Buddhism As Education

The Buddha strongly encouraged care and respect for the ecological environment as he clearly saw the close interdependence between man and nature. The Buddha also disapproved of animal sacrifice as he saw it cruel and unfair for anyone to destroy any living being for one’s selfish benefit. To the Buddha, miracles are but manifestation of phenomena not understood by common people. They are not seen as demonstrations of Enlightenment or Wisdom, as supernatural powers can be mastered by anybody. The supernatural is seen as phenomena not understood by the unenlightened. The ability to perform miracle is seen as a by-product of spiritual development of minor importance and relevance to the real goal of spiritual development itself. Though the Buddha had full mastery of psychic powers, he used them only out of compassion and skillful means to reach others. He never used his powers to win followers through blind faith and dependency on miracles. He taught that the highest miracle is the conve...

The Buddha was among the first to speak against the caste system, on the importance of individual rights and the equality of all human beings despite differences in social standing, race and religions. He also encouraged the spirit of social cooperation and active participation in society at all levels. According to the Buddha, the only classification of human beings is based on equality of their moral conduct. The Buddha, seeing the two sexes as ultimately equal in rights was the first religious teacher who gave women full freedom to participate in religious rights. His move to allow women to enter the Sangha (order of monks and nuns) was extremely radical in his times. The Buddha was also the first religious teacher to advocate the spirit of consultation and democratic process in the Sangha community, each member has individual rights to decide on matters of general concern. When a serious question arose, the issues are put forth before and discussed in a manner similar to today’s de...

The Buddha is a major historical figure who promoted the rise of national faith against the superstitious of religions. He emancipated man from the corrupted authority of priest and was the first to show the way to freedom from religious hypocrisy and dictatorship. Buddhism is a religion that uses reason and no element of fear to coerce anyone in any way to believe it. As the Buddha’s compassion is universal, he sees all creatures great and small from insects to beast as equal ultimately, each with the same rights for happiness like us. There’s no such thing as a just war in Buddhism. The Buddha taught that “the victor breads hatred and the defeated lives in misery”. He who announces both victory and defeat is happy and peaceful. Not only did the Buddha teaches non-violence and peace, he was probably the first and only religious teacher who went to the battlefield to prevent the outbreak of a war between two warring states.

About 2500 Buddhist devotees from various Buddhist organizations thronged the funeral service of Venerable Bo Yuan to bid final farewell to one of the most respected and eminent Buddhist monk in recent year. The funeral service was attended by numerous foreign and local monastic and lay luminaries at the Lake Garden Buddhist center. The service began at 10.30 on the morning of 16th April , presided by Ven. Jing Liang, the president of China (Taiwan) Buddhist association and Ven. Ri Heng , the president of of Malaysian Buddhist Association, amid chanting by devotees .The funeral procession made its way to the thousand Buddha temple for the cremation ceremony. The ashes of Ven. Bo Yuan will be kept at Penang’s Ke Lok Shi temple according to Ven. Ming Chit, the KL &Selangor branch chairman of MBA - Than Hsiang .

In conjuction with Wesak Day celebration, Heong Sun See Temple of Tanjong Tokong Lama in Penang will be conducting The Grand Diamond Sutra Repentence Puja on Sunday 3 May 2009. The prayer will commence at 8.00 am and Offering Prayer will be held at 11.00 am, followed by Bathing The Buddha ceremony. Lighting of Auspicious Lamp for good fortune and elimination of obstacles will be incorporated in the abovesaid puja ceremony. The Three-Step-One-Bow Retreat will be held on 1 May 2009 at 6.00 am in Mengkuang Dam, Bukit Mertajam. Those who are interested to participate can register with the temple then. For more details on these occasions, please call 04-8999067 or 04-8999629. Looking forward for your kindest support and participation.

In conjunction with Wesak Day celebration on 9 May 2009, Bodi Lankarama Buddhist Temple in Taiping will beholding its celebration at the temple's premises. Among activities which are expected to take place are Dharma Talk on Birth, Awakening and Passing of Lord Buddha which will be held on the eve of Wesak, followed by Hoisting of the Buddhist Flag, Offering of Milk Rice, Buddha Puja, Heel Dana, Procession of Holy Relics, Dana and Chanting of Buddha's Sutras on Wesak Day. May your participation in the activities in this programme with saddha (confidence) and based on your observance of the precepts bring you and your family peace, happiness and good health. All generous donations received will go towards the needs of Venerable Sangha members as well as development and maintenance of the temple. For more details please contact the temple's office at 05-8077216 or visit their website at http://www.bodhilankarama.net/ Maha Sadhu in Advance.

We wish to express our gratitude and thanks to His Eminence Venerable Drubpon Sonam Jorphel Rinponche for his service to our devotees and members during the three-days programme.