Sunday, December 23, 2007
in a rare occasion, i followed my family to the temple in toa payoh to give our offerings for blessings. the trip kinda sparked some thoughts.
truth be told, my understanding of buddhism is nothing more than shallow. i have been asking endless questions like "why am I praying", "who am I praying to" and "how many buddhas are there" etc., but have never found time and put up any sustained effort to read through the thousands of pages of historical facts about the religion itself.
but i think i am proud that i am, at the very least, asking questions about my historical roots. i know the basic definitions of buddhas, nirvana etc., not very good but well, i know. and i am born into a buddhist family. from my greatparents to my generation, we are all part of the a buddhist family. being born into a religion gives me the purpose and drive to understand more about it. yet, i can safely say that many of us, to put it bluntly, care too little to spare even a thought for it.
i am not the best person to talk about this; my mum would be the one. but i think i can understand how parents (mostly chinese) feel when they see their children changing their faiths to others, often believing that they have chosen to be part of a 'greater faith'. or due to any other reasons, some of them as trivial as the 'company of friends' or even 'the allure of good music'. it is the kind of nonchalance and disinterest for their born faith that hurts. before they could even ask anything about their own background, they have chosen to paint their new backdrop.
before you start thinking that 'incense tickles my ultra-sensitive nostrils and pollutes the air', it is about time to give your historical roots a 'chance' of sorts. let's try to understand them, and should you ultimately choose to believe in another religion, let the reason be 'a greater spiritual journey', rather than 'good music' or 'meeting more friends'.
disturbed you at 4:26 PM