is to become happy. If the objective of life is not to become happy, then it becomes worthless to discuss Buddhism. For a true religion must serves to make the happiness of humanity a priority. That is the original purpose of religion. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for religion to become corrupted and degrade into a moneymaking enterprise or a propaganda device for hate and discrimination. This is why study is important. Correct study is to be informed and to empower individuals with the ability to discern right from wrong.

With regard to the topic of happiness, there are two kinds as explained by Josei Toda, the second Soka Gakkai president. They are “relative happiness” and “absolute happiness”.

Relative happiness is the result of fulfilling our desires. Hence, it is dependent on whether on the conditions which surround our desires. Moreover, “relative” indicates “comparison”. Relative happiness is felt when one feels better off or advantageous in comparison to others. Therefore, we can also say that “earthly desires” denotes a yearning to be better off than others. That means that desires such as “wealth”, “status” and “attractiveness” only has meaning when compared to others.

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is a state of life which people continue to experience joy in living wherever they may be or whatever they may be doing regardless of their prevailing circumstances. It is a difficult endeavor to cultivate such a life-state, but a necessary one if we ever hope to derive true joy from our existence. To achieve absolute happiness requires ceaseless efforts to develop oneself in the acquirement of wisdom, good fortune and strong life-force. This is the purpose of attaining Buddhahood.

To attain Buddhahood can then be equate to the ceaseless efforts to acquire wisdom, good fortune and strong life-force in order to overcome all life’s sufferings. Practicing Buddhism will then mean that we shift the focus of our lives towards the achievement of absolute happiness instead of relative happiness.

A little more is required to explain on the idea of what a Buddha is. Traditionally, when we hear the name “Buddha”, we automatically associate it with Shakyamuni, the founder of the original Buddhist Order. But we have to understand that Shakyamuni is the first historically recorded Buddha. And his mission is to teach others that they too, can become a Buddha just like him. But over the years, with emphasis on how great the life-state of a Buddha is, Shakyamuni eventually got deified by many Buddhists schools and treated as if he were a God of some kind. This is incorrect.

Buddhism expounds that every individual is equally endowed with a great innate potential within our lives and that this potential is none other than Buddhahood. Hence, Buddhism is a teaching that strives to remind everyone that we should not feel that we are inherently weak or dependent, but to be awakened to the fact that we can all become individuals of strength and spiritual autonomy.

There continues to be many schools of Buddhism which mistakenly regard Shakyamuni as a form of Supreme Being or a deity, and it is with great gratitude that I am able to study Buddhism under the Soka Gakkai International, an organization currently demonstrating actual proof of the original spirit of Buddhism.

The next important point to note is that although there are some other Buddhists schools that recognized the fact that we can all become Buddhas, many held the beliefs that it requires counts lifetimes of assiduous Buddhist study and practice to attain this enlightenment. But this is also incorrect. In the Lotus Sutra, it is revealed implicitly that we are all capable of becoming Bodhisattvas of the Earth. This type of Bodhisattvas are Buddhas in nature but took the appearance of a Bodhisattvas in order to lead others to enlightenment.

Nichiren Daishonin was the person who first recognizes that fact based on his studies into the Lotus Sutra and strives to explain it to others. He then taught that in order for us to manifest our capacity as a Bodhisattva of the Earth, we had to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which is the name of the Buddha nature within us.

To be continued…

DISCLAIMER: This study is the product of my personal study of Buddhism. I do not claim to be perfect in my understanding but I just try my best to share what I learnt. I can’t help it if, in the event of you reading this, that there are points you disagree with but I welcome to contact me in person and speak with me so that we may learn from our exchanges. Anyone with any enquires are also welcome to contact me.

Buddhism is best studied and learnt through direct human-to-human, heart-to-heart dialogue!!

Greed can be Good

2009-04-04T21:58:00.002+08:00

I have been urged to blog again, this time by CX when I was performing SYC duty today. I had not been blogging much over the past few months. Mainly because the increased pace of life is getting to me. I am constantly feeling that I am being rushed from one point to another ceaselessly. Writing slowly took a back seat. I never lost the passion for writing though. But it is an activity that requires time which is somewhat a luxury nowadays. I try not to write meaningless things if I could help it. But meaningful post requires even more time to think out than mundane ones.

I should try though. Here’s a short one from my sharing at last month’s discussion meeting:

We know that all man-inflicted sufferings begin with the three poisons. The first poison is Greed. There isn’t a single mortal who is without greed. We can be greedy for many things, from money to fame, from glory to status, from attention to lust. And when we realized that the pursuit of these desires are not bringing us fulfillment, we naturally become angry. Anger is the second poison. Anger is the state of arrogance, where we blame everything and everyone else when things do not go in the way we want. But the arrogance prevents us from realizing that the problem and the solution is within ourselves. That lack of rationality is foolish. The third poison is Foolishness which is the inability to differentiate right from wrong. And blindly pursuing the wrong ideals brings us to the pursuit in the wrong desires. That will result in more Greed and the cycle continues.

Many religious teachings explained that we have to eradicate these poisons from our lives. If we can succeed, then our problems will vanish. But there is a problem. Without desires, then we will not even have life. This is impractical.

Nichiren Buddhism offered a simple practical solution though. The key to the teachings of Nichiren is that while the poisons are strong and debilitating, it is always possible to turn the poisons into medicines. That he meant is that it is not possible to totally eradicate poisons from our lives, but there is a way where we can use these Greed, Anger and Foolish in a positive way.

For example, if we have to be greedy, then let’s be greedy for good fortune and for enlightenment. If we have to be angry, then let’s be angry with injustice and corruption. And if we have to be foolish, then let us be foolishly gracious. That said, the key to actualizing these transformation from poison to medicine is not as straightforward as a shift in mindset. It is a painstaking effort to devote our lives for kosen-rufu. To constantly exerting every ounce of our energies into encouraging another human being to recognize the wisdom, courage and compassion we all possess and some realized as Buddha nature.

Motivation

2009-03-21T13:01:00.003+08:00

We all need to be motivated from time to time. But encouragement is a lot more than just a nice poster.

"The heart is the most important." ~ Nichiren

Blasphemy?

2009-02-13T22:29:00.004+08:00

Found this gem when surfing the Internet randomly. Burst out laughing.

Had not been blogging. Chinese New Year celebrations just concluded. Back to normal life.

The Purity of Mathematics

2009-01-19T15:43:00.007+08:00

Extending Hands, Connecting Hearts

2008-12-16T22:27:00.008+08:00

I was feeling feverish and my coughing had been persisting. It is really irritating to be sick during the holidays.

Anyways, last Saturday (13 December) I proceeded to the Vivocity to support the Harmony for Humanity Concert (The 4th one I think) as a Gajukai of Singapore Soka Association (SSA), a partner of Mercy Relief who organised the concert. The Guest-of-Honour was the Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

GD was to receive an award of commendation on SSA behalf from Mr Goh. Alas, I was not quick enough with the camera. But I took this picture which doesn’t need quick fingers instead.

Incidently, it was GD’s birthday. The YMDs got him a golden egg and we took the opportunity to take a commemorative photograph.

Marching towards the end of the year

2008-12-10T18:08:00.003+08:00

This blog is overdue for an update. But I am having a December with a long to-do list for the first time. *sigh*

Regardless, X'mas is coming...

The Soka Movement

2008-11-22T18:33:00.003+08:00

A new departure for me as I am returned to Serangoon South Chapter to promote our Soka Movement there. It is time to get back to basics. What exactly is our Soka Movement? Sensei explained it in the NHR - Dance of Life:

Buddhism is an eternal and unchanging law that pervades human life and the entire universe. It is also the guiding principle for the realization of peace and happiness for humanity. As such, it in no way contradicts modern science. Rather, it is a philosophy that can lead science and technology in a direction that will contribute to people’s happiness and well-being.

The Soka movement aims for what we call human revolution, the inner transformation of the individual through the teaching of Buddhism. Society is made up of human beings; we are the creators of our reality. As a result, we believe that by cultivating our lives, our hearts, we can change society. The purpose of the Soka Gakkai is to enable people to forge their character on a fundamental level, thereby bringing the fragrant flowers of peace and culture to bloom. We emphasize the view that all things arise from the human heart, the human spirit.

Staff Retreat 2008

2008-11-12T18:14:00.003+08:00

Staff retreat could be done locally. Alas...

Seven Blunders

2008-11-10T22:17:00.002+08:00

Sharing something from one of my heroes -- Gandhi

A few weeks before he was assassinated, Gandhi the Mahatma had a conversation with his grandson Arun. He handed Arun a talisman upon which were engraved "Seven Blunders," out of which, said Gandhi, grows the violence that plagues the world. The blunders were:

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principles.

Gandhi called these disbalances "passive violence," which fuels the active violence of crime, rebellion, and war. He said, "We could work 'til doomsday to achieve peace and would get nowhere as long as we ignore passive violence in our world."

1 = 2 = 3

2008-11-09T19:50:00.004+08:00

Something interesting I stumbled on for the mathematical mind.
Source from http://www.hunkinsexperiments.com.

Another bites the dust

2008-11-03T17:23:00.007+08:00

Finally back to work after the ICT. There was some degree of resentment after my return and I sort of expected it as I know that I have unfinished work which I was unable to complete on time when I went on my leave. Naturally these year-end administrative duties had to be covered by my colleagues. I am grateful for their assistance and apologize for their extra workload but in my defense, I would very much not to have to go for reservist if I had a choice. Anyone who knows anything about me would understand my stand of absolute pacifism and is against war (or the training for it). I am in the army only because I am law-abiding. But regular work resumes.

The secondary three students are back daily for supplementary lessons and I have my year-end work review coming up, as well as the markers’ report which I am not complying yet as there is a test to be set for those who failed their regular examinations. Moreover, the deadline for the major assignment for my Masters course is drawing uncomfortably near.

This coming vacation will also see me plow through my notes to prepare a localized package for Cyberwellness in my school. An unnoticed and generally thankless task.

Am I ranting? Maybe.

It is said that teachers have to be mindful when they blog and should not complain and whine so much on the cyberworld. “It sets a bad example.”

A week ago, a fellow teacher was blasted by the media for posting pictures of her in bikini online. To be honest, I am sure she is not the only one but was unfortunate to be brought to the attention of the media. And to be even more brutally honest, I think the media is making a mountain out of a molehill.

Please do not quote me wrongly. I am totally in agreement that responsible blogging is necessary. Posting an explicit sexual picture online is definitely wrong by my reckoning or any standards. But bikinis? Some people had obviously not visited the beach for a long time. If the media is to blast teachers for setting a negative example based just on bikinis, then they should take a closer look at the pop-stars whose influences on the young may not necessary pale in comparison to teachers.

Some standards should be adjusted. To be explicitly honest, our teenagers today do not need such influences to influence them to don a bikini. They probably have more pairs than an average teacher and are more proficient in tying the knots of those swimsuits than us tying our shoelaces. Like many vices in this world, bikinis as a fashion statement have gone beyond prevention. It is how to cope with it and liberate our mindset to a point where we understand that less cloth does not equate to sexual provocative.

I have been blogging for years as I find it a good exercise for some mental exercise and for self-reflection. In my younger days, there are bound to be some posts which I am not proud of. (No, I am a guy, so there are no pictures of me in bikini... ever!) Mainly it is the language I used which may be vulgar sometimes. But I would like to state that with maturity, I had weeded out such language from my usage. It was who I was and I don’t see why I should hide it. In fact, we know that anything posted online is never truly deleted. If anything, I would love to educate my students on the foolishness of my younger days and the anger in the heart such foul language brought. And if they are in the same situation I was, they should accelerate their maturing process.

We can be honest and responsible at the same time. So should the media be fair and the general public understanding.

Idealistic? Maybe. But we have to dream.

ICT 2008

2008-10-19T08:45:00.003+08:00

Midway through my reservist.

The armed forces are just getting nuttier. I stand by my conviction that the idea of deterrence to justify the maintenance of an armed force is lame. It still felt like the classic analogy of two neighbours holding a dagger each and placing at one another's throats and then declaring that since no blood was shed, they were friends. It is silly.

But the system is not without merit though. I had to concede that it serves to toughen many individuals who went through the system and also as a platform for employment for many others.

Post-CFG

2008-09-22T11:55:00.003+08:00

You simply cannot say that the past weeks have been uneventful. On the global scene, the collapse of Lehman Brothers will probably trigger episodes of financial drama through the world economies. Closer to home, the China Milk Scare is creating a quite a stir and affecting countless diary products.

But amidst all these, the Singapore Soka Association continued our efforts to promote friendship and social cohesiveness through our Chapter Friendship Gatherings (CFG) this September. My chapter’s concluded ours on the 21st September. It was an exciting period for those of us who were involved. Through a series of amateur performances, passages of encouragements were transmitted to all the participants and audiences spurring them to have courage, and live life with vitality.

Today and everyday, let's give out very best to all the challenges we face, keeping a positive attitude and persevering towards achieving all our goals and targets. Let’s make every effort to advance so that we can say at the end of each day, with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
~ Daisaku Ikeda

Now that the CFG is concluded, I guessed it is time for me to return to my studies. I am finding myself attracted to the educational learning theory of constructivism. I somehow find myself identifying this theory with the Buddhist concept of Shakubuku.

I would probably discuss it further after I read up more and give it a deeper thought.

Beginning again with the end in mind

2008-09-08T23:15:00.002+08:00

There is nothing wrong with being successful in society and enjoying a degree of fame. But ultimately, the lives of those dedicated to the welfare and happiness of others, even if they remain unrecognized, are the ones truly of respect.

How painful and frightening is the prospect of death for human beings! No matter how wealthy or powerful we may be, all is vanity before death. Everything is empty, like a dream or an illusion. But people do not fact this fact. Nichiren Buddhism teaches us that we can transform our karma and attain a supremely peaceful death that is the start of a journey to our next lives.

Again today the sun rises. And, in the same way, again today we chant daimoku, causing the inner sun to rise in our hearts. Once the sun rises, everything is illuminated. The challenge is to keep this sun blazing brilliantly in the depths of our lives, to each day renew our determination to chant, strive on, live victoriously and accumulate good fortune. Herein lies the ultimate path of happiness

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Reasoning

2008-08-26T00:31:00.001+08:00

I am a teacher who teaches mathematics. And one of the most common requirements a teacher has of his or her students when working on mathematics questions is to present the workings to the solution clearly. Why is this so?

It has everything to do with reasoning. One of the main aims of education is to impart the skills of logical reasoning to students. And Mathematics is the key to understanding deductive reasoning. Everything that happened has a reason and everything that we do have a reason. The problem is not the absence of reason but the communication of reason. There are reasons which are valid and there are reasons which are not. But a teacher will never know the reasoning of a student unless the reason is communicated clearly. And that is the purpose of clear working. It is for the teacher to examine in order to validate the reasoning without which, the teacher cannot educate the student properly on the right way to exercise reasoning.

There are a few major categories of reasoning. The most fundamental of them has to be analogical reasoning, inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

Analogical reasoning is the act of transferring information from one context to another context. Another way of saying would be to reason based on examples. This is the most direct and straightforward way of reasoning and is commonly found especially when we see the words “for example,” in any article. This form of reasoning is useful because it is easy to digest for the learners and connections can be made instantly.

An elaborate way of applying analogical reasoning is the use of case studies. We use case studies in the educational field of humanities mainly because the subject matter simply has too many factors to be considered for the reasoning to be portable. We cannot know what will definitely happen is we were to adjust our taxes in a certain way or when we change any major governmental policies in the country. So all we can do is to case studies of similar situation and make a prediction.

We use analogical reasoning when we have no other choice due to the nature of the subject matter. This is because analogical reasoning is not always valid. In fact, analogical reasoning is a major source of errors students make in mathematics.

In algebra, we know that a(b + c) = ab + ac. This is always true. However, if we were to apply analogical reasoning, then we might say that sin (A + B) = sin A + sin B which is false. In the former, it is algebraic operation while in the latter, it is a function. Analogical reasoning failed here.

Another example is when a fellow teacher said in jest that “we learn mathematics to be mathematicians, we learn science to be scientists and we learn humanities to be human.” This is another analogical reasoning. But while is true that mathematicians and scientists tend to be good in mathematics and sciences; they are identified with their skills. But being a good human has nothing to do with skills, but rather, it has to do with our values. Hence, the reasoning is invalid here.

Inductive reasoning is stronger than analogical reasoning whereby the focus is only on a single context and that it does not use one, but many examples. Inductive reasoning is the bedrock of the sciences.

Inductive reasoning involves observing instances of certain phenomenon and then creating a general theory to explain it. This is done in all science experiments. Let’s say we hang a weight to stretch a mechanical spring. When we use a different weight, the spring stretches a different amount. By having enough sets of data from this experiment, we can induct that the amount by which a material body is stretch is linearly related to the force (weight) acting on it.

One of the most common ways to test inductive reasoning in mathematics is number patterns. Let say we have 2, 4, 6, 8, _ , _ . Getting students to fill in the blanks is a form of inductive reasoning. By using the samples and recognizing the pattern, we can induce that this is a list of even numbers.

But inductive reasoning can only provide a probable generalization because it is vulnerable to exceptions. Using algebra again, we have (p + q)/x = p/x + q/x. This is mostly true and we can test it using many different values p, q and x to test the statement. But because the statement is false when x = 0, this statement is not always valid.

It is for this reason the basis of science is that it will never claim to be the absolute truth but only offer a probable answer to any phenomenon because it allows itself to be falsified by exceptions.

Finally, deductive reasoning is the system of reasoning where we figure things out by using premises. Now, let’s say we are given that x^2 – 4x + 3 = 0, we can solve for x if we are to use the premise that when AB = 0, then either A or B must be equal to 0. Hence, we factorize the statement to become (x – 3)(x – 1) = 0. And then from the premise, we have (x – 3) = 0 or (x – 1) = 0. That gives us x = 3 or 1. We have just managed to solve this quadratic equation because of deductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning is a form of reasoning that works all the time and is the most powerful form of reasoning. It is for this purpose that mathematics is often emphasized in schools or as a foundation for advance scholarly pursuit. Deductive reasoning is always valid.

But of course the problem with deductive reasoning is that it must begin with a strong premise. But this is not always possible, which is why the study of inductive reasoning and analogical reasoning is still necessary.

In conclusion, when we want to understand any phenomenon, we begin by trying to perform deductive reasoning like in mathematics. But when there are no suitable premises, we use inductive reasoning to make sense of the world around us like the sciences. But in cases where the factors are too numerous and complex like the humanities, we have to resort to analogical reasoning. And this is how we learn reasoning in our schools through mathematics, sciences and humanities.

29

2008-08-22T23:27:00.006+08:00

Ok.

I'm 29 as of 21 August 2008. After some time, Birthdays are just Birthdays. Seriously, I find myself thinking that I want to continue teaching Mathematics to my students when they arranged a mini-celebration for me. They are sweet kids however. THANK YOU!
[ See http://threediligent08.blogspot.com/ ]

Played football after that because of the upcoming football competition the next day. (We won 1-0 in the first match and drew 0-0 in the second.)

Met my girl for dinner at Jack's Place. She actually skipped her night classes to celebrate the evening with me. So sweet. And she bought me a new watch.Nice not? :)

17

2008-08-12T08:12:00.005+08:00

An ex-student is having her baby shower later this month. She is only 17. In today's context, that is simply too young for parenthood. Seriously. Praying that she would endure and that the child could eventually live a creative life.

"So, while you are here, you must leave some trace of your struggle for kosen-rufu in this place. The moment you are so resolved, your vital force will naturally appear."

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Elephant

2008-08-11T18:35:00.003+08:00

Our lives are chained elephants. It is known that circus owners captured young elephants and held them in chains to prevent them from escaping. Naturally, the young calves attempted to break away but the chains held firm. Soon, the calves lost their will to break away from the chains and be free. Even into adulthood, where the elephants are strong enough to break free, they do not try.

This is the same with the Buddha Nature within us. We were chained by the shadows of delusion when our life-force was weak. But we all grow and a cultivated Buddhahood in our lives can break any chains of delusion. Yet many do not try.

Buddhahood is within us. Just like a profound music is within us. It is in our minds and in our hearts. Music is neither the instruments nor the scores. Similarly, Buddhahood is neither the incenses nor the temples. They are but tools to activate the “music of Buddhahood” in the depths of our lives.

少年不知愁滋味，却满腔的惆怅。吾曾道：寂寞只是因为在这一刻，忘了该爱。爱创价，爱广布。这才是生命中最崇高的荣耀。

Racial Harmony Week

2008-07-21T19:32:00.003+08:00

Today marks the first day of Racial Harmony Week in my school. I find myself speaking relentlessly during Character Education lesson. I guessed that had to be due to the fact that I really felt strongly for this topic. My education in the Soka philosophy had taught me the evil that is discriminations against others. I cannot allow such insult to our common humanity within my scope of influence.

I pulled out an old poem I composed to share with my form class. It is just a simple poem yet I loved it. It was composed during a Mid-Autumn Festival many years ago. I remembered we were staring at the second anniversary of the infamous 9-11 incident.

Why do we quarrel
When we are on the same side of the family
Why do we fight
When we are on the same side of the nation
Why do we war
When we are on the same side of the moon

Peace is not the absence of war. Peace is a constant struggle to respect the dignity of life. My mentor, Dr Daisaku Ikeda once said, “Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life’s sanctity, is a ‘civil war’ waged by humanity against itself.”
I totally agree.

Who are we?

2008-07-07T00:17:00.001+08:00

The Cycle of Life and Death

This is a question we will eventually ask ourselves. Understanding what is life is the single most important thing in our journey through life for that is that gives our existence meaning. And the understanding of life cannot be complete without trying to figure out death too.

There are many different thoughts on death. There are those who believe that life is ultimately random chemical reactions and death is the termination of life. However, such understanding of life seems lacking as it does not consider the mystical nature of life but only its manifestation. On the other extreme, there are many who see life as consisting an eternal soul and a temporary physical body. But this is also incomplete as it does not explain how or why the souls have to manifest as physical reality.

Life, when we get down to it, behaves somewhat like energy. Advances in natural sciences have allowed us to be familiar with the workings of energy. One of the main characteristics of energy is that it cannot be created or destroyed. Rather, it constantly shifts from state to state. Our lives also constantly change from state to state. From anger to hell, from hunger to rapture, from beastly instincts to eerie calm. We are in a constant flux. Factor death into this observation and we have a continuous shift from life to death then to life and then death again. Just like a pendulum moving from potential energy to kinetic energy to potential energy to kinetic energy and so on and so forth.

I was just a child of about 5 years old when I witnessed a funeral at the void deck of a HDB flat. As a curious child, I venture to examine the decease and wondered why people have to die. I remembered asking a few adults around then and none could give me a clear answer. Soon, I got my hands on a set of “Charlie Brown Encyclopedia” which explains simple science to children. I remembered pondering hard on the fact that electrons orbits about the protons and neutrons just like how the planets orbit around the Sun and how the moons revolves around the planets. And then I learnt about the water cycle, the life cycle, the weather cycle, etc. It became crystal clear to me. Life and Death is a cycle. All lives observed goes through the process of birth, mature, decay, death and then rebirth. It is so from tiny bugs to towering trees, from the heavenly bodies to even the galaxies. Having said that, does that means that Earth will die one day? Actually I believe it will. But that would be billions of kalpas later maybe. Is it a bad thing? Actually, Buddhism taught that the idea of death as the end of life is a serious delusion. Death is necessary for life to continue as I will investigate later in this essay.

The Nature of Life and Death

One way of understanding Nichiren Buddhism view of life is to see the entire cosmos as a single living entity. This entity is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Although each of our individual life appears to be independent, we are actually closely linked together based on the concept of dependent origination. Just like our hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys may appear to be independent living organs; they cannot function without one another. Therefore, to live our lives without compassion is to be detached from the true nature of our life. We are in fact living like a cancer cell, hurting this macro-life of which we are part of.

Nichiren Daishonin described our lives as phenomenon. What it means is that the fact that we are alive is as nature as the Sun rising from the east and setting in the west. So is death. Imagine the ocean and then the waves. We can see that each wave as it rises from the surface of the ocean when the wind blows. But is the wave not of the same nature as the ocean. They are all water, no? We can imagine the truth of life as that like the ocean. And when the right conditions of karma, acting like the wind blowing on the ocean, finds a match of karmic relations in our parents, our individual lives are manifested. Seen in this way, our lives are phenomenon – an act of nature.

And if life is natural, so is death. The difference is that when we are in the state of life, we can change our destiny while death is a static state where we lay in wait for the right conditions to be reborn again.

Sensei explained that those who worked hard for the happiness of others by teaching this Buddhism to others and giving hope, will be quickly reborn after they die to join the forces of the Buddha again. What exactly does this mean? Our perception of time is relative. I am sure we can all agree that time flies quickly when we are having a good time and crawls slowly when we are feeling miserable. So that means that when we live well and attain a high life-condition by the time we die, we continue to enjoy that high life-condition in death. Therefore, time seems really short before we are born again. The inverse is also true. That is why the important thing about Life and Death is that we have to live well, so that we may die well. And enjoy our deaths.

Changing our Life and Death

Now the question turns to how we can actually enjoy our deaths?

The practice of Buddhism is to continuously strive to change our lives for the better. In Soka Gakkai, we call this proactive determination as Human Revolution. What we really do is to refresh our lives. And we refresh our lives on many various levels. Since at the most fundamental level, we are all one with the life of the Buddha, refreshing our deepest level is to reveal the Buddha Nature within us and imbuing us with wisdom, courage and compassion.

The first level of change is to change our behaviors. The way we carry ourselves, see, hear, smell and speak. These changes correspond to refreshing our first five consciousnesses.

The second level of change is to change our mind and perception. This is done by meditating, positive thinking and sleeping. This corresponds to refreshing the sixth consciousness.

The third level of change is to change our self identity. This happens when we die and then be born again. This corresponds to refreshing the seventh consciousness.

The fourth level of change is to change our karma. This happens when we chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and perceive the Buddha Nature within us. This corresponds to refreshing the eighth consciousness.

And finally, the most profound change is when we change the “honzon” (The Object of Devotion) of our life. When we dedicate our lives to the Gohonzon or the Buddhahood of the interconnectedness of all lives and perform the Bodhisattva Way, we refresh the ninth consciousness and manifest our Buddhahood.

When we refresh our ninth consciousness, we are revealing the fact that we are one with the Mystic Law of Life. That the essence of this single individual wave is the same essence of the entire ocean. In light of the eternity of life of the cosmos, this fusion transcends life and death. This is what Shakyamuni means when he teaches that enlightenment is to be free from the sufferings of the cycle of life and death.

This means that the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and teaching this Buddhism to others can change our lives at a level so fundamental that not even death can achieve. Problems that not even death can solve, the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can. This is the conviction of Nichiren Daishonin. This is also my conviction as a disciple of the Daishonin and Sensei.

History of Education

2008-06-29T16:49:00.003+08:00

The mid-year holiday his finally concluded and a week of re-adjustment just flew by with a flurry of activities. I was tasked to perform a professional sharing during my departmental meeting. With the mind to let more people come into contact with the thoughts of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, I drew from his research on education and shared a small section on the history of education as well as the evolution of teachers to meet the times. The following summarized the 3 ages of education and schooling identified as well as the 4 stages of evolution of the roles of educators:

History of Schooling

The Age of Specialized Education directed toward providing individuals with skills appropriate to their social class. Members of the aristocracy were taught the morality and literary skills expected of their status, warriors were trained in chivalry and martial arts, and merchants in business and bookkeeping skills.
The Age of General Education common to all classes as necessary to round out individual life. In this stage education is seen primary as a means to one’s own gain; individual existence is the central concern, and the importance and needs of social life are largely unrecognized.
The Age of Total Education in conscious acknowledgement of individuals as constituents in the overall body and life of the society. The true realization of complete social well-being is seen as the greatest good. Members of a society, educated in this condition no longer perceive education as the means to their own individual ends but offer their contributive learning efforts to meet the needs of society.

Evolution of Teachers

The Stage of Direct Transmission of knowledge. In oral cultures, the three qualifications of the perfect teacher are extensive knowledge of what is to be taught, ability to transmit that knowledge, and exemplary personal character as a model for children.
The Stage of Experiment where trial-and-error improvements towards transmitting knowledge in more readily absorbable form were made. At first, the choice and arrangement of lessons is left up to the teacher. Then, the boom in student population and the growth of printing industries leads to the use of backup texts, although many skills must still be acquired through trial and error. Much practical experience is lost because information is passed on only in the form of raw notes.
The Stage of Specialization. Further increases in student numbers resulted in higher demands for teachers. The government joins the search for more efficient means of teaching. Isolating one qualification of the teacher – the knowledge of lessons to be taught – from the total person of the teacher brings greater focus upon experience and command of teaching methods. In this division of labor, scholars devote their time to the compilation of texts, away from the actual task of teaching. Teachers need not be expert in the subjects to be covered to be effective as long as the text is authoritative and they are practiced in getting the message across.
The Stage of Guided Studies. Natural and social phenomena of the immediate living environment are studied through direct observation, with text only as related reference material. The advancement of the Internet and public libraries are also key factors in this stage of evolution.

With the perspective from the above, we can understand that many of the frustrations and challenges facing educators today are due to the fact that we are in the transition state from the 3rd stage to the 4th. But the change is inevitable and teachers are trying their best to cope. I pray sincerely that I would be about to adapt according and play a part in propelling education in Singapore towards such a development. I further highlight the distinction in the roles of teachers in the 2 stages concerned

Organizer of information (3rd Stage)
Educational Institutions are designed based on the concept that Education is to prepare children for adult lives. But the idea that satisfaction from learning is postponed till a successful career is attained caused much frustration to students. It focused on self-mastery and competition which feeds a materialistic society where wealth and status is the measure of success.
Arousers of Interest and Curiosity (4th Stage)
To recognize that learning on its own is a source of Happiness. Happiness from Education is not the shallow, ego-centered hedonism but the development within each person of a social consciousness that enables understanding and appreciation of the extent to which all humans are indebted to the society in which they live.

Medicine and Poison

2008-06-09T14:34:00.001+08:00

The Law of Cause and Effect is strict. It is not hard to believe that. Hence a good person with a kind heart will be rewarded with benefits. This is the most natural. And it doesn’t matter which school of thoughts this person subscript to. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh. As long as you can muster a good heart, you will have good things happening to you. This is just like gravity working whether you are aware of the Law of Gravity or not.

There are many people who claimed that their faith is one and absolute by saying that miracles are evidence. It is true that evidence in the form of miracles is important in demonstrating that there is something positive about the faith. However, I have to point out that there is not a single school of thoughts which has a monopoly on such miracles. Therefore, I have to conclude that miracles are part and parcel of life and due to cause and effect instead of the faith. You have compassion for others, you get the benefit. This is most natural.

Even people with no adherence to any faith have shown miracles when they are imbued with strong willpower. This like the body’s natural healing ability and the antibodies when we are sick. Positive teachings are just like medicines which complements our antibodies to help us get well.

But as we all know, there are many different types of problems in life just as there are many countless types of sicknesses. Good medicine can cure many sicknesses. They provide hope and encouragements. This is what positive faiths and religions do.

Now, those of you who know me will know that I am a strong supporter of Nichiren Buddhism taught by the Soka Gakkai. Why did I choose this particular religion?

I recognized the positive effects that many good religions and faiths are doing for their followers. However, even good medicine cannot cure all sicknesses. My study of this Buddhism allowed me to realize that this school of thoughts can. Why?

Because the focus of Nichiren Buddhism is not about seeking external factors to strengthen our lives but instead, about inner transformation.

Using my earlier analogy, Nichiren Buddhism, instead of an external medicine to aid our recovery from sickness, strives to understand our body and strengthen our natural antibodies and healing power. We believe in the indefinite potential of each human and seek to tap this inherent potential. This, I believe, is the strategy to truly “cure all sicknesses”. It is much like the people with no faith but performing miracles with willpower except that with the understanding of why willpower works, we further enhance its effects.

This is with this understanding that while proclaiming the superiority of Nichiren Buddhism, we managed to maintain a healthy respect for people of other faiths. We can truly appreciate the good that they have done also.

But it is also well-documented that while Soka Gakkai has good relations with people of other faiths, it is highly intolerant of other sects who also practice some form of Nichiren Buddhism, especially the Nichiren Shoshu. Why is this so?

There are many reasons really. To list them all would not be suitable for a blog entry like this but for a proper full dialogue and discussion. So I will only state one clear example here. Let’s look at it from the foundation of these organizations. During WWII, the founding fathers of Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda fiercely opposed the war and call for peace. They were harshly thrown into prison. Makiguchi died in prison while Toda was released after the war with his health shattered. But he reconstructed the Soka Gakkai with the fiery desire to rid of the world of miserly [especially from warfare]. In contrast, the Nichiren Shosho caved in to the pressure from the military government during the war and even conducted prayer session to support Japan’s war efforts. Not hard to see which organization truly inherited the spirit of compassion of Nichiren Buddhism.

Soka Gakkai is currently an organization of 192 countries and territories (and still growing rapidly) with millions of practitioners constantly changing their lives for the better. This growth would not be possible if the teaching is not a positive force for humanity. The Law of Cause and Effect is strict.

The main reason why the Soka Gakkai would not tolerant Nichiren Shoshu of today is that their corruption of the teaching will hurt innocent people. The Soka Gakkai respects the other religions because they actually bring about a positive influence on people. But the corruption of Nichiren Shoshu is like taking the most powerful medicine of all, but applying it in the wrong way. For example, a medicine which is supposed to be applied on a cut, if you were to take it orally instead, it becomes poison.

Therefore, corrupted Nichiren Buddhism to Nichiren Buddhists is not the same as alternative medicines like Christianity or Islam. It is poison and ought to be eradicated.

Polishing our mirror

2008-06-06T23:24:00.002+08:00

Like the path of birds or the path of fish, in a sense, the path of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the most natural way for human beings to achieve enlightenment. This is because it is the means for us to reveal “the mystic truth that is originally inherent in our lives”. The Daishonin emphasizes the very natural way in which chanting daimoku allows us to manifest this innate mystic truth.

There exists a law that leads us to enlightenment even though it is not visible. This law is the practice of chanting daimoku. And this is the most natural state of human behavior. It is the fundamental way in which human beings grow spiritually.

However, because it is not obvious to us just like the paths of fishes and birds are not obvious, it is not easy to understand this immediately. The main reason for humans not to recognize this path is the obstructions from their negative karma.

So what exactly is karma?

Cause and Effect is easily understood. In fact, the relationship between cause and effect is the foundation of classical science which modern educated people are all familiar with. There are many ways to understand karma. But the most straightforward way would be to see it as an account of moral bank. Good deeds give us good karma which will be the good causes resulting in good effects. And the reverse is true for evil deeds. Hence the need to regularly perform good deeds.

But seriously, can the good deeds ever match the evil?

Karma is created with our action, words and deeds. Even if we do not actually slap someone, we definitely thought about it whenever we are angry. And gosh… can us human complaint. We complaint about anything and every complaint is an addition to our negative karma.

Add that to the violence and wars waged by our ancestors, humans are sinking in the sea of negative karma. Therefore all of us will suffer. From illness to financial problems. From emptiness in the soul to disappointment in love. We suffer as a child and we suffer in old age. All these is due to negative karma.

Therefore, at its core, the purpose of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to clean away the tainted residues of karma.

A mind now clouded by the illusions of the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but when polished, it is sure to become like a clear mirror, reflecting the essential nature of phenomena and the true aspect of reality. Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

In the depths of our lives, we are all clear shiny mirrors. That is our Buddha Nature. But like a mirror, if we do not clean it regularly, it will gather dust and dirt. Just like the negative karma covering this Buddha Nature.

Or we can understand it like musical instruments. All of us are capable of producing wonderful music of happiness and joy. But like a guitar or a piano which suffers knocks and abuse of daily hardships, we go out of tune. No matter how hard we try to play the guitar, and no matter how skilled we are with the piano, if we do not first tune our lives to the rhythm of life which is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we cannot produce wonderful music.

Spotlght

2008-06-04T13:03:00.004+08:00

An interview with Grammy award-winning SGI member Herbie Hancock on Beliefnet, a spiritual web site not affiliated with any particular spiritual organization or movement. [Read interview]

Higher than the Sky

2008-06-01T15:59:00.001+08:00

It is strange how the vacation always seems to be busier than regular days.

It was a hectic start to the vacation for me. It began with the SL camp starting from last Friday to Saturday (23 May - 24 May). It was also the same days where the schools had many parents coming down to meet the teachers to collect their report books. Hence, I was running from places to places catering to the parents and the demands of the camp. At the end of the camp, I was totally exhausted complete with the lack of sleep.

I remembered driving home lacking in alertness. It was dangerous indeed. I chanted daimoku continuously on my journey to ensure it was a safe one.

The next day, I had Gajukai duty. An overnight one. Steven failed to turn up for duty and I was facing the prospect of staying overnight alone. But Minwei stayed on eventually. Hence, It was with this condition and lack of proper rest again that I rushed off the next morning to be the presiding examiner for the ‘O’ Level examination (MT). I was grateful that it was incident-free. I finally rested well that evening.

The next day was the panel meeting session for some of my students who needed additional attention. Only 2 out of 4 turned up. I prayed sincerely that it will be a genuine turning point in their lives.

On Wednesday, the Cute One flew off to Los Angeles business trip. She was still not back yet at the time of this blog entry. I missed her greatly.

Thursday and Friday (29 May and 30 May) was another camp in school. This time was with the basketball team boys. The boys did well and behaved appropriately throughout. It was a physically tough camp. But I was glad to go through it with them.

GD advised that we ought to better our health today. I think the camp did me lots of good.

Anyway, after the camp, I attended my first lecture for my M. Ed. Course. I clumsily forgot to sign my attendance and collect the student package. Hence, that means I have to make a trip to NIE sometime next week to collect it. NIE is all the way in the western corner of Singapore for those who do not know. *Sigh*

But the crazy week ended in the best manner possible. It was the YMD Kenshu! This year’s theme was “Arise as Ikeda’s Direct Disciples in the 2nd Act of Kosen Rufu! The seniors’ sharing really touches many of us in the depths of our lives. I will organize my notes and share them here soon.

I am also determined that all my faithful comrades those who failed to attend received the same encouragement as soon as possible.

It was rightly pointed out by YMD chief that with every human disaster like what happened in Shenzhen, our movement is made even more urgent and significant.

Higher than the Sky

Together always we must fight
Together we must win
Happy together side by side
Sharing tears of happiness
Shining within our hearts
Hope for all mankind
Tomorrow’s golden dreams
Always higher than the sky

We are reminded at the closing of the Kenshu that we are Sensei’s representatives here in Singapore. We must not fail. We are contributing to Toda Sensei’s eternal vow: To rid the world of misery. It is a truly noble vow. We have to take pride in that!

Mothers' Day

2008-05-12T10:33:00.007+08:00

We took our Mother to the Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental for lunch over the weekend. It was not cheap. But the food was excellence. Hence the trip is worth it. Good for the occasional celebrations.

Read this poem recommended by Sensei:

The sprouts of happiness resides in each person's heart.
If those sprouts are fostered, how big they will eventually grow!
The source of life lies within me.
I have no reason to long for some distant heaven!
~ Ivan Franko (1856 - 1916)

Happiness doesn't come from others. It's something that we must build within our own lives. There is no need for us to compare ourselves to others or envy them.

Our happiness depends on how much we can foster another person. To share the path to absolute happiness. This is very true. I promise to never slacken in my efforts despite my part-time studies.

Back to School

2008-05-05T10:43:00.002+08:00

I have been accepted for a Masters Program in Education. It's back to school as a student for me. Pretty excited about it.

5.3

2008-05-02T13:04:00.004+08:00

"A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and further, can enable a change in the destiny of all humankind."

~ Daisaku Ikeda

May 3 is the most significant day in the calendar of the Soka Gakkai. It is somewhat like the “New Year” for the forces of the Buddha.

Is my life going in the direction I wanted?
Is my country developing in the direction I wished?
Is the world evolving in the direction I hoped?

These are essential questions for a person of conviction.

Life is eternal. It is like energy which continuously change state. Just like a pendulum in a vacuum fluctuating from potential energy to kinetic energy to potential energy to kinetic energy…. So does life moves from death to life to death to life to death to life in an eternal cycle.

We know that time seems to pass quickly when we are happy and slowly when we are sad. Hence, if we die with a high life condition, our joyful death will seem only a short moment and we are back alive again. However, if we die with a low life condition, then our torturous death will seem to last an eternity. Since we are only able to affect our life condition while in the kinetic state of life, we should really treasure it.

Life is an eternal series of moments. If we are able to treat each moment as our last in the “kinetic state”, then our thoughts will naturally be focused on what matter most to us. That will be our priority in life. That will be the mindset with which to answer the 3 questions I state earlier in this entry.

Watched “Hamlet” with my students some time ago. Was inspired. I always wanted to be a writer when I was younger. But social conditions resulted in my becoming a school teacher instead. Due to my lack of training in the area of narrative writing, this dream is going further from me. But I realized that I may be handicapped in narrative writing, I might be able to handle dialogues. Maybe I should try writing plays.

Dreams are meant to be pursued.

The Middle Way

2008-04-19T00:48:00.001+08:00

At some point in our lives… correction… at many points in our lives, we wonder about the true nature of life. What exactly is it?

The first point of view recognized only the physical aspect of life. Many empirical minded people tend towards this view. To these people, life starts when we are born and ends when we are dead. Simple and straightforward. In other words, “all living beings will come to non-existent after death” and that since “everything will be gone when we die, we should live to enjoy our lives to the fullest while we are alive.”

But there is a flaw in this manner of thinking. If life only exists when we are conscious, then we will only can for the attainment of relative happiness as explained in my earlier blog entry. This will result in a hedonistic society and decadence into the level of beasts eventually.

The second point of view is to recognized that life exist in a different plane from just the physical body. In fact, the body is viewed merely as a vessel to observe life. It is the mind that is life. We cannot observe the existence of our mind but there is way too much evidence of the existence of our mind to exclude it from our considerations. We have thoughts and dreams and memories. The culmination of these experiences is attributed to the soul in many theistic thoughts.

What it means is that “Everything in the universe is the creation of God and hence, all is predestined and nothing will change.” But this second view is also flawed. Overemphasis on the soul resulted in one treating the soul as pure and the body as being corrupted. This distinction causes people to practice asceticism physically or mentally or both. Life before death is devalued and life after death is treated as a reward or punishment of some kind.

But there is a third point of view. As we mentioned earlier that we perceive life as our mind, hence, as Nichiren shared, “The mind cannot be considered either to exist or not to exist. Life is indeed an elusive reality that transcends both the words and concepts of existence and nonexistence. It s neither existence nor nonexistence, yet exhibits the qualities of both. It is the mystic entity of the Middle Way that is the ultimate reality. Myo (mystic) is the name given to the mystic nature of life, and ho (law), to its manifestations of the mind.”

Therefore, the true nature of life is not just the body or the soul. It is BOTH the soul or myo and the physical body or ho. This holistic view of life is the Middle Way expounded in Buddhism. The Middle way is not just the path of least resistance often misunderstood. The “middle” actually translates to “accurate” path.

The Middle Way takes us away from the flaws of just focusing on the body which is predominant among the thoughts of atheists, and also away from the flaws of just focusing on the soul which is predominant among the thoughts of theism.

The Middle Way recognized that everything that is existent at this point in time are in the state of constant flux – transforming from the state of existent to non-existent, and from non-existent into existent. This change will continue on eternally.”

Life is not something that has a starting or an ending point. It is a profound type of energy. And like energy which follows the law of conservation, it is neither created nor destroy, just constant changing from state to state. Just as life changes from life to death and then from death to life again and again and again.

Good and Bad Priests

2008-04-03T10:42:00.006+08:00

There were 2 events that took place on March 16, 2008 at the Singapore Expo:

The first was an event by the Nichiren Shoshu. It was scheduled to start at 11am. What took place was the arrival of the members at about 8am. The members then waited for almost 3 hours for the priest of Nichiren Shoshu to arrived. They were left there without any briefing, entertainment, food, water, reading materials, etc.

They were cold as it started raining at 11am. After a short speech by the priest, the members were coax to pay a fee.

The second event was the Interfaith Symposium organised by the Singapore Soka Association (SSA). It was scheduled to start at 2pm. The priest of SSA arrived at 12pm to wait for the members. When the members arrived, there was an exhibition on peace for their viewing pleasures completed with guides.

The event was graced by Singapore Minister of Foreign Affairs. There were representatives from many different faiths in Singapore declaring their committment for peace for the sake of humanity. There were also delegates from 6 countries from various parts of Asia.

This event was reported in many newspapers and was highly praised by many in the society. The members went home with a beautiful book launch by the Minister and containing many inspirational quotes.

The rain stopped at 2pm just before the event started.

I think the contrast is clear on which organisation is really working for the good of society and which is only trying to enrich their own pockets.

One priest made the members wait while another came early to welcome the members. The distinction between a good and bad priest is also clear.

Even the weather agrees.

3.16

2008-03-25T10:51:00.009+08:00

Post 3.16 Thoughts
(Expressed in a Letter to the Overseas Delegates)

Greeeting all!!

I am belated in this outflowing of emotions following 3.16. But it was a crazy week for me. After the 3.16, I was out camping with my students and followed immediately by a mini-kenshu (A chalet) for my Student Division members.

And as expected, my mailbox is totally flooded.

But I still have to give my thanks for the wonderful experience for this very significant 3.16. This particular 3.16 will lindering in my memories forever for a couple of reasons:

I met with you! Overseas members.
The WD chanting 6 million daimoku for us.
The sunny weather after weeks of horrifying rain in Singapore.
And the continued bad weather for Nikken Sect.

50 years ago, Mr Toda called for a 3.16 rehearsal for Kosen-Rufu because he declared that he had completed the 750,000 households foundation for the future of Soka Gakkai.

Earlier this year, Sensei declared upon his 80th birthday that the foundation of worldwide Kosen-Rufu is established. How amazing that we hold a 3.16 of not one, or two, but many representatives from various countries?

When countries come together, does it not signify the "worldwide" in worldwide Kosen-Rufu?

We have moved from Toda's 3.16 to Ikeda's 3.16. I can strongly feel that. The very thought of me being involved in this celebrated overwhelmed me with deep joy.

There is a Buddhist concept of "Adapting Buddhism to the Culture of the Land". This unique Interfaith Symposium is also an adaptation of Buddhism for the entire world. We are indeed in the 2nd phrase of Kosen-Rufu.

Advance!

Raymond Chng

Letter to my Mentor

Dearest Sensei,

I am glad to inform you that the 50th Anniversary of March 16 held here in Singapore is a great success. I am sure you would have received a more comprehensive report from my Youth Chiefs, GD Ong and GD Oba.

In this March 16, I was tasked to play host to Asian delegates who came to Singapore to give us their support. It was an enriching experience and exchange with them.

This exchange had been plagued with Sansho Shima. On March 14,, my mobile phone was damaged, to make matter worst, I was actually having a slight fever when the foreign delegates’ arrival. But I was determined to be part of this significant event. I prayed hard to the Gohonzon and was able to muster enough energy to fulfill my responsibility. My body finally gave way after the event and I am now recovering from my illness at a school camp. My students and fellow teachers were understanding and allowed me to rest undisturbed during the camp. But I have no regrets as I learned a lot from this experience, on the humility of leaders and the revitalization of the Soka Spirit.

Immediately after the camp, the NYPSD of our Students Division had a chalet over the Easter weekend. We had many discussions on the joys of our involvements in the events over the 3.16 weekend. It was really an environment full of hope and vitality.

This is the first anniversary since I wrote my first personal letter to you. I have completed all twelve volumes of the Human Revolution as I promised I would. I will remember your verbal reply via the staff of Singapore Soka Association that you will be looking forward to my development.

I will never forsake training myself to be even more capable.

This year, I pledged to complete one million Daimoku. For many years, I had tried to chant to reach that milestone but was always unsuccessful. But I will definitely do it this year. With this 50th Anniversary of 3.16 as my prime point, I will continue to train myself. I will also give my utmost to support the youth division leaders in Singapore as well as our General Director, Mr Ong.

I also vow to forever fight evil in Singapore with you Sensei.

On this significant 3.16, I wrote the following words on my Daimoku chart:

一品人才
一品师子
一品同志
一品教官

I will bear these words in mind always as I challenge the one million Daimoku.

Raymond Chng

Back to Basics - Relative and Absolute Happiness

2008-03-12T14:36:00.002+08:00

The fundament goal of anyone is to become happy. There are however, two kinds of happiness. Relative and Absolute.

Relative happiness is what results from acquiring material gain or possessions of fulfilling mundane desires. These are triggered by getting a bonus, winning a lottery, doing well in school examinations or even finding out that a guy or girl you have a crush on actually likes you back.

But relative happiness depends on external circumstances beyond our immediate control and can be easily jeopardized. Moreover, human desires are limitless. We will always desire for more and more endlessly. Just happiness are temporarily when a desire is fulfilled and do not last very long.

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is a state of life in which people continue to experience joy in living and creating the greatest value in their lives. This happened when we developed an indomitable character that never gives up trying and is fearless. It is unconditional.

As long as we are alive, we will encounter various hardships be it financial problems, health problems, or relationship problems. For those who have established the life condition of absolute happiness, however, life’s vicissitudes become opportunities to develop inner strength and to experience profound fulfillment every day.

Regardless of what happens, people with this kind of spiritual fortitude regard every hardship as a springboard for their further development, and they overcome each challenge with composure. It is analogous to a marathon.

If we are trained to run 1,000 meters everyday, we will have no problem entering a race for 100 meters. But if we only run 100 meters, we will struggle when we run a 1,000 meters race.

For those who have developed the life-force and wisdom to overcome any difficulty, the constant ebb and flow of life are motivation for the creation of value rather than reasons for suffering and despair.

Ultimately, relative happiness, which is dependent on external circumstances, ends at the moment of death.

But the state of absolute happiness, also know as the life-state of Buddhahood, having been firmly established in this lifetime, will remain indestructible transcending even death.

Attaining Buddhahood means to develop such a life-state overflowing with wisdom, courage and compassion.

Adapted from Creative Life (March 2008)

Reflections

2008-02-22T22:47:00.002+08:00

As my students pointed out, this blog of mine is overdue for an update. I like blogging. I like it not because of any exhibitionistic instinct that causes me to want to share my life and thoughts with the public, but mainly because I find it a suitable catalyst to make myself reflect upon my life and my aspirations. I keenly believe that self-reflection is the joy of life after a fulfilling struggle. The lack of a blog entry also indicates that I was probably overwhelmed by the demands of daily life that I neglected self-reflection.

With that, I thank you who prompted me to update.

My Family Life:

I have to mention Chinese New Year celebration here. Nothing out of ordinary here besides the usual fare of growing nephews and niece, as well as aging aunties and uncles. It is a reminder of the unceasing flow of time and our mortality.

My dad had been home for a few months already. I am still not able to communicate comfortable with him. When necessary, I can always speak to him, but I do not feel any motivation to initiate any conversation. Some of my paternal relatives whom I had not seen in years finally came to visit during the Chinese New Year. I had not seen them for years ever since my dad went to prison. It was awkward entertaining them.

My mum is healthy. For that I am grateful.

My brother got a promotion. Good for him.

My sister is still living a relatively comfortable life.

My Love Life:

This topic will naturally go to Valentine’s Day. Well. No celebration. She was overwhelmed by her job and her involvement in Chingay for the past few months. So much so that her fatigue had rendered her unable to celebrate this day dedicated to love.

It pained me deeply to see her buried under her fatigue. Yet at the same time, I was helpless about it. All I can contribute was to offer to be her personal chauffeur, ferrying her whenever she needs to. I hope that helps even a bit to lighten her burden.

My Religious Life:

I have to admit that I had spent less time with the Gohonzon for the month of February compared to January. This is something that I must rectify for the month March. To my Soka Gakkai friends who read this blog, please remind me.

I will be one of the hosts for our coming 3.16 commemorating meeting. I am rather excited about it. I am also taking a Buddhist examination in 2 weeks time. But I haven’t prepared for it yet. Need to get down to it soon.

I am also taking a back seat with regard to NYPSD. This is due to the emergence of Daniel over the past month. I am really happy for him and is ready to totally trust him to give NYPSD a boost before he flies to Australia. Jin Wen should be even more ready by that time. I am seriously thinking I can graduate with a peace of mind. Cheers.

My Work Life:

I took Meng Kiat’s advice. I focused on my core business ever since the beginning of the new school term. I spent a lot of effort on my regular teaching. I prepare way in advance and ponder hard on how to motivate my students to enjoy the process of learning mathematics. I am not too sure how effective my methods yet but I find myself loving my job more than a year ago.

But of course with such priorities, I admit that I slowed my pace in my other duties. Among them are my CCA, my Student Leaders, the Speech Day, Math&Science Week preparations, Work Reviews. LMS, Cyberwellness, Webmaster, Etc.

I know that it will eventually come back to bite me and may hurt my standing with the management and my co-workers when they have to “rush” me for work due to my new pace. But the advice is making sense to me. I will want to be a super-efficient Education Officer, no doubt about it. But I must not be impatient. Focus on my core business first. Then slowly learn to expand from there. Trying to rush everything will only lead me to the thought of changing career again.

There! A summary of the happenings in my life for the past 2 months. Self-reflection is a refreshing mental exercise. I do need to do this more often.

CNY 2008

2008-02-11T15:35:00.001+08:00

A very Happy Chinese New Year to my readers!!

Sharing the Chinese New Year Message from my mentor:

The brilliant sun of hope is rising on the New Year. Happy New Year! My sincere congratulations on holding your glorious Chinese New Year gathering with good fortune and virtue permeating your lives.

I would like to extend my heartfelt welcome to our friends and distinguished guests. We are now living in a world filled with discord. No place in society is as bright and enjoyable as a gathering like yours that is filled with trust and friendship. Please have a meaningful time together.

At the beginning of a new year, Nichiren Daishonin once wrote to the family of Nanjo Tokimitsu that was moving on despite its sorrow at the loss of a most beloved family member, “The joy we feel at the beginning of spring is like the blossoms that open on the trees or the plants that spring up in the mountains. I, as well as others, am filled with joy” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 982).

Buddhism is a philosophy of infinite hope. Teaching us to change any hardship into the source of joy, it expounds the great Law that enables us to change poison into medicine.

Nichiren Daishonin refers to, “… the great joy that one experiences when one understands for the first time that one’s mind from the very beginning has been the Buddha. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest of all joys” (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, pp. 211-212).

We don’t have to bemoan our destiny. We don’t have to envy others, either. While proudly and confidently living up to your own identity, please live out your existence while seeking happiness for yourself and others, as you share the joy of living with everyone you meet.

Noble members of the Chinese Group! I am praying that you will advance along the path of victory, brightly and cheerfully staying in good health all the time, burning with hope, and becoming the happiest and most fortunate of people. Please take care.

Daisaku Ikeda
February, 2008

Respecting Humanity

2008-01-31T13:40:00.001+08:00

I often wondered why I blog. Many did so just as a form of an electronic diary. There is nothing wrong with that except that a blog is accessible to everyone. It is more than that. Might be an irresistible urge to share our thoughts with the world. But since thoughts have to be shared responsibly, then too must blogging be done responsibly.

A responsible blog can be boring for the masses though. Most people take blogs only as entertainment.

I tend to believe that beyond just sharing my random thoughts, I really wished to share my mentor’s greatness with the world.

On his 80th birthday on 2 January, the President S R Nathan of Singapore wrote a congratulatory letter to him. This news feels me with pride. The highest leader of my country had endorsed my mentor in life. This encourages me greatly that my chosen path is noble indeed. I will forge on.

As we continue to advance towards a more peaceful world, my mentor offered the following guidelines for the sake of humanity to start the new year:

Respecting the human rights of others and tenaciously seeking peaceful solutions to problems
Upholding the sanctity and dignity of all life and never ignoring the suffering of others or larger social problems
Respecting each other’s difference and being willing to learn from each other’s cultures
Promoting communication and exchange and pooling our wisdom for the benefit of allhumankind and the planet on which we live
Always having faith in others’ humanity, based on our common identity as human and living beings, and striving especially to foster the positive development of youth

Onwards!

放心

2008-01-09T20:31:00.001+08:00

She was unwanted. Not the father. Not the mother. She did not know the love of her parents. Orphaned and lonely, she struggled to find love to sustain her young heart. But her foster mother was not one to give love easily. She had only profit on her mind and used her adopted child in many ways to achieve her objectives.

It took courage. But when the child finally leaves the cold embrace of her foster mother to the embrace of her new husband, she thought she found salvation.

She was wrong. The man was not one to endure the hardships of reality and turn to abusing his wife. Silently, she endured for the sake of her children. But eventually, her heart hardens and she became increasing bitter and when her children grew to adulthood, she realized that she can no longer accept the loves of her children.

But that was when she found hope. A kindly friend inspired her with teachings from Buddhism. Renewed, she struggled day and night to provide hope to others who are suffering. Daily, she seeks to help the poor, the sick and the distressed. And slowly, her life revolved. From an uneducated and unfortunate child, she learned to quote many teachings and could even explain many of life’s concepts. She had become a lady respected by thousands.

She developed compassion. It was an impressive achievement for a heart which was closed for so many years. But much emotional baggage continued to plague her. But her passion to help others never wavered.

She had declared after learning that there are plans for a new headquarter for the Singapore Soka Association in ten years time that she would be too old to enjoy the facilities, so she plans to pass from this world and be reincarnated quickly to witness the event. A few weeks ago, her schedule became increasingly hectic. She had told a friend that she would be busy until the 6 Jan 2008. And true to her words, 6 Jan was to be the day she was cremated at the veteran age of 80.

A few days before her passing, she entered into depression, telling her children that she was suffering from heart pain. She also mentioned that she was remembering more and more things from her past. Many doctors she consulted all told her to放心. She did not understand immediately.

Then a day just before her passing, her mood picked up and she was so cheerful that everyone was amazed. She declared that she understood everything now. She had 放心 discarded all her emotional baggage. She knew that her children love her and she accepted all the loves around her. She was happy. She was enlightened.

The day she passed away, she was making her way to the Singapore Soka Association Headquarters to encourage her fellow members. To her last moments, all she could think of was to help another person to find hope. It was the perfect ending.

That was the story of Mdm Wong as I heard from her eulogy. It was one of the most touching eulogy I heard. I did not know her personally though the GF did. I wished I did

But I did learn a valuable lesson. That no matter how hard life is, it is important to learn how to 放心.

Osaka – 28

2008-01-03T12:39:00.002+08:00

Many will come
Many will leave
But I will remain
Planting my staff
I will hold my faith

The years will pass
The tides will flow
But I will paddle
Swinging my axe
I will fight my evil

Determination aroused
Perseverance awaken
And I will forge on
Striking my hammers
I will win my battle

The kindly father
The kingly teacher
And I will come forth
Raising my sword
I will honor my mentor

~ Ra
Dedicated to my mentor on his 80th Birthday on 2 January 2008

立正安国论 2008

2008-01-02T15:19:00.001+08:00

Another threshold is crossed and 2008 arrived. This year is themed as the Year of Capable People and Development for the SGI. It should be an interesting year. I am also 28 years of age now. This is the same age which my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda scored an overwhelming victory in the Osaka Campaign in 1956. I wonder what sort of challenges awaits me and whether I would have the wisdom, courage and compassion to overcome each one of them. I must win for my mentor.

It is also my mentor’s 80th Birthday today. Happy Birthday Sensei!!

The New Year is also a time for resolution. On this significant day, I should make the following vows towards 2010.

I vow to become a first-rate disciple for my mentor
I vow to become a first-rate Buddhist for my loved ones
I vow to become a first-rate educator for my students
I vow to become a first-rate leader for my comrades in faith

As the journey for kosen-rufu is said to begin and end with the Rissho Ankoku Ron, I decide to take this opportunity to share a little about this treatise written by Nichiren Daishonin years ago.

I should focus on this particular passage:

If you care anything about your personal security, you should first pray for order and tranquility throughout the four quarters of the land, should you not?

On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land (立正安国论) was submitted to Hojo Tokiyori via a government official, Yadoya Mitsunori who acted as his intermediary on the 16th day of the 7th month in the year 1260.

The passage above is an excerpt from the original treatise. The full text for this treatise come be found here for those interested.

Why Hojo Tokiyori?

• Retired Regent
• Lived in temple called Saimyo-ji
• Thirty years old
• Wielded the actual power behind the government

Why do we say Nichiren Daishonin’s lifetime teachings begin and end with On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land?

He formally began his propagation effort by submitting this treatise.

The inscribing of the Dai-Gohonzon for the sake of Kosen-rufu in 1279 was Nichiren Daishonin’s ultimate purpose in this world.

The Dai-Gohonzon was established to achieve the ideal of On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land which is to establish peace by propagating the teachings of Buddhism.

What does On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land mean?

Establishing the Correct Teaching means to establish righteousness or to establish the True Law of Buddhism. It also implies refuting erroneous teachings. Hence, Establishing the Correct Teaching can also mean propagation.

Peace of the Land means security of the land. Land implies both society and nature. Hence, Peace of the Land means both to bring order to society and harmony to nature.

Establishing the Correct Teaching is a religious activity while Peace of the Land is a secular activity. Therefore, Establishing the Correct Teaching Peace of the Land is also the act of Human Revolution where we contribute to the secular world through religious efforts.

What is the writings of the On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land like?

The On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land is written in the form of a dialogue with questions and answers between a host and a guest.

The host represents Nichiren Daishonin. The guest represents Hojo Tokiyori specifically. But in generally, it reflected the attitude of the general population during that time.

Therefore, it must be noted that what the guest says is not a reflection of the Daishonin’s teaching.

The format of a dialogue also represents the Daishonin’s conviction that one-to-one dialogue is the only way to achieve the objective of Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.

Why did Nichiren Daishonin write the On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land?

The three calamities of high grain prices, warfare and pestilence are rampant despite people’s devotion to Buddhism. The Daishonin identified that the problem lies in the incorrect interpretation of Buddhism.

The three poisons of Greed, Anger and Foolishness is said to affect the people of the Latter Day of the Law.

High Grain Prices is caused by the poison of greed which resulted from man’s conflict with the natural environment.

Warfare is caused by the poison of anger which resulted from man’s conflict with other man.

Pestilence is caused by the poison of foolishness which resulted from man’s conflict with themselves.

The On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land is born from Daishonin’s compassion to solve the problem of these calamities as well as other disasters predicted in the Sutras when people turned their backs to the Lotus Sutra.

Compassion included both aspects of removing suffering and to give happiness. Since turning against the Lotus Sutra has been identified as the cause for suffering, On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land was written as a harsh denunciation of the distorted teachings.

Because of the harshness of this treatise, he knew that he will incur the wrath of numerous powerful people in the government who supported the distorted teachings which the Daishonin is refuting.

But the Daishonin was fully prepared and courageously speak out for truth and justice.

He did encounter many persecutions since submitting the On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land but he never wavered in the least.

What can we learn from the above passage excerpts from the On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land?

The religiousness of Establishing the Correct Teaching and the secularity of Peace of the Land have an intimate relationship. Religion is related to the individual and the Secular is related to the society. We cannot be safe or happy as an individual if the society is disordered and the people around us are miserable.

SGI President Ikeda once wrote that one can never enjoy genuine personal happiness selfishly for oneself alone. He asserted that true happiness can only be savored when one becomes happy together with others and that in order to achieve this, it is important for the lives of each individual to be firmly rooted in the humanistic philosophy of Buddhism.

The three poisons mentioned earlier cause people today to live in a world where the spirit of altruism is scarce and where people are generally indifferent to the sufferings of others. Some people even attempt to pursue their happiness at the expense of others, or building their happiness on other’s suffering. This attitude is exactly what the Lotus Sutra is against and is the one great evil that destroys peace and creates conflict.

Based on the Lotus Sutra, Ikeda Sensei teaches us to always uphold the spirit of cherishing others as fellow human beings and to treasure our social network in our community.

That is why we often say that our practice have to be a practice for oneself and others. While we practice for our enlightenment, we have to strive for Kosen-rufu by sharing this life philosophy with people around us. And that is the meaning of Attaining Happiness for Oneself and Others.

Sensei and I

2007-12-22T02:42:00.001+08:00

I shall begin this essay by stating a disclaimer. The following is a personal account of how I feel about my mentor. It is a journey through my train of thoughts which brought me to conclude that Daisaku Ikeda is my mentor. It also included a rationalizing process of the need for a mentor and the selection of my mentor.

Some of the things may not make sense to the causal readers as it includes jargons which may only be appreciated only by people who have a good understanding of Buddhism and its history as well as that of Soka Gakkai.

If any reader wishes to clarify certain points which I raised, I recommend that you approach me directly. Personal heart-to-heart dialogue will always be the best mode to exchange philosophical ideas.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is someone who we learn from. There are many types of mentors as we learn many things from many different people as we journey through life. But the most important mentor has to be the mentor who teaches us the best way to lead our lives. This is the mentor I refer to when I discuss about Sensei (Daisaku Ikeda).

Who is Daisaku Ikeda?

Daisaku Ikeda is my mentor. It is from him that I learn the surest way to become a happy human being. But who exactly is he? He is an ordinary man who, through his practice of Nichiren Buddhism, manifested the life-state of Buddhahood which is the objective of all Buddhists. He demonstrated the way. Hence, he is the person we of the Soka Gakkai follow in order to achieve enlightenment ourselves.

Am I idolizing him?

I love him. Because I learnt so much from him, I am grateful to him. But I do not worship him which a lot of people who do not understand Buddhism may mistake. I said that he manifested the life-state of a Buddha. But I understand that many non-Buddhists thought that Buddhists worship the Buddha. We do not. A Buddha is neither God nor a deity. A Buddha is simply a man who is enlightened to the nature of life and hence, manifested compassion, wisdom and courage. It is an achievable goal for all of us.

Why must the mentor be mentioned all the time in Soka Gakkai?

It is to keep us, the members of Soka Gakkai on the correct path. We know what happened when arrogant men who thought they have understood everything when they did not tried to interpret a religious teaching their own way. History had shown the horrors of misguided individuals using religion to corrupt the minds of others. The most recent examples would be the terrorists who abused religion to cause harm to others. Using a mentor who demonstrated the life-state of a Buddha is the best way to keep us on the correct path.

Do you mean that a Buddha is a mentor?

A person, who manifested the life-state of a Buddha, qualities as a mentor for practitioners of Buddhism, but Buddhahood is a process. We may demonstrate Buddhahood one moment, and loses it the next. Only when one gives their entire life for the cause of Buddhism can one maintain that life-state. Daisaku Ikeda is such a man who selflessly dedicated his entire life for Buddhism. That is why I follow him. He is the best example we have.

Why do we not just use Shakyamuni as our mentor?

Shakyamuni, or Gautama, was the first historically recorded Buddha. Hence, in most literature, when we just use the term Buddha, it specifically meant him. But Shakyamuni lived almost three thousand years ago. The cultural influences and language usage differs so much from what we are familiar with that understanding his teachings is extremely difficult and hence, prompt to misinterpretations. In Buddhist terms, we can say that our karmic relation with Shakyamuni is too weak due to temporal differences to directly practice his teachings. That is why it is necessary to update the teachings for the contemporary masses and the founder of Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, Tsunisaburo Makiguchi inherited the spirit of Buddhism via Nichiren Daishonin. Soka Kyoiku Gakkai is means Value-Creation Educational Society which is the forerunner for Soka Gakkai.

Did Makiguchi have a mentor?

In the Soka Gakkai, we acknowledge Daisaku Ikeda as our mentor. And his mentor was Josei Toda who trained him thoroughly. Toda’s mentor was Makiguchi who taught him the value of a human life. As for the mentor of Makiguchi, we say that he learnt directly from the writings of Nichiren Daishonin. Just as future generations will continue to benefit from learning Ikeda’s writings even after his passing, Makiguchi learnt from Nichiren’s writings. As mentioned, in this modern era, it may be difficult to comprehend the writings of Nichiren unless you have a firm understanding of the culture influences during the thirteenth century. But Makiguchi was one such scholar who could and did.

Is there a difference between the disciples of Daisaku Ikeda and the disciples of Josei Toda?

We are all Buddhists who have the potential to become a Buddha. As human beings, there is no difference. The only difference is who we learn from. Daisaku Ikeda himself learnt directly from Toda. But Josei Toda, knowing that he did not have a lot of time after his enlightenment in prison for opposing the war because of a badly damaged health, focused on training a capable disciple to carry on his work. This disciple is Daisaku Ikeda who after learning from Josei Toda, shared widely the wonderful philosophy of Buddhism with the entire world. Those who studied and benefited from studying under Josei Toda can claim to be his disciple. But since I learn from these sharing, Daisaku Ikeda is my mentor.

Why Daisaku Ikeda and not other people?

Are there other selfless examples of individuals who dedicated their lives for Buddhism? Of course there are! But Daisaku Ikeda is the one who made the correct teachings of Buddhism accessible for everyone through his efforts. Hence, I acknowledge him as my mentor.

Will we need another mentor after Daisaku Ikeda (as in after his passing)?

The question is: Is it necessary? We know that the foundation of Buddhism is the countless sutras left between by Shakyamuni. But how many of us can actually understand the sutras. Teachings are always going to be affected by local cultural environment. Without an understanding of Ancient India where Shakubuku first started his preaching, and the language usage at that time, it is difficult for us to understand Buddhism correctly. Hence, Nichiren Daishonin was there to make Buddhism accessible for people of the Latter Day of the Law as Buddhism was badly corrupted by his time during the thirteenth century. Daisaku Ikeda, in turn, is the person who made the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin for us in this modern age. Therefore, unless there come a time, where culturally and language usage-wise, the teachings left by Daisaku Ikeda is no longer accessible to the common people, there is no need for another mentor.

What do we need a mentor in our efforts to achieve enlightenment?

In a nutshell, there is no enlightenment without the spirit of the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple. Note the word “oneness”. This is critical. In this Latter Day of the Law where mankind is heavily poisoned by Greed (Conflict with Nature), Anger (Conflict with Other Persons) and Foolishness (Conflict with Self), the only enlightenment is that of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as expounded in the Lotus Sutra. And the attainment of the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple is the only way to enter the way of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.

What are the Bodhisattvas of the Earth?

In simple terms, the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are beings who are Bodhisattvas in appearance but are Buddha in essentials. Bodhisattvas are beings who constantly strive to lead others to happiness and Buddhas are beings who manifest compassion, wisdom and courage. The lotus is said to have their flowers bloom and bears fruits at the same time. Hence, the gist of the Lotus Sutra is the simultaneity of cause and effect. The cause is the Bodhisattva way and the effect is Buddhahood. Therefore, Bodhisattvas of the Earth are beings who are both Bodhisattvas and Buddhas at the same time.

How does a mentor lead us to be a Bodhisattva of the Earth?

The mentor represents the function of the Buddha and the disciples represent the functions of the Bodhisattvas. In other words, the disciples are the causes and the mentor is the effect. Therefore, when the disciples strive to share and actualize the visions of the mentor, the causes are being laid for the effect of Buddhahood. The “oneness” between the mentor and disciples resulted in the fusing of the functions of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas which give us the enlightened state of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.

How to achieve the “oneness” in the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple?

It is achieved when the disciples adopt the spirit of the mentor and make it their own, then praying wholeheartedly with the same mind as the mentor and taking action. I pray by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam means devoting my life. Myoho means the law of the universe. Myo is the essential of the law and represents the mentor and Ho is the manifestation of the law and represents the disciple. Therefore Myoho also means mentor and disciple. Renge means the Lotus, hence the simultaneity of cause and effect. Cause represents the disciple and Effect represents the mentor. Therefore Renge also means the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple. Kyo means the voice which makes the vow to uphold and propagate this law for the sake of humanity.

How did I accept my mentor?

I was once an arrogant teenager who thought that I did not need a mentor in life. I was living a comfortable life and achieving minor successes in all aspects of my life. But one day, a senior from Singapore Soka Association was having dinner with me when he share candidly that he was feeling miserable because he was unable to feel for Sensei.

Then two thoughts hit me.

Firstly, there are people who are miserable because they cannot feel their mentor. That is an indication that having a mentor is important in our pursuit for a value-creative life. But then again, I did not feel the need for a mentor at the time. So there was a contradiction. That was when the second thought arrived.

The reason for one not to feel the need for a mentor is not the absence of a mentor. I was learning from others all the time. I did not regard them as mentors only because of a lacking in sense of appreciation. I was without gratitude and that made me a man in appearance but a beast at heart.

After some serious soul-searching, I realized that the only way to grow as a human was to open my heart and learn how to be grateful and be appreciative. When that happened, I realized the importance of the many mentors who taught me many times over the years.

And of course, the most important mentor is the one who teaches me the way to live my life in a righteous and courageous way – my mentor in life (faith) – Daisaku Ikeda.

= = = = = = =