Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism

Friday, we invited shangpa rinpoche from karma kagyud Buddhist centre to introduce tibetan Buddhism to us . It will be friday 6pm -8 pm.

Weekly Session Resume

Hi all! Our weekly tuesday session resume next week. 5.30 pm -6.30pm

16th June

On 16^Th June, a few SPBS members and NYPBS members went for a temple tour at Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery together. A kind tour guide took us around the temple, explaining about the different buildings along the way. We were also given a trail guide book that explains a lot about the different infrastructures built. It was an eye opening experience as we were able to learn about the history of the monastery and even have the chance to visit the Venerable Hong Choon Memorial Museum which is not easily accessible to the public. I find the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas to be intersting. The pagoda houses a large Medicine Buddha on the second level, and 9,999 small Buddha images on the inner circumference of the building’s main stupa.

 

 

After the tour, we had lunch at the canteen and chit chat with the NYBS members. We had a bonding session together, letting everyone know more about ourselves. We also did some voluntary work by helping out the aunties at the recycling station in the monastery. We also get to choose some things that we want among the recycled stuffs. From there, we learnt that we should buy what we need and not what we want. It was a fun and rewarding experience.

Frisbee from the recycling station

 

 

At around 4pm, we left the monastery and travelled to Karma Kagyud Buddhist Centre. This centre was introduced by one of our member, Tania. It was an honour to be able to meet Shangpa Rinpoche. Shangpa Rinpoche is said to be the reincarnation of the First Shangpa Rinpoche. Through the interaction with him, I felt that he is kind and compassionate. He will patiently answer the questions posted to him. We even managed to invite him to our school to conduct a dharma talk with us. Entering the praying room, colourful and beautiful carpets were laid on the floor, many statues, offerings, paintings and pictures were placed at the altar. Although it is a small room, it can accommodate a lot of people during events. It was fascinating to see the beautifully sculptured and decorated offerings made of margarine and dough.

 

With Shangpa Rinpoche

 

After the meeting with Shangpa Rinpoche, we went to Vimalakirti Buddhist Centre to attend a talk on how Buddhist leadership change lives at the global level through integrated humanitarian work by Dr Ariyarante, a Ghandi Peace Prize Holder. He was born in a Buddhist family. He founded the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, a bottom-up development process to empower communities based on the Buddha’s Teachings for sustainable development and peace in Sri Lanka in 1958.

When asked what is his mental posture when he speaks to 600 corporate and successful people at Wisdom 2.0 Asia, Dr Ari: I radiate loving-kindness to them. Do not underestimate the power of the mind, and compassionate action.

Through his talk, I felt that he is a person with compassion and wisdom. The short meditation was refreshing. From him, I learnt that we should wish everyone to be well and happy, no matter who they are.

 

Group photo

 

Although it was tiring to go out for the whole day, from morning till night, it was still a fun and fulfilling experience for me. I gained a lot of knowledge and even be exposed to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

 

May all be well and happy.

 

With metta,

Xin Min

 

 

References

#BuddhistYouthNetwork, 2015. Available from: https://www.facebook.com/BuddhistYouthNetwork [Accessed 17 June 2015]

After joining awakening Challenge...

On 14 June, 4 of us represented SPBS in the annual Awaken Challenge which was held at Poh Ming Tse Temple. This competition saw 9 youth Buddhist societies coming together to test each society's knowledge on Buddhism. Although SPBS did not make it to the quarter finals, we put up a strong fight in the preliminary round but eventually lost by 1 point to NYPBS. Nevertheless, I am really thankful for the opportunity to take part in this competition and the experience gained.

The Fantastic 4 for the day

With Venerable Fa Xun

 This competition actually motivated me to learn more about the life of Buddha and his teachings and while reading through the texts provided for our competition preparation, many at times I felt goosebumps popping out and I was overwhelmed by these feelings of loyalty, faith and respect to the religion. During lunch, we had the opportunity to interact with other youths from societies such as NUSBS, NTUBS and Buddhist Fellowship Youth. The 1 hour spent mingling and interacting was really meaningful for while we chatted a little, we also discussed a lot on Buddhism. It was really heartening to know that there were actually many youths out there in Singapore who are so devoted to Buddhism. Even though the competition is over, I am now more interested to read up more on Dharma texts and make a better effort to apply Buddha's teachings in my daily life.

Tania :)