Jeann Zhuang

Finding out what & how things really works: What it takes for us to live happy, fulfilled & successful lives.

Jeann Zhuang

Time Out to Mourn, Reprioritize & Restart

Time Out to Mourn, Reprioritize & Restart

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Since my last post on 31 July 2020, a lot has happened.

Actually it started way back in May, when my dad who’s living alone, had a fall that we didn’t think much of, and was admitted to the hospital.

To make things complicated, the COVID-19 situation in Singapore didn’t make it easy for us to visit him frequently.

Since his situation worsened early August up until his passing on 18 August 2020, my hardcore deliberate practice schedule came to a standstill.

Let’s just say when we come face to face with a death of a family member, or someone we love, it makes you rethink everything about life and your life. Reprioritize what’s important.

My quest remains on finding out what and how things really work: What it takes for us to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives.

But to begin with, we need to face the fact that
1. We gotta be alive for that to be valid.
2. Death is inevitable.

Then it got me thinking about faith and religions. The role of religion in our lives. But at the same time, how do we wear the different hats?

I’ve struggled and failed to document the details of my dad’s passing even though the logical mind wanted to. So much for wanting to write a book in memory of my dad, what I’ve learned from our estranged-to-reconciled relationship over the 33 years he left us. Each time I recall the details that felt so fresh and raw, I couldn’t help but break down each time.

So now that the memories have gotten fuzzy and the feelings calmed, only do I have the strength put down in words, in memory of you, Papa.

Buddhism Without Religion: Radical or Practical?

Buddhism Without Religion: Radical or Practical?

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In this post, we’re going to find out if it’s even possible to have Buddhism without religion: radical or practical?

We’re going to look at 

  • Terminology: Buddhism, Dharma and so on 
  • Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? 
  • Separating philosophy from religion

First I have to say that I’m no Buddhist scholar, philosopher, or academic. Currently a trainer and speaker in the DCI Seed System which uses the ancient but universal ideas from Eastern philosophy, I may have some exposure and understanding of the Buddhist ideas, but I’m no expert.   

So let’s not forget that right now, I’m taking on the stance of a curious learner who is finding answers to the questions I currently have:   

Can we extract, adapt and contextualise the ideas and concepts from Buddhist philosophy to live a happy, fulfilled and successful life? 

Can we really make a 2500-year-old tradition relevant to the 21st century, not as a “religion” but as a secular philosophy with broad applications that we can use in our lives?  

Let’s start.

Terminology: Buddhism, Dharma and so on

1) Let’s start with the key word: Buddhism

So I did a quick search and selected the following definitions. 

Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE (before the Common Era). 

Britannica

Buddhism is a faith that was founded by Siddhartha Gautama (“the Buddha”) more than 2,500 years ago in India. With about 470 million followers, scholars consider Buddhism one of the major world religions. Its practice has historically been most prominent in East and Southeast Asia, but its influence is growing in the West. Many Buddhist ideas and philosophies overlap with those of other faiths.

History

Buddhism is a spiritual tradition that focuses on personal spiritual development and the attainment of a deep insight into the true nature of life. There are 376 million followers worldwide.

BBC

Buddhism is the world’s fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies.

Wikipedia

While there are definitely more varying definitions of “Buddhism,” I chose the above because it shows us the mixed views that the Western world have about Buddhism. 

Given how Asians are most likely to view that Buddhism is a religion—I’m an Asian and was “born into Buddhism,” brought to visit Buddhist temples to pray to the Buddha and so on—just like how I viewed Christianity as a religion when I converted as a teen (it’s complicated), it’s actually refreshing for me to reconsider Buddhism as a philosophy as well as a religion. 

In a way, maybe, it becomes a matter of how much do you want to engage?

We’ll explore more in a jiffy, but let’s continue with terms.

2) Who’s Buddha? 

Here’s a few short extracts when I looked for the definition of “Buddha,” 

“The historical Buddha was an Indian prince named Siddhartha Gautama who lived some 2,600 years ago in an area that today is part of northern India and Nepal.”  

Who Was the Buddha?

Buddha, born with the name Siddhartha Gautama, was a teacher, philosopher and spiritual leader who is considered the founder of Buddhism. He lived and taught in the region around the border of modern-day Nepal and India sometime between the 6th to 4th century B.C. 

The name Buddha means “one who is awakened” or “the enlightened one.” While scholars agree that Buddha did in fact exist, the specific dates and events of his life are still debated. 

Biography

The teacher known as the Buddha lived in northern India sometime between the mid-6th and the mid-4th centuries before the Common Era. In ancient India the title buddha referred to an enlightened being who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering.

Britannica

Most of us are familiar with the Buddha, even if you’re not a Buddhist. 

Unlike most religions, Buddha is not the Creator of the universe, or God. Rather, from the definitions available, there’s 3 levels to understand who Buddha is. 

1. The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who was born a prince, but through his personal encounters, experiences with suffering; old age, sickness and death, gain personal insights and decided to seek answers out of this self-perpetuating cycle of life and death. He first became a monk, then adopted asceticism, and eventually the “Middle Way,” which avoids 2 extremes. Through deep contemplation and meditation, he had a series of insights into the nature of reality, and he was eventually enlightened while meditating under a Bodhi tree, and became known as the Buddha, “one who is awakened,” or “the enlightened one.” From then until his passing from this world, he taught the path to liberation that he had realized. 

2. “The term buddha means “awake” or “awakened,” so it can refer to any number of beings that are believed to be fully enlightened, not just the historical Buddha.” 

3. “It can also refer to an archetype or idea of an enlightened being.” 

Are There Other Buddhas?

So let’s look at the term that is associated with what the Buddha taught: Dharma. 

3) What is Dharma? 

“Dharma, Sanskrit dharma, Pali dhamma, key concept with multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.” 

Britannica

Here, we’re interested in the definition of Dharma in Buddhism, 

“In Buddhism, dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times, proclaimed by the Buddha. Dharma, the Buddha, and the sangha (community of believers) make up the Triratna, “Three Jewels,” to which Buddhists go for refuge. In Buddhist metaphysics the term in the plural (dharmas) is used to describe the interrelated elements that make up the empirical world.” 

Britannica

While the definition above seems like it makes sense but it doesn’t quite explain what exactly is dharma, so let’s look at another definition. 

“Buddha’s teachings are known as “dharma.””

History

There’s also reference to Dharma as the laws of how things work, how our reality or universe functions, as well as the method, the path or understanding to seeing how things work, how our reality and universe functions. 

Specifically, Dharma on one level can be referred to the collection of Buddha’s teachings, or “ideas, books, videos, audios—physical dharma”  and on a deeper level, what Buddhists would also refer to real dharma, which is understanding emptiness, specifically seeing emptiness directly. 

Dharma Jewel: Books vs. Understanding

With the Eastern philosophy reaching the West, there’s also the idea of secular dharma,

Secular dharma looks at the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Pali: Siddhattha Gotama), and the teachings and practices of the dharma in the context of the global, modern world.

People who practice secular dharma are distinct from those who engage in Buddhist practice but are otherwise secular. While there is overlap, “secular dharma” describes a different movement.

While secular dharma practitioners have been connected with a range of Buddhist lineages, and none, secular dharma is a development out of certain modernizing trends within different schools of Buddhism. A secular space is open-minded and tolerant and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, ability, beliefs, or faith. Those who engage with a secular dharma community are not required to adopt metaphysical beliefs or become involved in activities generally associated with religion, Buddhist or otherwise, such as chanting or praying.


Can Someone Be A Secular Buddhist?

Dharma vs. Dharma practice 

“The art of dharma practice requires commitment, technical accomplishment, and imagination. As with all arts, we will fail to realize its full potential if any of these three is lacking. The raw material of dharma practice is ourself and our world, which are to be understood and transformed according to the vision and values of the dharma itself. This is not a process of self- or world-transcendence, but one of self- and world-creation.

IN A FAMOUS PARABLE, the Buddha imagines a group of blind men who are invited to identify an elephant. One takes the tail and says it’s a rope; another clasps a leg and says it’s a pillar; another feels the side and says it’s a wall; another holds the trunk and says it’s a tube. Depending on which part of Buddhism you grasp, you might identify it as a system of ethics, a philosophy, a contemplative psychotherapy, a religion. While containing all of these, it can no more be reduced to any one of them than an elephant can be reduced to its tail.”

Buddhism Without Beliefs

According to this article, it gets one thinking. Are you sure? If you’re not, you can’t be, then why are you taking what you read as the absolute truth, which is what I call blind faith. 

While there is definitely value in religion, and one can definitely have a faith—as do I—my stance is, in the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, “be a proper skeptic.” We need to investigate the ideas without bias. 

And we can find evidence that supports reason over blind faith  from the monastic textbook An Explanation of the Art of Reasoning by Purbuchok Jampa Tsultrim Gyatso (1825-1901), the tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, stating the three tests: 

1) We have confirmed, with our own direct valid perceptions, those parts of the statement which correspond to “evident” reality;

2) We have confirmed, with our own logical, deductive form of valid perception, those parts of the statement which correspond to “hidden” reality; and

3) We have established that those parts of the statement which correspond to “deeply hidden” reality are free of any internal contradiction or similar faults.]An Explanation of the Art of Reasoning

The three tests from Buddhism above corresponds with Geshe Michael Roach who uses 3 simple terms for us to easily understand what it actually means: 

1) Burn or Melt the gold: We should confirm with our own experience that the information works 

2) Cut the gold: Does the information pass the test of being logical? Does it in theory make sense?  

3) File the gold: Are the original sources that recommend this information believable? Are there testimonials? Case studies?

And the three tests also be found in the Asian Classics Institute Foundational Course 4: Proof of Future Lives, Class Four: Being of Totally Correct Perception.

The three tests for checking if what someone said is accurate, Chepa Sum in Tibetan, in the class notes, 

1) The statement cannot be disproved by any direct perception you have or have had.

2) The statement can’t be contradicted by correct, airtight reasoning. 

3) Nothing he ever said before contradicts what he said later. 

In the answer key, 

“What are the three main methods for a normal person to determine that the Buddha is totally correct about the very deep teachings He gave? 

a) The teachings cannot be disproved by any valid perception that we have or have had. 
b) The teachings cannot be disproved by any airtight reasoning. 
c) The teachings themselves are free of any internal inconsistency: nothing that Lord Buddha said at one time contradicts what He said at another time.” 

In other words, it seems like Buddha invites us to rigorously check what he said and inspect if it works using logic and our own experience instead of being a mere believer. 

“The dharma is not a belief by which you will be miraculously saved.  It is a method to be investigated and tried out.” 

Buddhism Without Beliefs

So what hints to me that we can distinguish Buddhist philosophy from the religion itself, is when we are able to engage in the content without the metaphysical beliefs through activities generally associated as religion, such as chanting, prayer or other rituals. 

Instead, we can take the stance of a curious learner, maybe using a scientific, logical approach. Or even a craftsman whereby we test the ideas,  experiment with the method for ourselves, to see what really works. 

4) What Makes You A Buddhist

The most simplistic definition of “Buddhist” is a follower of the Buddha. Very much like how if you’re a follower of Christ, that makes you a Christian. 

Or that by accepting and keeping the Buddhist refuge vows would make one an official Buddhist. 

But of course, we can always edge over to the on-going debate about how Buddhism is scientific, because with the vast collection of literature, there are numerous texts—yet translated into the major languages—that as they are gradually translated, reveal an alignment with contemporary mind sciences, such as neuroscience, quantum physics, psychology and so on.  

Which means, if we base “what makes you a Buddhist” upon the three tests logical approach above, we might teeter towards the possibility of a new definition of being “Buddhist.” Much like taking a scientific approach to life doesn’t necessarily make you a scientist, so maybe we could already be taking on a Buddhist approach to life without taking on the title of Buddhist. 

Books and doorway

5) Buddhist philosophy

Back to the question, Buddhism without religion: Radical or practical?

Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? 

First let us look at Britannica’s definition:

Philosophy, (from Greek, by way of Latin, philosophia, “love of wisdom”) the rational, abstract, and methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence and experience. Philosophical inquiry is a central element in the intellectual history of many civilizations.

For discussion of major systems of Eastern philosophy, see Buddhism; Chinese philosophy; Confucianism; Daoism; Hinduism; Indian philosophy; Jainism; Japanese philosophy; Shintō; Sikhism.

Britannica

While Britannica’s article includes Buddhism as part of Eastern philosophy, when you click on “Buddhism,” the category leads you to “PHILOSOPHY & RELIGION > PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES.” And just below the title “Buddhism,” the label “religion.” 

So come on, is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy then? 

The article Is Buddhism a Religion? presents the 2 sides of the coin, Buddhism as an intricate philosophical system and as a religion. 

“If you were to go by the stream of psychology and neuroscience books published over the last two decades, you’d think Buddhism is an intricate philosophical system designed by a man with a keen insight for the emergence of psychoanalysis and philosophy some 2,400 years down the road.” 

Is Buddhism a Religion?

While Buddhism requires faith, it is “faith that is dependent on experience and reasoning, not unexperienced hopes or wishful thinking.”

When does Buddhism tip from philosophy over to religion? When metaphysics come into play. 

“Is Buddhism a religion? To many, certainly. Like other world religions, it offers a set of ethical codes to be followed, best practices used to instill empathy, calm, and compassion into your day. It also has its system of metaphysics. What follows life—the heavens and hells—is specific to Buddhism, yet every religious system has devised its own mystical taxonomy. In this sense, Buddhism is not alone.” 

Is Buddhism a Religion?

But if you’re only keen on approaching Buddhism as philosophy? 

In the next part we will explore further the separation of philosophy from religion. 

Separating philosophy from religion

“When Gautama passed away around 483 B.C., his followers began to organize a religious movement. Buddha’s teachings became the foundation for what would develop into Buddhism.

Over the next few centuries, Buddhism began to spread beyond India. The thoughts and philosophies of Buddhists became diverse, with some followers interpreting ideas differently than others.”

History

Could this be how Buddhism became a religion? 

But the question right now would be… Can Buddhism be without religion, be secular? 

The usual suspects or proponents of secular Buddhism or presenting Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion would be American neuroscientist Sam Harris and British author Stephen Batchelor. 

Known for his controversial stand against religion, and as an atheist, Sam Harris has written many books and articles that challenges religion. 

In his article, Killing The Buddha, the opening paragraph is enough to get your heart rate up. 

“Kill the Buddha,” says the old koan. “Kill Buddhism,” says Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, who argues that Buddhism’s philosophy, insight, and practices would benefit more people if they were not presented as a religion.” 

Let me take you to the point. Sam Harris basically challenges and also puts down superstition or in my words, groundless beliefs that are not proven. 

“This is not to say that Buddhism has nothing to offer the world. One could surely argue that the Buddhist tradition, taken as a whole, represents the richest source of contemplative wisdom that any civilization has produced.

The wisdom of the Buddha is currently trapped within the religion of Buddhism. Even in the West, where scientists and Buddhist contemplatives now collaborate in studying the effects of meditation on the brain, Buddhism remains an utterly parochial concern. While it may be true enough to say (as many Buddhist practitioners allege) that “Buddhism is not a religion,” most Buddhists worldwide practice it as such, in many of the naive, petitionary, and superstitious ways in which all religions are practiced. Needless to say, all non-Buddhists believe Buddhism to be a religion—and, what is more, they are quite certain that it is the wrong religion.” 

Killing The Buddha

And he goes on to put down religious dogmatism, especially what he hints at as ridiculous superstitions, until he gives a nod at Buddhism for its similarity to science. 

“For the fact is that a person can embrace the Buddha’s teaching, and even become a genuine Buddhist contemplative (and, one must presume, a buddha) without believing anything on insufficient evidence. The same cannot be said of the teachings for faith-based religion. In many respects, Buddhism is very much like science. One starts with the hypothesis that using attention in the prescribed way (meditation), and engaging in or avoiding certain behaviors (ethics), will bear the promised result (wisdom and psychological well-being). This spirit of empiricism animates Buddhism to a unique degree. For this reason, the methodology of Buddhism, if shorn of its religious encumbrances, could be one of our greatest resources as we struggle to develop our scientific understanding of human subjectivity.” 

Killing The Buddha

While he continues with his radical lecture about the problem of religion, and how problematic religious associations are with “genuine truths,” here’s my proposal in distinguishing the difference between approaching Buddhism as a philosophy and religion, without dissing either: 

Philosophy

Study the literature: Texts by the Buddha; scribed by his followers, commentaries by scholars, courses, and articles with the objective of finding out how the information relates to us and how we can use it (to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives — my quest).

Religion

Faith in Buddha or Buddhas’s teachings as the driving force in one’s Dharma  practice, studying the literature with the objective to 

1) To not be reborn in the lower realms of hell, craving spirits and animal

2) Attain nirvana — be freed from sansara: self-perpetuating cycle of suffering 

3) Attain enlightenment with a bigger motivation: for the sake of all sentient beings, in order to help all be liberated from sansara as well

Using logic and proof to explore the possibilities of the concept of the supernatural and afterlife

Belief in the metaphysics; supernatural & afterlife

Using a scientific, logical, craftsman’s approach where one test the ideas, experiment with the method for ourselves, to see what really works (for us to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives — my quest).

Blessings, prayers, chantings, rites & rituals

That’s my take.

However, it may be worthwhile to note that it’s not a hard and fast separation. One could practice Buddhism as a religion, but still approach and utilise its philosophical aspects. 

Conclusion: So What? 

It’s been one hell of a challenging article to write, and this is not the end of exploring Buddhism without religion, whether it’s radical or practical, it’s only the beginning, as part of my quest. 

It is radical to some, practical to some, and I think it’s both. 

That Buddhism can be both a religion and a philosophy, and it can be radical and practical, depending on who’s looking at it. 

Now that we’ve covered 

  • Terminology: Buddhism, Buddha, Dharma, Dharma practice, Buddhist philosophy 
  • Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? 
  • Separating philosophy from religion

A couple of things struck me really hard. 

Buddhism as a religion with its own metaphysical system of beliefs; in reincarnation, deities and so on, is based on a rigorous and intricate philosophical approach founded by a prince a long time ago. 

Just like science, successors to his field of study continued inquiring the methodology he left behind. 

Sure enough, some approach Buddhism entirely in faith, of Buddha as the central figure of worship, but Buddhism offers more than just blind faith and dogma. 

Recall the three tests. 

The historical Buddha invites us to engage in logical and rational discourse and experimentation of the ideas and methodology he once presented. 

According to him, he is awakened. According to the records left behind, they claim he is awakened. 

The question is, how would you know if that’s true?

And… so what if it’s true?

You can choose to believe based on scriptural authority and just believe as is, or do your part. 

You may not want to be awakened, or become enlightened, so how far would you go with the ideas and methodology presented? 

What’s the premise of your experiment? 

That’s a question for me, as I continue on my quest, to find out what and how things really work, if and how we can extract, adapt and contextualise the ideas and concepts from Buddhist philosophy to live a happy, fulfilled and successful life.

On Memory Training: After Reading Moonwalking with Einstein, Now What?

On Memory Training: After Reading Moonwalking with Einstein, Now What?

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Here’s my two-word wrap up on memory training after reading Moonwalking with Einstein: Now what? 

I’m writing this blog post 6 days after I read Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything from cover to cover, and it certainly proved how pathetic my memory is and what Joshua Foer said—if I don’t remember it wrongly—about not remembering much about a book after reading it. 

Moonwalking with Einstein
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Reading the last few pages of the book was what left me feeling frustrated. It wasn’t the talk about how we have external memory devices help us do most of the remembering and therefore the big question of whether or not there’s still a need for us to rely on our internal memories.

The frustration arose because I was here to find out the exact methods we can train our memory. 

To me, that question can be easily answered in my own context: train your internal memory so that I can easily retrieve information at will and analyse it while using external memory devices as backup and verification. 

So this post, I’m going to create my own closure on memory training in relation to my quest by covering the following points  

  • Points that stood out in the book 
  • Piecing together bits and pieces of concrete “to-do” steps for memory training from the book 
  • Moving forward: memory training strategy 

Let’s get down to it because I start forgetting. 

Don’t Forget to Remember: Points That Stood Out in Moonwalking with Einstein 

307 pages and 6 days later, depending on my external memory device: Evernote which helped me remember my notes, and now shifting that responsibility to my unreliable—what other choice do I have?—working internal memory, it’s all boiled down to the following 5 points that stood out for me. 

1) Time: tempo at which we experience life’s passage, time as a mental construct 

Time as a mental construct

We’ve always looked at time—the clock, our watch or any other device to tell the time—as this external guiding hand that takes us through our daily lives and our entire life, really. 

We’ve always thought we can depend on the numbers we see that indicates time. 

But what really stood out in my reading, is how time is an experience, documented by our memories, that allows us to maintain the illusion of continuity from moment to moment, year to year, to experience stability and make sense of things. 

Continuity defines our “self,” and it depends entirely on memory. Once our memories start failing, with case studies mentioned in the book, we lose track of time, and even who we are. 

Then it gets you rethinking about the concept of time you’ve always considered. 

Time, the tempo at which we experience life’s passage, is not external. 
Time is a mental construct, our experience of it depends and is altered by our memories, our cognitive abilities… If our internal memory begins malfunctioning, our experience of time and our reality changes. 

My take? We need to keep our minds and memories in peak performance to optimise our experience of time and reality, in other words, our lives. 

2) Simonides of Ceos: Method of Loci 

Engaging one’s spatial memory to remember

A method to remember, is Simonides of Ceos’ Method of Loci, engaging one’s spatial memory in the act of remembering. 

2 things:

  1. Images to represent the content you want to remember. Such as your grocery or to-do list
  2. Loci, or places, to store the above images

His technique is to convert something unmemorable into a series of engrossing visual images, which could be disturbing to some, if you make it really vaudeville or just lewd.

After generating these highly impressionable series of images, you then mentally arrange them within an imagined space, for example, the different spaces where you can deposit the images in your bedroom, and suddenly those usually forgettable items become unforgettable. 

This is called the memory palace. And it’s important to create a space in your mind’s eye where you know well and can easily visualise. 

It’s crucial then to have thousands of memory palaces, each built to hold a different set of memories. 

So whenever you need to retrieve a specific information, you just need to go on a mental tour. 

My take? Sounds insanely intense to have to be familiar with so many spaces, and not to say, strenuous to create engrossing visual images and then mentally arrange them in that imagine space every time you need to remember something. But how do we start, and get better at it? 

3) Memory Techniques: Impressive but Ultimately Useless?

Impressive but what’s the purpose?

The memory championships described in Moonwalking with Einstein makes me wonder what’s the entire purpose of memorising random numbers up to the 7th digit and playing cards with tedious memory techniques and using tools like ear muffs and goggles to block out distract during the memorization. 

Does make me agree with the Chinese who objected that Simonides’ method of loci way more tedious than rote repetition which is faster and simpler. 
As part of the championship, memory athletes have to memorize poems, but it turns out to be the category that’s the hardest for most. But to me, it’s the category that’s the most important and useful for academics, scholars, even knowledge workers today. 

Instead of memorizing playing cards and numbers, what are the memory techniques that can support us with remembering and retrieving information at will and analyse them? Given how I agree that it’s important that we remember the content, where it’s retained in our memory, in order for us to retrieve it in the first place? 

My take: We don’t need memory techniques to impress people and remember useless stuff, but we need a method to retain important information in our personal and professional lives, so that we can get better at what we do, in terms of efficiency and expertise. 

4) Art of memory: proper retention and ordering of knowledge 

Proper retention and ordering of knowledge

Effective learning is to be able to learn and remember anything you want, and to be able to easily retrieve that information at will and analyse it. In the book, what caught my attention is also its mention about how a trained memory is less about gaining easy access to information than about strengthening one’s personal ethics and becoming a more complete person.

I feel that the former strengthens the latter. 

Another really cool point about proper retention and ordering of knowledge points out how invention depends on inventory. New ideas come from the blend of old ideas—if order to invent, one first needs a proper inventory of existing ideas to draw upon. 

The art of memory is ultimately useful not just as a tool of recording but a tool of invention based on indexed inventory and composition because one is able to find just the right piece of information at just the right moment. 
In the past, the goal of training one’s memory was to develop the capacity to leap from topic to topic and make new connections between old ideas. 

As an art, memory was most importantly associated in the Middle Ages with composition, not simply with retention,” argues Carruthers. “Those who practiced the crafts of memory used them—as all crafts are used— to make new things: prayers, meditations, sermons, pictures, hymns, stories, and poems.

But even if facts don’t by themselves lead to understanding, you can’t have understanding without facts. And crucially, the more you know the easier it is to know more. Memory is like a spiderweb that catches new information. The more it catches, the bigger it grows. And the bigger it grows, the more it catches.

 … but memory and intelligence do seem to go hand in hand, like a muscular frame and an athletic disposition. There’s a feedback loop between the two. The more tightly any new piece of information can be embedded into the web of information we already know, the more likely it is to be remembered. People who have more associations to hang their memories on are more likely to remember new things, which in turn means they will know more, and be able to learn more. The more we remember, the better we are at processing the world. And the better we are processing the world, the more we can remember about it.

My take: I agree with the above, and I look forward to having an improved memory.

5) Brain is muscle, memory training is mental workout 

Memory training is mental workout

Deliberate practice is what separates experts from the rest of us. 
Experts tend to engage in very directed, highly focused routine, as Anders Ericsson, a Swedish psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University who is internationally recognized as a researcher in the psychological nature of expertise and human performance, observed after having studied the best of the best in many different fields. 

Ericsson found that top achievers tend to follow the same general pattern of development. 

They develop strategies for consciously keeping out of the autonomous stage while they practice by doing three things: focusing on their technique, staying goal-oriented, and getting constant and immediate feedback on their performance. In other words, they force themselves to stay in the “cognitive phase.”

Deliberate practice, termed by Ericsson, by its nature, must be hard since they don’t allow the “auto-pilot” cruising mode to kick in, but they opt to stay in the phase where they are always pushing themselves to get better, deliberately. 

The point here? 

Think of enhancing your memory more like improving a skill, using deliberate practice. 

On top of the art of memory, it’s important to approach memory training like a science. 

You can develop hypotheses about your limitations, conduct experiments and track data, in order to analyse what you’re doing and how to get better at remembering. So this memory training practice would have to be focused and deliberate, so that you can collect data such as keeping track of how long the practice session is and any difficulties encountered along the way and then analyse it for feedback. 

In order to remember well, during this memory training deliberate practice, one has to pay attention; stay focused. We forget because we’re too busy trying to formulate thoughts on how to reply instead of paying attention. This highlights a reason why Simonides technique works well because it enforces a degree of attention and focus that we normally lack; dwelling on something makes it more memorable. 

My take: If memory can be trained through deliberate practice, it’s time to figure out HOW. 

Reconstructing: Piecing together bits and pieces of concrete “to-do” steps for memory training

Reconstructing the to-do for memory training

1) 1 hour of memorization daily 

2) Collect architecture for memory palaces 

  • Know buildings thoroughly—to have such a rich and textured set of associations with every corner of every room “mental storehouses” so that it’s easier to deposit mental images into these mentally visualized places — like photoshop, layering on the canvas
  • The better I knew the buildings, and the more each felt like home, the stickier my images would be and the easier it would be to reconstruct them later. 

3) Get in shape   

4) Deliberate practice 

  • Think of enhancing memory more like improving a skill
  • Practice would have to be focused and deliberate
  • Keep track of how long the practice session is and any difficulties encountered along the way 
  • Collect data and analyse it for feedback

5) Spend meditative time 

  • Develop a meditation practice 
  • Spend time during the meditative time to dwell—as described in deliberate practice above—on an important content that I want to remember

Moving Forward: Memory Training Strategy 

1 hour of memorization daily is pretty much out of the question for me with my current workload and schedule. From personal experience which went undocumented, I realised that the part on dwelling—meditative time worked for me. 

However, meditative time wasn’t an eyes-shut meditation, but I spent time to dwell and contemplate on the content over and over… it took me 2 months to become so familiar with the content that I believe it’s etched deeply in my memory.

What happened wasn’t just pure remembering, but I have synthesized the content with my understanding of it. That’s what made it stick; made me remember.  

So here’s my memory training strategy that I would integrate in my current routine. 

  • After reading a piece of content (such as an article, or chapter)
    • Write notes 
    • Spend time to synthesize what I remembered with my understanding 
    • Write what I understood in my own words—just like this blog post
  • Remembering facts and important information, i.e. of important biographies 
    • Use the method of loci 
    • Recall the memory every now and then to enforce the images 
  • Get in shape
    • Have a healthy routine where I sleep earlier and wake up earlier
    • Cut digital consumption during deliberate practice times
    • Cut digital usage before sleep so I don’t result in digital fatigue
    • Re-read Feed Your Brain, Lose Your Belly & Super Brain to shape up 
    • Start an exercise routine 

Conclusion: What’s Next? 

Gonna pen this down in my schedule: Monthly updates on memory training deliberate practice. 

Don’t forget to stay tuned.

On Memory Training, Scientific Thinking & Communication

On Memory Training, Scientific Thinking & Communication

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Here’s a blog post on memory training, scientific thinking & communication, especially in my quest to find out what and how things really work: What it takes for us to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives, with a current focus on—but not limited to—Buddhist philosophy and the 2 additional that questions came along, 

  1. Can we extract, adapt and contextualise the ideas and concepts from Buddhist philosophy to live a happy, fulfilled and successful life? 
  2. Can we really make a 2500-year-old tradition relevant to the 21st century, not as a “religion” but as a secular philosophy with broad applications that we can use in our lives? 

Given how tricky it would be in the attempt to distinguish Buddhist philosophy from Buddhism, the religion, I began to ponder if there’s an approach that would help me navigate my biases and the grey zones—I mean where do we draw the lines between religion and philosophy, faith and facts, and the list can go on—so that I can remember what I read and communicate my findings objectively. 

As a person who leans toward intention rather than coincidence, I found a potential approach from a combination of the following 

  1. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art & Science of Remembering 
  2. MasterClass: Neil deGrasse Tyson Teaches Scientific Thinking and Communication 

Now let’s see how this former theatre student who graduated 12 years ago from the faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from the department of English Language and Literature grapples with ancient history of mnemonic devices and scientific jargons. 

On Memory Training & My Quest 

As of this writing, I’m at page 232 of 431. I first learned about Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art & Science of Remembering most likely while scrolling through the Instagram discover feed and chanced upon Bill Gates’ summer book recommendations—I can’t remember exactly. 

Of the five books I finished over vacation, the one that impressed me the most – and that is probably of broadest interest – is Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by science writer Joshua Foer. This is an absolutely phenomenal book that looks at memory and techniques for dramatically improving memory. Foer actually mastered these techniques, which led him to the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. His book gives fascinating insights into how the mind works. (I have more to say in my separate review of Moonwalking with Einstein.)

Books I read this Summer, Bill Gates

But what I remember is that I was extremely stoked that Bill Gates does book recommendations and I ended up searching for “memory” to look for the book review of Moonwalking with Einstein. 

Now that I’m retracing the steps of why I ended up reading the book, I have vague recollections of why I was looking up on memory & Bill Gates. 

First of all, after watching Netflix’s limited documentary series Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates I became so inspired by Bill Gates that I look up to him as a role model.

He demonstrated how a successful and meaningful career and life could look like, the result of years and years of hard work leads not to decadence and excess but to a beautiful partnership with his wife, Melinda Gates, both working hand in hand to create and run the Gates Foundation, helping to solve bigger problems in the world.

It could only happen because they were positioned in a way they could help, when most were either struggling to keep their lives afloat or too occupied with themselves. 

But what really struck me was one thing seemingly in common that I had with Bill Gates and how I had always strived to achieve what he already had. 

“He is joyous about learning things, like no one I’ve ever met in my life. He doesn’t read one book about something, he’ll read, like, five books about something.” 

Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates

While I am nowhere near the intensity of learning things like Bill Gates, what resonated is reading as much as I can on one thing. Obviously what drew me in further is what eventually got me to reading Moonwalking with Einstein. From 3 different people in the documentary series, one includes Melinda Gates, his wife, 

  1. “And he reads really fast and synthesizes really well.”
  2. “When I’ve been with him on vacation, he’ll read 14 books. That’s a gift, you know, to read 150 pages an hour. I’m gonna say it’s 90 percent retention.”
  3. “One thing about Bill is he is a multi-processor. He’ll be reading something else but then processing at the same time.”

I want to be like Bill Gates. 

I don’t just want to read fast, but I want to retain 90% of what I read like him. I want to be able to synthesize and process what I’m reading at the same time. 

I read fast but I don’t remember much of what I read after I complete the book, unless I take notes along the way. But then I would have to read my notes and create a mind map after processing what I’ve read. With my quest, a tricky quest, I couldn’t just rely on my unreliable memory and my slow processing speed. 

I needed a solution. 

Sure, in the discipline of the Buddhist philosophy, it’s said that if the effect you want is to remember well, then the cause you need to create is to help others remember well. That’s the basics of cause and effect in Buddhist philosophy. 

But in order to help others remember well, I needed a conventional method, which led me to a search on Bill Gates’ blog on any books he might have read on the topic of memory… I found one.

Improving memory: Training your brain for recall

The mini-quest, like in games, of having a better memory to support the main quest began. 

On Scientific Thinking & Communication & My Quest 

While having a better memory might help improve accuracy and credibility, it doesn’t necessarily help with objectivity, the lens which I should wear when reading a text, the angle, the way I should approach a text. 

Given that I have a quest, it’s completely different from reading a book for leisure. 

Again, what kept bothering me was the delicate treatment of Buddhism as a religion and extracting, adapting and contextualizing the ideas—Buddhist philosophy—to live a happy, fulfilled & successful life.

If I wasn’t careful, I might end up bashing religion, which I have no interest to do so, it’s not objective. Or I fall right into faith and proselytising, which defeats my quest. 

Science has been on my mind when I started researching for my other blog post on Buddhism without religion. And I bumped into books with the following titles: 

And a free online course: Buddhism and Modern Psychology by Princeton University via Coursera

Life goes on as I continued to search, at times intentionally and at times not, such as when I was midway through browsing my account in the MasterClass app, I saw the category Science & Technology. 

Neil deGrasse Tyson Teaches Scientific Thinking and Communication

With 13 video lessons, I am at my 6th lesson and my mind is struggling to retain (see why memory training is so important?) and process what I’ve learnt. 

Now let’s do a stock take. 

A Working Mnemonic Strategy & Scientific Approach to Buddhist Philosophy 

At the 54% mark of the book, all I did with memory training was a visualisation exercise the author suggested that I follow as he described how his attempt. 

It was amazing to me is while I can’t remember much from the book now unless I refer to my notes, I still remember the random and ridiculous grocery list the author memorised. 

The technique, if I didn’t get it wrong, is an ancient one, belonging to Simonides from Greece.

What one does is you first bring to mind a place where you’re familiar with, an architecture like a home, where you can mentally deposit a series of engaging and possibly ridiculous images. Because of the order you arranged the images, these items that you’d usually forget, becomes engraved into your memory.

So the first 2 lessons I’ve gotten so far, while sinking deep into history and science of remembering, or not, is to collect architecture to build “memory palaces” and to get in shape. 

As for the scientific approach, as of the 6 out of 13 videos lessons, here’s the following points that stuck with me: 

  • Science is a quest for what is objectively true 
  • As the area of our knowledge grows, so too does the perimeter of our ignorance. 
  • Science is, you have such a deep understanding of what’s going on, you can make a prediction of something that has never happened before. 
  • The difference between a theory (tested) and a hypothesis (untested) 
  • Don’t be intellectually lazy: Accept without question, reject without probing if it could be true  
  • Science literacy = critical thinking 
  • Be a proper skeptic, question what you’re unsure of to get to the truth 
    • If you have reason to think that is said might not be true, inquire further 
    • It’s not an outright rejection of what you don’t want to be true or what you don’t think is true 
  • Understanding what is true does not or should not flow from authority
  • Seek evidence: whatever is it you think is true, what to be true, find another way to demonstrate that, other than by your testimony 
  • Objectively true: Experiments get repeated and you start getting a similar result 
  • Watch out for cognitive and cultural biases 
  • Assumptions are for one to test your ideas 

What’s Next? 

  1. Complete reading Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art & Science of Remembering
  2. Complete watching the MasterClass: Neil deGrasse Tyson Teaches Scientific Thinking and Communication
  3. Write progress report sequel to this blog post to update on my approach 
The Pen Story & The Four Steps: Emptiness & Karma

The Pen Story & The Four Steps: Emptiness & Karma

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The Pen Story & The Four Steps: Emptiness & Karma were the two key highlights of the business seminar I attended in July 2015, Singapore. 

That was the first time I encountered a Diamond Cutter Institute (DCI) Public Talk.

The Backstory 

I can’t remember the exact dates but I remember my critical and judgemental self queuing up outside a relatively old and rundown theatre—you see, I am trained in Theatre Studies and I have been a Stage Manager since 2009 so I am particularly tuned in to theatres, auditoriums and an organization’s choice of a venue. 

Call it occupational hazard, but really if you had met me then, you’d probably identify me as a snob. 

Despite my constant criticism the moment I stepped into the theatre, I was all ears as to what this event was about. 

After all, I don’t usually attend talks or events, it was only because my then-business partner who had migrated to Australia, urged me and my other business partners to attend this talk.

It was out of respect, trust, curiosity—okay fine I felt a little obliged too—that compelled me to attend this talk. 

To begin with, as I sat in the auditorium, I didn’t have a clue what this talk was going to be about! 

So the talk commenced and frankly, I was taken aback when it finally dawned on me that the old man standing next to a young translator (It felt like a huge age difference as they stood side by side), was the main speaker for the evening. 

Immediately, my judgemental self jumped into action—let’s see what this old guy has to say. 

During the first half of the talk, honestly, I didn’t really get the point of the entire talk. What did he mean when he said that mobile phones do not help with communication? They don’t touch? What? 

I was taking notes now and then because I really wanted to decipher whatever he said. 

And so, the first half ended with me totally confused and intrigued because I felt that he hasn’t delivered the gist of his presentation yet. 

And during the break, all 4 other business partners left, while my brother and I decided to stay behind because I wanted to know what was he trying to get at. 

The second half started. 

Introducing… the Pen Story. 


HOW TO GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT, IN A WAY WHICH HELPS THE WHOLE WORLD | Michael Roach | TEDxGraz

If you watch his TEDx talk video from the 15m 13s mark, DCI founder and president, Geshe Michael Roach talks about The Pen Story. 

The 2 ideas he presents in this “Pen Story” are emptiness and karma. 

1. Emptiness OR Hidden Potential 

Specifically, when everyone; humans and dog leave the room, and there’s no one in the room to “see” the pen, at that moment, he says, it’s almost like nothing. 

And this nothing is not the usual understanding of nothing, but what Buddhism terms as emptiness. 

From my understanding then, emptiness, in from a secular understanding, is simply a hidden and infinite potential. 

Things are empty of existing independently, or “from their own side.” Things are empty of existing independently of karma. 

In other words, things have the hidden and infinite potential to “become,” depending on the mental seeds we plant (have planted and will plant). 

Which explains why when the human re-enters the room, the “reality” of the object surfaces as a pen, because the human’s mental seeds forces one to perceive or experience a pen. 

But when a dog enters the room, the “reality” of the object surfaces as a chew toy for the dog, because the dog’s mental seeds forces it to perceive or experience a chew toy. 

In other words, one object, there’s a hidden and infinite potential for two different realities to exist. 

A Blank Canvas: A Hidden Potential

2. Karma OR Mental Seeds 

Okay, so according to this logical train of thought, there’s a seed in my mind, and when I look at an object, the seed opens in my mind and it forces me to see a pen. 

Usually, the next question that comes along is who put a seed in my mind? How did those mental seeds get imprinted on my mind? 

According to this “Pen Story,” it says that only you can put a seed in your own mind. 

How is it done?   

You have to go to another person, give a pen, for example, to another person. And when you release the pen and open your hand, this “series of images” goes into your mind and creates a seed in your mind. 

Apparently, when you give something to someone else with the intention to helping them with love, this creates the record in your mind of that opening of your hand, creates an image and that image comes into your mind it presses on your mind and it creates a seed. 

And then when someone holds up an object, the seed opens and you see a pen. 

After hearing the “Pen Story” for the first time, I was blown away. Or mostly intrigued with the idea. 

Was he talking about perspectives? Psychology? I mean, I have studied enough philosophy and theories in my university years as a theatre student.

Was he referring to structuralism? Post structuralism? Post-modernism? Performativity? Semiotics? 

I was hooked and determined to find out exactly what he was talking about. 

The Pen Story

The Four Steps: Creating Mental Imprints, or Planting (Mental Seeds)

So in his TEDx talk, Geshe Michael Roach also talks about 5 goals in life that people would like to have, and from my deduction, it’s the popular 5 goals that most of the audience in DCI events ask over and over again. 

The 5 Goals

5 Goals in life that people would like to have 

  1. Financial independence
    1. I would like to have enough money to do anything I want to do
    2. I would like to have enough money to really help the refugees in Europe and around the world 
    3. I would like to have a lot of money and be independent 
    4. I want to have so much money I don’t have to think about money 
  2. Beautiful relationships: partner / family
  3. Good health: Strong, young and healthy
  4. Peaceful (Inner goal) 
  5. I would like to share what I have with the rest of the world

I guess the purpose of bringing up these 5 goals is get us thinking about the goals that we would like to achieve in our life so that we can do the Four Steps to plant the seeds. 

But of course, with every goal, we have to do a separate set of Four Steps for more precise seed planting. 

Four Steps to plant a seed 

  1. Decide what you want (If you don’t know what you want: I want to know what I want) 
  2. Choose another someone who wants something similar 
  3. Meet them once a week for one hour and help them get what they want 
  4. Coffee Meditation: Make those seeds open quickly and powerfully—think about the good things you’ve done for someone else, put water on the karma. And being happy about it

So… 

As I mentioned in my post on why I am focused on Buddhist philosophy, by the time the talk ended, I had already gone online and bought 

  1. The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Managing Your Business and Your Life
  2. Karmic Management: What Goes Around Comes Around in Your Business and Your Life 
  3. The Karma of Love: 100 Answers for Your Relationship, from the Ancient Wisdom of Tibet 

And I left that talk filled with my scribbled notes and burning questions that I wanted answers to. 

When the books finally arrived, I read them, attended book clubs, attended trainings and began applying the ideas to my life. 

A few weeks later, the business partner who urged us to attend the talk came back to Singapore and followed up with me and my brother on how we felt about the talk, and of course, she brought us to a study group. 

It was the 98th question of Karma of Love—which made me more confused, curious and intrigued. 

I returned for the last 2 sessions of question 99 and 100, and wondered, why are these people always “rejoicing”?

Are they crazy? 

Then lucky for me, they announced that 2 new study groups would be starting soon, with Karma of Love on Monday evenings and The Diamond Cutter on Thursday evenings. 

And that’s when I met teacher Kelly, my first DCI trainer, and now my mentor, partner (as you can see us teaching in pairs almost everywhere we go), and best friend for life. 

Kelly Tan & Jeann Zhuang in an event in Shenzhen, 2019

Conclusion: Next Steps 

Instead of taking someone’s word for it, the only way to know if the ideas work is to experiment with them. I started seeing changes in my life and became more into the Diamond Cutter Institute (DCI) training system, which is called the DCI Method, Diamond Cutter System, OR more commonly known as DCI Seed System. 

Even though I am now a DCI trainer and DiamondX speaker, I don’t believe in blind faith. 

The reason why I am even training others to USE the DCI Seed System is because I have tried it out for myself and have seen results. 

But as a person who is always questioning and constantly curious, I learn, investigate and then attempt to put theory into practical use.

Hence, my quest to find out what and how things really work: What it takes for us to live happy, fulfilled and successful lives, but with a catch: a focus on—but not limited to—Buddhist philosophy. 

What next? In the context of my quest, I’m gonna do some digging into the concepts of emptiness and karma. 

Why Are You Focused on Buddhist Philosophy?

Why Are You Focused on Buddhist Philosophy?

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Why am I focused on Buddhist philosophy?

I was a Buddhist when I was a kid (like one is born into a religion, if you get what I mean), become an atheist, then a Christian when I was 13 or so, then back to being an atheist for a few reasons.

But wait, whatever I believe in right now—even if I’m with the Church of Cats (not sure if such a thing even exists) because cats are the boss and it’s therapeutic to watch them—or whether I’m a Buddhist or not is inconsequential to my mission.

My mission:

To find out what and how things really work: What it takes for us to live happy, successful and fulfilling lives, but with a catch: a focus on—but not limited to—Buddhist philosophy.

So in this post, you’re gonna learn 3 reasons why jeannzhuang.com is focused on Buddhist philosophy:

  • Buddhism: Can we separate philosophy from religion?
  • How it all started: Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy & me
  • Personal growth & direction: The ideas from Buddhist philosophy

And I welcome you to read this post whether you’re just super curious and interested in my quest or you’re currently learning and using the DCIG Seed System.

3 REASONS WHY I’M FOCUSED ON BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY

Reason 1: Can We Separate Philosophy From Religion?

Firstly, I want to say, if a staunch Buddhist sees no need to do so, that’s cool. However, that doesn’t stop me from finding out if we can separate philosophy from religion when it comes to Buddhism, since so many has claimed that Buddhism is more of a way of life than just religious practices.

So really, is Buddhism a religion, philosophy, or a way of life?

Buddhism, religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries BCE (before the Common Era). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and, beginning in the 20th century, it spread to the West.

— Encyclopaedia of Britannica

From this simple introduction of Buddhism from an established encyclopaedia that has been around for 250 years, I take it from their authority that Buddhism is both a religion and philosophy. Whether it is a way of life, or can be one, we’ll find out along my quest.

But the above leads me to wonder then whether a person can apply the ideas from Buddhist philosophy in their life, without converting to become a Buddhist?

Now, let’s get to the part on philosophy.

Philosophy, (from Greek, by way of Latin, philosophia, “love of wisdom”) the rational, abstract, and methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence and experience. Philosophical inquiry is a central element in the intellectual history of many civilizations. The subject of philosophy is treated in a number of articles.

— Encyclopaedia of Britannica

The interesting thing I noted in this article is that there’s Eastern and Western philosophy. Whereby in Eastern philosophy, Buddhism is mentioned alongside Chinese philosophy; Confucianism, Daoism (or spelled as Taoism mostly), Indian philosophy, Japanese philosophy and so on.

And why my interest in philosophy?

The School of Athens
School of Athens: Plato & Aristotle

Well, I have unfinished business.

Or rather a relationship that never quite had the opportunity to take root.

As a major in Theatre Studies, in the department of English Language and Literature, I was exposed to fields of study such as semiotics; the study of signs and symbols and their use, interpretation, as well as the process and production of meaning, history of Western theatre, which also somehow exposed me to Western philosophers such as Aristotle, Jacques Derrida, philosophical movements such as existentialism, phenomenology, deconstruction, postmodernism and so on.

It’s been 10 years since I graduated so… I’m rusty. But you get the drift.

So why Buddhist philosophy, specifically?

Reason 2: How it All Started

Buddhism, philosophy & me.

Like I said, I was a Buddhist when I was a kid, before I became an atheist, then a Christian when I was 13 and so on.

I have memories of running around a Burmese Buddhist temple when I was a kid, because my grandma volunteered and contributed to the building of the temple. And I recall walking around barefoot on the smooth cold tiles.

Times when we also sat with our eyes closed in front of this massive and magnificent Buddha statue while a monk chanted and showered us with occasional splashes of cold water—which stopped me from dozing off completely; I was basically nodding from side to side, trying to fight the sleep, with my eyes closed.

After my grandma passed, we stopped visiting that temple. My childhood impression of Buddhism?

Prayers and rituals in a language that was not only foreign to me, but something that I didn’t understand.

Fast forward to 2014.

I was feeling lost with my life after a failed business and trying to figure things out, I started doing crazy research:

YOUNIVERSE mindmap

I was trying to make sense of life. Happiness, success, a life worth living.

I was looking for some direction, and answers.

Eventually in July 2015…

I attended a business seminar by DCI Global, with its master trainer Geshe Michael Roach, a monk who managed the purchasing division of a global diamond company, Andin International, which was eventually acquired by Richline Group Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.

After the talk Geshe Michael gave, I bought his best-selling books:

I read the books, attended book clubs, attended trainings and began applying the ideas to my life.

After all, the only way to know if the ideas work is to experiment with them. I started seeing changes in my life and became more into the Diamond Cutter Institute Global (DCI Global) training system, which is called the DCI Method, Diamond Cutter System, OR more commonly known as Seed System.

“DCIG was conceived as a way to recognise the universal nature of the greatest ideas of Asian philosophy, and make these ideas practical as “The Diamond Cutter System,” a method for leadership and success among governments, corporations, entrepreneurs and other professionals around the world.”

You can learn more about what is DCIG here.

So long story short, after attending the trainings to become a certified teacher, I’m currently a DCI teacher and the Director of Creative Services.

Which explains then, professionally, I’m positioned to expand my knowledge on the “ancient wisdom” or Asian philosophy.

Reason 3: Personal Growth & Direction

After becoming a DCI teacher who has visited many cities around the world, I began to reconnect with my dreams that I had put on hold.

And then with the COVID-19 situation around the world right now, where most of us are staying home because of advisories, lockdowns or quarantines, I had the time to reconnect with my interests—such as reading fiction and non-fiction books, and writing, as well as do some quiet thinking.

(Obviously I am extremely interested in personal development as well since my quest is about living happy, fulfilled and successful lives.)

After reading Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Deep Work, and mid-way through Digital Minimalism, (more books, not by Cal Newport, in the queue) I began writing down what’s on my mind and organising my thoughts.

The theme that emerged after a month of daily reflections eventually boiled down to my current quest:

Can we extract, adapt and contextualise the ideas and concepts from Buddhist philosophy to live a happy, successful and fulfilling life?

Can we really make a 2500-year-old tradition relevant to the 21st century, not as a “religion” but as a secular philosophy with broad applications that we can use in our lives? (source)

And thus, this blog came to life, where I will share my thoughts; ideas, insights, opinions, findings, and experiences as a test subject, and then document how you too can apply practical strategies and methods in your daily life to live a happy, successful and fulfilling one.

Conclusion: What’s Next?

There we go, the 3 reasons why I’m focused on—but not limited to—Buddhist philosophy.

  • Buddhism: Can we separate philosophy from religion?
  • How it all started: Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy & me
  • Personal growth & direction: The ideas from Buddhist philosophy

Armed with my quest and an extensive collection of works available for me to immerse myself in, and the extra time I have on hand right now (since I can’t travel for work and we’re advised to stay home with the tight measures in Singapore as of this writing), I decided to make the best use of the time I have right now—to work on my mission and write.

So this is why I’m focused on Buddhist philosophy, but not limited to it.

What’s your mission, and what are you working on?

Mixed Nuts Reading Club: Sunlight on the Path to Freedom (Infinite Good Karma)

Mixed Nuts Reading Club: Sunlight on the Path to Freedom (Infinite Good Karma)

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24 April 2020, Friday: my first experience with the Mixed Nuts Reading Club reading a section of Sunlight on the Path to Freedom: A Commentary to the Diamond Cutter Sutra by Choney Lama, Drakpa Shedrup (1675-1748) translated by Geshe Michael Roach with Elizabeth van der Pas.

Mixed Nuts Reading Club is a series of in-depth episodes on Buddhist philosophy and practical applications of the philosophy. The videos are not focused on discussing translation or linguistics. The focus is on having an engaging discussion related to Buddhist practice and philosophy as it emerges from translation.

This reading club was apparently started to thank sponsors who have been regularly contributing to the Asian Classics Input Project, was it’s not exclusive to only the sponsors.

The Asian Classics Input Project is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the preservation of ancient Asian wisdom. ACIP conducts preservation projects in libraries, monasteries, and institutes throughout Asia. We are committed to creating a searchable digital database that provides scholars, academic institutions, and practitioners access to a virtual library of authentic sacred and classical texts.

As a first-time participant of the on-going reading club, I really didn’t know what to expect from it.

It started with a moderator appointed for the session of the week introducing the text and the various panelists who would be discussing the text for that session. Then they will take turns to read one or a couple of verses, pause where the moderator or one of the panelists would ask questions, a discussion ensues, then back to reading more verses, until they complete the section.

As participants, we are basically attending a webinar where we can leave questions in the q&a section in ZOOM, but that doesn’t guarantee you any answers.

The text for this session:

Sunlight on the Path to Freedom: A Commentary to the Diamond Cutter Sutra
by Choney Lama, Drakpa Shedrup (1675-1748)
translated by Geshe Michael Roach with Elizabeth van der Pas

  • Section 20 (I counted and numbered the sections for my own reference)
  • Verse 162 – 168
  • Infinite good karma

 

You can check out the translated commentary here and simply search (command + f for macs or ctrl + f for others) “infinite good karma” and you will get to the section I’m talking about.

Obviously I missed 19 sections before this.

 

Verse 162

And thrust into the first verse I see, verse 162, what really jumped out was “take all the planets of this great world system, a system with a thousand of a thousand of a thousand planets.” Despite the reference to covering these thousands of planets with “seven kinds of precious substances and offering to someone,” something else caught my attention.

What was it?

The word, “this.”

But I’ll tell you why in a bit after we look at the next verse, where the panelists discussed what it means by “ultimately” and “nominally.”

 

Verse 163

“Neither these, nor any other object in the universe, exists ultimately. Nonetheless, they do exist nominally.”

So here’s a summary on what was discussed:

  • To better understand the above, you have to know emptiness, you have received a good teaching on emptiness, otherwise it will be very confusing.
  • Things don’t exist ultimately. But they do exist nominally. In “pen” language, when you say “doesn’t exist ultimately,” it means it doesn’t come from its own side.
  • It’s a little confusing to say it exists, but it exists nominally; it exists in name only: it means the picture coming from your mind.
  • Usually there is a big fight about the word ultimately—that it has two different meanings
  • When you say ultimate reality: that means highest reality (highest & most important thing in the world that exists)
  • When you use it as an adverb: then it’s like a bad word in Buddhism.

 

The last point about the word “ultimately,” I guess not just for translators but for the readers, is sufficient cause for confusion given the nuance of the word “ultimate” in Buddhism.

My sense is this.

  • Ultimate, in Buddhism, refers to the highest reality that exists—the foundational reality that all realities are based on.
  • Ultimately, as an English adverb, means finally or at the most basic level, fundamentally—which means if we go back to the verse itself, “Neither these, nor any other object in the universe, exists ultimately,” we’re saying that nothing exists fundamentally, independently (independent of karma, or sometimes this word “self-existently” is used, or the expression “existing/coming from its own side”).

 

Verse 164

Moving on to the next verse, verse 164 talks more about an elementary world system, a second-order world system is of an intermediate type and finally a “third-order system is a thousand of these.”

Ok I’m confused because it feels like esoteric, but again, it’s bringing me back to why I was hung on the word “this” earlier.

And if I tie it back to

“Neither these, nor any other object in the universe, exists ultimately. Nonetheless, they do exist nominally.”

It feels like even the universe doesn’t exist ultimately.

That this universe is but one of the many world systems that exist nominally.

 

Verse 165

And to finally get to why the word “this” caught my attention, you’ve got to look at verse 165

“that they were to cover all the planets of this system with the seven kinds of precious substances”

See!

“this system”

Again, the word “this.”

 

Verse 168

Skipping to verse 168, we see a summary of this section: infinite good karma.

The summary’s like code.

Okay first, I get that the section is talking about infinite good karma. And the discussion between Lord Buddha and Subhuti really tears apart the idea of things existing ultimately which can be extremely confusing to the uninitiated.

But at the same time, I am also exploring the ideas in the background—world systems, planets, universe. As well as a mention of “mind stream” of a person. And the word “this.”

These are ideas that we have always understood from a scientific standpoint.

(I mean, I have a 5-year-old nephew at home educating me on the solar system, the number of moons that Jupiter has, and in how many trillion years, planet earth and whatever else will be destroyed. He lost me after a while.)

 

Conclusion: What’s Next?

Using the understanding of ultimate, ultimately, and nominally in this section, it really makes you think—almost mind expanding, but wait a minute, the mind doesn’t exist ultimately but nominally too, right?—how everything works.

This section here, is definitely intriguing and contentious, it challenges the way we have understood how everything works. More than just science in the sense of the solar systems–planetary science, but quantum physics, science that is trying to explain how everything works.

And it also challenged how we understood our world from a linguistic standpoint.

Hence, my obsession with the word, “this.”

Because this apple, this idea, or even that, these, those—demonstrative pronouns, based on what I understood from the section above, demonstrates how we have always understood, thought, felt that things, even the words we use, exist ultimately.

Thoughts?

(They don’t exist ultimately, but nominally too. Okay, pushing the joke too far.)

What’s next for me, I gotta go look at the past 19 sections that I missed, and start from the top, so I can continue on my quest.

What do you think? (Not just my next step, but what you’ve read.)