Old news, but anyway:
June 15, 1999
Southeast Asia
Consumerist society eyes serenity in Buddhism
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE - Singapore, well-known for its consumeristlifestyle, is undergoing a Buddhist revival among many of theyoung and upwardly mobile. This belies the concerns aired in the early 1990s that modernization of this city state might cause an irrevocable decline in traditionalAsian religions.
In the last decade the number of Buddhists in Singapore hasincreased by more than 50 percent. There are more than a millionBuddhists in this country of 3.5 million people, making Buddhism the largest religion in the country.
On Vesak Day (the anniversary of Buddha's birth) on May 29, a publicholiday, thousands of people thronged Buddhist temples aroundthe country. On that same day, more than 15,000 people, including Acting PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong, attended a special musical drama at theSingapore Indoor Sports Stadium that depicted the life of theIndian emperor Ashoka, who was instrumental in spreading Buddhismoutside India.
''You always saw people going to the temple,'' noted Ven ShiMing Yi, secretary of the Singapore Buddhist Federation. ''But,the difference today is that they no longer come merely to burnjoss sticks and pray.'' Now, he said in an interview, ''Most of them want to go deeper intothe teachings, participate in whatever activities the temple has,depending on the individual's interest."
Ven Ming Yi says that 10 to 15 years ago Buddhist temples justused to keep their doors open for people to come in and pray, but todaymost temples conduct dhamma (Buddhist teaching) classes and organizesocial and community service activities. These educational and social activities make Buddhism an active and relevant religion to modern Singaporeans, Buddhist leaderssay.
Ven Dhammaratana, the founder of the Buddhist Library, notesthat ''in a society which worships consumerism Buddhism can do agreat service."
''In this fast moving society people are looking for somethingto balance their way of life, especially something to keep themcalm and serene,'' Ven Ming Yi explained. ''In Buddhism, weencourage people to stop and know more about oneself."
''In a consumer society people don't care how they earn,''noted Ven Dhammaratana. ''Buddhism is never against earning andspending, but, guide you to be honest and hardworking and spendingin the correct way by keeping away from vice."
Buddhism is a traditional Chinese religion in Singapore, whosepopulation is 75 percent ethnic Chinese. Buddhism is thus stillalmost exclusively followed by the Chinese community, which hasblended its traditional Taoist beliefs with Buddhism.
But monks from Sri Lanka like Ven Dhammaratana, who has beenhere for 28 years, have played a key role in the revival ofBuddhism and have been instrumental in introducing educational activities tolocal temples.
In Sri Lankan Buddhism, the temple has been the center ofeducation for the community for centuries. Today there are some 10Sri Lankan Buddhist monks living in Singapore, two of them holdingdoctorates.
While the Sri Lankan monks working with the Chinese templeshave set up educational activities such as dhamma schools andinstitutes, the Chinese monks have been active in developingsocial services, especially to care for the sick and the elderly. The two main schools of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana, seem to be working in harmony here in developing Buddhist educational and social services.
Ven Dharmaratana and Ven Ming Yi agree that while Buddhism wasa religion of the elderly at the beginning of the 1980s, it istoday one of the young and educated people here. ''We tend to attract highly educated people to Buddhism now. They are tertiary level, university graduates like doctors,lawyers, engineers, company managers and directors. That kind ofpeople are attending our lectures,'' said Ven Dhammaratna, whoconducts Buddhism classes at the library in both English andChinese.
''Buddhism is about daily life and awareness about ourselves,rather than promising us some promised land which we can't see orfeel. With Buddhism, we can find this so-called paradise inourselves,'' stated 21-year-old marketing graduate Colin Kwek. ''With practice, we activate wisdom which enables us to see the world in proper light and find happiness in simple daily life,'' he added.
''When you go to the Buddhist temple for blessing, you alsoknow there's a teacher to guide you, if you need it, and theydon't force you to donate money. You do it as a choice,'' explainedElsie Lim, a businesswoman in her 30s.
Buddhism's revival is also creating a fledgling Buddhistpublication and multi-media production industry in Singapore,which aims to be the communication hub of Asia. Many companies are producing videos, animation and multi-media educational resources. The Buddhist Research Society recently produced a 75-minute animated production in English on the life of theBuddha and a CD-ROM version of the Buddha's teachings.
The growing role Buddhist organizations play in social servicesis another reason for the revival of Buddhism. These social activities have helped create a non-sectarian Buddhist community, where younger Buddhists move freely betweentemples and groups, according to Ven Ming Yi.
The Fu Hai Chian monastery, which Ven Ming Yi heads, runs the300-bed Ren Ci hospital for the chronically ill destitute peoplewhose families cannot afford to pay for nursing home care. It is also renovating the former Toa Payoh government hospital site into a new 750-bed hospital which will also include an outpatient and rehabilitation center. These hospitals are opento patients of all faiths.
''We abide by the teachings of Lord Buddha on compassion. It isputting compassion into action. Most of our volunteers are youngpeople,'' claimed Ven Ming Yi, whose monastery also runs three day-care centers for the elderly and after-school centers for children.
(Inter Press Service)
.jpg)
Thanks for sharing.
