Buddhist material culture in S;pore
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Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V -
The rest prolly can tell you stuff you want
but what the heck is material culture? -
Hey there, thanks for replying!
By "material culture" I mean physical "stuff" of Buddhism that we see around us. Like Buddhist art, sculpture, music, trendy buddhist-inspired products like mp3 players (Creative Zen), yoga products, etc. These new material things are a way in which Buddhism is being represented and practiced in OUR century.
Any suggestions? I could really use some tips. Where do you guys go to hang out in Singapore? I know this might sound cheesy, but are there any 'buddhist hotspots' around Singapore where people go to discuss, practice, meditate, etc?
V -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
There are quite a few art exhibits as far as I know... There's one art exhibit that my friend has been telling me but I need to check out with him if its still there. If you're talking about Buddhist Art/Sculpture they all differ from culture to culture. Like those 'Zen' kind of art (from japan and china) has a more simplistic feel. Tibetan art is a little different.. you can go images.google.com and search 'tibetan thangkas'. Music in Buddhism is certainly something quite new to many Buddhists.. we do sing in the dharma centres and create Buddhist music.
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b]
As to your question 'Where do you guys go to hang out in Singapore? I know this might sound cheesy, but are there any 'buddhist hotspots' around Singapore where people go to discuss, practice, meditate, etc?', there are really a lot of dharma centres around in Singapore where we do that.. discuss, practice, meditate, etc.
As for Buddhist-inspired products, I am not too sure... maybe others may know. -
Maybe Awareness Place is a good place to start.
There is a Youth Ministry at Phor Kark See Monastery which you can explore. -
Shuang Lim Shi. Can try there, especially during Chinese New Year. You will be surprised that not only the old people, but lots of young people too. Got a lot of people for you to interview to find out. Guan Im Temple also.Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:Hey there, thanks for replying!
By "material culture" I mean physical "stuff" of Buddhism that we see around us. Like Buddhist art, sculpture, music, trendy buddhist-inspired products like mp3 players (Creative Zen), yoga products, etc. These new material things are a way in which Buddhism is being represented and practiced in OUR century.
Any suggestions? I could really use some tips. Where do you guys go to hang out in Singapore? I know this might sound cheesy, but are there any 'buddhist hotspots' around Singapore where people go to discuss, practice, meditate, etc?
V
There's a blog about buddhist music. I can't remember. Can try google blog search. I found out about it through there.
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Hi, I would like to point out that Guan Im Temple is not a Buddhist temple. It is a folks-tradition temple. People who worship Guan Yin Bodhisattva does not mean they are truly Buddhists. A Buddhist is one who has taken refuge in the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Shuang Lim Shi. Can try there, especially during Chinese New Year. You will be surprised that not only the old people, but lots of young people too. Got a lot of people for you to interview to find out. Guan Im Temple also.
There's a blog about buddhist music. I can't remember. Can try google blog search. I found out about it through there. -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
My dharma centre: http://www.humanbliss.com.sg/knowledge_activity.htm
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b]
Name: JenChen Buddhist Blissful Culture Centre
Date & Time of Activities: Saturday 7.30pm to 10.00pm
Contact Number: 6292 1800 / 6743 1030 (Monday to Saturday 11.00 am - 6.00pm)
Venue: No. 30 Citiraya Centre, Geylang Lorong 27, #05-01
We're celebrating a big event tomorrow... called Xin4 Fu2 Ye4 (blissful night). Xin4 Fu2 Jie2 coincides with Maitreya Buddha's birthday. As for 'young people', our dharma centre has its youth class and cell group meetings of younger people/teens. There are basically three 'sections/classes' in my dharma centre... the children, teens, and adults. -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
i would like to know which area of material u are talking abt ?
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b]
Buddhism is not like a material that have a unique culture
It evolves to suit different races and ethnic group
are u referring to the chinese mahayana sculpture style ?
architectural or festive culture
define your subject matter with clarity. -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
Speaking of where to hang out ... i will said that you are a sociologist researching on Buddhism
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b]
there are 3 main vehicle of Buddhism ,namely ,Theravada ,Mahayana and Theravada
There is no "common" place to hang out like a specific temple as many of us are at different buddhist association and follow different teachings
Your research area is too broad , you may take a general view on the area or zoom in to any of the areas u are interested ,otherwise , I dont think you can finish your assignment on time .
Buddhist culture , hangout , teaching centre has so many to write on
I guess you should relook at what u really interested to find out about first -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
Ya actually perhaps it cld help if you elaborate more on what you meant by 'material culture'..
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b] -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Not sure about this though. But I can tell that a few who visited Guan Im Temple is a true buddhist.
Hi, I would like to point out that Guan Im Temple is not a Buddhist temple. It is a folks-tradition temple. People who worship Guan Yin Bodhisattva does not mean they are truly Buddhists. A Buddhist is one who has [b]taken refuge in the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.[/b] -
A real Buddhist monastery would usually have its Sangha (monastic order), propogate the dharma, and offer people to take refuge in the Three Treasures..Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:Not sure about this though. But I can tell that a few who visited Guan Im Temple is a true buddhist.
Lots of folks practitioners worship Guan Yin, but they dont really know or practise Buddhism, never took refuge in Three Treasures and are thus not true Buddhists. -
Youth Ministry is having this weekly session at Awareness place, whereby there will be sharing session, talks, discussion as well as hymms singing. It's every thursday, 7.30 to 9.30 (or later). It's called Weekly Spiritual & Personal Development Programme.Originally posted by concerned_man:Maybe Awareness Place is a good place to start.
There is a Youth Ministry at Phor Kark See Monastery which you can explore.
You may refer to http://www.kmspks.org/youth/index.htm for more information. -
Anybody know where is Wisdom and Blissful society in Singapore? I heard from my friend who have advised me to find out more about taking buddhist course there. Interested to find out more.
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Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
I still don't quite understand what material culture is. But anyway, just some contributions... These are some things u might wanna look out for:
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b]
- There's a book sold in Evergreen which attempts to trace the development of Buddhism in SIngapore. Won't say it's fully comprehensive, but I think it's quite a fair reflection of the development. It is a MUST if you want to study the evolution of BUddhism and its culture in Singapore. Forgot the book title, check it out with the staff.
- Buddhist youth groups, I guess u could check out the Singapore Buddhist Mission youth group; Phor Kark See Youth Ministry; Buddhist Fellowship; Fo Kwang Shan; Tzu Chi; there's a Buddhist meditation group that uses Cheng Beng Buddhist Society for their weekly meditation group practice, mostly are youths, but I can't remember the group's name, so maybe u can check with Cheng Beng. And of course check out all the Tertiary Institute Buddhist Societies, (NYP, NP, SP, NUS, NTU, not sure if SMU has any yet). THere are also many temples where many youths congregate for various purposes maybe for dharma lessons etc but they may not be formally organized as a "youth group" per se. OK for my own sentimental sake, I just want to mention about the now-no-longer-existing Viriya Young Buddhist Fellowship which used to comprise 30-odd youths from the #buddhism channel from the MIRC. Though it's non-existent now, many youths from the VYBF are now actively involved in other BUddhist organizations or continue to be Buddhist students and practitioners.
- You also may want to check out the Buddhist Youth Leadership Training Course which used to be developed by Cheng Beng Buddhist Society and forgot which organizations. Later I think it was adopted by the Buddhist Fellowship then I don't know what happened after that.
- And then there are the Buddhist conferences. The almost yearly Global Conference on Buddhism check it out on http://www.buddhistfellowship.org/bf_new/pages/main/index.html Recently there was also the Mahayana Buddhist Conference.
- Not to forget the annual celebrations of Vesak Day at the various Buddhist temples and societies. And of course those three-step-one-bow, bathing the baby Buddha, countdown, singing songs, Dharma talks, etc.
- Also large-scale retreats attract youngsters too, like the annual Om Retreat, the Meditation retreat held for professionals by Dharma Drum, and I think a lot more which I don't know or can't finish listing.
- where they congregate. Needless to say, the temples they are affiliated with. And also some other places where there are teachings/activities maybe like the Awareness Place Meditation Centre; where there are Sunday schools like PHor Kark See, Tai Pei Buddhist Centre, Buddha Mangala Vihara, Singapore Buddhist Mission; where there are Buddhist courses, like Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Sagaramudra, Phor Kark See, Hui Yan Jing She, Foo Hai Chan Monastery; where there are Buddhist shops, like Awareness Place, Kwan Yin Chan Lin; vegetarian restaurants, like Su Shi Lin (opposite of Evergreen bookshop), Magenta Cafe, Fo You Yuan, Ci Hang, Yogi Hub, The Whole Earth, Quality Hotel; where there are welfare services, like SIngapore BUddhist Welfare Services, Tzu Chi, Metta, Ren Ci, Viriya Community Services; Buddhist shops, like Evergreen, Awareness Place, Ren Ting etc. Of course not to forget the wonderful Buddhist Library!
- Buddhist music. Nobody has a full grasp of its development, but everybody knows it's develoing albeit slowly. Check out the "Dharma Resonance" which holds regular performances at the Ark Cafe (http://www.dharmaresonance.com/). Check out the CDs by Wayfarers (which I'm sure you can't find many now), Bodhicitta, D-Kidz (http://d-kidz.com/), and many many new songs by the Tertiary Institute Buddhist Societies. Check out the religious music sections at the Buddhist bookshops. You'll find an amazing collection. There are also many informal bands made up of BUddhist youths who want to experiment with Buddhist music but they are probably not so well known.
- Buddhist art. Unfortunately i'm no artistic person. Can't help you much. But I remember last Vesak, there was an exhibition on Gandhara Buddhist sculpture exhibition. Think there are 1-2 art galleries at Bras Basah complex that have very nice and artistic Buddhist sculptures.
- Movies with Buddhist themes/Buddhist-inspired. Can't say that all of them are Buddhist-inspired, but many certainly seem to be so. Little Buddha, Matrix, Da Zhi Lao, The Cup, Travellers & Magicians, Kundun, Seven Years in Tibet, Angulimala, Words of My Perfect Teacher, Zen & Love. Check out the International Buddhist Film Festival http://www.ibff.org/
- Check out all the various Buddhist magazines at the Buddhist book stores.
- Buddhist online games, such as http://dharmagames.org/
- Have a search on the yahoogroups to see if you could find local online Buddhist groups. Also online forums like this one lor.
If there are too many names and organizations that I mentioned above which you're unfamiliar with, try a search at http://www.4ui.com/indexeng.htm it is one of the most comprehensive directory of local Buddhist services and activities.
Also, do you happen to be a NUS student? There's a current NUS student whom I know used to do a paper on Development of Buddhist Culture in SIngapore, something like that. If you're interested, you could try to approach him. Let me know if you need to. -
eh? creative zen players is buddhist insipired?
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definitely not. might as well ask if there will be a mega temple with tens of thousands of followers.Originally posted by alexkusu:eh? creative zen players is buddhist insipired? 
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If I'm not wrong you're talking about the Fu2 Zhi4 Xie2 Hui4, they are currently located in Geylang forgot lorong wat, actually u can check with ur fren right. It was started by the late Ven Ri Chang, a Taiwanese monk who learnt Tibetan Buddhism from HH Dalai Lama. The group mainly studies the text Lam Rim Chen Mo(Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) in the Chinese language.Originally posted by coolbluewater:Anybody know where is Wisdom and Blissful society in Singapore? I heard from my friend who have advised me to find out more about taking buddhist course there. Interested to find out more.
Lam Rim is a great text, however just my personal opinion is that if you wish to study Lam Rim, the Amitabha Buddhist Centre is also a good place to go to where they teach in the English Language. The reason being though Ven Ri Chang is a great teacher, the student organizers in Singapore sometimes seem to me as having only grasped the "external appearance" of the teachings and not the "essence". The format of study is mainly through study groups which are organized, held and led by students themselves; I find that some of the student leaders' interpretations of the text are not very wholesome. Therefore, while the text they study is great, some of their interpretations and practices may/may not be that valuable. (Just my personal opinion, u're welcome to find out on your own.)
If you wish to study Lam Rim, avoid especially the group known as Singapore Gelugpa Buddhist Centre (I think that's the English name, in Chinese it's xin1 jia1 po1 ge2 lu3 ba1 fo2 jiao4 zhong1 xin1), it's located at Geylang Lor 15 ground floor. This group was a breakaway from the mainstream Gelugpa tradition, as they uphold a particular deity practice that was banned by HH Dalai Lama. -
Originally posted by Student of Buddhism:
If you have not been aware, there has been a forum opened by the Singapore Buddhist Mission (SBMY (Youth Group)): http://SBMY.sgforums.com
Hi there,
I'm a student of Buddhism and currently researching [b]Buddhist material culture in Singapore. I'm interested in modern Buddhist practices in S'pore, particularly among young people, as well as contemporary Buddhist culture. Does anybody know any Buddhist youth groups, meeting places or events, Buddhist art exhibits, or anything to do with material culture?
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
V
[/b] -
Actually zen players is not Buddhist inspired. They just named it to sound cool.Originally posted by alexkusu:eh? creative zen players is buddhist insipired? -
Yes, that group that worships Dorje Shugden is calledOriginally posted by _wanderer_:If I'm not wrong you're talking about the Fu2 Zhi4 Xie2 Hui4, they are currently located in Geylang forgot lorong wat, actually u can check with ur fren right. It was started by the late Ven Ri Chang, a Taiwanese monk who learnt Tibetan Buddhism from HH Dalai Lama. The group mainly studies the text Lam Rim Chen Mo(Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) in the Chinese language.
Lam Rim is a great text, however just my personal opinion is that if you wish to study Lam Rim, the Amitabha Buddhist Centre is also a good place to go to where they teach in the English Language. The reason being though Ven Ri Chang is a great teacher, the student organizers in Singapore sometimes seem to me as having only grasped the "external appearance" of the teachings and not the "essence". The format of study is mainly through study groups which are organized, held and led by students themselves; I find that some of the student leaders' interpretations of the text are not very wholesome. Therefore, while the text they study is great, some of their interpretations and practices may/may not be that valuable. (Just my personal opinion, u're welcome to find out on your own.)
If you wish to study Lam Rim, avoid especially the group known as Singapore Gelugpa Buddhist Centre (I think that's the English name, in Chinese it's xin1 jia1 po1 ge2 lu3 ba1 fo2 jiao4 zhong1 xin1), it's located at Geylang Lor 15 ground floor. This group was a breakaway from the mainstream Gelugpa tradition, as they uphold a particular deity practice that was banned by HH Dalai Lama.
Tibetan Vajrayana Gelugpa Buddhist Society (The Chinese Gelugpa Society), which is not recognised in our forum: http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=168488 -
Hey Everyone __
Thanks for all your help! I will check out those places you mentioned today, or most of them!
I am now leaving Singapore for a while...
good luck to all of you
VVVVV