by Dr Shi Zhen Jue Venerable Dr Shi Zhen Jue (See Mui Yian) is a Singaporean and was born in 1969. She has a diploma in Buddhism from Yuan Kuang Buddhist College, Taiwan, and … »
The lamrim is an instruction on how to acquire all the “stages” or spiritual qualities of the path up to and including the complete enlightenment of a buddha. It begins with the generation of faith in the spiritual master and guides you step by step to realise bodhicitta, the spontaneous aspiration to enlightenment. »
Many a time have I had to explain to the laity – Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike – that bhikkhus are not priests, and that Malaysia doesn’t have a national Saṅgha organisation comprising all the bhikkhus from the three main cultural traditions, viz. Burmese, Sri Lankan and Thai. Although there is an officially registered “The Malaysian Siamese Saṅgha Association” for bhikkhus (mostly of Thai descent) ordained in the Thai tradition, there are no equivalents for bhikkhus ordained in the Burmese and Sri Lankan traditions. »
There are two ways of understanding what it means to renounce. On one level, it refers to becoming a monk or nun. This is more like an external form of renunciation. However, there is another way of understanding what it means to renounce – that is, to giving up attachment internally, and it includes attachment to everything, and not just to samsara or the things that we don’t like. »
