BY
BHIKSHUNI JIN ROU
Vajra
Bodhi Sea, May 2008, p.43
Professor
Ron Epstein and Ocean Epstein recently visited the Gold Coast
Dharma Realm in Australia. After their visit, I accompanied
them to Sydney where I gave a workshop to volunteer teachers
of Buddhist Studies in the New South Wales school
system.
The
workshop was sponsored by the NSW Buddhist Council, to whom Professor Epstein
also gave a talk on "The Growth of Buddhism in the West." He also
spoke to the Buddhist youth group MITRA, which means "friends" in
Pali. Brian White, president of the council, and his wife showed us a black
and white photo of the Venerable Master Hua in Sydney, which they had scanned
and sent to us. The photo was found in the archives at the council.
Upon
inquiring about the people in the photo, the Whites discovered that the people
closest to Master Hua's right shoulder are Charles Knight and Natasha Jackson
who jointly ran the Buddhist Society of NSW which was founded in 1953. Graeme
Lyall, former president of NSW Buddhist Council, could not identify the others
apart from an Austrian Norbert Moshner at far left of picture.
During
the visit to GCDR, Ron accepted an invitation to speak at a symposium called
"Women, Faith and a Culture of Peace" at the Multi-Faith Centre at
Griffith University in Brisbane. The topic was "Just, compassionate and
sustainable Earth communities." He also led a workshop on "Resolving
interfaith conflicts in interfaith gatherings
Some Buddhist ideas."
It
was summer in Australia, in which misty drizzle turns the bush along the Arhat
trail into an emerald city and raindrops cling like diamonds to the center of
huge spider webs, stretching across the trail walk that the
Epstein enjoyed in the early mornings. During the heavy rains this year, the
wallabies (cousins of the kangaroo) forage on the lush foliage in the
interior, but two came out to greet Ron and Ocean the least they could do. Before
leaving, Ron gave a talk at GCDR on "Buddhist Insights about our
Environmental Crises," followed by a discussion with the local Aussies,
who are passionate about protecting the land and wildlife of Australia.
Volunteer
Buddhist Teachers in Australia: With the growing number of religions in
Australia, the schools take a tolerant view and offer a class called Special
Religion Education. Each term, students sign up to study the religion of their
choice, which meets weekly. The teachers for these classes are volunteers, but
they have to be trained and certified by their respective religious councils.
The NSW Buddhist Council has asked GCDR to participate in training their
volunteer teachers. For this reason, I have been giving a series of workshops
in Storytelling and Developing Curriculum on (compassion for Animals;
Reverence for Earth, in which we are collecting Buddhist stories and creating
activities to explain the principles-and to make it fun. Sixty schools have
requested Buddhist teachers; so far the Buddhist council has filled thirty of
these positions
