At this crossroad, I hope time will stay still

Friday, March 17, 2006, 3/17/2006 10:34:00 PM

YAY~ Im back from the retreat AND IT ROCKed :D

Wednesday;

there was guzheng b4 the retreat.

Ohwell, I almost blacked out.

Not enough oxygen.LOLS.

But i recovered pretty soon :)

thx people who were concerned :)

RETREAT;updated version x)

Ms Chng sent me,adel,mad to JE cus we needa get stuff.thanks :)

And we went to meet marble then after to go for lunch.

YAY~ cus we were going to the SBMY retreat!

waited for a rather long time.bus was late.

Anyway it was held at FairyPoint Chalet 2.

AND HELLO? it is a chalet; not jetty.

Some blur people spelt it as ferrypoint.diao.

THANKS ORGANISERS.i really learnt alot.

Although we took the eight precepts and are supposed to remain silent,

this is definately a very wonderful experience for me.

You might just be thinking..

No HP, No tablet PC, No talking,No dancing,No singing,No playing..

How to be fun and enjoyable?

Yes,at first i wasn't really used to it.Talked quite abit till I heard from clor.It made alot of sense:) "Actually how often do you get such a chance to be doing something so holy? you want also no chance.too many distractions.Since ya have the chance now shld treasure :)" True. Some were still unwilling to leave their HPs in the care of ryan.LOLS.Please, it is only for this 2days. Rather glad that I actually made up my mind to go for this retreat.Remember last prequel camp I totally knew NOTHING at all about buddhism and now I actually think it is nice.really appreciate it.My knowledge isn't chim but i think at least as of the things i have learn, it is really interesting.

Venerable Bodhi came to give us two talks.One on wednesday night and another on thursday morning.Other than having very interactive and interesting content, she also has a very sweet voice with a nice tone,Pleasant to hear.AND YES,there was this transfer of merits done after each talk.She did it in Pali instead of the usual english.It was so nice,HOWEVER, I didn't know how to do it; but im determined to learn it someday <3<3

DAY TWO;

We had to wake up at 5am in the mornings.AND YES, we forgot to adjust the temperature and as a result i was freezing by four plus.LOLS.MORNING JOG, STRETCHS, MEDITATION.marble fell in the morning jog.GIRL, gotta watch ya step and takkaire yupps? So we walked back to the chalet together with victeo, the security, following us.LOLS.And clor, u also takkaire yupps? HAHA.next time dun wear slipper to run liao or blister again.Stretches.. hmm..Rather afraid that i would do it wrongly and affect my backbone again so i was more to the careful side.jiayi,thx for the compliment but always rmb nv to stretch too far beyond your limits as it can result in injury like me :( Meditation was by the beach.COOL RIGHT? but i din manageto stay through an hour.Lost concentration aft 40mins.jialat.gotta practise lerx..

breakfast.the instant noodles tasted and looked like udon.expanded with time.LOLS.it tasted okay though:) ya-da ya-da LUNCH.cus of the sixth precept, there is no dinner.managed to finish my lunch with the help of eugene.thx guy :)

Learnt Walking meditation and practised Anapanasati Meditation.Getting used to them already but sometimes i still feel sleepy.haiz..HOW? Ohwell, Im happy that i can sit longer than before, although there is only up till the 30mins guarantee.LOLS.

Had some free time by the beach.Two nice girls jiayi and shihui were spending the time mindfully by doing some meditation :D As for me? I was going arnd asking some seniors how to improve on my meditation :) Good time and opportunity to find out more.

Another talk.By a SBM senior also tchr of mjr buddhist studies.Rather interesting too:) ya-da-ya-da AND One last talk by ang hwee's mentor.LOLS.kit kat guy.HAHA.cus he would be giving kit kats to people who got the answers he wanted.darn gaoxiao and he kept going out of point.In de end we counted that he would have to be back some other day to tell us the rest of his interesting knowledge :D LOLS.

Night Walk! YAY.Supposed to be some more meditation but clever guy mentor anghwee realised that we couldn't absorb much more dharma so might as well bring us out for another walk :D All the way out to the board walk and across to de end.Didn't have meditation in the walk though.Instead, for a change,we were given free time to appreciate nature.And questions were asked of course :) Actually we can be happy without materialistic stuff.We do not have to pay to be happy.Soo we each had to give an example of something which makes us happy. Some quotations:

-"Seeing my friends and family happy, Im happy."

-"to appreciate and be appreciated,Im happy."

-"to enjoy nature,Im happy."[sounds like jenna.HAHA]

-"So listen to the waves and enjoy the sea brezze, Im happy"

-"to learn the dharma,Im happy"

Can't remember every single one, but the main point is that when u are sad, think of things that make u smile and do them.You would feel alot better :D something that makes me smile: "Everyone arnd me be truthful and sincere in things they do and say" I think it is very impt cus no point guessing whether the person next to u can be trusted or not, OR if they have some motive for helping u and stuff like that.If everyone is truthful and sincere then the world is gonna be a much better place :) And yes it is inline witht he fourth precept of abstaining from false speech (thoughts and actions to0..) Ohyes, and something with made all of us go "ORH.." was "A sincere and nice and dry hug from somone.. .. ..of the opposite gender" LOLS.and it was said by our beloved vice capt, victor teo.LOLS.cus ryan a.k.a melonade immediately clung onto him -.-"

Back at the chalet, most had a lil snack and off to chanting. Chanted Om Mani padme hum.Just realised that I didn't know so much as compared to many others.Like i said,coming into prequel camp 2005 and SBMY had marked the starting of my learning journey in buddhism.Before that, despite having two buddhist parents, i knew nothing.Promise to jiayou and catch up asap in order not to fall behind.For those who just realised that i knew so little, not even knowing know to chant Om mani Padme Hum till then, sorry, but i will work hard.thx mad,fuzhong and daryl and those who taught me.Got the defination from lionel's blog.

"Om Mani Padme Hum(ॐ मणिपद्मेहूम्)Quoted from wikipedia explaination from -- Gen Rinpoche Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones--The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections? "

When chanting ended,it was Own Time Own Target again.As usual, everyone was going for the toilet..bathe.HEHE.And most started to talk in groups[not abt dharma].Sort of broke the noble silience rule.OOPS. Started to talk abt camps once again and not to forget the upcoming june camp! HAHA. they started on some ghost stories which wasn't really to my interest hence i went back to da room. OH MY TIAN..victeo is a very good artist la!! so nice loh.It is not really surprising if someone can draw well on paper, HOWEVER it was done on clor's HP with a stylus!! *dare not believe.it is too nice* AND sice it was a girs' rm, there was quite abit of R21 cat fight going on inside.*see no evil* SLEEP at lights out..Changed place cus more pplx were here.clor was saying Im gonna miss sleeping beside her.LOLS.

DAY THREE;

Had to leave.There was leadership course in school.It my decision though.Wasn't forced by anyone.Anyway it was only once in a year that we have this course so somehow i thought that i shld go.Madeline decided to pon but then again, it is her choice.wanlingx and lionel went to school too.Dad came to pick us up.LOLS.he couldn't find his way to chalet 2.It is quite a quiet place i must say, as it is hidden all the way inside, away fm the main road.thx vic once again for staying with us in the chalet nd lighting the candles for us and helping to guide my dad here.Sincerely told the buddha that we had to end the eight precepts there and then AND resume with our five precepts as usual like in normal life.Had some light food and bee came in.LOLS.there was light in the house.Maybe they were cold, however for the safety of all the other members, we had to off the lights and hope they get out.*Chants the forgiveness of shortcoming..duno how to type out.*

Leadership course was okay.huimin, our instructor was really nice.As usual, adrian, the main instructor was there.Had quite a number of activites and learnt to think out of the box.got some task very nicely done but in one or two we didn't do as well :( will improve.Our grp was the phoenix.yining started the feng fei fei trend.LOLS.cus she said it was phoenix fly fly, hoping to bring the grp to greater heights.HAHA.gaoxiao.

Through this few days, i really learnt alot, dharma and leadership skills.I promise to strive to do better in the areas im lacking in and jiayous :) *contented and glad feeling as clor had promised we would get :)* Once again, bigbig thanks to everyone who made the retreat suh a memorable experience; the organisers[ryan,vic,forest,fuzhong,mentors] and of course the SBMY-ians :D

AND YES HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY NICE KOR, JARREL.

SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO WISH YA HAPPY BITHDAY IN DA CAMP.

HP WENT FLAT AND NO ONE HAD SAMSUNG CHARGER.LOLS.

Next time better buy nokia phone.HAHA