This interview is just one of the many that took place for “A New Generation of Buddhist Young Practitioners,” the cover feature of Mandala July-August 1998:

What was your lifestyle like growing up?

Growing up in Singapore was really fun. We moved there when I was seven or eight because my father got a business offer. Singapore is an incredibly safe and clean country. My 11 years in Singapore were very happy, but at the root of that happiness is the fact that I was very fortunate to be born in such a loving/caring family and comfortable environment.

When and how did you meet the Dharma? If your family was already Buddhist, did you grow up Buddhist? What were some of the problems you faced – social, family, emotional, etc.?

Those very close to me met Dharma around 10 years ago. Although I was exposed to Dharma them, I ignorantly took no interesting it whatsoever. In fact I rebelled against the change in my family life and labeled the entire positive change in the disposition of those around me as “weird.” I was 14 and completely self-absorbed in my own little world, and at the beginning I remember thinking “Why is this happening?” and being very angry at my family for falling into the religion trap.

I grew up without religion, and was under the impression that all religions gave individuals an excuse to relinquish responsibility, in the sense that if something serious happened or if a decision needed to be taken, a religious person might be in the habit of “leaving it in the hands of a Higher Authority.” I couldn’t bring myself to accept that kind of rationalization, and because I was disappointed in the rapid changes that were going on in the behavior of those I loved, I foolishly chose to view Buddhism as I viewed all religions: an outdated institution/tradition which could only serve to weaken the potential of human beings to make it in this ever-growing competitive world. Basically I viewed my family meeting Dharma as a handicap more than anything else and hoped that it was just some passing phase.

As the years went by my initial anger turned to indifference, and I chose to involve myself to a greater extent in social activities and school, spending as much time away from home as possible. In retrospect I really regret this period of my life because I was too stubborn and too caught up in my own delusions to see the great benefits that Buddhism had exerted on those around me.

When I left home to go to university in the UK I faced some harsh realizations. Living in Singapore led to a very sheltered existence. Once I moved to Europe I saw poverty and people suffering, and because I hadn’t grown up with it “in my face,” so to speak, I think I was more sensitive to it. Moreover I was shocked by man’s inhumanity to man in circumstances where the one doing the harming was doing it under the pretext of a career move.

Also a lot of my friends in Singapore shared the same interest of going into a field that involved saving the environment, saving wildlife, social work, etc. People I went to university with had seemingly no sense of universal responsibility, they were unaffected by the suffering that was going on outside their doorstep, and they spoke dispassionately on global issues. I was disturbed and depressed at the great determination they expressed to attain temporary happiness through money, reputation, power, material assets.

I was labeled a “hippie” and “alternative” and “flower-child” because I didn’t want to enter into the investment banking world and didn’t dream of a corporate career. In fact in my last year of university I was convinced that I was in the wrong with my idealist convictions on having a part to play in “saving the world” in an environmental or social work-oriented way. I chose to go with the flow and follow the conventional money-making industries when it came to getting a job.

I got very depressed because I could feel in my heart that this was the wrong path to follow. I looked around at all the people I was associated with and none of them were truly happy. In fact every so often one of them would break down and complain about how meaningless the concept of human life, as they knew it, was. They couldn’t understand why we were here as a race, yet they refused to question the purpose of their existence. They preferred to follow mass consensus and live in the comfort of knowing that they were doing what everybody else they knew was doing: living in samsara, surviving on temporary happiness. Apart from the meaningless line of work I had gotten myself into, I didn’t enjoy the lifestyle and the habits that I was expected to participate in for promotion and public relation reasons.

I started to take more of an interest in Buddhism at this point, and through talking to Dharma friends and family realized that the Buddha’s teachings encompassed the notion of universal responsibility and the issue of benefiting all sentient beings. It also helped me to understand through the concepts of cyclic existence why so many of my friends and colleagues were obsessed with and trapped in their meaningless lives, forever searching to replace an outlived temporary happiness with a new temporary happiness. The more I learnt, the more sense the teachings of the Buddha made.

At the end of 1997 I quit my job and went on Buddhist pilgrimage in India. Looking back I can without a doubt in my mind say that this was by far the best move I have ever made in my life. I was incredibly fortunate to be on pilgrimage with most precious Ribur Rinpoche and most venerable Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Both have showered me with kindness and attention, and their wisdom coupled with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s compassionate teachings have taught me the importance of religion in terms of practice. Practice trains the mind into adopting correct view and brings discipline to one’s life. Without correct view and discipline one cannot expect to put the Buddha’s teachings into practice, and one has no hope of learning and fulfilling the stages on the path to enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

What advantages does having the Dharma give you?

Having the Dharma progressively alters one’s perception of the world and of human nature. Through practicing Dharma and learning about how delusions affect one’s mind and behavior, I make a conscious effort to try and practice patience, and I find that I am much more accepting towards people who vent out their anger, jealousy, etc. I feel that I can perhaps help them more than before by practicing compassion and understanding why they are feeing the way they are feeling. Overall I am a happier person through having met the Dharma, and honestly I now seem much less vulnerable to depression than other people my age who don’t have it.

Maybe through the Buddha’s teachings I am learning how to make my life more meaningful. I can only try the best that I can to practice effectively in order to actualize meaningfulness through helping as many sentient beings as I can.

What is the biggest obstacle to your practice of Dharma?

My biggest obstacle is the fear that I am not praciting properly, that my commitments tend to be rushed and my meditation and visualizations are poor. This fear can lead me to be discouraged, but most precious Ribur Rinpoche through his unbelievable kindness once told me not to get discouraged, to keep up my commitments, and to remember that th Dharma-related work that I have chosen to get involved in also must be considered as practice. I think that this is important to remember for all those who are involved in social work, or other industries that involve the concept of universal responsibility – industries that attempt to benefit sentient beings.

What do you do now, as a job?

Now I don’t have permanent contract with one specific organization. I try and get involved in as many Dharma-related activities as I can, or take on short-term jobs in the realm of social work. I am very fortunate because my family is very understanding and supportive.

If you could introduce one element of the Dharma to a group of people where there is none, which aspect would it be?

This is a very difficult question because ultimately the Buddha’s teachings are all interconnected and benefit when applied in a synergistic kind of way. But if I absolutely had to choose one element I would introduce wisdom based on love and compassion, applied to all sentient beings – not just human beings.