The year is ending, again. Only this time its the lunar calendar. Dec 31 never means much as the eve of the Chinese New Year. Perhaps it’s the conjuring of endless cleaning chores that made it meaningful. Festivities are only as meaningful as we make them to be. They have a stronger value when some form of work or preparation is involved, otherwise its just another holiday.

I am more reflective and sensitive to my environment today. The flies landing on my arms, the laughter of children playing and the gentle warm breeze across my face. Moments like these are so hard to come by. We are so wrapped up in the acrobatics of life from the moment we wake to the time we put ourselves to bed. Retracing the last few steps in our head, wondering if we have locked the front door. The eyelids fall and we care no more.

Life is but an ebb and flow of experiences. It doesn’t matter if you are eating home or out this year. It is the journey of experience; the moment spent with your families and friends. Be reflective of the events that come by over the next day or two. Do not judge but appreciate it with an open mind and be thankful for the lessons. There is a story behind every experience.

So this year, appreciate the journey and be in the present moment at every single step. Happy new year everyone!

liang

There’s an ancient prayer called the Serenity Prayer. It’s commonly thought to be written by Reinhold Niebuhr, who was an American Protestant activist, but its popularity spread outside of the Christian religion and it’s now commonly repeated in support groups and has been adapted in many ways for many purposes.

It says:

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”.

I’ve always thought that acceptance was a tricky concept. On the one hand accepting things outside of our control helps us find happiness. There’s no use getting uptight about something in our lives we can’t change, especially if it doesn’t affect the core of who we are. Negative emotions like jealousy, anger and resentment come from wanting things to be different to the way they really are, and these kind of emotions have very negative impacts on our well-being.

On the other hand, many aspects of ourselves are choices we’ve made and that we continue to make. They’re not absolutes, they’re not “just the way it is” and they’re not inevitable. These things we can change.

When we look around and we see ways to make the world a better place, we have a choice of whether to take action or not. When we look inside and find ways of thinking or acting that are negative, again we have a choice.

Buddhism teaches acceptance, but it’s acceptance of the true nature of things. The lesson is not that we’re powerless to change anything. In fact, practices like meditation and selflessness are the opposite. They are tools we can use to harness our own power to make positive changes.

I saw a light-and-frothy Jim Carrey film called “Yes Man” last week. At the beginning of the film his life was a disaster. Bad decisions led to more bad decisions, his job was going nowhere, he was alienating his friends and he was miserable. Of course, all those things cycled on themselves. The more miserable he got, the more bad decisions he made. His fundamental change comes when he commits to saying “yes” to everything.

I’m not suggesting this is something you should do. It’s just a far-out comedy and it’s full of all kinds of unlikely situations. But there’s a fundamental truth under all the funny stuff. What happens is that events have unforeseen impacts. Benefits in ways he’d never imagined. One positive change leads to something else good happening in his life, which leads to something else, and so on. At the beginning of the film there is a spiral of circumstances downwards, but change reverses the spiral.

That’s why I’m a fan of resolutions. I think we’re all smart enough to know what changes we could and should make. Perhaps what changes we NEED to make. I know, we can make them anytime, it doesn’t need a special occasion. But if it helps to have a marker, like New Year, then why not? And who knows what positive benefits might result?

I wanted to share a list of New Year resolutions I found in a newspaper last week. I cut it out because there are a few in there I thought I might focus on this year. Perhaps there’s one or two that will resonate with you?

New Year Resolutions

• Quit smoking
• Lose weight
• Stop alcoholic drinks
• Remain calm and composed
• Face problems positively
• Practice kindness and selfless service
• Take up games and do exercise
• Practice sweetness of speech
• Replace anger with love and compassion
• Complain less and appreciate more
• Find no fault in others
• Endure challenges cheerfully
• Smile and laugh more
• Remove fear, worries and ill feelings
• Be caring and sharing
• To be content and not to yearn for more and more
• Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts and feelings
• Be more cheerful and be in the company of positive people

Whether you’ve got changes to make this year or you’re fine just the way you are, Happy New Year. I hope 2009 brings all our wishes closer.

=)  Marc

A tumultuous year with the US housing market debacle as the epicentre of the global financial woes.  Just six months before, the world economies were euphorically optimistic – the golden age of civilisation and Asia will ride the curve. How fast that has shifted. We enter 2009 with fear of a looming recession and possible higher unemployment. The Singapore economy could contract by -2% if not grow 1% in 2009, as the state agency has projected. Unemployment could reach 4%.

What does all this have to do with Buddhism? Nothing? By mere extension on a philosophical ground, one can argue that what we are experiencing in the financial market is a result of our own doing – the basic karmic principle or the law of cause and effect is just playing itself out in the current global economic woes. The years of cheap and lax credit environment in the US has provided the catalyst for the excessive leveraging of financial instruments without adequate oversight (or understanding)  that has imploded. The global economies now experience a de-leveraging of these assets that has sent financial institutions scurrying, tightening their credit to ensure their continual existence.

Of course, the vision is always perfect 20/20 in hindsight.  While I can sit here like many others and wag my disapproving finger at the US and financial institutions for causing this unnecessary pain on the global economy, it really serves no purpose. What is the outlook? Where is the bottom?
Do we really know? Does it matter? Probably not.

From the principle of relativity and impermanence, we know that physical experiences and events are often shaped by our personal mental construct and such experiences and event will change as surely as the sun will  rise on the east tomorrow. So why get overtly hung up about where things are heading? While it helps to plan ahead, we should also not live our life only thinking or fearing the future and miss out smelling the roses right in front of you.

As we enter the new year with a sour taste on our tongue, hopefully not from too much jollying over the past weeks, we need to reflect on the present and remain calm on what‘s to come. Present moment, wonderful moment. Cherish the present experiences with a learned and balanced mind. Go forth and prepare the future but go with an understanding of the basic Buddhist principles and not get trapped in that anticipation.

Welcome to 2009, I wish you the best and the shrine will continue to be there for you throughout the new year. We have lined up a new of calendar of events, so check it out on our calendar page. While we try to plan ahead, there will not doubt be changes along the way, so do check back for regular updates.

Have a calm and fruitful 2009.