PRAJNA 2019 - Alleviation

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FROM THE EDITOR Chief Editor Wilson Goenawan Content and Design Olivia Agatha Sindy Teo Valencia Sendytio

I want to be a successful banker. I want to be an internationally-known singer. I want to be the top engineer of Google. I hope to find a cure for cancer. I hope to be able to transform the environmental condition of today’s world. I hope for world peace.

Many times, I have heard of people saying that Buddhists cannot have hopes and dreams. We are supposed to be people “free of desire”. But who ever said Buddhists cannot have hopes and dreams?

In Buddhism, we are advised to look within, look deep within, to investigate the very nature of things. When we realise that change is built into the nature of our minds, we will realise that nothing is inherently fixed. There is thus no limit in what we can achieve. Anything is possible. We can do whatever we want to do, create whatever world we want to live in, and become whatever we want to be. That is how empowering the Dharma is.

Many things start off as a dream, a hope for something, a wish for something. What matters here is if the dream remains as a dream or would the dream be propelled by hope to transform into reality. No one, except yourself, can see through this transformation. But what can be done is that if you have various tools and reminders by your side to keep you in that direction.

facebook.com/NTUBS @ntubuddhist clubs.ntu.edu.sg/buddhist

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Therefore, in this new and refreshing edition of Prajna, I introduce to you “Hope and Dreams”. This year, we bring you Prajna in it’s newest form..... A friend! The Publication Team has come together to present to you a format that has never been tried before - in the form of a Dharma-inspired notebook instead of a magazine. The team hopes that this planner will be by your side, serving as a tool of reminder and inspiration through life’s ups and downs.

For Prajna to be a part of your life-long journey would be an honor for all of us at NTUBS.

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Goal setting This book belongs to: What I want to achieve:

Steps to reaching my goal:

I will know I have reached my goal because:

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NTUBS would like to convey our heartfelt appreciation to all sponsors for their kind donations. It is with your generous support that NTUBS is able to continue spreading the Buddha’s teaching and sowing the seeds of virtue in NTU. Sadhu!

MEOW IM KOK KWAN SIANG TNG DHARMA CHAKRA SOCIETY DHARMA DRUM SOCIETY VIMALAKIRTI BUDDHIST CENTRE SINGAPORE BUDDHIST YOUTH MISSION KWAN IM THONG HOOD CHO TEMPLE ZU-LIN TEMPLE ASSOCIATION

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SAGARAMUDA BUDDHIST SOCIETY BUDDHIST FELLOWSHIP PALELAI BUDDHIST TEMPLE LEONG HWA MONASTERY AMITABHA BUDDHIST CENTRE EVERGREEN BUDDHIST CULTURE SERVICE PTE LTD TAI PEI YUAN BODHI SEED FUND GUI HENG HONG

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Patron’s Message I like your theme “Hopes and Dreams” for this year.. Having aspirations is in line with the Buddha’s teaching, “Take charge of your life”.

The Buddha said, “We are the masters of our own future.” “What we are now is the result of our past.

Our decisions now will change our future.” Thus, our life is a do-itourselves project. It depends very much on how we set the goal, do up the plan and carry out the implementation.

A man visits a worksite. He sees three bricklayers hard at work. He asks them what they are doing.

The first bricklayer answers “I am building a wall.” The second one with a smile, answers, “I am building a house.” The third one singing happily, stops singing and answers, “I am building an estate”. Ten years later, the same man visits another site. He meets these three people again. The first bricklayer is still a bricklayer. The second one has become an architect and the third one - a developer who is also the boss of the other two. If the Buddha did not aim high to help all beings, he would not have practised and achieved enlightenment. Thus, there is no harm aiming high and dreaming big. The most important thing is not to be distracted by side issues while making choices as you plan and implement.

Let me share with you a little quiz.

There are three men travelling in a balloon. The balloon is damaged and is losing height. The only way to save

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Dr. Ang Beng Choo the balloon is to reduce weight.

The men have thrown away all the cargo. It only helps to slow down the speed of descent. They need to throw one person overboard, in order to save the other two. These three are equally great men - an outstanding medical researcher, able to heal incurable diseases; a brilliant scientist, able to save the human race from hunger; and a remarkable nuclear expert who can bring cheap and clean energy to the world. Whom would you throw out? The right answer is, “Throw out the heaviest one.” Yes, the aim is to reduce enough weight so the other two can survive. It does not matter who the person is. Life is all about choices. When making choices, focus on the critical issue.

Besides, to avoid giving up halfway, we need to develop strategies to cope with stress and hardship. A man once won a marathon when no one expected him to. His secret was that he hired a car to examine

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Patron’s Message

the whole journey before the marathon, then divided it into several segments. He used a building, a school, a pond etc as intermediate milestones. During the competition, he did not aim towards the finish line, but rather strived for his first landmark. Every time he hit a target, he was happy and encouraged by the success. Thus, he completed the whole journey in high spirits while others were struggling. Life is like a marathon. To achieve our aspirations, break the journey into stages.

There are ups and downs in life.

When we are down, always bear in mind and believe that “This too shall pass” and “That which does not destroy me makes me stronger.”

We need to plan our lives wisely.

Do not accept things or follow a path blindly. When we are faced with a choice, first, reflect on our goals, then, analyse the different options against our goals. Once we have come to a conclusion, pursue our choice with enthusiasm. Should we discover that our decision brings us to a dead end, do not be afraid to change course.

During the years of the Gold Rush in the US, a young man went with his friends to San Francisco in search of gold. The weather was hot. The river was far away. Everybody had limited water. After trying for weeks and months, they found nothing. As time passed,

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their hopes of finding gold got dimmer. Seeing this situation, the young man left quietly with his tools. He travelled to the riverside, dug a channel from the river and diverted some water to the gold mine where the gold diggers were working. He used fine sand to filter the water and sold it to the gold miners. He earned a little income everyday. His friends laughed at him for giving up his search for real gold to sell water for a miserable earning. He ignored them. A year later, most of the people at the gold mine went home empty handed. There simply wasn’t any gold to be found. However, this young man made a little fortune from his water business. He did not even have to invest a single cent.

“Hard or easy is all in our mind”.

Same piece of work, if we are willing to do it, even if it is difficult, we will find it challenging.. If we are not willing to do it, even if it is an easy task, we will find it difficult.

When we think we can, we will take up the challenge. When we think we cannot, we will likely not do it.

Thus, when things go wrong, do not over-react while our emotion is unstable and our understanding of the whole situation is unclear.

Accept that it is there, strive to resolve it and once that is done, take it as a lesson and let go. Then we will have a successful and happy life with our hopes and dreams.

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Spiritual Advisor’s Message

The Order of Things Hopes and Dreams. Some would say that Hopes are the light that allow us to see the opportunities in this world and while Dreams point us to the potential our world has.

All would, however, be a moot point if we just spend our days hoping and dreaming. We need to set off to achieve them. The trouble is getting started isn’t it? They say that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. So what’s stopping us?

Ven. Chuan Guan later stage. But does not feel right at all at the start.

The Hows and Whys. That’s what.

So what is the crucial question to ask at the get go?

How

The “Why” questions.

What are the Hows? Very too often many people get caught up with this. How is it done? Is it complex?

Do I have the ability to do it? How much will it cost? How will be involved? The list of questions pile up. And before you know it, you are stuck with a hundred and one reasons why it cannot be done. At least not by you.

Why are we doing this? This get us to really think about the rationale for pursuing something. If we start off with the “How” question without asking “Why”, we may find ourselves doing something simply because it is cheap, simple or convenient. Ask yourself this, would you get married just because there’s a sale for wedding packages, because someone is willing to have a simple marriage, or because there’s a long weekend?

The problem is not asking these questions. It is “when” you ask them that matters. It is about the order of things. It is like why you do not ask someone how much it cost for a wedding or a flat on the first date.

Such questions are completely valid only at a much

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Sounds ridiculous I know. This is why we don’t start with the “How” questions but the “Why” questions.

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Spiritual Advisor’s Message

Why Ask yourself why pursuing this particular goal or dream is important to you? What about its impact on your family and friends? Consider the alternatives of not pursuing it.

Does it hurt? What are you ready to give up to achieve your goal, for anyone can dream or admire those who succeed, but not many are willing to put in the sacrifices.

Once we are clear with the Whys, then we consider the Hows. The difference is that now, they are clear steps towards your goal. Will there be difficulties? There will still be, except that they become challenges to be overcome. No money or funding? Save, borrow, loan, wait for prices to come down. No idea how to get something done, the Whys spurs us onward to figure things out and it is also what would draw like minded people together to work on a common goal.

In the bodhicaryavatara commentary, Santi Deva shares of two forms of Bodhicitta: 1. Intent 2. Action In a way, the former “Bodhicitta Intent” is the Why, which is Loving Kindness and Compassion embodied in Bodhicitta and the latter “Bodhicitta Actions” refers to the myriad of skillful means cultivated and practised by bodhisattvas to guide, teach and liberate sentient beings.

In this way, one walks the arduous path towards Buddhahood, treading tirelessly because the Why is clear. Then the How starts to make sense.

So my friend, what are your hopes and dreams? And why?

This applies to both worldly and spiritual path. And each of us have to discover our own Whys.

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Dharma Message

Hopes and Dreams

Having goals is an important tool for us, a form of skillful means.

But we must not become overly attached to these goals, as circumstances CHANGE and all of life is a flow. You can only have the Hopes and Dreams of what you are aware of and understand at this point in time! So do not tie your self worth and happiness to the accomplishment of those goals, for BOTH you and your environment will inevitably change. Plan, hope, dream but be ready to wake up and change at any time. Do not give the mundane goals of career, accomplishment or status a greater significance than they deserve.

It is perfectly OK if we did not reach our set of “goals”. You may feel disappointed for a while but it too will pass as we see the reality of the situation and deal with it wisely. Sometimes not getting what we want is a great blessing! The Reality is that it is all part of life.

Life just is, it flows on whether we get what we want or fail to do so. If fact, the many aspects of our lives both good and bad, are not things that are problematic, it is our attitude, our thinking and what we add to them that creates the problems.

A goal is just a conceptual target, but if we think we are failures if they are not reached, then that becomes an issue.

But what if we set goals, and we

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Dr. Wong Yin Onn accomplish these goals, what then?

For a while, there is an increase in our self-esteem, we feel good about ourselves, but be assured that it is as temporary as a dewdrop on a leaf. Soon new issues will arise from that “accomplishment” and we realise that again life flows on! It just is! Of course any achievement will give an ego boost, or a sense of accomplishment, however temporary and this is not an issue. Knowing that we had acquired a skill gives us confidence. BUT thinking that we “are” great or superlative in any sense, is ego. This creation of an “I” within an ever-changing reality is something Buddhists must be mindful of and concerned about. It takes a lot of self reflection, to stay ahead of a self created inflated ego, to remind ourselves that everything is Changing, temporary and a creation of many causes and conditions.

If we are constantly searching for happiness outside of ourselves, tying it to a “Goal, Hope or Dream”,

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Dharma Message

then we will never truly be happy or satisfied for the world exists and functions beyond our control.

There will always be frustration and stress within us, for one can be sure that nothing will ever truly go the way we want it to be. Hence we must find happiness from within while pursuing our vision of a future. Very importantly, hope is something that takes our attention away from the present, that is why we often call them “dreams”, we must be living in the here-and-now, and not tie our Happiness to some future achievement. We are Human Beings, let us Be Happy in the Moment. It is very sad when people tie their happiness to the achievement of some future goal, they are the “Human BECOMINGs”, not Human Beings!

best of our ability, the future will take care of itself. Do Not forget that “Doom and gloom” are also visions of a possible painful future, of darkness and fear; they too are dreams that we usually label as “Nightmares”!

So in the pursuit of our goals, hopes and dreams, we must practice non-attachment. We realize that things do not always go our way, and we can be calm and develop stillness in our minds- not getting too hung up about adversity, or problems. We will persevere, we will plan, but above all, we must be Flexible and willing to change, for life has the characteristics of Ceaseless Change, suffering and Non Self, we simply cannot control it!

Can we have Hopes, Dreams and Desires, without it arising from greed or craving?

Please do not misunderstand that I see “Hopes and Dreams” as negative states, for Hope and Dreams is certainly more beneficial than doom and gloom! Our Happiness is in the Present Moment, Live the present moment well and to the

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What are your Hopes and Dreams for the future?

Is it, “I hope I become filthy Rich”?

It wise to let go of that.

But what if it is “I hope that I can help beings to be free from pain and suffering” No, don’t let go of that. It is Right Intention or Right Thoughts.

There is a clear distinction between “Tanhā” (Craving for something that arises from Greed) and “Chanda” (A wholesome or Noble Aspiration).

Hence Not all “Hopes and Dreams” is harmful.

“You could summarize Dhamma training as the transformation of tanhā into chanda.” - Venerable Sucitto. ...........................

They are different mental states.

In Buddhism, the desire for true well-being is called “dhammachanda” (desire for that which is right), “kusalachanda” (desire for that

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Dharma Message

which is skillful), or in short, “chanda”.

Tanha is directed toward feeling; it leads to seeking of objects which pander to self interests and is supported and nourished by ignorance.

guide to help you know yourself better, and be the best you can be when dealing with a highly fluid world. Above all it teaches you how to be Happy while pursuing a Life targeted at achieving Noble Goals of Morality, Wisdom and Compassion.

Chanda is directed toward benefit, it leads to effort and action, and is founded on intelligent reflection.

What is the meaning of life?

...............................

Before long, life ends in death,

Our MUNDANE Goals, Hopes or Dreams should Not be the basis of our lives or cause of our happiness. A goal is just a goal, not the cause of happiness. The Buddha’s teachings helps us to live a life of the highest quality in whatever that we want to do, dream about and achieve. It aims to make us Better people living a Noble life. There are NO commandments, only training guidelines called “Precepts” which are completely secular. It does not dictate, it does not judge, and puts how you wish to live your life squarely in your hands, it is a

and whatever is worthwhile and good,

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should be done, without any delay; and this, is the meaning of life.

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