How to Register a Buddhist Society
Published by the Theravada Buddhist Council of Malaysia on 21 March 2014.
Today marks the 111th Birth Anniversary of Malaysia’s first Prime Minister and “Father of Independence”, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. The Tunku led a group of visionary and courageous Malayan leaders in working together to achieve the nation’s independence in 1957, and to form ‘Malaysia’ in 1963.
Read moreDr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891 into the ‘untouchables’, a segment of India’s population that was hitherto deprived, degraded, and often mistreated by the other castes. Yet despite his early deprivation, Dr. Ambedkar later rose in stature and prominence through hard work and fortitude to become the first Law Minister of independent India. He is also popularly regarded as the ‘principal architect of the Indian Constitution’ – a social contract that granted liberties, justice, and respectability to India’s dejected millions.
Read moreArticle written by Bro. H S Tan
Renowned Vipassana Meditation Teacher, Acharya S. N. Goenka, passed away peacefully in Mumbai, India on Sunday, 29 September 2013 (early Monday, 30 September, Malaysian time). He was 90.
Read moreToday we celebrate our nation’s 56th Anniversary of Independence – ‘Merdeka Day’. We are thankful to be able to observe this milestone in relative peace, harmony and prosperity. We have to thank our forefathers and elders for their untiring work to hand us this inheritance which is Malaysia. Our gratitude also goes to civil servants, private enterprises, good citizens and our foreign guest workers for helping us in the challenging task of nation-building.
Read moreNalanda Patron’s Day will be observed over 3 days from 16 – 18 March, with a wholesome line-up of meaningful educational programmes. 18 March 2013 marks the 95th birth anniversary of our late Spiritual Advisor, Venerable Kirinde Sri Dhammananda. The late venerable was an erudite monk fondly known as the “Sangha Nāyaka of Malaysia”.
Read morePindacāra, the practice of collecting alms-food, is observed by Theravada Buddhist monks who have gone forth from ‘home-life’ to ‘homelessness’. A Buddhist monk is known in Pāli Language as a ‘bhikkhu’ - meaning ‘one who lives on alms’.
Read moreBeginning the day after the full-moon of Asalha month (around July every year), Theravada Buddhist monks are required to observe Vassana or ‘Rains Retreat’ for a duration of 3 months. The Vassana period from July-August to October-November corresponds with the monsoon season in South and Southeast Asia (which were historically Buddhist strongholds), thus making traveling very difficult and even dangerous. Monks and nuns were often invited by Buddhist communities to reside in village Aramas (monasteries and nunneries) for the duration of the ‘rains’.
Read moreRehearsing the Dhamma-vinaya
The Pāli term ‘Sangāyana’ can be translated as rehearsal or communal chanting. The purpose of a Sangāyana is to accurately preserve the original teachings of the Buddha. The reciters’ duty is to rehearse, examine, and review the Canon so that no parts of which are added, omitted or altered, and any such deviations were to be rectified. Throughout history, there had been six such formal occasions where the entire Pāli Canon was rehearsed and authenticated.
Read moreThe Pāli Language was derived from a Prakrit (folks’ dialect) of Magādha in ancient India. Its grammar is similar to those of Sanskrit and Latin. Pāli was chosen as the language to rehearse and record the Buddhist teachings at the First Rehearsal (Sangāyana) in 543 BCE. Pāli is unique among languages in that it is not used for any other purpose except to record Buddhist doctrines. Thus the meanings of its words were not ‘corrupted’ by common usage or ‘evolution’ over time.
Read more