The blissful moment of azan
When I was young, I used to hate the loudspeaker sounds of the azan. I probably automatically and sub-consciously adopted the vibes of the Chinese community's grouses about the noise issue.
I experienced a new perspective when I underwent some temporary Buddhist monk training in Southern Burma in 1997 were there also exists a minority community of practising Muslims. After having practised five to six months sitting in meditation five times a day in the monastery, my mind had experienced great peace.
There were many early morning hours when I was awake and meditating in my hut, and as the Muslim call for prayer began, I experienced tremendous peace, more bliss than the normal peace that I experienced daily.
It was an uplifting one and it complimented my meditation. From then on, my mind has turned to liking and looking forward to the early morning azan. I do not know the meaning of the words and I am sure the Malaysian azan are as soothing as the Burmese ones, but somehow the peace in my mind blends in harmonously with that sound of the call to prayer.
If we have been busy and tired, we can easily get frustrated and angry at everything around us. That is the nature of the mind. The Buddha's teaching is about embarking on an inward journey into our mind and trying to understand the nature of our minds.
If we are not experiencing peace within ourselves, there will always be something to blame. The teachings ask us to rearrange our perspective internally for if we arrange the world outside to suit our desires and wants, then we are deluded and full of the concept of 'self' (that Buddhist practice trains one to rid).
The perspective of "that prayer sound is horrible" was instilled onto me by the society around me as a child, but after experiencing endless days of peaceful moments internally, my perspective has changed.
So if you feel frustrated and angry at those call for prayer sounds, please ask yourselves have you been practising diligently like our Muslim counterparts?
If we have been engaging in karaoke singing and drinking into the late hours of the evening, I assure you the azan will be a torture in the early hours of the morning. But if we have been meditating deligently and seriously embarking on a simpler spiritual lifestyle, the call for prayer can even be an incentive for us to wake up and practice more, to search for more peace in our hearts.
When I was young, I used to hate the loudspeaker sounds of the azan. I probably automatically and sub-consciously adopted the vibes of the Chinese community's grouses about the noise issue.
I experienced a new perspective when I underwent some temporary Buddhist monk training in Southern Burma in 1997 were there also exists a minority community of practising Muslims. After having practised five to six months sitting in meditation five times a day in the monastery, my mind had experienced great peace.
There were many early morning hours when I was awake and meditating in my hut, and as the Muslim call for prayer began, I experienced tremendous peace, more bliss than the normal peace that I experienced daily.
It was an uplifting one and it complimented my meditation. From then on, my mind has turned to liking and looking forward to the early morning azan. I do not know the meaning of the words and I am sure the Malaysian azan are as soothing as the Burmese ones, but somehow the peace in my mind blends in harmonously with that sound of the call to prayer.
If we have been busy and tired, we can easily get frustrated and angry at everything around us. That is the nature of the mind. The Buddha's teaching is about embarking on an inward journey into our mind and trying to understand the nature of our minds.
If we are not experiencing peace within ourselves, there will always be something to blame. The teachings ask us to rearrange our perspective internally for if we arrange the world outside to suit our desires and wants, then we are deluded and full of the concept of 'self' (that Buddhist practice trains one to rid).
The perspective of "that prayer sound is horrible" was instilled onto me by the society around me as a child, but after experiencing endless days of peaceful moments internally, my perspective has changed.
So if you feel frustrated and angry at those call for prayer sounds, please ask yourselves have you been practising diligently like our Muslim counterparts?
If we have been engaging in karaoke singing and drinking into the late hours of the evening, I assure you the azan will be a torture in the early hours of the morning. But if we have been meditating deligently and seriously embarking on a simpler spiritual lifestyle, the call for prayer can even be an incentive for us to wake up and practice more, to search for more peace in our hearts.
Kuo Yong Kooi is a Buddhist monk.
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" Anda masih mencari jodoh? Lawati http://www.myjodoh.net"
" Kertas Soalan Ramalan Matematik 2010 : http://maths-catch.com/exam"
Terima kasih kerana sudi bersama kami. Untuk mendapatkan maklumat lanjut tentang ReSpeKs Group, sila ke : http://respeks-group.blogspot.com
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