Retreat study notes :
Cameron Meditation Retreat 2018 timetable
1st to 4th May 2013 Mindfulness meditation at Cameron Highlands
| Time | Outline | Photos | |
| 16-Mar (Day 1) | |||
| 180316 (1) | 2.40pm | Official opening / programme briefing |  |
| Meditation | |||
| 180316 (2) | 4.30am | Bro Teoh read on the short notes 1-4 May 2013 | |
| 180316 (3) | 6.45pm | Evening chanting & meditation | |
| Explanation of the chanting | |||
| 180316 (4) | 7.45pm | Heart Sutra introduction |  |
| 5 Aggregates of form & mind | |||
| 5 daily reflections or contemplations | |||
| Sis Carmen’s inquiry on contemplation | |||
| 17-Mar (Day 2) | |||
| 180317 (1) | 6am | Morning Chanting | |
| 180317 (2) | 7am | Meditation | |
| 180317 (3) | 8.30am | Explanation on the importance of chanting & Puja. |  |
| 5 spiritual faculties | |||
| Morning chanting | |||
| Bro Gan’s question – ” When no one is meditating, is there meditation?” | |||
| Akaliko – Timeless (Beyond time beyond thought) | |||
| Silent mind | |||
| 3 Importance Hallmarks of Hui Neng’s teaching : | |||
| 1) No thought 2) No mark & 3) No dwelling | |||
| Bro Gan’s 2nd question – “Can awareness meditate?” | |||
| 180317 (4) | 9am | Meditation | |
| 180317 (5) | 10.30am | Things to take note about meditation |  |
| Heart Sutra Chapter 2 | |||
| The Law of Karma | |||
| Sila, Samadhi, Panna | |||
| 10 Perfections or Pāramitā | |||
| Importance of Dana Parami | |||
| We should also take care of our physical body | |||
| Ajahn Yantra’s famous quote | |||
| The Six Perfections or Pāramitās (of the Mahāyāna tradition) | |||
| Is Feng Shui really effective? | |||
| All sense pleasures are a prelude to suffering | |||
| What is a phenomenon? | |||
| 3 Evil roots | |||
| 180317 (6) | 2pm | Renew precepts |  |
| Bro Teoh continued with the Heart Sutra 1.9 `The 3 Evil roots’ | |||
| When you can see form, only then can you see mind | |||
| Flag, wind & mind – which one moves? (Hui Neng & the 2 monks) | |||
| “Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree, ..菩提本无树。。” | |||
| Theravada & Mahayana Buddhism | |||
| 180317 (7) | 4.30pm | Sis Angie’s question on “How to train your mind.” |  |
| Question on thinking and content of consciousness | |||
| When you are not happy or not peaceful, the evil roots of mind have arisen. | |||
| 180317 (8) | 6.45pm | Meditation | |
| 180317 (9) | 7.21pm | Dharma sharing |  |
| Sharing about donation to certain charitable societies | |||
| How to do dana without greed? | |||
| Types of dana that are more meritorious | |||
| How should we perceive “problems”? | |||
| We choose to accept everything as natural | |||
| Sis Sandra’s sharing on her past experiences regarding donation to charitable societies. | |||
| The purpose of the Kalyanamitta fund / Heart Sutra lesson 3 | |||
| Sis Keat Hoon’s questions on the conditioned & unconditioned world, human grief and sorrow | |||
| Sis Angie’s inquiry about UFO and past life regression. | |||
| 18-Mar (Day 3) | |||
| 180318 (1) | 6am | Mindfulness exercise Mindfulness exercise (Video enclosed) – 2017 Cameron Retreat |
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| 180318 (2) | 7.15am | Briefing after meditation |  |
| Sis Tammy enquired about “outflow” of an Arahant | |||
| 3 types of peace | |||
| 1) kaya-viveka (physical seclusion) | |||
| 2) citta-viveka (mental seclusion) | |||
| 3) upadhi-viveka (Liberation from suffering) | |||
| 180318 (3) | 8.30am | Morning Chanting | |
| Explanation of Chanting on Reflections on Universal Well-Being. | |||
| 180318 (4) | 9am | Heart Sutra continued with 1.3 6th Patriarch Platform Sutra. | |
| 180318 (5) | 9.30am | Meditation | |
| 180318 (6) | 10.30am | Sis Molly’s meditation-reporting and Bro Teoh’s answers |  |
| 1) Meditation is about training our mind to be aware / mindful. | |||
| 2) Stabilize it until you are ever mindful | |||
| 3) Cultivate Noble 8fold path | |||
| All these 3 above will lead to heedfulness. | |||
| Sis Vivian’s inquiry on “awareness” | |||
| Bro Teoh’s sharing on how he overcame financial difficulties & how he came into contact with Buddhism during his younger days. | |||
| Heart Sutra chapter 4 | |||
| Sis Soo’s sharing on her purging experience regarding forgiveness | |||
| Refer to chanting book ” Asking for forgiveness” | |||
| Importance & benefits of bowing | |||
| 180318 (7) | 1.30pm | Heart Sutra chapter 5 | |
| Venerable Hsu Yun | |||
| Before you are enlightened, don’t believe your thoughts | |||
| Refer to retreat chanting book “10 Subjects for frequent recollection by one who has gone forth.” | |||
| Heart Sutra chapter 6 | |||
| Aṅgulimāla | |||
| 5 ways to overcome negative unwholesome thoughts | |||
| 180318 (8) | 4.15pm | Heart Sutra chapter 7 | |
| How Mahayanas chant for blessings and ask for forgiveness | |||
| Bro Teoh’s teacher Phra Ajahn Yantra | |||
| Bro Teoh 1st meditation experience | |||
| 180318 (9) | 6.40pm | Evening Chanting | |
| KARANĪYA METTA SUTTA (Loving kindness or metta chanting & explanation) | |||
| Bro Teoh’s sharing on his childhood & karmic incidents. | |||
| 180318 (10) | 8pm | Heart Sutra chapter 9 |  |
| 7 Factors of enlightenment | |||
| Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya & Dharmakaya | |||
| Bro Fong’s question about the real samadhi and Jhana. | |||
| Bro Fong’s question about the types of wisdom. | |||
| KARANĪYA METTA SUTTA (Loving kindness metta) chanting & Heart Sutra Chanting | |||
| Further explanation on KARANĪYA METTA SUTTA (Loving kindness metta) | |||
| 19-Mar (Day 4) | |||
| 180319 (1) | Meditation | ||
| Mindfulness exercise | |||
| 180319 (2) | 7am | Short Briefing after meditation | |
| Renew precepts | |||
| Explanation of the 5 & 8 precepts | |||
| 10 Subjects for Frequent Recollection | |||
| 180319 (3) | 8.30am | Morning chanting | |
| Chanting & Explanation of Anattalakkhana Sutra (The Discourse on the characteristic of non self) | |||
| 180319 (4) | 9.10am | Heart Sutra continued “1.3 Question 2..” | |
| 3 types of karmic obstacles | |||
| Bro Teoh’s sharing on how he dealt with his karmic test when something serious happened to his mother & son. | |||
| Bro Swee Aun’s sharing on how he overcame depression in his early life. | |||
| Sis Angie’s opinion that all the Buddhist groups should integrate and not be divided | |||
| Question on how we can help non Buddhists with depression | |||
| Bro Teoh shared some depression cases that he has helped. | |||
| Answering Bro Fong’s earlier question – refer to Heart Sutra “3.1 The three types of Prajna or wisdom” | |||
| 180319 (5) | 11.53am | Heart Sutra Chapter 11 | |
| 12 links – (Dependent Origination) | |||
| 180319 (5)1 | 1.30pm | Heart Sutra Chapter 11 Part 2 | |
| In the midst of sound, there can be silence. In the midst of activity, there can be stillness. | |||
| Without awareness you are not sensitive. | |||
| 180319 (6) | 4.30pm | Heart Sutra Chapter 15 |  |
| Sis Keat Hoon’s questioned on “seeing consciousness” | |||
| Bro Fong enquired about “5 senses & samadhi” | |||
| Heart Sutra Chapter 15 | |||
| 180319 (7) | 6.30pm | Simple Evening chanting |  |
| Question “Is metta a wholesome thought or a feeling?” | |||
| 3 stages of metta | |||
| Bro Teoh shared his experiences of radiating metta. | |||
| Bro Teoh shared some of his extraordinary experience with “special beings” | |||
| 180319 (8) | 7.50pm | Heart Sutra Chapter 15 Part 3 Meditation | |
| Karmic obstruction | |||
| Love without attachment. | |||
| Sis Keat Hoon enquired about “praying to deities” | |||
| Bro Teoh shared on “Mediums & Dharma Protector” | |||
| 20-Mar (Day 5) | |||
| 180320 (1) | 7am | Simple morning chanting & mindful exercise | |
| Meditation | |||
| Sis Nancy enquired about sleepiness during meditation | |||
| Bro Teoh shared about his out of the body experience during his childhood time. | |||
| 180320 (2) | 8.30am | Puja & Morning Chanting | |
| 180320 (3) | 9am | Heart Sutra Chapter 18 Part 1 Conscience & Thought Sis Angie enquired why terrorists are able to commit so many bad things without any repercussions Sis Keat Hoon enquired the type of parami that is lacking for children with study difficulties. |
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| 180320 (4) | 10.30am | Heart Sutra Chapter 19 Part 1 | |
| Important meditation pointers | |||
| Bro Teoh shared a real life story about a patient with 4th stage cancer caused by stressful working environment. | |||
| Bro Teoh explained on how to contemplate the 4 Noble Truths by giving an example in Heart Sutra 22 Part 1 | |||
| 180320 (5) | 1.30pm | Meditation | |
| 180320 (6) | 3pm | Sis Poh Lai reported her meditation, she shared how she helped her Mum release herself from the “game of suffering” (痛苦的遊戏) and how she also helped her clients free themselves from suffering by applying her Dharma understanding. | |
| Sis Soo Yee reported her meditation. | |||
| Heart Sutra pg 22 Part 2 | |||
| Bro Teoh’s sharing on Chakras and nadis | |||
| Sis Keat Hoon enquired whether it is necessary to do bowing in front of the Buddha. | |||
| Listening from the head or brain is hell whereas listening from the conscience, i.e. the heart is true listening. | |||
| 180320 (7) | 6.43pm | Evening Chanting | |
| 180320 (8) | 6.55 pm | Meditation | |
| 180320 (9) | 7.28 pm | Heart Sutra Page 88 |  |
| “The wanting to react or to be calm and peaceful via the thought is a delusion” | |||
| Sis Soo Yee enquired about “true mind & thought” | |||
| “The controller is the controlled” | |||
| Page 92 Living from the brain vs from the heart | |||
| 180320 (10) | 9.00 pm | Chanting of The Great Compassion Mantra, Heart Sutra & Om Padme Mani Om and closing puja. | |
| 21-Mar (Day 6) | |||
| 180321 (1) | 6.15 am | Morning Chanting | |
| Morning exercise guided by Bro Vincent | |||
| 180321 (2) | 6.55 am | Meditation | |
| Noble silence during daily mindfulness training – mindful of every action and movement in daily life (fully aware) | |||
| 180321 (3) | 8.35 am | Morning chanting | |
| 180321 (4) | 8.45 am | Knowledge binds 所知障;Worry binds 烦恼障 |  |
| How insignificant are humans compared to the universe | |||
| How Sis Yoon Chan invited Bro Teoh to share his Dharma understanding with the world in the year 2004. | |||
| Bro Fong’s question on the 12 links (Dependent Origination or Paticca Samuppada) | 12 links Video 1 | ||
| Bro Teoh’s answer – Dependent Origination is not linear but multi dimensional. | |||
| 180321 (5) | 10.10 am | Meditation | |
| 180321 (6) | 10.55 am | Bro Teoh relates his mindfulness cultivation – Form that is perceivable by the mundane mind directly is more tangible and ‘real’ whereas the mental perception of it is totally unreal. Beyond form there is nothing to perceive. | |
| Alaya consciousness | |||
| The importance of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha | |||
| How to develop the daily mindfulness | |||
| Form is emptiness, emptiness is form | |||
| How to contemplate on the 32 parts of the physical body | |||
| 180321 (7) | 1.30 pm | 4 Foundation of Mindfulness | |
| Bro Teoh provides an example to illustrate Vedananupassana | |||
| 180321 (8) | 3.17 pm | Further explanation on 12 links – (Dependent Origination) |  |
| Puan Chee asked a question on how to stop the link from proceeding | |||
| Sis Mun Yuen asked a question on why the sense bases link do not come before the Avijja link? | |||
| Sis Eng Bee asked a question | 12 links :
12 links Video 2 |
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| Sis Sarah Han asked a question | |||
| Sis Adeline shared her meditation experience | |||
| Sis Sandra shared her experience on how she dealt with anger by making a strong Adhitthana not to get angry again in future | |||
| 180321 (9) | 6.40 pm | Cultivating the Bodhisattva Way | |
| Taking the Bodhisattva Vow | |||
| Tammy asked a question on Adhitthana | |||
| 9.00 pm | Chanting of The Great Compassion Mantra, Heart Sutra & Om Pani Mani Om | ||
| 22-Mar (Day 7) | |||
| 180322 (1) | Morning Chanting | ||
| Morning exercise | |||
| 180322 (2) | 7.18am | After meditation briefing | |
| Sis Poh Lai’s meditation reporting, and her advice on – “Don’t go against nature.” | |||
| Mental time and psychological time. | |||
| Sis Angie’s meditation sharing | |||
| Free yourself first before you help others | |||
| 180322 (3) | 8.40am | Morning chanting | |
| 180322 (4) | 8.50am | Heart Sutra Chapter 33 Part 3.1 Question | |
| 180322 (5) | 10.13am | After meditation pointers. | |
| Heart Sutra Chapter 34 Part 1.4 Question – Chapter 36 Part 3.2 | |||
| Sis Poh Lai shared on her job experience on how a lot of her clients via delusion unconsciously harm themselves. | |||
| Bro Swee Aun shared on how to use search engine in Heart Sutra pdf to trace a certain topic by using keywords. | |||
| Bro Teoh explained how actions via pure wish by a virtuous person can make positive changes for others. | |||
| “God son ceremony” | |||
| Bro Teoh related an incident on how he consoled his son after he lost his best friend. | |||
| 180322 (6) | 2.30pm | Advice on maintaining awareness. |  |
| Mindful of Content of Consciousness ( Cetasikas). | |||
| Heart Sutra Pg 121 to 134 | |||
| Sis Keat Hoon: Planning is necessary but Bro Teoh explained that one should go with the flow | |||
| Sis Soo Yee shared about how she chose her major in university without prior planning but just accorded and flowed with the conditions that unfolded. Bro Teoh stressed the importance of taking care of our individual karma. If the planner has wisdom, he will act according to the understanding of causes and conditions. Whatever is meant to be, will be. |
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| Bro Gerald shared about his close friend’s death and how this has triggered him to realize the urgency in cultivation. He also shared about how through cultivation, he has changed his priorities in life as well as his understanding about doing business the proper way via understanding. |
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| Sis Poh Lai planned her ambition to be a great national bowler but still could not become the champion. This shows that planning is not a prelude to success. | |||
| “Don’t go against nature.” | |||
| Sankhara | |||
| Mental time n psychological time. | |||
| Sis Angie’s meditation sharing. | |||
| If you want to help others you need to free yourself first. | |||
| 180322 (7) | 6.40pm | Evening Chanting | |
| 180322 (8) | 6.45 pm | Heart Sutra pg 135 |  |
| 12 links chart (Dependent Origination) | |||
| 2 stories on Bodhisattva – Cultivation of patience (by Bro Teoh) and dana parami (by Bro Teh) | |||
| 180322 (9) | 8.30 pm | Chanting of The Great Compassion Mantra, Heart Sutra & Om Pani Mani Om | |
| 23-Mar (Day 8) | |||
| 180323 (1) | 6am | Morning chanting & briefing Morning exercise guided by Bro Vincent |
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| 180323 (2) | 7am | Meditation | |
| 180323 (3) | 7.20am | How does our brain work? | |
| 180323 (4) | 8.35am | Morning chanting | |
| 180323 (5) | 8.55am | Continuation of “How does our brain work?” |  |
| Your mind must have space and order. | |||
| Sis Adeline inquired about how – “The mind should not have any dwelling” | |||
| Aware via your true mind | |||
| Sis Soo enquired about “Seeing things as they are”. | |||
| 180323 (6) | 10.30am | Heart Sutra – Appendix 3 (Lesson 5 of the Satipatthana Sutta) |  |
| Pure Land chanting | |||
| J Krishnamurti “You must learn how to die every day.” | |||
| How to resolve problems in our daily life. | |||
| More important to take care of Karma than to rely on Feng Sui. | |||
| Bro Swee Aun shared a real case on Feng Sui. | |||
| The meaning of mindfulness. | |||
| 180323 (7) | 1.30pm | Heart Sutra – Appendix 3 (4.1 A Mind Full of Awareness) pg 149 |  |
| Most people are conscious but are not aware. | |||
| Bro Teoh shared on how he helped an undergraduate recover from depression. | |||
| How to choose a life partner. | |||
| Respect for deities/spirits | |||
| Sis Angie asked about illusions performed by illusionists like David Copperfield | |||
| Sis Kelline enquired about how to apply Noble 8fold Path to enable a haunted house to be rented out | |||
| Sis Angie has an advertisement related question | |||
| 180323 (8) | 4.20 pm | Heart Sutra pg 159 | |
| 180323 (9) | 7pm | Bro Teoh’s briefing for 24/3 program |  |
| Bro Swee Aun presented the Cameron retreat account detailing all donations. | |||
| Gratitude to Sam Poh Temple 法忏法师 Sifu | |||
| 法忏法师 Sifu’s advice | |||
| Bro Teoh shared a story on a profound conversation between Buddha & a female Sotapan | |||
| Sharing by Poh Lai, Soo Yee, Carmen, Mee Fong, Keat Hoon, Angie, Tammy, Soo, Sara Han & Sandra | |||
| Bro Teoh’s affinity with Kuan Yin Bodhisattva and message by Kuan Yin Bodhisattva to Bro Teoh in the year 1986. | |||
| Bro Chia shared his his extraordinary mudra blessings and mantra chanting. | |||
| Bro Teoh shared the danger and severe consequences of offending Great Beings. | |||
| 24-Mar (Day 9) | |||
| 180324 (1) | 7am | Morning Chanting | |
| Bro Teoh’s final advice before the closing of the retreat. | |||
Briefing before retreat
| 3 March | Outline | Photos | |
| 180303 | 9.30am | Bro Teoh’s briefing on coming Cameron retreat |  |
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