Happy birthday Guanyin Bodhisattva
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What do u think of this egg dragon in games?
It only exist in games.
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Originally posted by Wiser:
so what is it that you believe in ? yourself ? money ?
We should have faith in ourselves.Money is important but not the most important thing.
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Originally posted by Wiser:
one more thing, you may as well tell christians that their GOD is imaginery and not real too.
U can have that view.But I am talking about chinese zodiac today.
You should not get out of point.
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Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
U can have that view.But I am talking about chinese zodiac today.
You should not get out of point.
it's not my view , it's yours. GOD is also imaginery and not real according to your standard. Nobody has seen God and nobody has painted his face. At least dragon has a picture. ^^ -
Originally posted by Wiser:
it's not my view , it's yours. GOD is also imaginery and not real according to your standard. Nobody has seen God and nobody has painted his face. At least dragon has a picture. ^^
Nobody has seen a dragon also.Chinese zodiac is false.
Every year got ppl pray 太�, if they know the truth in chinese zodiac.
Money can be spent more wisely like charity or community chest.
Feng shui is another waste money one.
Wate so much money to seek the advice of the feng shui master.
Also gt ppl seek fortune telling master for zodiac purposes.
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India also have astrology , zodiac and feng shui consultation. Japan and Vietname also believe in zodiac signs. The West too.
Seem like both the ancient kingdoms, China, India , Japan have more wisdom than the modern people who choose to believe in technology and science without learning more.
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Buddhist also don't encourage btw. as it can be transcended by good deeds.
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Singapore AFOL just mix up Taoism with Buddhism. lols....
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Originally posted by sinweiy:
Buddhist also don't encourage btw. as it can be transcended by good deeds.
Yes dun do stupid things that wastes money. -
Originally posted by Wiser:
Singapore AFOL just mix up Taoism with Buddhism. lols....
I know buddhists dun believe in chinese zodiac lah.But taoists still believe.
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Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
I wonder how high is ur IQ? Believing in dragons in 21st century.
you should wonder how high is the IQ of christians, still believing in God when they never see Him. lols. -
Originally posted by Wiser:
you should wonder how high is the IQ of christians, still believing in God when they never see Him. lols.
God is a spirit and is invisible. -
Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
I know buddhists dun believe in chinese zodiac lah.But taoists still believe.
nay, the Caucasian also believe in Western Horoscope. You want to laugh at their IQ?Feng shui works for people. Causcasian also use feng shui nowadays. You want to laugh at them for believing in China ancient wisdom?
Both buddhists, taoists and hindu can also still believe in horoscopes. Nothing wrong with that.
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Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
God is a spirit and is invisible.
ah...now you are finding excuses for GOD. Dragon is also a spirit and is invisible. -
can read
/\~ Excerpted from a talk by Master Hsing Yun
The Buddhist Perspective on Magic and the Supernatural
A. Magic Is Not the Ultimate
According to scriptures, even though two thousand years have passed, several of the Buddha’s disciples still live amongst us. Mahakyasyapa, one of the Buddha’s top disciples, is guarding the Buddha’s robe and in deep meditation inside Kukkutapada mountain. He is waiting for the birth of Maitreya Buddha fifty-six trillion and seven hundred million years from now. He will present the robe, which represents the correct Dharma of the previous Buddha, to Maitreya Buddha for the continuous spread of the teachings. Decades ago, there was a story about a French explorer who actually met Mahakasyapa in India.
Venerable Pindolabharadvaja is another of Buddha’s disciples still living amongst us. He is one of the sixteen disciples named in The Amitabha Sutra. He has attained the holy fruit of Arhat. Why would an arhat remain here and not enter Nirvana? It is because once he showed off his magic in front of the faithful. Once when in a jubilant mood, he said to the faithful, "Do you think flying in the sky is magical? I will show you some spectacular acts."
He then jumped up into the sky and performed many miraculous acts. The faithful were all impressed and praised him without ceasing. The Buddha was very displeased upon learning of this incident. He asked the Venerable to come forth and admonished him, "My teaching uses morality to change others and compassion to save living beings. It does not use magic to impress and confuse people. You have misused magic today. As punishment, I order you to stay in this world, to work for more merits and to repent for this misbehavior before entering Nirvana."
Because the Venerable misused magic, he still has to live and suffer amongst us. Magic cannot increase our virtue or eradicate defilements. Careless use will only build more obstacles to emancipation. It is obvious that magic is not the solution for cycles of rebirth. Only practicing virtue is the sure and steady approach toward the Buddha Path.
B. Magic Cannot Mitigate the Force of Karma
The strongest force in this world is not magic. It is the force of deeds, or karma. In Chinese history, there once was an uprising and millions of people were slaughtered. There was a saying, "Rebel Huang will kill eight million. If you are in that number and it is your turn, you can never escape." The legend held that this rebel did kill eight million people before he was suppressed. Regardless of whether this story is factual or mythical, we will talk about the phrase "your number and your turn." What does it mean? It means that none can escape karma. Those citizens during that uprising shared common karma which had to be repaid with blood. Magic cannot overcome the hindrance of karma. We must reap what we have sown. There is no escape.
Once, King Virudhaka of Kosala was attacking the Buddha’s motherland, Kapilavastu. Maudgalyayana, foremost in magic among the Buddha’s disciples, volunteered to save the Sakya clan. The Buddha replied sadly, "Maudgalyayana, this is the Sakya clan’s karma and they have not repented for it. Today they will have to pay for their deeds. Although they are my family, even my magic cannot spare them."
Maudgalyayana did not believe the Buddha’s words. He flew into the city, which was completely surrounded by troops. He picked five hundred Sakya clansmen and magically put them in his almsbowl. He flew out of the city and happily came before the Buddha. He said, "Lord Buddha. Look! I have saved a group of your clansmen."
However, looking into the bowl, he was shocked. The clansmen had turned into a pool of blood. Even Maudgalyayana himself, who was renowned for his magic, could not overcome the force of karma. He could fly freely into the heaven and had ventured into hell to save his mother. Yet, he was eventually killed by a stone thrown by heretics. How can a venerable with such great magic be so easily killed by a stone? Many of the Buddha’s disciples were perturbed and angry. The Buddha spoke to the disciples, "Magic cannot mitigate the force of karma. It is Maudgalyayana’s karma to be killed by the stone thrown by heretics. You should not doubt the limit of magic. It is more important to diligently purify your action, speech, and thought."
There is a saying, "A boxer is killed by a fist. A swimmer drowns in water." Magic is not all powerful. One must not think that magic will make one fearless. The force of prior karma cannot be influenced by magic. If we only rely on magic, we can worsen our situation and may even lose our lives.
C. Magic Is Inferior to Virtues
Beginning students in Buddhism are most attracted to magic. When they learn about someone who has had a supernatural experience, they flock to see this person. They usually overlook the cultivation of virtue in daily living. Wisdom is only developed through deep mental concentration from meditation, and meditation success relies on upholding precepts in daily living. If all of us here are serious students of Buddhism, we must start from the foundation of morality, not magic.
Do you really think magic will make your life happier? As long as we cannot read minds, even though people may hate us and curse us, we do not know it and everything is okay. If we could read minds, then we would know that this person is totally immoral, that one is hateful, and the other one is full of devious ideas. We would feel uncomfortable among these people. Even when we wished to be spared, we would still have the information anyway. Every day would be a long day. Suppose that we were about to die tomorrow but we did not know that, then today still would be a joyful day. If we had the power of knowing the future and we found out that death awaited us in twenty years, from this day on we would live our lives anxiously under the shadow of death. If we had celestial vision and found our loved ones having an affair, we would be consumed by jealousy and life would be miserable. If we do not know, we may live happily as ever. If we had celestial hearing, we might find our most trusted friends reviling us behind our backs, and we would certainly be enraged. Without celestial hearing, we may enjoy more peace and quietness.
Magic would not necessarily make life better. Morality and virtue are the true inexhaustible treasures. Before we are accomplished in high virtue and morality, we should not have magical powers. A life of virtue is superior to that of magic.
D. Magic Cannot Surpass Emptiness
Magic is in the realm of phenomena. The prajna wisdom of Buddhism is in the realm of emptiness which is everywhere, not bounded by anything. When there is experience in life, experience is magic. When there is wisdom in life, wisdom is magic. When we have different capabilities in life, those capabilities are magic. There is the truth of emptiness in life; the truth of emptiness is also magic. The wisdom of emptiness is very profound. It is not void or annihilation as most people commonly believe. Emptiness allows existence. It is the source of all phenomena. For example, because of the empty space in this lecture hall, it can accommodate us and make this lecture series possible. When our hearts are as broad as the universe, we too can have the capacity for everything. Emptiness is the most powerful force. Magic cannot compare with its boundlessness and inexhaustibility.
Once, the Ch’an master Venerable Tao Shu settled next to a Taoist temple. The Taoist priests were very irate at his presence and used every kind of magic and tricks to scare him away. Almost all the residents were frightened away. However, the Ch’an master remained unmoving as ever. After twenty years, the Taoist priests gave up. People asked, "What magic did you use to beat those Taoist priests?"
The Ch’an master replied, "Oh, nothing. I used emptiness to beat them. Taoist priests have magic and tricks. ‘Having’ is being finite, being exhaustible, being bounded, being measurable. I do not have any magic. ‘Not having’ means being infinite, being inexhaustible, being boundless, being immeasurable. Therefore, emptiness (not having) can overcome magic (having) by being broader, greater, higher, superior."
Buddhism uses emptiness as existence. It is much more powerful than magic. The wisdom of emptiness is much more advanced than magic. We will be much better off attaining the truth of emptiness than the power of magic. The truth of emptiness will be far more essential and valuable.
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I am gonna leave discussion.
Hope I can save some ppl from belief in chinese zodiac.
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Originally posted by realization:
Are you comfortable with United Nations World Food Programme?
Can use Paypal :)
Or, you can explore a bit more to look for a suitable charity here,
http://www.heartsandminds.org/links/worldpovlinks.htm
this is good.http://www.heartsandminds.org/frcopy.htm
Amituofo
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How to sign up for paypal?
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Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
I am gonna leave discussion.
Hope I can save some ppl from belief in chinese zodiac.
there is no harm in believing in chinese zodiac or western zodiac. Why the need to think you are saving people?Maybe you should also save christians from believing too much into a imaginery and not real Heaven's Father, adam and eve. lols.
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need credit card and register in
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Originally posted by Wiser:
there is no harm in believing in chinese zodiac or western zodiac. Why the need to think you are saving people?Maybe you should also save christians from believing too much into a imaginery and not real Heaven's Father, adam and eve. lols.
U should know my auntie pay money to pray to Tai shui.This is really complete waste of money.
The problem is pray already still unlucky.
Then still pray for her son and husband.
Pay 1000 SGD to pray Tai shui !!!!
Burn money !!! Rather donate to charity.
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Originally posted by Singapore AFOL:
U should know my auntie pay money to pray to Tai shui.This is really complete waste of money.
you know i saw a family of parents bringing their two tall sons to pray at the Tai Shui during CNY. I think the sons should be going to NS. The parent pray for their safety.At least they know they have tried to pray for protection for their sons.
It's not expensive to pray to Tai Shui. A few coins and $2 for the package of incense, sweets, papers.
How come your auntie need to use paypal leh?
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which temple your auntie goes to ?
ask her to change venue lor. Other temples Tai Shui praying less than $3 and it is only once a year.
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Originally posted by Wiser:
you know i saw a family of parents bringing their two tall sons to pray at the Tai Shui during CNY. I think the sons should be going to NS. The parent pray for their safety.At least they know they have tried to pray for protection for their sons.
It's not expensive to pray to Tai Shui. A few coins and $2 for the package of incense, sweets, papers.
How come your auntie need to use paypal leh?
She go to a master house to pray.
She sue cash not paypal.
I wanna use paypal lah.
paypal gd and convinent.
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i forgot, if it is True Buddha School, they may charge $1000 for Tai Shui. Your auntie may need to do more comparsions.