smiling dwelling of the heart

todae received the 5 mindfulness trainings together with other 250 brothers n sisters,
grateful for the opportunity to receive the trainings,
grateful for the new energy and encouragement to continue the spiritual practice n path,
on this path many ups n downs,
not be surprised more of such "rolling hills",
but as the zen saying goes "fall down seven times, get up eight"...

happy to receive the Dharma name "smiling dwelling of the heart"
my gosh... gotta smile more =p

sailing off in couple hrs for a 2 mth overseas deployment...
see ya soon,
may all be well n happy
may everyone awaken to e kindness n connectedness that is the essential nature of our hearts

breathing in... out... smile =D

Thay in S'pore 2

today Thay gave dharma talk on awareness of feelings,
moving on from yesterday's talk on awareness of body...
1. awareness of joy
2. awareness of happiness

many ways to generate joy , happiness
a. letting go
so a story was told about a farmer with 3 cows, one day he lost them,
farmer was so distraught, stressed up n frustrated n felt like end of world,
Buddha told his disciples, "aren't u lucky u dun hav any cows to lose?"
so what are the cows that we are holding onto?
goodness, i think the farmer is pretty enlightened,
he onli got 3 cows, i think i got 1000 over =O kekeke
b. mindfulness energy

3. awareness of feelings, e.g. awareness of the fear/anger arising etc
know that our store consciousness contain many seeds,
negative ones like fear/anger etc,
conditions are ripe, they will arise,
practice means bringing up another seed from store consciousness,
seed of mindfulness,
use mindfulness to embrace fear/anger like a mother take care of her baby,
sayang sayang... take good care of it, n slowly transform the negative energy

4. releasing the tension from the feelings

breathing in, breathing out ahhh...

another nice relaxing day in retreat, recharging my spiritual batteries

may all beings be well n happy
kwan seum bosal =)

Thich Nhat Hanh in Singapore!

Beginning yesterdae nite, 5 days retreat with Thay began...
its my 3rd retreat with the plum village tradition...
within few daes of advertising, >600 (i think) pple signed up n full hse!
wow!
i was put on waiting list n feel sooo fortunate to still make it for the retreat!
haha why am i typing this in middle of retreat?? =O
keke cause i am a stay out participant, so many pple lo,
PKS actualli dun have enough space for all of us =p

i am so grateful for this retreat for 3 reasons:
1. that i can actualli do a retreat with Thay in S'pore is such a miracle,
having benefited from his teachings thru the many books he wrote,
it just fills mi up with so much joy n gratitude that i can receive his teachings in person =D
2. that i can actualli get my fiancee (who is not a practicioner) to join e retreat keke
i hope she will enjoy n benefit from this retreat! =D
3. that again its timely, before my long overseas deployment, a chance to refresh n reinforce the energy of mindfulness n energy =)

today Thay focused on the teachings of mindfulness of the breath,
and he discussed the first 4 methods of practicing with the breath,

1. being aware of the in and out breath, with mental noting/gatha (breathing in/out)
to assist n support the mindfulness of the breath
2. following the breath, awareness of the entire flow of the breath, including the gaps in between the breathing in/out
3. awareness of the body, returning to the here n now n dwell in body sensations,
4. releasing tension from the body, taking good care of the body,
a nourishing and healing process indeed (thru the total relaxation method)

Sister Chan Kong led us through total relaxation and touching the earth practices,
so embarassingly, i was so tired that i feel asleep midway thru the total relaxation kekeke

it just so inspiring to have Thay and the many >30 monastics from plum village traditon to lead us thru this wonderful retreat =)
hope the mindfulness energy of the plum village will take root here in s'pore n tat more pple will benefit from this positive energy n practice =)
looking fwd to the 2nd day...

better go sleep now kekeke