6 Nov 2022 DEW (Dharma Enrichment Workshop)
The DEW (Dharma Enrichment Workshop) held on 6 Nov 2022 was attended by over 260 students and volunteers.
Before the DEW session started, participants got to enjoy the beautiful Insightful Praise “Cherry Blossom in Snow” sung in both Chinese and English.
The DEW’s first highlight was Venerable Bensi’s guidance to everyone using Teacher’s discourse. Venerable guided us to set the right motivation for attending the DEW, including the reason why we should still pay attention to teachings we have previously heard.
Lesson 1 was about infinite lives. Lecturer Cheryl shared evidences about infinite lives, which included the story of a real life out-of-body experience that an American doctor underwent and his learnings from the experience. She also shared Master Jih-Chang and Teacher’s discourse about the Sixth Patriarch that widened one’s limited perception of 1 lifetime to infinite lifetimes, in which these lifetimes could be filled with infinite hopes when we use each life well to practice the Dharma.
Lesson 2 gave an overview of the 3 Life Objectives that Master had put in place for all disciples more than 20 years ago, to help us progress with confidence life-after-life. This was clearly illustrated by the sharing of 1 student about changes to her life after learning the Lamrim in the Teacher-Dharma-Virtuous Friends environment set up by Master. Lecturer Glenda and Brother Steven also shared how the Dharma Enterprises established by Master provided lay disciples with practical means of applying what they had learned, in alignment with the 3 Life Objectives.
In Lesson 3, Lecturers Adeline Wong and Vincent used interactive means, including Padlet and reflective questions to help participants understand the 1st Life Objective better and to let them express their views. Thus, though Lesson 3 was close to lunch time, the participants were well engaged. [Please read the comments on Padlet and rejoice in one another's learning journeys here: http://tiny.cc/2bm0vz]
After Venerable Bensi’s closing speech, participants had the opportunity to clarify some queries.
How was the 6 Nov DEW learning contents derived? The DEW team spent a few months in the joint studies of Master’s Life Objectives teaching and to come up with the DEW lesson plans. We are very thankful to have the invited speakers value add to the lesson plans and their delivery of this DEW. Also, we are very thankful to have Venerable Bensi’s guidance.
We look forward to everyone’s attendance of year 2023 DEWs and beyond. We will be learning more about the important core concepts (in addition to the Three Life Objectives) taught by our Master to help us progress with confidence throughout our infinite lives!