its Chief Monk Fazhao shi's birthday celebration ( held at sun tec convention hall 2)
i was actually quite shock to see so many tables so many people attending ... there are 100 tables at least... every year also the same... but this year seems rather grant, coz the Buddha tooth relic temple at chinatown is officially opened to public last month.

tts how big the crowd is, its juz like some wedding event lor.. OMG...


i find this program rather impressive, its the performance of qian shou guanyin (thousand hand buddha) its a bit small if i take frm the stage, so i take from screen,, lol...

tts my ah tai( grandma) ,she's a nun... so i pay much respect to her since young.




Change of Destiny Stems from Enlightenment


The Dharma is about living. It allows you to be good to others. It is about morality in practice. The Law of interdependent causes and effects applies here: successful living is the cause of successful endeavours, successful endeavours are the effect of successful living.


A change in destiny must primarily stem from enlightenment. We study Buddhism with the hope of grasping the essence of the Buddha's teachings sooner. We seek to apprehend Buddhist truths in life, progressing from unconcious applications of such truths to a concious engagement of them in dealing with our life. We are to understand the things of this world in terms of conditional causation and cause-and-effect, tackle the 6 mental poisons of human greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt and erroneous views by means of discipline, meditation and wisdom, as well as apply the 4 methods of amicable association in our interpersonal relationships. By being good to life, we can make it fuller and more exciting.





Everyone is Playing the Lead


Life is an enormous stage, where everyone is playing a different role. Tragedies and comedies of life are unfolding every day on this planet. Every one of us is playing the lead, each getting a taste of sourness, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness and saltiness, as well as experiencing joy, anger, sadness, shock and fear. From childhood to maturity, we all go through a series of different roles. Take a typical male for instance. Throughout his life, he would have to be a son, a student, a friend, an employee, a customer, a father, a subordinate, a colleague, a leader, a retiree, a grandfather and so on. On this stage of life, the effect and quality of one's "acting" depend on how you deal with things and other people, for we do not stand here alone. There are many other actors on stage, in addition to a huge audience out there.

The Dharma encompasses various aspects, which are integrated into eternal, immutable truths. It therefore represents the teaching of teachings. Another noteworthy point is the pervasiveness of Buddhist outreach. It reaches the heavens and hells. The Buddha will not give up on any single creature in hell, and will even go there to bringabout deliverance. The Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva, for example, had vowed never to attain Buddhahood until the hells are empty. Hence, the spirit of Buddhism is boundless, based upon compassion and equality. The Buddha's compassion is all-forbearing. His Dharma is receivable by all living beings.


(taken from Nagapuspa May/Jun 2007 Vol.10 - by Chief Monk Shi Fazhao)