AboutJustin Choo Expertise When in doubt seek it out. All your questions will be answered, and you may not have to agree with the answers. Such is the beauty of Buddhism. You are free to decide. I follow the Theravada tradition. Please view my profile for more details. I have answered more than a thousand questions since joining this category. You are welcome to try me.
Experience I was brought up in the 50's as a Buddhist. For the past 30 years I have read numerous books on Buddhism and listened to numerous talks on Buddhism by well-respected and learned monks and lay teachers. I conduct Buddhist classes for parents of Sunday School children in a Theravada Buddhist Temple.
My teacher was the late Chief Reverend, The Ven. K Sri Dhammananda of The Brickfields Buddhist Mahavihara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You can view the relevent website in memory of my revered late teacher @
http://www.ksridhammananda.com
Organizations I am a life member of the Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia.
Publications YOU ARE INVITED TO VISIT MY BLOG @
http://lifeislikethat999.blogspot.com/
Published a book called "The Rainbow And The Treasure". It is a compilation of extracts from various sources to introduce Buddhism to beginners. (Currently out of print)
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Commerce And Administration, Victoria University Of Wellington, NZ.(1974)
Question QUESTION: I have been an atheist or does not subscribe to ritual like a
non-religious person but strongly believe in proper behaviour and participated in charity. Does being a good person is enough to gain whatever that buddhist aim to achieve. During younger days, out of curiosity has experienced numerous things denounced by religion but for the last 20 years I lead a righteous life and taken care of the parent and family well. It is enough or more need to be done .
ANSWER: Hi SP Foo,
Thank you for asking me.
To many religions, your good behaviour and noble lifestyle is still not good enough for them. As you know, they only want you to follow their beliefs, otherwise you will go to hell!
In Buddhism it is very different. It is good enough to be noble and to be harmless. It is the type of life you live that is important. Whether you are a Buddhist or not is immaterial.
In Buddhism, however, there is still a higher goal that the followers will strive to reach, perhaps not in this life, but in future life time. Existence in itself is not a very satisfactory experience. We face uncertainties, dangers, sickness, and definitely old age and ultimate death. The Buddha discovered a way to cut off this cycle of birth-aging-death syndrome. To achieve this, one has to train the mind to ultimate purity. This will take a long long time, and countless births. Once the mind is completely purified, the person would have completely eradicated greed and hatred with complete understanding of the true nature of existence. Without these negative and clingging roots, there will no longer be any rebirth. No longer subject to this cycle of "birth, aging and death". In Buddhist parlance, Nibbana....No more craving for rebirth.
Hope this helps.
Take care.
Justin Choo.
You are invited to visit my blog
and Rev. Dhammika's :
QUESTION: Issue of life , last 2 months a buddhist group was on a monastery visit to Tibet, Ladka and met with a tragic accident and out of which 4 were dead when the car fall into a ravine. Much question come into play why would such beautiful and kind hearted people succumb to such ending an untimely death . As we know them personally , that 4 sisters are firm die-hard devotee and being fully committed to dhamma-duta work in Mahavihara, Brickfield, KL. Doesnt their merits being so great not capable to avert that tragedy??
Answer Hi SP Foo,
May I "copy and paste" this comment by our brother Yu Ban who is the administrator of "Theravada Malaysia, Yahoo Group" explaining the same topic. Brother Yu Ban has very succinctly explained about this unfortunate tragedy. I fully agree with his thoughts. You can go to this site, but you need to be a member to read it:
Hi,
I was asked some questions regarding the untimely deaths of our sisters in Ladakh. Having encountered the same doubts mentioned by others on my Facebook, I'll extend my answers here. The questions can be phrased thus:
1. Isn't it foolish to travel during the hungry ghost month as the ghosts are let loose from Hell?
2. If they are doing so much good merit, why did they die so soon? Why didn't their good karma protect them?
3. Is it bad to go to funerals of such tragic deaths in case the bad qi also affects me?
So this would be a long email.
1. Hungry Ghost month
This is a peculiar question as the Hungry Ghost month belief is alien to Buddhism. As far as I know, Theravada Buddhism does not teach anything about any ghosts or demons coming out of hell to visit the human realm in any month or at any time. The closest relevance will be the Ullambana Sutra of the Mahayana Buddhists. All this sutra says is that Ven Moggalana visited Hell and saw his mother there. Note that she was not released from Hell. Feeling great sadness, the Ven then visited the Buddha who advised that as the full moon day of the 7th month was approaching, he should make an offering to the assembled sangha and dedicate the merit to his mother. This he did and his mother took a good rebirth. Again, there is no mention of beings released from Hell in this Sutra. My guess is that this Hell month release is an ancient Chinese folk belief which was pre-existing and was then carried over by Chinese converts to Buddhism. So what should present day Buddhists make of this?
First of all I would say that if anyone is to do a statistical study, I'm quite sure that there would be no indication of more deaths or accidents during this time. Not in the world, not among the Chinese population and not among motor vehicle drivers. Buddhism is a religion that teaches us to free our minds from fear and superstitions and to develop wisdom. In the absence of evidence or good reason, such belief is irrational.
In Dhammapada verse 188 the Buddha describes this situation when he says people driven by fear will seek out trees and shrines. He says that these are not secure and does not offer freedom from fear. Real security is only found when one takes refuge in the Three Jewels and understands the Four Noble Truths. You may wish to call yourself a Buddhist but if you continue to subscribe to beliefs which fall outside the Dhamma, you will continue to be plagued by fear.
If you take Refuge in the Three Jewels, then please do so with sincerity. Take the Buddha as your teacher, not your Uncle or Aunty who would plant irrational fears in your minds. Keep your refuge pure and untainted from non-Buddhist teachings. Ask yourself, between this Auntie and the Fully Enlightened Buddha, who should I believe?
In the Kitagiri Sutta, the Buddha advises that we should reflect thus:
"The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I"
So if you consider yourself to be a Buddhist, then put his Dhamma in your heart, and not make something up yourself or those made up by your Auntie, your neighbour or your colleague.
2. Why Did they Die?
People die for various reasons at different ages. That is just the way it is and it is pure foolishness to think that good people must die in old age and bad people will die young. Any child can observe that this is not the case. Ajahn Chah told a story of how he observed that after a storm, the forest floor will be covered with fallen leaves. However, not all leaves are old and brown; many are green and fresh. This is simply nature at work.
"But will their good karma not protect them?"
The workings of karma are deep and only a Buddha can fully comprehend their intricacy. But we can ask "Is it not possible that if not for their good Dhamma work, their lives may have ended even earlier? Or is it not possible that their lives will be cut short regardless of their actions?" If so it is to their immense good fortune that they encountered the Dhamma and took it wholeheartedly into their lives in the limited time they had, so that their karma fully enriches their future.
The Bahiya sutta describes a situation with some similarity. In this Sutta, Bahiya was persuaded to seek out the Buddha. He did so and upon meeting the Buddha asked him to teach the Dhamma. Twice, the Buddha turned down the request, but on the third time, the Buddha consented, taught Bahiya who then became an arahant. When Bahiya was leaving this meeting he was attacked by a cow and gored to death. Those who were ignorant of the events in Bahiya's life would think he was unfortunate, but those who understand the sutta would know he was immensely fortunate. It may seem to many that it was unfortunate for our sisters to have died that day in Ladakh. But we should consider that it is only unfortunate if anyone dies without the Dhamma in their hearts.
What counts then, is not the number of days in one's life but what one does with those days. The Buddha teaches "Better it is to live one day seeing the supreme Dhamma than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the supreme Dhamma" ~ Dhp 115
3. Is it bad to go to funerals of such tragic deaths in case the bad qi also affects me?
One should be mindful of the good one does at funerals - Blessing the deceased, comforting the bereaved and supporting the community. Such intentions are meritorious. On the other hand, thinking of protecting oneself from bad qi is selfish, unskillful and just plain superstitious. Again, please don't listen to your uncle or auntie. They are far from enlightened. If you have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, then honour your refuge. Build a sold refuge. If your refuge is full of holes, then expect to get wet when fear rains down. Remember
Kitagiri sutta - "The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I."
Dhammapada 79 - "He who drinks deep the Dhamma lives happily with a tranquil mind. The wise man ever delights in the Dhamma made known by the Noble One."
I have encountered such questions before. People who consider themselves Buddhists had doubts and fears after listening to various gurus, fung shui teachers and such. I see it this way. If you have taken refuge in the Three Jewels, then keep your refuge pure. If you start making things up or taking non-Buddhist teachings, then like the Buddha described in Dhp 188, you are running out of your safe secure house to worship at trees and shrines. You can expect to get wet when it rains.
