The above is a 1995 photo by a school senior. This was how the library of Singapore Polytechnic Buddhist Society looked like many years ago. I remember first entering the society room, looking at the sheer number of books and being thoroughly humbled by the fact that I knew little about the Buddha’s teachings, and that there was so much to learn.
For about half a year, I was mostly silent in awe whenever I entered this room. Some seniors even repeatedly asked me if I was ‘alright’! For 3 years, whenever I hung out there, I did what I could to learn more through reading, activities and chats with seniors. It was in SPBS that I gave my first Dharma talk. It was on the link between Buddhism and environmentalism.
It was also there that I realised the Dharma understood and practised could give me confidence, that I could nurture my passion for sharing the Dharma by writing and teaching. Looking at my shelves at home now, they look something like the above, stocked with Dharma books. Learning is lifelong, so long as yet to be enlightened. The books are all the more important now for reference, now that I teach and write on the Dharma full-time. Jiayou everyone!