Buddhist Personality : Ray Lui

Ray Lui Leung Wai was born to a Chinese family in Vietnam on 22nd December 1956. His family escaped to Hong Kong during the Vietnam war in 1967. His family lived in poverty while in Hong Kong. He had to quit his secondary school to work in a factory in order to support his seriously ill mother.

He joined an acting training course organised by TV station. After graduating from the course he was employed by the TV station as an actor, playing minor supporting roles. His breakthrough came in 1980 when he was cast to play 2nd lead in the drama "The Bund". The drama became a hit and he became the talk of the town and shot him and the 1st leading actor Chow Yuen Fatt to fame. Till today, the classic drama is considered as one of the best ever produced in Hong Kong.

He is a devout Buddhist and is active in charity activities. His exposure to Buddhism started when he was still a small boy where he used to follow his mother to pray in Buddhist temples. One day when he was 8, on Buddha's Birthday, his mother brought him to pray in a temple. At that time he two of his front teeth failed to grow fully since he was 6. He prayed and asked the Buddha to bless him with two fully grown teeth and vowed that he would worship the Buddha if his wish was fulfilled. Miraculously, less than 3 weeks after his prayer, his teeth started to grow to their normal size. Since then he started to pray to the Buddha but not study the Dharma in depth.

It was until in 1985 when he was offered to play the role of the Buddha in a TVB drama that he started to study Buddhism and explore the meaning of Buddhism. Buddhism has brought great changes in his life. It has made him to open his heart, to love people around him and to have a sense of social responsibility.

Today he is not only a successful actor but also a successful businessman and is active in charity works. Together with his wife and a few of his celebrity friends, he often organises charity activities to help those in need.

In October 2009, he recorded a Buddhist album together with actress Rain Li. The proceed from the sale of the album was used to repair a temple and to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake.

The twice divorced Lui married for the 3rd time to Yang Li Quan in 2001 . They have a son.























The drama that shot him to fame, "The Bund"


His ad ( for children charity ) video

Buddhist Personality : Mahasamut Boonyarak

Name : Mahasamut Boonyarak
Nationality : Thailand
Date Of Birth : February 7, 1980
Profession : Singer / Actor

Movie On Buddha Put On Hold

The biggest ever project devised by Ashutosh Gowariker, Buddha, continues to be on hold. The filmmaker, who is known for films that are set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment, has decided that he won't progress on the film till he finds the perfect actor to play the part of Buddha.


"Frankly, it is a very difficult casting which I have in hand here", says Ashutosh Gowariker who would be attempting a film with a religious base to it for the first time ever, "I have seen so many actors worldwide but still haven't found the right face to play the part. It is so difficult because this actor has to be convincing as someone who goes through a complete turnaround in his life. I have to go ahead in a zero-compromise mode here."

Another strong reason behind casting a correct face and physical appearance is the fact that Buddha is being pitched for an international market. This means that the actor, whether new or established, is required to have a pan-universal appeal.

"While this is truly a major reason, I also feel that the team of Buddha has a responsibility to take care of for several other nations as well", continues Gowariker, "There are millions in this world who practice Buddhism; whether it is Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and others. When they see our film, they should be able to relate to the actor and say that this is their Buddha. I should be accurate enough in my presentation so that there is a sense of reverence that comes in for a world-known personality like Buddha."

Buddhist Personality : Linda Wong

Name : Wong Hing Ping
Nationality : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : August 5, 1968
Height : 175cm
Profession : Singer/Actress ( popular in the 90s )

Just Photos : Asian Games Athletes Village Religious Center

The 16th Asian Games which opened on November 12, 2010 in Guangzhou, China welcomes 14000 athletes and officials, including 9704 athletes from all over Asia. The games will last until November 27, 2010.

To accomodate the spiritual needs of the athletes and officials, the organising committee provides 537 religious assistants of various faiths to service the delegations from 45 Asian countries. The Religious Center has rooms to conduct services / prayers for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Taoists, Catholics, Protestants as well as rooms for meditation.

Below are photos of the Religious Center located inside the Athletes village.

Buddhist Story - The Eleven Pigs

Once upon a time there lived a butcher in a small village in China. Everyday he would kill a pig to supply the demand for the people who lived around him. However, slaughtering pigs was an act of killing sentient beings Therefore he often thought of making a living out of other profession,

I should change my profession! There are many jobs I can do out. Why should I be a butcher? My knife has to kill a pig and "dye red" each day. If I kill 20 pigs each month then I would have killed 260 pigs every year. It’‘s terrible whenever time I think about it."


However, the butcher had a family to feed. Slaughtering pigs was a profession that he could made money with ease. Therefore his thought of changing profession became replaced by another thought. He would reassured himself,

"Oh well, well! Changing profession is not that easy, is it? Furthermore it isn’‘t me who like killing pigs. It’s the people who like to eat pork. Otherwise who will I sell to when I kill them? Even though I incur bad retribution, those who eat pork should also share the responsibilities with me as well. Also we keep pigs because we want to eat them, don’‘t we?!!"

Since he had to arrive at the morning market early, and also pigs made tremendous noise when he killed them, therefore he chose to slaughter them at dawn. The butcher also had a habit which he had been keeping up for years. That was: Every morning as soon as he heard the bell rang from the nearby Buddhist temple, he would get up and slaughtered a pig. This habitual action had never changed.

However, one day he got up late. Later he found out that the temple did not ring the bell at all in that morning. When the butcher went to the pig-shed he discovered the mother pig he was going to kill gave birth to 11 sucking-pigs in the morning. Everyone of them was so fat and already they were leaning so close to the mother and suckling for milk. How lovely they were! He felt the event was extraordinary.

Therefore he went to the temple. The abbot of the temple told him,

"I had a dream last night. I dreamed of 11 children who knelt down to beg me to save the life of their mother.

I asked them how I could save her. They replied it was very simple. All I needed to do was not to ring the bell."

Eleven children? Eleven pigs? Suddenly the butcher understood the relationship between them. He threw the knife he killed the pigs into the river. Eventually he determined to change his profession