Sunday, December 26, 2010

BATW: A Buddhist Blogger from Singapore


Here we present the first in a new series of articles "Buddhism Around The World", which we hope to continue on with here. Our first "highlight" is Lee Yue Heng from Singapore. We hope you enjoy what he has to share...

I am a Buddhist blogger of Chinese ethnicity from the Republic of Singapore, which is a small island in Southeast Asia. Buddhism is a mainstream religion here, adhered to by about 42.5% of the population as of 2000.

We also have a very diverse Buddhist scene here. There are Theravadains, Chinese Mahayanists, Korean Zen practioners, Sokka Gakkai devotees, Vajrayana, etc. and they generally co-exist in harmony.

Personally, I am not exclusively affiliated with any particular school or sect but I do try to integrate aspects of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, with a little dash of Tibetan Buddhism, into my daily practice. This is not unusual among Buddhists in Singapore and sectarian lines are not so rigidly defined.

For example, some time ago, I attended a talk by Venerable Thubten Chodron (who hails from the Tibetan tradition) which was hosted at a Theravada Temple and Ajahn Brahamavamso (from the Thai Forest tradition) frequently gives talks at the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, which is a chiefly Chinese Mahayana organization.

Recently, I began a blog exclusively centered on Buddhism and its address is

http://refugee1978.blogspot.com/

I try to write about daily life from a Buddhist perspective and sometimes there are posts on the state of Buddhism in Singapore (from my humble and subjective viewpoint of course)

It would be nice to interact with Buddhists from all over the world and the Blogisattva Awards platform seems like one of the venues for doing so. Recently, you had a post about highlighting bloggers from non-English countries. Singapore is in Southeast Asia, but because of our colonial history, our main language is English. If you feel that any of my posts will be of interest to your readers, feel free to direct them to "The Refugee"!

Hoping this finds you in good health. With Metta

Lee Yue Heng

8 comments:

Kyle said...

Thanks Lee! Excellent post!

Lee Yue Heng said...

Thank you, Kyle. Looking forward to more interactions with yourself and other Dharma practitioners in the future! :)

Roni said...

Hi, Lee!

Great post! Greetings from Hungary!

(I already have a question. How old are your students? Do you think you can apply Buddhist teachings in your work -- directly or indirectly?)

Greetings from Hungary,

Roni

Sabio Lantz said...

Good Post Lee.

Curious question (folks are debating this on my site now). What percent of Buddhists in Singapore take "meditation" (not chanting, rituals and such) to be the central part of their Buddhism? Or what percent of Buddhism in Singapore is centered on "doing the right thing", winning good merit, procuring good health and fortune and ceremonies?

I know it is a tough question, but you understand my point. Could you give us a quick sketch. Or perhaps better yet (to build your blog), write about it and link to your post.

Thank you kindly (if you have time).

Lee Yue Heng said...

Roni:

Greetings from Singapore! :)

I teach secondary school and for this year, my students are 15 or 16. I do try to use Buddhist principles in my work, such as trying to practice compassion and mindfulness in my daily life.

Hello Sabio! :)

You ask for percentages, but I do not think I can provide that kind of data. However, from my sense of the "ground", the Buddhists here can be broadly divided into the casual "worshiper" Buddhist whose idea of Buddhism is to visit temples and pray. Then there are the "practitioner" Buddhists who have a daily practice, such as meditation or chanting. These Buddhists belong to Theravada, Chinese Mahayana or Vajrayana traditions. Some Buddhists (like myself) can adopt a syncretic approach and infuse elements of different Buddhist schools into their practice.

flights to manila said...

I would like to visit the Buddhist temple in Singapore. The pilgrimage tour will be a spiritual one.

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