Activities
Metta Hermitage provides a conducive environment for those who wish to experience the Buddha-Dhamma through solitude.
We are often so involved in group activities that we forget to experience a little solitude. We are so conditioned to group living, the crush of modern life, gadgets and instant gratification, that we shun solitude. And yet, it is the solitary life that leads us to experience calmness, serenity, inner harmony and inner peace.
Metta Hermitage welcomes those who would like to experience solitude as part of the Buddhist experience. The Hermitage can accomodate groups of up to 40 with the opening of the Siddhartha Meditation Hall in April 2006.
Please contact Metta Hermitage to arrange your visit. Click on Contact for our contact information
Regular Meditation - Monday, Wednesday & Saturday evenings
For peace of mind
Mental and physical health
Inner strength
Reduce worries, tensions, pressure
Mind control for quality of life
Day and time: Every Monday, Wednesday & Saturday evenings, 8.00 pm
Venue: Siddhartha Meditation Hall,
Metta Hermitage, Batu Arang, Selangor, Malaysia
Programme:
1. Dharma Talk by Roshi Lingam
2. Reading from Dharmapada / Unviersal Truths
3. Meditation
4. Discussion and Counselling
No charge. All are welcome.
2012 Activities
Vesak 2012 celebration at Metta Forest Hermitage
Click here to view photos from our Vesak Celebrations 2012
2011 Activities
Successful ending of Discourse on the Holy Book
Dhammapada (Nov 2011)
Supporters of Metta Hermitage,
It gives me great joy to let you know that we have completed reading the
entire Holy book of Dhammapada (669 pages compiled by K.Sri Dhammananda) on
22nd November, 2011, in our Metta Forest Hermitage. We started reading last
year and finished it this year. I must say in all humility that it was a
feat, as people often start it and then give it up.
At every meditation session a chapter was read by Aunty Shanti and then
Guruji explained it in relation to daily life before we continued our
meditation. It gave us a better understanding of the Teachings of Lord
Buddha. What we never got elsewhere we got it here in Metta Hermitage. Never
once did we hurry through it. Guruji gave lengthy explanations with his
insight and wisdom till everyone appreciated the Teachings.
We know now how wonderful is the Teaching of Lord Buddha. We need not go out
looking for special people in special buildings to guide us and solve our
personal, professional and domestic problems. The Dhammapada is very
comprehensive and full of wisdom. It is universal. It is beyond race and
religion. It opened our spiritual eyes. I feel sorry for those who have a
good command of the English Language to be wasting time with those who who
are parading as 'knowledgeable' and speaking pidgin or 'pasar malam '
English.
What a waste of life if one does not avail oneself with this book of life.
If anyone finds it difficult to understand the contents of this wonderful
holy book please be free to contact Guruji for further explanation.
We have not heard of any other place where this was accomplished. Now that
we have accomplished this noble task in one life time we have decided to
have a small celebration by having a get-to-together to thank our Spiritual
Fully Enlightened Teacher the Lord Buddha and all the devas for helping us
to complete the task.
Those who think of participating in this small gathering at our special
forest hermitage are welcome to:
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telephone Guruji at 019-2379244
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sms Guruji 0192379244 or
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email Guruji lingamroshi@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, 4th December, 2011.
Time: 12 noon
Place: Metta Forest Hermtage, Batu Arang.
Food: Aunty says it will be a great privilege in one life time to provide
the vegetarian dinner.
Anyone who wish to donate any vegetarian dish, fruits etc please contact
Aunty 019-2779 244
Anyone who wishes to grace the occasion is expected to confirm attendance in
advance.
Thank you.
May the Blessings of Lord Buddha be on all those who value, appreciate and
support the Dharma.
Guruji
Metta Forest Hermitage
Batu Arang (June 2011)
To: All those who donated cash and gave their services
With deep sorrow I wish to inform you that we lost two pumps to the thieves.
Though we reported the matter to the police in Batu Arang and subsequently
that matter was handed by Rawang and Selayang Police, we failed to recover
the pumps and all the connecting wires. The suspect was kept in a lock-up
for four days and released. A few senior police officers came over to our
hermitage a few times to investigate.
As we cannot function without water, I had no choice but to install two
pumps and put up two pump houses - one near the rumah murah and one near our
hermitage. We get our water supply from the main pipes near rumah murah and
use the two pumps to push up the water to our hermitage as the water
reservoir is below the hill!
The pumps are in operation and supply water but we still have to touch up
the pump houses; put up electrical lights and switches, construct passages
leading to the pump houses, construct drains to carry the water away the
pump houses and put up fence around the pump house. Work is still going on
as the pump houses are on the fringe of the forest and on slopes. The work
is tough but with the grace of the Lord Buddha we have managed thus far. In
a few weeks things should be sorting out as we do not work daily for it is
difficult to get casual workers to help me.
I take this opportunity to thank Mr. & Mrs. Chong Su Lim, staff of SRJK (C)
Yuk Chai School and their friends who donated some money towards the
maintenance of Metta Forest Hermitage . It came in very handy to purchase
two pumps, install the pumps, purchase wires, electrical auto switches, etc,
pay the workers and construct the two pump houses.
I wish to thank Mr. Wei Chuan Beng -for his donation, Mr. Siva, Mr. Nara,
Aunty Shanti and Dr.Sham (for allowing her maid to help us). We could not
have completed the work without the grace of the Lord Buddha and all the
devas for giving us fine weather and looking after our safety as the work is
in a forest area and many times I slipped in the muddy area. I did all the
electrical work, plumbing work and installation of the pumps.
Spiritual adventure with guidance and protection from the Lord Buddha.
Seeing is believing.
Hard work should not deter us from achieving our goal - to walk the path to
Nirvana - and break the cycle of birth and death.
As we work we see the grace and guidance of the Lord Buddha.
May all beings be well and happy.
Guruji
Vesak 2011 celebration at Metta Forest
Hermitage
Click here to view photos from our Wesak Celebrations 2011
Dear devotees & supporters,
I am pleased to inform everyone who donated cash, food provisions and services towards the Vesak Celebration on the 17th May, 2011 that everything went well. Personally it was a great success. More than 150 supportors, well wishers and representatives from seven homes for the disabled attended and participated in the event.
There was plenty of well prepared, delicious vegetarian food for all and the poor and disabled were treated to an ice cream treat by the three sons of Mr. Chong- our M.C. for the day- Chong Jia Wei, Chong Jia Sheng and Chong Jia Yong. They had the heart to contribute even though they are only school going boys. ‘A personal thank you for treating the unfortunates with your pocket money.’
Mr. Ratna’s son Abinesa did not want to be left out. He came well prepared with good ‘Ang Pows’ and personally donated them to the less fortunate. May the Blessings of the Lord be on you.
Ladies are compassionate too. Dr. Shamala Ramalingam followed suit and donated ‘Ang Pows ‘ to all the less fortunate on behalf of her daughter Jade Louise Chong who was busy preparing for an examination. May she do well with the blessings of the Lord.
A few people prepared and brought food even though we had catered the vegetarian lunch.
Thangamany Narayanan : Payasam S. Saravanan : Kesadi Rohini Devi Maniam- : Pasyasam Aunti Shanti : Jelly and Kesadi
To prevent any disorder and chaos Mrs. Chong and her friends distributed the McDonald lunch pack donated by Mr. See Toh , Joseph Lim and Mr. & Mrs. Lim Kit Kwong at the end of the occasion as the ‘guests’ were leaving the hermitage. I saw they were excited to receive it. Within a few minutes the table was cleared. Well done Mrs. Chong and helpers.
I was very surprised when Prof. Dr. Vellayan personally carried the food provisions including bags of rice and cooking oil to the hermitage. Fortunately his devoted wife was there to help him. He reminded me of the devotees at Batu Caves who carried the ‘ milk pots’ to Lord Muruga. Lord Buddha blessed him with strength to carry the rice bags. As they say ‘Faith can move mountains.’. ‘ A big thank you Professor.’
Our M.C. Mr. Chong entertained the devotees with Buddhist Hymns and his guitar. Mrs. Chong and her friends brought plenty of goodies for the people from the homes. She had no time to rest – she personally distributed the goodies to the seven homes. She did not want any home to be left out. ‘Well done and thank you for all the time and trouble taken to inspire, collect, purchase, pack, transport and distribute to the needy.
I have to say a big ‘Thank you to ‘ Mr. & Mrs. Chong Su Lim for encouraging 41 of their friends to donate generously towards the Vesak celebration , the poor and needy. As the Chinese proverb says- the joy in the faces of the needy on Vesak day was worth all their trouble.
Vijayaletchumi Palaniappan not only gave cash donation but also three cartons of water in case our hermitage runs short of water. Thank you lady for the kind concern and on behalf of the guests let me say ‘Thank you very much.’
Even though their two daughters were having examinations the following day Mr.& Mrs. Low Yan Shin of Puchong brought their daughters to donate ‘Ang Pows’ to the needy. Let us not forget they had donated food provisions a few days earlier. Let us wish them well in their examinations. Sacrifice is the essence of success. Great Mr. Low. We certainly admire your commitment. and trust in Dharma.
How can the people sit and eat on a table if we do not have the furniture. Even though Mr. Narayanan was far away in Penang on duty he made arrangements with a local supplier to send chairs and tables to our hermitage. Keep up your concern Mr. Nara and you will be well rewarded by the Lord for your compassionate heart.
Even the call of duty took Mr. Wei Chuan Beng, CEO, overseas he made sure that his P.A. sent the generous donation to us well in advance. On behalf of the poor and needy may I pray to the Lord Buddha to shower His blessings on you.
Attachment to parents is a wonderful thing. Mr. Chong Boon Hin of Taiping on hearing of the Vesak celebration at Metta Forest Hermitage within a few hours deposited a generous contribution on behalf of his father Mr. Chong Pat Thiam and his mother the late Mdm. Yut Moi . Keep up Mr. Chong Boon Hin your gratitude to your parents. The Lord Buddha has said ‘that we can never return in full the sacrifices of good parents.’
As I said attachment is difficult to fathom. Even the daughter Dr. Gauthami staying far away in England has made a generous donation to Aunty Shanty via internet transfer to support our Vesak Celebration and feeding the poor and needy. Doubtless is the Teachings of the Buddha as truly great and practical. She is a truly blessed mother.
How can I forget ladies like Julianne her sister and their friend who brought special, quality cakes for us. I am thankful to them and Miss Indrani who helped out with computer work, programme work and account work Thank you ladies for helping out.
I pray to the Compassionate Buddha to shower His blessings on the donors, supporters and well wishers who helped to make Vesak a successful day at Metta Forest Hermitage.
Roshi Lingam
Metta forest hermitage.
019 23 79
244
Construction of Wall around Metta Forest Hermitage
Metta Hermitage wishes to thank all those who have faith in Dharma and donated generously towards the setting up of wall around Metta Hermitage. May the blessings of Buddha Dharma be upon you.
List of donors:
|
Ang Teong Seng & Family Mr. & Mrs. Arumugam, LLN Boo Yong Sang & Family Datuk T.S. Sambanthamurthi Datuk B. Sahadevan Anonymous, Penang G. Krishnan Ganggatharan Somasundaram Govindasamy & Sellam KYCO, PJ Lam Chun Wau & Family Low Cheng Khoon & Yap Geok Lay Low Yaw Hui & Family Low Yaw Shim & Family Manonmani Govindasamy Metta Hermitage Meditation Society B.A. N.Suppiah P.Narayanan Parimalam & Paruvathy Pon. Krishnasamy R. Nuttiah & Athiletchumi R. Palaniappan & Family Ishtanetra, Ishvar & Gayithiri Sri Shenbaga Valli Ashram Thangamany, Tilagesan, Nirmala Devi & Sharmila Devi Triyana Dharma Cakra Viahara, Taiping Yap Fah Hee |
New Wall Photo Collage |
2010 Activities
Vesak 2010 celebration at Metta Forest Hermitage
The Blessings
of Lord Buddha was on us. Mother nature was kind to
us- We were blessed with fine weather. We were wondering whether there would be
a good turn out. We catered vegetarian food for 120
and ordered 120 chairs and 25 tables.
The crowd
swelled to 200. There were not enough chairs and tables. Our secretary Mr.
Narayanan tried to order for more chairs but failed as
the supplier was away in Kuala Lumpur.
Fortunately
our friend Mr. Suppiah from Telecoms, who was helping out at the new
Yasothera Dana food court was wise; he reduced the quantity
of food to avoid wastage. Our Pemalik Chair
person Mdm Pushfa Ram
rushed to the kitchen and prepared meehoon within a
few minutes as everything was ready in case of emergency. Everybody had food to
eat. Another wise move.
The new
Mugalin Zendo Court donated by
Miss Indranee , Mr.Narayanan and
Mr.Krishnan solved the problem of setting up canopies. What
a relief. It was a real miracle as I never in my wildest dream
thought that it was possible. This is the power
of Dharma. The Lord Buddha will not forget his devotees. Another
miracle at our hermitage. Each day I am convinced of the Grace of
the Lord Buddha. Where the Dharma is practiced the blessings of Lord Buddha
will be there too.
I spent
sleepless nights after inviting orphans, old folks, disabled people and wheel
chair bound people worrying about finance to run the show. Being a forest
hermitage away from the busy city and towns and concentrating on pure
Dharma practice without any rites and rituals we do not have many members and
practically no income, except from three donors who donate monthly to
help out in the maintenance of the hermitage; again the Lord Buddha came to our
assistance. Within two weeks a few people whom I approached
donated cash, food provisions and personal requisites. Our
Metta Hall began to fill up
with food provisions and personal requisites from all those devoted to
Metta Hermitage. ( Too many names
to list down )
Even
though our CEO Mr. Wei was away on official business in Amsterdam he instructed
his PA to deposit the money into our bank. He gave
me a surprise by bringing his whole family to our Vesak
celebration.. He rusehed back to be
with us. This is true faith in the Dharma practice at Metta Hermitage. May the Blessings of Lord Buddha be
on him and his family. Please accept my humble
gratitude on behalf of the poor for your generous donation. Thank you for
helping to give away the cash packets to the seven homes.
What more,
members from a another society,
Pemalik, based in Kuala Lumpur volunteered to help us out.
The Advisor, Ratna donated a used round marble table
and six chairs and a hot and cold water dispenser for out
door use. So very thoughtful of him
. May the Blessings of Lord Buddha be on him
15 members
of Pemalik turned up on Vesak
Day with their energetic leader Mdm
Pushfa Ram and donated cash directly to the poor which made
the occasion grand . The chairperson of
Pemalik Mdm
Pushfa Ram did not complain but was ever ready to
help our hermitage to get the ribbons ready for the opening of the two
new courts- Mugalin ZenDo
Court and Yasothera Court- how sweet and
thoughtful of this kind lady- It shows what commitment and dedication can
achieve. May you be blessed be with BuddhaDharma.
Bro. Chong
Su Lim , our webmaster brought his guitar and together
with his sons sang Buddhist hymns. He really inspired the crowd with his
faith in the Lord Buddha.
A senior
lady, Mdm. Letchumi, 80 years old,
from Butterworth who could hardly walk gave an ultimatum to
her son that if he did not take her to Metta
Hermitage she would take a bus to Batu
Arang. She donated the vegetarian lunch. Such
has faith in the Lord Buddha. May her health
improve. There were a few cases of old and sickly people who
rushed up to ask the Buddha for His mercy. May the boundless compassion of the
Buddha be upon them.
Not
only did Mrs. Chong Su Lim rounded up about 23 of the staff of Yuk
Choy School , PJ to donate towards a worthy cause but also brought them over to
our hermitage to help out in the distribution of food provisions which they had
brought earlier. What a compassionate heart. Not only do you show love and
concern to
your own family but you showed great
compassion in donating and and being with the poor and
unfortunate ones in our forest hermitage. I saw so much joy in
their heart and they brought tears in my
eyes. It
is easy to be proud, arrogant and conceited but difficult indeed to come down
to earth and serve the poor. Every great sage in every country won the hearts
of people with their humility and compassion.
May the Blessings of Lord Buddha be on
you.
Brother
Quek Jin Keat, Dr.
Choog Tuck Yew, Datuk Tan
Yeak Hooi, Bro. Wong Tin Song and
Bro. Chong Su Lim rushed up inspite of the traffic
jam after attending other functions to be with
us. I am very thankful to them for their support to our hermitage. May the
Blessings of Dharma be upon them. May they be
blessed with good health to serve humanity.
Our
Professor Vellayan, former head of Zoo Negara, did
not want to be left out. Even though he had just returned the night before from
Kedah came with lots of food provisions . Imagine a
senior person making the sacrifice for the love of Dharma. May the Blessings of
Dharma be on you and your family.
Please do
not think that people in the city forget a hermit in
the forest; my old friend Dr. Choong Tuck Yew, a
former manager of Bank Negara not only gave me a grand vegetarian dinner in his
house but gave a big donation towards Vesak,
saying ‘Let not the left hand know what the right hand received.’ It was
obvious that he was not looking for publicity. May the merits accrued by this
meritorious deed help him in his Dharma practice. It
is great to know that I am fortunate to associate with such noble people. May
you be blessed with good health and good fortune.
People
speak of kindness and trust I saw it in reality.
Just a phone call to Mr.Lee Hing
Lee a plastic factory owner who was driving his car did not want me to
wait, he asked his daughter Sharon to hand over a big donation to me at his
factory. The daughter did not want to be left out she too gave big donation.
This is the power of dharma when we work for Dharma. The Dharma is our guide
and guardian.
Mr. Daniel
Lim is another greater supporter of our hermitage. Just a phone call and he
asked his daughter Mei Lim and his sister Kelly Lim to buy food provisions at
Carrefour to fill up the car. Brother and sister shared the cost. This is trust
in Dharma. May the Blessings of Dharma be on
them for their continuous support.
Please
forgive me if I do not list down all the great people who came forward to help
our hermitage to have a grand Vesak. The list will be
too long but I must mention our Secretary Mr. Narayanan, our Vice President Mr.
Somasundram, and his wife Malliga
who helped out in the food distribution. I will never be forgiven if I ever
forget our noble lady , Aunty Shanty who has dedicated
her life to serve Metta Forest Hermitage and make
Vesak a grand day. She is a blessed lady. May you be in
good health to serve Buddha Dharma for many more years.
The
hermitage was full of joy and peace. All the seven homes took with them plenty
of cash, food provisions and personal requisites. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you.
I wish to
thank each and everyone for the generous donation
of cash, food provisions, personal requisites, donation of cooked food ,
personal attendance and selfless service to make Vesak
a happy occasion at Metta Forest Hermitage.
May all
beings be well and happy.
Roshi Lingam
Metta forest hermitage.
019 23 79
244
Click here to view photos from our Wesak Celebrations 2010.
Metta Hermitage Donors List:
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Mr. & Mrs. R. Palaniappan of Country Homes has paid for bathroom cum toilet
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Mr. S. Thanasegaran of Batu Caves and Mr.S. Shunmugam of Sg. Buloh have paid for the porch extension and the passage to the Meditation Hall
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Tsukasa Sakaisan of Japan has paid for two awnings at the front of our meditation hall
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Dr. Gauthami Ramalingam of London, Dr. Ravi Palanivel of Alor Setar and Dr. Chong Boon One of Shah Alam have contributed RM1,000 each towards maintenance of Guru
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Dr. Shamala Ramalingam of Shah Alam contributed RM 500 for maintenance of Guru
May the Blessings of Lord Buddha be on them for their faith in Metta Hermitage to deliver the Dharma.