Ven Robina Rocks

I hope I havent been sounding like a weakling, being very indecisive and drowning myself in self-pity. But I know for sure I am not. I am just being responsible and careful.

This evening, I went to listen to Ven Robina's talk at DBS building. She spoke very fast, but definitely not just nonsensical blabberings. She was simply sharp and quick witted. I thought the questions asked during the Q&A session were fantastic too, of cos each of them paired up with fantastic answers by ven. I really picked up several useful tips tonite, esp the talk was on Compassion and Wisdom.

Just like what Ven Yuan Fan love to stress abt, we all do not like to encounter problems and often wish to see everyone well & happy. And when we fail to remove the the sufferings of ppl around us, we tend to get ourselves depress and upset too. Ven Robina advised us that sometimes, we do need to give others a chance to experience sufferings, and also an opportunity for them to purify their own bad karma. Its afterall their own karma that they have to bear, so why must we go against it? Ven Robina also reminded us that we have to take care of ourselves first (or watch ourselves), before we wanna work on others. She said something like this:

"Stop giving them advices, lectures & getting urself upset when u cant help them .... just be there".

The above are just some of the useful pointers I have picked up this evening, which i will not be surprised if they were to sound cliche to other ppl. Similarly, there shld be many other points that others might have picked up and found useful which I didnt feel so.

Dana - Finally, I can offer dana openly and relaxingly. In the past, I actually thot I am a very stingy person this life, becos i always have reservations when it comes to donation. But i found out thats becos I have been using my parents' money and I feel guilty about it. Now I am making my own money, I find myself often very willing to part with my cash (of cos i m refering to small amts lah. Thats a great relief, cos I fear I have been a miser for many lives. I am glad that I have been experiencing very good life for the first 20 yrs of my age, must be lots of dana and good merits accumulated from past life eh? HAHAHA. Lets hope I can continue doing so this life.

Oh dear bsl, wondering if you will get the chance to read my entry before u fly off. Sincerely wish u all the best in ur 3 weeks' cultivation. Pls come back as an upgraded person, so that u will be able to effectively benefit many more in the future. Sadhu!