Our seventh installment comes from Malaysia. You;ve probabl heard of the teacher this person studies under, but this article is great and gives a perspective on Malaysian Buddhism that we are hoping opens readers eyes to their culture leanings. Thank you Tenzin for this.
I am a Buddhist blogger from Malaysia. Although Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, there is freedom of religion and non-Muslims can choose to practice whatever religion they want. Currently, approximately 20% of Malaysians practice Buddhism.
In Malaysia, we have many Buddhist Traditions such as the Theravada, Mahayana and the Vajrayana. Because of the colourful and broad religious mix of Malaysia, there will be a Theravadan temple on one street, and a Mahayan temple on another, next to a Christian church and a Hindu temple.
I belong to the Kechara Buddhist organisation which is of the Vajrayana school. I began learning about Buddhism since I met my teacher, the Tibetan Master, H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, when I was about seven years old. I do my best to incorporate the teachings of the Buddhas into my daily life. Tsem Tulku is an avid blogger too and his blog covers a very wide range of topics (http://blog.tsemtulku.com).
When learning Buddhism in the Kechara organisation, we get to practice kindness and compassion wherever we go. For example, there is the Kechara Soup Kitchen where we can feed the homeless and we also help them find jobs because that is what helps the homeless in the long term. There is also going to be an animal shelter where we can take care of animals in the future.
Kechara also has the first Himalayan Arts Studio in Southeast Asia (Kechara Saraswati Arts) where people can roll mantras and paint statues or do brocading for thangkas; a publishing house (Kechara Media & Publications) which publishes Buddhist books; two vegetarian restaurants (Kechara Oasis) to encourage compassionate eating; a film production house (Kechara InMotion) which produces documentaries and
TV shows; a travel consultancy and statue maker (Kechara Discovery) and a range of retail shops (Kechara Paradise) which makes Buddhist images, artefacts and prayer items easily accessible to all.
I have written a blog where I show people how my life goes by with Buddhism applied in every corner. (http://tenzinkhenchen.blogspot.com)
It would be nice to be able to interact with other Buddhists all over the world and the Blogisattva awards seems to be the best place to introduce Buddhist blogs to other interested Buddhists everywhere. Malaysia is a country in South East Asia and one of the main languages we speak in Malaysia is English. I am sure that the many Buddhist blogs worldwide will find many Malaysians interested in them.
An ocean of prayers and with folded hands,
Tenzin Khenchen
