Two Month Hiatus

I think everyone should know by now that the society is on a two month hiatus. This applies to every department of the society until the beginning of January. By then, we will be welcoming juniors from the MPharm and Psychology batch with a recruitment drive during the January and will start our Friday gatherings, Dhamma talks and many other activities from then on.

Sukhi Hotu

May you be well and happy :D

Memories

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

Final Friday Gathering of the Year

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.

Friday Gathering Group Photo in Early September

Venue: SR2

Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm

Date: 30 October 2009

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

Home

2nd Last Friday Gathering of the Year

Hey everyone! Sorry for not posting last week's Friday Gathering details here, the Newsletter Manager (me) was away on holiday. But now I'm back, and this week's theme is very simple, short and sweet,

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.

We will be sharing a Game with the aim to improve inter-personal skills. So do join us!

Venue: SR3
Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm
Date: 23 October 2009
As usual, please have your lunch before the event and please be punctual.

October '09 Newsletter

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.

"Health is the greatest gift,
contentment is the greatest wealth,
a trusted friend is the greatest relative,
Nibbana is the greatest bliss"
~Dhammapada verse 204~

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

Updates for the week!!!

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!

8th Gathering

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.

Blood Donation Drive

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.

4th Dhamma Talk @ IMU

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.

Bro. Ananda Fong

Biodata:

Bro. Ananda Fong hails from Kuala Lumpur, and is a graduate from the UK. He was a student, facilitator and former Deputy Principal of the Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School (BISDS) at the Buddhist Maha Vihara (BMV), Brickfields, KL He was also a facilitator and former Principal and President of Bandar Utama Buddhist Society (BUBS), PJ. During his service in BISDS and BUBS, he also helped as the co-organizer and facilitator of Dhamma School Teachers Training Program.

Besides that, he was also invited as a facilitator in Dhamma Speakers Training Program in BMV and Buddhist Gem Fellowship (BGF), PJ. Later, he also helped as a facilitator in the Diploma in Buddhism program (Buddhist And Pali University (BAPU), Sri Lanka).

He currently gives Dhamma talks regularly at Buddhist Societies in the Klang Valley.

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

Third Talk

Due to some technical errors, the second talk could not be posted here. This is the recording of the third talk entitled "Bad Relationships, Bad Friendships, Bad Marriages" by Dr. Chan Kar Yein held on 13 August 2009.
*Please turn your volume higher, the recording quality is slightly low

*The song Always There by Secret Garden was shared just before she ended the talk.

When I’m less than I should be
When I just can’t face the day
When darkness falls around me
And I just can’t find my way
When my eyes don’t clearly see
And I stumble through it all
You I lean upon, you keep me strong
And you rise me when I fall
(chorus)

You are there when I most need you
You are there so constantly
You come shining through, you always do
You are always there for me

When life brings me to my knees
When my back’s against the wall
You are standing there right with me
Just to keep me standing tall
Though a burden I might be
You don’t weary, you don’t rest
You are reaching out to carry me
And I know I’m heaven-blest
(Repeat chorus)

Semester Gathering !!!

As all of you know, IMU has many intakes a year and as a society in IMU, we are always getting new members but have not much time to socialize with each other. The Friday Gathering idea was created with that in mind.

However, IMU Buddhist Society has another bigger event, a gathering known as the Semester Gathering which is held biannually to welcome new members to our society as well as to welcome current members back to foster fellowship between all members of the society. As usual, there will be having dinner and games together.

Venue: SR5

Time: 6.30pm

Date: 17 September 2009 (Thursday)

Please get more of your friends to join us and please be punctual.

***Note that this Friday's gathering will be canceled.***

3rd Dhamma Talk @ IMU

Relationships, friendships and even marriages, are some of the on-going concerns of average young adults who are pursuing their dream careers in IMU and later in working life. The Buddha has stressed the importance of good spiritual partners, the kalyana mitras, for being instrumental in one's journey to peace, happiness and enlightenment. We will often find ourselves being in Bad Friendships, Bad Relationships and Bad Marriages. Therefore one must be diligent to make the necessary moves to improve things. Understanding the cause and nature of how things can go wrong in anyone of the above will often make one more aware and wiser, and perhaps a better lover, friend and soul mate.

We have specially invited Dr. Chan Kah Yein as our Dhamma speaker to address this topic. Her biodata can be found in an earlier post of her talk entitled "Why give it for free when others take it for granted?".

As said in the poster above, this talk will be held from 7.15pm to 10.00pm on 14 September 2009 (Monday) at SR5 3.06.

See You There!

7th Gathering

Life, as a word, has a great meaning to everyone. But the meaning of the word does not defines its value.

As IMU students, we would normally relate Life to its structure, functions and many others biological aspects. But Buddhism views Life from another prospective. There are many parts of Life that we have great achievements and success stories, but we often neglect certain minute achievements. Perhaps some of these are not even achievements, for example, walking, talking, listening and so on.

These so-called achievements can be considered as marvels to those who do not have the capacity to do it. Those without limbs cannot walk properly, mutes cannot speak, deaf people cannot hear, but generally everyone in IMU Buddhist Society can do all of this. Ask yourselves, are you grateful for all that?

Unlike other religions who often utter the words "Thank God!" when good things happen, we Buddhist "count our blessings" knowing that we have suitable environmental conditions, emotional and physical competence and ability whenever we have made a great effort by ourselves, thus seeing it as a luxury(through your effort & efforts of other people) rather than a gift. For this week, our theme will be

GRATITUDE

For this week, we will be sharing a very touching video with everyone regarding this topic so that everyone can reflect on the values and try to notice every achievement in Life so that we are grateful and contented all the time, and that makes us HAPPY!

Venue: SR5

Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm

Date: 11 September 2009

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

New Buddhist Society T-Shirt

The society has been having the reputation of having the cutest T-shirt in IMU since it was introduced years ago. But that orange T-shirt is now a classic, special limited edition version.

We will be introducing a new society T-shirt to replace it soon.... probably and hopefully cuter than the previous version!!! Bro. New has released a few designs, among which may be the T-shirt you will be wearing soon...

We will be letting YOU vote for the design you like while considering a few factors in this checklist:

• must represent the society and its members
• must contain Buddhism related elements (this is BS mah!!!)
• must be different from other societies
• must be.....CUTE and ATTRACTIVE !!! :P

After looking through these points, we would like you vote for your favourite T-shirt at the polling site on the right side --->>>>>>

Note*
> the 5 designs from the two rows are for the front
> the cloud-shaped thing is the design for the sleeve
> the bottom 3 are for the back

If you have other constructive ideas for the T-shirt, you can leave a comment in the chatbox or contact Bro. New.

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

2nd Dhamma Talk @ IMU for sem 2 2009

The topic of the talk is “Relaxing body, Transforming mind”. We students of IMU are always facing stressful situations when class test/EoS comes, PBLs and reports still not prepared and so on. Have you every wondered, Why does "#$%&" keep happening to me...!!!!!

We have specially invited Dr. Phang Cheng Kar as our Dhamma speaker to address this topic.

Dr. Phang Cheng Kar

Biodata:

Dr. Phang Cheng Kar is a psychiatrist with special interest in mindfulness-based psychotherapies. He’s currently practicing in Kuala Lumpur Hospital, and also lecturing in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Medical School. He is the author of the book, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy – a medical student’s motivational and inspirational guide”. Subsequently, he compiled three volumes of “Don’t Worry, Be Healthy – A Buddhist Guide for Health and Healing”. He’s also the President of Kuala Lumpur Buddhist Mental Health Association (BMHA), and a volunteer at the Sentul Buddhist Temple Free Medical Clinic.

The topic focuses on stress, whether from a stressful IMU student's point of view, from the days of a practicing clinical student, and even from the point where some students finally put what they learn to the test, in the harsh reality. With Dr Phang’s background in psychology, students will be able to benefit from his knowledge in the field. Dr Phang intends to cover issues like recognizing stressful thoughts and methods to relax the body, which contributes to a person overall well being.

Dr Phang, being a practicing doctor/psychiatrist, will also be able to share and relate some of his personal experiences as a medical student to medical and healthcare student in IMU, giving our dhamma talk a little extra as food for thoughts.

As said in the poster above, this talk will be held from 7.15pm to 10.00pm on 8 September 2009 (Tuesday) at SR2 1.08.

See You There!

September '09 Newsletter

6th Gathering

Seen these lotus foldings before????

If you are guessing that we are teaching you how to make it, you are completely right!!!

We have got requests from members to teach them the way to fold a beautiful lotus flower. For this gathering, you will not only get to fold lotus flowers, we will be guiding you with many other Buddhist symbolic Origami...

The theme for the week is

D.I.Y

Venue: SR5

Time: 1.15pm to 2.15pm

Date: 4 September 2009

See you there!

First Talk

Group Photos with Dr. Chan

This is the recording of the first talk entitled "Why give it for free while others take it for granted" by Dr. Chan Kar Yein held on 26 August 2009.

*Due to technical errors, the recording started around 5 minutes late
*Please turn your volume higher, the recording quality is slightly lower than expected

Meditation Class update !!!

5th Gathering

Do you feel stress running late for assignments? keeping up with lectures? studying till late at night reading reference books and lecture notes?

In IMU, hardly anyone can deny these questions. But the good news is that IMU Buddhist Society will be helping you in countering the effects of stress using a Buddhist approach, this the theme for the week is...

Relax-Take it Easy

We will be introducing several Buddhistic techniques to cope with stress during your life in IMU. As mentioned in the talk by Dr. Chan on Wednesday, it is very important to stay in line with every aspect of university life while juggling family, studies and relationship problems.

For this gathering, we will be playing games which will help you de-stress and teach you ways get around stress. There will also be a hymm singing session which will incorperate sign language to make it fun.

Venue: SR5

Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm

Date: 28 August 2009

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

First Dhamma Talk @ IMU for sem 2 2009

This will be the first Dhamma talk organized for the second half of 2009 and also the first for the current term committee members. Thanks to Jaa Ming, our DSG manger, we will be having a range of four talks for the month of August and September. For the first Dhamma Talk entitled "Why Give It For Free, While Others Take It For Granted?", the topic aims to target the integrity of the 4th enobler - Be generous.

Its a fairly simple value, but why are certain person still being treated so unfairly when he/she has done so much good in life? One will also ponder on how deep our goodwill and charity should go, if others do not appreciate it, or even, take it all for granted. We will also question the true integrity and practicality of being generous to the people around us. Besides the obvious, we also include a hidden side of the topic: Are we taking things for granted?

As IMU students, it deserves our contemplation as we have to learn to be grateful of all we have now. The main value for the day is to realise that practicing dana to others and giving out the occasional selfless helping hand, would be the wisest thing to do to express our gratitude in life. We also aim to send a take home-message of "giving is receiving" and "giving is an unimaginable joy" to our audience.

We have specially invited Dr. Chan Kah Yein as our Dhamma speaker to address this title.

Dr Chan Kah Yein

Biodata:
Dr. Chan teaches mathematics in a private college in Subang Jaya, and holds a first class honours degree, a Masters and a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education.

Having been a practicing Buddhist since the age of twelve, she is now a regular Dhamma speaker in the Klang Valley. She has also served as moderator for several Buddhist conferences, including the 5th Global Conference on Buddhism in 2007.

Kah Yein is passionate about promoting kindness to animals. She is the founder-coordinator of AnimalCare, a group dedicated to caring for the well being of animals, particularly, in the spaying and neutering of stray animals.

To date, she has written four Dhamma books, entitled Pawprints on My Heart, Little Steps, Joyful Steps, A Kite in the Wind and Indy Jones & the Four Pillars of Kindness. Her Dhamma talks have also been produced on CDs for free distribution, notably the collection entitled Dewdrops from my heart.

With a love for all things small and simple, her lifelong motto is to embrace simplicity and travel light in life.

As said in the poster above, this talk will be held from 7.15pm to 10.00pm on 26 August 2009 (Wednesday) at SR6 1.03A (the room beside first floor escalator). So if you are interested in a talk regarding welfare, Dana (offering or giving) and Metta (loving kindness), this talk will be the one you would like to listen to.

4th Gathering

As a continuation from the last activity, our theme for this week will be called

SHINNING FRIEND

Sounds weird?  This Friday's will still use friendship as the main idea for the activities, but with a little surprise twist. As you know, Frienship is jointly helpful and caring manners between two or more people. The term connotes a relationship that involves mutual aspect, influence and knowledge with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. They will always exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of selflessness.

For this gathering, we will play a game which will lead to the objective of importance of friendship, learn the to sing and do simple sign language for the song 'Shining Friends'-by 2R and the hymm singing session. The hymm singing session for this week will introduce the members to both chinese and english songs.

Venue: SR4 (room with tinted glass on 1st floor)

Time: 1.15pm-2.15pm

Date: 21 August 2009

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

Meditation Class Update

Please be informed that due to some difficulties, the meditation class which was scheduled for 20 August 2009, this Thursday is cancelled. If everything goes well, we should be starting the class on 27 August, next Thursday.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Third Gathering

From now on, the society will be announcing a theme for every week for all of you to contemplate on a particular subject which is a part of daily life in a Buddhist prospective.

For this coming gathering, we will be contemplating on a very common subject,

"KALYANA MITRA"

In Buddhism, the term "Kalyana Mitra" is used to describe noble spiritual FRIENDS. In simple terms, Kalyana Mitra are companions who are at our side all the time, guiding and helping us at times when we need them, they care for you and give you full support in every action you make. In life, we should not only hope to make spiritual friends, but also cultivate the values to be a Kalyana Mitra to others as well.

For this gathering, we will be sharing a video clip with you to show the importance of a Kalyana Mitra and let everyone share valuable experiences with each other. Take this opportunity to learn more about other members and make Kalyana Mitra in that process...
So please join us for this valuable experience:

Venue: SR5
Time: 1.15pm to 2.15pm
Date: 14 August 2009

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

If you would want to know more about some Buddhist values and teachings, you can click HERE to learn to be a good Buddhist.

Fong Ren Yi

August '09 Newsletter

This is the first newsletter created by the new executive committee, so if you have any suggestions, please leave your comments.

For those who were unable to attend the 7/8/09 Second gathering, I shall brief you a little about our progress. We started by introducing the new executive committee members to everyone, followed by a short introduction regarding the 'Opening Salutation to the Buddha', a short chant which is traditionally performed to pay homage to our great teacher, the Lord Buddha.

After that, we invited Dr. Ranjit De Alwis, our advisor to give a speech and we proceeded let each section committee describe their portfolios so that members get to choose to participate in the respective sections that they are interested in. Before we ended the gathering, Bro. Chen Yeh led everyone in a 'Sharing of Merits' session.

Fong Ren Yi

Walk for Buddhist Education

As shown in the poster, Nālandā Buddhist Society will be organizing a Walkathon at Taman Bukit Jalil (the huge park near Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort) on 27 September 2009. They are collaborating with IMU Buddhist Society to conduct a fund-raising program whereby Walkathon Sponsorship Fund-raisers help to raise funds from friends and family with the Walkathon Sponsorship Card shown below:

Nālandā Buddhist Society has been operating Buddhist educational programmes in a one-floor shoplot since 2003 and hopes to expand their facilities by acquiring a 3-storey building in Seri Kembangan to establish a new Dhamma education centre.

This walkathon will be conducted in 4 categories:

• Men 6km Walk
• Women 6km Walk
• Men/Boys 3km Walk
• Women/Girls 3km Walk

To join this event, a registration fee of RM30 (for adults) and RM20 (for students between 7-18 years) is required.

Prizes will be given to participants in four categories:

1. Participants who complete the walk will be given a certificate of participation and a token of appreciation.
2. First ten places of each category will be given a special Winner's prize
3. First twenty places of each category will be given a Finisher's Medal
4. Walkathon Sponsorship fund-raisers will be entitled for a special lucky draw whereby ten draws will be made. (among the prizes are 2 10g Gold Nuggets)

Besides that, there will also be booths set up selling food, games and many more... So everyone from every religion (not only Buddhist) are welcomed to join this event.

For more information, please contact:
Bro. Dwee Shion 012-6929235
Bro. Chen Yeh 012-7177211
Sis. Mar-Jie 017-3929126

Second Gathering

We will be having our second gathering with more exciting activites.

• 7 August 2009 (this coming Friday)
• SR5 (next to E-Lab 4 & opposite library)
• 1.15pm to 2.15pm (same as first gathering)

Please have your lunch before going and we hope you can be punctual.

May you be well and happy

First Gathering For Sem 2 2009

As the first activity after our recent Recruitment Drive, the society will be organizing our first gathering for the second half of 2009.

It has been our tradition of our society to welcome our new members as well as to reunite our current members into a gathering for the sole reason of Fellowship. We have arrange a range of fun-filled activities for everyone to get to know the society's activities, workings and also to help to create a bond between members, a bond of Friendship.

This event will be held in MPH4 (2.07.06) located at 2nd Floor. For those who are not sure how to get there, please refer to the map below:

From 2nd Floor Escalator

From 2nd Floor Lift

This gathering will be held on 31 July (Friday) from 1.15pm to 2.15pm (Friday Prayers Time), so please have your meal before we begin and try to be punctual. For more information, please contact Sis. Mar-Jie at 016-3966022.

SEE YOU THERE !!!

Flyer and Register

We have just released a new flyer and registration form for the coming recruitment drive, which will be held at Atrium today and tomorrow. For those who would want to get a glimpse of the flyer, here goes...


To register, please visit our booth which will be operational from 11am to 2pm for both today and tomorrow.
Sukhi Hotu
Fong Ren Yi

Recruitment Drive

The society will be having a RECRUITMENT DRIVE to recruit new members from various new batches, namely the BPharm (B1/09), Biomedical Science (BM1/09), Nutrition & Dietetics (ND1/09), Psychology (PS1/09), Medical Biotechnology (MB1/09), Pharmaceutical Chemistry (PC1/09) and Nursing (NU1/09). Despite dedicating this event to the new batches, students from other existing batches are also welcomed to the society.

For this, we will be setting a recruitment booth at the Atrium between 11am to 2pm for both 21st & 22nd of July (next coming Tuesday & Wednesday). Please take the chance to visit our booth for more information on our activities for there will be members to introduce them to you.

Improve your Buddhism

These are some wonderful websites which can be used as reference and additional reading.

http://www.buddhanet.net/

http://www.dharmanet.org/

http://aboutdharma.org/

http://dharmafarer.googlepages.com/

http://www.yinshun.org.tw/books/index.html

http://sutra.goodweb.cn/
http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading_simplified/index.htm

http://www.justbegood.net/

This useful website below describes more about meditation

http://www.unfetteredmind.com/articles/index.php

If you want to know other famous Buddhist websites, they have a list of top 10 here:

http://www.buddhanet.net/10_best.htm

4th Ehipassiko Camp

The 4th Ehipassiko camp was held a week ago, from 3rd till 5th July. About 30 members of the society participated in this annual event in the Sau Seng Lum Temple, Petaling Jaya. For this time round, the theme was "Ehipassiko: It all begins in the mind". The term Ehipassiko, which means 'come and see for yourself', has been part of our annual camps' theme since the 2nd camp because it is the mission of the camp to encourage fellow Buddhists to go the extra mile beyond the mere belief of the Buddha's words, to experience the teachings of our great Teacher for oursleves through our daily lives.

Through the efforts of the 4th Ehipassiko Camp committee members lead by our ex-Vice President, Loy Siao Wei and our newly appointed president, Lim Dwee Shion, events and activities were carried out swiftly through the 3 days 2 nights camp. Fun games, inspiring talks, meditation and leadership workshops were among the major events throughout the camp which was held mostly within the air-conditioned environment of Sau Seng Lum Temple. In addition, Bro. Mooi Chee Onn and Bro. Lai Kar Wei were invited to demonstrate several self defense skills and basic Tai-Chi movements during the Flexi-me session in the morning.

Bro. Mooi and Bro. Lai demonstrating hand defense

During the camp, participants were also introduced to basics of Buddhism in the talk entitled "ABC of Buddhism" by Dr. Chan Kah Yein. Educational pictorial slides shown during the talk made it very interesting. Besides that, Dr. Phang Cheng Kar, a Buddhist psychiatrist and medical lecturer was also invited to give a talk entitled "5 Precepts and Bioethics", an issue which is very relevant to future health practitioners. Participants were given various bioethical dilemma and engaged in short discussions to analyse whether each case was ethical in a Buddhist perspective.

Dr. Chan giving her talkDr. Phang guiding discussions with participants

Other than Buddhism, there were also talks and workshops focusing on leadership and management in a Buddhist organization. Bro. Tan Huat Chye, founding president of the Kinrara Metta Buddhist Society gave another talk on "Good Leadership Qualities". In this talk, he stressed the importance of being a good Buddhist leader rather than just a leader in a Buddhist organization. Besides his talk, a workshop was also held entitled "Teamwork Building & Leadership Skills" lead by Bro. Koh Mui Han. In this workshop, Bro. Koh divided participants into 3 groups for a simple game which aims to educate participants in ways to work together as a team.

Bro. Tan giving his talkBro. Koh conducting the workshop

Before ending the camp, the society committee organized an Annual General Meeting whereby nominated participants were called upon to replace the existing committee members in an official ceremony lead by then-president, Bro. Lai Jun Yan. Then, new committee members took their oaths guided by the new president, Bro. Lim Dwee Shion.

Overall, the camp was a success and managed to live up to the theme "It all begins in the mind".

'Understanding and acknowledging the nature of our mind would be pivotal before we could ever be able to understand our real self and begin to transform ourselves for the better...'
Bro. Lai Jun Yan, from the July '09 newsletter

Fong Ren Yi