31/05/2026
Today is Vesak Day, a day when Buddhists commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha.
Siddhartha Gautama is believed to have been born into a royal family in what is now Nepal around the 5th century BC. Despite growing up amidst wealth and luxury, he realised that material comforts could not protect anyone from suffering. Seeking answers, he left his privileged life and spent years as a wandering seeker. After six years of study, contemplation, and meditation, he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.
"Buddha" is not merely a name. It means "the Enlightened One."
Today, I reflected on my own cultivation journey.
Many of us begin our spiritual path hoping to remove suffering from our lives. Yet the Buddha taught that suffering is part of the human condition. As long as we are born into this world, we will encounter 生、老、病、死. Birth, ageing, illness, and death.
Over time, society shapes us into different identities. We become someone's child, someone's boss, someone's spouse, someone's parent. Gradually, we start believing that these roles define who we are.
But conditions change.
When our parents pass on, are we still someone's child in the same way?
When we leave our jobs, retire, or are retrenched, are we still someone's boss?
When our children grow up and leave home, are we still defined solely as parents?
So who are we, really?
I often think of a ball of clay. The clay can be shaped into a tiger, a lion, or a dinosaur. Each form appears different, yet all are temporary. The shapes can be destroyed and remoulded. What remains is the clay itself.
Not the shape.
To me, enlightenment is recognising that many of the identities we hold are simply forms that conditions have shaped us into. They are not our true essence.
Change is not something to fear. Change allows a company director to become a chef and pursue a childhood dream. Change allows us to discover new possibilities beyond the labels we carry.
To understand that we are like the clay. Mouldable, adaptable, and not permanently attached to any form.
When we loosen our attachment to these temporary identities, suffering becomes lighter.
This is the wisdom behind the Buddha's teachings on suffering, its causes, its cessation, and the path to liberation.
It is more than a religious belief. It is wisdom that guides us in navigating life with greater clarity and peace.
Happy Vesak Day.
今天是卫塞节（Vesak Day），是佛教徒纪念佛陀诞生、成道与涅槃的重要日子。
相传，悉达多·乔达摩出生于现今尼泊尔一带的王族家庭。虽然拥有荣华富贵，但他发现财富与享乐并不能让人获得真正的快乐，也无法避免人生的痛苦。于是他放弃优渥的生活，踏上寻求真理之路。经过六年的学习、修行与禅定，他最终证悟成道，成为佛陀。
“佛陀”并不只是一个名字，而是“觉者”的意思。
今天，我也借此机会反思自己的修行之路。
很多时候，我们以为学佛是为了消除人生所有的痛苦。但事实上，只要生而为人，就离不开苦。尤其是“生、老、病、死”，这是每个人都必须面对的人生课题。
随着成长，我们被社会赋予各种身份。
我们是别人的孩子、别人的上司、别人的伴侣、别人的父母。
渐渐地，我们开始以为这些身份就是“我”。
但因缘总是在变化。
当父母离世后，我们还是原来的那个“孩子”吗？
当我们退休、离职或被裁员后，我们还是那个“上司”吗？
当孩子长大离家，甚至不再依赖我们时，我们还是只是一位“父母”吗？
那么，真正的我们是谁？
我常把自己想象成一团泥土。
泥土可以被塑造成老虎、狮子、恐龙等各种形状。每一种形状看似不同，却都只是暂时的。当这些形状被打碎、重新揉合后，留下来的依然是那团泥土。
留下来的，不是形状，而是泥土本身。
对我而言，觉悟就是明白，我们今天所拥有的许多身份与角色，都只是因缘条件暂时塑造出来的形状，它们并不是真正的“我”。
变化并不可怕。
变化让一位公司董事有机会成为厨师，去追寻儿时的梦想。
变化让我们发现，自己并不受限于任何标签。
当我们明白自己如同那团泥土，能够随缘而变，却不执著于任何形状时，内心的痛苦自然会减轻许多。
这也是佛陀所教导的智慧。认识苦、了解苦因、相信苦可以止息，并依循修行之道走向解脱。
这不仅仅是一种宗教信仰，更是一种帮助我们面对人生、安住内心的智慧。
祝愿大家卫塞节快乐，福慧增长，平安吉祥。
❤️ Jackson
