was looking around for a SG50 heart-shaped logo, but only found the red circle, and the heart map. so decided to ‘combine’ the two, and here you go, my little ‘creation/contribution’ for/to our celebration (：
the purpose behind what a buddhist does what s/he does
reposting this fb post to store this away in the storeroom as things in fb become lost overtime. it also allows an opportunity for pple who dun go on fb to have a chance to be in touch with the info.
[acknowledgement: Buddhist Life Mission 佛教生命协会]
my attempt at translating the words:
拜佛，不是弯下身体，而是放下傲慢。
(to pay respect to Buddha, is not about the body bending, but laying down one’s ego.)
念佛，不是声音数目，而是清净心地。
(to chant, is not about the sound nor the quantity, but to clear one’s mind.)
合掌，不是并拢双手，而是恭敬万有。
(to join one’s hand _/\_, is not about putting both hands together _/\_, but to respect all things present.)
禅定，不是長坐不起，而是心外無物。
(to meditate， is not about sitting there for long, but to clear one’s mind of external existence.)
信佛，不是學習知識，而是踐行無我。
(to become a buddhist, is not about acquiring knowledge, but to learn and practise the path of selflessness.)
pulling all the 4 lines together:
To pay respect to Buddha, is not about the body bending, but laying down one’s ego.
To chant, is not about the sound nor the quantity, but to clear one’s mind.
To join one’s hand _/\_, is not about putting both hands together _/\_, but to respect all things present.
To meditate， is not about sitting there for long, but to clear one’s mind of external existence.
To become a buddhist, is not about acquiring knowledge, but to learn and practise the path of selflessness.
Amitābha 阿弥陀佛。
cultural forum slides
the cultural forum is over. thanks to the active participation of the 120+ audience in the Auditorium, we had some good interactions. thanks to Socrative by MasterConnect too (:
here’s the set of slides used during the presentation. enjoy (:
I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand, origin
I have nothing against the quote “I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand.” It’s very meaningful…
But, please don’t attribute it to Confucius!
The closest that can be found is from Xunzi.
《儒效篇》荀子曰: “不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之，见之不若知之，知之不若行之；学至于行之而止矣。”
(Not hearing is not as good as hearing, hearing is not as good as seeing, seeing is not as good as knowing, knowing is not as good as acting; only when there is action can learning be considered as accomplished)
— reposted from yh2’s fb status update on Sep 6.
photos interpretation exercise
was invited to join in the mgmt retreat today and the day’s “break the ice” event was to make a choice of 2 photo postcards which reflects the self, and the self’s view of the organisation. these are my choices:
the bottom reflects my view of life. life is like a theme park, it’s 多姿多彩, just like the many different rides you can experience. you may want to take some fast rides at certain time during a visit to the park, and switch to a slower ride during other times. this is somewhat like the paces i have taken in my career so far, rapid at times and creeping like now. for those of us who have visited a theme park, it’s probably not difficult for us to identify the moments when we look at a ride, but never had the courage to try it out. we will go to the rides that we are comfortable with. stepping out of comfort zone is always difficult, but one wont know what one have missed out until one try it out. i have stepped out of comfort zones (big n small) numerous times, and i am currently on my 7th ride in the park, the ferris wheel (:
the top photo represents a helicopter view of any typical organisation. there’s different depts making up the whole. while we are working towards establishing our reputation as a “mountain”, it’s good to know that there’s always another mountain out there. 山外有山，天外有天。we should always keep our eyes and conversations open so as to better ourselves. a reminder for managers though, while having a top overview is important, but watching a NatGeo documentary on TV will tell us that we have seen nothing in a helicopter. the details and beauties only reveal themselves when the helicopter landed. therefore, as managers, we should not forget to have eyes on the workings on the ground, for every detail could enhance or spoil the whole picture, and therefore the progress of the organisation/dept.