Time flies!
Been 3 years since my last entry!
I hope my dear Dharma friends in Singapore and anyone who is reading this blog, are doing well in all aspects of their life =)
The past 3 years been very busy for me, went through myriad changes in life, major ones like: (1) marriage, (2) welcoming a new family member (my son, who is already 18 months!), (3) significant changes in terms of work assignment, including a promotion (=D but implies more work also =P), and (4) change of residence where I am currently based in Australia (will be back in Singapore from June 14 onwards)
Australia is a nice place, friendly people and a very relaxed environment (compared to Singapore's demanding and fast paced lifestyle) So now I found myself with no excuses (oppss) to restart my blogging =P
Coming to Australia, I am very grateful to have found Ordinary Mind Zen Brisbane, have been practicing under the guidance of Gregg Howard, a Dharma Successor of Charlotte Joko Beck. Great Centre, great teacher, great energy! Joining this group really helps me to maintain my practice =)
You can find out more about their Zen school and practice style from their webpage:
http://ordinarymind.org.au/
May you be well and happy ^ ^
He's on his way back home
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Day of Mindfulness (DOM)
Today joyful garden sangha we held a day of mindfulness @ pao ern shih...
it was great to see so many (70) pple motivated to practice for a day together,
realli appreciative of the strong collective energy =)
programme was
walking meditation followed by a Dharma talk by Thay (DVD) on the Brahmaviharas - loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness (amounting to true love =))
then a veri nice lunch courtesy of pao ern shih yum yum =p
afterwhich we did total relaxation, dharma discussion, sitting meditation, 5 mindfulness trainings recitation and wrapping up b4 going home =)
a meaningful day indeed =)
had this short discussion on laziness with regards to practice...
shared my own experience,
that i see it somewhat like the stock market =p
sometimes bull run (when the postive energy to practice is strong)
sometimes bear mkt (when laziness n resistance to practice sets in)
often i realise the trigger for a bull run,
more often than not, is the attendance of a retreat,
be it a one day DOM, 3 day/ 5 days retreats,
the important thing is probably the collective energy of the retreat of all retreatants,
set off within myself the positive energy to put in jus that little extra effort into practice...
that little extra energy to perserve with daily sittings...
extra energy to remember to do conscious breathing, mindful walking, loving speech deep listening etc during everyday life...
that little extra energy to rem to refrain from manifestation of emotional reactions n rtn to the physical sensations etc...
thank u my spiritual frens,
for bringing about the "bull runs" =)
sincerely yours,
ur lazy zen student =P
it was great to see so many (70) pple motivated to practice for a day together,
realli appreciative of the strong collective energy =)
programme was
walking meditation followed by a Dharma talk by Thay (DVD) on the Brahmaviharas - loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness (amounting to true love =))
then a veri nice lunch courtesy of pao ern shih yum yum =p
afterwhich we did total relaxation, dharma discussion, sitting meditation, 5 mindfulness trainings recitation and wrapping up b4 going home =)
a meaningful day indeed =)
had this short discussion on laziness with regards to practice...
shared my own experience,
that i see it somewhat like the stock market =p
sometimes bull run (when the postive energy to practice is strong)
sometimes bear mkt (when laziness n resistance to practice sets in)
often i realise the trigger for a bull run,
more often than not, is the attendance of a retreat,
be it a one day DOM, 3 day/ 5 days retreats,
the important thing is probably the collective energy of the retreat of all retreatants,
set off within myself the positive energy to put in jus that little extra effort into practice...
that little extra energy to perserve with daily sittings...
extra energy to remember to do conscious breathing, mindful walking, loving speech deep listening etc during everyday life...
that little extra energy to rem to refrain from manifestation of emotional reactions n rtn to the physical sensations etc...
thank u my spiritual frens,
for bringing about the "bull runs" =)
sincerely yours,
ur lazy zen student =P
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
working with emotional distress
i think hardly a day passes without some kind of emotional distress arising,
big or small, work related or personal life related...
be it anger, irritation, frustration etc etc etc
here's a line from ezra bayda that puts emotional distress into perspective,
practice perspective...
...emotional distress is a signal that we are experiencing life through the filter of an ideal, a picture or an expectation...
if there's enough mindfulness on that day on that occasion,
i might... just might rem to practice with the emotional distress =p
usually this is possible when i rem to do conscious breathing...
some steps that u might find helpful in such situations...
1. becoming aware of the distress energy arising within, breathing in breathing out,
thru conscious breathing, i might just be able to loosen my identification with the distress related thoughts a little, open up my mind a little and bring a practice perspective to the whole situation
2. refrain from my normal emotional reactions, be it justifications thru more thinking, blaming/lashing out at others or suppression within... all these of cse fuel more energy to the distress and makes e identification with the distress energy even more intense...
3. label the thinking, to clarify the mental process and not getting caught up within the juicy details of my thinking...
4. residing in the physical sensations of the negative emotion itself, this is returning to the here and now, and if the energy of mindfulness is strong enough, the emotional distress may start to slowly break up and slowly dissolve into something not so solid not so frightening...
but of cse to expect the emotional distress to dissolve is an expectation itself,
so just watch the whole process with interest and see what happens...
what is this?
may all be well n happy,
deep bow...
big or small, work related or personal life related...
be it anger, irritation, frustration etc etc etc
here's a line from ezra bayda that puts emotional distress into perspective,
practice perspective...
...emotional distress is a signal that we are experiencing life through the filter of an ideal, a picture or an expectation...
if there's enough mindfulness on that day on that occasion,
i might... just might rem to practice with the emotional distress =p
usually this is possible when i rem to do conscious breathing...
some steps that u might find helpful in such situations...
1. becoming aware of the distress energy arising within, breathing in breathing out,
thru conscious breathing, i might just be able to loosen my identification with the distress related thoughts a little, open up my mind a little and bring a practice perspective to the whole situation
2. refrain from my normal emotional reactions, be it justifications thru more thinking, blaming/lashing out at others or suppression within... all these of cse fuel more energy to the distress and makes e identification with the distress energy even more intense...
3. label the thinking, to clarify the mental process and not getting caught up within the juicy details of my thinking...
4. residing in the physical sensations of the negative emotion itself, this is returning to the here and now, and if the energy of mindfulness is strong enough, the emotional distress may start to slowly break up and slowly dissolve into something not so solid not so frightening...
but of cse to expect the emotional distress to dissolve is an expectation itself,
so just watch the whole process with interest and see what happens...
what is this?
may all be well n happy,
deep bow...
Thursday, November 11, 2010
3 day retreat 24 - 27 dec in Dharma Drum Tradition
dear frens,
coming end of year there will be a 3 day retreat at pao4 en1 shi4,
in the tradition of Dharma Drum Mountain (Master Sheng Yen's tradition)
doing a little advertisement for them =)
http://ddys.pixnet.net/blog/post/32865204
i am praying hard my schedule allows mi to join!
hope to see u there ;)
may all of u out there my dear frens,
reading my blog,
i sincerely wishes,
may u be well n happy always,
thanks for being my companions along the journey of life,
i am forever grateful for ur company...
a deep bow of gratitude
=)
coming end of year there will be a 3 day retreat at pao4 en1 shi4,
in the tradition of Dharma Drum Mountain (Master Sheng Yen's tradition)
doing a little advertisement for them =)
http://ddys.pixnet.net/blog/post/32865204
i am praying hard my schedule allows mi to join!
hope to see u there ;)
may all of u out there my dear frens,
reading my blog,
i sincerely wishes,
may u be well n happy always,
thanks for being my companions along the journey of life,
i am forever grateful for ur company...
a deep bow of gratitude
=)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
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
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
Friday, September 10, 2010
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 =)
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 =)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
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
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
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