YAD Study Group Experience Spirit of Venerable Master

In order to demonstrate to the YAD members the concept and spirit of Fo Guang Shan’s Humanistic Buddhism, a weekly Saturday Dharma Class at 2pm in the afternoon has been held since September, with Venerable Juexi leading the class. On 10th October, the Venerable continued on the documentary series of the previous class; “Passing on the Lineage– The Story of Fo Guang Shan” to a class of fifteen youth.

The documentary film outlined the magnificent Great Buddha Land as well as the feature and functions of the Buddha Hall. The youth members witnessed the painstaking process of excavating the bamboo forest without any water source and also learnt about Venerable Master’s compassionate vow to transform his blood into drinking water for living beings during the water cut-off incident during a summer camp.

The YAD members also discovered that all the statues of the Great Buddha Land were constructed from cement; however, as there is a Buddha within our hearts, what people see, therefore, are majestic Buddhas instead of boulders of cement.

At the conclusion of the film, everyone shared their experiences in a group discussion and took the opportunity to consult the Venerable on the issue of communication breakdown. The Venerable explained the need to learn to “turn around” the situation by maintaining a comfortable space between oneself and family members, as this leaves room for adjustment at a time of rapid adolescent growth and change.

The YAD members also brought up the issue of witnessing students being bullied and how to deal with that situation, by which the Venerable advised to never use one’s fist to show one’s strength, but to use a compassionate heart and one’s wisdom, as with that one can naturally alter the course of things.