Clearing Misconceptions

July 25th, 2010

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What’s up @ NUSBS: Matric Fair, Orientation Camp, Welcome Tea, and elections!

July 1st, 2010

Hello fellow NUSBS members!

Hope you are enjoying your holidays (:

Here is a heads-up on our upcoming activities.

We hope to see you there!

1) NUSBS Booth at Matriculation Fair (22, 23, 26, 27 July 2010)

Are you interested in mingling with the freshies? Do you want to introduce NUSBS to others? Are you secretly hoping to get free stuff from other booths (haha)? Or are you simply happy to soak in the whole atmosphere of Matriculation?

For all this and more, join us at our booth at Matric Fair 2010!

As long as you are willing to help, we want you! No prior experience required (:

Please click on this link to sign up for your slots: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGtlS3BqcEpnSmVRWjRscXNnZHpVTkE6MQ

2) Orientation Camp (31 July 2010)

Want to help out with our one-day weekend Orientation Camp? Please contact Kyaw atvicepresident@nusbs.org.sg for more details. Also, visit our facebook event page athttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113654075332623

3) Welcome Tea (13 August 2010)

Come on down to renew your membership and get exciting new updates about our society! For those who are interested in joining the organising committee, please email Wee Lee with your name and contact details at secretary@nusbs.org.sg.

4) 32nd NUSBS Management Committee Recruitment (July – August 2010)

We are looking for enthusiastic, capable members to form the 32nd Management Committee (MC). Please note that the posts may be subject to changes. If you have any questions about the current posts, please feel free to direct them to the respective 31st MC members:

President (Carmen): president@nusbs.org.sg
Vice President (Kyaw): vicepresident@nusbs.org.sg
Honorary Treasurer (Jarvis): treasurer@nusbs.org.sg
Honorary Secretary (Wee Lee): secretary@nusbs.org.sg
Deputy Honorary Secretary (Jasper): dysecretary@nusbs.org.sg
Dharma Director (Lin Myat): dharma@nusbs.org.sg
Deputy Dharma Director (Xin Zhao): dydharma@nusbs.org.sg
Projects Director (Melissa): projects@nusbs.org.sg
Deputy Projects Director (Yoke Thow): dyprojects@nusbs.org.sg
Welfare Director (William): welfare@nusbs.org.sg
Marketing Director (Chu Hwai): marketing@nusbs.org.sg
Publications Director (Wai Kit): publications@nusbs.org.sg
Fellowship Director (Tongshien): fellowship@nusbs.org.sg
Honorary Auditor (Eddy): auditor@nusbs.org.sg

Proposed new post: New Media Director (please email Carmen or Kyaw for more details)

That is all, we hope to see you in the AY2010/2011!

Meanwhile, have a great holiday!!! (:

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NTU-NUS Joint Meditation Retreat 2010

June 1st, 2010

Dear all,

Happy holidays!
Want to treat yourself with a special gift this holiday?
Join our 8-Days Meditation Retreat — a gift to your body and mind!

There will be sitting & walking meditation, Dharma Talks and chanting.
The best part is, you’ll get a chance to experience the life of a Forest Monastic!
It is truly a wonderful place to practice meditation and get in touch with nature.

NTU/NUS meditation retreat

Theme : Mindfulness Meditation
Venue: Santi Forest Monastery, Johor, Malaysia.
Dates: 20 June 2010 (Sun) to 27 June 2010 (Sun)
Fee: $31($16 for Camp Fee and $15 for Travel Insurance)
*We have subsidized 50% of your travel insurance
Vacancy: 30
Conductor : Bhante Phra Seng
Requirements: Not mind living in a Forest setting for 7 nights, passport not expiring within 9 days from beginning of retreat, truly interested in self cultivation.

Deadline: 4 June 2010

P.S. transport will be taxi from Singapore, the cost is included in the camp fees.

If you are interested, please email:

NUSBS: Bro. Xin Zhao at ngxinzhaomonk@yahoo.co.uk

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Camp Ehi Passiko 2010

May 16th, 2010

It’s the summer holidays, so watch out for our upcoming Camp Ehi Passiko!

Date: 31st July 2010 (Saturday)

Venue: East Coast Park

Cost: $5 per person, inclusive of meals, including BBQ dinner (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian option)

So what are you waiting for? Registration is open: just email cep@nusbs.org.sg

Hope to see you there!

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EIGHT PRECEPTS RETREAT

March 15th, 2010

A DAY OF PEACE AND SIMPLICITY

“Avoid Evil.

Do Good.

Purify the Mind.


This is the teaching of all Buddhas.


Dhammapada  183

NUS Buddhist Society is organizing an Eight Precepts Retreat for members, alumni, and friends.

Date: Saturday, 27th March 2010 to Sunday, 28th March 2010

Time: 8.30 am (27.03.10) to 9.00 am (28.03.10)

Venue: Palelai Buddhist Temple

Registration: Free (Open to all)

*Vegetarian meals will be provided.

Participants will be advised to take the following 8 precepts.

1) To refrain from killing.

2) To refrain from stealing.

3) To refrain from sexual activity.

4) To refrain from false speech.

5) To refrain from taking intoxicant.

6) To refrain from eating at the forbidden time (i.e. after noon)

7) To refrain from dancing, singing, music, entertainments, using perfumes, and beautifying the body with cosmetics.

8) To refrain from lying on a high or luxurious sleeping place.

Program highlights:

Dharma Talks

1) What are the 5/8 precepts? Why are they important?

2) How to take care of our mind?

3) What is the meaning of life?

To register, please send an email to auditor@nusbs.org.sg and provide the following

1) Name:

2) Contact no:

3) Email address:

4) Staying over: Yes/No

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VENERABLE GYURME’S COURSE

February 22nd, 2010

“Most suitable for beginners, even non-Buddhists! Come and see and it might just be able to answer some of your deepest questions about life and everything else you’ve wondered about!”

Upcoming topic in the course:

3 March

What is Buddhism?

Is Buddhism just about going to temples and praying? Or it is about meditation or reciting prayers? Is Buddhism relevant in the 21stcentury?

Dates: Every Wednesday of March 2010

Time: 7 to 9pm

Venue: Function room 3, YIH

Cost: Free

Teacher: Venerable Gyurme

For registration or more details, please contact:

Xin Zhao: 9176 8376, dydharma@nusbs.org.sg

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BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY (4 sessions)

February 22nd, 2010

The mind, consciousness & well-being:

Course Summary

1. Healing yourself

2. The conscious body

3. The Unconscious

4. The art of loving

5. Brain or mind?

6. Don’t believe everything you think

7. Non-judgement day is here

8. The still eye of the storm

9. Ancient wisdom, modern science

Dates: 11th March, 18th March, 25th March, 1st April

Time: 6.30pm to 8.00pm

Location: E4-04 tutorial room (to be confirmed)

Instructor: Piya Tan, a meditation therapist, was a Theravada monk for 20 years, and learnt Vipassana Insight meditation from Mahasi Sayadaw & forest meditation from Ajahn Brahmavamso. He has been teaching meditation and psychology since the 1980s. He has taught at the University of California (Berkeley), SIA, HP, Hitachi, JPMorgan and BP. Currently, he is translating and teaching early Indian texts on meditation and psychology.

To register for the course, please kindly email to dharma@nusbs.org.sg with your name, email and contact number by 4th March!

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Dana Launch

February 22nd, 2010

Dear friend of NUSBS, you are cordially invited to

NUS Buddhist Society 31st Anniversary Dana Lunch!

Venue: NUS YIH Function Rooms
Date: 27th February 2010 (Please arrive by 10.15am)
Attire: Smart casual
Please feel free to bring along any fruits, vegetarian finger food and snacks!

Dana is the practice of cultivating generosity – an important aspect of Buddhism. By giving dana (in this case, in the form of food and voluntary donations), we are purifying and transforming our minds, practising giving and letting go, and developing wholesome qualities (:


Do come down and join us for an afternoon of good food and company! More importantly, we will be showing gratitude and appreciation to everyone who has helped NUS Buddhist Society in one way or another in the past year – our Spiritual Advisors, Society Patrons, donors, seniors, and last but not least, YOU (:

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Addressing Pastor Rony’s Misconceptions

February 14th, 2010

NUSBS has issued a statement addressing the misconceptions held about Buddhism in Pastor Rony Tan’s videos. This statement has also been published on the Kent Ridge Common: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=6275

Misconception 1: Pastor Rony commented about Buddhist chanting: “One could chant ee-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang-wala-wala-bing-bang, it doesn’t mean anything.”
 
Answer: Buddhist chanting is not meaningless babble. In Buddhism, chants have definite meanings, contrary to what Pastor Rony’s interviewee claimed. For instance, the chants may refer to the practitioner’s wish to radiate loving-kindness to other beings. Chanting is also an aid to meditation. By focusing on the act of recitation, chanting helps to stop the mind from wandering and instead cultivate inner happiness.
 
Misconception 2: Pastor Rony said, “The teaching is this, everybody is potentially a god … and you can be above God and be even more powerful than God.”
 
Answer: Buddhism does not subscribe to the theistic concept of God that is common to the Abrahamic faiths. We believe that everyone has the potential to develop into a Buddha – a perfected being free from hatred, anger, and ignorance.
 
Misconception 3: Pastor Rony’s interviewee (a former monk) didn’t know what Nirvana was, and said that his fellow monks didn’t know either, implying that Buddhists don’t know what they’re talking about when they refer to Nirvana.
 
Answer: Nirvana is not a meaningless entity. In conventional language, the best approximate we can say is this: Nirvana is the freedom from the underlying cause of all suffering – the illusion of being a separate self. The word ‘Nirvana’ literally means ‘blowing out’, like the extinguishing of a flame. It’s the extinguishing of all delusions, leading to extraordinary clarity and peace. It is a state that defies conventional language, and belongs to the realm of spiritual attainment, not logical understanding. So we may know what Nirvana is logically, but not know what it is on the experiential level. It is like knowing the possibility of zero-gravity but without the actual experience of weightlessness in space.
 
Misconception 4: Pastor Rony said, “If something bad [happens], they say it’s because of your karma … If somebody falls sick, oh it’s because of your karma. It’s so easy to explain… It seems that you cannot do anything about the bad things that are happening.”
 
Answer: The doctrine of karma does not entail fatalism. The word ‘karma’ literally means ‘action’, and refers to our intentional mental actions. What we are now is determined by our thoughts and actions in the past, and similarly, what we will experience in the future is influenced by our thoughts and actions in the present. Karma doesn’t mean that we’re dealt a fixed destiny that we have to passively accept. Our karma continuously changes depending on how we think and act now. By changing our thoughts and behaviour, we can definitely transform the quality of our lives for the better.
 
Misconception 5: Pastor Rony claimed that Buddhism had simply ‘repackaged’ the doctrine of reincarnation as ‘rebirth’.
 
Answer: Reincarnation and rebirth are philosophically distinct concepts. Reincarnation is the belief, common to Hinduism and Jainism, that each individual has a soul, and that this soul will travel to another body after death. Rebirth, however, is the theory that there is no such thing as a soul (because each individual is a flowing, continuous process) and it is the mind which establishes itself as a personality, much like how a flame is passed from one candle to another.
 
Misconception 6: Pastor Rony said, “How could you ever learn from your past life when you do not know what you were or who you were; whether you were a prince or a cockroach, you also don’t know… Surely there isn’t any past life because when you were born as a baby, you started with a new slate with no recollection whatsoever… There is no such thing as a previous life, or to be reborn into the next life.”
 
Answer: This understanding of the mind stems from John Locke’s epistemological theory of ‘tabula rasa’, which claims that individuals are born as a blank slate, and all their knowledge comes from experience and perception. This theory is still subject to ongoing philosophical debate. In any case, according to the doctrine of rebirth, our thoughts and actions leave imprints on our consciousness which we may not be fully aware of. These imprints result in consequences which come to fruition when causes and conditions allow them to.
 
Misconception 7: Pastor Rony said, “Ladies should be very offended [by the doctrine of rebirth]… One of the Buddhist persons who argued with me many years ago, he said, ‘…You are such an unbeliever, he said, next life ah, … you’ll be born as a woman!’ So you ladies, don’t believe in reincarnation.”
 
Answer: Buddhism does not regard women as inferior to men. In fact, the Buddha himself was explicit about treating men and women equally; he initiated women into the Sangha (the Buddhist monastic order) despite fierce controversy. Any sexist sentiments of individuals derive from the attitudes of their cultures, not from Buddhism.

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Buddhism Awareness Week

February 8th, 2010

Want to know more about Buddhism?

What kind of Buddhist are you?


So you think you know a lot about this religion? Well, think again! Let’s find out more and clear some misconceptions about BUDDHISM


Date: 08 – 12 February 2010(Week 5)

Location: Around NUS!


Come down for our

1. Buddhism Exhibition at Central Library

o Want to know more about Buddhism? Come down to central library!

o Quiz – Grab yourself a gift by answering few simple questions!

Visit our Booths to get your

2. FREE dharma books: Only at

o Faculty of Arts, Central Library Walkway (08 – 10 Feb )

o Faculty of Engineering, Bench 2 in front of LT6 (09 Feb)

o Faculty of Science, in front of LT 25 (08-09 Feb)


Join US in our

3. Dharma Circle:

Successful Buddhist in Modern Society

“Success and Buddhism – do they go together? Join us for a meaningful evening of fun discussion and to learn the Buddha’s teachings together!”

Date: Friday, 12th February 2010

Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Venue: Training Room 5, YIH

Speaker: Mr Wee Sin Tho, Vice President (Endowment and Institutional Development), NUS


Also, LOOK out for our ORANGE POSTERS around the campus!

Any enquiries, please feel free to contact:

dyprojects@nusbs.org.sg 83007121

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