HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dr. MEIYANG CHANG

Dear Chang,

This "flower of prosperity" is exclusively for you because you are always very special for us!

Happy Birthday to you!

May you be blessed with happiness, good health, prosperity and longevity!

May all your dreams come true!

May the Triple Gem bless you!

The one who is handsome,

knowledgeable,

but no good conduct and human qualities,

is just like a wild flower without scent.

There are many such kind of characters among us.

But the person who is handsome,

knowledgeable and endowed with good human qualities

and good conduct, is like a fragrant and beautiful flower,

which is pleasant and lovable to all.

One of the best examples for this catergory is below right:

_/\_ Dr. Meiyang Chang ... !!! (-_-)

LIFE is like a flower

One early morning I saw this happy rose. It had blossomed just opposite of the Bodhi Tree of our monastery. This rose was so pure and fluttered its petals with a delighted-looking. When ever I see this picture, it reminds me the temporal existence of all phenomena. Though the picture still survives , the real flower is no more. All phenomena arise, temporarily exist and disappear sooner or later; so is our life.

"Puppham milayati yatha idam me - kayo tatha yati vinasabhavam" - Even as a flower does fade, so does my body come to destruction.


“Everything is impermanent; strive with diligence for your purity". (Vaya dhamma sankhara - appamadena sampadetha).

The Buddha said that "the physical body of human beings decays but not their name and clan" (Rupam jirati maccanam nama gottam na jirati).

The Buddha also said that the person who is with a bad conduct is like a dead person though he alives but the person who had a good conduct still alives though he passes away. (Appamatta na miyanti - ye pamattha yatha matha).

Kamma will follow us but not the material wealth. The ill-doer will suffer when he receives karmic retribution but the well-doer will rejoice here and here after.

The Mind

The mind is very difficult to perceive; very delicate and subtle; it moves and lands wherever it pleases. The wise one should guard his mind. The guarded mind brings happiness.

- THE DHAMMAPADA - 3.3http://www.chandawimala.blogspot.com/

Buddhist Meditation

METITATION - THE ONLY WAY



(N.B. Instructions quoted from Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda, a well known Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who spread Buddhism throughout the world living in Malaysia over 50 years).

Benefits of Meditation

Reap the Benefits

Today many people from all over the world, irrespective of their religions, have become aware of the benefits to be gained through meditation. The immediate purpose of meditation is to train the mind and to use it effectively and efficiently in our daily life. The ultimate aim of meditation is to seek release from the wheel of Samsara – the cycle of birth and death. Even though it is a most difficult task, positive benefits are obtainable here and now, if one is serious about meditation. One should not be enslaved by the prospects of these benefits and lose sight of real aim of Buddhist meditation. The benefits of meditation can be summerised as follows:-

• If you are a busy person, meditation can help you to get rid of tension and to find relaxation.
• If you are a worried person, meditation can calm you and help you find peace of mind.
• If you are a person who has endless problems, meditation can help you to develop courage and strength to face and overcome them.
• If you lack of self confidence, meditation can help you to gain the self-confidence which is the secret of success in life.
• If you have fear in your heart, meditation can help you to understand the real nature of the problems that are making you afraid – then you can overcome the fear in your mind.
• If you are always dissatisfied with everything and nothing in life seems to be satisfactory – meditation can give you chance to develop and to maintain inner contentment.
• If you are skeptical and uninterested in the religious way of life, meditation can help you to go beyond your own skepticism and to see some practical values in religious guidance.
• If you are frustrated and heart-broken due to a lack of understanding of the uncertainty of life and the world, meditation can truly guide and help you to understand the fleeting nature of worldly conditions.
• If you are a rich man, meditation can help you to realise the nature of your wealth and how to make use of it not only for your own happiness but also for others’ happiness.
• If you are a poor man, meditation can help you to develop contentment and not to harbour jealousy towards those who have more than you.
• If you are a young man at the cross-roads of your life, and you do not know which way to turn, meditation can help you to the right path to reach your chosen goal.
• If you are an elderly man who is fed-up with life, meditation can bring you to a deeper understanding of life; this understanding in turn will relieve your pains and increase the joy of living.
• If you are hot-tempered, you can develop the strength to overcome the weakness of anger, hatred, and resentment to become a more calm and sober person.
• If you are jealous, you can understand that negative mental attitudes never contribute anything for your sense-disires.
• If you are addicted to drinking or to drugs, desires, you can learn how to become the master of your sense-desires.
• If you are a narrow minded person, you can develop understanding that will be beneficial both to you and your friends and family to avoid misunderstanding.
• If you are strongly influenced by emotions, your emotions will have no chance to mislead you.
• If you suffer from certain disorders such as nervous breakdowns and mental disturbances, meditation can activate the positive forces in your mind and body to regain your health, especially if they are psychosomatic problems.
• If you are a weak-minded person or one who maintains inferiority complex, meditation can strength your mind to develop courage to overcome your weaknesses.
• If you are a wise person, meditation will lead you to supreme wisdom. Then you will see things as they are, and not as they appear to be.