Lessons are learnt some times in rather funny way. While advertising for FGS Tertiary Dharma Camp, saw this verse spoken by Ven.Master Hsin Yun.
"不过一张纸，在上面写字，用心意来帮忙。
一笔下来，几个字，我一笔完成。
如果这一笔不能完成，下一笔就不知道从哪里开始了。" - 星云大师
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQxlBX-h5Rc
Isn't this about our life, our practice? When we do not walk our life or do our practice we right view carefully yet with courage, we might end up caught in the cycles of troubles, regrets and suffering.
And if we do not treat our life like a last stroke of brush, life can never be done in a fine stroke to the end.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
One mile above 转山 THIS Buddhist Film Festival
This film is a great selection for the ending film of this year's THIS Buddhist Film Festival. Not a teary film actually but I find it very inspiring. It is not a full stop but more like a comma for the Buddhist Film Festival, and a comma for our own journey :)
It's based on a true story of a Taiwanese man, Zhang Shu Hao who wish to fulfill the unaccomplished dream of his late brother who wish to cycle from Lijiang to Lhasa. The development of the story was rather good as you could see that initially Shu Hao behaves like any average city young man who has just accepted a daunting mission yet very doubtful of his decision. Through his journey, he had very nice experience with the friendly locals as well as facing life and death situations. All this helps in making him more sturdy for the next treacherous journey ahead. At the very end of the show, when Shu Hao reaches the highest peak of the mountainous route, he decides to abandon most of his belongings and cycle ahead to Lhasa.
Watching this film, I recalled my own personal mountain hiking experiences. True enough, every bit of the journey is filled with physical weariness, emotional struggles and being with yourself. In life, when we found a goal to strive, there comes also the fair share of problems that make you suspect your initial objective and wavers your determination. Those that succeed are those that pushed on.
In the story, Shu Hao started the trip that was the wish of his late brother. But as the story progresses, he took ownership to the trip and that is where he pushes on by himself. We all could have our very own expectation and some are expectations from our parents as well as society. Yet, it is only by having ownership of our own life journey, can we do our very best for it, accepting the hardships that came or will come to face.
We can never be in the best situation in all moments of our life, doing what we like or wish to fulfill. We could only do our best with the resources we have. It takes great courage to pursue our dreams, yet it takes great spirit and determination to do things that we don't like and need to be done.
When we are at our downs in life, a good approach is to reflect on how much we have come to be where we are now. And draw strength from all the people that has supported you, your family and your friends. They have a part in you. And when you move on, you are moving on not alone but all of them. And when you succeed, you know they are there to witness your success with you.
Watch the trailer here > http://thisfilmfest.com/one-mile-above/
Friday, September 28, 2012
Crazy Wisdom - THIS Buddhist Film Festival
Very perspective and mind provoking especially to those that deem themselves righteous. haha! Its a biography about the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. According to the synposis , he is called the greatest spiritual leader as well as the bad boy of buddhism. I am sure he can't be bothered over this two title.
I would not repeat the content of the film but just my own after-thoughts. He drinks, smoke, and have a wife. People see it as Rinpoche trying to humble himself to get close to his western students. Some might just heuristically labels him as monk gone astray with full of self-justification. I see him as a living Bodhisattva. To me, I feel that he is trying to remind others not to get fixed to conventions in all his intention or this is just how liberating is for a mind of a enlightened being.
There is no mention that he goes any ways to correct someone but rather pointing out that their habits (be it good or bad) are not fixed but just another phenomena of impermanence. People who are not successful in changing their bad old habits are due to seeing their old ways hard to change. So Rinpoche does not resort to long brainwashing sermons to teach the hippies.
To see his practice upon reflection of Buddhism practice, we are always easy victims of our grasping mind. Very often, once we gain a new concept that breaks our old ways, this new concept is the new attachment. We are just like walking on quicksand. Going full force to drag one leg out resulting in sinking of another leg. Buddha is his teachings, his main ideology is change, impermanence as well as non-attachment. And so, should we get ourselves fixated to certain rituals or practice. I personally don't see it as alignment to the path. Not to say the rituals or practice are wrong but seek the true meaning of the practice after shelling away the forms is more important.
"This world can not be saved by religion alone" as mentioned by Rinpoche can be translated as "This world can not be saved by Buddhism alone" if I boldly dares to quote him. When we are fixed to the notion of even Buddhism, we risk evoking our 'self-ego' as well as those that agrees and don't agrees with you. This world doesn't need another title or status to divide the world more. We seek to be a liberating Buddhist and not a 'Attached Buddhist'.
Buddhism is about compassion and kindness. And its not a patented characteristic of Buddhism. As mentioned in the Sutra, Buddha land has no distinction and that could only be done by smashing down the walls of religion and acknowledging that everyone of us seeks peace and are fundamentally the same. Only than can Samsara gets transformed.
So why are we a Buddhist? Is it by what and how we do our practice?
http://thisfilmfest.com/crazy-wisdom/
I would not repeat the content of the film but just my own after-thoughts. He drinks, smoke, and have a wife. People see it as Rinpoche trying to humble himself to get close to his western students. Some might just heuristically labels him as monk gone astray with full of self-justification. I see him as a living Bodhisattva. To me, I feel that he is trying to remind others not to get fixed to conventions in all his intention or this is just how liberating is for a mind of a enlightened being.
There is no mention that he goes any ways to correct someone but rather pointing out that their habits (be it good or bad) are not fixed but just another phenomena of impermanence. People who are not successful in changing their bad old habits are due to seeing their old ways hard to change. So Rinpoche does not resort to long brainwashing sermons to teach the hippies.
To see his practice upon reflection of Buddhism practice, we are always easy victims of our grasping mind. Very often, once we gain a new concept that breaks our old ways, this new concept is the new attachment. We are just like walking on quicksand. Going full force to drag one leg out resulting in sinking of another leg. Buddha is his teachings, his main ideology is change, impermanence as well as non-attachment. And so, should we get ourselves fixated to certain rituals or practice. I personally don't see it as alignment to the path. Not to say the rituals or practice are wrong but seek the true meaning of the practice after shelling away the forms is more important.
"This world can not be saved by religion alone" as mentioned by Rinpoche can be translated as "This world can not be saved by Buddhism alone" if I boldly dares to quote him. When we are fixed to the notion of even Buddhism, we risk evoking our 'self-ego' as well as those that agrees and don't agrees with you. This world doesn't need another title or status to divide the world more. We seek to be a liberating Buddhist and not a 'Attached Buddhist'.
Buddhism is about compassion and kindness. And its not a patented characteristic of Buddhism. As mentioned in the Sutra, Buddha land has no distinction and that could only be done by smashing down the walls of religion and acknowledging that everyone of us seeks peace and are fundamentally the same. Only than can Samsara gets transformed.
So why are we a Buddhist? Is it by what and how we do our practice?
http://thisfilmfest.com/crazy-wisdom/
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Outrage - THIS Buddhist Film Festival
Caught the first Movie of this year's Buddhist Film Fest. Its a great choice to choose this Thai production as the opening film of the event.
Very nice shots, fantastic directing and acting. What's even more interesting is how it could be a very broad based movie with actions, romance, detective and yet mind provoking story line.'
The story starts with a monk deciding to get disrobed with cut scenes of his memory on why he decided to stay as a monk after being a novice monk. His reason to disrobe is upon his realization of his own ignorance after standing witness to a murder.
While estranged in a cave due to bad whether, the monk and his companion starts to share 4 very different version of testament by people involved in the murder. Both the Bandit, who later got beheaded as well as the lady protagonist, claims to kill the warlord. The third version of the murder was testified by the spirit of the dead warlord summoned by the shaman. The last version was by the woodcutter that was in the cave with the monk that did not disclose his case during the hearing.
The lessons from the film basically centers around how people are so attached to their ego. They either choose to falsify the account of the murder to inflate or preserve their honor, or deluded by their own desired that cause them great misery in life. The very idea of desire and fear distort what we perceived as truth.
"We see what we wish to see, hear what we wish to hear and thinks what we wish to think."
How true it is when sometimes we are so steadfast and stubbornly attached to our ideas that we hold it as the truest of the truths. This film also shared about how we often likes to play the judge role to 'sentence' who is and what is right or wrong. Actually all deeds happen due to conditions and circumstances. Someone doing something unrighteous might do so to protect lives and their love ones.
My own take is that when one starts to judge, they stop learning from the issue. It is only by learning from past mistakes or from others, can we better ourselves and make sure we are better next time. Even the most despised persona of a society can teach us views that enlightens us.
The first film this year that set me thinking through the plot till now.
I think there are still one more screening at 7pm Friday (28 Sept 2012). Catch it!
http://booking.sistic.com.sg/SisticWebApp/SeatAvailability.do?contentCode=outrage0192
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