Welcome Speech by Ng Bee Wee, President of VMC on 15 November 01 for
10-Day Vipassana Retreat from 15 -24 Nov 01 at Sri Lankaramaya BuddhistTemple

Good evening, sisters & brothers in the Dhamma.

There are things that everyone knows but seldom do we talk about it. One of them is …..
" Meditation Retreat is a scary thing " !

Usually when we mention meditation, it is associated with nice things like Jhana (absorption), peace of mind, psychic power and insight into reality.  Rarely spoken is the not-so-pleasant process that leads to all these desirable things.  It is a process of hard work of diligent noting, a process of military-like discipline in a hermitage environment and a process of sheer teeth-biting determination to overcome boredom, pain and a fleeting mind.  The list goes on……... I think I better stop here, otherwise I' ll be talking to an empty hall in no time.

As the Buddha has rightly pointed out, the world of puthujana (or unenlightened worldlings) is a world of duality.  Yes, meditation as a means to liberation is not spared of this characteristic. There are two sides to it. One is that of  tantalising fruit of deliverance along with its positive by-products. The other is the laborious process of reaching out to the lofty fruit.

Take heart that the Gotama Buddha also went through the same process you'll be undergoing. In fact all of you here have an upper hand over our lord Buddha. The Bodhisatta did not have a retreat organising committee to serve him, you have; the Bodhisatta meditated under a tree exposing to the elements of nature, you are well sheltered in a modern temple;  the Bodhisatta went without food for seven days under Bodhi tree, we promised you a spread of international food comprising of Western pasteries, local Chinese and Burmese Vegetarian food. Therefore you should not have no complaints and should attain better and quicker result than him.

Don't take the last sentence I said seriously.  But be rest assured that we all have the potential for enlightenment. We're all future Buddhas as the Mahayanist would like to claim. So when obstacles come in your ways, don't be disheartened. 

Here I  would like to share with a poem written by Ven. Sujivo - the well known meditation teacher of  Kota Tinggi.  It never fails to inspire and spur me on during down moments of retreats.  I hope the do the same to you.  The title of  the poem  is  :

                                                  A Time To Forget Time

This is the time to remember
That you have nothing
Not before, not now
Not tomorrow where one attachment
Spells a billion heartaches.
But all you have is just
This one spark of mindfulness
To light the way.

Yes, it's time to forget the world,
Myself, my friends, time and space.
A retreat is so valuable a thing in life
I shall not waste it away.
This is the time to remember
To be mindful always.

What is pain or failure?
I do not know you.
What is night or day to you?
What rest is there for the wicked?
There should be naught
That obstructs a strong heart
That cares not for pleasure or pain
That knows only the yearnings full great
To transcend all the suffering of life.

So be determined to extricate
Thorns sunk deep inside the heart
And no matter what one may have to take or bear
Freedom, freedom's sure to come this way.


Venerable Sujiva


With this, I  would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all to this Meditation Retreat, and wishing  all of you at the end of the retreat 10 Days closer to Nibbana !


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