BUBS Activities Update – from 18  January   2012

1. Morning Puja on 1st day of Chinese New Year (CNY), Monday 23 February 2012

UBV will be opened for New Moon Puja on the First Day of Chinese New Year (CNY) at 9.00 a.m. There will be lighting of oil lamps, followed by offerings of flowers and chanting.

Programme:

9.00 am  -   Lighting of oil lamp

9.15 am  -    Offering of flowers and incense

9.20 am     – Puja and chanting of parittas by member of the Sangha

9.40 am      – Blessings for all

10.15am    – Sangha take leave/Light refreshment for all.

Contact Sis. Elaine Tan :  019- 2266788 or Bro. Chee Wat: 016-3133628

2. Cancellation of regular activities

The following regular activities will be cancelled in conjunction with the CNY celebration

a. Sunday Puja and dhamma sharing at 9 a.m on 22 January 2012

b. Chanting class @ 8.30 pm on Tuesday, 24 January 2012 &  31 January 2012

c. Vipassana Meditation @ 8.30 pm  on Thursday, 26 January and 2 February,

d.  Metta Meditation @ 8.30 pm on Friday, 27 January and 3 February

e. Metta Meditation @ 11 a.m on Sunday, 22 January.

Any query, please contact  AB Lim:012-2190338 or Peck Hwa: 012-3739107

3. Dhamma School

The Dhamma School will be closed for the Chinese New Year holidays from 22 Jan to 05 Feb, 2012.

The Dhamma classes will resume on 12 February 2012.

 For further info, please contact Bro. William: 012-3215908

4. Chinese New Year Outreach-  Visit to Burmese Refugee School in Puchong on Saturday, 28 January 2012

 Members & friends are invited to join us in distributing CNY ‘red packets’ plus groceries/requisites for 50 children whose age ranges from 5 to 15. You are to prepare your own red packets and requisite items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, soap powder, cooking oil, mills and rice.

Please meet at UBV at 10 am for car pool.

For more details please call Sis Kim Lian  at 0123816631 or Sis Elaine Tan at 019 2266788

5. “Chap Goh Mei” Fellowship Nite (Potluck)  on Sunday, 5 February 2012 at 6.30p.m. 

Come celebrate the Year of the Dragon with fellow members and friends and together “lou sang” for a Happy and Prosperous Year. Bring a dish too and call Raymond Ang 012-3866283 or  Mandy at 012-2267138 to let them know  your signature dish….

For further info, please contact Bro. CL Lim: 019-2220313

6. Offerings of Light on New Moon and Full Moon Day- 2012

Members & friends are invited to offer a light in memory of a loved one or for the good health, happiness, prosperity to   you & your family and continued blessings of the Triple Gem.

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Cost will be RM10.00 per light Or RM8.00 per light (more than 6 months up to 31 Dec’12)

Please make your offering at the Sunday counter beginning 8 Jan’12 and write down your names or the dedicated names on the NM/FM name list.

Any query, please call Sis Elaine, 019- 2266788

7. Spiritual cum Fellowship trip to Bangkok – 6 January to 9 January 2012

A spiritually enhancing trip.  Many great teachers such as  Luang Por  (LP)  Liem, LP Sumedho, LP Uthai, LP Viradhammo, Ajahn Anek gave dhamma talks and blessings at the 2 days  event in Wat Ratanawan. The group had private sessions with Tan Ajahn Kalyano, Abbot of Buddha Bodhivana Monastery, Melbourne and LP Viradhammo from TiSarana Monastery, Canada. We also have inspiring session with LP Gunhah, Tan Ajahn Dtun and Tan Ajahn Jundee.

Our gratitude and thanks to Tan Ajahn Nyanadhammo who extended us his invitation to participate in the event and all members of the Sangha  and all who make this trip possible.   Anumodana and Sadhu.

See below for the photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/100832385814016186096/BUBSBangkokSpiritualTripJan201202?authkey=Gv1sRgCKuClLPeuciKlAE

8. Organic Product Corner – Festive Hampers

See poster attached.

 We look forward to your support and participation. Please bring your family and friends.

We wish all members and friends  “A  Very  Happy & Prosperous  New Year”.    May all  be blessed with good health, happiness, abundance  and progress in your practice of the Dhamma.  Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and family.

For those who are travelling home, have a pleasant and safe journey with your loved ones

 May the Blessings of the Triple Gem be with you and your family always.

“A family that prays together stays together”

metta

EXCO – BUBS

Consort only with the good,
come together with the good.
To learn the teaching of the good
gives wisdom like nothing else can.

Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.31

Program

Wesak Eve – Monday 16th May 2011

7.45 pm   Arrival of Devotees

8.00 pm   Performance by Youth Section led by Melinda Lee

8.20 pm   Puja & Chanting of Parittas for Blessings led by Bro Dhammadassi  Kho  

8.45 pm   Dhamma talk  on  “Peaceful Heart, Awakened Mind” by  Ven Ajahn Mettiko

9.45 pm   Offering of  lights ,incense & flowers

10.15pm  Candle light circumambulation & mindful reflection led by Ven. Ajahn Mettiko

11.00pm  Light refreshment

11.30 pm Meditation led by  Ven. Ajahn Mettiko

12.30 am End

Wesak Day – Tuesday, 17th May 2011 

8.00 am   Arrival of devotees and guests

8.45 am  Arrival of Sangha Members and Guests of honour

9.00 am  Hoisting of Flags and singing of National Anthem & Anthem of Unity

9.10 am  Taking of Refuge and 5 Precepts

9.25 am  Speech by President

9.30 am  Speech by Guest of Honour

9.40 am  Speech by Guest of Honour & launch of Wesak Celebration

9.50 am   Performance by Dhamma School and  BUBS Youth

10.20 am Presentation of  Welfare Aids

10.30 am   Paritta chanting and Blessings by Sangha Members

10.40 am  Viewing of Exhibitions

11.30 am   Offering of food to the Sangha (Dana)

Parallel Program

Blessing Service

10.50 am to 11.30 am  Blessing for the public  by Sangha Members

12 .30 pm to 3 pm      Blessing for the public by Sangha Members

Blood Donation, Organ Pledge and Health Talk 

10.00 am to 3 pm     Blood donation & Organ pledge in Bhavana Hall

1.30 pm to 2.30 pm  Health Talk by Consultant cardiologist, Dr Wong Teck Wee

“Heart Attack – The Silent Killer, Prevention and Tips for accurate diagnosis”

Dhamma Talk

3.15 pm to 4.15 pm Dhamma Talk on  “Dhamma in Daily Life”  by Ven. Ajahn Mettiko

Vegetarian lunch 

10.00 am to 2 pm 

We look forward to your  support and participation.

May the Blessings of the Triple Gem be with you and your family always.

A family that prays together stays together”

metta EXCO-BUBS

 by Lee Yu Ban

Interest in Buddhism is growing steadily worldwide, especially from people seeking answers in this current global age of clashing ideologies, fanatical strife and senseless violence.  The number of its adherents is growing at a phenomenal rate in many parts of the world particularly Australia, the US and many countries in Europe. In many countries in Asia where it was once forcibly displaced by Communism, it is making a remarkable comeback.

Why is this interest growing so quickly?  Perhaps it is because more and more people are now recognizing these facts about Buddhism. It is :

A religion of true peace that has never advocated any violence in its name.

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions of the world.  Yet, it has the distinguished honour as the only religion that has never had a holy war.  No army has gone to war with the purpose of vanquishing unbelievers or to convert others to Buddhism.   Even among different Buddhist sects, there is remarkable friendliness and cooperation.

A religion that emphasizes compassion, acceptance and kindness.

Instead, Buddhism has been a great civilizing force. It tamed the nomadic and violent hordes of Asia and brought art, culture and civilization. Buddhists are known for their kind, accepting and non-judgmental ways. Today, as Buddhism spreads to new lands, it is not brought by aggressive missionaries intent on converting others but is typically established by the initiative of local people who invite teachers to share the teachings.

A religion that provides a clear path for spiritual and personal development.

Buddhism is not a collection of myths and stories that test our rationality.  It does not present itself as a mystery that can only be understood by priests or certain preferred people. Instead, Buddhism presents itself as a clear and credible path that anyone can undertake according to his own understanding and ability.  It is a method that can be applied giving results that can be experienced immediately.

A religion that teaches us to take full responsibility for our actions.

Buddhism does not attempt to explain the problems in the world as part of a mysterious plan of a deity. It does not blame fate or any divine being for whatever good or bad we experience in life.  Instead, it teaches that we are accountable for the results of our past actions and that we are the masters of our own destiny. Buddhism insists that mankind takes responsibility for its own actions.

A religion that has no room for blind faith or unthinking worship.

Many religions present a set of dogma and then insist that people believe them, even when such dogmas appear strange or have been explained by science to be false or without basis.  Buddhism has no place for such doctrines.  It does not require blind faith but actually suggests its adherents to think, to question and to develop acceptance based on understanding.

A religion that welcomes questions and investigations into its own teachings.

Being totally self-confident, Buddhism opens itself to query and scrutiny.  There is no concept of blasphemy in Buddhism. You can expect your questions on Buddhism to be answered with rationality, respect and honesty.

A religion that says sincere followers of other beliefs are also rewarded in the afterlife.

Buddhism is not like a football team or a political party. You don’t join it for the purpose of condemning others.  Buddhism teaches that what we do now determines what happens to us in the future. This is a natural law in accordance with scientific principles and applies to everyone regardless of their religious label.

As scientific knowledge progresses it continues to undermine the foundation of many religions, despite the attempts of religious leaders to hinder and deny scientific knowledge and misinform their adherents. On the other hand, there is no scientific fact that contradicts Buddhism. Buddhism is the only religion that does not attempt to bend the facts to suit its faith.  Indeed, much of modern science, particularly in the fields of psychology and physics supports the tenets of Buddhism.

THE CREED OF THE BANDAR UTAMA BUDDHIST SOCIETY

Our SOCIETY exists to provide a platform to further the knowledge and practice of the Buddha Dhamma as preserved in the Pali texts of the Theravada tradition.  All endeavors and actions of our SOCIETY are directed towards this sacred purpose, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, for the good, and for the happiness of gods and men.

OUR MEMBERS

We are members of the SOCIETY for the purposes of learning, practising and propagation of the Dhamma.

Our personal objectives are to weaken and eradicate our defilements and to progress towards the final liberation of Nibbana.  We assist our fellow members towards this goal in the spirit of kalyana-mitta or spiritual friendship. We are generous in fellowship and accord respect to our members on the qualities of virtue and wisdom, and not on standing in secular society.

We place great importance on the propagation of the Dhamma and consider this our responsibility.

All interaction among ourselves reflect the Buddhist practice of Right Thought, Right  Speech,  Right Action.

Our leaders and volunteers consider it a privilege to work with the SOCIETY.  They understand that their work is for the joy of sharing the Dhamma, the merit of serving the Sasana and the opportunity for personal development. They believe these rewards are sufficient and do not expect more.

As we represent the Buddha’s lay disciples to the public, we strive to embody our ideals as exemplars of a Dhamma-inspired community. We extend our generosity, assistance and cooperation to like-minded persons and organizations in working for our common cause. We endeavor to live in cooperation and peaceful coexistence with other communities.

Our vision is to build and develop the Dhamma-inspired community as far as possibilities allow.

To fulfill this vision, we shall further enrich our members and the community with the Dhamma and extend our influence outwards.  We seek to grow in strength solely for the purpose of increasing our ability to further the knowledge and practice of the Buddha Dhamma.

WE AS MEMBERS UNDERSTAND, AGREE AND ABIDE BY THIS CREED. ]]> http://www.bubsoc.org/the-bubs-creed/feed/ 0 http://www.bubsoc.org/the-economy-of-gifts/ http://www.bubsoc.org/the-economy-of-gifts/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:00:07 +0000 admin http://www.bubsoc.org/?p=529 by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Sunday Puja and Dhamma Talk on  7 February 2010 by Ven. Ajahn Sucitto at 9.00 a.m.

The talk will be followed by lunch dana at 10.30 a.m.  Please be advised that Ajahn Sucitto prefer NOT  to take white and red meat. and bring your  cooked food or fruits to the Centre by 10.30 a.m.   For details, please contact Sis YY Kow at 012-3453829 or Sis Choy Kuan  at 012-3195994 

Background of Ajahn Sucitto

Ajahn Sucitto was born in London in 1949. He had his B.A. in English and American Literature at Warwick University in 1971. He went to Thailand in 1975, where he happened to come across a class in Buddhist meditation in Chiang Mai. After a few days’ practice, he decided to make a tentative commitment to the Holy Life. He returned to England in 1978 and he decided to stay and train with Ajahn Sumedho and he was responsible for editing and publishing his talks, as well as other Sangha publications.

Ajahn Sucitto was one of the original groups of who founded Chithurst Monastery Cittavivekha in 1979. He also helped to establish a vihara in Northumberland, Aruna Ratanagiri on 1981. In 1984 he was part of the community that moved from Chithurst to Hertfordshire to start Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, where he had the responsibility of supervising the nuns training, as well as other teaching duties. During this time he also began teaching overseas. In 1992 he be came the abbot of Chithurst Monastery ,UK where he now resides

Members and friends attending the talk are advised to park mindfully and be considerate. To maintain the goodwill of our neighbours, please be advised that you are not to park or stop outside our front entrance at Jalan BU 6/5.

Buddha rupas or images of the Buddha, where they are used for veneration, are considered sacred.  They are symbolic of the Three Jewels and each rupa in UBV carries a special significance.

Buddhacetiya Hall The main object of worship in UBV is the Rupa in the Buddhacetiya (Buddha shrine) hall.  It was carved in China from a block of white jade. The hands of the rupa are in the Dhammacakka mudra or gesture of Turning the Wheel of Dhamma. This  mudra represents the Buddha teaching the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths forms the core of the Dhamma and its first proclamation by the Buddha at Sarnath, India sets forth the Wheel of Dhamma rolling in the world.

Bhavana Hall The Rupa in the Bhavana (Meditation) Hall was acquired from Sri Lanka and is made from fiberglass.  The hands are in the Samadhi mudra, or the gesture of Meditative Concentration, which is the position traditionally adopted by Buddhists when practicing meditation.  This mudra is perhaps the most popular depiction of the Buddha in the present time.

Bodhi Park The Buddha in the Bodhi Park is of a form traditionally found in Thailand and  first popularized during the 13th century Sukhothai period.  The Walking Buddha, with one foot raised and the other firmly on the ground, is unique as most other rupas are depicted sitting, standing or lying down. The left hand of the Walking Buddha is raised in the Abhaya mudra or the gesture of Giving Safety or Fearlessness. This rupa symbolises the compassion and dynamism of the Buddha who, after his Enlightenment, spent the next 45 years walking all over north India actively teaching and liberating all beings. Behind the walking Buddha is the Bodhi tree, a species of the fig tree named Ficus Religiosa. This tree, which was brought over as a sapling from Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka is called a Bodhi Tree because it is a descendant of the original Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India, under which the Buddha attained Enlightenment.  Bodhi Trees are sacred and are objects of veneration. The Walking Buddha here in front of the Bodhi Tree recalls to mind the great event after the Buddha’s Enlightenment when he decided to proclaim the Dhamma. “An unsurpassed teacher am I; alone am I the All-Enlightened. Cool and appeased am I. To establish the wheel of Dhamma, to the city of Kasi I go. In this blind world I shall beat the drum of deathlessness. ~ Ariyapariyesana Sutta”

The Baby Siddhartha The rupa of baby Siddhartha is an image popular in East Asia.  Siddhartha was born to Mayadevi in Lumbini garden within the borders of modern day Nepal. Based on legends described in the Commentaries, the image of baby Siddhartha is depicted soon after his birth when, rising to his feet, he takes his first few steps into the world, an event celebrated with wondrous signs in the heavens.

All the Buddha rupas in UBV were purchased from funds donated by devotees towards the Building Fund.

by Dr Peter Strong PhD, Psychology Today Blog, December 3, 2009

Mindfulness can stop you being a victim of your emotions

New York, USA — When you really look closely at anxiety, depression, fear, anger or stress, you will almost always find recurring patterns of negative thoughts, traumatic memories and habitual emotional reactions. They are our tormentors, the pesky biting insects that annoy us throughout the day.

They ambush our consciousness, pull us down and cause stress and emotional suffering. They come uninvited, cause havoc, and we wish that they would go away. If only we could control them, we would certainly have a better chance of controlling our mental state. So how do we do this? The practice of mindfulness and mindfulness meditation can provide a path forward.

The first step of mindfulness practice, and one that can make all the difference, is to fully and completely understand that YOU ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS. Thoughts, emotions, in fact any mental content that arises are simply products of conditioning; YOU are much more than this. It is like the ocean and the fish that swim in the ocean. The ocean is not the same as the fish that live in it, and cannot be equated with the contents. The essence of the ocean is as the space that contains these things, not its contents. The same applies to the mind.

The essence of the mind is as a container of experience, the ground in which mental objects, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, perceptions and memories can exist. When you realize this, that you are so much more than your thoughts and emotions, then you are well on the way to gaining your freedom and independence from the pesky flies that cause so much stress and suffering. At the end of the day you have a simple choice to make: Do you want to be the ocean in all its vastness and glory, or do you want to be a fish, flapping around in a state of agitation and fear? Learning to be the ocean is a wise choice, and this is something that can be achieved through the practice of mindfulness.

The trick is to learn to see mental objects as just that, objects, not you, that arise, do their dance and then pass away. Anxiety arises, and what is our usual response? We are ambushed by the emotion and we become the emotion. We become an anxiety-fish! Fear arises and we are seduced into becoming afraid, a fear-fish. Anger arises and we become angry-fish. No choice, no freedom, lots of suffering.

With the practice of mindfulness, we begin to get wise, and become more engaged with what is going on in our minds. Mindfulness helps us tune in to this cycle of habitual emotional reactivity. Instead of blindly accepting our impulses to become anxious, to become afraid, to become fish, we learn to actively engage with these reactions. When anxiety thoughts arise, we respond with, “I see you, anxious thought. I welcome you, I will make a space for you to do your dance, I will listen to you with care and attention…but I will NOT become you.” You can learn to mindfully greet each emotion, each negative thought, as a visitor who has come to stay for a while, just like visitors in your home. Invite them in, offer them tea and sit with them for a while. You may not like your visitors, but you know the importance of being kind, courteous and hospitable.

You cannot get rid of your negative emotions, your depression and fear by force, which is our usual reaction. We don’t want to feel our anger or fear; we want to fix them so they won’t bother us. But, here’s the thing. You can’t. Why not? Because you created them. Its like asking a wolf to guard the farmer’s chickens. A system that is broken cannot fix itself.

What is needed is something altogether more creative, and this is the second step of the practice of mindfulness: Actively turn towards your suffering and work on creating a safe relationship with your fish. When you are mindful, you are by definition not being reactive. The effect of this is to create a space around the emotion. The more mindful you are, the greater the space. The more space there is, the more freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from the grip of the negative emotion, thought or belief. There is a Zen proverb: What is the best way to control a mad bull? Answer: Place it in a very large field. If there is plenty of space, then the mad bull, or your anxiety, hurt, trauma or depression cannot harm you. Also, what is equally important is that the mad bull can’t hurt itself. This is very important, because both of you need the space in which to heal.

Mindfulness creates therapeutic space in which emotional knots can move, unwind, unfold, soften and become workable. And, what is most remarkable, if you create lots of space around your suffering, the suffering has a chance to transform and heal itself. Its not what you do that matters so much as creating this transformational therapeutic space and allowing emotions to change themselves from the inside out.

In my work as a psychotherapist, I never cease to be amazed at how effective mindfulness can be when used correctly. The moment when a client stops running away and turns towards his or her suffering with kindness, full attention and engaged presence, things start to change in a beneficial direction. The healing comes from the quality of the relationship that we have with our pain. It’s not about trying to fix things, trying to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts – it’s all about presence. With this quality of listening, based on genuine openness and gentleness, the relationship of mindfulness, solutions appear quite naturally.

***************

Peter Strong, PhD is a scientist and Buddhist Psychotherapist, based in Boulder, Colorado, who specializes in the study of mindfulness and its application in Mindfulness Psychotherapy. He uses Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy in combination with NLP to help individuals overcome the root causes of anxiety, depression, phobias, grief and post-traumatic stress (PTSD). He also teaches mindfulness techniques to couples to help them overcome habitual patterns of reactivity and interpersonal conflict.

After a conversation in which I was challenged rather vehemently to give accounting of the reasons behind the choice I made 16 years ago to begin to study Buddhism, and having left my Christian background and prior belief system behind, I determined that it might be OK if I sat down and wrote the reasons down on a one to one, personal level to try to help my friend and others to understand why I have chosen the spiritual path which has become such a big part of my life.

I realize that you are confused by my choice, and that is mostly because you know nothing at all about Buddhism, (excepting perhaps that there was once a man named Buddha who founded a religion). Well, of course it is a lot more than that, and it is a deeply satisfying, deeply spiritual, loving and compassionate faith which is extremely all encompassing.

We have no godlike super being who decides to send beings to hell, nor do we exclude anyone, even the worst of sinners can become enlightened. Christians believe that everyone is born in original sin, and that all are in need of salvation and cleansing. Buddhists believe that all living beings have buddha nature within them, but through conflicting emotions and indulging in the 5 poisons, anger, greed, jealousy, hate, and ignorance, and thus perpetuating our suffering have forgotten how to allow that stainless perfection to be evident and foremost in our lives. But we all have it. Christians believe that we are all sinners in need of redemption, Buddhists believe that we are all Buddha’s who have forgotten it for the moment. Christians believe that someone died for your sins. Buddhists believe that no matter what anyone does, you are irrevocably responsible for your own actions, and that all actions have consequences, good or bad correspondingly.

Christians believe in Heaven and Hell, as distinct places, where humans only go after a single human life, depending only on ones status in accord with Christian beliefs. Buddhists believe that “heaven” and “hell” are states of being which can occur as the results of negative actions as well, but we believe that these places can be here as well as the beyond. You can be in hell even if you are a millionaire, in a palace, with everything riches can buy at your command, but if you are mentally ill, or physically in great pain, you can still be in a hell. If you are penniless, live in the streets, but are healthy and loved and happy, and possess wisdom and compassion and love for all other beings, you can be at times in a heavenly state. The most blissful state a Buddhist can wish to be in is the state of Nirvana, a state of heightened and total awareness, devoid of all preconceived ideas, all desires, all conflicting emotions, yet in full dazzling consciousness and awareness of the whole universe. There are varying levels of consciousness on the way to this state, Satori is one, and these are achieved through various mental technologies, using visualizations, meditations, prayers or ritual type meditations, koans, chanting. Depending upon the particular Buddhist tradition one adheres to, the methods may vary, but the basic philosophy and the purpose is the same. Spiritual development, self realization, enlightenment.

Christians believe that your fortune or lack of one, your talents, appearance, parents, circumstances, health are all at the whim or will of God in that one lifetime. If you are born retarded and lay in a crib drooling, unable to recognize anyone, until the day you die, that is your luck of the draw, and God’s will for you. Buddhists believe that your fortune or lack thereof, your luck, your appearance, your talents, all are the result of past actions, good or bad. If you were a good person you will be born into good circumstances, if you have harmed others or created difficulties for others and thus have a great karmic debt, you might be born with handicaps or difficulties. It is commonly believed that the particular kind of difficulty you experience in life is directly related to the type of troubles you may have created in your past life or lives.

Christians believe in one lifetime per soul and an afterlife of either Heaven or Hell. Buddhists believe in lifetime, followed by lifetime, etc. etc etc. Each lifetime is like a grade of school to us. No lifetime is ever wasted. The ones you have loved in past lifetimes, will be present for us to love and care for again in the future. Likewise, the difficulties, your enemies and those whom you have harmed will present themselves to you again and again. Over and over, each lifetime bringing its own particular wisdom and its own experiences to your inner soul. Each incarnation is precious, and even if you were born in a horrible condition, dying almost immediately, it may have the benefit of teaching you how precious a human life is, but there is no wasted anything. No vast furnace of souls in untold agony for eons, only instead, like nature, nothing wasted, everything recycled and renewed. That is the way of the universe and it is also the way of the soul. This gives infinite hope for all beings.

The teaching of the Buddha was broken down into 4 noble truths, They are so simple and yet so vast. The first truth is that of Suffering. Life is suffering. It hurts to be born, it hurts to die. We suffer when we lose that which we want, and we suffer when we want what we can’t have. There are innumerable kinds of suffering, many levels from the physical to the psychological, but its fact is a certainty. The second noble truth is that there is a cause to this suffering. Our desire, our craving which can never be satisfied is the cause. The third truth is that there is an antidote to suffering. The fourth noble truth is the path, the method, which ends the suffering.

If you have all eternity and innumerable lifetimes to be born again and again, this also has a dark side. We are essentially powerless on our own to offset the pain and misery of life. The only way out is to put an end to the suffering by ceasing to produce negative karma, working to help other living beings in any way we can, ceasing to cause hurt or pain to others. This is not so easy. It may seem easy with those who love you, but your worst enemy may present him or herself again and again in your lifetimes in sometimes very significant positions in relation to you until you are able to find a way to forgive and negate the bad energy and overcome it with love and kindness and compassion. We believe there is a reason why people incarnate near each other, usually to help each other. Even if that seems very painful at times, it is nonetheless, exactly what you deserve, and exactly what you need to learn, if only you choose to recognize it.

Christianity recognizes only human lives. Buddhism recognizes the lives of animals, plants, and various types of spirit beings, some of low and some of higher order. Buddhism feels that you can incarnate in almost any form depending on what level mentality you are living on. Have you known in your life some people who thought just like jungle creatures, predatory and selfish, and also people who are so loving and gentle and selfless that they seemed almost to be higher than ordinary humans? Look at Mother Teresa, a woman so good that she has dedicated her entire life to the care of others. What particular religion she is, what sect, all becomes secondary to the wonderful work she does. She is respected by all. There is room in my Buddhist philosophy for her, whereas a fundamentalist Christian might say she is going to hell because she is a Catholic.

Back here on earth, the enormous diversity of human existence and experience has left me personally, completely unable to accept the one lifetime theory. This belief in one lifetime and then heaven or hell, is so very limiting, that to a Buddhist it almost seems insulting to try to limit God, the whole experience of being, and all the various forms of being into such a small space. I am not a teacher, nor am I especially good at explaining concepts, but I must tell you from the bottom of my heart, I truly cannot accept Christianity intellectually in the face of all I see and have seen. I am sorry if this is not to anyone’s liking, but it is nonetheless, true. There have been however, Christians who have actually achieved enlightenment according to some Buddhist teachers. Some especially who have lived within the contemplative traditions, meditating for many years. I see no problem with any one else being a christian, and I applaud them if they were completely lacking beforehand in any spiritual practice. For example a heroin addict or murderer or thief who becomes a Christian is definitely on an up-trend. Also, as long as it works for you, stick with it. When it doesn’t anymore, stop beating yourself up for not being a good enough Christian and find what resonates of truth in your own mind. This is a particularly difficult aspect of Christianity I have noted as a trait indigenous only to religious practices; In no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure. Christians never tend to see the flaws in the system, but due to the belief in original sin, see themselves as the fault. If something is not working for you, perhaps it is time for a change.

For myself, I have major problems with certain other basic concepts of Christianity. For instance, I dislike very much the sacrificial principle. I find it unnecessary, irrelevant, and downright cruel for the countless little animals which were sacrificed of old, and even more unconscionable the later concept of any one person dying for anyone else’s sins, as being especially meaningful to either party. I see enormous hypocrisy in all the Christian holidays, not having basis in real history, but founded in ancient pagan ritual and symbolism and given a new name. What good can possibly come of lying to ones children about a mythical person who brings them toys at winter solstice, a person who drives a sled in the sky with flying reindeer (who don’t really fly), and having no basis in the history of the religion. The same for cutting down various varieties of pine and decorating it indoors with bric a brac. Other than being fun, and pretty, which is reason enough I suppose, it really has no relation to historical Jesus. No ones knows actually historically speaking when Christ was born. It was just convenient to connect it to the solstice, since people celebrated then anyway. What can rabbits and eggs have to do with the purported resurrection? Nothing. They are fertility symbols of pagan origin and connect to all the rites of spring fertility celebrations in many cultures. They just have no meaning at all to historic Christianity, and this is how Christians celebrate their holidays. I am all for the use of the pagan rituals however, since they have more historic validity than most of the Christian religion itself.

I see Christianity as ignoring all the other living beings both human and otherwise who have lived from time immemorial, all the sincere pagans, Jains, Hindus, Native Americans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists, and countless other religions too many to name, and consigning them all to a nasty hell, regardless of age, sincerity, culture, goodness or lack thereof. This narrow view, coupled with the one life concept, leaves a very cruel universe as the creation of this God. There is very little redemption, very little compassion and no real hope in this religion which claims to redeem, but only enslaves its own. It claims to give hope, but only to Christians, and everyone else should go to hell.

Buddhists believe that even if you are a horrible person and die as such, you will come back again and again, and having suffered the results of your bad karmic past, with each new circumstance and each new life, you may get the chance to learn to trust again, and learn not to be unkind, but grow in wisdom and learn to love and help others instead of harm them. You may get to live ten thousand years as a tapeworm or a series of poisonous snakes if you are a really bad guy, but ultimately there is hope for all. We are taught that all living beings have at one time been our mothers, our lovers, our children. We should love all beings with that same kind of love and protection and care like a mother cat gives its kittens, a mother bird gives its chicks, etc. Not just other Buddhists. To a Buddhist, all beings are not divided into denominations, or into saved and not saved, or into species and sub species. All beings are all beings. All living things are sacred. This sacred view of life is very purifying, very holy, very wonderful. It includes bugs, birds, deer etc. etc. etc.

To a Buddhist, you have no choice but to forgive all those who have harmed you. You could be that person’s child or parent or significant other in your next life. We all have to take care of each other. Chronological age is irrelevant. You have seen old people who are very ignorant, and children who are very wise. That old fool could be a younger soul, that little child could be a wise old being who has come to take care of its foolish young parent. This concept is hard for Christians to understand, which is hard for me to understand since Christianity is supposed to be a loving and forgiving religion, yet I have seen more angry Christians who cannot forgive than Buddhists, and more intolerance in the name of Christianity than anywhere else.

An anecdote about forgiveness; When I asked my Teacher about someone who made my life miserable, I was told to dedicate all my practice to that person! To pray daily for their wisdom and their benefit and make offerings of incense and water and food to them symbolically every day on my shrine! Think about that. You can’t stay angry long doing that. My teacher tells me that the greatest cure for anger and hatred is compassion. You cannot stay angry with someone for whom you feel compassion. They are the product of where they came from, and if they are unpleasant and you are not, it is because you have greater wisdom, and they have less. Thinking like this should help one to feel compassion and neutralize ones anger. By the way, Buddhists believe that anger is almost the worst kind of sin. The very worst is harming others, but anger gives rise to all sorts of misery in the world. We feel that anger is almost a mental disease to be worked against with most diligent effort. Look at the Dalai Lama. Such kindness, wisdom, gentleness. No anger.

A great problem I have with Christianity is guilt and blame. There is so much of it throughout all of Christianity. It seems to be a religion which glorifies pain, guilt, suffering, and remorse. These may have a small redeeming value in that one must feel remorse for past actions in order to remediate, but Christianity fosters remorse when you haven’t even done anything. You just had to be born in sin to feel guilty. This is not constructive psychologically. I rather prefer the imagery that Buddhism provides of the gentle man who gave up all his riches and went into the forest to find a way to end all suffering on earth. To advance and evolve the human mind to its greatest potential. To teach all beings to love one another and achieve full realization, enlightenment.

Historically Buddhism is about 530 years older than Christianity, it is better documented as to dates and persons. According to the 1997 World Almanac, there are 1 billion Christians on earth, (about 80% of which are Roman Catholic) about 800 million Muslims, 500 million Hindus, and although there are only 350 million Buddhists, and they are much more tolerant. Buddhists do not make war. No person in the history of Buddhism has ever been converted by force. This is a fact! Buddha did not claim to be God. We do not particularly care if you have a God or not. All of our so called deities are people who actually lived, who accomplished great things with their minds. We honor them by using visualizations and prayers and meditations to advance our own minds with wisdom and compassion in search of enlightenment and supreme realization and to bring all beings to enlightenment. We have a vow we take called the Bodhisattva vow, in which we promise never to accept enlightenment until all living beings have been enlightened and thus freed from the cycle of Samsara, the wheel of life, after life, after life, and thus also freed from suffering. Buddhists are very spiritual and selfless people.

In Buddhism, all people, men and women are equal spiritually. In some ways one can achieve more in a certain lifetime as a man, and the same is true sometimes as a woman.  The major Christian churches are still wrangling over whether or not a woman can be a minister or priest or whatever.  I bid a most happy farewell to those attitudes a long time ago. Read St. Paul if you want to hear some real woman hating nonsense. He really seemed to believe women to be inferior beings. Not to mention his unrealistic views on divorce, marriage, gays. In today’s society he would be considered a most narrow minded man.

Most of all I love the hope and the joy of Buddhism. It is a religion filled with great optimism and happiness and expansiveness. I believe that I will see my grandmother again in the eyes of perhaps a grandchild not yet born. I believe that when my parents die and I die, that sometime in the unseen future, we will be born together again with new chances. The roles may be reversed, or not, but those whom I have loved I will love and have again in my life. We are old souls in new lives, again and again.

It is a belief of great hope and joy. The world is a sorrowful place, and it is also a joyful place. Souls leave and rest and come back again. The world you pollute now, will haunt you in your next life, so take care of the earth and the animals and the plants. Give love. Forgive. Reach out. Be generous. Cultivate wisdom, not money. All children are your children, all people are your family. Make no enemies. Make peace wherever you can. Radiate Love for all beings. Visualize universal love and kindness, world peace, whatever you want. We Buddhists believe that these kinds of thoughts have power and can effect real change in the world.

A religion is only a tool to that end. Ultimately it can be described so simply as to say that Christianity saves some and damns others; Buddhism saves all!

This is good, very very good. And that is why I am a Buddhist. I hope it has helped you to understand a little about my religion, and I also must apologize if there has been anything I said here that offended. This was not my intent, but merely to convey what I was feeling when I made the change. Lest you think it was overnight, believe me it was a gradual process, like falling in love. Eventually I one day just realized that I was more Buddhist than anything else, and made it official. The one thing I pray most is that in all my lifetimes yet to come, that I will have access to this precious teaching. To me it is the key to the cosmos.

I wrote something a couple of years ago called “Why I am not a Christian” it goes further into the issues which I found unacceptable to live with when I was making my decisions. I can provide a copy for you if you are interested, as a matter of curiosity. Since then my attitudes have mellowed greatly, as you may see with this letter which I have written today. But since you asked me why, I feel that it is important for you to have some understanding of the thought processes I went through. I hope you will realize that none of this was meant in any way as a personal criticism. If it works for you, it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. It didn’t work for me and this is why I felt the need to change my religion. I have never regretted it, ever.

Edited.  Source: http://www.geocities.com/dmathew1/guest_columnx3.htm

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 3, 2005; Page A05