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Reflecting 2007 and Looking Ahead
by Tony Wang
Time is fleeting. We are near the end of 2007. May we share some joyful memories of the passing year? Please see photos at here. Let us also recall what happened at MLA this past year.
Programs
We have regular weekly Vipassana practice sessions throughout the year. Quite a number of yogis—Andrea, Janice, Charlene, Jennifer, Margaret, et al—enjoy the Monday self-retreats at each one’s own schedule, pace, and style. Yau-San, Andrea, Sue, and Tony are among the regular attendees of both our sitting and walking Wednesday Vipassana sessions. On Sundays, we have an hour long Vipassana session followed by a Dhamma study period. For Dhamma study, we devote the first Sunday of every month to the study of the general treatise on Buddhism by watching Rev. Chuan-Tao’s DVD Dhamma Talk, followed by discussion under the on-site guidance of Venerable Yuan-Ray and Venerable Yuan-Ming. Then we enjoy a light lunch together. On the other Sundays, we study Sayadaw U Pandita’s book, In This Very Life. Josh, Alan, Keith Wai, Emily, Andrew, Andrea, Hong-sheng, CF Cheng, Sue, and Tony are among the regulars attending Sunday classes.
One of the most satisfying and rewarding things that we have been doing at MLA is spreading the good news—the “Vipassana practice.” In 2007, we introduced Vipassana meditation to 29 beginners. For most of them, it was their first time doing meditation. It is accomplished in three classes plus two series of four sessions each. Thanks go to Dr. Ying Chen, who served as the instructor for most of them. Tony also occasionally gave instructions. Sue also had experience with briefing beginners. However, we never intended or pretended to be meditation teachers. We merely introduced the basic techniques to enable them to begin practicing at home, in a group, or on retreats. It is like when someone tells his or her good friends about good things. Our teacher, Sarah Marks, has kindly agreed to give us a “teacher training” so we can effectively and correctly introduce this Dhamma “jewel” to a class, or just to our friends, family, and loved ones. If you are interested in attending this training class and teaching our beginners class, then please let me know. Our beginners classes have mostly been conducted in English. They could become bilingual (Mandarin and English) if needed. Please tell your friends of this opportunity.
We conducted seven retreats this year with over 100 attendees. We have five one-day retreats, each under the guidance of Venerable Beelin Sayadaw (who came twice), Venerable U Osadha, Venerable Ji-Chern, and Venerable U Kavinda. Venerable Chang-Tzu from Taiwan also guided us in an half-day retreat. Venerable U Nandisena kindly guided us in a two-day retreat/ Pali workshop in October as well. The Pali workshop turned out to be very interesting, educational, and well received.
In the coming new year, we will continue to have our weekly Vipassana sessions and Dhamma studies. We will have one-day retreats under the guidance of our local meditation Masters. In addition, there will be a follow-up Pali course for interested yogis. Also Venerable Dhammadipa and other meditation Masters may come to teach us in retreats. One exciting thing in the new year that we can look forward to with certainty is that Venerable Sayadaw Sujiva will be coming in April (4/25 – 4/27) to guide us in a three-day retreat. Please watch for further announcements about this.
Site Improvements
The major site improvements this year are as follows:
* Thanks to Jennifer Jong and her husband Denis Lee, the platform in the meditation hall is finished.
*The process of paving around the meditation hall areas with stones to facilitate walking meditation is almost complete.
However, there are still improvements yet to be done, including the following items:
*Finish landscaping the area surrounding the new meditation hall.
*Finish improving the floor and ceiling of the outside restroom.
By the way, thank you for all the responses to my call for volunteers. Your enthusiasm in helping out MLA really warms my heart. It’s a great gift of joy to me. Thanks again. In case you missed my e-mail on volunteers, please see the attached file for information. It is never too late to sign up for volunteer jobs at MLA. Thank you!!
Have Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year!!
With Metta and Gratitude,
Tony
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