A publication of Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia

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Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia 1

Three leading Buddhist organizations, Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia, Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia and Buddhist Gem Fellowship, supported by eight other Buddhist organizations, will be organizing the World Buddhist Conference (WBC) from November 3-4, 2012 at the Istana Hotel, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. The theme of the conference is “Transcending Negative Emotions”. The two-day Conference provides participants a unique opportunity to learn from world renown Buddhist teachers and leading psychologists and psychiatrists about how one can develop true happiness and well-being in our everyday lives. It allows for one to experience the Buddha’s teachings as a living philosophy that is contemporary and relevant in this modern world. This Conference will be graced by the presence of world-renown Buddhist teachers such as H.E. The 12th Kenting Tai Situpa, Ven. Dr Sugandha, Ven. Dr Shi Zhen Jue and Ven. Bhikkhuni Dr Dhammananda. The Conference is aimed at the ordinary Buddhists – the man in the street – who wish to seek practical advice on what they need to do in order to live in harmony - to be able to lead peaceful and stress-free lives. Other speakers include Ven. Wei Wu from Than Hsiang Temple, Penang, Ven. Geshe Dadul Namgyal, Ven. Thubten Chökyi, Dharmachari Lokamitra, Dr Tan Eng Kong and Dr Lobsang Rapgay. Registration to attend the Conference is now open. Early Bird fee (before August 15, 2012) is RM 320 and RM 200 (Full-time students), and Normal Fee (August 16, 2012 onwards) is RM 380 and RM 270 (Full-time students). Participation for Sangha members is free but prior registration is required. Meals and refreshments are included in the registration fee. For details, please access our website at http://www.wbc.my. You may also email us at [email protected] or call 016-331 2637.


By Ven. Mahinda

Metta Round The World

As we live in these times of great change and uncertainty we need to recognize the importance of the cultivation of mindfulness and be ready to transform ourselves through a simple, sustainable and spiritual way of life.

We need to wake up to the realities of the dramatic changes taking place around us and the various manifestations of suffering in the world.

We need to recognize the preciousness of our human life and arouse compassion in our hearts as we kindle the light of wisdom within. The qualities of wisdom and compassion are both necessary in order to cope with and adapt to the changes taking place around us, and to be able to live more meaningfully.

The cultivation of light, love and compassion are embodied in all great spiritual traditions around the world.

Metta in Pali or Maithri in Sanskrit language means “loving-kindness” or “boundless love” i.e. love without boundaries. It is the wish for all sentient beings to be well and happy. It is the basis for the cultivation of

We need to arouse compassion in our hearts as we kindle the light of

wisdom within.

EDITORIAL BOARDDato’ Ir. Ang Choo HongLoh Pai LingPang Hock Huat, JeffreyCecelia Alphonsus, Yow Kuan Wai

DESIGN & LAYOUTJocelyn Tee<[email protected]>

PRINTERUnigenius Print Sdn Bhd

PUBLISHERBuddhist Missionary Society Malaysia123 Jalan Berhala, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 603-22730150, Fax: 603-22733835Email: [email protected]: www.bmsm.org.my

VOICE OF BUDDHISM

VOLUME 52

7

Metta round the worldby Ven. Mahinda

3How to reduce your agonyby Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda

9 Where to meditate?by Pa-Auk Sayadaw

Effective ethics in business organizations by Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong

12

22 Facing death without fear by Prof. Lily de Silva

26 Admirable friendshipby Ajahn Thannisaro

Accepting diversity, living peacefully by Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong

30

Buddhism and ecology - A virtue ethics approach by Prof. Damien Keown

35

42 Events- Opening of Sima Hall at Dhammavijaya - Consecration of Samadhi Vihara- 2600 Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi - 9th International Buddhist Conference - 26th World Fellowship of Buddhist Conference- Seminar on Teaching of Dhamma at University Level- Wesak Celebrations- Others

http://www.mettaroundtheworld.org

other great virtues such as compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity.

Metta is a powerful healing force which will transform us into a more compassionate, caring and resilient community, transmuting all negative energies and entities into light, love and harmony.

Voice of Buddhism4 Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia 5

The practice of Metta helps to reduce the tendency of anger, hatred and grudges. Metta is a great healing force. It also promotes patience, tolerance, gratitude and above all, a forgiving heart. Forgiveness is an important factor, which helps in releasing certain emotional blockages due to grudges, remorse or guilt. When one is clear of those emotional blockages through seeking forgiveness from others, then forgiving others as well as forgiving oneself, one’s heart will become lighter, one will experience light-heartedness and one will be happier and more cheerful.

The release of emotional blockages through Metta and the practice of forgiveness have great therapeutic values. Many health problems are related to anger and other negative emotions.

Metta promotes the true spirit of friendship or friendliness. As such, human beings will be near and dear to one. One will be able to make friends easily. Even animals will love one. This is how the yogis who practice in the deep forests or jungles can live in harmony with wild animals.

According to the instructions given in the Karaniya Metta Sutta, one needs to

Benefits of MettaAccording to the first verse of Dhammapada “The Sayings of the Buddha”:

Mind is the forerunner of all phenomena (MANO PUBBANGAMĀ DHAMMĀ: Dh1)

As such, we need to harness all our positive mental energies to bring about peace, harmony and stability for the nation and for the world we live in.

The intention of this “Metta Round the World” project is to unite all peace-loving people throughout the world with one heart and mind in meditation and prayer for world peace, harmony and stability.

Bhante Mahinda introducing Metta Round the World to a fulll house audience at Mahindrama Temple on 22nd April, 2012.

Let us all fill our hearts with pure love and compassion and cherish the wish that all suffering beings be free from suffering; that those in sorrow be free from sorrow; and that those in fear and danger be free from fear and danger.

May we grow and evolve from light to light and work for the welfare and happiness of the many. May all beings be well and happy.

practice until one’s heart is completely suffused with loving-kindness:

One needs to practice Metta in all directions: above, below and all around (UDDHAM ADHO CA TIRIYAÑ CA)and at all times; whether standing, sitting, walking or sleeping (TITTHAM CARAM NISINNO VĀ SAYĀNO VĀ)

When practiced together with wisdom and insight, Metta will indeed become a powerful healing force, which will transform us into a more compassionate and caring community, as well as transmuting all negative energies and entities into light, love and harmony.

Benefits of Metta (Anguttara Nikaya 11.16)• One sleeps happily• One wakes happily• One does not suffer bad dreams• One is dear to human beings• One is dear to non-human beings• The gods protect one• No fire or poison or weapon harms one• One’s mind gets quickly concentrated• The expression of one’s face is serene• One dies unperturbed

Even if one fails to attain higher states, one will at least reach the state of the Brahma world.


How to Reduce Your Mental Agony

If you are facing a problem, what is the remedy to overcome it? Instead of worry and mental agony, look for solutions, see a problem in a new perspective and count your blessings.

Whenever certain difficulties and problems arise, make up your mind to reduce your mental agony. First, you must try to understand the nature of the world where you live. You can never expect everything in this world to be perfect and to run smoothly. The world situation may not always be in your favour. There could be no world and no life without problems. Natural forces like sunlight, rain, wind and moonlight are favourable and useful to many, yet at times, they could be a nuisance to many others. There is in fact nothing perfectly bad or perfectly good in this world because the very things that are welcomed by one group could be hated by another group. Therefore we define good and bad according to our needs. If you have strong selfish cravings for existence and the senses, you will have to pay the price – the mental agony of

One way to reduce your mental anguish is to recap what you have gone through before, under similar or worse circumstances; and how you have, through your own patience, initiative and effort been able to surmount your difficulties.

BMSM to organise 24 hr MettaThe Budddhist Missionary Society Malaysia (BMSM) is joining Aloka Foundation to jointly organise the round-the-clock 24hr Metta event to illuminate the world with loving-kindness.

This non-stop chanting for world peace, harmony and stability will be from 24th to 25th November 2012 and the venue will be at BMSM’s Samadhi Vihara at 1B, Jalan Serai Wangi U12/8, Section U 12, Bukit Raja Industrial Zone 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor.

Bhante Mahinda, Religious Advisor to BMSM and Spiritual Director of Aloka Foundation will officiate the launch on 24th Nov which will be followed by chanting conducted by members of the Maha Sangha in the first hour.

He will also conduct a special Invocation, Blessing and Aspiration session at 8 o’clock that evening during which devotees will be led to circumambulate the shrine of Samadhi Vihara and make offerings of light to the Triple Gem.

Bhante Mahinda said he rejoiced with BMSM for teaming up with Aloka Foundation to reach out to a larger community for a greater widespread participation in the practice of metta, which the world needs in view of the pervading chaotic and negative energies that prevail.

Aloka Foundation initiated this 24hr Metta event on 31st Dec 2011 right through to 1st January 2012 in which Metta Round The World, an initiative for all peace-loving people to connect with one heart, one mind in prayer and meditation for world peace, harmony and stability.

That maiden 24hr Metta event held in the SRK (C) Sungai Way School was successful, with 30 Buddhist organisations and groups participating in the relay chanting in one-hour slots after it was started by the Maha Sangha. Over 1,500 devotees streamed in and out of the venue, round the clock, while another 350 joined in from other parts of Malaysia via Internet link-up.

Bhante Mahinda looks forward to another round of resounding support from Buddhist organisations and groups in this second round of 24hr Metta, which will be another additional activity in line with Metta Round The World that has been extended to Wesak 2013.

“As there will be only 23 one-hour slots available, Buddhist organisations and groups can combine to bring more devotees for the collective chant of Karaniya Metta Sutta and appropriate mantras to reverberate and envelope the world in compassionate love.

“Technology is also making it possible for those offsite to join in and I urge Buddhist organisations and groups to take this opportunity to connect and participate from where ever they are with one heart and one mind with those chanting onsite,” added Bhante Mahinda.

By Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda


By Pa-Auk Sayadaw

Where to Meditate?

The Buddha points out suitable places for meditators in the passage (in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta ): ‘A bhikkhu goes to the forest, to the foot of a tree or to a secluded place.’ This makes clear what is an abode appropriate to the meditator for the cultivation of mindfulness.

The mind of the meditator has dwelt on visual objects and other sensual objects for a long time before he comes to meditate. He does not like to enter the road of meditation, because his mind is not tamed is not used to living without sensual pleasures. He is like a wild young bull that if harnessed to a cart always wants to run off the road. Before beginning to meditate, his mind constantly came into contact with various kinds of sensual objects, such as movies, pleasant music, delicious food, and enjoyable social life. And his mind took great delight therein.

But now there are no movies, no music, etc. to please his eyes, ears, etc., and thus his mind is just like a fish taken out of water and put on the dry ground, jumping about in distress and longing for water. Now, in-and-out breath is just like the dry ground; it is too monotonous and unsatisfying to his mind,

Pa-Auk Sayadow at the Sima Hall of Dhammavijaya Meditation and Retreat Centre, June 2012.

‘A bhikkhu goes to the forest, to the foot of a tree or to a secluded place.’ This makes clear what is an abode appropriate to the meditator for the cultivation of mindfulness.

Among those who hate, we live without hating, When they hate we live without hating, We live happily among those who hate. - Dhammapada 197.

having to survive with a topsy-turvy view of the world. Wishful thinking, yearnings for eternity and clinging to feelings such as ‘I’ or ‘Me’ only wrap the mind and its sense of time. Unfulfilled desires yield their crop of quarrels, friction, communication, failures, worry, loneliness and anxiety. If you are desirous or eradicating the mental agony within you, you have to subdue selfish cravings. Life’s journey has a T-junction. Either you take the right path and develop your spirituality to unwind the tensions of worldly life or you continue to indulge in sensual pleasures with their many attendant confrontations. One way to relieve yourself of occasional mental agony is to understand the degree of your own sufferings and difficulties compared with those experienced by others. When you are unhappy, you often feel that the world is against you. You think that everything around you is about to collapse. You feel that the end of the road is near. However, if you make a mental note of things around you and count your blessings, surprisingly, you will find that you are indeed much better off than many other people.

“I complained that I had no shoes until I met a man who has no feet”. In short, you have been unduly exaggerating your own difficulties and problems. Others are in fact worse off, and yet they do not worry themselves unduly.Problems are there. You should try to solve them instead of worrying and creating mental anguish within you. The Chinese have a practical saying about solving problems: “If you have a big problem, try to reduce it to a small problem. If you have a small problem, try to reduce it to no problem.” Another way to reduce your mental anguish is to recap what you have gone through before, under similar or worse circumstances; and how you have, through your own patience, initiative and effort been able to surmount your difficulties. By doing so, you will not permit your existing problem to drown you. On the contrary, by seeing life in a new perspective, you will be able to solve whatever problems you may now be facing. With this frame of mind, you will soon regain your self-confidence and be in a better position to solve whatever problems that may be in store for you.

which is ever longing for sensual pleasures. While sitting, instead of concentrating on the breath, he spends much of his time dwelling in past sensual pleasures that he enjoyed, or in future sensual pleasures that he expects to enjoy. But this is just a waste of time and is not helpful to mental cultivation.


As a leopard lies in ambush and captures beasts, So does this son of the Awakened One, the striving man, the man of keen vision, having gone into the forest seizes therein fruition that truly is supreme.

And so The Blessed One said ‘goes to the forest’ and so forth to point out the suitable place for fruitful exertion in meditation.

The newly completed Sima hall at Dhammavijaya Meditation and Retreat Centre is an ideal place for meditation.

Although you are now neither in the forest nor at the foot of a tree, and the place here is crowded with many meditators, if you are able to ignore the presence of others, put aside all other things and just be aware of your meditation object, this place will be just like a secluded place to you. Furthermore, group meditation does help you arouse energy and progress faster in meditation.

Mindfulness of breathing is not easy to accomplish without leaving the neighbourhood of a village because sound is a thorn to absorption. In a place that is uninhabited, it is easy for the meditator to take up this meditation subject. Therefore, The Blessed One pointed out the abode suitable for that with the words, ‘goes to the forest, or to the foot of a tree, or to a secluded place.’

The Buddha is like a master of the science of building sites because he pointed out the suitable abode for meditators. After a master in the science of selecting building sites has seen a stretch of ground good for building a town and has considered it well from all sides, he advises: ‘Build the town here.’ When the building of the town is completed he receives high honour from the royal family. In the same way, after The Buddha has well considered from all points the abode suitable for the meditator he advises: ‘This meditation subject should be chosen.’ When Arahantship has gradually been reached by the meditator, he expresses his gratitude and admiration with the words: ‘Certainly, The Blessed One is the Supremely Awakened One.’ The Buddha receives great honour.

The Simile of A Leopard The bhikkhu is comparable to a leopard. Like the leopard he lives alone in the forest and accomplishes his aim by overcoming those contrary to him, namely, the passions.

A great king of leopards hidden in the forest in grass-bush, jungle-bush or hill-thicket, seizes wild buffalos, elks, pigs and other beasts. In the same way, the bhikkhu devoting himself to the meditation subject gains the Four Noble Paths and Fruitions one after another. Therefore the ancient commentators said:

Even if he practices in this way his whole life, there will be no improvement for him.

The Simile of A Wild CalfThus, in order to overcome his bad habit he should repeatedly bring his mind back to the breath, keeping his mind on it as long as possible. In this way he begins to develop a new habit of concentrating on the breath. It is just like a cowherd who wishes to tame a wild calf nourished entirely on the milk of a wild cow. He leads that calf away from the cow to a stout post firmly sunk in the ground and then ties the calf to it. When that calf jumps here and there, it finds that it is impossible to run away. Eventually it gets tired of struggling and crouches down or lies down at that very post. In the same way, he who wants to tame the wild mind that has for a long time been nourished on visible and other sensual objects leads the mind away from them and ushers it into a forest, to the foot of a tree or to a secluded place. Then he ties that mind to the post of the object of foundation of mindfulness, such as the breath, with the rope of mindfulness. His mind will also jump here and there. When it cannot obtain the objects it had long grown used to and finds it impossible to break the rope of mindfulness and run away, it will finally sit or lie down at that very object by way of access and full absorption.

Therefore, the ancient commentators said:As one who wants to break a wild young calf Would tether it to a stout stake firmly, here, In the same way the meditator should tie fast his own mind to the meditation object.

In this way, this abode becomes appropriate to the meditator. Therefore, it is said, ‘This makes clear what abode is appropriate to the meditator for the cultivation of mindfulness.’


Introduction

In today’s world, business ethics is an important and integral part of any good business organisation. Many business organisations have promoted ethics by having a written code of conduct, an effective legal framework, and an efficient accountability mechanism. While the roles of such “ethical infrastructures” cannot be denied, their effectiveness is often questioned. More often than not, members of such organisations would comply to the demands of these ethical infrastructures mechanically, reluctantly and hypocritically, but would breach them whenever opportunities arise. This is the perennial problem of incontinent or akrasia – knowing certain behaviours are unethical and yet act unethical. Worse still, certain members of the organisations would choose to study these ethical infrastructures well so that they might exploit the loop holes in them to carry out unethical behaviours and yet escape punishment or public condemnation. Hence the task of having an effective ethic for business organisations had always been a great challenge to those concerned.

Buddhism can offer a solution to the above challenge. It offers a practical approach towards the development of moral behaviour through a series of training. Buddhism believes that moral behaviour should not be mere mechanical compliance to codes of conduct or reluctant obedience to certain legal stipulations but manifested naturally by a well-developed personality.

One of the tenets of Buddhism is the Law of Causality. According to this law, a phenomenon occurs due to interplay of several causes or conditions, and never because of chance or due to a single cause. Likewise, in business organisations, there are many conditions that influence the ethical behaviours of employees and

employers. Virtuous leadership and the right work culture are some of the conditions that will bring about ethical behaviours in the organisations. The later part of this paper will discuss how these conditions may be developed, with specific reference to the Ten Virtues of Kings and the Seven Conditions of Welfare, preached by the Buddha more than 2500 years ago.

Practicality of Buddhist Ethics

First of all, an effective ethic must be one that is practical, one that can be developed through proper training.

The practicality of Buddhist ethics may be gauged from the words of the Buddha: “Bhikkhu, what is morally evil should be abandoned; it can be done, if it were not possible I would not tell you to do so. Moreover, if the abandoning of morally evil qualities were not conducive to welfare, but to suffering, I would not tell you to abandon evil, but because its abandoning conduces to well being and happiness, I therefore ask you to do so. Bhikkhu, what is morally good should be cultivated; it can be done, if it were not possible I would not tell you to do so. Moreover... (AI.58). These beautiful words of the Buddha carry two important messages, i.e. moral behaviour can be cultivated, and that moral behaviour is conducive to one’s well being and happiness. A brief analysis on this practical method of moral development is given below.

Buddhist morality is an integral part of the Buddhist system of thought. Buddhists believe that our human existence is not ideal because it is unsatisfactory (dukkha). Many religions also believe in a similar, though not identical, concept, and thus preach a better alternative after death – eternal life in the hereafter. The goal of Buddhist teaching is to end this unsatisfactory cycle in present life. This is achieved when human beings effect a complete inner

Effective Ethics in Business Organizations

Paper presented at the Second World Buddhist Business Forum, Taiwan, 22-25 Dec. BE2554(2011)

AbstractMost efforts to promote ethics in business organisations focus on having a workable code of conduct, an effective legal framework, and an efficient accountability mechanism. While the role and importance of such “ethical infrastructure” cannot be denied, one should also acknowledge the fact that ethical infrastructure alone is unlikely to bring about real behavioural change. More often than not, members of business organisations (employers and employees) would mechanically, reluctantly or hypocritically comply to the demands of this ethical infrastructure but would breach them whenever opportunities arise. This is the perennial problem of incontinent or akrasia. The challenge lies in having an approach that would make members of the organisation comply to

these demands sincerely, willingly and happily. In this aspect, the Sila-Samadhi-Panna approach offers a practical solution. This approach provides a series of training that can bring about well-developed personalities. With well-developed personalities, moral behaviours would then be manifested naturally. The first part of this paper will outline this approach.

The ethical behaviours of members of business organisations are also strongly influenced by several other factors. One such factor is exemplary and virtuous leadership. Studies have shown that efforts to promote certain ethical standards among members of business organisations have little impact on them when they discovered that leaders’ behaviour are inconsistent with these standards. In this aspect, the teaching of Ten Virtues of Kings provides clear and inspirational guidelines on the development of such exemplary and virtuous leadership. Another factor is the establishment of a conducive work culture. One can gain some useful tips on the development of such a culture by referring to the Seven Conditions of Welfare preached by the Buddha. These will be elaborated in the second part of this paper.

By Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong


A well-concentrated mind naturally assists in enhancing one’s spiritual and ethical practices, resulting in wisdom (panna) in us. With wisdom, one develops positive thoughts such as loving-kindness, detachment and non-violence, as well as sees the true nature of things through insight meditation.

These three stages of training are not mutually exclusive. They are inter-dependant and support each other, and hence must be practiced together. For instance, practicing morality (sila) would enable us to develop mental concentration (samadhi) better; at the same time, through mental concentration, we see things wisely and refrain from evil actions. This is clearly mentioned in the Digha Nikaya I:84, as follows: “ Wisdom is purified by virtue, and

virtue is purified by wisdom. Where one is, so is the other. The virtuous person has wisdom, and the wise person has virtue. The combination of virtue and wisdom is called the highest thing in the world.” Thus, Buddhist morality (sila) is not an authoritarian code of conduct that one is bound to comply, but a standard which one genuinely and sincerely wants to achieve. It is a conduct that a well-developed personality happily and naturally manifests.The sila-samadhi-panna approach is different from the conventional code of ethic found in most business organisations. This approach is a total package that embraces mental training that leads one to see evil as evil and naturally wants to avoid it, whereas the conventional code of ethic stops at the equivalent Sila level, which is therefore an incomplete and ineffective package.

Dato’ Ir. ang choo Hong presenting his paper at the 2nd World Buddhist Business Forum

“The sila-samadhi-panna approach is a total package that embraces mental training that leads one to see evil as evil and naturally wants to avoid it, whereas the conventional code of ethic stops at the equivalent Sila level, which is therefore an incomplete and ineffective package. “

transformation, leading to the highest experience of Nirvana. In so doing, they not only overcome their own unsatisfactory lifestyle (dukkha) but also cease to create problems and sufferings for others.

The highest goal of Nirvana can be considered as the perfection of human qualities. Nirvana is defined by the Buddha as the complete destruction of the three evil roots (akusala-mula) of Greed (Lobha), Hatred (Dosa) and Delusion (Moha). In its place arise the perfection of moral virtues and the attainment of supreme wisdom.

There are three stages of training which systematically and progressively lead one to experience Nirvana. They are:

(a) Moral Virtues (sila) which is the cultivation of wholesome habits and practices, and the avoidance of unwholesome deeds.

(b) Concentration (samadhi) or the development of mental composure, and

(c) Wisdom (panna) or the development of insight. In the practice of moral virtues (sila), lay Buddhists are advised to follow the five precepts in their daily lives. The five precepts are guidelines for the lay Buddhists in their everyday life. With the five precepts, the Buddhists train themselves to do the following:

1. Abstain from killing other living beings and respect all forms of lives.

2. Abstain from taking what belongs to others and to respect the properties of others. 3. Abstain from sexual misconduct and be contented with one’s own sexual partner. 4. Abstain from lying and speaks the truth. 5. Abstain from consuming intoxicants and drugs because they intoxicate our minds.

Apart from the five precepts, Buddhists are also advised to practice other positive qualities, such as generosity (dana), truthfulness (sacca), and service (veyyavacca), etc.

Precepts are neither commandments nor a set of divinely given code of conduct. Precepts are training rules that a Buddhist observes out of understanding. The Buddhist method of ethical training does not end with the five precepts. While continuing to observe the precepts (sila), the next stage is to develop concentration of the mind (samadhi). A well-concentrated mind, because of its penetrative insight, will help us see things as they truly are (Yattha Bhuttam Dasana).

This state of mind is achieved through various techniques of mental development or meditation. The Buddhist scriptures mentioned that there are 40 objects of meditation that we could use to develop our mental faculties. A practitioner can choose, based on his own temperament, one or more of these objects for his meditation.

More often than not, members of business organisations would mechanically, reluctantly or hypocritically comply to the demands of “ ethical infrastructure” but would breach them whenever opportunities arise. This is the perennial problem of incontinent or akrasia.


constituency without regard to its needs), or to conceal certain information under the law of secrecy, or to trial an enemy in a court – but is it ethical? The answers to these questions very much depend on the moral conscience of the persons involved. If he has no moral conscience, it is most unlikely that he will behave ethically, yet he may escape the persecution of the law.

Another approach favoured by some educationalists is to introduce moral education as a subject from primary school level right up to the university level. They failed to understand that many of the ethical issues in our society today is not the result of peoples’ unawareness of what is right or wrong but that they do wrong even knowing fully well what right conduct demands of them. This is the real issue and not the lack of moral education. The answer to it does not lie in having excessive moral indoctrination but in having an effective moral education. In my humble opinion, an effective moral education is one that can arouse people’s moral conscience and sharpen one’s moral reasoning, and the above prescription of the Buddha could be just the right answer.

Lessons from the Dasa-Raja-Dharma –Ten Virtues of Kings

Virtuous and exemplary leadership is an important element in building an effective business ethic. It is mentioned by the Buddha, “When kings are righteous, the ministers are righteous, when the ministers are righteous, the Brahmins and householders are righteous. Thus town folks and villagers are also righteous...” He further concluded with the following stanza: “When kine are crossing, if the bull goes straight, they all go straight because his course is straight. Likewise among men, if he who is reckoned best lives righteously, the others do so too. The whole realm dwells in happiness if the king lives righteously.” This emphasis on virtuous and exemplary leadership is especially relevant in contemporary society where studies have shown that efforts to curb corruption and malpractices are often hampered by the public’s lack of faith in their leaders who are perceived to be corrupt.

When leaders are not virtuous or are perceived to be not virtuous, the citizens who regard them as role models will accept corruption as a way of life. It is of no surprise if one were to find that the Perceived Corruption Index of a country is directly related to the people’s perception of their political leaders. Hence, it is important for leaders not just to be virtuous, but also seen

Many of the ethical issues in our society today is not the result of peoples’ unawareness of what is right or wrong but that they do wrong even knowing fully well what right conduct demands of them. This is the real issue and not the lack of moral education.

Wisdom in Moral Decision-MakingThe Buddhist approach is to ensure that wisdom is present during any decision-making with regards to moral issues. Wisdom in Buddhism embraces both moral reasoning and moral conscience. The ethical infrastructures instituted in most business organisations often lack this element, hence subject to abuse and misuse. As mentioned in the Dhammapada, verse 1, “Mind is the forerunner of all things...”, so when one’s mind is endowed with wisdom, right actions would follow naturally.

The present tendency to enact complex and voluminous codes of conduct, without tackling the problem of lack of moral reasoning and moral conscience,

will not result in an ethical work culture in business organisations. It can actually result in risk avoidance behaviours whereby employees become too afraid to initiate any change for fear of infringing the code. Admittedly, with today’s complexity in the business world, there is a need for a more comprehensive code of conduct, but the question is whether it is the solution to our problem.

There is also a tendency to rely on legal means to bring about ethical behaviours. But laws by nature cannot address ethical issues which are beyond the reach of laws. For example, it may be perfectly legal to make use of public machinery to carry out an election campaign, or to pork-barrel (concentrating resources in one’s

Malaysian delegates at the 2nd World Buddhist Business Forum. Picture taken at Hai Ming Temple at the outskirt of Taipei. L-R, Ang Choo Hong, Ven. Sin Kang, Dr. Bong C.L. and Loh Pai Ling


The third quality is the willingness to sacrifice one’s time and energy for the sake of the people he serves. A great leader must be willing to walk the extra mile without expecting much in return. A leader who expects much in return for his service often ends up wanting favours from the people he serves. This often leads to corruption.

Honesty and integrity are age-old virtues. All moral and religious teachings in this world teach people to be truthful and honest. When a leader is honest, he discloses full information when making decisions, without hiding behind the cloak of secrecy. He honours his promises, and does not misuse his position for his personal gains. In this way, he helps build an ethical organization. Sometimes, leaders have a Madison Mentality – they believe that anything is right if the public is convinced that it is right, i.e. they make every effort to ensure that their actions appear ethical in the eyes of the public. They would justify their unethical behaviours by mobilizing resources to influence the public’s perception. This is a despicable act of dishonesty.

Tapa refers to the restrain of our senses and living a simple life. A simple life has always been respected in the past but modernization today has completely changed that. People are always trying to out-do others by living an opulent life style, with big cars, majestic bungalows, club memberships, etc. In order to maintain this

sophisticated kind of life style, employees in business organisations are lured to corruption. The OECD has mentioned the importance of a civil society to curb corruption. In my humble opinion, the role of a civil society should extend to create respect and honor for a simple life style. It is a futile effort trying to curb corruption when society worships wealth, power and fame.

Gentleness, non-hatred, non-violence and patience are virtues that radiate from a mind of kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and impartiality. They are collectively called the Brahma Vihara or the Four Sublime States. A leader endowed with these virtues is more likely to make morally correct decisions than one who is infused with hatred, cruelty, jealousy and attachment. Gentleness, non-hatred and non-violence invariably lead to harmonious living with a real and serious concern for the welfare of each and every one living within and without the business organisations.

Being unobstructed is the quality of bearing in mind the interests of the clients at large, without obstructing their legitimate rights. A virtuous leader will not simply impose his will on others or make decisions without consultation with parties involved. He listens attentively to the voices expressed by the internal and external clients and exchanges ideas with them. He removes unnecessary obstruction, obstacles, or red-tapes that are sure ways of breeding corruption and malpractices.

“The role of a civil society should extend to create respect and honor for a simple life style. It is a

futile effort trying to curb corruption when society worships wealth, power and fame. “

to be virtuous, if they are really sincere in weeding out corruption. This is also the case in business organisations where employees doubt the integrity of their superiors or employers.

The qualities expected of a virtuous and exemplary leader are reflected in the Buddha’s advice towards good governance in the Dasa-Raja-Dhammas or Ten Virtues of Kings. In our modern business organisations, the advice given by the Buddha to the kings 2500 years ago can also be applied to all members of the organisations, and in particular those holding position of great responsibilities. These 10 virtues that leaders should possess are as follows:

1. Generosity or liberality (dana)

2. Morality (sila)

3. Self-sacrifice for the good of the people, even to the extent of sacrificing one’s life (paricagga)

4. Honesty and integrity (ajjava)

5. Kindness and gentleness (maddava)

6. Self-control and restraint of the senses, including simplicity in life (tapa)

7. Non- hatred (akkodaha)

8. Non-violence (ahimsa)

9. Patience and tolerance (khanti)

10. Non-oppresive (avirdha)

These ten virtues are to be practiced by individuals. This is because if individuals are virtuous in their conduct, they would behave accordingly in their work place. An organisation cannot be expected to be ethical if the individuals working there are not virtuous.

Buddhism does not subscribe to the idea that a person’s private life can be separated from his public life; i.e. a person cannot live an immoral way of life at home and yet hope to behave in an ethical manner while at work. From the Buddhist standpoint, the ethics of an organization is the sum total of the ethics of individuals making up that organization.

(It may also be pointed out that though this Suttra is in reference to a monarch, it does not mean that the Buddha supported the monarchic system of government. He was merely emphasing the importance of personal virtues. This is because, in preaching the Seven Conditions of Welfare, the Buddha praised the Vajjains for having a democratic system of government. At the same time, the monastic order (sangha) set up by Him was also organized along the democratic principle.)

In the Dasa-Raja-Dhamma, the first quality expected of a leader is to be generous and charitable (dana). This is a training to reduce one’s greed. Greediness is the root cause of corruption. Greediness also leads to exploitation of others to maximise one’s gain. Therefore it is good to practice dana so as to reduce one’s greed. Also, with generosity, one tends to share profits more equally and thus build a more conducive organization.

The second quality of moral values (sila) will help us to abstain from committing unwholesome actions such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and consuming intoxicants. One who observes the precepts will be gentle, harmless and dignified in his conduct. He will carry out his duties in the most ethical manner, without taking advantage of others.


The fourth condition stresses the importance of according respect to elders and seniors. This is to bring about an orderly organization. Nowadays this value is often overlooked, leading to much disharmony with an organization.

The fifth condition emphasizes the importance of honoring and respecting the rights of other parties, such as competitors and clients. It is unethical, for example, to infringe the copy rights of competitors or to slander the name of competitors.

The sixth condition deals with the respect and support accorded to religious bodies. Throughout the ages, religions have played an important role in molding the moral behavior of mankind. When religious bodies are given the necessary support, they would be able to contribute more effectively towards the development of moral behaviours within the society, which would in turn influence the moral behaviours of people in business organisations. In this aspect, business organisations can set aside a portion of their profit to support religious activities.

The seventh condition reemphasized the importance of having a group of virtuous and learned people as role models for others to emulate. These people can help to develop business with their knowledge, skill and exemplary conduct. A business organization that has the right climate to

attract the right people to its fold will always emerge much more resilient and successful than other business organisations. Edward Burke mentioned that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for the good men to do nothing. When the climate is such that good men are not welcomed, then there would be no good men around to do something, and evil is bound to triumph.

ConclusionIn conclusion, it may be said that Buddhism offers a practical method towards the development of moral behaviours. It also emphasizes the importance of virtuous and exemplary leadership in business organisations, while stressing that the right organizational climate and conditions will result in good corporate and ethical governance. The fact that the teachings of the Buddha, delivered more than 2500 years ago, are still relevant and applicable to contemporary business organisations, is because, in the words of Albert Schweitzer, “The Buddha gave expression to truths of everlasting value and advanced the ethics not of India alone but of mankind. The Buddha was one of the greatest ethical men of genius ever bestowed upon the world.”

A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.

Lessons from the Satta aparihaniya Dhamma -Seven Conditions of Welfare

While the Buddha placed great emphasis on the virtues of individuals, it does not mean that He was unaware of the importance of external conditions or the organizational climate that is necessary for good governance. This would be consistent with the principle of Conditioned-Origination, a tenet of Buddhism which says that a phenomenon occurs due to interplay of several conditions, and not by chance or due to a single factor. This is clearly stated by the Buddha in another well-known discourse: Satta aparihaniya Dhamma or the Seven Conditions of Welfare, which are conditions necessary for good governance in an organization. Some of them constitute the so-called “ethical infrastructures” that we preached so much today. The Seven Conditions of Welfare, which the Buddha taught the Vajjians and then repeated in front of Vassakara and Ananda, are as follows:

1. They (The Vajjians) hold full and frequent public assemblies.

2. They meet together in concord, rise in concord and carry out their undertakings in concord.

3. They enact nothing not already established, abrogate nothing that has already been enacted, and act in accordance with the ancient institutions of the Vajjians as established in former days.

4. They honour, revere and support the Vajjian elders and make it a point of duty to listen to their words.

5. They do not abduct women or girls belonging to other clans and detain them.

6. They honour, revere and support the Vajjian shrines whether in town or in country, and do not allow them to fall into disuse.

7. They fully provide rightful protection, defence and support for the arahants among them, so that arahants from far away may enter the realm and live in peace.

Taken in the context of present day business organisations, these seven conditions can be interpreted as follows:

1. Participation of members of organization in the decision-making process.

2. Harmony and discipline in words and action.

3. Abide by the rule of law.4. 5. Honor, respect and seek advice from senior leaders.

6. Honor and respect the rights of others.

7. Respect and support religion.

8. Provide conditions to attract learned and virtuous people to join the organization.

The first condition deals with participatory decision-making and effective communication. This approach allows members of business organisations to discuss and decide in the way they are governed. This approach has been found to be much more effective in developing code of conduct in business organisations, then the autocratic top-down approach.

The second and third conditions bring forth the importance of disciplinary behavior and the rule of law. When discipline and harmony are not upheld within the business organisations, there will be lesser efficiency and productivity, and consequently greater chances for unethical practices. Similarly, when rule of laws are put aside in favor of whims and fancies of certain leaders, people would lose faith in the business organisation.


Let us probe a little further into the process of death, going from the known to the unknown. We know that in normal life, when we are awake, sense data keep on impinging on our sense faculties. We are kept busy attending to these sense data, rejecting some, selecting some for greater attention, and getting obsessed with still other things. This is an ongoing process so long as we are awake. In the modern age man is reaching out and seeking more and more sense stimulation. The popularity of the portable radio with or without earphones, chewing gum, cosmetics and television is a clear indication of the present trend for more and more sense stimulation. By all this we have become alienated from ourselves; we do not know our own real nature, or the real nature of our mind to be more precise. Moreover, we go about our business in social life wearing masks appropriate for each occasion. We often do not show our true feelings of jealousy, greed, hatred, pride, or selfishness. We hide them in socially accepted ways of formalized verbal expressions such as congratulations, thank you, deepest sympathies. But there are times when our negative emotions are so acute that they come into the open in the form of killing, stealing, quarreling, backbiting, and so forth. But generally we try to keep these venomous snakes of negative emotions inhibited.

Now let us see what happens at the moment of death. We believe that death is a process and not just a sudden instantaneous event. When the senses lose their vitality one by one and they stop providing stimulation, the inhibitions too fall away. The masks we have been wearing in our various roles get cast off. We are at last face to face with ourselves in all our nakedness. At that moment if what we see are the venomous snakes of negative emotions of hatred, jealousy, etc., we would be laden with guilt, remorse and grief. It is very likely that our memories too will become quite sharp, as all the sensory disturbances and inhibitions which kept them suppressed have fallen off. We may remember our own actions committed and omitted during our lifetime with unpretentious clarity. If they are morally unwholesome we would be guilty and grief stricken (S. V. 386), but if they are morally wholesome we would be contented and happy. The Abhidhammattha Sangaha speaks of the presentation of kamma or kammanimitta at the mind door on the advent of death. This seems to be the revival in memory of an actual action or action veiled in symbols at the onset of death. It is said that rebirth will be determined by the quality of thoughts that surface in this manner.

Death is the only certain thing in life. It is also the thing for which we are least prepared. We plan and prepare for various other things -- examinations, weddings, business transactions, building houses -- but we can never be certain whether our plans will materialize according to our wish. Death, on the other hand, can come any minute, sooner or later; it is the most certain event in life. Just as the mushroom raises itself from the ground carrying a bit of earth on its hood, so every living being brings with himself the certainty of death from the moment of his birth.

The Anguttara Nikaya (IV, 136) illustrates the uncertainty and the evanescent nature of life with the help of a few evocative similes. Life is compared to a dew drop at the tip of a blade of grass: it can drop off any moment and even if it does not fall off, it evaporates as soon as the sun comes up. Life is also as fleeting as a bubble of water formed by the falling rain or a line drawn on the water. The text points out that life rushes towards death incessantly like a mountain stream rushing down without stopping. The Dhammapada compares the fragility of the body to foam (v 46) and to a clay water pot (v 40). Thus with various similes the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death are emphasized over and over again in the Buddhist texts.

It is accepted as a general truth that everybody fears death (sabbe bhayanti maccuno -- Dh 129). We fear death because we crave for life with all our might.

It is also a fact that we fear the unknown. We know least about death, therefore we fear death for a duality of reasons. It seems reasonable to conjecture that the fear of death, or the fear of harm to life, lurks at the root of all fear. Therefore each time we become frightened we either run away from the source of fear or fight against it, thus making every effort to preserve life. But we can do

so only so long as our body is capable of either fighting or running away from danger. But when at last we are on the deathbed face to face with approaching death, and the body is no longer strong enough for any protest, it is very unlikely that we will accept death with a mental attitude of resignation. We will mentally try hard to survive.

As our yearning for life (tanha) is so strong, we will mentally grasp (upadana) another viable place, as our body can no longer support life. Once such a place, for example the fertilized ovum in a mother’s womb, has been grasped, the psychological process of life (bhava) will continue with the newly found place as its basis. Birth (jati) will take place in due course. This seems to be the process that is explained in the chain of causation as: craving conditions grasping, grasping conditions becoming or the process of growth, which in turn conditions birth. Thus the average man who fears death will necessarily take another birth as his ardent desire is to survive.

Facing Death without FearBy Prof. Lily de Silva

Death is a process and not just a sudden instantaneous event.

To face death peacefully one has to learn the art

of living peacefully with one’s own self as well as

with those around.


The account of the illness of Nakula’s father (A. III, 295) is another interesting episode regarding the Buddhist attitude to death. Once Nakula’s father was seriously ill and his wife noticed that he was fretful and anxious. She advised him that death with anxiety is painful and is denounced by the Buddha. Therefore he must compose himself. Comforting him, she said that he might be worried about the family income and the task of bringing up the children after his death. She assured him that she was capable of spinning and weaving and thus she could provide for the family and bring up the children. He may be anxious that she would remarry after his death.

She said that he knows just as well as she that she has never been unfaithful to him ever since they were married at the age of sixteen, and she pledged that she would remain loyal to him even after his death. Perhaps he may worry about her spiritual development and she assured him that she would continue to be earnest in her spiritual welfare. Therefore he must face death, if need there be, with no anxiety. Such was her advice to her husband who was fatally ill. It is said that he regained self- composure and thereby good health too. The matter was later reported to the Buddha, who commended Nakula’s mother for her wisdom and composure.

The suttas also discuss the advantages of the regular contemplation of death (A. IV, 46-48; S. V, 344,408). The mind gets divested from the love of life, and being intoxicated with the zest of life, men commit various atrocities. That can be prevented by the habit of practicing mindfulness of death. If we only remember that we have not come to this world to stay forever, we would take care to lead much better lives. If, when we take stock, we find wicked negative emotions such as lust, hatred and jealousy in us, we should immediately take steps to eradicate them as we would try to put out the flames if our head were to catch fire (A. IV, 320).

Thus the Buddhist texts tirelessly reiterate the positive benefits of the regular contemplation of the inevitability of death. It helps one to lead a more wholesome life and also to face death, the one and only certain event in life, with calm composure and fearless confidence.

Source: In: “One Foot in the World - Buddhist

Approaches to Present-day Problems”, Wheel

Publication No. 337/338, Buddhist Publication Society,

Sri Lanka, 1986.

“I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

- Woody Allen

Death is as natural an event as nightfall; it is but one of the manifestations of the law of impermanence. Though we dislike it immensely we have to orient ourselves to accept its inevitability, as there is no escape therefrom. The Buddhist texts advocate the cultivation of the mindfulness of death often so that we are not taken unawares when the event does take place. To face death peacefully one has to learn the art of living peacefully with one’s own self as well as with those around. One method of doing so is to remember the inevitability of death, which will deter one from unwholesome behavior. The practice of meditation is the best technique which will enable one to live peacefully with oneself and others.

The practice of loving-kindness (mettabhavana) is an effective method of meditation. One of its special advantages is the ability to face death undeluded (asammulho kalam karoti). In one sutta (A. III, 293) the Buddha explains how to prepare for a peaceful death. One has to organize one’s life and cultivate an appropriate attitude for this purpose. The instructions given there are as follows:

(1) One should not be fond of a busy life involved in various activities. (2) One should not be fond of being talkative. (3) One should not be fond of sleeping.

(4) One should not be fond of having too many companions. (5) One should not be fond of too much social intercourse. (6) One should not be fond of daydreaming.

Another sutta (A. I, 57-8) explains that if one avoids unwholesome wicked activities through body, speech and mind, one need not fear death. The Maha-parinibbana Sutta (D. II, 85-6) categorically states that those who are evil in character face death with delusion while the virtuous face death free from delusion. Thus if one leads a simple virtuous life one need not fear death.

Once Mahanama Sakka (S. V. 369) disclosed to the Buddha that he was worried where he would be reborn if he were to meet with a violent death in a road accident. The Buddha explained that those who have cultivated the qualities of faith, virtue, learning, generosity and wisdom for a long time need not entertain such fears. To illustrate the position further the Buddha employs a simile. If a pot of oil or ghee is broken in deep water the potsherds will sink to the riverbed and the oil or ghee will rise to the surface of the water. Similarly in such a tragic situation the body would be discarded and may be devoured by vultures and jackals, but the mind will rise and progress upwards.

The practice of loving-kindness (mettabhavana) is an effective method of meditation. One of its special advantages is the ability to face

death undeluded (asammulho kalam karoti).


of discernment, that help you most along the path. The foremost internal factor is appropriate attention. The foremost external factor is admirable friendship. And it’s important that you reflect on what admirable friendship means, because even though you’re supposed to be looking at your own thoughts, words, and deeds, you’re also looking at the thoughts, words, and deeds of the people around

you. After all, your eyes are fixed in your body so that they point outside. You can’t help but see what other people are doing. So the question is how you can make this knowledge most useful to yourself as you practice. And this is where the principle of admirable friendship comes in.

To begin with, it means associating with admirable people, people who have admirable habits, people who have qualities that

are worthy of admiration. One list puts these qualities at four: Admirable people have conviction in the principle of kamma, they’re virtuous, they’re generous, and they’re discerning (editor : wise) . There’s a well-known line from Dogen where he says, “When you walk through the mist, your robe gets wet without your even thinking about it.” That’s his description of living with a teacher. You pick up the teacher’s habits without thinking about it, but that can be a double-edged sword because your teacher can have both good and bad habits, and you need to be careful about which ones you pick up.

The Buddha said there are two factors that help

most in the arising of discernment, that help you

most along the path. The foremost internal factor

is appropriate attention. The foremost external

factor is admirable friendship.

So in addition to associating with admirable people, the Buddha says there are two further factors in admirable friendship. One is that you ask these people about issues of conviction (editor: faith or Sadha), virtue, generosity, discernment. And this doesn’t necessarily mean just asking the teacher. You can ask other people in the community who have admirable qualities as well. See what special insights they have on how to develop those qualities. After all, they’ve obviously got experience, and you’d be wise to pick their brains.

The second factor is that if you see anything in other people worth emulating, you emulate it, you follow it, you bring that quality into your own behavior. So this makes you responsible for your end of admirable friendship, too. You can’t sit around simply hoping to soak up the mist, waiting for it to blow your way. You have to be active. Remember that passage in the Dhammapada about the spoon not knowing the taste of the soup, while the tongue does know the taste.

But again, when looking at people around you, it’s important that you get away from your sense of competitiveness, of this person versus that person. You look, not

Admirable FriendshipBy Ajahn Thanissaro

Practicing the Dhamma is primarily an issue of looking at yourself, looking at your own thoughts, your own words, your own deeds, seeing what’s skillful, seeing what’s not. It’s not so much an issue of self-improvement as one of action-improvement, word-improvement, and thought-improvement. This is an important distinction, because people in the modern world, especially in the modern world, seem to be obsessed with self-image. We’ve spent our lives bombarded with images, and you can’t help but compare your image of yourself to the images of people you see outside you. And for the most part there’s no comparison: You’re not as strong, as beautiful, as wealthy, as stylish, and so forth.

I noticed in Thailand that, as soon as television became rampant, teenagers became very sullen. I think it’s largely this issue of people looking at themselves in comparison to the images broadcast at them. And the whole question of self-image becomes very sensitive, very painful. So when we say that you’re looking at yourself, remember you’re not looking at your “self.” You’re looking at your thoughts, words, and deeds. Try to look at them as objectively as possible, get the whole issue of “self” out of the way, and then it becomes a lot easier to make improvements.

The same applies to your dealings with other people. The Buddha said there are two factors that help most in the arising

Editor’s note: Discernment is the equivalent of Wisdom in most texts.

at them, but at their activities. Otherwise you start comparing yourself to the other person: “This person’s better than I am. That person’s worse than I am.” And that brings in questions of conceit, resentment, and competition, which are not really helpful because we’re not here to compete with each other. We’re here to work on ourselves. So again, look at other people simply in terms of their thoughts, their words, their actions. And see what’s an admirable action, what are admirable words, what are admirable ideas, ones you can emulate, ones you can pick up. In this way the fact that we’re living together becomes a help to the practice rather than a hindrance.

The same is true when you notice people around you doing things that are not so admirable. Instead of judging the other person, simply judge the actions by their results: that that particular action, that particular way of thinking or speaking is not very skillful, for it obviously leads to this or that undesirable result. And then turn around and look at yourself, at the things you do and say: Are those unskillful words and actions to be found in you? Look at the behavior of other people as a mirror for your own behavior. When you do this, even the difficulties of living in a community become an aid to the practice.


effort and persistence are admirable, you ask him about persistence. In other words, you take an interest in these things. The things that we ask questions about, those are the things we’re interested in, those are the things that direct our practice. And it’s the combination of the two, the internal questioning and the external questioning, that gets us pointed in the right direction.

So this is something to think about as you go through the day and you see someone else doing something that gets you upset or something that offends you. Don’t focus on the other person; focus on the action in and of itself, as part of a causal process, and then turn around and look at yourself. If, in your mind, you create other people out there, you create a lot of problems. But if you simply see life in the community as an opportunity to watch the principle of cause and effect as it plays itself out, the problems vanish.

The same with admirable people: You don’t get jealous of their good qualities; you don’t get depressed about the fact that you don’t have their good qualities. Where do good qualities come from? They come from persistence, from effort, from training, which is something we can all do. So again, if you see something admirable in other people, ask them about it, and

then try to apply those lessons in your own life. If we go through life without asking questions, we learn nothing. If we ask the wrong questions, we go off the path. If, with practice, we learn how to ask the right questions, that’s the factor that helps us get our practice right on target.

I once read a man’s reminiscences about his childhood in which he said that every day, when he’d come home from school, his mother’s first question would be, “What questions did you ask in school today?”

“The holy passion of friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.” - Mark Twain

The Buddha designed the monkhood so that monks would have time alone but also have time together. If you spent all of your time alone, you’d probably go crazy. If you spent all of your time together, life would start getting more and more like dorm life all the time. So you have to learn how to balance the two. Learn how to develop your own good qualities on your own and at the same time use the actions and words of other people as mirrors for yourself, to check yourself, to see what out there is worth emulating, to see what out there is clearly unskillful. And then reflect on yourself, “Do I have those admirable qualities? Do I have those unskillful qualities in my thoughts, words and deeds?” If you’ve got those unskillful qualities, you’ve got work to do. If you don’t have the admirable ones, you’ve got work to do there as well.

What’s interesting is that in both of these internal and external factors - both in appropriate attention and in admirable friendship - one of the crucial factors is questioning. In other words, in appropriate attention you learn how to ask yourself questions about your own actions. In admirable friendship you ask the other people you admire about the qualities they embody. If you find someone whose conviction is admirable, you ask that person about conviction. If you find someone whose

If you spent all of your time alone, you’d probably

go crazy. If you spent all of your time together, life

would start getting more and more like dorm life

all the time.

She didn’t ask, “What did you learn? What did the teacher teach?” She asked, “What questions did you ask?” She was teaching him to think. So at the end of the day when you stop to reflect on the day’s activities, that’s a good question to ask yourself: “What questions did I ask today? What answers did I get?” That way you get to see which direction your practice is going.


This norm of diversity is the support or Dharma (the world Dharma comes from the root word Dhar, meaning that which supports, or that which upholds, or that which hold things together) that makes the world operate the way we see today. With diversity, the biological food chains continue. With diversity, reproduction of the species continues. With diversity, you and I can enjoy extra public holidays while others are celebrating their religious festivals.

However, despite the obvious fact that diversity is the norm, some people tried to go against this norm – by trying to make everyone else the same as “I”. This is because in every human being, there is this consciousness of being an “individual”, or “ego”. When this ego is strong and intense, there is a strong tendency to make everyone else the same as our own “ego”. At times this ego is expanded to include people, things or events that we considered as the same as us – the “Wego”, in this case we tried to make everyone else the same as “We”.

This “I”, “We” consciousness is further reinforced by the dualistic thinking of Ying-Yang, Male-female, Sun-Moon, Right-Wrong, Good-Bad, etc., So “I” and “We” are associated with “Right” and “Good” while others are associated with “Wrong” and “Bad”. This kind of dualistic thinking runs counter to the diverse nature of the world, and those who try to impose this thinking on others actually inflict suffering onto others.

(By the way, Ying-Yang symbol is not dualistic as mistaken by many. In the symbol, within the Ying (black) there is Yang (white), and within the Yang there is Ying, meaning within good there is some bad, within bad there is some good, or within the masculine nature there is some feminine nature, and vice versa. This is a more realistic interpretation of the Ying-Yang symbol. )

Just now you heard from the distinguished Professor Dr. Dato’ Zainal Kling that we just celebrated the Birthday of Nabi Mohammad the day before yesterday, celebrated Chap Goh Mei yesterday, and we are celebrating Thaipusam today. You also heard from the learned Ustaz Dr Muhammad Uthman El-Muhannady that diversity in Malaysia is not by chance, it is God’s will. Now, we are not enjoying these diverse celebrations only in recent times; we have been enjoying this God-given diversity for years, and we have been living peacefully within this diversity for years. So what more need I say about diversity in Malaysia?

Diversity is the NormDiversity is the norm, this is a fact we must accept. Just take a look at the world we live in, scientists have recorded 20,000 species of fishes, 6000 species of reptiles, 9,000 species of birds, 1,000 species of amphibians, 15,000 species of mammals, 1,000,000 species of insects and 300,000 species of plants. Isn’t this diverse enough?

Human beings are considered one single species, but within this single species there are 7 billion individuals, each differing from one another. No two individual human beings are the same. The word individual carries the connotation of being distinct and separate from others of the same kind. Every single human being is unique! Hence you can see that the human race by itself is also diverse.

Accepting Diversity, Living Peacefully

By Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong

Diversity is the norm

A speech given to an international audience of youths at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, in conjunction with the World Interfaith Harmony Week. Organised by National Unity and Integration Department and Global Peace Festival. 7th Feb. 2012


First of all, the pluralists rationalise that all established religions or belief systems are offered in total packages. What they do is to pick and choose that part of the packages that suit them, regardless of whether that part of the package is labeled under a particular religion, and in this way they get the best of everything. This custom-made approach is, at least to them, much better that the exclusivist approach of adopting the lock, stock and barrel of a particular religion - the lock may be good but the stock and barrel may be out of order.

They also believe that all roads lead to Rome, so to stick to a particular religious label is really not important, and may in fact be foolish. It is much “safer’ and “wise” to believe in all religions available.

We must also understand that very few people choose their own religions. Most people inherit a religion. And when you inherit a pluralistic religion, you need not have to offer an explanation as to why you adopt a pluralistic religion, you simply do so proudly, very much the same as when you inherit an exclusive religion.

This is best illustrated by the remarks made by Rigoberta Menchu (The Nobel Proze laureate from Guatemala), “My mother’s religion was the Mayan faith, my father was a Catholic. We, their children, learnt the two ways of intense prayer and belief from them. The Creator knows how to deal with that”. So what we see as an epistemological problem is not a problem at all, at least for the exclusivists.

The exclusivist approachFor those people who adopt the exclusivist approach, they would like to maintain that their religion is more superior. But is this rational? Before one can claim that one’s religion is superior to that of others, one should study all other religions as well, but this is not done in most cases. Most exclusivists simply make the assertion that their religion is more superior without doing any comparative study. This is not rational!

“My mother’s religion was the Mayan faith, my father was a Catholic. We, their children, learnt the two ways of intense prayer and belief from them. The Creator knows how to deal with that”

- Rigoberta MenchuDiversity in ReligionIn religious beliefs, we also see great number of diverse religions in this world. There are easily more than 20 belief systems in the world, and each with several sub-belief systems.

The major belief systems in Malaysia are as shown in the chart.

Moreover, the diversity in religious beliefs, in reality, is much more diverse than we can imagine. Two individuals may believe in the same belief system or sub-system, yet their beliefs are not likely to be the same. For example, all of us may claim that we believe in god, yet when we are asked to pen down our beliefs or understanding of god, some will write ‘god has form”, some will write “god has no form”. Some will write “god is light”, some will write “god is love”. Some will write “god is everywhere” while some will write “god is in heaven”, and so on. This is epistemological diversity.

Then we have diversity in practice. People professing the same belief system, or sub-system, may differ in their practice of prayers, religious obligations, clothing, food, etc.

Apart from that, we also see cultural diversity: people professing the same belief system or sub-system, are seen to be perform rites, festivals, customs and traditions in many different ways.

Dealing with DiversityHow do followers of belief systems deal with the diverse form of belief systems? Philosophers have identified and generally agreed that there are three approaches adopted by human beings.

The three approaches are: Exclusivist approach – this approach believes that the religious perspective of only one basic belief system to be the truth. Non-exclusivist approach – this approach denies that the religious perspective of any belief system is superior to other belief system. Pluralist approach – This approach claims that not only no one specific religious system is superior (as a non-exclusivist does) but also makes the positive claim that more than one basic belief system is equally close to the truth.

The Pluralist approach The Pluralist approach is widely practiced by Chinese, Japanese and South Americans. Many Chinese believe in Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and traditional Chinese beliefs at the same time. Many Japanese follow both Buddhism and Shintoism, while many South Americans practice a mixture of Catholicism and indigenous beliefs.

For those of us who are brought up to follow the exclusivist approach, we may find it hard to believe that people can actually adopt the pluralistic approach. However, if we examine in greater detail, we can find the rationale for adopting it.

When we are asked to pen down our beliefs or understanding of god, some will write ‘god has form”, some will write “god has no form”. Some will write “god is light”, some will write “god is love”. Some will write “god is everywhere” while some will write “god is in heaven”, and so on. This is epistemological diversity.


Buddhism and Ecology: A Virtue Ethics Approach

By Damien KeownEmeritus Professor of Buddhist EthicsGoldsmiths CollegeUniversity of London

Introduction

I think it is clear from the extensive secondary literature that Buddhism has a large number of resources to draw on with respect to the environmental problems we face today. Since my own particular interest is in the field of ethics, however, I would like to focus on those features of Buddhist moral teachings that have the potential to ameliorate the crisis. Since everyone recognises that this crisis is global in nature and cannot be solved by Buddhists alone, or indeed by any single group, I would also like to explore a specific set of moral resources available in both East and West which might collectively be brought to bear on the problem. I have in mind those particular qualities or traits of character known as virtues, and I will endeavour to sketch out some points of comparison between traditional Western and Buddhist ethics in this respect.

I take for granted that virtue ethics provides a useful frame of reference for understanding Buddhist moral teachings. Buddhism teaches that human perfection as expressed in the concepts of Buddhood, arhatship, bodhisattvahood, and so forth, is achieved through the lifelong practice of virtues such as wisdom and compassion. I think it is also true that Buddhism would tend to regard today’s ecological problems as having a psychological basis, for example as stemming largely from greed, selfishness, ignorance, and apathy, and as such falling within the sphere of moral psychology. To quote from a recent book by Pragati Sahni:

In all likelihood the early Buddhists would view the environmental crisis as a psychological crisis. They would not blame inferior technological development or poor conservation methods as the cause of the crisis, but bad behaviour and attitudes (greed, hatred and delusion). This can be deduced from the fact that all problems are traced in Buddhism to perverted views, and hence, ultimately to a dysfunctional state of mind.

Papaer presented at the International Symposium on “The Buddha’s Englightenment for the Well Being of humanity”

“You are the most beautiful woman in the world… you are the only woman for me.”

- Paul Knitter

A more reasonable approach would be for the exclusivist to admit that they have not done any reasonable in-depth study of all available religions but would like to make the assertion that a particular religion that they chose or inherited is “the best for me” simply because that particular religion is most suitable for them. This is akin to the language a husband would use of his wife, or a boyfriend would use of his girlfriend, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world… you are the only woman for me.” Such statements, in the context of the marital relationship and especially in intimate moments, are certainly true. But the husband would balk if asked to take an oath that there is absolutely no other woman in the world as beautiful as his wife or no other woman whom he could possibly love and marry. That would be using a different kind of language in a very different context. (Quoted from Paul Knitter).

So a more rational approach would be to follow the following advice given by the Buddha: “If a person has conviction, his statement, ‘This is my conviction,’ upholds the truth. But he doesn’t yet come to the definite conclusion that ‘Only this is true; anything else is worthless.’ To this extent, Bharadvaja, there is the upholding of the truth. To this extent one upholds the truth.” (MN95)

ConclusionLadies and gentlemen, I would like to conclude my short presentation with two important messages: firstly, we must acknowledge and accept the truth of diversity, and secondly, Whatever your approach in dealing with diversity, follow the Golden Rule. “Do not do unto others what you do not wish others do unto you.” Live and let live.

Thank you.


tue, that of viriya or vīrya, which becomes famous as the fourth of the six perfections (pāramitās) of a bodhisattva. Viriya, in its most basic sense, is the virtue of a brave person, a hero who displays courage and does not flinch in the face of danger. More generally it connotes resolution and firm-ness of purpose in the projects to which one commits oneself. It is clear that projects of the kind undertaken by ecologists, which are often on a planetary scale, require a good degree of fortitude since there are likely to be setbacks at every stage. Proj-ects such as reducing global emissions of CO2 require years of planning, negotiation and education, and even then it is not an easy matter to reach agreement and meet targets.

It is not my intention to suggest that Western virtues can be mapped directly onto Buddhist ones, or vice versa. Indeed, we should not be surprised if different cultures recognise or give prominence to different virtues. Buddhism, for example, recognises virtues that are not much emphasised in the Western tradition, such as mindfulness (sati), a virtue that can have an important bearing on ecology. The objective of a comparative study of this kind is limited to showing that comparable tools exist within different traditions with which to tackle today’s global challenge.

Virtue Ethics and Ecology

Although virtue ethics has contributed to many areas of applied ethics in the West,

Buddhism has a good deal to say about the virtue of temperance. References to self-control and self-restraint, abound in Buddhist literature, again, for example, in the Dhammapada which speaks repeat-edly of the importance of gaining control over the senses. But perhaps it is in the com-plex of ideas associated with sīla that this virtue finds its clearest expression. Sīla is the internalised self-imposed discipline which enables one to ward off temptation and preserve moral purity. It can be contrasted with the externally imposed obligations of the Vinaya, although in practice the two will often coincide in their aims and out-come. Sīla is said to provide the basis for religious practice and spiritual develop-ment just as the earth provides the ground on which plants and seeds can grow and cities can be built. With respect to ecology there is every reason to think that a person who is well-disciplined, self-controlled and restrained will consume less of the earth’s resources than a person whose appetites are uncontrolled. A person constrained by sīla is less likely to be self-indulgent and will be better equipped to resist the inducements of consumerism to accumulate more and more possessions. It goes without saying that a nation which practised sīla would have very different patterns of consumption to one that did not.

Given its association with self-control and self-discipline, sīla seems also to overlap with the fourth Western virtue of fortitude, which means standing firm in the face of adversity. There is also a more specific vir-

These dysfunctional psychological states are precisely what virtue ethics seeks to eliminate and so we seem at least to have a common starting point which views the question of the long-term wellbeing of nature as depending not on technology but on human qualities. I am not the only one to have suggested the value of such an approach, and a number of recent publications, including the one just quoted from, have attempted to address environmental questions from the perspective of virtue ethics.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics can claim to be the West’s old-est systematic body of ethical theory, and it is one that has both secular and religious dimensions. First formulated in the ethical treatises of Aristotle, the tradition was con-tinued by classical Roman authors such as Cicero and then revived by Aquinas in the Middle Ages. Given a Christian interpreta-tion, it became the dominant approach to ethics down to the Reformation, only to be rejected along with other religiously-based ethics in the Enlightenment. In the last few decades, it has begun to attract attention once again and is being applied in a wide range of contexts. Virtue ethics is an ap-proach which emphasizes the role of the agent more than the action, focusing more on the character of persons than rules (as in deontological ethics) or the consequences

of acts (as in consequentialist theories). A key feature of virtue ethics is that it looks at actions in the context of an overall life. The reason for developing particular states of character is to live a balanced and round-ed life and to achieve a state of fulfillment, happiness or flourishing.

The classical Western tradition recognized four main or cardinal virtues: prudence, jus-tice, temperance, and fortitude. There is no direct correlation with these virtues in There is no direct correlation with these virtues in Buddhism, although we find many points of overlap and similarity. Prudence, or the faculty of making wise choices in practical affairs, corresponds broadly to paññā (wis-dom), although Buddhist sources generally emphasise the theoretical intellect over the practical intellect. There is no specific Bud-dhist virtue of justice, although this quality is highly praised. Chapter 19 of the Dham-mapada, for example, is usually translated as ‘The Judge,’ ‘The Just,’ ‘The Righteous,’ or some such term. The Pāli term is dham-mattha, meaning ‘the man who stands on Dhamma.’ Verse 256 tells us that such a man does not make judgements hastily or suddenly (sahasā), and that the wise man (pandita) is one who investigates both right and wrong (atthamanatthañca). The next verse adds that the man who stands on Dhamma, or as we might say, the just man, makes decisions calmly (asahasena), in accordance with Dhamma (dhammena) and impartially (samena).

Buddhism would tend to regard today’s ecological problems as having a psychological basis, for example as stemming largely from greed, selfishness, ignorance, and apathy, and as such falling within the sphere of moral psychology.

Classical Western Tradition

Prudence

Justice

Temperance

Fortitude

Buddhist Tradition

Panna (Wisdom)

Dhammattha, Righterous, Just

Sila, Self-control, Self restrain

Sila, Viriya


By contrast luxury items such as high beds, garlands and adornments, were discour-aged.

A further important virtue to be considered in the context of ecology is ahimsā, which means non-harming or non-violence. This virtue will have a special bearing on the lifestyle people adopt and the potential it has for causing harm to human beings, ani-mals, and inanimate nature.

Anthropocentrisism v Biocentricism

However, approaching ecology primarily through the virtues is not without its prob-lems. One possible reason why virtue ethics has not so far been popular with ecologists may be that since it concerns above all human subjects, it is thought too anthro-pocentric to make a contribution to an area in which human beings are regarded as the problem rather than the solution. Rather than an ethics centred on the hu-man subject, contemporary environmental ethics has tended to adopt a biocentric approach in which all living creatures, and even inanimate nature itself, are seen as having inherent worth and interests which rival those of human beings. The best ex-ample of this is James Lovelock’s theory of Gaia which sees the world as an organic whole in which all the species on the plan-et act in concert to produce ecological equilibrium. Various ‘new age’ readings of the Gaia hypothesis seek to attribute per-sonality to Gaia as an earth goddess pre-siding over a resacralized nature. If nature is regarded as a moral agent in this way it is problematic how moral virtues might be applicable to her (or its) behaviour. The conventional understanding among tradi-tional virtue ethicists is that moral agency is a faculty exercised only by human beings. So, does the fact that only human beings (and possibly a limited class of animal spe-cies) can exercise moral agency condemn virtue ethics to an anthropocentric or ‘spe-ciesist’ position? Certainly there are some ecologists who will see this human-centred

aspect as a defect, but the virtue ethicist can respond that the starting point for re-solving environmental problems has to be our own human nature, pointing out that unless we put our own house in order first we are not likely to have much success in fixing up the rest of the planet. A critical look at ourselves, our values, habits and lifestyles, is surely advisable. Since humans are alleg-edly the culprits of many ecological prob-lems such as climate change, water pollu-tion, deforestation, desertification and the general mismanagement of resources, the solution would appear to lie in a reform of human attitudes rather than in constructing what are often romanticised philosophies of nature. To start from theories about the biosphere and make ecology the basis of ethics, moreover, seems to be putting the cart before the horse: what is required first is an ethical foundation upon which sound ecological practice can be based. Virtue ethics places human beings at the centre of the ecological drama but it does not fol-low from this that it maintains that only the interests of human beings need to be con-sidered. It is certainly capable of affirming the value of nature while recognizing that it is other than human.

An ancient concept in virtue ethics is that of the ‘common good.’ This holds that the well-being and flourishing of individuals can only be achieved in community, and that there is a reciprocal relationship between the two whereby each enhances the good of the other. From here it is only a short step to the view that the flourishing all liv-ing things needs to be promoted because it is constitutive of our own flourishing. This is somewhat different to the traditional Chris-tian view in terms of which man is the stew-ard of the natural order, since it does not as-sess the worth of creatures simply in terms of their worth for human beings. In this scheme each creature is allowed its own place, and the distinctiveness of human beings is simply that they can sometimes glimpse the whole picture. As Stephen Clark writes:

it has so far not been developed very far with respect to ecology. Perhaps this is because the virtues are linked to an ancient system of morality and therefore thought incapable of responding to what is essentially a modern challenge. How, then, might an ecology based on the virtues be constructed? Thomas E.Hill Jr was one of the first writers to propose an environmental ethics based on the virtues. He made reference to certain human ideals that were needed if natural environ-ments were to be preserved and identified certain virtues as having particular relevance to the environment. In particular he linked humility, gratitude and self-acceptance with care for and an appreciation of nature.

Hill gives particular emphasis to the virtue of humility, which suggests an interest-ing connection with certain qualities Buddhists are encouraged to develop, such as a sense of modesty and shame encompassed by the terms hiri and ottappa, factors which restrain inappropriate behaviour and encourage a sense of proper decorum. Egocentricity (ahaṃkara) and pride (māna) are frequently criticized. In-deed according to the Aggañña Sutta it was due to a sense of pride and conceit (mānātimāna) with respect to their appearance that matter appeared and was consumed by the ethereal survivors of the preceding cosmic destruction.

Geoffrey Frasz seeks to refine Hill’s concept of humility by insisting that it be mea-sured or appropriate to the context. He renames this virtue ‘openness’ and re-gards it as the mean between arrogance (too little humility) and false modesty (too much humility). Although there is no precise Buddhist virtue corresponding

to openness, it seems to involve an at-titude similar to those expressed in the Brahma-vihāras of love (mettā), com-passion (karuṇā), gladness (muditā) and equanimity (upekkhā). In addition to their inwardly transforming effect, these attitudes have an open and oth-er-directed quality about them in their emphasis on caring, compassion and love for others. They call for a positive disposition towards all beings, oneself included, and affirm self-worth while re-straining arrogance.

It also seems likely that the wellbeing of the environment will be promoted by the constant emphasis on simple liv-ing and contentment found in Buddhist literature. Non-greed (arāga) and con-tentment with what one has (santuthi) seem to be foundational virtues which support ecological concern. Keeping material needs to a minimum and lim-iting possessions to a robe and bowl, food for a day, simple lodgings and medicine are practices which con-sume the minimum natural resources.


Humans have a duty or at least a

responsibility to consider the wellbeing of animals in

deliberations which may affect them.

case, and we cannot help but feel it would be totally out of character for him, which is precisely the state an ecological virtue eth-ics would seek to engender in us all.

Even being enlightened, however, does not bring the power to solve ecological problems: since no-one has a crystal ball to see into the future, the virtues cannot always tell us what it would be best to do in every situation. What the virtues can do is guide us in grasping the issues at stake and in accepting or rejecting possible courses of action under consideration. The virtues would encourage us to understand clearly the nature of the problem, listen carefully to the views of others, meditate and reflect deeply and insightfully on the alternatives

Those who would live virtuously, tradition tells us, must seek to allow each creature its own place, and to appreciate the beauty of the whole. It is because human beings can sometimes come to see that whole, and know their own place in it, that—in a sense—they are superior to other forms. Our ‘superiority’, insofar as that is real, rests not upon our self-claimed right always to have more than other creatures do ... but on the possibility that we may (and the cor-responding duty that we should) allow our fellow creatures their part of the action.

This distinction between human beings and other species is not based on any notion of hierarchical superiority but at the same time recognises there is a difference be-tween humans and other creatures.

Animals can thus be included in the mor-al community but not on the basis of be-ing moral agents in the way human beings are. Animals are part of the biotic commu-nity in which all living creatures share, and so their interests cannot be excluded from considerations of the common good. Since humans have a clearer perception of this good than other species it could be said that they have a duty or at least a responsi-bility to consider the wellbeing of animals in deliberations which may affect them. Thus we still retain a sense of the distinctiveness of human nature and of its unique identity in the context of the uniqueness of other species. Something of this kind seems to be intended by the phrase ‘a precious human rebirth’ found particularly in Tibetan sourc-es, and foreshadowed by earlier illustrations in Buddhist literature of how difficult it is to gain a human rebirth. Of course, many Bud-dhists will disagree with the anthropocentric tone of the discussion at this point and insist that animals and perhaps even inanimate nature be given equivalent moral standing with human beings. I can only respond that the notion of leaves and trees attaining en-

lightenment, as Chan-jan envisaged, is not one that virtue ethics would find easy to ac-commodate.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by summarising some of the reasons why a virtue ethics approach seems to offer a basis for a Buddhist eco-logical ethics. The first reason is because it is grounded in the practice and tradition of Buddhist itself. One only needs to read the Dhammapada to see that the Buddhist ideal of human perfection is defined in terms of the virtues exercised by an individ-ual who treats all beings with kindness and compassion, lives honestly and righteously, controls sensual desires, speaks the truth and lives a sober upright life, diligently fulfill-ing his duties, such as service to parents, to his immediate family and to those recluses and brahmans who depend on the laity for their maintenance.

A Buddhist ecology, then, coincides with these teachings and simply calls for the orientation of traditional virtues towards a new set of problems concerned with the environment. If we require a concrete illus-tration of how a virtuous person might act towards the environment we can turn to the example of the Buddha. The Buddha is never depicted harming nature and on the contrary seems to have enjoyed spending time in simple natural environments such āvāsas and ārāmas. Causing harm to ani-mals or to nature seems inconceivable in his

and their pros and cons, reach a resolution, and act with integrity in the execution of the course of action decided. As Frasz writes, ‘the thrust of environmental virtue ethics is to foster new habits of thought and action in the moral agent—not just to get the immediate decision made right, but to reorient all actions henceforth in terms of holistic, ecologically based ways of thinking.’


devotees (both Malaysian & Burmese Dhamma friends), the Sima Hall boundary was successfully set up within 7 days after meeting with the Most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadawgyi.

The Sima hall was named Dhamm∙ānudhamma∙paţipanna Sīmā (The Sīmā of the Practice of the Dhamma that is according to the Dhamma 依法修行界堂by the most venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw.

The full meaning is : The sīmā (demarcated site) where there is practice of the Dhamma (sīla – samāãdhi – paññā) that is in accordance with the Dhamma, and is capable of yielding the nine supramundane phenomena (the four Paths & Fruitions [Magga & Phala] and Nirvāna). 依法修行导向成就九出世间法（四道、四果与涅槃）的戒定慧三学之界。

Keen intention to construct a simple meditation-cum-Sima hall in Dhammavijaya Meditation Centre was expressed by Bro. Dr Chook Ka Joo, chairman of the BMSM Meditation Section to its resident meditation teacher, Bhante U Agganna, in early 2012. This was just before Bhante left for Yangon to attend the annual Maha Sanghika dana held in Pa Auk Forest Monastery, Myanmar.

In response to the advice given by Bhante U Agganna, Sister Pai Ling, Bro. Nam Huat, Bro. Ing Hock, Sister Lai Peng, Sister Christine, and Sister Vivian, together with a group of Dhamma friends went to Singapore on 26th February 2012, to meet the most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw to seek his advice and blessings in the setting up of a meditation-cum-Sima Hall in Dhammavijaya Meditation Centre (DMC).

Immediately, the Most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw decided to set up the Sima Hall determination by the following week. With the help of a group of Sayadaw’s students,

With the blessings of the Triple Gem and the commitment of many --- Sangha members; committee members and members; sponsors for their kind and generous contributions in cash and in kind; devotees, including the many Myanmar Dhamma friends for their volunteer-labour resources; Teh brothers for their volunteer construction services; Brother Goh and his team members for their volunteer overall design --- the “Dhamm∙ānudhamma∙patipanna Sīma” was completed in less than 100 days.

The Sima Hall is considered an auspicious and noble building as Dhamma & Sangha activities can be carried out inside the Sima Hall. It is a significant place in the Buddhasasana and the propagation of Dhamma.

The Sima Hall is very important to the Buddhasasana because it is a noble place where:

• A person can be ordained as a Bhikkhu

• Bhikkhus gather during every full and new moon to recite/listen to the Bhikkhus’ Rules

• Requisites Offering and Kathina robe offering can be carried out upon completion and after the Vassa

• Bhikkus can invite each other to ‘admonish’ each other (pavāranā), after the Vassa

• Any other matter related to Vinaya Rules can be discussed

• It can be used as a meditation hall and attain the highest knowledge

The Sima hall was officially opened by the Most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw on 10th June, 2012.

More than 1,000 devotees were present to grace the occasion.

In conjuction with this opening, a novice programme was organised on 8th June and pindacara (Alms Round) was held at the Sungai Chua wet market. Close to 30 Sangha members led by the most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw participated in the Pindacara.

Finally, we would like to record our sincere appreciation to the Sangha members, the Most Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, our DMC’s resident teacher Venerable U Aggana, and all the Bhikkhus. Last but not least, we would once again like to express our sincere thanks to all devotees, volunteers, donors, and brothers and sisters who attended the opening ceremony. Buddha Sasanan Ciram Titthatu

Buddha Sasanan Ciram Titthatu

Buddha Sasanan Ciram Titthatu

Report by Loh Pai Ling

Opening of Dhamm∙ānudhamma∙patipanna SīmaHall in Dhammavijaya

See more pictures at front and back cover


The Consecration of Samadhi Vihara’s Shrine Hall on Sunday, 18th March 2012 marks another milestone in the history of Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.

This occasion puts us among the ranks of other established Buddhist organisations in providing members and devotees a place to practice and fulfill their spiritual needs.

What made this event more meaningful was that the date 18th March coincided with the birthday of our Founder, the late Venerable Chief K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera.

Activities for the consecration started at 9am on Saturday, 17th March 2012 with the Annual Mass Observance of Eight Precepts, which was attended by about 60 preceptees. Bhante Mahinda shared the Dhamma with the participants in the afternoon.

In the evening, a Bodhi tree was planted within the Samadhi Vihara premises in a simple and dignified ceremony. At night, there was a candle light procession within the compound of the Vihara. Programmes for the rest of the night included Paritta Chanting by Sangha members from the three main traditions as well as the preceptees, reading of the Tipitaka & Dhammapada verses and Metta meditation. This was followed by continuous Chanting of the Karaniya Metta Sutta till the next morning.. Programme for the 18th started at 9.30am with a welcome speech by the President, delivered on his behalf by Vice President, Sis. Loh Pai Ling. In his speech, the President expressed his sincere thanks to all donors & sponsors for their support in the construction of this Vihara, and hoped that devotee and members of the public would frequent this new place of worship to learn and practice the Dhamma.

“I am also a member of BMSM, a long time member... more than 30 years of associaton with BMSM.”

“..... I will continue the good work of my teacher, in advising and guiding the BMSM to greater height....”

“.....We must work harmoniously with all parties, especially with our neighbour the Bodhi Park.”

said Bhante Mahinda at the Consecration ceremony

Bhante Mahinda, in his speech, said that he would do all he could to continue the legacy of his teacher, the late Ven. Chief K Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera, in advising and guiding the Society to greater heights.

To mark this auspicious occasion, senior Sangha members, main donors and senior members who have contributed their services to the Society were invited to light the Oil Lamp signifying the offering of lights to the Triple Gem. To end the ceremony meaningfully, our BMS Endowment Fund presented financial aid of RM200 each to thirty needy students from schools around Klang. The day’s programme ended with a Mahasanghika Dana. Lunch was also served to all invited Buddhist leaders, devotees and members of the public who attended and gave us their support.

(see another picture at back cover)

Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong, BMSM Advisor cum Chairman of BMSM Endowment Fund, giving away financial aids to needy students.

Sis. Loh Pai Ling delivering the welcoming speech

Devotees packed the shrine hall to attend the consecration ceremony

Report by Pang Hock Huat, Jeffrey

Consecration of Samadhi Vihara


Part of the 1000 particpants at the celebration

Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka

On 2nd June, the event at the UN Convention Center in Bangkok was graced by Her Excellency, Prime Minister of Thailand and His Excellency The President of Sri Lanka. The Secretary General of the UN ESCAP, Ms. Noeleen Heyzer delivered a welcome speech, while messages from the UN Secretary General & Director General, UNESCO were delivered by their representatives. H.E. Prime Minister of Thailand and H.E. The President of Sri Lanka also addressed the assembly. The ensuing programme consisted mostly of congratulatory messages from Buddhist and political leaders of the participating countries.

The afternoon session started off with a final plenary session - recommendations from the symposiums and workshops, followed by the 2012 Bangkok Declaration. The closing ceremony was presided over by His Holiness Somdet Phra Buddhacaya. The evening session was at Buddhamonthon for a candle-lit procession in Srisakyadasapalanyana Buddha statue’s compound. A half hour chanting was held in honour of Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th and His Royal Highness The Crown Prince’s 60th Birthdays.

Buddhajayanthi - The Celebration of 2600 Years of the Buddha’s Englightenment

By Pang Hock Huat, JeffreyHonorary General Secretary

The above event themed “The Buddha’s Enlightenment for the Well-being of Humanity” was recently celebrated in conjunction with the 9th International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Wesak Celebrations, from 31st May to 2nd June 2012 (2555 BE) in Bangkok, Thailand. An estimated 1000 Buddhist leaders and delegates from over 81 countries attended the function which was held at the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) Wangnoi, Ayutthaya on 31s May and 1st June, and at the UN Convention Centre, Bangkok and Buddhamaton on 2nd June. BMSM was represented by delegates Dato’ Ang Choo Hong and Jeffrey Pang Hock Huat, with observers Loh Pai Ling and Lim Guat Cheng.

On 31st May, the event started off with the arrival of participants, followed by the paying of Homage to the Triple Gem. The host of the event, Most Ven. Prof. Dr. Phra Dharmakosajarn, Rector of MahachulalongkornrajavidyalayaUniversity addressed the assembly, welcoming the participants to this year’s significant event - celebrating 2600 years of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Gracing the occasion on the first day was HRH Princess Chulabhorn Walailak Akra Rajakumari who came to pay homage to the Triple Gem. She delivered a welcoming speech and made offerings to the Mahasangha. During the course of the two days at MCU, speeches and messages from Buddhist leaders were delivered, while seminars, symposiums & workshops were conducted simultaneously at different venues. There was also a Cultural Performance from 7 to 9pm on the night of the first day.

BMSM delegation at the Celebration. L-R Loh Pai Ling, Ang Choo Hong,

Jeffrey Pang, Lim Guat Cheng

Most Ven. Prof. Dr. Phra Dharmakosajarn, Rector of Mahachulalongkorn-rajavidyalaya University

Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand


Report by Sis. Sumangala

Hwan-yong-ham-ni-da (Welcome!)

The 26th General Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB) was organised successfully from 11th – 16th June 2012 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism - the representative of 1700 years of Korean Buddhist history and tradition.

The conference was a great success due largely to the commendable and noble efforts of the Most Ven. Jaseung the president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Madam Dr. Kim Eui-Jeong the president of the Lay Buddhist Association for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Ven Jin Ok the Executive Director of Korean Conference, and their supporters and contributors. Credit must also go all the participants of this Conference for their faithful participation.

Members and representatives of WFB.WFBY from all over the world, from close to 40 countries were gathered at the beautiful marine city of Yeosu, four-and-a-half hours’ drive from Seoul to participate in this six-day conference, which was packed with a rich and thoughtful programme.

WFB Korea Conference hosted not only the 26th WFB General Conference but also the 17th World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth (WFBY) General Conference (40th Anniversary Celebration), the 9th World Buddhist University (WBU) Council Meeting, the WFB.WFBY Academic Forum, and the WFB 3rd World Buddhist Business Forum.

The theme for this Conference was “21st Century Buddhist Ecological Environment, Thoughts and Practices”. The daily late-night meetings and discussions saw the Executive committees and Standing committees working diligently behind the scenes to complete the mission of this conference.

The first day of the Conference witnessed the 2012 election for the new two-year term of WFB committee members, comprising the President and 15 Vice Presidents, 8 Exco members, and 11 Chair and Co-chairmen of the 11 Standing Committees. Bro. Dato’ Tan Gin Soon from the WFB Penang Regional Centre was elected as one of the Vice Presidents. Bro. Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong, advisor of BMSM, was elected Co-Chairman of Pancasila Standing Committee, and Sis. Loh Pai Ling, a Vice President of BMSM, was elected Co-Chairman of Interfaith Dialogue Standing Committee.

The academic and business forums highlighted the incremental awareness of Buddhism in the West, and the need for a living Dhamma that is true and practical. The forums deliberated on the importance of meditation especially loving-kindness meditation in medical treatment, the essence and benefits of engaged Buddhism, as well as the overall peace, stability and harmony with the environment. Indeed, this conference has provided the world Buddhist leaders a timely platform to discuss and respond appropriately to the needs of society and all living beings.

To actively create peace and to put effort into improving harmony and stability in all aspects of life and the world, the new WFB Standing Committee on Ecological Environment has adopted a resolution to encourage all Buddhists around the world to practice and promote Loving Kindness Meditation for the well-being of all sentient beings and for the stability of the world. In Malaysia, we have initiated and supported the Mettaroundtheworld Project and we took the opportunity to invite WFB members to also participate in spreading loving kindness .

The “Expo 2012 Yeosu, Korea – The Living Ocean and Coast”, the Korean Buddhist Cultural Show, the Musical-song Karma and Choir arranged within the Conference Program has beautifully demonstrated to all the participants the richness, vitality and creativity of Korean Buddhist Culture.

Participants were also taken to witness the Mass Observance of Bodhisattva Precepts at the Yeosu stadium, which was attended by about 10,000 people. They were also taken to visit the well-kept ancient monastery of Hwaeom-sa and Songwang-sa, both listed as national treasure of Korea.

Finally, the Korean Conference ended with a warmth fellowship of appreciation, with sweet and fruitful memories.

May all beings be well and happy. “Love Heals, Lust Kills.”

Kam-sa-ham-ni-da. (Thank you)

(more pictures on inside back cover)

10000 people braved the afternoon heat to take part in the Mass Obsevance of Bodhisattva Precepts

International Buddhist Lantern Festival

Malaysian delegation to WFB Conference. L-R: Dato’Ang, Datin Tan Kim Lian, Sis. Sumangala and Sis. Loh pai Ling

26th WFB Conferecence, Yeosu, Korea

“21st Century Buddhist Ecological Environment, Thoughts and Practices”


International Seminar on Teaching Dhamma at University

The International Seminar on Teaching Dhamma at University Level was held from 3rd to 5th June 2012 at the River View Place Hotel, Ayutthaya, Thailand. The Seminar was co-organised by M a h a c h u l a l o n g k o r n r a j a v i d y a l a y a University (MCU) and the Wolrd Buddhist University (WBU). This seminar was a follow-up of an earlier seminar on Problems and Solutions of Buddhist Studies held at the University of the West, CA, USA in July 2011.

The main objective of this Seminar was to find the best approach and methodology of teaching Dhamma at university level in order to enhance students’ Buddhist knowledge and strengthen their morality.

Prof. Dr. Banjob and Ven. Dr. Phra Ajahn Wimoak of MCU and the WBU extended an invitation to BMSM Vice Presidents Bro. Quah Chi Boon and Bro. Chua Chong Kee, Bro. Henry Lim and Sis. Tan Sea to participate in the Seminar.

More than 100 participants from all over the world, who are mostly professors in Buddhist studies at the university level contributed their ideas during the Seminar.

This seminar served as a valuable eye-opener to the Malaysian participants as it enriched us on the many perspectives of teaching methodologies and practices.

This was particularly so with the study tour to very interesting places giving us insightful knowledge on how the Dhamma was taught and practiced. We witnessed programme of activities that covered target groups of all ages, genders and status, each based on the principles of care, share and respect.

One such unique centre is the Sathira-Dhammasathan Centre for Community Learning and Practice. It is a wonderful place with greenery in the heart of Bangkok

L-R Bro. Quah Chi Boon, WBU Rector Prof. Noranit Setabutr, Bro. Chua Chong Kee, Sis. Tan Sea

Front row, L-R: Bro. Quah Chi Boon, Prof. Dr. Banjob, Henry Lim,

where Dhamma becomes the basis and driving force for spiritual development. Here people lives in harmony and with compassion for one another. It is well run by machees and nuns. One up for the women!

The other places for our study tour were equally enchanting and offered plenty of food for thought.

Indeed, attendance at this seminar gives us insightful ideas on the setting up of K. Sri Dhammananda Buddhist Institute. We aspired to see this institute, named in honour of our BMSM fonder the late Chief Reverend K. Sri Dhammananda, to be a forerunner in the training of Buddhist missioners , and to be an international centre of excellence in Buddhist studies and Practices.

While Bro. Quah returned to Malaysia in order to join the novitiate programme at Dhammavijaya under the preceptorship of Pa-Auk Sayadow, other participants from Malaysia remained in Bangkok for a meditation retreat from 6th to 10th June, 2012.

(another picture on back inside cover)

A picture with Dr. Mettanando (R-3) and other a prominent Buddhist scholars

Report by Bro. Quah Chi Boon


R-L: Dr. Amir Farid bin Dato’ Hj Isahak, Dato’ Ang, Ustaz (Dr.) Muhammad Uthman El-Muhammady, Prof. Dr. Dato’ Zainal Kling at the

World Interfaith Harmony Week

BMSM, as a Buddhist representative in the Malaysia Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), was invited to participate in several programmes organised by the Department of National Unity & Integration (JPNIN) of Prime Minister’s Department, in conjunction with the World Interfaith Harmony Week.

The World Interfaith Harmony Week was first proposed at the UN General Assembly on 23rd September 2010 by HM King Abdullah II of Jordan. On 20th October 2010, the proposal was unanimously adopted by the UN. Henceforth, the first week of February has been observed as World Interfaith Harmony Week (http://wor ld inter fa i thharmonyweek.com/).

This year, the theme was “Towards inter-religious understanding and harmony amongst adherents: Love

God, Love Your Neighbours”.

Interfaith Youth Forum: “Accepting Diversity, Living Peacefully” on 7th February 2012.

In conjunction with the World Interfaith Harmony Week 2012, the JPNIN, working with Global Peace Festival Malaysia and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris jointly sponsored a forum entitled “Accepting Diversity, Living Peacefully: The Malaysian Experience”. The forum was held at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris on 7th February 2012.

Brother Dato’ Ir Ang Choo Hong, lay advisor of BMSM was invited to be one of the panelists at the forum. He was invited to present “Accepting Diversity, Living Peacefully” from a Buddhist perspective. Other panelists included Prof. Dr. Dato’ Zainal Kling and Ustaz (Dr.) Muhammad Uthman El-Muhammady. Dr. Amir Farid bin Dato’ Hj Isahak acted as moderator of this forum.

The forum was also part of an International Youth exchange programme. Close to 100 youths from more than 10 countries attended the forum.

Majlis Ramah Mesra on 15th Feb 2012

A “Majlis Ramah Mesra YAB Perdana Menteri Bersama Pemimpin-Pemimpin Agama Sempena Sambutan World Interfaith Harmony Week Tahun 2012” was organised by the PM’s office on 15th Feb 2012. Five committee members from BMSM together with religious leaders of other faiths, were invited to the event at Kompleks Seri Perdana, Putrajaya. This served as a platform to establish communication and intimacy among the country

Representatives from the major religions were invited to present the teachings and perspectives of their respective religions with regards to interfaith harmony. The representatives were: Prof. Balraman Applanaidu, from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus for Hinduism; Pastor Edwin Agong from SIB Brickfields for Christianity; Prof. Datuk Dr Sidek Baba, from UIA for Islam and Prof. Dr Ong Puay Liu, from UKM for the case of Buddhism. Sis. Prof. Dr. Ong is also advisor to Kajang Sunday Dhamma School. Tuan Shuib bin Dahalan was the moderator for the Forum.

More than 200 students attended this forum. The students were encouraged to spread the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill based on the love of God and love of one’s neighbour, and to build relationships with others, irrespective of religious traditions.

leaders and religious leaders, and as recognition for the contributions of religious leaders in fostering harmony in this country.

Interfaith Forum “Love of the good and love of one’s neighbor” on 21st Feb. 2012

An interfaith forum was held at SMK Perempuan Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya on 21st February 2012. The theme for this forum was ‘Love God, Love neighbour’, or ‘Love of the good and love of one’s neighbour’.

Report by Loh Pai Ling and Ong Puay Liu

Sister Professor Dr Ong Puay speaking at the Interfaith forum at SMK Perempuan Sri Aman


CM Lim Guan Eng (5th fr L) meets MCCBCHST members. In the meeting, Dato’ Ang (3rd from R) suggested that the state should host a Wesak Celebration. The suggestion was promptly accepted

Inaugural Penang State Government Wesak Celebration

(22nd April, 2012. Georgetown) Some 5,000 devotees and visitors thronged Dewan Sri Pinang today to be part of the inaugural Penang State Government Wesak Day Celebration 2012, held about two weeks before its actual date.

But it was not at all early, according to celebration religious adviser Venerable Mahinda Maha Thera, as the Wesak month began only two days ago, making this celebration a timely one. Ven. Mahinda is also the religious advisor of the Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia.

Remarking that the event was a historic feat, the Penang Chief Minister said, “Today’s event is part of the program of the newly-established Non-Muslim Religious Affairs EXCO portfolio headed by me. Themed ‘Patriotism and Religious Harmony for a United Malaysia’, the celebration, which will take place two weeks before the actual Wesak Day on May 5, will trace the history of Buddha. The event is open to all Malaysians and seeks to promote understanding and respect of each other’s different religious beliefs.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) Penang Branch Bishop Antony Selvanayagam lauded this as a very good effort by the Penang Pakatan Rakyat State Government to promote religious understanding. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng appreciating the artifacts

The suggestion was made at a meeting held at the CM’s office on Jan. 6 2012 and was promptly accepted by the Chief Minister. Thus Penang became the second state after Selangor to hold a Wesak open house.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng holds the non-Islamic religious affairs state executive council portfolio in Penang. The portfolio was set up in February 2011. Several meetings and dialogues have been carried out with all representatives of the various religious bodies by the Pakatan Rakyat administration. The latest is the meeting between the State Government with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) Penang Chapter on 6 January, 2012 at the Chief Minister’s Office. Deputy Chief Minister II Prof. P. Ramasamy and Exco members Phee Boon Poh and Wong Hon Wai and assembly member A. Tanasekharan attended the meeting.

An array of activities were lined up for the packed crowd. Besides bathing the Buddha image, pindapatta and artifacts exhibitions, the other activities included dana (offering of food to monks and nuns), a pictorial exhibition on ‘The Life of Buddha’, the offering of lights, plays and performances.

Also present were state Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai, Komtar assemblyman cum organising chairman Ng Wei Aik, Thai Consul-General to Penang Voradet Viravakin and Consul-General of Japan Tetsuro Kai.

Dato’ Ir. Ang Choo Hong, Advisor of BMSM, was also present. Dato’ Ang was the person who first suggested to CM Lim Guan Eng that the state should hold such a Wesak celebration as the Federal Government is already celebrating Christmas, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa, Gawai but have left out Wesak.

Amongst the matters discussed and agreed upon at the meeting were: 1. The Penang State Government will grant at least RM50,000 to the MCCBCHST 2. A yearly education school funding will be given to the local Punjabi school. The community expressed their gratitude to the Penang State Government 3. A Wesak Open House will be jointly organised by the Penang State Government and the Buddhists 4. A joint effort with the Hindu Endowments Board will be conducted to find a suitable site on the island on and the mainland where Hindu final rites can be performed at the seafront, with the release of flowers


Rakyat digesa Peluk Erat Setiap Perbezaan

News report from Utusanonline

KUALA LUMPUR 5 Mei - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, sudah tiba masanya bagi rakyat Malaysia memeluk erat setiap perbezaan yang terbentuk dalam sebuah negara pelbagai kaum dan bukan lagi hanya sekadar bertoleransi.

Perdana Menteri berkata, bagi memastikan perbezaan itu dapat dipeluk dengan erat, rakyat negara ini mesti terikat dengan nilai-nilai positif dalam setiap agama yang dianuti, agar semangat perpaduan dapat dijalin atas dasar keikhlasan.

Katanya, langkah itu akan membolehkan rakyat Malaysia yang hidup dalam kepelbagaian mengecap nikmat keharmonian sejati dan ia bertepatan dengan konsep 1Malaysia, yang mula diperkenalkan sejak dua tahun lalu.

“Kita tidak mahu situasi di mana orang akan berfikir seperti ini, saya perlu atau terpaksa bertolak ansur dengan kamu kerana saya tidak boleh bertindak ke atas kamu, tetapi jauh di dalam hati wujud perasaan tidak ikhlas.

“Kita mahukan keharmonian sejati yang lahir daripada hati, kita perlu memeluk erat perbezaan antara dan tidak hanya sekadar bertoleransi,” katanya semasa berucap pada majlis sambutan Hari Wesak di Kuil Sri Mihara di sini hari ini.

Hadir sama Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon; Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai dan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan dan Kesejahteraan Bandar, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.

Dalam pada itu, Najib sekali lagi mengulangi ketegasan bahawa gagasan 1Malaysia yang diperkenalkan beliau bukan sekadar retorik politik tetapi ia konsep yang akan menjadi amalan semua pihak di negara ini termasuk kerajaan.

Menyentuh mengenai Hari Wesak, Perdana Menteri berkata, kerajaan sejak 50 tahun lalu telah mengiktiraf sambutan keagamaan penganut Buddha itu apabila mewartakannya sebagai hari cuti umum.

Katanya, penganut Buddha adalah kumpulan masyarakat kedua terbesar di Malaysia dan mereka telah menyumbang secara signifikan kepada pertumbuhan ekonomi serta sosial sejak sekian lama.

“Pengiktirafan kerajaan terhadap penganut agama Buddha sejak 50 tahun lepas membuktikan konsep 1Malaysia telah dipraktiskan sejak dahulu walaupun tanpa menyebutnya pada ketika itu,” kata beliau.

NAJIB Tun Razak bertemu dengan orang ramai yang hadir pada sambutan Hari Wesak di Kuala Lumpur, semalam. - MINGGUAN/FAUZI BAHARUDIN

Selangor Government Wesak Celebration

BMSM was invited to the Selangor State Government Wesak Celebration on 1st May 2012. This event was organized by the State Government of Selangor and supported by 38 Buddhist temples and organizations in Selangor. This is the second consecutive year the Selangor government organized the Wesak celebration. BMSM chartered a bus, which departed from BMSM Kajang Branch to the Auditorium Dewan Jubli Perak at State Secretariat, Shah Alam, Selangor.

Light vegetarian food was served from 6.00pm onwards at the banquet hal. About 830pm, the Menteri Besar of Selangor, Y.A.B Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Bin Ibrahim officiated the opening ceremony of Wesak Celebration.

“I’m proud to say that we are the first state to recognise Wesak Day as a major celebration. I hope other states nationwide will do the same,” said Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

He added that Penang will also be celebrating their first-ever statewide Wesak Day celebration this week.

Buddhist hymms, popular English and Chinese songs and Chinese artistic dance performances were held during the celebration.

Before launching the celebration, Khalid announced that Selangor would be allocating RM50,000 to organisers of the Wesak Day celebration, which falls on May 5. The funds will be channeled towards Wesak preparations this weekend, and the float parade.

Also present at the celebration was state executive councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah, who thanked the Buddhist associations for agreeing to organise the event.

“I hope in the future, the Buddhist community will be able to work together with us to ensure all their needs are heard and met,” said Ean Yong.

Report by Loh Pai Ling


Wesak at Samadhi Vihara and KajangThis year’s Wesak Day Celebration at Samadhi Vihara was much more significant than the previous year, with a fully-functional Shrine Hall to add grandeur to the festivities.

The celebration started on the evening of 4th May 2012 with Buddha Puja at 7.30pm followed by the offering of lights and a Blessing session by the venerable monks as requested by the devotees.

The programme on Wesak Day, 5th May 2012 started off with a HIL Dana to the venerable monks at 7am, followed by breakfast for the volunteers and devotees. Buddha Puja and Paritta chanting started at 9am and thereafter, there was a continuous stream of devotees and visitors who came to pray, seek blessings and make offerings.

The theme for Wesak celebration this year was “Patriotism and Religious Harmony for a United Malaysia”.

Sister Sumangala was invited to deliver a sermon in Samadhi Vihara on this auspicious day. Sister reminded devotees of the human potential to attain enlightenment and the significance of putting Dhamma into practice.

In Kajang, BMSM Kajang Branch celebrated the thrice-sacred day of the Lord Buddha on 4 and 5 May. A series of events such as Puja, Blessing, Paritta Chanting, lighting of oil lamps and lanterns, offering of dana, flower and incense was held at the BMSM Kajang Branch. In addition, Dharma books and CDs were also distributed to devotees and members of the public.

Qing Ming Special Memorial Service BMSM Kajang organised a special memorial service to honour the departed ones (Qing Ming) on 14 and 15 April 2012. In conjunction with the event, an appeal for donations for the BMSM Kajang Branch Building Fund was sent out to BMSM Members. This annual event organised by BMSM Kajang branch included paritta chantings, dana to the reverends, transference of merits to the departed ones and dana to the public. The event was well received by members and devotees from the surrounding areas in Kajang.

On the evening of 5th May 2012, the Candle light procession organized by the Joint Wesak Celebration Committee (JWCC) departed from Buddhist Maha Vihara to the city centre about 7.30pm. The float was led by Y.B. Senator Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, and accompanied by the Committee chairman, brother Ng Hong Pau, brother Hema (Committee Secretary), Brother Leslie (Committee Vice Chairman) and Sister Loh Pai Ling (Committee Vice Chairman). More than 40 floats with more than 30,000 devotees from all over Klang Valley participated in the annual procession which began at the Brickfields Buddhist Maha Vihara. The 12km procession took about 5 hours. Lots of devotees, tourists and folks gathered along the road to enjoy the procession.

Wesak Float Procession

Wesak celebration at Samadhi Vihara

Wesak celebration at Kajang

The Candle Light

5th May 2012


The orientation and registration for KSDS started this year on 8th January 2012 at Dhammavijaya Meditation Center (DMC), Dengkil. This was due to building renovations that were then expected to commence in early 2012 at Kajang Buddhist Centre (KBC). It was decided that KSDS should commence classes at DMC instead. As a result, the shifting to DMC took place during the December school holidays. This also led to eager anticipation of extracurricular activities being conducted on DMC’s beautiful grounds.

However, as renovation plans for KBC have been on put hold for the time being, KSDS moved back to KBC in late March 2012. Amid this “anicca” situation, the student enrolment started on a weaker note in January compared to the previous year. As of June 2012, we have an official registration of 14 teachers and 40 students. Both teachers and KBC members try their best to motivate more students to sign up and continue to come for Dhamma classes.

On 5th February 2012, KSDS students participated in the Chinese New Year Blessing Ceremony at DMC. A small “gotong-royong” was held prior to the CNY Blessing ceremony, and a group of our KSDS students together with their parents came to help out in this meaningful activity.

During the last week of March, the school shifted back to KBC after its short sojourn at DMC.

On 15th April 2012, we have our KSDS students taking part in the Qing Ming Memorial Service held at KBC. Our students were taught to mindfully recall their relatives who had passed away, and to share merits that they had accrued through their good deeds with their departed relatives and friends.

Kajang Sunday Dhamma School Thereafter, our teachers and students were busy with rehearsals and preparation for the KSDS Sing-Along Presentation held in conjunction with Wesak Day Celebration on 5th May 2012.

The Sing-Along session on Wesak Day was a highlight event as the crowd thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they were easily persuaded to sing along with the students.

In May, KSDS also celebrated Mothers’ Day. This was an event for the children to show their loves to their mothers.

Most recently on 17th June, KSDS celebrated Fathers’ Day. We called it “Parents’ & Bak-Chang Day” and we celebrated the joint occasion by making bak-chang. It was a meaningful opportunity to remind our school children about the virtue of filial piety and also to not forget our traditions. A floral arrangement was also carried out by Sisters Lye Eng Lan and Lye Fong Lan. We could see a sea of smiles as the bouquets of flowers were lovingly arranged by the students to be presented to their parents later. Teachers also joined in to pick up a trick or two on flower arrangement.

Moving forward, for the second half of the year, KSDS will continue with its regular activities such as Storytelling Presentations (22 July), Family Outing (5 August), Fun Quiz (14 October), Appreciation Day (21 October) and the year-end KSDS Children’s Camp (16 November).


2012 is yet another awesome year for Dhammaduta Development Youth (“D2Y) and its members. The Executive Committees for the year 2011/2012 under the leadership of Bro. Chiew Wei Wing and his fellow committees, Bro. Khor Haw Lun, Bro. Jonathan Khoo, Bro. Alex Tee, Bro. Teoh Chung Kai and Bro. Shashi Ananda have set the target of either organizing at least one event a month, or taking part in events organized by fellow Buddhist organizations. D2Y has after all prided itself as being youth ambassadors of the Dhamma and has consistently organized youth activities for the past 12 years.

In January, D2Y had its annual Chinese New Year Caroling where members visited houses to sing Chinese New Year songs and Buddhist hymns. With the introduction of the lion dance group in recent years, the D2Y had attracted more requests from various hosts this year, including an invitation from Uttama Bodhi Vihara (UBV) at Bandar Utama to perform during their Chap Goh Meh celebration.

This year, the CNY Caroling was led by Sis. Carol Lim and Sis. Michelle Lim, with 40 members participating. During the actual day of the CNY Caroling, the group visited 8 houses in Klang Valley. The activity started at 6.30am on 5th Feb. and ended at 10pm. It was heartening to leave all our hosts with smiles on their faces. We successfully raised a substantial amount of funds for future activities and we would like to thank all our hosts for their kind hospitality, generosity and endless support towards our activities.

Meanwhile, in conjunction with the football fever of the English Premier League (EPL) and upcoming Euro 2012, the Buddhist youth community had their own futsal championship organized by the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association Youth Section. 8 teams from around Klang Valley participated in the second annual ‘Buddhist Can Kick’ Buddhist Fellowship Futsal. The D2Y team made up of Bro. Allen Tan, Bro. Lum Wai Leong, Bro. Kng Zheng Guan and a few others did exceed expectations when they took third place in the tournament.

D2Y- 2012 and Planetarium. The reason the project was given such a name was because each of the volunteers were actually assigned with an orphan during the trip and they were to spend on the Children’s necessity for the trip, such as their entrance tickets and food. Thus, came the role of being a parent and guardian throughout the entire visit. As a result, nearly 30 orphans from Rumah Hope, Petaling Jaya, turned up on that day while approximately 40 ‘parents’ participated. Although the visit was a short one lasting only half a day, all the volunteers had a wonderful time and experienced what it was like to be a parent and the responsibility encumbered therein. We could see the same from the faces of the children as they too refused to leave when it was time to bid farewell.

The more recent project undertaken by D2Y was the Green Wesak project. BMV usually has one of the biggest Wesak celebrations in town but the mess created is just as big too. For the second consecutive year, Sis. Lim Su-Jin led D2Y in the Green Wesak project to collect and resell all recyclables within the compound of the temple. The green Wesak team came up with a system of collecting half-burnt candle from the altars, used-oil from the light offering booth, vegetable waste from the kitchen and empty cartons from various booths without alerting or disrupting the devotees from their Wesak visit. Whilst many were not aware of the presence of green Wesak volunteers, we truly appreciate their efforts in keeping the temple clean and reducing the waste.

The whole project only ended at 1.30 a.m. past midnight.

This year, 52kg of plastic bottles, 510kg of cartons, 1kg of aluminium, 2kg of steel and half a barrel of used oil were collected for recycling. 25 gunny sacks of candle waste and 8 trash bins of vegetable and fruit scraps were collected for composting.

Following the Futsal Tournament was the first D2Y charity and community service project for the year 2012. The project, called “Parent For a Day Project” was initiated by Sis. Chuah Siew Lin and Sis. Amy Lim. The aim of the project was to bring orphans for a study/visit trip to the National Museum

There are plenty of activities coming up next. If you wish to know more about us, kindly visit www.d2y.my or like us at http://www.gacebook.com/DhammadutaYouth and updates.

Coming Soon:

Activity: Dhamma Understanding and Skills Training Series

Content:

Four series of workshop whereparticipants will learn the basic Dhamma knowledge and also the soft skills that will come in handy in daily lives.

Time and venue: Every Sunday starting from 03 June 2012 to 27 June 2012 in Buddhist Maha Vihara.

Voice of Buddhism64

Welfare ActivitiesFood, Fun and Cultural Carnival 2012In response to the Temple of Fine Arts’ request, BMSM Welfare Section sponsored and operated a taufoofa, soya milk & cincau drink stall at their Food, Fun and Cultural Carnival 2012 on 19 and 20 May 2012.

The proceeds from the Food and Fun Fair went towards the setting up of their Sivshanta Dialysis Centre, which is located at 128, Jln Berhala, Kuala Lumpur. Our efforts over these two days raised about RM3,000.

Wesak 2012Wesak Eve and Wesak Day are our fundraising days. Close to 40% of our welfare funds are raised during these two days. Like our practice on past Wesak Days, we operated an exhibition stall and a food stall inside and outside the Buddhist Maha Vihara during Wesak Eve and on Wesak Day, to raise funds for our charitable activities.

At the exhibition stall, we put up a small photograph exhibition to inform the public of our welfare programmes. We also distributed free dharma books and sold some merchandise such as towels, umbrella, soft toys, ceramic pottery and goodies. At the food stall, we sold a variety of vegetarian food, as well as nasi lemak, pumpkin dessert, leongfun, etc. Sales was not encouraging on Wesak Eve but we enjoyed brisk business on Wesak Day. Everything was sold out by 4pm.

A big Sadhu to all our friends and regular supporters who have helped us in the fund-raising drive on these two days. May you be blessed with happiness, good health and all the best things in life.

A publication of Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia

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