人間通訊社

After an initial day of reunion and meeting new friends, the second day, 29th of December, started with full energy and enthusiasm. The program was dedicated to introducing the core notions of Buddha’s Light International Association and the Young Adult Division to all participants.

Thus, the whole morning was focused on BLIA-YAD. It began with an introductory lecture with the title of What is BLIA-YAD? by YAD Lisbon member André Ye, where the history, objectives and essential principles of being a YAD were explained, with a final message: we are all connected by our faith, we are proud of our religion, Humanistic Buddhism.

Following this, the next session was YAD Members Experience Sharing, where YAD members were invited to share about their experience. The panel was composed by Alexandre Zheng, Ivan Liu, Jason Liu, Kirsten Wang, and Shan Waner, with Roxy Pang as the moderator. This session was very relevant, as the participants were able to connect and complement the basic knowledge learned in the previous lecture with actual testimonies from YAD members, such as Alexandre’s perspective on his ending YAD Paris presidential term, or Waner’s view on how it was being brought up in a non-religious family but still having found faith in YAD.

Having explored the past and the present, it was time to concentrate on the future with the Discussion Session on Development Europe YAD, presented by Roxy and André. The groups discussed important topics for the future development of Europe YAD, such as how to attract and sustain members and localise YAD to European needs.

Afterwards, Venerable Jue Rong gave a lecture about How to be a Buddha’s Light Member, with special focus on the Three Acts of Goodness and Four Givings. In order to demonstrate their knowledge, all eight groups compassionately performed a roleplay about the meaning of giving others Confidence, Joy, Hope and Convenience, to the laughter of everyone.

The participants were then placed to the workshops they chose. One of them was History of Buddhism by Venerable Chueh Yun where the difficult socio-cultural context of the origin of Buddhism was approached and how it managed to propagate to China and through the five continents. The other one was Practice and Attainment for Bodhisattvas by Venerable Miao Shiunn, having talked about the meaning of the word bodhisattva, the causes and conditions to cultivate Bodhicitta, and briefly mentioning the most important bodhisattvas.

To end the afternoon, all groups enjoyed an active session of sports, being offered the opportunity to practice and develop their focus and teamwork through enthusiastic and creative games.

The last lecture was given by Venerable Man Chien, exploring the Fundamentals of Humanistic Buddhism, emphasizing on how it is dedicated for humans and touching different concepts such as Equality, Pure Land and how the Triple Gem can prevent deviations in someone’s path. The session ended with each group reporting the results of their discussion on these themes.

Undoubtedly, it was a day full of educational and valuable content, where participants got to understand the basic principles behind BLIA-YAD and Humanistic Buddhism, ensuring the placement of the dharma seed in everyone. Let us have the proper conditions for this seed to grow throughout the Youth Retreat and experience the wonders of the Triple Gem.