This shall be a long post.
MondayWas at the library the whole day revising my Econs. Got better understanding though still wasn't sure on some concepts. Will work harder!
Went to Rachel's house for daimokukai after dinner. Her great-aunt is at the advanced stage of lung cancer and is in the ICU. Not many went; 4 from her district and the rest from SD. We had a vigorous & solid daimokukai nevertheless, everyone chanted with such compelling effort & conviction that we must have the best arrangement for her great-aunt.
It was also comforting to meet up with Rachel after such long lapse. She permed & coloured her hair and got much more tanned than before. I reminisced the time in ASD with her, chiong-ing shakubuku campaigns, dialogues & studies with her. Didn't have much time to catch up with her ever since.
One of the WDs then gave us a lift back to Toa Payoh. Along the journey, Sikang and I started to talk about SD. What we can do with the couple of years left in SD. Time in Students' Division is really precious & important. We must challenge ourselves not only in studies & also in daily life.
I will make my stay in ITAC worthwhile.
TuesdayWent SYC to help Jerry in his biology after school. I miss biology so much!
Went to SD gosho study at TBSC. Last gosho study of the year by Reverend Watanabe. It was indeed a fruitful & enriching sharing on
Buddhism is Win or Lose and
Buddhism of Sowing(下种).
In reality, there must be results & transformations from practising Buddhism. In Buddhism, we can only win. Winning in life is not about reaching a destination; it is a progressive effort. Without showing actual proof of victory, we are not genuine disciples of Sensei. Toda Sensei disciplined & guided Ikeda Sensei in a very strict environment. This kind of Positive Tension is actually good & necessary - it enables the disciple to grow.
-Buddism is Win or LoseBuddhism is closely related to Humanism - it enables each individual to be self-reliant & strong. The absolute power to change exists within our own lives. Buddhism of Sowing = propagation of efforts. It is equally important to increase no. of ppl practising faith as well as to increase no. of ppl whom understand & empathise with SGI's doings. Buddhism is not an idealism, it is actually very practical.
Although there are many branches of Buddhist schools, it does not mean that the things they teach/expound are wholesome; only partially right. Shakyamuni stated that understanding only the partial truth is incorrect. The Lotus Sutra delivers the wholesome truth, therefore it is known as the Perfect Teaching.
Shakyamuni's buddhism is actually very different from Daishonin's buddhism. Shakyamuni teaches about Buddhism of Harvest. We can only attain true happiness after many lifetimes; reaping the harvest after many lifetimes. On the other hand, Daishonin's buddhism teaches about Buddhism of Sowing. We can attain true happiness in this very lifetime. As long as ppl remains dependent and not being self-reliant, they will definitely fall into the trap of their weaknesses (eg. ego, dogmatism, terrorism, violence etc)
-Buddhism of SowingWednesdayGot the crave to eat my fav. 鱼片米粉 at blk 186 but very unluckily, the coffeeshop closes on alternate wednesdays, and it so happen that this wednesday is the alternate one. Went to school earlier for lunch instead. Printed some useful information from the web from the library before going for Econs lecture.
Reached home at around 7+. Went to a wake of a Soka member nearby my house, although my dad and i didn't know who he is. Saw Sikang, Vyon & another YMD from Chingay & is my junior in Deyi but i can't rem his name. Sorry.
ThursdayMost dreaded day of the week. But while crossing the bridge i saw the sunrise!
This makes the sleep lost all worthwhile. (:
Reached the lecture hall early so i took a little rest before Math lecture. As usual, my 2 friends are very talkative during the lecture, but fortunately i'm not sitting in the centre.
IBM was yet another arduous 3 hours. this time round Nageb suddenly came up to me and shot me a question. i was in utter shock. partially because i was intimidated by his stare, fearing that he can recognise me from the 3.30pm lecture which i am supposed to be in (i crashed his earlier lecture at 12pm you see). and partially because his questions are difficult to deal with.
i never imagined it to be over like a breeze. he responded to my answer with a simple "good" and walked off to the other side of the theatre to continue his bombarding. it spelled a little victory on my part (:
FridayI'm supposed to have a mini-daimokukai at my house with Elleen. But she came at around 12.30pm so we only chanted for half an hour today. But it was yet another super-dynamic one, both our rhythm is perfect unison. i felt really happy after chanting. i feel the hope to advance for the day.
Went to SYC after that with May to help out for SD concert souvenir making.
Attended tonight's district study meeting. We studied on <<一生成佛抄>> - "佛法说出意念转变" it was in Mandarin so i had to listen & translate them onto my notebook in English if i can, if not i'll just write in Chinese. very very enriching. too much to share. if anybody happens to read this and is interested, drop me a comment & i'll get back to you (:
It's Saturday now! finally, finally..
i'm happy.
*posted on Saturday, 15 September 2007, 12.59am*
This makes the sleep lost all worthwhile. (: