We've hit 95 students in enrolment. As some of you said "WA-LAO-EH!". Although only 60 students turned up, the class was packed. Welcome back Bryan and Kevin.
Some general information.
You already know the class blog if you are reading this. Take note of the calendar on the right and prepare yourself to meet the BISDS challenge. :) This blog will be a portal of information and Dhamma "watering hole" for you to share your thoughts.
Teachers in charge are
Bro. Gary Loo (Head Teacher)
Bro. Lid Sine ( T-i-c Buddha's greatness etc)
Bro. K.C. (T-i-c Maha Mangala Sutta)
Class monitors elected were
Allen and Sharmaine. Sadhu to both of them for taking up the posts.
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Last Sunday (17th Jan), due to the overwhelming attendance, we had a short meditation exercise to quieten and calm our mind. We could talk and discuss quietly for more than 30 minutes. Wow! ;) Proof that the class can be quiet. Proof that there's "heaven". Then when you were allowed to take a 10 mins break, the entire class was like a market place. Proof that class can be extremely noisy. Proof that there's "hell". So we can say that "heaven" and "hell" can be in the same location. ;) In any case, it can be a strain for the teacher's vocal cords to be heard from one end of the class to the other. So please, have sympathy for teacher.
We've maintained the class 'tradition' of taking turn to be Puja MC. This time we are starting from the end of the class register. Sadhu to Hopkins and Kee Zet? for being the MC last week. We've also suggested that Prime come out with a standard script for the MC so that the task won't be so daunting and new students will not be caught tongue tied. The other students can improve and improvise to make the MC presentation a better one. When we are up there as the MC, we should take the opportunity to liven up, inspire and motivate the Puja audience with our presentation.
We also talked about the events that have been scheduled for the year in BISDS and how we can participate in these events as a class to make a difference. Some of the major events include Fund Raising Dinner for the rooftop classes (while we sit in the aircond, our little friends in the rooftop classes put up with the possibility of their class room collapsing, electrical faults and water leaks.), School Trip, Class Trip, Wesak day Exhibition, Dhamma Quiz, IBYFG, Dhamma Pet Week etc etc.
We need to get ourselves organised and work more effectively as a class. You guys are young adults already. It's time to put your Dhamma to work and be of service to your community. We also talked about the possibility of releasing animals from captivity as a project recognizing that BISDS will hold its first Dhamma Pet event. I leave it to you guys/gals to weigh the pros and cons of this practice. It was once a popular practice during Wesak to release animals like birds but due to unscrupulous people, it has become a horrible trade to catch the poor animals for sale to be "released". Furthermore, the efficiency of intercontinental freight these days have seen the importation of a flurry of exotic animals sold as pets. It is not unusual to find rare exotic and even dangerous animals which may pose as a threat to our natural habitat. So how do we help animals? Is it wrong to free an animal? THINK. By NOT setting animals free, did we stop or have we caused a drop in demand for animal poachers? Is it better to buy a pet or adopt a pet?
I remember a story of a boy who threw a starfish back into the ocean. A man noticing a boy throwing a starfish back into the ocean ridiculed him saying that there are miles and miles of the beach and many other starfish will still perish as the sun comes up and the tide goes down. The boy couldn't possibly make a difference. The boy smiled confidently, picked up another starfish and gently threw it back into the surf and said "I made a difference to that one."
with Metta
LidSine
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