oneworldtalk

According to the Old Testament, "The body is the temple of the soul."
Keep it flexible and relaxed before you enter into meditation.

By the same author Sang Nila, posted in Family forum :
http://oneworldtalk.freeforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=75
http://oneworldtalk.freeforums.org/view ... w=previous

Sang Nila, I so agree with your personal description of what love is.

I would like to add that God's love (religious love as you've termed) and human love are not exclusive. In Christianity, we learned that if we do not love our fellow men, then we do not love God.

Human life on earth is a mystery. We do not know the reason for suffering caused by natural disasters. However, we do know suffering that is caused by clinging to self, or selfish love.

Fr Cyprian Consiglio, a Catholic monk, in his writing "Relieve Me of the Bondage of Self", wrote the following:



God is not indifferent to our suffering. Jesus came to teach and to show what love is.

God Himself suffered when Jesus chose to die for man.

I would also like to touch on drecl's posting on how relationships seem to fall apart due to the lack of money. If we see this in the light of bondage to self, we'll see that it is selfishness that caused couples to break up.

To love is also to forgive. Love is not just a feeling. Love is a choice we make.

Sang Nila, I would also like to touch on your view that Buddhists would miss out so much pleasures in life.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, a Buddhist monk, in his writing "Having Art in Our Lives", wrote the following:



I am a Catholic and I adopt an open approach in the learning of the teachings of all religions. I hope what I've shared from my personal knowledge gained will be helpful to readers.

Yann, you said:



Yes, I do agree that religious love and human love are not two entirely different things. But I do think religious love has a pureness that is undirected, and a universality that should make us feel the oneness of life, and compassion for all beings and non-beings, even a stone, a river, a tree. I believe humans can feel religious love and the love for existence. But God's love I guess is beyond description.

Yes, some suffering is caused by clinging to self, or selfish love. But there are also suffering that is genetic, congenital, that are passed down from our parents or ancestors. Man is created imperfect it seems, hence suffering is inevitable. Illness and death are another of the imperfections. Ultimately, it seems we need to come to an acceptance of 'What is' and make peace with ourselves and the nature of existence with impermanence being one of its characteristics. And even though Budhha may claim compassion to all, the natural world is one that is full of violenece.

I find it very ironic that one is given a body and a mind and then expected to transcend them. Perhaps, that is due to the lack of understanding and appreciation of God's design. But I have to admit that being loved by others make me feels very good. I guess one needs to do unto others as one would like others to do unto us. Hopefully it doesn't cost us much to love another as it can sometimes be very challenging. You have pointed out that forgiveness is love and I can't agree more.

"Jesus came to teach and to show what love is." The irony is even Jesus was turtured and killed. But of course, given that the religion survived all these years and is flourishing, Jesus's teachings must be invaluable.

Regarding your comments about drecl's posting, I think being selfless to someone who has good intention, and acts in good faith makes sense but being selfless to somebody who is just out to take advantage could be just feeding the fire.

"To love is also to forgive. Love is not just a feeling. Love is a choice we make." - I think this is very beautiful and touching.


"There are also people who live glamorous lives, because they are attached to superficial appearances. However, if we prefer appearance over substance, we will never know true beauty. We may look at a painting or read a poem but never realize its artistic value." - It has an oriental fragrance and is as appealing to me as freshly brewed jasmine tea. However, there is no need to be a Budhhist to take this view of life. I actually think that both the Eastern and the Western modes of thinking need to learn from each other and I believe the cross-fertilisation is well underrway.

Nice to be discussing with somebody with an open mind like yourself.

You've hit the nail right on the head - human beings are imperfect. Which is why it is hard for people who profess a religion. They are expected to be perfect. I think that so long as one has a good conscience, an awareness of his/her own wrongdoing, and is sorry for it, one can become a better person. And this can be witnessed by fellow men.

It is good to hear your thoughts too!

One evangelistic church in Singapore does not advocate its Christianity as a religion, but rather as a relationship with God.

It preaches that good doing by itself is of no harm but not good enough because it is of human effort. One must have good believing in God. The reasoning is this: Good doing by one’s own efforts without good believing often fails because no human is perfect. But with good believing, good doing will follow naturally, or super-naturally. This concept hinges primarily on an act of faith.

With this concept, all you need when you meditate - do it in faithfulness of God, and everything else will fall in place. And you will be at ease and in peace.

- In the modern world, this model is not surprising. People all like to feel empowered.



It makes sense for one to seek enlightenment in order to live well and do good. But as we are finding the way, one would need to act based on our understanding at the point in time, with good conscience as a guide, just like Yann said, but knowing that we could be wrong.



Some people who believe in the law of attraction would likely be meditating about money. I think it is uplifting to be meditating in faithfulness to God. And with that one thought, everything else ought to fall in place and we should all be at ease and in peace like you said. Can't be too far from the truth, I guess. Resting in the thought of God must be as cosy as a child in the mother's arms. And what would a mother not give to her child? It is the source of all we ever need. So meditation is to go back to the source to refresh and renew ourselves in spirit and to break through our conditioning, to come to know something more glorious of ourselves and hopefully manifest that in real life.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o305 ... histmo.jpg

Italian contemplates life as Buddhist monk

A 28 year old Italian man, identified as Lucas is ordained as a Buddhist monk in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China.



http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007 ... 261586.htm

Italian Lucas is certainly not the first and won't be the last among westerners who want to become monks and nuns. I am not sure why the abbot was hesitant about anointing Lucas a novice monk. Perhaps a number of foreign tourists made rash decisions to join monkhood and regret later.

Training monks from diverse backgrounds helps to spread Buddhist teachings far and wide. Religious leaders should view this positively. Nevertheless, one does not need to be a monk or nun to practise Buddhism nor a priest for Catholics, etc. The robe is merely a symbol. It does not provide the wearer immunity from human failings. There are many lay Buddhists or people from various faiths and religions who lead meaningful and fruitful lives. Ultimately, what's more important is seen through the actions of the individual.

It is an encouraging trend that people from different parts of the world are receptive to learning more about other religions. Two Buddhist teachers born in western socieities have proven their competence as great Buddhist teachers. Rather than be contented with routine administrative work, they have actively reached out to the people, and touched the lives of many ordinary folks from the well endowed to the less fortunate.

Venerable Thubten Chodron is an American born Tibetan nun. Check out her website and have a read of her teachings.

http://www.thubtenchodron.org/BuddhistN ... bodhi.html

http://www.thubtenchodron.org/Biography/index.html

Venerable Shravasti Dhammika, an Australian monk of the Theravada tradition, has enriched the spiritual lives of many youths in Asia since the 1980s. His eloquent delivery of discourses, relating to real life examples, humour and musical talent have won him great respect and following. Unlike traditional schooling, there's never a dull moment. Some might have fallen asleep if they had not applied the correct meditation techniques. It does not reflect poorly of the teacher's lessons though.

http://www.buddhanet.net/bodh_gaya/dhammika.htm

Thank you Hot Chilly for the links to Venerable Shravasti Dhammika's and Venerable Thubten Chodron's websites.

They have been very informative and enlightening. Failure to explain Buddhism in plain English has allowed many English-educated Chinese to be easily converted to Christianity. My observation is that the Bible is quite well written to be understood by English-educated Chinese and with an well organised structure and planning, the Churches are able to attract many followers. To believe in Christ, one has to have faith and accept the Bible as the Book of Truth. Besides, many of these Chinese believe that Buddhism is nothing but a philosophy deeply influenced by superstitions and rituals. However, these Chinese often fail to distinguish the difference between Chinese religion (Taoism) and Buddhism. There is no idol worship in Buddhism. One must understand that the presence of a Buddha statue is merely there for concentration during meditation. Venerable Thubten Chodron had done a good job by explaining Buddhism in plain English to Singaporean Chinese during her tenure there.

Teachers like Dhammika and Chodron revolutionalized the presentation of Buddhist teachings. It dispelled earlier misconceptions of Buddhism as a boring and outmoded religion. They also tried to foster fellowship and religious songs. These appeal to younger people.