By Sin Lei

Due to a department organizational change recently, my management has hired an Asia Head, based in Singapore and I have a new Manager to report to. The new Asia Head is very interested in department branding and showing visibility to senior management. However, I am one who always tries to keep a low profile at work and not show much visibility to him or the other senior management in the Singapore office. 

One day, the Asia Head asked me to his office. He demanded an explanation on why I did not reach out to the Singapore’s senior management to showcase the work I have done for the past 2 years that I have been with the company. He thought that I did not do a good job in building up the department’s reputation and visibility.  

I was caught off guard and not sure how to respond. He also cornered me with a few other questions, of which some I was only able to answer diplomatically and some I was not able to. I knew he was trying to deliberately belittle me and make me feel worse with each question.  At the end of the meeting, he said he will have one-on-one meetings with me every 2 weeks and wished me a good evening. 

I felt a bit moody after the meeting. I was quite sure I would have felt worse if I have not been practicing the Teachings of the Buddha, which is to try and discard the negative thoughts, whenever the details of the meeting replayed in my mind. But I was still “unstable”. At times, I was not able to discard the negative thoughts and would feel annoyed as I thought the Asia Head was being unreasonable and not a good leader.   

I related this incident to one of my mentors and she advised that I need to be more active in gaining work knowledge so as to manage the Asia Head better.  Although I agreed with my mentor that I need to be more resourceful, I was still unable to accept the fact that the Asia Head’s main purpose is to enhance department visibility and branding. Resolving issues, improving work policies and processes and developing staff do not seem to be of priority to him.  

After thinking about this for days, it suddenly dawned on me that I should not view the Asia Head’s actions and intentions negatively. I should change my mindset. Every time when I meet the Asia Head, I should view this as an opportunity to brush up my interaction skills with senior management. After all, how often does a junior staff get the chance to have a one-on-one meeting with a senior manager? The meetings are also good opportunities for me to understand what I need to improve on, whenever the Asia Head throws a question at me and I am not able to answer. Hence, I should not stress over these meetings, but rather, I should view them positively, as good learning opportunities to enhance my work experience. And to quote one of Venerable Master Shen Kai’s Words of Wisdom from the 108 Gems II Book: “Emulate the positive attributes of others, not the short-comings. More importantly, do not criticize others.”

I realized there is a need to constantly read up on Buddhist Teachings so as to better guide and remind ourselves to deal with work issues with wisdom and correct mindset. Also, I should not be stubborn over my own views of how the department culture should be like, because this is not within my control. It does not matter that the Asia Head likes to build department visibility. In the course of helping the Asia Head to achieve department visibility, I just need to be aware and clear-minded that my objective is to gain more work exposure. With such clear perspective, I will then be able to approach my work with a positive attitude.  

In a constantly changing environment where organizational changes and restructuring are becoming more and more common, it is important for oneself to adapt to work changes rather than blaming the company, the new boss, new colleagues and so on for these changes. It is meaningless to grumble and feel sorry for oneself, which may eventually lead oneself to resign from the company. Since changes are inevitable, we should try to position our mindset positively, allowing us to feel more at ease immediately and to better cope with any types of changes. As long as we illumine our mind, then we will not feel distress and everyday will be a good day! 

By Lingzhi

Like many others, when I first started working after graduating from school, I was idealistic. I did not just want a job. I wanted a career. I wanted to excel.

In the first few years, I worked hard, pumped in extra effort to value add myself and to add value to my work. I was aggressive, critical and sometimes hot-tempered. I was intolerant of ‘mistakes’ as I had high expectations of my colleagues.

I did not mind working late every other day, as I wanted recognition for my work efforts. The ultimate goal was of course to achieve promotion and to climb up the corporate ladder.

At that point of time, I was already actively involved in activities at a Buddhist centre during the weekends. I listened to Dharma talks, joined chanting activities and even helped out regularly at the Buddhist centre.

However, I came to realize that whatever I practiced and learnt over the weekends, at the Buddhist centre, seemed to be only for the weekends. During the weekends, I was nice to people. But on weekdays, while working, I did not treat my colleagues better. Overall, I did not seem to improve as a person.

As the years passed by and after changing a few jobs, I began to see and realize more. Slowly I thought to myself: I put in so much of my time and effort in my job and for the company, but what had I done to grow myself as a person? Did I become a better person over the years? Did I practice what I had learnt from the Dharma teaching over the years?

The answers to the above questions were obviously “NO”.

I began to change my mentality and attitude. I needed to be true to myself! I began to practice what I have learnt over the years, in my course of work. I practiced compassion (with wisdom) at work, became more courteous in my emails and gave others the benefit of doubt. I began to put myself in the shoes of others, mellowed my temper and was more patient than before.

It took me many years to finally see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel and to integrate the practice of Buddhism in my life. Talking is easy, but being able to walk the talk is the challenge. I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn about the Dharma teachings of Buddha, Venerable Master Shen-Kai and my Buddhist teacher at the Buddhist centre. Some say a leopard never changes its spots, but I think it can, slowly, but surely.

May Buddha be with you.

By Ru Lan 

I found Jen Chen Buddhism ten years ago. Following the Teachings of Jen Chen Buddhism wholeheartedly without any query, I gradually eradicated my bad habits.

Though I did not have the chance to meet Venerable Master Shen Kai in person, I was still able to be with Him when reading his books and listening to his talks on the Buddha’s Teachings on discs. Venerable Master Shen Kai prepared and wrote the daily morning and evening practice routines for His disciples and every method is also a path for cultivation. I really regret not cultivating conscientiously enough, for not putting enough effort and not achieving good enough results. For instance, recalling one of his Teachings ‘One would rather die than to reveal other’s misdeeds’, I wonder whether there was a time when I had never complained or gossiped about someone else’s mistake or wrongdoing, and I realised my answer was “No!” Now I strive to say good things at all times, to only talk about work or school and not about people, to refrain from gossiping about people, and to focus on carrying out my duties well.

One particular Teaching of ‘Do not be too attached to one’s ego and outlook or appearance’ has the most effect on me. I used to spend lots of time on my personal appearance in the past. Ever since I understood that our bodies are simply empty shells, I no longer regard looks as much as I did before. I stopped spending money on facials, styling my hair and buying expensive clothes and cosmetics. I know all these are just an illusion and unnecessary as long as we dress neatly and appropriately. What’s most important is to make good use of our body given to us by our parents to do many things that benefit others, to follow the Buddha’s Teachings in our daily lives and never do evil things. We need to purify our minds and increase our blessings and wisdom so as not to waste the opportunity as a human in this lifetime.

I would self-reflect on my actions everyday. I pledge to follow the Buddhadharma to cultivate in every way so as not do injustice to our gracious Master.

By Sin Lei

While holidaying in Cambodia, I met an old British couple who were on the same one-day tour that we signed up to. During the tour, we went to a village and observed how the Cambodian villagers lived. It was an eventful day.

During our lunch break, the British husband shared that his son used to work in Japan as a part-time worker for a company that produces batteries. As the Japanese boss had a poor command of English, his son went beyond his job scope to help the boss create presentation slides, prepare meeting minutes and review documents in English everyday. 

Then, one day, the boss asked the son if he would like to relocate to the company’s South America branch, to work in a new role. The son was surprised by the offer. He clearly did not expect the opportunity as he was only a part-time worker. Upon hearing the offer, the son’s immediate reaction was: “But I know nothing about batteries!”  The boss, however, was confident that the son would be able to excel in the role and insisted that he take up the job offer. Eventually, the son accepted the offer and went to South America.

I was truly touched by this sharing. This was a real life situation of a young man, who, although was only a part-time worker and not earning as much as a full-time worker, did his best for his boss and the company without expecting any returns.

After I reached my hotel that evening, I reflected on myself. I had always thought that I was a responsible worker, who would occasionally go out of the way to help my bosses and colleagues to complete work that did not belong to me. However, there were also occasions where I could have offered more assistance to my colleagues, but I did not. As such, how could I consider myself as being responsible?  I should treat all my colleagues equally and offer the same quality assistance and responsiveness to each of them.

Apart from going out of his way to help the boss, the son of the British couple must have exhibited other positive traits which the boss liked so much that he would offer the son, who had no prior relevant work experience, a relocation package. I reflected on myself again. Are there any other aspects which I need to improve on? Apparently, yes. There were times when I was not tolerant of other people’s mistakes and I was also mean to colleagues who were a bit slow. Thus, I should learn to be more accommodating so that a more harmonious work environment can be achieved.  

I will definitely need to work on my attitude when I am back to work!