Modern Buddhist Fellowship

Last weekend, I had to be down in Singapore for a cousin’s wedding and so, Pastor JJ invited me to go to Modern Buddhist Fellowship. I thought it was a good idea and so, I agreed. When I got to Singapore, Joshua Sim told me that they were going to have a gathering on Sunday morning. I thought it cool and so I asked him for the address.

Blk 217, Henderson Road,

Henderson Industrial Park,

#03-06, Singapore 15955

Needless to say, it wasn’t difficult to find the road.  I alighted from the taxi as soon as I arrived and walked down the road and found block 217. Well, I took this picture just as I found the block. This is not my first time but that doesn’t mean I am familiar with the area.

Strolling down the block, I found MBF here as I my eyes trail down the numbers and found one that match within the same block as the Gelato Specialists. Hmmm… I took the industrial-sized lift up…

The foyer of MBF is pretty unique. Looks more like an art studio than a Dharma center. I immediately recognized the Black Manjushri statue sitting on the counter to be the one that Rinpoche gave Pastor JJ not too long ago. Nice… Interesting rainbow silhouette of Lama Tsongkhapa on the wall!

The altar has a rather Pastor JJ touch to it with big statues of Lama Tsongkhapa in the middle, Manjushri on the left side and Vajrayogini on the right side. The altar is crowded with other smaller imagery and elaborate offerings. With the theatrical ‘starlights’ and black curtains hung behind Lama Tsongkhapa, it gives a rather modern, yet traditional take on a Tibetan Buddhist altar.

As your attentions shifts to the left, there sits a throne with a decidedly larger than life Tsem Rinpoche beaming at you. I am not sure if its life-sized but it does make the throne look a little small. Thrones are actually from where the lama sits to give discourses and when he is not around, it represents his presence and blessings of the lama and the Dharma.

Since Pastor JJ is mostly in Kechara Malaysia these days, Joshua Sim does his best to run the center with the help of a few sincere friends and members. Joshua has a flair for the arts and this is evident throughout the premises of Modern Buddhist Fellowship ~ tsa-tsas, statues etc. On a nearby table, I saw this statue in the works. It’s quite a life-like Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche statue. Incredible!

When I got there, Joshua told me that I was there to do some sharing. I was like erm…. ok. Ok, luckily I have my book with me. I decided to talk about my book then. Not long after, Cody, Joshua’s brother came up with a family of 4. The lady is apparently a colleague of his. This is going to be interesting…

In the end, more people joined in and this picture was taken right after my little sharing about my book. I gave all sorts of anecdotes and shared a little about Dharma and my experiences with Rinpoche. I guess, it got Cody’s colleague intrigued and just before she left, she asked for my book.

I wanted to take a picture with Joshua and Cody as I was very impressed with what they do here. However, Cody had left earlier and so I just managed to take a picture with Joshua and Mr Teo here. It was a nice experience of sharing and meeting MBF members and friends.

They have a blogsite of their activities:- http://modernbuddhistfellowship.com/