Vesak Day 19.5.08

19.5.08 is the Vesak day, the day which Malaysian Buddhists commemorate the birth, the enlightenment and the passing of Gautama Buddha.

Although I often fill in the 'Religion' column of any forms as "Buddhism", i was never a true practitioner.

My mom is practising Buddhism and Taoism. So, conveniently I just pick one and adopt one.

I guess the only time I am being 'exposed' to Buddhism is when I accompany my mom visiting Buddhist temples for prayers. To be fair, those visits were more of learning about prayer rituals rather than true Budhhism teachings.

If anyone ever ask if I am ashamed for not learning about the family's religion, I think not because both learning and practising religious teachings should be free will. It should not bring pressure onto an individual and cannot be made a mandatory practise in order to conform to a certain social definition or perception of a community. After all, to my opinion, religion is a personal matter between an individual and his / her God. Moreover, Buddhism is a teaching rather commonly labelled as a religion.

In Buddhism, anyone can become a Buddha because Buddhism is about reaching the "Awakening" status of our mind. The word " Buddha" itself means "Awakened one" in Sanskrit (language of ancient Buddhist text).

Unlike previous years, I did not think of visiting temples during Vesak day unless i am with my mom. This year, I actually thought of visiting one to pay homage and respect to Gautama Buddha. Coincidentally, a few days ago, a gym friend of mine invited me to visit a Buddhist Monastery on Vesak day.

So, I did. I first when to a Buddhist cum Taoist temple that morning, did all the rituals of lighting up candles, burning joss-sticks and make some donations to the temple and the poors who were sitting at the entrance of the temple. Next, I went to the nearby Buddhist monastery to meet up with my gym friend.

Upon arrival at the monastery, the first thing that i noticed was its environment. Compared to the atmosphere at most temples, with devotees busy minding their own praying activities, the atmosphere at the monastery was calmer and serene. First, its architecture seem blended into to its surroundings and nature - trees, plants and water. There was also a sense of openness and welcoming feeling. Devotees at the monastery also seem to be more at ease, friendlier and approachable.

Again, I performed the rituals. This time, the offerings also included some flowers and fruits. These rituals are no stranger to me, except I had little understanding of their significance in relation to Buddhism.

At about 9 am, the other rituals followed suit. Both devotees, the monks and nuns sang the hymn in praise of the holy triple gems / jewels - which I had no ideas what they meant.

During the prayer breaks, i asked my gym friend and below were what i learnt:

• The Holy triple jewels / gems refer to The Buddha, The Dharma (his teachings) and The Sangha (his disciples). They are called the jewels / gems because they are precious for someone to follow, learn and attain.
• The simple symbolic offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks are to remind the followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after a short while and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction.
• In addition, the burning of joss-sticks and candles also remind followers about sacrifice for greater good. The candles bring light and the joss-sticks bring fragrance by burning themselves.
• The offerings of flowers and fruits signifies "cause" and "effect". The flowers = Cause and fruits = Effect. So, good deeds lead to goods effects and vice verse.
• To some other religions, worshipping the statue of Buddha is interpreted as worshiping the Idols. To Buddhists, the statue is just a symbol to remind the followers to constantly following the teachings of Buddhism when they see and kneel before the statue.
• Why we always offer joss-stick always in three? This is because the "three" reminds the followers to keep overcoming "Greed", "Anger" and "Ignorance" as fundamental in embracing, learning and practising Buddhism
• Buddhism is a teaching to universal beings - both to the livings and the spiritual world - educating the evils to be good and the good to be better.
• Buddhism is about treating all with respects and fairness, regardless of the livings and spirituals. That is why killing is forbidden.

Today learning opened up my mind towards Buddhism. No longer just focus on its rituals but also a little bit about the essence of its teaching. I am pleased. Happy Vesak day!

How can good religion make people bad?

I picked this article up from a blog of a man of courage and patriotism. The wisdom portrayed by the writer of this article is admirable.
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You ask, how can a good religion make people bad?

To answer this question we have to understand what religion is. Religion is man-made. If we look at the early generations of Muslims, the first two Caliphs for instance, we see a pretty just system. But from there it goes downhill. We have Muslim fighting Muslim, rules and regulations implemented based on frail human understanding and often with less than pious motives, and we see Muslims seeking power rather than Imaan.

Islam is no different from Judaism and Christianity in this respect – they have all lost their way as 'religions'. Faith is one of the most powerful motivators – it can lead men to murder, to corruption and to all sorts of horrific acts, and it is often used by tyrants to accomplish these things. But at the core of it is one human trait that we must always struggle to suppress and that is our desire to be better than others.

We all want notoriety and often 'religion' is used as a way of separating us, as making us think we are better than others, that we somehow are the 'chosen' ones. Look at the division within the Muslim Ummah and the fights over who is the 'saved sect'. Is there a man on earth who really knows for sure how to secure a sacred place in the hereafter?

I don’t think we can look at so-called religions for the answer. And with respect to the Muslims, we have to reject most of what we have been told as the rules and regulations have been handed down by dictators and rulers with their own agenda.

Islam has no Pope. As Muslims, our relationship with Allah is direct. Instead, we look to scholars and leaders as if they have some inside track to God. In Pakistan and Egypt, the Muslims kiss the hands of the Sheikhs, throw money at them and elevate their status. While surely we can gain knowledge from learned men, we need to filter out personal motives and validate so-called 'knowledge'.

Travelling the world as I have, I can tell you that Islam in Malaysia and Turkey, for instance, is drastically different. Look at Saudi Arabia as another example. Women there are not allowed to drive. Yet, in Islam, women are equal and are not restricted from working or achieving skills! Many cultural things have found their way into the 'truth'. How can that be when there is only one truth? I conclude that much 'truth' is man-made!

I have great compassion for your current situation having gone through a similar thing myself. The more I understand, the more I reject organised religion. It seems to me that we are focusing on man-made details while totally side-lining the source of faith.

The Quran is a book for all time, as are the other Holy Books. Yet Islam, today, is based more on Hadith and the life of the Prophet (pbuh), Fatwas, Islamic precedence, cultural traditions, etc., than on the Quran. Let’s face it – you can get a Fatwa to justify anything these days. If we find a ruling we don’t like, presto – we find a Sheikh who will endorse it. We really have to make sure that our own arrogance does not cloud our vision, and that is something I am constantly trying to keep in check.

In Malaysia, the situation is more complex as there are religious differences and a hefty amount of racism that magnifies the differences. You have so-called Muslim leaders using their position to condone their own behaviour and condemn those they choose. And they do this in the name of religion. But the obvious question is - where is the justice?

Allah said do not take the Christians and the Jews as (CLOSE) friends. This only makes sense – it’s logical. Ultimately, a different faith will eventually limit those relationships but that does not mean we must abuse Christians and Jews or that all of them are 'evil' – that goes against what Allah tells us in the Quran. Allah tells us to wage war against the OPPRESSORS within His LIMITS and to respect the People of the Book but somehow we let this get twisted by men with personal agendas.

Brother, as a Royal son of Selangor, I think you have your priorities upside down. You have worked tirelessly for your country and I know the country’s problems trouble you a great deal and you put a lot of effort into trying to instigate change. This, no doubt, is also partly expected of you. But you cannot condone bad Muslim behaviour because you are Muslim and you cannot turn a blind eye to Allah’s justice because of your patriotism.

The world map is changing even as we speak and there is no guarantee that Malaysia, as we know it, will even remain. We need to hold onto those things that pass the test of time like divine truth and justice even if it makes us unpopular. Working tirelessly at deciphering truth will reap much greater rewards for mankind and in the hereafter.

I no longer take what other Muslims tell me as truth. I too am at the stage of my life where I see hypocrisy everywhere and, for me, I don’t buy a lot of the interpretations of Islam as they are now presented. I come back to the Quran and the guiding principles and contemplate these at the source. That often puts me at odds with other Muslims but I really think we must each travel our own path to truth. Is this not the purpose of life?

Faith is an individual journey, not a 'religion', and Allah gave us a brain, a conscience and freewill to choose right from wrong. I think we must focus internally before we act externally and we must be cautious that we don’t get caught up in the politics of the day or 'religious' trends that will be long gone tomorrow. Faith is not a coat we put on and instantly we are pious. We must come to know that we know that we know. It's a learning process.

There will never be peace without justice. We need to stand on the side of justice whether that is with the Muslims or non-Muslims, believers or unbelievers. We are so busy sweating the details that we often miss the real truth. We know deep down what is right as long as we let Allah be our guide, and once we are at peace with what is right, we need to act. Knowledge is useless unless we use it. We need to get our eye off men and onto Allah because with Allah we have hope, guidance and mercy and with man, our future is futile.