Go Beyond That!

A pic taken at Hu Fa camp, with ex NTUBS VP Mr Hou Leng Ar. I like this NTUBS t-shirt very much, designed by Mr didi.

I went to SNEC today for a thorough vision test and congratulations to myself! I have achieved perfect 6/6 visions! Although I have not attended any retreats yet, the convenience of not wearing specs can be felt at the Hu Fa Camp. I no longer need to spend extra efforts in taking care of my specs, esp when I am bathing or sleeping in unfamiliar places (yeah i broke 2 specs at 2 diff retreats b4). But I still have this funny habit of searching around for my specs immediately after i recover from meditation sittings, haha.

Attended the 'video shooting' by NUSBS jnrs at PGP jus now to be shown on BS day. I must congrats my jnrs for having such an interesting and refreshing idea. Unfortunately, I wasnt prepared at all to recollect and plan what I have to say. And I guess the feelings most snrs have for BS are kinda abstract and deep which cannot be easily be represented in words. As such, I feel that things I said just now were kinda cliche` and not sincere.

Nale, together with Sera (or Sarah) was on my car just now when we chanced upon the topic of 'gong de' and 'fu de / fu bao'. This was exactly the topic which interest me alot during Hu Fa camp and i got to asked shifu quite a bit on it. Frankly speaking, I am not exactly sure myself on the definition of fu bao and gongde, but i shall type out what i have understood from shifu (Warning! Its just my personal understanding).

Shifu said that fubao is just a small subset of gongde. Generally, fubao can be considered a lower form of merits. Eg. Donation, organising dharma activities, getting near to sangha & supporting them (with the intention of getting closer to Dharma or having a better rebirth). All these may give you a better rebirth with and support ur future life. However, it does not contribute much in the gaining of one's wisdom. On the other hand, gongde is something that you unknowingly gain without expecting or requesting for it. I guess it has a lot to do with self cultivations like meditation and practising Dharma in everyday life, thus gaining of experiences and wisdom.

I asked Shifu : With the good intention of gaining merits so that I can get closer to the Dharma my next life, shld i follow the crowd and eagerly get close to (and support) the sangha?

Shifu replied: You may gain fubao from doing so but that is just a low level gain. Is that really what you hope to acheive in your cultivation? You shld go beyond that!