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Apr 8, 2019
2 min

Reflection: The test of cultivation is when things happen

Most of the time, we meditate, pray, or chant, in hopes to achieve peace within ourselves. This a a good habit to build, as you wouldn't know when you will need to use it. The test on your practice comes when something happens to you. It could be a co-worker who is abusing you, a friend who is mistreating you, or a misfortune that happened to you. For me, an unfortunate event happened. The story goes like this: Two weeks ago, I was mugged by seven people. Well, I got beaten i

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Reflection: The joy in fixing things

Jan 21, 2019
2 min

Reflection: The joy in fixing things

Since it's almost the time of Spring (Lunar New Year), many people would conduct spring cleaning at their homes. Sometimes, we will throw away old things which we do not have use of anymore. More often, throwing things away not only happening during Spring Cleaning, but also every day. However, we are not aware enough to see this happening. For example, when things break, most of the time we would immediately think of throwing the item away, and buy a new one. This happens ve

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Reflection: Why am I where I am today?

Nov 14, 2018
3 min

Reflection: Why am I where I am today?

Why am I where I am today? Let me put some context into it so we have a common ground here. Why am I researching on contemplative neuroscience, knowing that this field is controversial? Many neuroscientists are moving towards computational models and big data, such as machine learning, deep learning, or artificial intelligence to optimize their research and findings. Many are also researching on developing several neuroscientific-specific algorithms. So why did I choose to do

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Reflection: Only after 20 years do I realize how to bow to the Buddhas

Oct 14, 2018
2 min

Reflection: Only after 20 years do I realize how to bow to the Buddhas

I have been a Buddhist since young, and know some formalities at the monastery as a devotee, such as bowing to the Buddha when one enters or leaves the monastery, or greeting the monastics, other devotees, or dining etiquette. From young, I just followed the elders in doing it. As I grew older, I kind of knew we are prostrating to the Triple Gem, or showing our respect to the Triple Gem every time we bow to them. But who exactly are we bowing to? What are we bowing to? How do

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Why I choose to take a taxi to the monastery every time

Sep 11, 2018
3 min

Why I choose to take a taxi to the monastery every time

Often people take the taxi when they want comfort, or to reach a place very fast, without the hassle of squeezing into trains, or buses. Sometimes, we want a little privacy. However, others may say taking private cars for hire to a destination is a waste of money. You can sleep in the bus, or train, or do something else to fill the time. Sometimes we just are not patient, and are very lazy. I do that too, to be honest. However, I take a taxi often when I go to a Buddhist mona

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What it means to me to practice Mahayana Buddhism?

Jun 10, 2018
4 min

What it means to me to practice Mahayana Buddhism?

This post is a more personal post which I would like to make. Having been a Buddhist and vegetarian for over 20 years, I would like to share with you my thoughts on what it means to be a Buddhist. There are three main Buddhist traditions: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The main topic is not about Theravada or Vajrayana, so I would not want to spend time on that. Mahayana Buddhists (MB) talk about wishing for complete enlightenment, which is Buddhahood, while liberating a

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