Hi guys! It’s been so long since the last post. I’m a new blogger, Pei Si, who will be helping Wei Xing with this blog. From now onwards, I will be posting the points discussed during the talks that take place during each week’s Buddhist Fellowship Youth (BFY) service, in addition to the movie posts! Details regarding our services are at the end of the post.
Last Saturday’s service’s talk was “Taking Refuge” by Sister Yi Rong.
Taking refuge refers to seeking protection from harm and danger. As Buddhists, we take refuge in the Triple Gem, namely the
Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This is to protect us from the dangers pertaining to the present life, future lives and the general course of existence.
Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This is to protect us from the dangers pertaining to the present life, future lives and the general course of existence.
Dangers pertaining to the present life
Objective aspect:
- We are subject to illness, injuries, aging and death
- Common feature: uncertainty as we cannot tell when these will strike us
Subjective aspect:
- Fearful of change & uncertainty
- Course of events clashes with our will à pain and dissatisfaction
- Protection: equanimity
- Equanimity: like having a bird’s eye view of things while we remain unaffected. We need guidance in order to achieve it, therefore our refuge in the Triple Gem
- Safeguards us not from the situation but our negative reaction
Dangers pertaining to the future lives
Objective aspect:
- The danger of being reborn in an unhappy realm prior to death (hell/ animal/ hungry ghost/ demigod)
- Being born into an unhappy realm will result in intrinsic suffering and this makes it very difficult to accumulate enough merits to pass on to the happy realms (human/ heavenly)
Subjective aspect:
- We can protect ourselves by doing more wholesome and fewer unwholesome actions
- We need to take refuge as:
o It is difficult to evaluate if some actions are wholesome or unwholesome when things are not clear cut
o We may pursue what we know is unwholesome due to impulse
- We need guidance to master our minds through wisdom and discipline
Dangers pertaining to the general course of existence
Objective aspect:
- Due to the intrinsic satisfactoriness of Samsara, we crave to be reborn when we die
- The Buddha said that the tears and blood we shed, as well as the flesh and bone of the bodies from all our past lives are enough to fill an ocean
Subjective aspect:
- Root cause: ignorance
- Antidote: wisdom
- Refuge should be beyond danger and distress, and accessible to us, which are qualities the Triple Gem has
A contemplation exercise we can do, especially before meditating:
- The reason and meaning behind taking refuge
- The dangers we face
- How taking refuge protects us from them
- The qualities of the Triple Gem
If you’re interested, you can check out the book “Going for Refuge, Taking the Precepts” by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
This is the link for the sutta that was discussed prior to the talk:http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.025.kuma.html
Buddhist Fellowship is located at Yeo’s Building at Telok Blangah. You can visit the website at http://www.buddhistfellowship.org . Feel free to drop by our youth service on any Saturday from 3 to 6 pm. The schedule is as follows:
3.00-3.30: Guided meditation
3.30-3.45: Short puja (chanting)
3.45-5.00: Dhamma talk and Q & A (speaker is either a lay person or a monastic)
5.00-6.00: Sutta discussion (related to the topic of the talk and conducted by youth leaders)
6.00-6.15: Closing Puja
Ok that’s it! Will post for next week’s talk and will try to post about a movie soon!
-Pei Si
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