Monday 20 June 2011

The Lessons I Have Learnt from the Buddha

Every day if we watch the news we are confronted by man’s inhumanity to man. The latest natural catastrophe, war, famine or a mixture of all three. Financial meltdown, insecurity, rampant greed and selfishness. These can appear to be the way of the world and if we concentrate on them than we may become troubled – filled with despair and gloom and anxious for our futures.

How can we avoid this – well firstly by not focusing on all the ills – the news seldom reports the good things that happens , the myriad acts of kindness that occur each and every moment , the inherent goodness of people when they are allowed to be good, the smiles we share , the communion of friends and family. So switch it off and seek more inspiring thoughts. Go for a walk – get off the internet – look at the marvellous world which we inhabit and study a tree or flower.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly then our whole life would change. Buddha


That’s where I hope the Buddha’s Face blog comes in. It must be said I started this as an adjunct to our commercial website The Buddha’s Face and as an aid to gaining traffic for the website. However as I have become more involved in finding information to write about and searching the web for quotes, inspiring stories and videos I have gone on a journey as well that has changed my purpose and focus.

Just exposing yourself to his life story, the message and the way of the Buddha cannot but change you – at first in subtle ways and then one day you just wake up and realise that the Buddha is in your heart. If I had to say what is the most important feature of this Buddhism-lite it is that it gives me a toolkit to understand my life and my place in the world and to live more in the moment and by so doing begin to really enjoy life. Once we stop wanting we can begin living.

I’ll leave you with some quotes from probably the most famous Buddhist who has ever lived – the Dalai Lama and a video I made for the Buddha’s Face You Tube site.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

1 comment:

  1. Dear brothers and sisters who love the Dharma
    Let me tell you the history about SANNAK SAMBODHI, TAMAN DESA JAYA, KEPONG, KUALA LUMPUR. Last time we were members of the temple but now we are very far apart because now the committee members are very proud of the activities or duties of the temple.
    On the other hand, the current president of the temple is YIP KUM FOOK and son YIP JIUN HANN. His son always said to the devotees: THIS TEMPLE IS MY FATHER'S TEMPLE. Or is it my father's property…we are silent because We know this temple very well where it came from...
    Now the members of the temple committees are their only group. Others cannot join as members and use Myanmar monks only for service and blessing. Only Burmese monks are very smart. (All monks from Myanmar have the rank of DR or PH. D), but the disciples(devotees) here are very confused because the disciples here have never heard of that name(titles).
    If we understand the teachings of Buddhism that creates BAD KARMA. will receive what has been done

    by the previous committee
    Samnak Sambodhi, Desa Jaya, Kepong, KL

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