Buddhism across SouthEast Asia

Week two in our program. I am weary after reading all about the various schools of Buddhism.

I thought Buddhism would be a lark, what with us Indians knowing all about the Four Noble truths and the Eight-Fold Path!!!!

Was I wrong.

I loved the story of Siddhartha-- of his eye-opening, life-changing encounters when he finally went out of his cloistered palace. I always wondered about a man who walked away from his young son and beautiful wife, away from a life of luxury and indulgence. I must confess, I also felt terrible for the poor Yashodhara, who woke up to find her husband had left her, not for another nubile young thing, but for a rigorous life in a forest. That must play on one's psyche. Was it the pancakes she made that he didn't like? Or the fact that she hadn't lost enough weight since Rahul's birth?

Buddha always fascinated me. I remember sitting under various trees (didn't know that the Bodhi tree was a pipal in my callow youth) after reading the story for the first time, in the hope that I'd get enlightenment as well!

The Buddha was a complex man who (in my opinion) simplified the morass that Hinduism had become. He taught the essence of Hinduism, which is Right thought, Right Belief, Right action and what have you. Just as Christ did much later, he asked people to love, share, care and help. That's all. He didn't say much about orange robes and shaven pates. He didn't believe that there should be two schools of thought called Hinayana and Mahayana. He didn't ask for his tooth to be venerated or his hair to be adored. How we have let the poor man down.

The Buddha taught students at the levels he thought they would best comprehend. So you have some devotees who learnt about distancing themselves from desire and greed and seeking nirvana-- the Theravadas or those who followed the words/teachings (vada) of the elders (thera).

And you have the seemingly more enlightened group, the Mahayana, who sought (and seek) to help others achieve the eight-fold path, before chasing nirvana for themselves.

As you know, Buddhism soon spread to Sri Lanka, Afghanisthan, and then to Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Korea and Japan. As it spread, each culture added their own twists to the simple tale, resulting in diverse schools such as Tendai, Nara, Shingon, Zen, Nichiren in just Japan.

And then you have Tibetan Buddhism with its Lamas and Karmapas. More when I learn more!

Week One!!!

After racking my brains on what snack to carry, I finally decided on idlis and molagai podi.

Getting to the National Museum, by 8.30 am, all of us in the Dragon and Lion groups laid out our array of snacks and short eats, for a hungry swarm to descend on, come 10.30.

We assembled in the auditorium for the first lecture of the season, on Hinduism. The speaker was introduced as a Mr. Siva Kumar-- a young lawyer and third generation Singaporean.

Siva Kumar spoke eloquently on Hinduism, on its development and progression from the pre-Vedic days through the Vedic period, through the middle ages; and to what it is to be a Hindu in secular India today. How Hinduism lends itself to secularism in its truest sense of the word, (which to me is the inclusion of all faiths and religions.) He illustrated his point of "acceptance of fate or karma" with witty stories and charming anecdotes from Indian folk tales.


His understanding and explanation of Hinduism so touched his listeners that there were queries from the audience on how to convert to Hinduism!
His answer to that was that Hinduism does not "convert". Accept and follow your own religion to the best of your ability, and you will be a Hindu!


A charismatic young man.

The second lecture of the day was by Bill Rives, a Professor and educationist at the Singapore American School. His was the daunting task of talking of the History of India from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Sadly this lecture was not riveting at all, and for all those who don't know much about India through the ages, did not create much of an interest.

That done we were given our research words for the week-- Boddisatva, Stupa and the Bodhi Tree. Week two is on Buddhism.

More in my next.

Docent Training

I am attempting to keep a record of my Docent Training with the FOM (Friends of the Museum, Singapore)

Our training with the Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM) starts tomorrow.

Last Tuesday, the 16th of September, we gathered at the National Museum of Singapore in a preliminary meeting to have our groups and reading material assigned to us.

Having researched group titles like Hanuman, Garuda, Makara, Lion and Dragon each group presented the titles and their symbolism.

At this point the Indians in the group seem to have an unfair advantage as we have all grown up hearing the names and terms we have to research!

Tomorrow is Week 1 and I still have a lot of reading to do, so I don't know why I am pfaffing around wasting time, not getting down to it.

Our group also needs to bring a snack and I'm at a loss as to what to take.

So, I'm going to get back to my work and post later on, on the lectures I attended, and the Friday Highlight tour that I took last week.