Firstly, wishing all readers a smooth sailing 2019 ahead!

The little ambitious me was trying to run a few things over the year but the scattered attention plus largely distraction caused many delays. Major changes are happening and though looking forward and focusing on my main goal to be materialized in the coming years, some of these writing (and reading) project will tag along. They are part of me.

Whatever that I had experienced for the past year helped me to realize the meaning of what is being a ‘full timer’. But writing my passions is really not my ‘full time job’. I do not earn from my writings but who knows one day I may?

Yesterday, after years of little hiccups and delays, I finally did a proper (still considered as mini) celebration. I marked the 8th day of the 12th month in our Chinese lunar calendar as our Varadashrine’s Guardian Gratitude Day.

The first post that appeared on this blog was in Dec 2015. However, the starting of Varadashrine was not just a blog thing. It is actually an aspiration that I can share my take on Mahayana and also to be able to provide prayer services if situations call for it. And that meant that my shrine is consecrated and a spiritual petition done proper to express this little aspiration. The dharma friend that conducted the ritual then adviced that I have to commemorate and celebrate the Dharmapala’s “birthday”. Chinese Mahayana has typically thrown in dates for sacred beings in the Mahayana pantheon, if not, tapping on existing ones in Chinese belief.

The Dharmapala that I was drawn close since young age is Acalanatha Vidyaraja and it happens that neither the Chinese Mahayana nor Chinese belief itself had attributed any date to Him. So I picked yesterday’s date for a personal reason and that it is also the commemoration of the Buddha’s Enlightenment in Chinese Mahayana. And since it is not exactly His birthday, I have it as a day to represent the expression of gratitude instead. Which is how Guardian Gratitude Day comes about.

I do not actually accept the generic new age or spiritual stand that “everyone is born with a guardian or two”. I think different belief systems and traditions will have very different say about how one’s guardian come about and likely will not be able to come to an objective conclusion.

What impresses me about Acala among many thing is the trait on Immovable stands out so much that the Japanese martial artists take it as one of their philosophical practices. There can be any understanding in how to interpret “Immovable’ and for now I leave readers to ponder about and how this trait can aid us in our life journey.

Ser Ming

Sakyamuni Buddha are both sanskrit terms that refer the person that is known to have founded Buddhism. Sakya is the name of the clan that the Buddha was born into and Muni means sage. So Sakyamuni meants sage of the Sakya clan. Buddha means the awakened one. These are the more respectful terms that people had used to address the Buddha after He had started his teaching mission.

The Buddha’s birth name was Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha means one who has accomplished a goal and Gautama refers to the family name.

There are a few ways that we can look at the Buddha. Continue reading →

There were many interesting and gloom-setting world events going on this year and I was pretty much distracted by the many happenings that happened to me too. A quick look at this website and I realized that there are only 4 posts since 2014 and the most recent one was in late July this year. And 2016 is ending in 6 weeks’ time. Continue reading →

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is a very well-known and well-received spiritual figure in the Mahayana belief. This Bodhisattva embodies the qualities of compassion (karuna) that all Buddhas have and it is common for practitioners to seek Him for protection and to answer prayers.

Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is in Sanskrit and this name has been translated to Guanyin 觀音 (or Guanshiyin 觀世音) Pusa in Chinese, Kannon Bosatsu in Japanese, Chenrezig in Tibetan, just to name a few. Continue reading →

Skanda Deva is a celestial being with his image commonly found at the back of almost, if not all, Chinese Mahayana scriptures.

Skanda Deva is one of the eight celestial generals that are under the command of Virūḍhaka, the Guardian of the South, according to Mahayana belief. Skanda Deva was known for his speed and hence taking it that He is fast to heed prayers that seek protection.  Continue reading →

Wishing everyone a very Happy, Successful and Abundant Year of the Goat ahead!

It is coming to a full week-3 living in my new place and I was glad to have done my Shrine Settling Consecration done a few days before the CNY, which is today, despite still going through the tidying up phase at this moment.

I like to thank my wife for her support, understanding and the various aid that she had chipped in over the last few weeks. I had performed a set of liturgy this morning mainly to wish for the longstanding of the Dhamma.

I would also like to thank to my family and friends who gave positive feedback with regards to the layout of my home shrine. I do hope that the aesthetic of my home shrine will allow others to appreciate the image of Lord Buddha better and in time to grow interest and probably even take faith in His very wonderful Dhamma.