~•*BWB Metta Lounge*•~
-
Powerful quakes terrorize Indonesia, experts warn of 'big one'
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-09/15/content_6108900.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/15/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Earthquake.php
i was browsing for some news update and came across these.
a side note i thought of sharing...
i feel the basic 5 precepts are surely not a set of blind faiths for a buddhist to take up or just neglect. they are some of the various ways one can practice to purify karma and unwholesome conditions. not only the progress in spiritual cultivation for a person would be faster but in times of facing great dangers or calamities the impact received or outcome may not be that devastating or, perhaps even possible to escape. well, it is inevitable though... but at least one would be more stable and calm in receiving what comes.
also the eightfold path practiced every moment are significantly essential as we face and come in contact with diverse phenomena in daily life (the phenomena we experience during meditation and the ones we experience in daily breathing life are not any different).
even if we are unable to sit in meditation, we are actually constantly meditating in daily life but we are not really aware enough. that's also where the speed and changes of activities are so much faster like a blink of an eye that we always almost think it's not possible to practice or we tend to seek "somewhere else". we don't always have spare chance or time to waste, death comes unpredictably and it will be too late...
mindfulness, purification, meditation or awareness, etc - if we don't attempt to separate them away as some remote ideas or ideals but just live up with them naturally, every moment.
whether the earth is renewing or cleaning up or whatever process you would describe it, nature is just so. we can't stop aging nor can we stop the natural cell renewal process in our skin/body. if nature is working the chores and cleaning up, or even if things are just as they are like breathing in and out, why not we watch our steps and purify ourselves before getting sweeped away...
may all be well.
namo amituofo -
So true... thanks for sharing those advise.. I believe practising can truly avert such catastrophes, especially if lots and lots of people practise together, the positive effect will be much stronger. Just like the merits and power from a mass puja is much stronger than an individual practise.Originally posted by paperflower:Powerful quakes terrorize Indonesia, experts warn of 'big one'
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-09/15/content_6108900.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/15/asia/AS-GEN-Indonesia-Earthquake.php
i was browsing for some news update and came across these.
a side note i thought of sharing...
i feel the basic 5 precepts are surely not a set of blind faiths for a buddhist to take up or just neglect. they are some of the various ways one can practice to purify karma and unwholesome conditions. not only the progress in spiritual cultivation for a person would be faster but in times of facing great dangers or calamities the impact received or outcome may not be that devastating or, perhaps even possible to escape. well, it is inevitable though... but at least one would be more stable and calm in receiving what comes.
also the eightfold path practiced every moment are significantly essential as we face and come in contact with diverse phenomena in daily life (the phenomena we experience during meditation and the ones we experience in daily breathing life are not any different).
even if we are unable to sit in meditation, we are actually constantly meditating in daily life but we are not really aware enough. that's also where the speed and changes of activities are so much faster like a blink of an eye that we always almost think it's not possible to practice or we tend to seek "somewhere else". we don't always have spare chance or time to waste, death comes unpredictably and it will be too late...
mindfulness, purification, meditation or awareness, etc - if we don't attempt to separate them away as some remote ideas or ideals but just live up with them naturally, every moment.
whether the earth is renewing or cleaning up or whatever process you would describe it, nature is just so. we can't stop aging nor can we stop the natural cell renewal process in our skin/body. if nature is working the chores and cleaning up, or even if things are just as they are like breathing in and out, why not we watch our steps and purify ourselves before getting sweeped away...
may all be well.
namo amituofo -
Guys, I'll be away for a week
Take care and happy discussing. -
This is my 15000th post!!
-
Family holidays, right? Many holiday packages are fully booked till next yr June, u know!
I'm thinking of bringing my mom to Kyoto, free n easy one cos package ones always bring u to onsen ( I don't think my mom wld want to soak herself in super hot water with other naked strangers) and eat food that r not interesting, and always shopping shopping n more shopping( very frighten if forced to go Hello kitty town or sthing).
Happy week ahead! -
Thanks, I'm backOriginally posted by cycle:Family holidays, right? Many holiday packages are fully booked till next yr June, u know!
I'm thinking of bringing my mom to Kyoto, free n easy one cos package ones always bring u to onsen ( I don't think my mom wld want to soak herself in super hot water with other naked strangers) and eat food that r not interesting, and always shopping shopping n more shopping( very frighten if forced to go Hello kitty town or sthing).
Happy week ahead! Happy travelling too, Japan is a nice place to travel -
Activity Rating: 86.762 and dropped out of top 20Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Activity Rating: 87.324 and regained top 20 position
p.s. metta lounge seems so quiet in august.
Whenever I go overseas or busy, forum ratings drop
-
Yah, ur fault.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Activity Rating: 86.762 and dropped out of top 20
Whenever I go overseas or busy, forum ratings drop
Next time bring along ur laptop. -
Now that everyone is busy chatting in the forum main, metta lounge has become super quiet
-
Yah. Soooo quiet. Thx to Spnw07, she has started a no. of interesting threads in the forum main.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Now that everyone is busy chatting in the forum main, metta lounge has become super quiet -
Just want a quick check on something... If there is already an existing thread on this, please forgive me and point me to that thread...
OK, question I wanna ask is: Is the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai recognised as mainstream Buddhism? -
No, she is not teaching Buddhism (though she try to mix in all religions). Her lineage is Sikkhism.Originally posted by Beyond Religion:Just want a quick check on something... If there is already an existing thread on this, please forgive me and point me to that thread...
OK, question I wanna ask is: Is the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai recognised as mainstream Buddhism?
Thusness read her spiritual experience commented that it is more towards Hinduism.
Her teachings are a bit 'new age' feeling.
Supreme Master Ching Hai -- Cult, Orthodox? -
some 10,15 yrs ago when I first saw her picture I already felt that she has the classical " cult image" I was quite bias. Then after reading some of her materials, I confirmed she's not worth my time.
-
-
oops wrong topic!
-
mmm i'm going for retreat tmr onwards to the end of Dec. ciao~ pple..
-
Wow! May you progress far in your practice.Originally posted by Isis:mmm i'm going for retreat tmr onwards to the end of Dec. ciao~ pple..
Where will you be retreating at? -
In a temple at Taiping and was at Palelai..Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Wow! May you progress far in your practice.
Where will you be retreating at? -
I see.. enjoy your retreatOriginally posted by Isis:In a temple at Taiping and was at Palelai..
Is your retreat now over? -
Palelai yes..Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I see.. enjoy your retreat Is your retreat now over?
I'm leaving on a train to go for the retreat in malaysia tonight. -
Wow.. take care, and all the best to your spiritual progress!Originally posted by Isis:Palelai yes..
I'm leaving on a train to go for the retreat in malaysia tonight. -
thanks...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Wow.. take care, and all the best to your spiritual progress! -
Interesting fact of the day:
http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/Perspective/persp1998/2-98/mem2-98.htm
A FABULLOUS MEMORY
* The Guinness Book of Records of 1985 has this entry:
* Human memory: Bhandanta Vicitsara (sic) recited 16000 pages of Buddhist canonical texts in Rangoon, Burma in May 1954. Rare instances of eidetic memory the ability to project and Gence "usually" recall material are known to science.
* The Venerable Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa was the first even in Buddhist lands to win the titles Tipitakadhara Dhammabhandagarika (Bearcr of the Three Pitakas and Keeper of the Dhamma Treasure).
* In 1948, the first year of independence from British rule the Government considered the need to purify, perpetuate and propagate the Sasana, to promote the emergence of a heroic Sasana personality with the ability to memorize and recite by heart the whole of the Pali Canon, the Tipitaka, and to seek out personalities with special intellectual powers to receive the reverence and praise of the devotees. The Government decided to institute the Tipitakadhara Examination.
* It is an oral and written examination lasting thirty-three days. The candidate is examined in the three Pitakas: Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma.
The oral examination in the Vinaya covers five volumes in five books comprising 2260 pages.
The oral examination in the Sutta covers three volumes in three books comprising 782 pages.
The oral examination in Abhidhamma covers seven volumes in twelve books comprising 4941 pages.
* The oral examination on these 7983 pages or about 2.4 million words is not a viva voce, a question and answer examination. It is an examination on total recall and faultless reproduction. The Candidate will be given a point in the Pali Canon, any point, and asked to continue reciting from there, line by line, paragraph by paragraph and page by page. Or he would be given a point and asked to go back from there a certain number of sections and to recite from there. There must be no error in the word form, the pronunciation must be correct, the flow must be smooth and the enunciation must demonstrate the proper understanding of the meaning of the passage being recited. A certain number of pages of text must be covered in a fixed time. A candidate who requires prompting for five or more times fails.
* The written examination is not only on the Pali Canon but also on the Commentaries and Sub-commentaries. The ten major Commentaries in ten books and the major Sub-commentaries in fourteen books cover 17917 pages. Candidates are tested on the doctrinal understanding, comparative philosophy, textual discrimination, taxonomic grouping and analysis and on the interrelationships. Though candidates are not expected to reproduce whole passages as in the oral examination, many of the questions cannot be answered without the ability to recall such passages and to compare diverse passages mentally at the examination desk.
* Thus, the Tipitakadhara Examination is one of the longest and toughest examinations in the world.
* When the first Tipitakadhara Examination was held, the Venerable Mingun Sayadaw was one of over one hundred monks invited to observe the proceedings. When the result was a disappointment with no candidate successful, he resolved to repay the nationÂ’s debt in search of a hero of the Pariyatti Sasana.
* He set about the task systematically. He took up the Pali Canon passage by passage, book by book. He first set out to understand the passage thinking in Myanmar and in Pali. He broke the passage into sentences, paragraphs or sections according to the degree of difficulty. If necessary, he noted the number of modifications and variations in the selected pieces. He read aloud each section five times, then closing the book, he repeated what he had just recited. If he was hesitant or felt he had not mastered the passage he would open the book and read aloud five more times. If it was recalled smoothly he would recite it ten times and then pass on to the next passage. In the evenings when reciting the dayÂ’s passages he would not do it alone but request some other monk to check with the open book. This ensured that he did not pass over any word, phrase or sentence and that each declension was correct.
* When two or three books had been mastered he would set aside each evening two or three periods required for their recall and recitation. The intention was to go through the finished books simultaneously so that the mind would be active in all the books at the same time and all interrelationships would be discerned.
* The Venerable Mingun Sayadaw also trained for the physically gruelling examination. Where an oral session would last for three hours he would practice reciting for five, thus accustoming himself to a test of ten hours a day. And he would do this for longer than the stretch of 33 days of the examination. He trained likewise for the written examination.
* When the Third Tipitakadhara Examination came around in 1950, the Venerable Mingun Sayadaw was ready to repay the debt to the devotees of the nation. He appeared for the oral examination on 2260 pages of the Vinaya Pitaka.
* In a clear, firm voice, unhesitatingly, without error, without prompting, with full understanding, he precisely enunciated each word and phrase audible to the whole audience. When there were different versions he pointed each out and suggested the most suitable one. The virtuoso performance received the appreciation and acclamation of the audience.
* In the written examination in the Pali text, Commentaries, and Sub-commentaries on the Vinaya, the Ven.Mingun Sayadaw received the following marks out of a possible 100.
Parajika 98
Pacittiya 99
Mahavagga 92
Culavagga 98
Parivara 100
* In the Fourth ad Fifth Examinations, the Venerable Mingun Sayadaw appeared for the oral and written examinations on the Abhidhamma and passed with equal facility. By that time preparations for the Sixth Buddhist Council were underway. The Venerable U Vicittasarabhivamsa was a member of the Regional Mula Pali Visodhaka, Primary Redaction Committee responsible for the Mahavagga section of the Vinaya Pitaka. He completed the work in 19 days so his regional committee was further assigned the Parivara. This too was finished expeditiously.
* In undertaking the assignments, the Venerable Sayadaw did not just read through the texts with the committee but sought out the different versions, brought out the reference in the Commentaries and Sub-commentaries, explained the implications to the clear understanding of the committee members, sought a unanimous conclusion and wrote the report.
* The Venerable Sayadaw also participated in next higher redaction Committee, the Pati Pali Visodaka Committee. In sessions of the Committee, Myanmar monks who were well-versed in the Pali texts but not proficient in the language and Sri Lanka monks who were proficient in the language but not so well-versed in the texts could not get the understanding of each other. When such occasions arose the Venerable Mingun Sayadaw would respectfully and pleasantly explain the issue and possible solution to each side and thus arrive at a satisfactory understanding. Observing the performance of the Sayadaw, the Sri Lanka monks would say, "There is none such in Sri Lanka, there is none such in Jambudipa".
* The Venerable Sayadaw returned to his monastery in Mingun and worked on the Commentariesand Sub-commentaries. He foresaw that after redacting the Pali Canon, the Commentaries and Sub-commentaries would follow. At the same time he had to prepare for the Tipitakadhara Examination on the third and final Pitaka. He was not unduly worried. After the voluminous prescriptions of the Vinaya and Abhidhamma, the less than 800 pages of the Sutta Pitaka were not onerous.
* On a January afternoon in 1954, the Venerable U Vicittasarabhivamasa successfully completed the recitation of the Pathika Vagga of the Sutta Pitaka and a Tipitakadhara Dhammabhandagarika was born in Myanmar.
Win Pe -
Testing new smilies
:)
:(
-
There is no way to edit my post??