The Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn that has been switched online due to COVID-19 has provided an opportunity for Lee Sok Kuan to listen to Dharma more attentively while writing down the key points using her computer, mobile phone and notebook. Also, she has gained more confidence in handling the audio control for the community platform of the Dharma Incense Permeation session.
Lee Sok Kuan has been starting her day with the Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn (a daily early morning dharma talk on the Lotus Sutra given by Dharma Master Cheng Yen) since January 2017. As COVID-19 raged in 2020, all cities and countries were locked down, and gatherings were prohibited. The crisis changed the mode of the Dharma Incense Permeation session to online, allowing volunteers to attend the session at their homes. The new community platform set up by Tzu Chi Singapore volunteers has given Lee the opportunity to follow the morning class time of Taiwan Jing Si Abode, which starts after 4:00 in the morning every day. That is how she starts a day of diligence followed by her volunteering routine.
In Lee Sok Kuan's 50 years of life, she experienced straitened circumstances in her family and was disturbed by recurring dreams. Although she has always been chubby since young, she suffers from long-term severe anaemia and dizziness, and the cause remains unknown despite several visits to the doctors. As she grew up, she studied and worked hard to provide a better life for her mother, even if she had to make sacrifices.
Unexpectedly, Lee Sok Kuan dated a man 20 years her senior when she was 21. She was physically and psychologically distressed, for this relationship posed a dilemma involving family and morality. However, she was always grateful to her partner for taking great care of her mother so she could live comfortably in her later years. The relationship was deep and affectionate. Years of romantic entanglement made Lee suffer from dukkha of not getting what she desired, and the pain of being separated from her loved one. Thus, she gradually became indulged in dolling herself up with finery.
Lee's partner was severely ill in his later years. He had to undergo dialysis treatment and even amputate both legs. Although they were not officially married, Lee took care of him with no complaints nor regrets for ten years to repay his kindness. She tried to make him happy by travelling with him to strengthen his will to survive.
Getting to Know "Karma" in her Search for Answers
Her life circumstances and the recurring dreams made Lee Sok Kuan doubtful about life. In her thirties, she hoped to get an answer from religion and found Buddhism in her search. She read English Buddhist books extensively and attended Buddhist classes. Along the way, she learnt the concept of karma in Buddhism and gradually realised that her encounters and dreams might be her past-life memories.
She wished to seek liberation, so she started to chant sutras and prostrate at Fo Guang Shan. However, due to her low proficiency in Chinese, she could only recite "Amitabha" at the beginning while others recited the scriptures. After some time, she managed to recite the "Heart Sutra", but she did not understand the meaning even though she recited it every day. Later, Lee Sok Kuan met Ng Joo Keng, a Tzu Chi volunteer, who invited her to participate in Tzu Chi activities. During this period, Lee became a full-time caregiver for her mother and husband as they experienced ageing and illnesses until they passed away one after the other.
Lee Sok Kuan returned to work and joined the home care team in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. She was in charge of taking care of patients recuperating at home. Lee has a lot of experience handling the elderly with dementia and patients with mental illness. Every day, she worked proactively and found joy in helping others. During that time, she began to join Tzu Chi after knowing that she could help more people in the Missions of Charity and Medicine, and she loved Tzu Chi's philosophy of "giving without asking anything in return". Later, she realised that her working hours were too long and decided to leave the workplace and devote herself to Tzu Chi by becoming a full-time volunteer after weighing her spiritual mission and career.
Lee Sok Kuan enjoys helping others and loves Tzu Chi's philosophy of "giving without asking anything in return". Thus, she proactively engages in the Mission of Medicine and community services.
Lee Sok Kuan enjoys helping others. During her volunteer services, she encountered people who were hard to deal with and people willing to help her at times of need. She slowly understood that one must assimilate the Dharma and do good deeds simultaneously while participating in Tzu Chi works. Lim Lih Fang, a Chinese medicine practitioner, shared the "Dharma as Water Sutra Adaptation" performance recording with Lee. She watched it three times and burst into tears as the scenes seemed to portray her first half of life. She repented at that moment and completely believed in karma. She trusted that karma is recorded without any errors, and human needs to have the wisdom to cut off troubles and create less karma.
In 2017, when a community leader invited Lee Sok Kuan to go to the Jing Si Books and Cafe nearby her house to join the Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn, she decided to get a closer look.
Pursue Dharma Persistently, Do Good Deeds, and Develop Kind Affinities
What is "Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn"?
At 4:20 in the morning every day, the Jing Si Abode in Hualien, Taiwan, rings the bell for the morning class. Everyone then pays respect to Buddha and chants sutras, followed by expounding of the Lotus Sutra by Master Cheng Yen during the Wisdom at Dawn session at 5:20. About 50 minutes later, everyone chants the "Verse of Transference of Merit" and prays, immediately followed by "Life Wisdom by Dharma Master Cheng Yen", the Wisdom at Dawn summary, and the sharing of volunteers' experience until 7:00 in the morning.
The Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn is the spiritual supply for many Tzu Chi volunteers to start a day. As long as they can connect to the internet, they will be able to listen to Dharma talk synchronously. The 50-minute Lotus Sutra during the Wisdom at Dawn session is the core, while other additional teaching materials are for people with different dharma-understanding levels to learn the spirit of the sutra from various aspects.
Lee Sok Kuan woke up at 4:00 every day and walked 30 minutes to the Jing Si Books and Cafe to attend the Dharma Incense Permeation session. The session was a live session of Master Cheng Yen expounding the Lotus Sutra elegantly in Minnan through a live broadcast from Hualien. Lee could not understand what Master Cheng Yen said nor the scriptures on the screen as she had low proficiency in Chinese, and there were no translated subtitles. How did she overcome all that?
Yes, take pictures! Lee Sok Kuan would get her phone ready to take photos as soon as the content was shown, and she listened to the teaching while reading the text. However, sometimes she could not understand the notes when she looked back at them again after returning home. "I feel ashamed. As Master Cheng Yen's disciple who is going to be certified as a commissioner, I do not understand Chinese, which means I do not know the Dharma. How am I going to talk about Tzu Chi to others if I do not learn Dharma by heart?" Lee insisted on overcoming the language barrier and not making excuses for difficulties.
Lee Sok Kuan does not make excuses for difficulties. She spends two hours every day copying Master's dawn teachings and the verses of the Lotus Sutra to improve her reading and writing skills.
After the COVID-19 outbreak, the Dharma Incense Permeation session at dawn is switched online so that volunteers can attend the session at home. It has provided an opportunity for Lee Sok Kuan for a change. She can use her computer, mobile phone and notebook simultaneously and listen to Dharma more attentively as she stays alone. Lee spends two hours every day copying Master's dawn teachings and the verses of the Lotus Sutra to improve her reading and writing skills.
She uses mobile applications to look up and learn the pronunciation and meanings of new words she encounters. The reason she works so hard is to pursue and understand Dharma.
Having faced the eight sufferings, namely birth, ageing, sickness, death, separation from the beloved, association with the unpleasant, failing to obtain what one desires, and the Five Aggregates matter in half of Lee's life, she deeply felt that what the Buddhist scriptures say is true.
"I believe in the Dharma expounded by Master Cheng Yen. I do not worship Master Cheng Yen but revere Buddha's Dharma. No matter in good or bad circumstances, Dharma will help me get through them." Lee saw how Master Cheng Yen leads her disciples by her actions and uses real-life examples to impart Buddha's teachings. And she finds her affinity with Buddhism very rare and precious.
Lee Sok Kuan listens to Dharma every day and gradually delves deeper into the Lotus Sutra. "It would be useful if you could get a few key points each day. That would be enough!" She realised that she used to be vexed for three months, but now she knows how to change her mindset using Dharma.
On the wall of Lee Sok Kuan's living room, there is a Jing-Si Aphorism that reads, "Being able to love is a blessing; being able to eliminate afflictions is wisdom". From being superficial to having greater and greater understanding, she knew that her troubles come from greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt. Therefore, she hopes to be more diligent in seizing the opportunity to listen to Dharma and store the merits she sowed into her eighth consciousness. Besides, she also expects herself to practice what she preaches by showing her love to others so as to unleash the value of her life and accumulate good karma so she can pass on with ease.
Owing to her belief in karma, Lee Sok Kuan started adopting a plant-based diet in 2018. After the pandemic, Master Cheng Yen has repeatedly reminded everyone to accept the "great lesson" and urged everyone to choose a plant-based diet to eliminate the pandemic. To heed Master Cheng Yen's appeal, Lee Sok Kuan has proactively promoted the plant-based diet, learnt to cook vegetarian food, and promoted vegetarianism in the community. She brainstormed ideas with the team to promote plant-based diet creatively. Such efforts made her feel very contented and happy.
Lee Sok Kuan not only adopts a plant-based diet herself but also promotes the diet to others wholeheartedly. She participates in the community team that advocates vegetarianism and shines a light on the benefits of consuming plant-based meals.
Lee Sok Kuan listens to Dharma every day and tries to understand and apply the teachings in her daily life so that it is easier to internalise Dharma. She firmly believes that no wisdom can be attained by merely knowing the Dharma but not taking any action. If taking actions without Dharma as guidelines, there will be troubles. Having lived for 50 years, Lee has determined her direction of life: to give without asking anything in return and live a busy but meaningful life.
Dharma, the truth in nature, covers all the natural laws in the universe. It is vast and boundless. Learning the Dharma is a continuous journey, and Lee said, "We have to be humble while studying Dharma, for you will never finish learning it!"
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