One of our long standing members of over 30 years passed away peacefully on November 26, 2008. Wang Teck Hor (袁德河) was a runner-boy on the prayer stage. He supported the prayer proceedings through his endless and often thankless chores of refreshing prayer offerings’; maintaining sufficient stock of incense; preparing beverages for his fellow prayer mates; and the list goes on. While he was not on the forefront, his duties were nonetheless critical and crucial to the smooth running of the entire group.

While we mourn his passing with his family, lets us remember that this is not the end but a new beginning of his next chapter on the path towards enlightenment. May we bid him farewell and may he continue, as he had in this life, diligently on this path.

The memorial service will be held on November 29th, 2008 at the void deck of Block 22, Havelock Road at 7.30pm. The cortège leaves on November 30th 2008, 1pm to Tze Toh An.

A sunny day, delicious food and lots of smiling faces made for some lovely pictures of MHBS’s Deepavali celebrations. Online here.

I wanted to draw your attention to a short video that went live on the web a few days ago. If you have some spare surfing time then please do click through and have a look. It’s very inspiring.

It marks the launch of a global endeavor to celebrate compassion and promote collaboration between the world’s religions. The background to it is a TED Prize wish by Karen Armstrong, calling for a Charter for Compassion.

And the exhilarating twist here is that the writing won’t be done behind closed doors. It will be done by you… and perhaps millions of others around the world. Because they’re using special collaborative web tools created by the geniuses at Kluster (a collaborative decision making platform) to enable this be truly a charter “created by the world for the world”.

Millions of people around the world will be contributing, in their own language, to help create a charter capable of inspiring the world to focus on what the great religions share, as opposed to what divides them. Already people are responding to this amazing idea with passion and excitement. The goal is to obtain all input from global participants within the next four weeks, select the best contributions with the help of a council of religious “sages”, and conduct a major launch of the finished document in 2009.

Although Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion, I think this is very exciting and very relevant to something we all hold close to our hearts.

Aren’t we a handsome bunch?

I had a bit of a windfall gain last week. A disk of unseen photos from Vesak popped up. They’re by oh-so-humble Kevin “who me? I’m not very good yet” Low and there’s lots of really, really nice pics amongst them.

Some intimate portraits too… perhaps of you?

As usual, if you’d like big versions of anything, just let me know.

So, off you go, check them out here.

As always, this year’s Deepavali celebration was a success, with the rain holding out until the end of the celebrations before unleashing its wrath (and thus helping to wash the floor a second time).

Many people came with family members in tow, prayed for blessings, greeted and paid respect to our Master, chatted with fellow members over the sumptuous vegetarian buffet lunch and left satisfied; making it yet another memorable occasion.

Like many past celebrations, there are a few small groups of very happy and willing volunteers who work quietly behind the scenes (well, I say quietly, but actually they can be quite boisterous) to ensure that everything goes smoothly with minimum hitches. For example:

• Putting up the decorations to enhance the ambience
• Arranging hundreds of oil lamps for everyone to light
• Washing and arranging the hundreds of fruits & flowers for offerings
• Handling all the administrative matters
• Photography — to capture our actions (the good, the bad and the ugly) - for our viewing pleasure and posterity (available on the shrine’s website)
• Cleaning the Shrine before & after each celebration
• Setting up the tables and chairs for guests
• Arranging and replenishing the food & drinks
• Setting up paraphernalia required to conduct the prayers

These volunteers have never, and will never, solicit for thanks. Nevertheless I would just like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of everyone who has in one way or another made these joyous occasions so successful.

Here’s a quote from someone, (that’s me, hee! hee!).

“Blessed and most fortunate are we in this lifetime to be given these precious opportunities to learn, serve and walk alongside our Master. The blessings and guidance that we received from our Master are PRICELESS.”

Just a little general interest information in case anyone is looking for an intensive meditation retreat.

The Vipassana International Centre has a 10 Day course in English/Mandarin coming up at St John’s Island from 19 to 30 Nov.

You can click through from that page for full details of the retreat, which is free. It begins with basic techniques and you are guided in your development to a final day of meditation on loving kindness or goodwill to all. Meals are vegetarian.

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. It is non-sectarian and is taught as a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body.

Oct 7 2008

The hall has been nicely decorated with streamers welcoming guests. The usual tables have been specially covered with plastic sheet, protecting the yellow fabric beneath that functions as a table cloth. Dining tables with red plastic chairs of eight or more have been neatly laid out along the walkway. All these arrangements have been single-handedly done by none other than Uncle Cheok, a big and industrious man who has been with the Shrine for many years.

Members began pottering in as early as half past six. They have been invited for a celebratory meal this evening. At seven sharp, our Spiritual Master emerged from her retreat to welcome all present. As usual, her soft spokenness and gracious mannerism warm the hearts of those around. Smiles across faces as she looks to them.

Brother Tick Koon, upon instruction from Master, delivers a speech on her behalf. He spoke in the members’ most commonly used language - Teochew.

He reads:

Good evening everyone, this message that I am delivering, is from our Spiritual Master.Our Master is happy to see everyone here tonight. The key reason for organizing tonight’s event is to mark her successful achievement of her life-long pursuit towards the understanding of the five life elements - birth, old age, sickness, death and suffering, and the three Buddhist treasures of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. She confessed that she has been delaying this event out of modesty but upon receiving reminder again from the Spiritual Master of her lineage himself; she has finally relented and invited everyone to share the joy of her success. This day also coincided with her embarkation on this spiritual journey some 40 years ago. This day also marks the 33rd anniversary of the establishment of the Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine Prayer Group.

As a matter of clarification, our gathering here today is not in any way associated with the celebration for the Ninth Guardian that is observed by many on this date. Instead, it is to mark the successful completion of what she set out to do, in her words “有头有尾”.

This celebratory dinner is to share the good fortune and prosperity with you all tonight. Thank you and may you enjoy the meal with true understanding.

The speech concluded with a wave of spontaneous applause and congratulatory wishes by the members who stood in line, waiting patiently to personally congratulate our Spiritual Master before leaving the hall to partake the vegetarian spread that was neatly placed along the walkway.

The mood remains high and spirited throughout the evening. By almost ten, the crowd had thinned, leaving the few familiar faces to tidy up the shrine. Indeed, gratitude to everyone who helped prep the Shrine before and after the event.

For those present that night, fortunate are we to witness this event and blessed are we to have partaken in this celebration. Pictures from the night are online here.

A small tweak to the online calendar. Most of you probably worked it out already anyway. We mentioned previously that Deepavali had changed dates, but I forgot to update the website.

The Shrine is closed on Sunday 26th (and Tuesday), but it is open on Monday 27th October, the day of Deepavali. See you there

I’ve heard a rumour that the bus was a lot heavier coming back from Malacca than it was when it left Singapore. The reason? Chicken Rice Balls and cheap shoes!

Check out the photos here.