A little bit of Dhamma goes a long way: October 2007

Saturday, October 27, 2007

How to handle Q&A in Dhamma Talk?

How to handle Q&A session after a Dhamma talk?
You may find these links helpful...

Tips for handling Q&A session after the presentation.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/speaking/boyd_q_a_after_pres.htm

9 Tips for handling public speaking questions.
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-14-2005-83983.asp

Q&A Made Simple!
http://www.wittcom.com/how_to_handle_questions.htm

How to handle TOUGH questions from the audience?
http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=407

How about Q&A session spesifically in a Dhamma talk setting?

Thus have i understood from my practice, found to be beneficial and would like to suggest:

1) Be aware that there is more than one Buddhist traditions and try not to give answer which is biased towards a particular tradition e.g. issues on vegetarianism. Instead, give a general view and then mention the difference in various traditions that you know of.

2) If we are quoting the Buddha to answer a question, "According to the Buddha...........", make sure that's what the Buddha said and it's not just a hearsay. If we are not sure, just be honest to say so and make the effort to check it out.

3) If we are giving a personal opinion to an answer, which can be a very beneficial sharing, say so, "In my personal experience.........", instead of putting our opinions into the Buddha's mouth. This is important in order not to dilute or contaminate the Buddha's teachings in case our opinion is wrong or it's actually right but not mentioned by the Buddha.

4) It's important to tailor our answer to questioner's level of understanding. Don't be obsessed with Buddhist jargons e.g. jhana, emptiness, nirvana etc. and end up confusing people, mystifying the Buddha's teachings and deluding ourselves that we have answered a particular question well.

5) For further understanding of an answer, we can refer a questioner to further readings e.g. book, CD, website etc. For those will psychological issues (which is rather common among audience in a Dhamma talk), we can refer them to our Buddhist network of mental health volunteers e.g. BGF counseling unit for better answers.

WE LEARN, WE PRACTICE & WE SHARE!

Mudita,
dr. phang

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Alcohol & Heart Disease

Is wine consumption good for heart disease?

This is one of the FAQs related to 5th Precept. People will often quote the "French Paradox" study. This study has MANY limitations:

1. It's a study in the French population - may NOT be applicable to Malaysians.

2. The study is ONLY for moderate wine consumption and not in alcoholics.

3. The study is NOT a strong scientific study - it only suggests and NOT a solid proof.

4. There are others studies to suggest that the evidence is FALSE.

5. It's an OLD study, 1992 - Not up to date.

For a proper perspective of alcohol consumption and heart disease, kindly refer to guidelines from American Heart Assoication: Some of the useful points:

1. Drinking alcohol to prevent heart attack is NEVER a recommendation. i have not come across any medical guidelines in my practice to suggest that people should take up moderate alcohol drinking as a way to prevent heart attack.

2. There are other gold standard strategies to prevent heart attack e.g. stop smoking, control diabetis, hypertension and dyslipidemia, exercise & healthy diet.

3. If you are already drinking alcohol and can't stop drinking, then the next best option is to reduce drinking to a safe level as recommended.

4. Alcohol shouldn't be mixed with Aspirin, a medication commonly prescribed for people with heart attack.

5. Alcohol during pregnancy is a strict NO! There is no such thing as alcohol in little amount for health benefits during pregnancy.

6. Alcoholism is associated with various medical and psychiatric complications.

Overall conclusion: Taking alcohol in moderate amount for health reason may not break the 5th Precept as it usually does not involve addiction or intoxication. But, there is NO strong scientific basis to support that it can prevent heart attack or any other disease. On the other hand, alcohol addiction or intoxication is strongly associated with medical, psychiatric and social complications from a Buddhist and medical pespective.

Hope this is useful.........

Mudita,

dr. phang