Reflection from BLYARC A Look Back on the 2009 North America BLYA Regional Conference By Brian Cheung From August 5 to August 8, YADs from across the United States and the YAD from Toronto met in Orlando for the 2009 North America BLYA Regional Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Bodhisattva and Volunteer.” Throughout the four days of the conference, there were lectures and discussion groups along with fun activities and memorable experiences. Venerable Yung Ku (Venerable Man Guang helped to translate her words into English), spoke to all of us on the second day about how being a Bodhisattva improves our present life. She mentioned that it was our human nature to help others and that by learning Buddhism, it helps us cultivate our human nature to help others. She told us a great story about a man who felt he was suffering a lot in life and that he wanted to go somewhere where he could have fun after his death. Once he died, he was sent to a lavish palace where all he ever did was eat, sleep, and play. But after three months, he began to feel bored and he actually wanted to do work. Another three months passed and the man began to lose more and more interest in this new afterlife. Eventually, the man realized that he ended up in Hell, where there was no hope, no future, and no free will. Is a life of fun really as rewarding as some of us are led to believe? This was essentially the question she wanted us to think about. Yung Ku made sure to emphasize the importance of having hope and maturity in our lives. Aaron Jackson of Planting Peace also spoke to us on the second day about how he was able to save 1.7 million children from parasitic worms. In many poorer countries, clean drinking water is very scarce. Oftentimes the available drinking water is very polluted since the water is also used for bathing, washing, and waste disposal. and also about his efforts to preserve the Amazonian rain forest. He mentioned the difficulties he had raising money—only one church in Alabama supported him in his fundraising for Haiti. His words were very inspirational for many as he was able to do so much just by himself. Ven. Miao Hong also spoke to us about BLIA and what they have done in other countries. The BLIA helped to establish a new hospital in Paraguay in 2003; since the hospital’s opening, more than 11,500 children were saved. The Venerable also told us that other charitable organizations spend too much to provide accommodations for their own people, either through expensive hotel rooms or first-class plane tickets. Several YAD members asked her for advice on volunteering and what they could do. She summed up everything with three words: “Don’t ask—follow.” Discussions among the YADs were also held. Some of the topics involved the connection between Buddhism and volunteering, the functions of a YAD, how younger people can balance volunteering and their social life, volunteering in an international realm, and saving the Earth. Each of these discussions was informative and eye-opening as members of YADs were able to share ideas with each other. As for fun, there were several games and contests where YADs competed against each other in friendly competition. Plenty of entertainment was provided through performances from the YADs and from invited guests, such as a group of young drummers from the Orlando Taiko Dojo who mesmerized everyone with their Japanese drumming. There was also a surprise fireworks show at the end of Night of Buddha’s Light that lit up the night sky and was a show that none of us was going to forget. I attended the conference in Taiwan last year so I had some familiarity with these YAD conferences. This experience was still new and unique to me as I got to meet a lot of the US-based YADs for the first time. Some YADs had large contingents for this conference (such as Los Angeles) but there were some YADs who only had one representative. New York had three representatives, which was a surprise to many of the other YADs present. Questions regarding why other members weren’t present were asked somewhat frequently. As the conference came to a close on August 8, many YADs exchanged farewells and contact information to ensure that new friendships could blossom. Also, it was announced that Toronto will host the next regional conference in 2011. I hope I will be able to attend the international conference in Taiwan next year and the conference in Toronto after that with the hope that I can see old friends again and have the opportunity to start new friendships.

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北美州最大型的年度書展-Book Expo America 日前於五月三十一日閉幕，美國佛光出版社今年第八次參展，本著佛光山「以文化弘揚佛法」的宗旨，希望透過這次的書展將佛光出版社的出版品推廣得更廣泛，接觸更多的群眾。 Book Expo America 展期為五月二十八至五月三十一日，今年有超過一千五百個展示攤位，來自各國出版社與書商參展，例如西班牙、德國、法國、意大利等歐洲國家，甚至不乏來自杜拜、阿根廷、阿拉伯聯合大公國等出版社欲打入美國市場。展示書目包羅萬象，從科學、人文、旅遊、藝術、兒童書籍，至醫學、傳記、小說、外文書和漫畫，更有多媒體專區展覽各式光牒有聲書，四天展期內共有五百位以上作家舉辦新書簽名會、新書發表會。 美國佛光出版社為書展中唯一的專業佛教書籍出版社，以出版人間佛教系列著作為主，展出一系列由佛光山國際翻譯中心所翻譯的新書，紐約道場住持永固法師與常住職事也到展覽現場關心打氣，更有紐約青年團在場協助，此次書展《美國出版者周刊》洽談有關報導美國佛光出版社的緣起及努力，不少圖書館員和教育界人士詢問適合的書籍，亦有多位翻譯及美術設計人員前來表達合作意願，肯定了美國佛光出版社在美國所扮演的重要角色。

http://life.fgs.org.tw/content/culture_art_news.php?ArticleNo=20677&news_class=SS04 為響應2008年國際佛光青年大會決議「佛光青年素食簡樸生活案」，效法佛陀慈悲濟世的精神，佛光山紐約青年團推廣一日素食活動，鼓勵大家於5月16日佛光日一同吃素，以電子郵件通知團員們與佛光之友，並於網站和FACEBOOK 上宣導，更於今年紐約佛光山寺佛誕節園遊會負責二手物品義賣攤位，希望青年們能避免浪費，以素食簡約生活的實際行動愛護地球。

為接引青年朋友認識佛教、提昇團員佛學素養，佛光山紐約青年團舉辦為期三天兩夜的青年學佛營，於四月十七日至十八日在佛光山鹿野苑舉行，共計二十餘名學員報名參加，其中包括來自紐約理工大學、紐約州立大學石溪分校的學生及社青。 第一天的人間音緣歡唱，讓許多新朋友大為驚訝，打破之前對於佛教歌曲的偏見，雋永的歌詞與悠揚的旋律吸引著大家，各組學員也挖空心思，紛紛以別出心裁的表演方式演唱人間音緣歌曲。晚上的閱讀討論時間，以分組讀書會的型態，閱讀大師所撰《生活的藝術》，探討面對生活的態度，讓每一天過得充實、有意義，學員們紛紛提出自己的看法，也分享個人經驗，將過去碰到的一些問題與文章相印證。 此次學佛營邀請國際佛光會紐約協會王會長主講「佛教與人際關係」，王會長曾經為女童軍領隊，於課程中分享自己在女童軍與佛光會的經歷，建議大家實踐三好運動，與人相處時說好話，適時讚美鼓勵；待人以誠存好心，處處為對方著想；平常勇於承擔做好事，便能有好的人際關係。 佛光山寺住持 永固法師特別於百忙中抽空上山，主講「佛教與情緒管理」，以淺顯易懂的方式介紹唯識學，期望大家能認識內心，做自己的主人，不為負面情緒所牽引，不受貪念或嗔恨影響。學員們亦趁機於佛教問答時間提出一些疑問，永固法師精闢地一一解答，並提醒青年朋友們，平日定課無論是抄經、念佛或禪修，皆是為了訓練禪定，當遭遇外境時，便是考驗平常修行成果的機會，期許各位學員能將本次學佛營所學於日常生活中實踐，管理調伏情緒，過著歡歡喜喜的生活。 結營前學員們熱烈地分享心得，覺得收穫頗多，希望未來能有更多類似的學佛營或禪修營，大家相約下回鹿野苑再見。

2009 Children's Summer Camp
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Date: July 1 - 5

Theme: G2 - Go Green

Age: 8 - 13 yr old

Location: IBPS Deer Park

Youth Buddhism Retreat

Date: April 18 - 19, 2009
Location: IBPS-Deer Park
Fee: None
Age: 13 - 30


Download an application here
Registration Deadline: 4/11/2009
Please fill out the application and email us @ ny_yad@yahoo.com

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BLNY-Spring2009 Edition uploaded. please visit the link for latest version.

佛教靠我 Buddhism Depends On Me

Hand Gesture rehearsal for the upcoming Vegetarian Gala performance.

2008 Fall Version Available for Download (PDF): DOWNLOAD!!

2009 IBPS Children's Summer Camp Theme: G^2 = GO GREEN !! Click here for Info