With Excellent Teachers and Companions, We Can Soldier On!
Amidst laughter and applause, D.E.W. (Dharma Enrichment Workshop) successfully carried out another full-day session on 04 November 2023 to the theme, Master Plan for Our Infinite Lives.
At 9.30 am, the Hall of Jewels was filled with excited participants, each wearing a smile of anticipation. The atmosphere is buzzing with positive energy and a sense of camaraderie. Following the warm and enthusiastic introduction from the emcees, Adeline Wong and Pei Boon, Venerable Benwen welcomed everyone and set the tone for the workshop, emphasising the importance of the participants to fully engage themselves in the workshop, to internalise the content and gain new insights, contemplate and put into practice (even though some may already know it). He reminded the participants the importance of doing so, especially when we meet with obscuration along our learning path.
In the first session, Patrick and Steven used a light-hearted, almost conversational manner to revise the first two principles of Master’s Life Objective and introduced the third principle, which is the importance of the organisation and for us to stay in this environment, with the excellent teachers, sangha community and virtuous friends.
The participants then did a 35-Buddha Repentance and Mandala Offering before breaking for lunch.
After lunch, to battle the food coma, Mui Hoon and Ginger facilitated an experiential session to illustrate the good qualities an excellent teacher should exemplify and Master possessed, in particular, how well he upheld ethical discipline, serenity and wisdom. Participants had to remove the paper backing from their bun without remnants of the bun on it. It truly engaged the participants and few succeeded. The participants also experienced the heat Master had to undergo in India when the air-conditioners were turned off for about half an hour. During that trip, instead of opting of a room with air-condition, Master braved the heat in India for two reasons. Other than saving cost, he also did not want other sentient beings to suffer from the heat from the compressor.
Next, Venerable Bensi shared another story of Master to demonstrate how well he observed his precepts, in which he patiently dabbed the envelop to open it, instead of tearing it. Venerable reminded the participants of the importance of upholding the perfection of patience, especially when we are learning the Dharma. On top of that, he also shared the good qualities he observed of Teacher, including her all-encompassing care for every Sangha member and her non-traditional ways of recruitment.
Rosalind then shared the significance of Dharma Enterprises in our lives. She reminded the participants of the reasons Master established the Dharma Enterprises for the community to stay together, the importance to stay within the community to practise with our companions (that comprises of the sangha community and virtuous friends) and how they have benefited since joining the Monastery. Mui Hoon also shared what kept her going throughout her volunteering journey for the past decade.
Lecturer Choon Lan, the final speaker, came on to round up the workshop to remind the participants that we have been suffering in the endless cycles of birth and death in the six realms since beginningless time but because of the virtuous seeds we planted in our previous lives, we have generated the virtuous roots to meet with Master and Teacher and BW Monastery in this life. Because of that, we have the opportunity to listen, contemplate, practice; as well as repent and accumulate collective merits so that our progress along the path of Buddhahood will be a linear one!
