As Dharma practitioners, we all start out hearing the same teachings. But I have noticed that after some years of everybody getting the same basic teachings, some people are interested in particular teachings and practices, while others are more interested in other teachings and practices. What was so incredible about the Buddha’s teaching is that he gave a variety of teachings according to the disposition of many different sentient beings. Especially within the Mahayana tradition, where we are talking about being of benefit to all sentient beings and are looking at the long-term. Our life is not just about studying, meditating, and getting liberated, it is also about how to offer service to sentient beings and help society

People have all sorts of different karma, so we need to have space for everyone to see what their talents and their ways of practicing are. Some people may use their talents to practise medicine, while others offer service to the monastery or use their talent in some other way.

It is quite good that there are a whole variety of ways the lives of Buddhist practitioners can unfold, both lay people and monastics. In Singapore, many people would ask me why the monks in Burma and Tibet were protesting and how horrible they thought it was. This is because, in the Singaporean society, monastics are not supposed to have anything to do with the political or social life of the country. I would explain that the monks are protesting because they are the conscience of that society, and they are the only ones who can express that what their government is doing is causing suffering. Each culture has a very different take on these issues and different people have different ways of thinking. We cannot say one size fits all.

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