Buddha Walking on Thames

Last week, London was taken over by Buddhists. Three things events sealed London's reputation as one of the epicentres of Buddhism in the West:

1. The Buddhist Art Forum, the first of its kind, held at the Courtauld Institute of Art and sponsored by the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. Stretching over four days and three evening receptions at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and the Courtauld, the conference invited academics, conservators, and artists from many different institutions across the world to the British capital, which has now also become the Buddhist capital of the West. London is a lucky city in so many ways: Europe's financial capital, a contender to be Europe's technology capital, and now, a capital for Buddhist art.

2. A private £2.5 million donation by Mr. Y. C. Ho to kick off a new Masters in Buddhist Art Conservation, which will be jointly taught by academics and conservators at the V&A, the Courtauld, and my old university, SOAS. Things were looking good a few years ago with the Robert Ho Gallery of Buddhist sculpture at the V&A, but this seals the deal for London as a Buddhist art centre.

3. Not content to rest on its already massive laurels, the Foundation also sponsored and hosted the annual International Buddhist Film Festival, which featured several movies I watched and reviewed for work.

Needless to say, it was an exhausting few days but incredibly inspiring and also rather humbling. Looking at all the conservators and academics who've had so many adventures contributing to the preservation of Buddhist arts and culture, you realize it's a big world and there is so much more to be done. It's exciting, to say the least.

Check out this link for more details about what happened in that most eventful and productive week.

I'm glad I'm ill!

I came down with a sore throat and a throbbing headache last night and it has persisted till today. I spent the day recovering by watching Dead Poets' Society, sleeping, and anything else that didn't involve my writing. And I'm glad I did, because if you're not making progress in your work, you might as well stop trying.

For the past few days I've been stuck at that impasse that many authors would call "Writer's block". I personally don't believe in writer's block because I think the term is a bit meaningless. It's meaningless because if I told you I had writer's block, your natural question would be "why?". So I can give you a few answers: I'm tired, or I'm demotivated. I'm sick, or I'm unhappy. Or I might actually have a lot of energy, but my brain just isn't coming up with the right words or expressions. To me, those are the real reasons for not getting any work done. Writer's block isn't a real mental state where you suddenly freeze up, unable to put pen to paper. It's tempting to believe in it, but I'm sceptical when there are so many more obvious or plausible reasons why I can't get work done. For example, doing this blog post. But I'm treating today as my day off, so I've let myself of the hook.

Most of the time I find my writer's blocks to be mere procrastination. 

My sad, sad range of hobbies.

Welcome to the blog of a journalist. I've recently kicked off a career as a writer of the religious sort, because since 2010 I've been writing for a Buddhist website called Buddhistdoor International, which is based in Hong Kong. I've also had some academic articles published. I do arts and culture features and commentary like interviews or museum, book, and movie reviews. My workplace is the strikingly snazzy Wang Fat Ching She, a temple which aside from its usual library, meditation halls and shrine was renovated in 2011 with an air-conditioned conference room, new offices for creative media, and a bloody up-to-date broadcasting studio for our radio channel. I'm proud and sad at the same time, because my hobby, or what I do on weekends or after work, is almost the same as what I do on weekdays and during work.

One of my biggest regrets has been my lack of initiative in joining clubs and societies where people actually moved body parts beyond their fingers on a keyboard. I was a happy member of an Australian karate club and I still keep in touch with my sensei and fellow karateka, but because my academic interests and work took me to London and Hong Kong (my hometown), I left Brisbane after three years of being able to count myself as a genuine "club member."

Two young holy lads I snapshotted in Bodhgaya in 2008. Or was it 2007? I hope dearly they've become leaders of faith and community builders.

What else do I enjoy apart from writing and reading insatiably? Here're some examples:

• The History Boys (but you can only enjoy a movie so many times)
• Badminton (but I haven't had a game since 2010)
• Magic the Gathering (but I haven't played since 2006)
• Piano/learning an instrument (but I haven't done so since 1995/96)
• Buddhism (I was a founding member of the SOAS Mindfulness Society, but I've forgotten when was the last time we actually organized anything)
• Bball (Rahul, Mark and I made a killer team)
• Pop culture like manga and video games (although I've discovered that I can't play Skyrim for more than an hour before I get a throbbing headache that lasts for over a week... I think it's a hint for something)

... If I look at how I've invested my leisure time in list form, it looks kind of tragic. *sighs* Anyway, that's all I have to throw at this new blog for now. Feel free to leave a comment or some feedback if you like or hate this blog (I'll take anything).

~(^.^)~