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Dalai Lama Quote of the Week
At the moment the world's spiritual traditions have greatly degenerated. It is very important in such times that the practitioners themselves make especially strong efforts to gain realization. To permit the lineages of transmission to disappear is to allow the world to plunge into darkness. The great Vasubandhu wrote, "Buddha, who is like the eye of the world, is no longer to be seen. His great successors, who realized the most profound teachings, also have passed away. Who equals them?" It might be asked, who is there today to equal the master Vasubandhu? Who practices as well as did Milarepa? Such people are rare. We should remember that everything but Dharma is useless at death, and instead of wasting our lives on meaningless activities, we should blend our mindstreams with the teachings and with practice. Doing so benefits us as individuals and benefits the world by strengthening its spiritual basis.
Each of us has to be able to feel the pride that we ourselves can reach perfection, we ourselves can attain enlightenment. When even one person indulges in spiritual practice, it gives encouragement to the guardian spirits of the land, and to the celestial deities who have sworn to uphold goodness. These forces then have the ability to release waves of beneficial effects upon humanity. Thus our practice has many direct and indirect benefits. ..If we practice the teachings and live the ways of Dharma, all the natural forces of goodness will be behind us.
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HH Dalai Lama is deterimined to build one hundred thousand statues of MahaGuru, pls see http://www.padmaworldpeace.org/about.html
Now the most suitable practice is that of Urgyen Chenpo, the other name for Guru Rinpoche. HH Dalai Lama and Dodrupchen, Penor Rinpoche, Sakya masters all said the same. When times are getting worse, Guru Rinpoche's blessing get more powerful.
The 3rd Dodrupchen wrote a text on benefits on Guru mantra, but too bad it's not yet translated. I heard there is alot of mention of benefits of Guru in Rinchen Terdzod.
Perhaps u can ask Rinpoche benefits of Guru Rinpoche in context of Yangzab and Nuden Dorje's terma and Drikung...
i so happy when i write this... haha... anyway see if u can ask... if u not free it's ok .. ;)
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For information on participation in accumulation of Lord Buddha Amitabha's mantra, please contact Grace Yeo at: pinkflower_girl@hotmail.com
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From Jiji @ CAS of T_A Chenrezig
A Muslim reporter eulogy on late Chief Venerable, Dr K.Sri Dhammananda
Posted by Azlan in www.jeffooi.com
FAREWELL
AS a news reporter with The Malay Mail between 1994 and 2005, I met Ven. Dhammananda several times ?usually during Wesak Day celebrations he led at the Buddhist Maha Vihara (temple) in Brickfields and a few other occasions.
Every time I bumped into him, I only asked a few questions just to get some quotes for my news report. Never did I have a proper conversation with him. I regret that now.
I'd like to share what to me was a very special experience during one of my meetings with him.
It was on Christmas Day in 1998 when my Assistant News Editor assigned me to cover a Christmas party for some 200 underprivileged children. It was quite a news-worthy item to cover as it was held at the vihara in Brickfields, organised by a group of Christians, the Santa Claus was a Hindu and the contributor for all the balloons adorning the party area was a Muslim!
But what I will remember of that day forever was what the Reverend said and did.
You see, Dec '98 was also the month of Ramadhan, where (many) Muslims like me were fasting. By the time I arrived at the vihara, it was 6.30pm and many children were already playing around, taking photos with Santa and being entertained by a clown, among others.
At about 15 minutes before 7-something pm (buka puasa time), I was busy thinking of where to go for my dinner - either the nearby Kentucky Fried Chicken or a roadside teh tarik stall, both within walking distances from the Maha Vihara.
The Chief Venerable, the Maha Vihara's religious advisor back then, must have been observing me. He walked up to me and, as if he had read my mind, calmly said: "Young man, don't think too much. You can buka puasa here! . I will accompany you."
I agreed in a split second. He solved my problem!
"Please forgive us. We only have vegetarian dishes here," he humbly and smilingly added, while leading me to a dining table somewhere in the vihara's premises.
I was speechless. He brought me right down to earth with those few simple words. Even if there were only cookies served with lots of plain water at the vihara, I'll be happy enough.
So, there we were, sitting at the dining table, together with a few other priests in their saffron robes and a spread of vegetarian dishes was laid out in front of us.
As I was making sure my wristwatch was accurate, the Chief Venerable took out a small pocket radio transistor from somewhere, turned it on and tuned in to a Bahasa Malaysia radio station.
As scheduled, the muezzin recited the call for the evening prayer through the little speaker, which also marked the moment to break fast.
"Go ahead, Azlan," he told me to start first. Only after I had my first gulp of water for the day, did he and the other priests start eating. I was honoured and humbled at the same time.
The fact that I didn't go to KFC or the the tarik stall wasn't because I didn't know how to turn down the Chief High Priest of Malaysian and Singaporean Theravada Buddhists' dinner invitation. It was buka puasa in a Buddhist temple for me, during a Christmas party! How cool was that, eh?
Seriously, the Venerable's humble gestures greatly raised my respect and admiration for him. During that brief encounter with him, my personal tolerance and understanding towards other people's faiths, beliefs and cultures was greatly altered, for the better.
In less than an hour of dining together, his simple acts of humility made me a better person, more open-minded and drastically changed, for the better, my ways of looking at the world I live in.
It was a small but very refreshing respite for this one tired reporter near the end of that very colourful and turbul! ent year ?street `Reformasi' protests, KL Commonwealth Games, the horrible smog and the Asian economic crisis, among many others.
To me, the Chief Ven. Dhammananda was a great Buddhist and more importantly, a great human being.
Malaysia and its Buddhist community have lost a very special person.
With much sadness, I bid farewell to him.
Azlan
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An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of
a pole which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and
always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk
from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home
only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was
proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of
its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of
what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be
bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am
ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak
out all the way back to your house."
The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your
side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I
have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your
side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to
decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there
would not be this beauty to grace the house."
Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we
each have that make our lives together so very interesting and
rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and
look for the good in them.
SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to
smell the flowers on your side of the path!
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