IMU Buddhist Society

During the recent weekend, I was very privileged to represent the society to attend the 3 days 2 nights biannual IYBCC Meeting Camp at Selayang Buddhist Association.

This camp is sort of a socializing opportunity for varsities and colleges with Buddhist societies in Malaysia. A total of 18 Buddhist societies attended this event to share their ideas and difficulties of organizing events. The gist of every society has been taken into discussion to produce constructive advices as well as valuable ideas which would benefit everyone.

*The pictures are kinda blur because I'm using my handphone's camera only

This is the events before the meeting when everyone give out individual reports. Every society was required to prepare a detailed report of the status and activities so that we can share our success stories and also discuss ways to improve those that were not so good.

this is our society's tag and of course, me taking this photo just before the 2nd day's meeting

someone here was not paying attention (hint: behind the camera)

I was also privileged to make friends with many new leaders and exco members of various universities which shared their views and experiences in their society outside the meeting. Though the whole event was quite tiring, I think my efforts there would contribute to a better growth in our society, especially in the diversity of our activities. You should expect better activities from the society by next year. (urging the exco... haha... i hope!)

report by Fong Ren Yi

Sukhi Hotu

Let us rewind the tape recorder to July 2009, and press the play button. From the first gathering till the final gathering of the year, IMU Buddhist Society's first attempt to introduce a more regular fellowship based concept was well received by members. Through the ten gatherings and the other events, we have brought so many Buddhist students from totally different backgrounds together to form a new bond.

We would like to thank everyone who have supported us in this course. We also hope that we can get more support from you in our future events in order to propagate the Buddha Sasana.

Sukhi Hotu

It has been a great four months of a total of ten Friday Gatherings that had brought so many people from different places together. But unfortunately, many organizers will be having their Semester Examinations and are unable to conduct these gatherings until next year. As the final gathering, we will be recollecting all the memories throughout the short time we have spent with you.

HARMONY

As everyone know, harmony is a crucial part of life. I'm not talking about music or tunes, this is the Art of Living Together. Just looking at history, we all know that it is not easy to live in harmony in a place where everyone thinks differently. Disharmony vary in degrees, from personal fights, group debates, inter-religious and racial turmoil and finally war. It is always known that the only way to live in harmony is to have good inter-personal skills.

EHIPASSIKO

As mentioned in the previous post, this is the first e-newsletter of the society. For a start, I utilized a very relevant theme, Buddhism & Health. If you continue reading here, you will find that Buddha didn't just educate us in ways to cultivate mental health but also several aspects of physical health. Similar to the Malay saying "Badan sihat, Otak Cerdas", it is mentioned in many parts of the Tipitaka that health is quintessential in uplifting our mental insight. As students of IMU, it is useful to get a glimpse of dietary and health care practices of the past and relate them to the common practices now.

Diet in Buddhism?

Did you know the Buddha went on a long anorexic diet before enlightenment?

Well, in India, 2500 years ago, extreme ascetic practices were very common. Many believed that inflicting pain in the form of starvation and self torture could uplift an individual spiritually. In the process of searching the truth, Ascetic Gotama once attempted this intensive practice which nearly claimed his life without any of the expected progress, nor results. As shown in picture below, he ended his attempt by accepting an offering of milk rice, a traditional Indian meal, prepared by lady Sujata. It was this meal which started his resolve that he should stop this practice and discover other methods. Soon after, he attained enlightenment under a Bodhi tree, becoming the Buddha.

Asceticism and many other extreme practices are obviously not the right way. Notice that the word "Too" in English is always used in negative terms. The only way to avoid this is by being mindful of food intake and consume food in moderation. That is why Buddhism teaches us to be moderate in every aspect of our life.

~part 1 end~

Part 2 will be released during the January post

Friday Gathering

This Friday's gathering will be CANCELLED for further preparations for the coming Mooncake Festival Party on this Sunday. We are preparing food, games and most importantly, mooncake + lanterns for this event. For those who are still not aware of this, you may want to contact Sis. Ai Xin for more information. Friday Gatherings will resume next week.

Meditation ClassesThere will be 3 more meditation classes that will be held in IMU until the end of this year. For those who have not been to this session before, we would suggest that you do so for its well-known benefits as well as a rare opportunity to get an experience teacher, Bro Tan to guide you. The meditation classes are held at SR5 3.06 every Wednesday. You may contact Sis. Sing Ean for more information.

Newsletter
As mentioned in the announcement in the previous newsletter entitled "Going Green", we will be releasing our first multi-coloured e-newsletter in the month of October. This month's theme will be focused on Buddhism and Health, a combination suitable to us as future health practitioners. There will be short articles regarding Buddhist preference in food, Buddhist ways of taking care of the body and many more. So for those of you who would like to know more, stay tune to the blog regularly for these updates. *no printed copies will be made*

ECA Recruitment Drive

main booth

small exhibition area beside the booth

Despite many difficulties, we managed to set up our booth in the recent recuitment drive and received great response. We would like to thank all members who had contributed to this event and also welcome all new members who had registered with us. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu to all of you!

Selfless giving as a formal religious act is directed specifically to a spiritually-developed person. In Buddhist thought, it has the effect of purifying and transforming the mind of the giver. Buddhists believe that giving, without seeking something in return, leads to greater spiritual wealth. As Dr. Chan quoted from a famous writer, W.H. Auden in her previous Dhamma Talk "We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know."

The theme for this week's gathering is

SELFLESS GIVING

Dāna, the pali for giving, is one of the Ten Pāramī (Ten Perfections), known in Chinese as 波罗蜜 stated in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist scriptures (Buddhavamsa and Lotus Sutra respectively). The best example of selfless giving is the recent IMU Blood Donation Drive that was coordinated by new members of the society. We do not know who we are donating to, but despite that, we contribute a pint of blood to save that unknown's life. It is also shown in the great effort of the organizing committee for giving everyone the opportunity to perform Dāna. That is the great spirit of Dāna. Of course this is just the start of perfecting this virtue.

Venue: SR3

Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm

Date: 2 October 2009

As usual, please have your lunch before the event and please be punctual.

The biannual Blood Donation Drive is here again. The SRC has collaborated with the IMU Buddhist Society to usher this huge event. As everyone know, the Puasa Month has just past and the blood bank is having a shortage situation due to the inability of fasting individuals to donate.

In order to help them through this difficult times, we hope that all IMU students can help donate "The Gift that cost nothing, But means everything".

The Blood Donation Drive organizing committee has prepared a video to promote this event. Check out the video at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138654514901 or the one below.

Buddhism, being a 2500 years old teaching, is finding itself in all parts of the world today. In answering the needs of the different masses out there, many external influence and also local practices has comfortably made its mark in the different traditions of Buddhism around the world. This dhamma talk, aims to enlighten the audience on the subject, correcting some of the commonly mistaken practices, and also shed a new light on some misunderstood practices. The talk also aims to create a sense of appreciation for the different “colors” in Buddhism in the audience with the appropriate understanding.

We have specially invited Bro. Ananda Fong as our Dhamma speaker to address this topic.

The topic focuses on the various aspects of superstitious practices which are either labeled wrongly as part of Buddhism, or Buddhist practices misunderstood as superstitious. Practices such as fortune telling, wearing amulets, making offerings to the Buddha, vegetarianism and many more fall under these categories. As Buddhists, we should learn to identify and understand the concepts behind various Buddhist practices and also expel those which are not appropriate. Bro. Ananda will not only answer your questions of "which is true?", but more importantly, put you on the right track to be able to identify true practices by yourself based on the teachings of the Buddha.

As said in the poster above, this talk will be held from 7.15pm to 9.30pm on 29 September 2009 (Tuesday) at SR3 1.09.

Please be punctual as we will be having a video sharing session before the start of the talk