Tse Shan Monastery (慈山寺)

Tsz Shan Monastery is one temple I want to visit. Maybe I can visit Hong Kong in November this year.

Mr Li Ka-shing, a successful Hong Kong billionaire businessman is a devoted Buddhist who donated huge amount of money to help spread Buddha's teaching by building monastery. He also realised the truth that we can't bring all the wealth with us if we passed away from this human realm but we can pass on Buddha' teaching. Though I don't have that much money like him, I will use my time and effort to share Buddha's teaching through my blog. Sharing what I learned from Buddha's teaching really brought me great joy and peace. Contentment and mindfulness are indeed important. Relentless pursuit of chasing material wealth don't bring happiness. If you have lots of money and gold but don't appreciate or value what you have, its as good as being poor. We are focusing on the lack instead of appreciating what we already have.

I am really grateful to Lord Buddha for spending about 4 decades of his life spreading the truth of life to many others. The four Noble truths and the 8 Noble path to stop suffering in the samsara. I can't explain why but sometimes I feel tired with the many cycles of rebirths due to delusion and craving. I felt like I been here many times.  Even though I have not yet go through Buddhist ceremony to seek refuge, I aim to observe the 5 precepts. Last month, I broke the precept by drinking a glass of wine when we toasted during my brother's wedding. I must be mindful and ask for plain water to toss instead of wine. 

Now I'm exploring the temples to see which temple to go through the taking of refuge in the Triple Gem. 

From Wikipedia

Tsz Shan Monastery (Chinese: 慈山寺; ) is a large Buddhist temple located in Tung Tsz, Tai Po District, Hong Kong. Within the Tsz Shan Monastery, an outdoor bronze Guanyinstatue, 76 meters in height, is the second highest in the world.

Tsz Temple completed its construction and opened to public visitors in April 2015, led by the Venerable Kok Kwong HHCKLA. Much of the monastery building funds were donated by local business magnate Li Ka-shing.

Dhamma Talk by Ajahn Keng

I'm delighted to know that Ajahn Keng will be giving Dhamma talk this month! But then I realised that my youngest brother has wedding dinner on late March. I could only attend 1 dharma talk. The talk is near Labrador Park and I really appreciate that Ajahn Keng is giving Dhamma talk. 

Even thought I'm more inclined towards Mahayana Buddhism, but I enjoy listening to Ajahn Keng, a Singaporean monk who is is also known as the forest monk which is the Theravada Buddhism whereby monks go for alms and meditate in the forest. For me I don't think there is not much different as both are Buddha's teaching.

Causes and Conditions, Buddhism in Every Step

I came across the sharing on Causes and Conditions, Buddhism in Every Step from Fo Guang Shan, Venerable Hsin Yun.

To read more, you can click here for Causes and Conditions pdf file. 

The Buddhist teachings differ from academic knowledge. Academic knowledge typically focuses on the explanation of appearances. It is an interpretation of reality based on name and form. In contrast, Buddhism teaches us to develop a penetrative understanding of the nature of phenomena that is perfect and complete.

Consider the human hand. Common knowledge simply says that it is a hand. Medical science looks at it as a structure of bones, muscles, nerves, and cells.Literature define the hand in terms of style, gesture,and expression. A philosophical analysis of the hand sees it as a symbol of destiny and friendship. In physics, the opening and closing of the hand is described by its forces and movement. In each analysis, the hand is regarded as real. The hand exists.

In contrast, the Buddhist view of the human hand penetrates its essence. This view sees the hand itself as an illusory and temporary form, unstable in nature, which will eventually decay and vanish. As a phenomenon, the hand is empty.

Suppose one were to extend the hand and make a grasping motion. Common knowledge would say the hand moved and that some air and dust were grasped. The Diamond Sutra says that such things are “like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows, like dew and lightning.” The grasp only exists because of the combination of certain causes and conditions.

I will relate another story to illustrate the existence of cause and condition. Once, King Milinda asked the monk Nagasena, “Are your eyes the real you?”
Nagasena replied, “No.”
King Milinda further inquired, “What about the ears?”
“No.”
“Does the nose represent you?”
“No.”
“Does the tongue represent you?”
“No.”
“Then, does it mean that your body is the real
you?”
“No, the existence of the body is only a temporary combination of phenomena.”
“The mind must be the real you then.”
“It is not that either.”
King Milinda was annoyed and asked further ,
“Well, if the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and thoughts are not you, then tell me, where is your true self?”

Nagasena grinned and replied with a question, “Does the window represent the house?”
The king was taken by surprise and struggled for an answer, “No.”
“How about the door?”
“No.”
“Do the bricks and tiles represent the house?” “No.”
“Then, what about the furniture and pillars?” “No, of course not.”
Nagasena smiled and asked, “If the window, door, bricks, tiles, furniture, and pillars do not represent the house, then where is the real house?”

King Milinda nally understood that causes,conditions, and effects cannot be separated nor understood through a biased and partial view. A house can only be built with the fulfilment of many conditions. Likewise, human existence also needs the satisfaction of many conditions. If we know the law of cause and condition, believe in its existence, plant good causes, and cultivate advantageous conditions, life will be a smooth, successful path. There is a poem that sums this up nicely:
If one understands
Cause and condition,One can find spring In the midst of autumn frost and winter snow.