Prajna Book Reading Club” – Using Magnanimity to Look at Life

In order to promote this year’s “Humanistic Buddhism Reading Club” movement, on the afternoon of 16th December, East 1 subchapter chairperson Jennifer led 9 team members through a learning session for the “Prajna Reading Club”. The session involved the reading of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Dharma words titled “A Life of Magnanimity”.

An open and frank discussion was carried out regarding the topic of “Attachment”. Through the discussion, everyone shared their feelings, experiences and insights gained from daily activities and work. Some of life’s attachments are summarised as: attachment to wealth and material possession, attachment of expectations from older generation to younger generation, young people’s emotional attachments. It’s always because someone takes things too hard and can’t let go that will caused so much vexation and mental afflictions. If we can learn to use magnanimity to face these problems, then we can avoid a lot of life’s complicated impediments. So we should use our own experiences and observing the experiences of others, to learn how to let go of our attachments.

Through the reading of a story about the famous ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, titled “Singing to the rhythm of a beaten basin”; everyone gained clearer understanding about life. Every person’s life only last for a short while, within one ksana there will be 900 instances of arising and ceasing, everything and every being will exist temporarily in different forms. Only by comprehending the reality of living and death, which is “If there is life, then there is death”, can we truly face life with magnanimity. Then we can let go of attachment and be carefree.