Elle Becomes A Bhikkhuni!

It was Elle‘s big day and pivotal point in her life!

I caught a flight to Alor Setar, Kedah in the wee hours of the morning (before the sun came up) and joined two of Elle’s other friends, Grace and Ewen. They picked me up from the aiport before we went to the temple where Elle was about to be ordained as a Bhikkuni (or Buddhist nun).

This might come as a surprise to some of those who know Elle but she’s been interested in Buddhism since her late teenage years; it was only in the recent years that she took greater action in her faith.

I didn’t believe the first time she told me about becoming a nun a few months prior. She invited me to come to her ordainment day and I agreed in spite of my own reservations and concerns for her, not because of the gifts of high merits as believed by the Theravada Buddhism. (But then, I’ve been taught to be an excellent receiver so I should just accept it, haha!) IMG_3930

There were many other people gathered at the gazebo outside the temple, all of whom will be monks and nuns walking the path. Thus the ceremony began with a group prayer led by a few monks.

I’ve not witnessed an elaborate Buddhist prayer and ceremony before so I watched with curiosity.

(FYI I was born into a Buddhist family and that was the way it was for me the first 12 years of my life though I have little recollection on how we prayed in Buddhist faith… that was until my mother converted to Catholicism in 1999 and naturally my sister and I followed.)IMG_3935

The monks then sprinkled holy water on the crowd of soon-to-be ordained monks and nuns. The monks then snapped a piece of hair from each of the soon-to-be ordains, and the piece to be wrapped in the lotus leaf they each have. IMG_3949

Next Elle’s friends and I took part in cutting her hair before it was completely shaved. In this ritual practice, I have to make a wish that I really, really want deep within me while snapping each strands of hair, all the while exclaiming the Sanskrit verses “Putang, Tangkang, Sangkang“.

I made my three wishes; Elle knows one of them beforehand already!IMG_3959

And yep, completely shaved. This includes her eye brows too!

After a shower and donning the clean white robes, Elle is one more prayer ceremony away from being officially ordained as a…

Bhikkhuni!

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Now I cannot address her by name anymore; I have to call her “Meichi” (which means Mei = Mother, Chi = Nun; so ‘mother nun’).

No body or physical contact is permitted.

And she has to treat me and any of her friends / family members as equals – meaning no favoritism whatsoever.

She will be meditating, praying and serving in this temple in Kedah for the next 8 days, and after that she will be traveling to Myanmar and other places to do charity works for the next one month.

Oh yeah, and also disconnection from materialism, wealth and the world outside! So we won’t be hearing from her for some time.IMG_3977

So why did Elle want to become a nun in the first place? She’s shared quite a fair bit of her side of her story months leading up to her big day today. Fortunately she’ll be doing this for only a month (phew!) Initially I thought she wanted to become a nun… permanently! Haha! I would do anything to talk her out of it. 🙂

I stayed up until the last evening prayers for the day and bid the new “Meichi” farewell. (Remember… I cannot call her by her name for now!)

I hope she finds the inner peace and rediscover herself through this personal journey, albeit somewhat unusual and unexpected!

Almost One Week Post-GE13

(A REPOST FROM MY LATEST FB STATUS)

It’s been almost a week since the PRU13. We’ve seen several cases of election frauds exposed. We’ve also read false news being shared without being checked from all sides. And for every one person actively working to fight corruption and for fairness, there are 10 other people playing the role of keyboard warriors and smartphone soldiers.

Question is, what are you going to do to UBAH?

I waited a week to write this because amidst all the angry and sad emotions, one niche of people in Malaysia stood out brightly from the rest to me: I call them entrepreneurs from all walks. And it is in them that I found renewed hope for a better change in our nation. I had been compiling their personal responses (read: actions) to the post-PRU13 and ultimately, I decide what I am doing next:

– – – – – – – – –

1. Intensify the work-from-home revolution. Owning an office is out of option for many starting entrepreneurs and even so, there’s the horrendous jam to overcome every single morning and evening. My vision is to create more online entrepreneurs working from home, and in turn have at least two other staffs who don’t have to leave their own homes either. This way = save MASSIVELY on petrol + save MASSIVELY on toll + save MASSIVELY on time from useless meetings + earn MASSIVELY in any currency of choice. Wealth is not a zero-sum game.

2. Build a local online community for online entrepreneurs. This was an idea I had kept in my back burner for so long that needs to be brought forward now. Up until early this year, I have been selling almost exclusively to the international market and this time I will share my knowledge and know-how so that our local online entrepreneurs can compete and think globally. The membership entry will be FREE and in dual languages (English and Malay).

3. Through speaking engagements, I wish to connect with more local audience now than ever for the above two reasons, when I am not sitting in front of the computer.

4. Continue ‘boycotting’ papers. I’ve not bought a newspaper since 2008 (except occasionally to smack cockroaches cos that’s all they’re good for now, and that one time I appeared in the papers) – it’s nothing new that the newspapers are choke full of shit and highlights that don’t empower your day. Don’t stop at boycotting for a month; stop buying it altogether. Anything that’s newsworthy will find its way to you through social media, and even so it should be controlled… like food intake.

– – – – – – – – –

No one can wait another five years so UBAH has to start now. Follow the true builders of the nation and you’ll realize there’s actually more you can do than just wearing a black shirt.

What will you do?

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The biggest assembly in the history of Malaysia!

Here’s a video clip I took when my friends were helping people climb up the stadium! And the moment captured at the biggest assembly in history to date: