At around 6:45ish am, Dede, Andrew, and I forced ourselves to get up took
turns taking showers and getting ready, finally descending the stairs for
breakfast at around 7:15am. A little groggy but nevertheless enthused about
the conference, we finished our lovely feast and along with two large
containers of my aunt’s Vietnamese sour soup (canh chua), we arrived in
BBM at around 8:30, right on time. After tacking on our nametags and
receiving our conference packet, we hustled into the Buddha Hall for the
orientation and the Keynote talk titled “Wisdom and Blessings” with
Dharma Master Heng Sure. (Pictures: the
seat cushions; DM Heng Sure giving his talk)
Following was a brief meditation session which included stretching led by
Owen and an introduction by Chin He Shr. There were quite a few people in
the hall and so the stretching part entailed some bumping and jostling of
neighbors, but I think everyone enjoyed getting their energy pumped up.
The sit was also really nice, albeit short, and you could really feel
the focus and good energy in the room. After meal offering,
LUNCH TIME!! Prepared by various laywomen from BBM and DRBY, we
were all treated to a scrumptious meal :) (Pictures:
stretching; Chin He Shr)
The next several hours consisted of two workshop sessions, and in eah block there were a possible two different sessions one could attend. So for workshop one, there was “Introduction to the Sutras” by Dr. Martin Verhoeven and “The Dharma of Relating to People” with Doug Powers. The second workshop included “When Were You Last Happy” led by DM Heng Sure and “Perfecting the Wisdom Within” with Ron Epstein. (Pictures: Doug Powers; some people in the audience; in DM Heng Sure's workshop)
The next few activities on the schedule included a Q&A/icebreaker type
of activity and then evening ceremony and ending with lecture. However,
Mike, Andrew, Amanda, Christina, Dede, and I decided to go to downtown
When we got home, Dede, Jonathan, Andrew, and I ate some instant noodles
prepared specially by Andrew, and chatted for awhile before heading back
upstairs. I spent about half an hour trying to get my pictures to upload on
Facebook – which didn’t work – and Dede and I drifted off the sleep
soon after, both exhausted from the day’s festivities.
DRBY Conference - Day 2
The third workshops included “Dedicated to the Dharma” with Heng Yin
Shr and Mrs. Yeh, and “Buddhism as More Than Meditation” with Chin He
Shr. Before we knew it, it was meal offering! (Pictures:
Mrs. Yeh, Heng Yin Shr, and Laura Lin; a shot of the audience; the
assembly heading out)
After meal offering we took a group picture in front of the BBM sign at
the corner of the street, and after countless shots, we headed to the back
(the parking lot) where we were greeted with not one, but TWO tables laden
with food! A few of us headed over to the park where there were benches,
and spent the lunch period lazily enjoying the good food and just having
fun together :) (Pictures: group picture
minus the photographers; everyone getting food; lunch)
After lunch was the closing panel titled "Spiritual Friendship"
and included four panelists: Laura Lin, Steven Lin, Kenny Cannata, and
Stacy Chen, along with David Yin, who was the moderator. They talked about
their experiences with Buddhism and how they coped with balancing a
social/student life and a spiritual life. Next was supposed to be
meditation but all the kids snuck to the kitchen and hung out there
instead, enjoying cookies and crackers and having fun with Anne and
Maxine's little cousin, Kevin. (Pictures:
a shot from the back of the hall; David, Kenny, and Steve; Laura and
Stacy)
After a quick break we all gathered in the Buddha Hall again and were
given an "Introduction to DRBY" powerpoint presentation,
followed by Q&A. Then we ended the conference by doing the Dedication
of Merit, a great closing to a great conference. Next? CLEAN UP TIME!
Everyone worked together to put back the cushions and chairs, clean up the
Buddha Hall and kitchen, put away the tents/canopies in the back, and of
course, take home the delicious leftovers :) (Pictures:
watching the presentation; putting away cushions; stacking chairs)
It was hard to believe that two days had gone by so quickly and people continued to linger and just chat with each other, and in our case, we messed around in the parking lot by taking pictures, monkeying around, and even having an ice war!! XD Everyone was laughing and having fun but before we knew it, everyone had to go home and it was finally time to say goodbye. Goodness, time really does fly! I can't believe that I'm already back in SD and that the conference was just yesterday...I met really amazing people and learned so much, and I think what I took away from it most was that there are more than just a handful of people trying to balance their social life with their spiritual life; I am so blessed to be able to meet such incredible and dedicated people. Thank you to all who had worked so hard to put this conference together, and to all who participated and made this conference oh so memorable :)