4th Global Conference on Buddhism

Xue Ling's expressions from her SnowBellsRing blog:

Wed Night - Changi Airport
I was a little apprehensive at the airport when I realized I was the only bf youth among the excited group of BF members going to perth for the global conference. Thank goodness fellow soraccorian SM was going along with me, but for the mmt, she was still MIA. I felt a lot better when Upul and his wife Ashanti came up to chit chat with me. I suddenly realized that I hardly knew most of th ppl I was gonna be traveling with.

Thurs - Perth Shopping
Day I
The chilly morning air hit me the moment I stepped out of Perth airport. SM brazenly wrapped an SIA blanket around her slacks. Amazing… braving the perth winter morning in burms and slippers.. :P and an SIA blankie.The bus took uz down to the city where we had a Macs breakie. We dumped our bags at the Goodearth hotel and then took off to habour town for some factory outlet shopping.

I think my brain was still woozy from the 5 hour overnight flight, so bleary eyed, I just watched SM go gaga over a mountain load of Bonds undies. Poor me, the plain, triumph –undie by the box- buying babe.

Subiaco We then took off to some other little place, apparently it’ was supposed to be some hippie area, but we only found a pristine place dotted with tourist shops and cafes. Nonetheless, we dived into a choc mousse cake. Yummo. Su-May and her Bonds Bonds Bonds and more Bonds! This was followed by More Bonds undie torture in target.. * slaps forehead* . wat have I done in my past life to deserve this.. LOL :P

We rounded up the day with dinner at Northbridge ( akin to Lygon st. in melb), devouring a whole large plate of fettucine and salad between uz piggies.

Fri - Monastery Visit
Day II
We got up bright and early to go to Bodhinyana Monastery. The Abbot of the monastery and our spiritual patron Ajahn Brahm was there to greet us at the gates. The monastery was spread over 240 acres of land. Little kutis dotted the sprawling land, constructed in such a way that they were out of sight from each other. Each one housed a single monk. There were also main buildings for partaking meals, giving ordination ceremonies, and housing visitors. We had the privilege of being taken around the grounds.

Ajahn Cattamalo showed us around and explained how he designed and built Ajahn Brahm’s meditation cave and the little reservoirs that dotted the landscape. Ajahn Brahm’s cave was indeed an amazing feat of engineering. There were air inlets for circulation and a sound proofed door. It took 2 years for the monks to build it. It was simply furnished with a small statue of Buddha, a few mats on the floor and a resident upside down hanging bat.

Most of the building in the monastry was done by the monks themselves. The buildings were simple but beautiful and there was an air of sereneness that enveloped the entire place. Before midday, we lined up to give Dana to the sangha. In my haste, I dropped a lump of rice on the ground instead of into Ajahn Brahm’s alms bowl. Embarrassed at wasting the lump of rice, I bent down to pick it up, but Ajahn Brahm stopped me. “ Leave it for the ants, “ he smiled. “ Be compassionate.”

When I came back half an hour later, I spotted a few green birds happily devouring the rice grains on the ground. After giving alms, we adjourned upstairs for a blessing. The monks of the monastery and the visiting sangha sat around us. “This is a rare opportunity during a blessing,” Ajahn Brahm smiled. “ You’re getting surround sound!” And it certainly was a blessing I shall not forget. As I closed my eyes and listened to the beautiful voices of the sangha chanting in harmony, it felt as though I was being cacooned in a place of utter calmness and loving kindness. Check out the picture and the number of orbs there. Reflection of light or devas? I have no idea.

1st Rehearsal
SM and I were supposed to meet the Bfyouths at Freemantle, but we reached Perth late and had to adjoin for a rehearsal of our performance at the convention center. So we went after the rehearsal. By the time we got there, it was 8 o’clock and we had just enough time for a quick walk about around the market place and rounded that up with pizza for dinner.

Saturday
Day III: (
ok here, the language is a little more formal, coz this is abstracted from wat I wrote for the BF newsletter)

The 4th Global conference on Buddhism was held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 10th and 11th of Jun 2006. The theme: Confronting the Controversies – to create a better world, sought to deal with a some of the many issues that Buddhists have to face in the modern world today.

As Ajahn Brahmavamso, the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastary and spiritual advisor of the Buddhist fellowship, said in his opening speech, the convention was a rare chance to get everyone on the same stage to talk about issues that we normally feel uncomfortable about and to get different views from the various traditions of Buddhism, as well as wisdom from the speakers, both lay and Sangha.

Together, with an enthusiastic group of 88 Buddhist Fellowship (BF) members, I embarked on an intellectually-stimulating two-day marathon of talks and discussions. The convention was opened by Mr Kim Collard, a well respected Nyoongar Aborginal, who gave a stirring traditional welcome to the guests. We were also addressed by Dr. Geoff Gallop, the former premier of Western Australia. There were a total of six subthemes, which was addressed by a panel of speakers, both lay and sangha.

The speeches were than followed by a discussion between the audience and the speakers.With the recent onslaught of terrorist activities of fundamentalists that have besieged our modern world, the convention sought to shed light on Buddhism’s response to fundamentalism. The Buddha described extremism as an unskilled view that obstructed dialogue, communication, knowledge and respect.

Venerable Heng Sure reminded us that promoting intra-faith Buddhism was just as important as having inter-faith understanding and dialogues, in order to forge greater understanding and prevent extremism, which was a conflict between logic and modernization with the absolute, revealed truth. Dr. Geoff Gallop also spoke about fundamentalism from the perspective of a politician.

Buddha – the peace guy
a truck driver in America who initially wanted to run Ven. Heng Sure over with his truck and turn him into a Buddhist monk hamburger when he spotted them on his driveway. But upon hearing they were Buddhist monks… “Buddhist monks? Oh …..Buddha, Yeah! He’s the peace guy! Go right on.. I ‘ve got nothing against Buddhist people” Ven. Heng Sure managed to complete his 3 step one bow pilgramage safely...

“In the future, Buddhist will be known as the ones who never fight. They don’t let themselves get carelessly angry.”

The next sub-theme looked at issue of the women’s role in Buddhism. There are long standing controversies involving women in Buddhism. A few include the issue that women could not become enlightened, and that the inclusion of women into the Sangha would reduce the period that the Buddha’s teachings survived in this universe.

Bikkhuni Dhammananda shared with us her experience of becoming the first Thai woman to be fully ordained in the Theravada tradition. She spoke up about the difficulties Bikkhunis in Thailand faced in gaining support and acknowledgement due to the rigid hierarchy that was already in place. Venerable Dr. Yi Fa reminded the audience that women were often praised in the Buddhist sutras, and many played pivotal roles in helping sentient beings.

Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo spoke of the need for access of women to ordination, education and leadership roles. If Buddhism were to be used as a model for social changes in the world, she remarked, we had to whip our own house into shape by giving women the opportunities they needed.

I’ve always grabbled with the part why Buddha actually said that his teachings would last a shorter length of time with the introduction of ladies into the sangha. Apparently, the style of that passage is very different from the rest and may hint that it was written by someone else instead of being cited by the Buddha.

Secret Sharing
I spotted Ajahn Brahm talking to SM and so popped by. Ajahn Brahm suddenly grinned and said to us “ Hey, let me tell you a little secret… I invited the gay and lesbian choir perform after the sub-theme on women’s role in Buddhism. You know , coz we’re always talking about all these gender issues, but we miss out those in betweens… “ :P Ajahn Brahm, he really knows how to open the door of his heart to everybody.

Gays and Lesbians Choir WA
Ajahn Brahm sprang a surpise by on the audience by extending an invitation to the Gay and Lesbian choir to perform at the event. He reminded us that while we tackled the controversies surrounding issues of the female gender, we should not forget about the non-heterosexual people who also needed our acceptance and support. The choir dazzled us with their cheerful repatoire and beautiful voices.

SM and I sat with our mouths wide open. Stress… they were soooo gooood! Hard act to fellow.. Stress… “ Ok,” SM told me. “ we’d better practise tonight.

“The first day of the convention closed with the sub-theme: The future of Buddhism – lay or sangha? It was discussed that each group of the four fold assembly were essential. And that it was not a question of the clothes we wore - lay clothes or the robes of the sangha, but how we applied our selves and the quality of our practice of Buddhism.

There was a very very cute novice monk.. awwww. SM couldn't resist trying to pinch his cheeks.. oh the kid was probably around 8 i think. heh.. in caseyou were wondering.

Dinner at North Bridge Again
We ended up running after the bus with Angie and Ailing. It nearly left w/o us! There were a bunch of Tibetian Buddhist monks there who had rather unusual practices. We spotted them walking back from the convention. Some people joked a little about their unusual practise. I felt rather sad for the monks. No doubt their rituals were unsual, and invited a lot of stares, but they were part of the Buddhist community nonetheless, and as long as they practiced the Dhamma too, they were one of us.

We ended up at North bridge at the same Italian place we went too.. It was quite fun hanging out with the whole group. J We took a slow walk back, where Angie wrapped her leg around the poor inncent statue of a kangeroo. Too bad I don’t have a picture. LOL

Our Bed Rehearsal
SM and I hooked up to her Ipod and started practicing. We made some last minute changes to the Power of now. I was still having difficulty switching from a high range of the counter melody to the chorus. Our eyes shut, we sang the familiar harmonies, trying to get the harmonies right. So engrossed were we in our tasks, we didn’t notice Ailing creeping into our room. SM opened her eyes when she started on the chorus.. and it sounded something like “ the power of…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

We gal talked all the way till 12 plus… b4 we crashed for the night.

Sunday
Day IV
On Sunday, 11th June, 2006, we had a surprise performance by Balinese dancers, followed by an address by Ven. Ilukpitiye Pannasekara , the chief monk for the African Continent. He spoke to the audience about the progress of Buddhism in Africa and appealed for us to help spread the Dhamma there.http://www.pannasekara.com/ - Website of Ven. Ilukpitiye Pannasekara.

This monk was really really witty.. “It is not a global conference, until Africa is in there!” he said, grinning. I’ m really touched by the monks working down in Africa. There are only around 20 of them there! Most from the Fo guang shan order. Hopefully we will be able to introduce the teachings of the Dhamma to the people there.

The next sub-Theme was on Meditation- Journeys, Signpost and Destinations – Jhana, Vipassana, Satori or Mahamudra. Ajahn Brahm spoke of the importance of both calmness and insight ( Jhana and Vipassana) in the practise of meditation. Other speakers shared with the audience about the different meditation practices.

This was one topic I was really blur about. I think I only understood Ajahn Brahm’s talk. Heh. :P

The next topic: Buddhism, Politics and Euthanasia was a highly anticipated one. The speakers gave brilliant deliveries about their views of whether Buddhists should engage in politics. Ven. Dr. Yi Fa reminded us that Buddha influenced the politics by advising many of the kings during his time. Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo shared with us stories of her time as a student in university and gave her perspective of whether Buddhists should play a more active role in politics as well as political movements.

Permission to Die
We were also very fortunate to have Dr. Phillip Nitschke, an active campaigner for the introduction of voluntary euthanasia, to come and speak to us. He shared with us his experience of how he aided the first patient in Australia to commit voluntary euthanasia. After the speeches, the audience engaged the speakers in a lively question and answer session.

Now this was a topic close to my heart. I was quite disappointed that the sangha didn’t have enough time for both topics. So they focused mostly on politics. But they were Fantastic speakers nonetheless. Ajahn Sujato , the chairman, kept reading out horoscopes of the speakers, which was really hilarious. I got to speak to the doctor after the conference. The Buddhist view on Euthenesia is that if we end the suffering of a person prematurely, we have no way of knowing if they will be reborn into great suffering too. I don’t advocate euthanasia, but sometimes when faced with a patient who is in incredible amount of pain, what do you do when they ask to die with dignity? During the Q and A , we also touched briefly on Abortion.

Buddhists Have Sense of Humour
Ajahn Brahm than delighted the audience with a comic exchange with Johnny Howard, a puppet dolled up to the likeness of the prime minister of Australia. In the next sub-theme, the convention sought to confront the controversies that surrounded the different traditions of Buddhism – Liberation now or later: Boddhisattva or Arahant Way? Ajahn Sujato gave a Theravadan Buddhists’ take on the subject, while Ven. Hue Can left the audience in stitches over her two lighthearted, but enlightening stories of how Boddhisattvas could be found among the people we met in everyday life. People who taught us the meaning of compassion and giving. Our BF president Angie Monksfield rounded up the speeches by giving her views on how lay Buddhist could actively practise the path.

We SANG
Su-May and I were given the honour of singing 3 songs during the closing ceremony - Opening the door to your Heart and the Power of Now, songs composed by our talented Soracco keyboardist and composer, Augest Lum. We rounded off the event by singing Ehipassiko.

Blurrr Like Sotong
I couldn’t see a thing. Coz my glasses were off. I nearly fell coz I overbalanced on my heel,and my shawl kept slipping off. My voice was quivering for opening the door to your heart.. but we did great J It is such a magical feeling when you’re on stage. I get such a high when I perform. :P Sharing Dhamma through song.. it’s such a lovely feeling that you’ve the honour of doing that.. I was really touched that people kept coming up to me and SM after the performance and told us that we sang really really well, and the BF members who told us that we did them proud. :P

We got applause when we got on the bus after the conference. The bus waited for us while we dropped off stuff at the hotel. . We saw Ailing off and then panicked when we saw the bus leaving w/o us. Yah. Got another round of applause, this time for being so fashionably late.

Dinner at North Bridge Again & Again
We had diner at…drum roolll. . the Italian place again. K, SM and I shared one salad and some itlaliano appetizer thingy.. the pasta as usual.. wah really canot make it this time manz.. Then we trotted back to the hotel ahead of the group.

Monday last Perth Day
Next morning.. went to habour town with Kelvin and SM again. I bought hip hop tops. :P.. poor K tho’. He ended up waiting for us for one hour. Then we had lunch at some Swedish restaurant and then we ended up ( wat else) running for the bus again. Yah.. If SM’s bag of pants wasn’t secure.. I think we would have made quite a spectacle.. 3 crazy spore ppl running down the street with Bonds pants trailing behind us.

Visit Nun's Place
We went to Dhammasara Nuns Monastery . Had a Q and A by Ven. Sister Vayama. The nunnery was sooo peaceful too. All the nuns have this aura of serenity around them. It’s amazing. I asked the Ven. Sister my question on Abortion… I guess yah. Being a doctor, you save lives, but there will be lives I may take, eg. An abortion performed to save the mother..,but someones gotta do it. One poor lady fell and fractured her arm L. Hope she’s better now. Me, the clueless med student, had no idea wat was going on. Lucky we had 2 nurses and one doctor with us.

We couldn’t make it to the wildlife park, so the bus left us at Burwood. Where we stoned around. Lucky had SM and K to keep me entertained. Then we stoned at the airport somemore.. b4 coming back to Singapore.

My thoughts
The convention gave me a precious opportunity to confront my views on Buddhism. It allowed me a chance to think and to debate many of the questions I had, as well as to meet people of a similar faith from other places in the world. In addition to the conference, the BF members had the chance to visit Bodhinyana Monastery and Dhammasara Nuns Monastary, and listen to a talk by Ajahn Brahm. It was an enjoyable and enlightening experience and I eagerly look forward to the next Global conference which is to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks
Many thanks to Ajahn Brahm for giving me the chance to come for the conference as well as perform

Many thanks to sister Angie to making this possible and raising the fellowship to greater heights!

Thanks to Ailing for being such a great housemate and for taking care of us, as well as helping us with the songs, and for the girlie chit chat at night.

Many Thanks to my wonderful roomie and travel companion SM for looking out for me, making me laugh, torturing me with her fetish for Bonds, singing on the bus and on stage. Yez, and for being my bus-chasing marathon companion.

Thanks to K for sharing with me about the Dhamma, advising me, for being so candid and open to talk to us about Gay issues and for entertaining us with jokes. I take my hat off to him and Angie for taking the initiative to set up so things for the benefit of others.

And yez.. for waiting for 2 shopoholic gals for one hour.Thanks to sister Mag and brother Jerry for organinising everything for us. It was areally tough jobAnd thanks to the BF youths for making the trip so enjoyable, for the support and enouragement and for the lovely flowers!!!I had such a good time :P