Accumulation of mantras for Lama Dorje’s long life

Dear students and disciples, we are accumulating 100,000 each of the mantras of the 3 long life deities (Amitayus, White Tara & Namgyalma), Guru Rinpoche and Lama Dorje’s Heart Mantra by 24 Feb.This is to request for Lama’s long and stable life as indicated by the Oracle Lady. There will be a group recitation at the temple on Sat (18 Feb) 2-3pm, Sun (19 Feb) to Wed (22 Feb) 8-9pm. Or you may pledge the number of recitation and recite at home. Inform us at +65 6466 3720. Get a copy of the mantras from our temple, or download from our website @ www.thekchencholing.org. Thank you for your participation! Let’s do this together and make it happen!

Youth Discussion 110212

This is the first of a series of teachings given by Sangyumla on the 16 Keys to Happiness. They are based on the 16 Guidelines to Happiness as propagated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which was founded on the principles introduced by the great Tibetan king, King Songtsan Gampo, about 14oo years ago. He united Tibet and through the help of these guidelines, turned Tibet from a warring nation to a peace-loving one.

In this modern era, where moral values have been degraded, where we constantly think about earning more money or having more material things, there is a need to revisit the meaning of our lives. There’s so much more to life than just making money and through these guidelines, we hope to have a more balanced outlook.

The 16 keys can be divided into 4 themes:

1. What we think (Thoughts)
2. How we act (Actions)
3. How we relate to others
4. Finding meaning in what we do

Thoughts become actions and so we have to be mindful about our thoughts. If we have good thoughts, good actions will arise from it. Similarly, if we have bad thoughts, there will be negative actions.

However, most of the time, we are unaware of what we are doing as we are busy observing and processing all the external input we receive from the environment. We always seem to be searching for something out there but we do not look for things within. For example, we look for something we can buy that can make us happy but we do not realize that the capacity to be happy is inside of us. But it is possible to change as things aren’t always the extreme of itself. There is always a middle path to take. We can change and become better people and eventually attain enlightenment. We can start by learning how to use our minds, which is a powerful tool, to create and change things for ourselves. Before we can do that, we must be aware of our mind and what is going on inside it.

Something to always keep in mind:

Watch your thoughts, for they become words;

Watch your words, for they become actions;

Watch your actions, for they become your character;

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny!

One of our youth mentors, Nana, also brought us through meditation, which is one of the ways to achieve a clear mind. That is the first step towards being aware of our mind.

First, you should try to sit on the edge of a cushion to raise the buttocks so that it is of a higher elevation compared to the legs. The legs should then be placed in a half-lotus or full-lotus position with your back straightened but not tensed. (You can imagine you are a puppet with a string running through the center of your head and down your spine. That string is pulled from the top of your head, which causes your back to straighten and a slight arch is formed.) Your palms can be placed right over left with the thumbs touching each other to form an oval. This creates a complete circuit for the energy to flow through. Next, cover the right nostril and breath deeply through the left. Imagine the air you are breathing in as light and it travels through the top of your head, down the spine till 4 fingers below your navel, makes a u-turn, goes up the spine, around your head before coming out through your left nostril. While this light is travelling through your body, think of it attracting all the impurities in your body and when you exhale, the impurities are expelled together with the air. Do this three times for each nostril and each time you breathe, try to take in as much air as you possibly can. If you feel like you are going to burst, hold your breath for a while before inhaling again. Holding the breath causes the body to use up the oxygen present in the inhaled breath, which then allows us to inhale even more air after without exhaling the original breath.

The benefits of this meditation include being more alert and feeling lighter in addition to clearing the mind as we are inhaling more oxygen than we are typically used to. Also, imagining the light clearing away the impurities is one way of cleansing the body. Doing this meditation in the morning after we wake up allows us to have a sharper and clearer mind for the rest of the day.

This meditation is a variation of the counting meditation, where one counts as one inhales and exhales normally.

Please check this page to find out more about the benefits of meditation.

16 Keys to Happiness

Want to know how to gain happiness? Come join us this Saturday at 4pm at the Manjushri Room to obtain the keys to unlocking your happiness!

Youth Discussion

This Saturday’s discussion will be a Chinese New Year celebration cum Potluck at Xinren’s place. It starts at 2pm. See you there!

Youth Discussion

Hello my friends! Hope you had fun and collected lots of Hong Bao over the past few days. There is no youth discussion this saturday. We will have a gathering soon the following week. Stay tuned for more updates.

Happy Chinese New Year

We wish all youths a Happy Chinese New Year! May your family and you be blessed with lots of good fortune, happiness and good health! We would also like to invite you to join us at Thekchen Choling tonight to usher in the Dragon year! The programme for tonight is:
10.30pm-Astrological Forecast by Lama and invocation of wealth deities.
12am-Lion and Dragon dance.
12.30am-Blessing by Lama.

祝你 新年快乐 龙马精神！

Birthday Celebration for January Babies in Youth

This Saturday’s discussion has been moved to this Friday where we will celebrate the birthdays of those born in January! It will be at Mabellyn’s house and there will be food and games! Hope to see you there!

Youth Discussion

This Saturday, we’ll be doing a review of your 2011. We’ll be meeting at temple at 1.30pm before moving off to Kallang River. See you there!

Youth Discussion – Flash Mob

This Saturday’s Youth Discussion will be Orchard Cineleisure to support our very first youth flash mob performance. We will meet at 1.30pm at Somerset Mrt control station. We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting event. See you there!

*Update: Check out the Flash Mob video on our Facebook page!

New Year Message 010112

Dear Friends,

Thank you for joining us on 31^st Dec 2011 to seal the time capsule as well as joining us in counting down for the new year! I hoped that everyone who participated had lots of fun.

2011 was a successful year for the Youth Group and we accomplished many things that we set out to do. We published 2 books, hosted a quiz for all the temple members and welcomed more friends into our group. Those are just some of the highlights. But we could not have done it without you or your support and we thank you for all the time and effort you have spent.

As our President was overseas due to other commitments, he was not able to join us in the sealing and I had the honour of taking over his duties and overseeing this exciting and momentous occasion.

I would like to thank Lama, Sangyumla, our mentors, Xin Ren, Nana and TG, and our sponsors for all their invaluable help and unwavering support. We would not have been able to achieve so much if they did not believe in us and lend us their strength. I would like to thank all the youths, for without your active participation and support, this youth group will not be able to survive and do so much.

2012 will be another step forward for the group as we start new initiatives and new plans to bring us to greater heights! We hope you will continue to join us as we make waves in the Buddhist community and carry on leaving a legacy for future generations.

I wish everyone a happy new year and may all your wishes, temporal and ultimate, be made manifest quickly and easily, for the benefit of one and all!

Sarwa Mangalam – May All be Auspicious!

Love,

Boonhow Eng

Vice-President