June 13 – Brother Tan’s Talk About Practising Buddhism

Hi there! This week, we’ll be sharing more about the previous talk held by Tan Chede Meng, one of Google’s Jolly good fellows. It was held at Vimalakirti Buddhist Centre on the 13 of June. In this post, I’ll like to share about our sharings and experience from the talk itself, as well as after-thoughts about it.

So on a hot sunny morning, we sat down to listen to Brother Tan’s talk. Among us were other Buddhist youths from other organizations such as Singapore Buddhist Mission (SBM), Singapore Buddhist Federation (SBF), and the NUS Buddhist society. It’s good to see so many of our compatriots joining in this activity!

During the talk, Bro Tan mentioned several key pointers in the practice in the Dhamma. It is true that in today’s hectic world, it is extremely difficult to maintain a strong dedication towards meditation and practising it. However, keeping to a basic few minutes of practice can do wonders for your concentration, as seen from his quick demonstration with us throughout the talk. For example, a single breath exercise practiced for 8 times is actually sufficient for a day’s practice (of course, the more the merrier!)

Ultimately, the key thing in many of these practices would be the consistency in maintaining them. Momentum plays a really big part in this, since it can be really difficult to work on something which is not integral to our daily lives. The benefits can be quite substantial, such as calming down the mind and concentrating on the task ahead.

Another key idea which he talked about was Buddhism’s future with respect to both the Western and Eastern community. Nowadays, we do see a trend where Buddhism is increasing in popularity in the west, but not so much in the East. Why is this the case?

According to Brother Tan, it seems that in the west, there is a stronger application of Buddhist practices (the meditation aspect) with respect to scientific knowledge which we are aware of in today’s society. Buddhist concepts are seen as directly applicable in the face of current scientific knowledge and has been a positive influence in helping people maintain a healthy mind and awareness in the front of many things which could distract one.

In wrapping up, I have to say that this was a rather inspiring and enlightening talk regarding the way we practise Buddhism and how we can and should make active moves to achieve it. It was also really great how we were able to interact with him regarding some of his thoughts about certain terms and Buddhist practices. It is really important to join these talks in order to further improve your understanding as well as clarify certain questions which you may have.

- Wei Xing