[RealAudio files]

Purpose of Meditation. Helps us understand ourselves and become our own friends; Being alone without feeling lonely; Our tendency to put ourselves down, making comparisons with others, feeling envy and lacking in self-confidence - how to deal with this.
[18 min] : Download | Listen

Explanation of topics raised by audience. What is Buddhist practice and what is Chinese culture/tradition? Is ancestor worship part of Buddhism?~ What do we do as Buddhists? What are the characteristics of a Buddha? Having the Buddha potential - basis for being hopeful and optimistic and having self-confidence ~ What does taking refuge mean? What are the Three Jewels? ~ Buddhism & Christianity-differences & similarities. [26 min] : Download | Listen

Questions and answers [17 min] : Download | Listen

• How can consciousness exist without a body?
• Do Buddhists believe in rebirth or in reincarnation?
• Can our past lives affect our life now?
• When we have a bad thought in our mind, but we don't act out the bad thought, does that create bad karma?
• Does negative karma created in this life only ripen in future lives?

10 Actions that Buddha advised us to refrain from doing, 10 Actions that we should practice, and the benefits of doing these. Important to understand that the Buddha didn't create the rules, the Buddha doesn't punish us; these rules are not commandments; they're just the function of cause and effect. ~ Refraining from doing a negative act is itself a positive act. [18 minutes] : Download | Listen

As a beginner, how does one go about doing a meditation?
[19 min] : Download | Listen

• Difficulty of getting to the meditation cushion - how to deal with this.
• When to do the session, how long to do it.
• 3 motivations to have first thing in the morning.
• What meditation should we do?
• What a meditation session consists of.
• 2 important mental factors that are good to have to help us concentrate.
• Handling distractions.
• Dealing with drowsiness.
• Dealing with unrealistic expectations.
• Visualization to do when chanting.
• Making a dedication at the end of the meditation session.

Questions and answers [17 min] : Download | Listen

• What's the meaning of life? What's the point of repeating the same processes and actions life after life?
• How are the various Buddhist traditions - Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, Zen - different?
• Is Tibetan Buddhism equivalent to Vajrayana?
• Rituals and the Four Noble Truths.
• What do we do when we see people engaging in strange practices in the name of Buddhism?
• What's the difference between breathing meditation, vipassana meditation and samatha meditation?
• Are there ways to cultivate our mind other than meditation, especially if we're weak in meditation?

More explantion on meditation.