New Zealand BLIA YAD Learn to Develop Self-Mastery in Consensus Seminar
From 17th to 19th July 2020, New Zealand BLIA YAD organised the Consensus Seminar, with the aims of developing mutual understanding about Buddhism among the youths and bonding like-minded youths together via extensive Buddhism-related discussions.
On the first day of the Seminar, the organising committee welcomed the participants with a series of ice-breaking activities and dance practices. The bonds between the participants have been fostered after a few rounds of games such as act it out, truths or dares and Codenames Pictures. Apart from having a series of incessant laughter, the participants know each other better, which is a crucial step before reaching a mutual consensus.
In the afternoon, the participants travelled back in time to several thousand years ago, which was the era when Prince Siddharta (Buddha) was born. Venerable Miaoyu led the participants to unravel the history of Buddhism, which would serve as important lessons, even in this modern era. “One must understand the history of a particular field in order to excel in that field, which should not be limited to Buddhism study only,” Venerable Miaoyu said.
Subsequently, the guiding venerable of BLIA YAD, Venerable Rulian, led a Buddhist Hymn session by singing Bodhisattvas from Ten Directions （十方一切剎）. Accompanied by a soothing melody, singing Buddhist Hymn brought the participants closer to Buddhism with a clear and calm mind. The participants were thrilled to be given an opportunity to perform the Buddhism Hymn as an opening performance in the BLIA Seminar organised on the next day.
On 18th July, after attending the seminar organised by BLIA, the participants obtained some basic medical knowledges from a seminar entitled ‘Physical Wellbeing’. The seminar was delivered by YAD Subchapter 1 committee member, Mr. Larry Yang. He gave several practical tips on the ways to relieve stress built on muscles, which typically arises due to sedentary lifestyle and spending a long time in front of electrical gadgets.
After knowing more about the immune system, the participants embarked on another journey of discovering the importance of faith in a workshop entitled ‘Youth and Faith’, led by the Director of Oceania Fellowship Committee, Miss Dolly Tsai and the President of BLIA North Island Chapter, Mr. Lintao Yu. Miss Dolly explained that Buddhism’s origin was from India, in which Buddhism was then propagated to China by an early batch of venerables such as Kumarajiva. A closer example of propagator in the modern era is none other than Venerable Master Hsing Yun. “I encourage all youths to follow the footsteps of Venerable Master and keep improving on your own self to offer a better service to the public,” she said.
Mr. Lintao opened up a discussion by directing a question to the youths, “Since having good thoughts is sufficient to make the world a better place, why do you need to have faith?” His answer to his own question was that having good thoughts can only serve as a basis, in which we will need the power of faith to instil more wisdom into our daily life. Once we have obtained adequate wisdom, we would understand the causes and conditions behind every occurrence. “Please remember to hold on to your initial aspirations and regard temple as a shelter to shield yourself from all negative distractions,” Ms Dolly and Mr Lintao added.
During the discussion, the president of YAD Subdivision 2, Thomas, shared that the most important value that he has learned from his service in temple is compassion. He quoted a simple formula from Abbess Manshin for those who lack understanding on the definition of Buddhism, saying that love + wisdom = compassion. The president of YAD Subdivision 3, Lisa, expressed that she has had a surge in confidence after volunteering at temple, particularly in terms of event planning. The president of Fo Guang Club, Edwin, encouraged all members not to be afraid of making mistakes while offering their services in temple, since these mistakes are perfect learning opportunities.
The participants stepped into the last day of seminar by attending ‘Developing Self-Mastery’ Seminar, delivered by Abbess Manshin. Approximately 50 participants, including Ms Dolly, Mr. Lintao, BLIA advisors, presidents and committee members, joined Abbess on a journey to discover the true potential of life. Apart from the Six Sensory Faculties, namely eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, we have two extra consciousness (Mona Consciousness and Alaya consciousness), which combine together to form eight factors that govern our behaviour. Abbess Manshin expressed the additional consciousness in layman terms, stating that Mona consciousness is formed based on the attachments that we hold tightly in our lives, whereas Alaya consciousness is analogous to an online storage, which contains all important and miscellaneous inputs.
The participants were then separated into groups for a discussion session led by Ms Dolly, Mr Lintao and YAD committee member, Nick. Fo Guang Club members, Sulun and Shanti, shared that they have learned to shoulder responsibilities and help others in need after volunteering in the temple. The Vice President of YAD Subdivision 1, Yao Chang, explained that she has been inspired by the BLIA members to always stay true to her initial aspirations and to treasure the Triple Gem. The youth representative from BLIA First Subchapter, Kyle, shared that we should be garnering more positive energy by practising 3 Goodness and 4 Givings and learning from people surrounding yourself.
As a closing remark, Abbess Manshin encouraged all attendees to improve on own self by practising Four Right Efforts, namely prevent unwholesome states, end unwholesome states, develop wholesome states ang strengthen wholesome states. In addition, The Noble Eightfold Paths, Four Means of Embracing, Five Precepts, Six Paramitas and Ten Good Deeds should be the references in our lives to develop self-mastery.