On the full moon night of the month of Vesakha, He sat under the Bodhi tree at Gaya, wrapped in deep meditation. It was then that His mind burst the bubble of the universe and realized the true nature of all life and all things. At the age of 35 years, He was transformed from an earnest truth seeker into the Buddha, the Enlightened One. Buddha passed away at the age of eighty at Kusinara.
Does reincarnation exist ?
The strongest evidence supporting the theory of reincarnation is from the work of Ian Stevenson who documented numerous cases of children ‘recalling’ historical events and relatives of deceased individuals.
Reincarnation cannot explain how temple mediums are able to invoke the spirits of the departed.
If the spirit of the departed has already reincarnated into another body, how can it also appear in the temple medium?
In Hindu belief, an avatar is a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth.
It is also defined as an incarnation of god on earth. The plural form is avatara.
An example is Krishna. One living guru, Sai Baba claims to be an avatar.
It has been more than one thousand and nine hundred years since Buddhism spread to China.
It is very easy to misunderstand Buddhism if one knows nothing about its origins. Some followers may practice the cultural rituals without ever knowing Buddha’s teachings. As a consequence, those who believe in "Buddhism" may not really be following the Buddha’s teachings
Chinese Buddhism emphasises a vegetarian diet. Buddhists in Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand or Tibet and Mongolia the monks and nuns have meat in their diet.
One need not be a vegetarian in order to learn about the teaching of the Buddha and that one cannot practise Buddhism if one cannot be a vegetarian. To practice Buddhism and be a vegetarian are not the same thing. Some people who become a Buddhist, do not learn much about the teachings but only know how to be a vegetarian.
Although it is not necessary for a Buddhist to be vegetarian, the teaching of the Buddha says that becoming a vegetarian will cultivate one’s loving kindness and compassion. By not harming the life of other living beings, not eating the meat of the other animals one will reduce one’s karma of killing.
Karma is the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence.
The non-Buddhist always feel that it is an act of superstition when they see Buddhists chanting to repent. To repent is to admit one’s mistake. Everyone of us have committed countless wrong and evil deeds. Killing, stealing and adultery are evil deeds. People generally do not know how to repent. People pay monks or nuns to lead them during the repentance. These people do not even know that they should repent, and only employ the monks and nuns to repent for them. They do not have faith in Buddhism, and do not show any sincerity in repenting themselves.
As a result, the monks and nuns are busy with all these services all day. And these services become the only activity in many temples, with the main task of the monks and nuns being neglected.
In Buddhist temples, there is misbehaviour such as drawing lots, asking for fortune, divining etc.
True Buddhists do not allow this behaviour. One who is really practising the teaching of the Buddha, should believe in the Law of Cause and Effect. If one has committed evil karma, one will not be able to avoid the effect of it through any methods.
The Chinese in the olden days have the tradition of burning white silk when praying to their ancestors. They burn silk so that the ancestors may use it. They were then replaced by paper; as it is more economical. Later, they used paper to make money, ingots, notes, and even houses and cars, and burn them for their ancestors. These are generated from the traditional customs of the olden days. They are not the teachings of the Buddha.
Buddhists should understand this and should not burn paper money as this is not the teaching of the Buddha. If one still wants to keep the tradition and want to show one’s remembrance towards the ancestors, then one may burn a little at home. Amithaba.
The attap chee, palm seed in english, is a favourite found in chendol and ice ball.
The greenish strips in chendol look like something from a runny nose. When it roll out, other kids will shout "chendol, chendol".
Soursop or commonly called angmo durian can be plucked right of the tree, free too as kampongs are full of them. Today medical science has elevate the fruit as a disease fighter including cancer.
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