That is why during my Buddhist course, our teacher makes a distinction between 拜佛 (worshipping Buddha) and 学佛 (practicing Buddhism).
Of course it does not help when some religious "shepherds" consider yoga a "religion"!?
Its awkward moments like these that I keep my mouth shut and walk away.
Having a philosophy makes life a lot easier.
Especially when things happen and you don't know whether to cry or laugh...
He writes quite a lot on mindfulness which I like. Rather soothing.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
DeleteHe is quite prolific in his writings.
And it helps when he knows quite a few languages!
Very interesting to study how Zen is practiced and applied in different countries like China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam ;)
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteHe is my first 'mentor' in meditation. Taught me the fundamentals from the books I've read. Read the biblography section of his book too, so it leads all from there. Drink water must think of source lol
LP,
DeleteAnother person who introduced Mindfulness and Meditation to laymen in the west is ex-Google employee 107 - Chade-Meng Tan of "Search Inside Yourself" fame ;)
Not bad for a software engineer from our very own NTU!
He definitely can use BOTH sides of his brain ;)
Buddhism is a teaching.
ReplyDeletejohn j,
DeleteAny belief systems, if not acted upon or practiced, is what it is, just say say only ;)
Hi SMOL,
ReplyDeleteOf all the pathways one can take as a practitioner, the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy track is the only one that interests me.
Too bad such courses are scarce in Singapore. :(
Unintelligent Nerd,
DeleteI just did a simple google - most of the courses are in US and Canada?
One of the drawbacks of city living is stress.
And it manifests itself through depression, loneliness, and maniac behaviours...
I guess there's a need for more therapists as Singapore expands to 10 million one day?
Practice is really the difficult part
ReplyDeleteSupposedly practice is to be done in the right frame of mind and the right heart/feelings
But I guess we all need to start somewhere. If I can't have all three, think also good, if I do good unwillingly, do it nonetheless.
Hopefully it converge one day
Sillyinvestor,
DeleteAnyone and everyone can talk theory; only the few can walk the talk.
Yes, its better to start with baby steps.
How many times we have said we'll do something but never got around to doing it?
Inertia.
Thats a big barrier to overcome.
Never underestimate baby steps. Its like a tiny snowball rolling down the snowcapped mountain ;)
temperament,
ReplyDeleteIf I were religious, I would likely be a Deist.
Never liked big organisations...
And the idea the big guy upstairs knows what I think, tells me what food I can or cannot eat, interested in who I sleeps with, and in what positions... Now that's a bit spooky!