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Sunday, January 12, 2014

2014 English Buddhism Course

2014 English Buddhism Course

(conducted by Venerables) poster
There is a growing interest in Buddha’s teachings worldwide as it is seen as the way to end all suffering and to attain happiness. Join our Buddhism Course today and learn to apply Buddha’s teachings in our daily life. Cultivate invaluable qualities of wisdom and compassion that will lead to lasting joy and peace.

YEAR 1 (3 Modules)
13 Feb ~ 6 Nov | Every Thursday | 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Module 1
- Life of the Buddha.
Module 2
- 3 Refuge,
- 5 Precepts / 8 Precepts,
- 10 Wholesome Actions.
Module 3
- 4 Noble Truths,
- Noble Eightfold Path,
- Sigalovada Sutta.

YEAR 2 (3 Modules)
17 Feb ~ 3 Nov | Every Monday | 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Module 1
- Rebirth & 6 Realms of Existence,
- What is Karma,
- The Concept of ‘I’,
- Dependent Origination,
- 3 Marks of Existence.
Module 2
- Buddhist Councils,
- Historical Development of Buddhism in India,
- Spread of Buddhism,
- The Three Traditions.
Module 3
- The Three Poisons,
- The Five Hindrances,
- The Stages of Sainthood,
- The Four Immeasurables,
- The Bodhisattva Ideal and the Six Perfections.

SUTRA STUDY (3 Modules)
27 Feb ~ 11 Nov | Every Thursday | 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
* (open to participants who have completed Year 2)
Module 1
The Water Repentance Puja is a set of practices and teachings in Buddhism under the Chinese Buddhist Tradition. This first module aims to provide an introduction into the puja and share how to find inner peace and purification within ourselves through repentance.
Modules 2 and 3
In this 2nd and 3rd Module, we will touch on the Sutra of the Medicine Buddha, a well-known scripture in Mahayana Buddhism which lays an important foundation in the cultivation of the Medicine Buddha practice. The practice of this sutra is an invaluable and profound spiritual cultivation that can evoke the healing abilities in sentient beings. Those who cultivate this Medicine Buddha practice are able to eliminate calamities, misfortunes and negative karma; in addition, to obtaining good health and happiness in this lifetime.
Course Offering : $90 per year

Course Time :
7.30 pm – 9.00 pm
(Free transport will be provided to AMK MRT Station after classes)

Course Venue :
Venerable Hong Choon Memorial Hall | Level 1 Classroom

Registration:
Brochure (Registration Form) PDF

Registration Venue :
Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery | Reception 9 am – 4 pm

Enquiry :
6849 5300 / sem@kmspks.org

2014普觉佛学课程

2014普觉佛学课程

(法师授课)海报
本佛学课程旨在培养学员对佛法的正知正见。从深入浅出的课程中,让学员掌握佛法纲要及佛学常用名词,为以后深入学习定下基础。



第一学年(三个学期)
2月18日 至 10月28日(每逢星期二)
第一学期
- 佛陀生平
第二学期
- 四圣谛
- 三皈五戒
第三学期
-《善生经》
赞助费用:每学年 $90 (开课当晚缴交)

第二学年(三个学期)
2月17日 至 11月3日(每逢星期一)
第一学期
- 十善
- 业力
- 因果
- 六道轮回
第二学期
- 经典的结集以及佛教的传播
第三学期
-《四十二章经》
赞助费用:每学年 $90 (开课当晚缴交)

第三学年(三个学期)
2月19日 至 11月5日(每逢星期三)
第一学期
- 四大五蕴
- 十二因缘
- 三法印
第二学期
- 菩萨的精神
- 汉传佛教四大菩萨简介
- 六波罗蜜
第三学期
- 三十七道品
-《八大人觉经》
赞助费用:每学年 $90 (开课当晚缴交)

《中观论颂》(续讲)
3月18日 至 10月28日(每逢星期二)
《中观论颂》是龙树菩萨所造。该论主要以“不生亦不灭,不 断亦不常,不一亦不异,不来亦不去。”的八不中道观来显示诸法毕竟空之理。此论历来被视为学习中观学所必学的论典。
* 参加者必需有佛学基础
赞助费用 :$60(开课当晚缴交)

《药师经》
3月5日 至 6月18日(每逢星期三)
《药师经》是一部大乘佛教的经典,是修炼药师法门的主要依据。药师法门是一种无价的精神修持法,这种深奥的精神修持可以启动世间众生本身具有的治疗力量。修习药师法门,可以获得现世生活的安乐与健康,并且能够消灾免难,消除业障。
赞助费用 :$60(开课当晚缴交)

上课时间:晚上7时30分至9时
(课后提供免费巴士服务从本寺至宏茂桥中心)
上课地点:宏船老和尚纪念堂 | 一楼课室
报名表格:宣传单(报名表格)PDF
报名地点:光明山普觉禅寺 | 接待处
(早上9时至下午4时)

询问详情:
6849 5300 / sem@kmspks.org


迎新除旧、欢庆马年

恭祝广大的信众们,法喜充满,新春盛意,世界和平,国泰民安。 

迎新除旧、欢庆马年 

迎新除旧、欢庆马年
活动:叩钟偈|早课|礼祖
日期:2014年1月30日(星期四)
时间:晚上11 时30分
地点:大悲殿
询问:6849 5300

闻钟声、驱散心头烦恼、为让善法注入心田、造福世间广种善缘。人们只有远离了颠倒梦想,和平、吉祥、福气、好运才能靠我们更近。

钟是寺院重要的法器之一,鸣钟更深的含义是为了祈祷:国泰民安、风调雨顺、道场兴隆、正觉净念。年复一年,洪亮的钟声响彻大地,能令修道者消除烦恼,能令名利客醒悟回头。

浑厚悠扬的钟声,激荡在心田里,呼应着每个人的自性,令之断除烦恼显现智慧,明了烦恼和忧愁皆来自对名利贪欲的渴望。钟声愈发的悠长,人生愈发的清晰,愈发的明澈。

恭祝广大的信众们,法喜充满,新春盛意,世界和平,国泰民安!

More Q&A about the teachings

By Shi ChuanGuan, on 27th December, 2013

http://buddhavacana.net/blog/2013/12/27/more-qa-about-the-teachings/

Below are some questions that I received from a student and my short replies.Enjoy!

1) Does the concept of realms (6 realms, 31 planes of existence) belong to the Relative Truth (in the 2 Truths).
The teaching on the realms comes from what the Buddha observed and is part of the conventional truth.
While seeing ultimate reality or ultimate truth is what gets us enlightened, we must also not forget about conventional truth or dismiss it.
eg, the driving convention in Singapore follows the left sided driving, where we drive on the left side of the road, and the driver is seated in the right side of the car.  It is not an absolute truth that driving must be done this way and is in no way morally more superior or wiser than the other driving convention, such as the one used in US.  But if one drives on the right side of the road in Singapore, one is sure to get into a lot of trouble! ;) 

2) In the 2nd of the 4 Seals of Dharma, it states that All contaminated phenomenon are unsatisfactory ( in the nature of suffering due to Karma and mental afflictions), how can realizing of Emptiness have an effect on negating this ‘unsatisfactory-ness’?
Four seals?  Are you referring to impermanence, suffering, no-self and emptiness?
It states that all conditioned (not contaminated) phenomena are suffering.
Realising emptiness, one sees that the objects of craving and attachment are as illusory as fleeting clouds in the sky, ephemeral, insubstantial and … that even if one wants to cling onto, there is nothing that one can cling unto.
Conceptually, one may understand it but one may still be form attachments.  It is when one truly sees that there is really nothing permanent, independent, substantial or inherent out there, that one’s cravings and attachments gradually and ultimately ceases.  With that, one stop having unrealistic expectations of how things can or should be.  Worry, disappointments, stress etc ceases consequently.

3) What is the difference between exhaustion of negative karma and purification of negative karma? What happens to the negative karma when it is purified? If karma can be purified, then why didn’t Maudgalyāyana purify his negative karma and had to ‘pay’ with his life? What happens to a person’s karma when he reach Enlightenment? Must a person’s ‘Negative Karma bank’ be emptied before he can attain Enlightenment?
Good question!  Exhaustion of karma, negative or positive, refers to the ripening of them while purification of negative karma refers to 1) repentance of negative karma, ie acknowledging the err in those actions and making a resolve not to repeat.  This resolve is the mental state that does not resonate with the negative karma and hence does not nurture the existing negative karmic seeds / imprints nor trigger their arising / ripening.
The negative seeds are still present but are not nourished nor ‘activated’.
In this way, there is purification of negative karma.
One’s “negative karma quota” does not need to be emptied before attaining enlightenment. But if a karmic seed has already reached maturation and ripened into a fruit when the person reach enlightenment, then the results will be experienced by the enlightened one nonetheless.

4) All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have Pure land right? Is it against the Buddha’s teaching if one does not believe in Pure land? In the 18th of the 48 Fundamental Vows of Amitabha Buddha,  It promises that he will take all sentient beings that recite his name sincerely to his Pure Land when they die, what happens to our negative karma then?
All Buddhas have purelands.  Purelands are basically the result of the vows of the Buddhas to have a suitable place for sentient beings to learn and cultivate the Dharma.  More like a retreat centre than a heaven.
The negative karma has no condition to ripen, hence no suffering while in pureland.  But when a person cultivate up to a certain level, one returns to this world as a Bodhisattva and those negative karma, given the right conditions, may still ripen.  At that point, unlike an unenlightened being who will fret and be upset or filled with fear, an enlightened one would face the fruit with calm and equanimity.  He will willingly “repay” whatever wrong he has done.

5) If sentient being exist in different forms depending on their karma, does that mean there is a finite number of sentient beings, just that they take different form when they go through rebirth. (This was a question from a friend who majored in Maths! He said that if being reborn is to take different form only, surely there are a fixed number of beings around, minus those being who gained Enlightenment along the way). I remember at the end of the movie ‘Little Buddha’, a few kids was identified as taking the manifestation of the person who passed away, so one mental continuum could be reborn into a few bodies right?
The question of finite or infinite sentient beings is not answered, though in our Bodhisattva vows, we undertake to liberate innumerable sentient beings!
Whether or not there are finite or infinite sentient beings, if we have unrealistic expectations based on incorrect perception of ourselves and this world, then we are bound to suffer.  The reverse is true, of not suffering.
The movie “Little Buddha” … is a movie.  :D

6) Arhat exist within the 6 realms right? Can an Arhat accumulate negative karma? If they do, what will happen?
Arhats are those who are free from defilements.  In their final life after enlightenment, they would not accumulate negative karma anymore.

7) Does Karma exist outside the 6 realms?
As far as unenlightened beings are concerned, there are only the 6 realms that exist.
So the question is invalid to some extent.
Purelands can be seen as existing within the 6 realms, but not subject to the same nature of suffering, so some classify it as beyond the 6 realms.
In that sense, Karma do not function outside the 6 realms in pureland the way it applies for us.

8) There are 3 or 4 kayas/bodies, I find it quite confusing, could you help to explain it in a simpler way…
For a start, leave the kayas alone.  Focus on the teachings that help you work with your defilements, the challenges in your life.  That is more pertinent and helpful.

9) Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva dont want to gain Enlightenment because he want to help sentient beings, why is it that he cant help when he is a Buddha? What can a Bodhisattva do that a Buddha cant do?
It is not that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva don’t want to gain Enlightenment, he has already attained Buddhahood many eons back.  Now the condition is for Bodhisattvas to help to teach, so the Buddha manifest as a Bodhisattva.
When there is still the Buddha’s teaching, like in our world now, no second Buddha will appear because it would be redundant.
Buddhas only arise when there is no more Dharma teachings in this world.
 
Apologies for the delayed reply!!
Have a blissful year ahead!!  :)

正念呼吸法

正念呼吸法

正念呼吸法
静坐能有益身心健康,也能帮助我们舒缓压力与愤怒。通过正念呼吸法以提升自我觉察,念住与集中力。参与此课程,以学习如何放松并培育一颗平静的心。心净,国土净!
日期:2014年1月6日至3月17日|每逢星期一(2月3日暂停)
时间:晚上7时30分至9时
地点:宏船老和尚纪念堂|四楼|无相殿
指导法师: 传观法师
费用:$40
截止日期:2013年12月27日
报名表格:正念呼吸法 EXCEL
询问:电话:6849 5300 | 电邮:sem@kmspks.org | 海报

主讲法师

传观法师

传观法师于2002年出家,剃度师为妙境长老。2003年受具足戒出家后于美国新墨西哥州法云寺学习大乘经典及禅修,也同时研究上座部巴利藏经。 2006年返回新加坡后依止广声大和尚在光明山普觉禅寺继续修习至今。目前,法师在光明山普觉禅寺弘法部担任精神导师,在寺内外佛教寺院会所等讲经说法及 带领禅修活动。此外,法师也通过个人博客、面薄及苹果和安卓手机电脑程序等方式与佛教网民进行交流。

《心经》工作坊

《心经》工作坊

《心经》是全球各地寺院庵堂最常背诵的经典之一。以短短的260个字,这部经阐述了佛陀教导甚深的空义。

色不异空,空不异色。色即是空,空即是色。
 
什么是[空性]?如何应用[空性]在我们日常生活中?

我们该如何念诵此经,以及如何才能改变自己,使我们可以在生活上过的更加的快乐?

来参与这工作坊,一同学习《心经》吧!
 
《心经》工作坊
课程名额已满,停止接受报名谢谢。
工作坊内容 (授课语言:中文)

• 课诵
• 背诵《心经》 – 学习如何背诵
• 讲义
• 讨论
• 迴向
日期: 2014年1月5日至3月23日,星期日
(无课日期:1月26日,2月2日)
时间: 下午4时至6时
地点: 宏船老和尚纪年堂|一楼|9号教室
赞助费: $40
截止日期: 2013年12月22日
只限160名学员
报名表格: 课程名额已满,停止接受报名谢谢。
询问: 电话:6849 5300 | 电邮:sem@kmspks.org | 海报

指导法师:


传观法师于2002年出家,剃度师为上妙下境长老。2003年受具足戒出家后于美国新墨西哥州法云寺学习大乘经典及禅修,也同时研究上座部巴利藏经。2006年返回新加坡后跟随广声大和尚在光明山普觉禅寺继续修习。

2009年至2013年6月,法师曾担任佛教图书馆常住法师。2013年7月至今,法师是光明山普觉禅寺的常住法师,而在各佛教场讲经说法及带领禅修活动。此外,法师也通过个人博客、面薄及苹果和安卓手机电脑程序等方式与佛教网民进行交流。

The Monk Attached To Sugar Cane

Posted by on September 18, 2013

As the nature of our last thought
leads to a corresponding rebirth,
we should nurture the purest thought now,
via mindfulness of Buddha,
to be like Buddha, to be with Buddha.

- Stonepeace | Get Books
Once, in times past, there were two monks who cultivated together. One liked the high mountain scenery, while the other built himself a hut on the banks of a brook, near a forest. Years went by. The monk who resided by the brook passed away first. Learning the news, his friend went down to visit his grave. After reciting sutras and praying for his friend’s liberation, the visiting monk entered samadhi and attempted to see where his friend had gone–to no avail. The friend was nowhere to be found, neither in the heavens nor in the hells, nor in any of the realms in between.

Emerging from samadhi, he asked the attending novice, ‘What was your Master busy with every day?’ The novice replied, ‘In the last few months before his death, seeing that the sugar cane in front of his hut was tall and green, my Master would go out continually to apply manure and prune away the dead leaves. He kept close watch over the cane, and seemed so happy taking care of it.’ Upon hearing this, the visiting monk entered samadhi again, and saw that his friend had been reborn as a worm inside one of the stalks of sugar cane. The monk immediately cut down that stalk, slit it open and extracted the worm. He preached the Dharma to it and recited the Amitabha Buddha’s name (Amituofo), dedicating the merit to the worm’s salvation. (Master Tam)

Thus Have I Heard: Buddhist Parables & Stories
Related Course:
Understanding Amituofo Via The Amitabha Sutra
http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2013/07/understanding-amituofo-via-the-amitabha-sutra-12th-run
http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2013/09/the-monk-attached-to-sugar-cane/

How Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Saved A Boy

Posted by on November 13, 2013

A good sacrifice inspires;
A poor sacrifice in vain.

- Stonepeace | Get Books


A thousand years ago in Anwa there was a woman who believed in Jizo [Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; Dizang Pusa] and prayed that she might have an image of the Bodhisattva in her house to make offerings to. One day she found an old wooden Jizo in the river in front of her house. She rejoiced and prayed to this Jizo every morning and evening to be granted a child. She became pregnant and delivered a boy, but when he was four years old, she suddenly died. Her husband took a second wife who was very cruel to the little boy. The child had learned from his mother to pray to Jizo. One day when his father was away he took a little rice and, weeping for his dead mother, offered it to Jizo and to his mother’s memorial tablet at the family shrine. When the stepmother came into the house she found the child kneeling before the shrine and flew into a rage. She seized the boy and threw him into a kettle that was boiling over the fire.

At that moment the father, who was traveling on a road, became very confused and was unable to go on. He felt compelled to return home. As he turned back he saw a Buddhist monk standing by the road with a child on his back who cried out with a voice that he recognized. It was the voice of his own son! The man asked who this child was. The monk answered, “I have substituted my own body for this child when his stepmother was about to kill him. You must entrust him to other people who will raise and educate him well.” He put the child in the arms of his frightened father. The man asked the monk where he lived. The monk replied, “Near the Temple of the Repository King.” and disappeared into thin air.

After giving his son over to care of kind friends the father returned home. There he found his wife stoking the fire under a kettle. When she saw her husband she quickly put out the fire and became quite distressed. He asked her, “Where is my son?” Pretending grief she told him that the boy had been playing by the river and had drowned. The man strode to the kettle and took off the lid. There he found the old wooden Jizo floating in the boiling water. He realized the terrible thing his wife had done and saw that indeed Jizo had changed places with his son to save the boy’s life. Weeping bitterly he left the life of a householder and became a monk. From that time forth he was utterly devoted to Jizo Bodhisattva.

Jizo Bodhisattva: Guardian of Children, Travelers & Other Voyagers
Jan Chozen Bays

http://thedailyenlightenment.com/2013/11/how-ksitigarbha-bodhisattva-saved-a-boy/