2039 Sun 06 NOV 2016
LESSON
from
INSIGHT-NET-
Online A1 (Awakened One) Tipiṭaka Research & Practice University
Tipitaka translated in 105 languages
from
INSIGHT-NET- Online A1 (Awakened One) Tipiṭaka Research & Practice University
Tipitaka translated in 105 languages
Buddhism in Malaysia
Standing Buddha statue made from brass, found in a tin mine in Pengkalan Pegoh, Ipoh, Perak in 1931.
Buddhism was introduced to the Malays and also to the people of the Malay Archipelago as early as 200 BCE. Chinese written sources indicated that some 30 small Indianised states rose and fell in the Malay Peninsula. Malay-Buddhism began when Indian traders and priests traveling the maritime
routes and brought with them Indian concepts of religion, government,
and the arts. For many centuries the peoples of the region, especially
the royal courts, synthesised Indian and indigenous ideas of Buddhism and that shaped their political and cultural patterns.
|
|||||||||
| Total population | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,620,483 (2010) | |||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||
| Penang · Selangor · Kuala Lumpur · Johor | |||||||||
| Languages | |||||||||
| Malaysian Mandarin · English · Thai · Sinhala · Indian · Malay | |||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Majority Mahayana Buddhism(Chinese) · Theravada Buddhism(Sri Lankans and Thais) · Sukhavana | |||||||||
Kek Lok Si, or “Temple of Sukhāvatī“, in Penang, Malaysia
Che Sui Khor Pagoda in Kota Kinabalu.
Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple (from Lorong Timur), Sentul, Kuala Lumpur
Going for Refuge ![[go up]](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/icon/scrollup.gif)
The Buddha’s teaching can be thought of as a kind of building
with its own distinct foundation, stories, stairs, and roof. Like any
other building the teaching also has a door, and in order to enter it we
have to enter through this door. The door of entrance to the teaching
of the Buddha is the going for refuge to the Triple Gem — that is, to
the Buddha as the fully awakened teacher, to the Dhamma as the truth
taught by him, and to the Sangha as the community of his noble
disciples. From ancient times to the present the going for refuge has
functioned as the entranceway to the dispensation of the Buddha, giving
admission to the rest of the teaching from its lowermost story to its
top. All those who embrace the Buddha’s teaching do so by passing
through the door of taking refuge, while those already committed
regularly reaffirm their conviction by making the same threefold
profession:
Buddham saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Buddha;
Dhammam saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Dhamma;
Sangham saranam gacchami
I go for refuge to the Sangha.
As slight and commonplace as this step might seem, especially
in comparison with the lofty achievements lying beyond, its importance
should never be underestimated, as it is this act which imparts
direction and forward momentum to the entire practice of the Buddhist
path. Since the going for refuge plays such a crucial role it is vital
that the act be properly understood both in its own nature and in its
implications for future development along the path. To open up the
process of going for refuge to the eye of inner understanding, we here
present an examination of the process in terms of its most significant
aspects. These will be dealt with under the following eight headings:
the reasons for taking refuge; the existence of a refuge; the
identification of the refuge objects; the act of going for refuge; the
function of going for refuge, methods of going for refuge; the
corruption and breach of the going for refuge; and the similes for the
refuges.