Class 3 (2/25): Outdoors Meditation

Today we will be meditating at Butler Plaza which is between the MD Anderson Library and PGH, where the Sculpture and water fountain/Pool are located. The meditation will still be held from 1 - 3 PM.

Movie Night (2/22)

Movie night next Friday (2/22/08) around 6:30 PM.

Date: Feb. 22, 2008
Location: 2515 Branch View Ln, Missouri City, TX, 77459
Time: 6:30 - 9 PM
Movie Title: TBA (suggestions welcome!)

FREE PIZZA

February volunteering opportunity

VOLUNTEERING: SPECIAL NEEDS BASKETBALL PRACTICE

Support families with special needs!

Date:

February 16th, 2008

Location:

Tzu Chi Foundation
6200 Corporate Dr, Houston, TX 77036
(713) 981-8966

Schedule:

09:45 – 12:00 Recycle

12:00 – 13:00 Special needs basketball practice

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch (Vegetarian)

R S V P : uhabs8@gmail.com | http://uhabs.blogspot.com

Spring '08 Meditation Class Begins!

We will have our first meditation class on February 11th, 2008.

American Bodhi Center Retreat

On December 7-8th, 8 of us went to the Bodhi Center and conducted our first retreat. During the car ride to the center we had fun getting to know each other. We played a few games, one of which involves filling in the blanks of a personal biography:

Hello, my name is ____. I am ____ years old and I am majoring in ____. My hometown is ____ and I really ____ it there because ____. I always dreamed that someday I would ____, and that dream has ____ true. I feel ____ about it now! Some things I like to do include ____. There are many things I am good at and one of them is ____. I did a really interesting once and that was ____. My family consists of ____. If I could change one thing about myself it would be ____. Still, I am really glad to be here right now because ____. I would really like to get together with anyone who would be interested in ____. The one thing I want to be remembered for is ____. As far as future plans are concerned, I hope to be ____ someday.

Upon our arrival at ABC, we were welcomed by Venerable Hung-I who was unfortunately unable to stay with us during the retreat. The first day was very lax as we played the game Truth, Truth, Lie in which we were supposed to disclose two truths about ourselves and one lie, while everyone else had to guess which one of the 3 was the real lie. Well, we came to the conclusion that most of us were terrible liars. :) That's good news for ABS meaning everyone is holding on to the fourth precept (abstaining from harmful speech or lies).

Dinner was absolutely amazing! And this is no lie. We had BBQ veggie kebabs. The sausages looked so real that I think I liked them more than actual meat and it's healthy too! Sitting around the campfire we told ghost stories and gazed at the fireflies in the sky (stars) and "pretended" to know where the constellations were.



After such a hardy meal, we went inside and played Cranium. We were such an advanced group that we didn't even need to follow the directions. We played it our own way, which was by far more entertaining! I laughed so hard my stomach hurts and I started rolling on the ground as if I had an epileptic seizure.



Even though the noble silence didn't start until the following day, some of us just couldn't wait so we began the noble silence at 10 PM. In fact we got so used to being silent that most of us really didn't feel like talking after the noble silence was broken. This is true for both introverts and extroverts.



Overall the retreat was very successful. However we do have some unfortunate news. At the end of the retreat Venerable Jian Dan resigned his position as our Dhamma Teacher. Currently we are trying to figure out who would be able to replace the Venerable. What do you all think? Should we invite monks from other temples to lead our meditation? If so, must we invite different monks every sitting or the same monk for the entire semester? Or would a facilitator suffice? Would we all benefit from a group discussion led by a facilitator or a lecture from a monk or Dhamma teacher? Your inputs are greatly appreciated. Remember we really can not function without your thoughts and opinions.

Final class survey results

In our last meeting, we gave out surveys to solicit anonymous feedback from you. Our hope was to make improvement and plan for next semester based on the survey. We collected thirteen (13) valid surveys. Interestingly, even though we made this an anonymous survey, only three people decided to leave their names out while the remaining ten gave us their names. Overall, you guys were pretty satisfied with our service but would like to have more field trips next semester.

The first part of the survey asked you to comment on the effectiveness and usefulness of the following six items: 1) blog/google group, 2) Dharma talk topics, 3) meeting format, 4) meeting time/location, 5) refreshments, and 6) field trips, and give suggestions. Overwhelmingly, numbers commented “interesting” “useful” “effective” “excellent” and “good” for all items. One person stated that the blog is good but maybe a “larger font size will be better.” Another member mentioned that Dharma talk topics were good but “probably can be improved.” One member recommended we might want to hold meditation for more then once a week. As to refreshments, most felt they were “delicious” while one member wrote “nice but unimportant.” One member proposed to have maybe a little more variety and should include hot tea. Four people asked for more field trips.

The second survey question asked you to reflect on their learning and share with us any example of how they have applied something they learned to their daily life. Here are some of what they shared:

“Help myself and help others”
“Best example: mindfulness in everyday
activities”
“I liked the idea of thoughts coming in & out but never
attaching to any one thought very long. This is beneficial in everyday life”
“I learned to control my road rage! Also I am trying to focus on living more
in the present instead of worrying about the future”
“Tolerance and
patience. No one single example, but try to practice everyday and impart on
others”

Question three asked for suggestion for next semester. Some suggestions are listed below:

“conditions in Buddhism”
“mind and body unification”
“emptiness, the
mind”
“how to understand what one should do with one’s life”
“regret,
guilt, happiness”
“how about an introduction to Buddhism (simple) in daily
tasks”
“Abstinence, dichotomy of all or nothing practice”

Question four asked for suggestion for activity and people seemed to want more field trip. However, only one person made some concrete suggestions of attending charitable events.

Question five asked for ways we can recruit more people. Your suggestions ranged from more advertising, posting flyers around certain colleges, going to religion classes, attending student fairs, to word of mouth by members. I hope when you made those suggestions, you also had an idea of what you can do to help realize those wonderful suggestions.

One thing I like to explain here. The reason we only held two field trips this semester was mainly due to limited manpower. With all of you showing strong enthusiasm in getting more involved next semester, manpower will not be an issue anymore. I am certain we will have a few more activities next semester if you all would pitch in and help out.

Stay tuned for our spring schedule.. Oh, just a sneak preview, we probably will hold our meeting on Thursdays next semester. We have not made a final decision on whether we will meet at noon or in the late afternoon. What do you think? Leave us a comment at the blog and let your voice be heard.

Class 12 – A Day of Appreciation

This is our last class; the semester went by very fast. I like to take this opportunity to thank many people.

I first like to thank Josten and Grace who initiated the idea of establishing this association. After the initial idea, we found two disciples’ kids as the inaugural President and Vice President. They attended the required orientation in creating a campus student organization and registered Association of Buddhist Students. We thank them for getting us a legitimate status on campus.

However, they were not really interested in getting involved, which caused some problems at the beginning when trying to get things moving. As a result, I took over the President’s post. That was a very difficult yet necessary decision. It was a burden on me as a first-semester UH student, facing a new school, a new environment, and a new challenge.

During that time and since, Maya has been very helpful in taking care of lots of tedious paperwork, going through red tapes and dealing with UH bureaucracy. Of course then there is Grace, who, as many of you know, are the “underground” president. She has helped me a lot. For example, every Wednesday after here, I would go home and receive an email from her giving me a long list of mispronounced words from that day’s talk. (I am often amazed at how you all can understand my English.)

Last week Emily asked me what is my true “self?” I told her I try to practice having no one fixed self. I am just a member of this organization. I always remind myself that I don’t get to give talks if you guys don’t show up. This is the concept of causation, which we have addressed many times this semester. In Buddhism, we see all phenomena as the results of arising elements/conditions. When all elements/conditions are put together, t the arising of the event.

Take a moment to think about this concept. Our government gives us a stable country to live a peaceful life. UH offers us this building and this room to hold our events. We all happen to be part of the UH community who happen to know about this organization, who just so happen to be interested in meditation, who just so by chance are available during this time… This list goes on. Without all of the elements/conditions working together, we would not be able to meet here today.

About mid semester, I was asked if we should consider taking donations or charging membership fees. Absolutely no. I just want to offer myself to you, to do the best I can. I believe we cannot put a price tag on practicing meditation and/or practicing Buddhism. Many of you have seen the movie “Pay it Forward.” An elementary school kid had a social study homework on how to change the world. He came up with this idea that if he can do three good deeds for someone and they in turn can "pay it forward" and so forth, positive changes can occur.

This is very similar to Buddhism concepts. I don’t know how much I can do. I just try my best. If you have received even the smallest amount of benefits, gained some small concepts and made changes in your life for better, I just wanted you to do something for others. Share your experience, tell your stories, and introduce them to this organization. We often gather together to go to a movie or a club. Probably even more often, we should gather friends to come to meditation and to attend Dharma talks.

Please continue your support next semester. We need your help. Many times during the semester, I was so tired and wanted to give up. Then Mimi made many good suggestions as to how I can better deliver my talk. We started giving out handouts as a result of her constructive feedback. It is suggestions such as this that kept me going.

I made a lot of friends here. I hope you all feel the same. Hope to see every one of you next semester. Stay tuned for our spring schedule. Tell your friends, bring them here. Let’s put all our positive energies together. If we all do our best, together, we can change the world.

Thank you for a wonderful semester! Let’s bestow all merits upon all sentient beings.


Recorded by Jian Dan

願 消 三 障 諸 煩 惱
yuàn xiao san zhàng zhu fán năo

願 得 智 慧 真 明 了
yuàn dé zhì huì zhèn míng liăo

普 願 罪 障 悉 消 除
pŏ yuàn zui zhàng xi xiao chú

世 世 常 行 菩 薩 道
shì shì cháng xíng pú sà dào

May the Three Obstructions and all the afflictions be eradicated.
May I obtain true wisdom with clear understanding.
May all the obstacles from all my offenses be eliminated.
I vow to practice the Bodhisattva Way constantly, life after life.

PS. This trace was recorded four years ago for my Chanting Class.