Raymond Lam (Buddhist name: Su Shan)
B. Arts (Honours) (UQ)
Academia
Mahayana Buddhology, Buddhist ethics, philosophy of religion, spirituality and personal development.
Research Interests
Christian-Buddhist dialogue between Thomas Merton and Shantideva.
List of Publications
(forthcoming December 2009) “Luiz Costa Lima Discussion Paper: The Consecration and Problem of the Individual and Self, and Freedom through ‘Spiritual Law’” in Crossroads: An interdisciplinary journal for the study of history, philosophy, religion and classics
(forthcoming November 2009) “Love and Enlightenment: The Narrative of Jyotis in the Skill-in-Means Sutra and Sexuality in Buddhist Care” in Crossroads: An interdisciplinary journal for the study of history, philosophy, religion and classics
“The problem of Evil and Theodicy: A Non-Classical Approach through the Philosophy of the Gospels” in Emergent Australasian Philosophers. Issue 2, July 2009, 1 – 23 (available in PDF)
“Renewing Self-Knowledge through the Essayist Autobiography: Montaigne’s Philosophy of Humanity in the Essays” in Emergent Australasian Philosophers. Issue 1, November 2008, 1 – 16 (available in PDF)
“Mahayana Buddhist Ethics as Imperatively Religious: A Hermeneutical Study of the Avatamsaka Sutra”, in Crossroads: An interdisciplinary journal for the study of history, philosophy, religion and classics. Volume 3, Issue 1: 2008 Short Essay Competition: Undergraduate Section – 1st Place, 67 – 72 (available in PDF)
Talks/Lectures
Relational Buddhism: Windows into Relationship for Buddhist Vocation (06/06/2009, 69 Thomas Street, West End, Brisbane, Australia)
An Introduction to Buddhism (08/07/2009, 127 Kennedy Terrace, Paddington, Brisbane, Australia)
Guest Lecturer for course RELN2310: Religion and Violence at the University of Queensland. Week 11: Buddhism and Violence. (14/10/2009)
The Awakened Mind: A Window to Japanese Pure Land Buddhism. (07/11/2009, 69 Thomas Street, West End, Brisbane, Australia)
UQ Honours Research
RELN6001: Individual Honours Study Unit 1 – The Contemplative Dimensions of Detachment and Solitude in Thomas Merton and Shantideva: A New Dialogue in Experiential Monastic Convergences
RELN6000/6003: A Dialogue Between Thomas Merton’s Agape and Shāntideva’s Karuna: Some Moral Dimensions of a Catholic and Mahayana Exchange
Other
Recipient of the UQ Library Excellence Award (2009)
Hey Ray, very nice looking new blog, it really suits. I like the category thing too.
Oh yeah~ O_O
hi raymondo,
I’m quite impressed with your new blog. There are even stories that I can read. But what happened to your favourite music. I thought you like JC…
hey raymond. hmm you have told me about your blog for some time now and its about damn time i commented. hahaha im glad that you can differentiate your blog from a lot of those other blogs online that seem to have no point of existence at all. keep up the good work and i’ll see you at lunch.. mmmm food.. yummy
Hey Raymond
You should read the Vedanta more by Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu Monk from India.
Your writings are amazing really defies you age.
Keep writing.
Cheerz
Mayukh
Hi there Mayukh, I have bookmarked the page about Swami Vivekananda on Wikipedia, the soul of all knowledge and learning (I like poking fun at Wikipedia, but I think it is very impressive). I think many in the West struggle with concepts of the ancient Eastern philosophers (I notice many also have trouble with the ideas of the Buddhist patriarchs) because we haven’t given them enough exposure. I will do my best to post educated and unbiased entries of my ideas about these philosophers and mystics… visit again soon~
How about putting some pictures of yourself on your blog, including the six-pack ones taken recently? Nowadays blogs tend to be multi-media, and there is actually this term ‘v-blog’ in use. You may like to take a look at other blogs to get an idea of where your pictures can be placed.
I’ve uploaded a lot of pictures and photos, including the ones taken recently, but I’m still a beginner at this picture business. I’m afraid WordPress Help is also confusing for me: I remember Blogger was a bit more beginner-friendly with pictures.
Raymond,
I like both of your blogs very much.
I see we have some similiar interests. I have been a fencer for12 years. . .although my ncaa glory days are behind me.
I think that this is an intriguing connection in addition to the shared interest in the dhamma.
Thank you very much seekingfor, always glad to encounter a fellow seeker. I have no glory days of martial arts; I am just a student, and will probably always be. All my friends, when they did fencing, would select the sabre because of the legality of slashing rather than just jabbing, poking and lunging. Personally I think epee is underrated.
I’m an epeeist. I believe it is the most precise weapon. Epee at fist seems simple, but when fenced at the higher levels really becomes complex.
Hi Raymond,
I just stopped by to check out your blog and found it very enlightening. You’ve got a beautiful thing going here. I’ll certainly be back for more. :)
Hey Raymond, how’s it going? I like what you have been doing with the blog – it looks a hell of a lot more professional now. As to the content, hmm, aren’t you getting a bit too cocky? I saw that side of you even when I first found your blog. At that time you were writing about your aspirations to become a missionary or a spiritual/religious ‘leader’. That was pretty worrying – the only spiritual leaders I have ever liked were the ones who got there by mistake, not by choice or need. They also made sure to inform everyone that they were as able to make a mistake or err as anyone else. Now, reading some of the newer stuff on your blog, I have to say that your cockiness is growing fairly quickly.
I have been doing a lot of things over the past year and a half (I assume that the things I have been doing are not so dissimiliar from your own personal journey) and I was growing more arrogant by the minute. It’s natural, I guess, when you successfully break through some pretty heavy psychological defences that your mind throws your way to test you, that you grow cocky. There are fewer things more empowering than beating yourself and letting yourself grow as a human being. But I do have to warn you that the arrogance has made my life pretty difficult at times and has cost me a terrible price in the end. If I didn’t have my loving partner there to support me and help me understand where I went wrong, I don’t know where I would be now.
So, please, keep checking that your ego doesn’t overgrow the rest of your lovely being. I have always preferred the humble monk and you have the right mix of intelligence, kindness and sense of humour to be a wickedly great guy. See you around and keep on writing.
What a refreshing site of yours here!
Since Aug 06, there are nearly 4000 visits to your site. Wow!
Then you probably are the one we can ask advice. Please let me know what you think about the blog here. Are there any ways to let more people to benefit from it? What do you think the important elements it must have so that it can do well like yours here? :)
hi there Esoteric Sheik. I have missed your visits.
I will agree with your criticism. I am growing cocky with this blog. But I cannot say that this is spilling over into my daily life. Why? Recently I in fact have been growing slightly less “smiley” and occasionally more sharp-tongued. This has nothing to do with my blog, but with my work. Therefore this blog has become less of a religion/philosophy centre than a lounge where I kick off my shoes and fire away. Hence, the relaxed language, flamboyancy, and occasional cockiness. I hope you understand that I am mindful that this doesn’t leak into my daily life. But your admonishment is entirely legitimate and I take it very seriously. (I sincerely wanted to change this blog’s look, however, into a more metropolitan feel.)
As a result of this blog’s recent amendments “The Asian Prospect” is now my religion/philosophy centre. Check it out when you have some time.
Duetsi, I have put a comment on your blog. I will link you. Bear in mind that there are plenty more successful blogs than mine. There are some that have started only this month but have reached visitors a lot more often than my blog used to in September last year. Also check out Natasha’s excellent blog, which has been online for about the same time but has enjoyed more visitors than mine. The key is to write things people want to talk about. And sometimes it will simply depend on luck.
Thank you Raymond. Yes, I have noticed what you showed me.
Have a fruitful Chinese New Year!
OM MANI PADME HUM
It looks like the Buddha Warrior has found his reincarnation
Hey are you Raymond lam or somebody random?
[...] awe-inspiring site now disclose this judgement http://buddhawarrior.wordpress.com/about and give comments [...]
I was looking for any articles about Brendan Nelson’s attack on Plato and I found your blog
This is really cool the content is great and enjoyable to read
Mariusz has his own blog as well for his animation
his blog is also very cool
Look foward to catching up for a tea sometime
It is now time for me to get back to pursuing the forms
Hey it’s nice to see your online presence! Do you have Mariusz’s blog URL??
I tagged you for a meme on my blog. I hope you can find the time to play.
See the post on my page called “Tagged by ZenFrog”
http://preciousmetal.wordpress.com/
hey…
just wanted to stop by and tell you that I greatly enjoyed your blog. i will be back by time-and-time again.
if you get a free moment, i have a blog posting that you might enjoy reading.
peace and many blessings
Michael Joyce
http://chencenter.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/just-a-thought-2-respect-for-religion/
Hellos,
How are you? Well, I work as a musician of dharma-inspired music. My second CD, ‘Dharmasong’, recently came out and I was wondering whether you might want to check it out and see if you have any interest in writing about it for your blog – I realize it might not be up your alley, but maybe you will like it – I hope so.
You can hear it at iTunes
http://www.myspace.com/RavennaM
CDBaby
or
http://www.RavennaM.com
Well, I hope this finds you well!
take care and I hope to hear from you,
Ravenna
Hi Ravenna,
I’m not a member of MySpace so I can’t actually log on and leave a comment on your site, but this is just to let you know I have visited your blog and listened to your music. I think it’s wonderful music and it seems a lot of other people think so too.
I will see if I can write a post about ‘Dharmasongs’ sometime. It’s been months since I last wrote something about music.
Hey Raymond, thought I’d stop by and say hi. I’ll place a link here on my blog some short time in the future.
Simon.
Raymond, I couldn’t find my Shantideva biography but I have found my copy of his ‘The Way of the Boddhisattva‘ translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. This book is quite interesting as it is a translation, in English, of the Tibetan ‘Bodhicharyavatara‘ (I think Shantideva’s original was in Sanskrit ?). It also has a nice Foreword by HH the Dalai Lama and quite a good introduction. Let me know if you want to borrow it.
Simon.
HI Raymond,
I forgot to get your email from Owen and wondered how you are. Are you coming back to UQ next year?
On the last day of our class I did not realise it was your last day. Good luck for whatever you are doing this year.
I am teaching Owen again enjoying the courses immensely,
with best wishes,
Sylvie
Hi Sylvie, I’ll send you a private message so you don’t have to come out of your way just to check for a reply.
Thank you for publishing Buddha Warrior. I recently started writing three blogs on various Zen-related topics and have included your site in my list of interesting blogs.
Would you consider doing the same for my blogs?
Thanks for your consideration!
Best wishes in the Dharma,
Barry Briggs
http://www.oxherding.com
This is the main blog on which posting occurs 5 days each week.
http://www.godrinktea.com
This blog collects interesting and obscure Zen koans that bear on daily life.
http://www.zenwomen.com
This blog collects stories of female Zen practitioners in Tang Dynasty China.
Hi,
Thank you for linking me. I most certainly can and will reciprocate the favour. Will get to it now. :)
Blessings
Hi Raymond,
I am a member of your religions and philosophy circle on facebook and I have a Masters degree from the Studies in Religion department, Rick Strelan was my thesis advisor.
Anyway, I am putting together a progressive faith book group here in Brissie and I was wondering if you would be okay with giving it a bit of a plug on any of your sites. Here are the details:
The Progressive Faith Book Group.
Beginning Wednesday night, the 10th June, the Progressive Faith Book Group has, as its mission, the breaking down of barriers between people of different faiths and different belief systems. In a respectful environment where understanding and tolerance is the ultimate goal, those books looking at issues in a multi-faith and inclusive way will be the priority of this group.
Do you want to break through the parameters of a narrow interpretation of faith? Do you want to seek common ground, and not demonization? Do you want to join other like-minded individuals in robust discussion and book analysis? Are you not afraid of being challenged in your faith, and seeing how others see and interpret your beliefs?
Then this is the group for you!
DATE: Wednesday 10th June, 2009, and every second Wednesday of the month thereafter.
TIME: 6.30pm to 8.30pm
VENUE: 127 Kennedy Terrace, Paddington
If you are interested please contact:
Emanuele: nexuslets1144@gmail.com
Adrian: adirong@yahoo.com
Would love to see you there Raymond and indeed anyone from UQ interested in this kind of a group. The first book is likely to be The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra (which is going to really confront some of the participants, which is what I am aiming for).
Cheers,
Adrian