Photos from the Event: View Albums

十二月十六日，佛光山紐約青年團假佛光山紐約道場，舉辦青年團募款素宴，一方面為今年暑假承辦的美州佛光青年生命成長營支出籌款，同時也慰勞長期以來支持愛護我們的佛光會師兄師姐們，共售出九十六張票，由青年團Timmy掌廚，紐約佛光青年樂團領軍表演，以可口的餐點、精彩的演出、一流的服務，為晚宴劃下完美的句點。 由於師兄師姐們平日熱心參與道場各項活動，對於餐會場地十分熟悉，為了給來賓與眾不同的用餐經驗，佈置組的工作人員早早便開始規劃，從座位安排、餐桌裝飾、舞台架設、燭光燈飾擺設等，處處可見佈置組與如賢法師的巧思，大家走下階梯的一剎那，對齋堂煥然一新的面貌皆驚喜地讚賞，相信就如主持人所說，經過這回齋堂的「變身」，師兄師姐們可以發現道場的另一項功能，日後無需費心尋找高級餐廳宴席，不妨多考慮借用道場，舉行佛化婚禮與慶祝活動。 此次活動也感謝黃瑞宏師兄做特別顧問，指導行堂組的服務生們，為來賓提供更好的服務品質，大家經過受訓後，對於上菜端盤、加水添茶等等餐桌服務有更深一層的認識，不敢再小看服務生的工作，尤其許多細節在受訓時看似輕鬆，正式上陣時卻因忙碌而容易忽略，上菜收盤的時機也必須十分注意，茶水飲料的補充更是馬虎不得，素宴結束後，每個人都如釋重負，慶幸活動終於圓滿完成。 感謝常住一直以來的支持及佛光會的幫忙，這次素宴青年團藉著小禮物和摸彩獎品與大眾結緣，以表演與行動表示我們的謝意，希望所有與會來賓有一個難忘的夜晚。

十一月二十三至二十五日，紐約青年團與青少年團協助佛光山紐約道場所辦彌陀佛七，擔任行堂的重任，三日內合計二十餘名團員輪班行堂，午齋藥石後整理完畢，義工們也隨喜念佛一支香，各自精進。 永固法師期許大家藉這次的機會磨練學習，或許日後短期出家時還有機會，便能更熟練流暢地協助行堂。

The NY YAD/TD had it's first ever fund-raising dinner over this past Sunday, 12/16/07, at the temple. Around 100 people attended this dinner event. To make this dinner a memorable one to the attendees, many people put in a lot of effort to make it happen. The following photos are from just one of the many preparation days. View Albums More news and photos from the actual dinner event to come later. -- Caber

2007 BLIA Executives Election On Sunday, December 9, 2007, BLIA held their annual Executive Election in the NY Temple. NY-YAD is proud to take part of this election as well. Members of our group assisted with preparations and clean-ups. Our executives, Frank, Fanny and Ellen also assisted with English translation and audio + sound setup. Our president, Jenny Chen, even represented the NY-YAD as one of the nominees in the election. Jenny, who will be stepping down as the NY-YAD President in January 2008, was successfully elected to the BLIA Executives committee! In addition, the new executives committee (composed of 19 members) recognizes Jenny's achievements with the NY-YAD and the committments she has devoted to the NY temple, has select Jenny to be one of the three Vice-Presidents of BLIA. Congratulations to Jenny!! We thank her for all her contributions to our division and wishes her the best during her Vice-Presidency term. We know she will be successful in representing the YAD in the BLIA and we want her to know that YAD will be her biggest supporter in anything she do!! A couple of photos from that day (click on the photos to see larger version)

Making Strides - Walk against Breast Cancer Join BLIA New York YAD DATE: Sunday, October 21, 2007 MEETING TIME: 8:30 AM LOCATION: Corner of East 71st Street and 5th Avenue Please Register~ Team's Website

I've compiled all the reflections in YADBucks. We received many reflections, suggestions, and comments. Even now we still receive emails from YAD members telling us what a great time they had in New York. Thank you all for the input. However, due to space limitation, I can only put the reflections with names/subdivision name here. We plan to make special poster for those who draw pretty pictures on their comments (thus, they won't be seen here). Rest assure, we value all your input and I will compile them all into the report for our abbess and headquarter. --frank-- (陳怡瑄) 在這為其三天的生命成長營，除了豐富精彩的課程及趣味十足的活動遊戲外，最令人印象深刻的就是美味的三餐！扣扣扣三聲清脆的板聲，沒有語言的隔閡，我們都知道：開飯了！相信絕大部份的青年都注意到，廚房的師兄師姐們如小蟻雄兵般，不停歇的忙進忙出，才剛端出最後一盤早餐，轉身間又要開始張羅中餐，但他們永遠掛著和藹可親的笑容，用香噴噴的食物迎接我們，無非是想要提供我們一個美好的學習環境。親愛的師兄師姐們，感謝您們這幾天的付出，我們用一顆感恩的心，向您們說聲：「謝謝！」 (Steven @ Toronto YAD) Awesome conference! It had a very family and homely feel to it, and I think it was very successful in rallying our North American YADs. I can’t really think of things to improve on, but if I think of anything, I’ll let you know. Bravo again on one of the best conference ever! (Austin YAD) Thank you all the venerables who tried to speak in English as much as they can through out the conference. It really shows that Sangha members also support the localization effort in U.S. and Canada. Thank you! (Anita, Cynthia, and Kaitlin @ Toronto YAD) Your camp fire was amazing. You did a wonderful job on the conference. Possible improvements: 1. more free time to relax and get to know group members 2. more time slots for group discussions to allow for discussions of different topics or further discussions of chosen topics Thanks for everything! (Theresa Tsao @ South Bay YAD) I really would like to thank NY YAD for being such an inspiration. I had the chance of arriving few days before conference started, and I was amazed by what I saw. It really reminded me of Master Hsing Yun’s approach of “Perfectly Willing - 心甘情願” as well as reiterated the conference’s theme of, “Changing the World and Benefiting Humanity.” NY YAD did an amazing job on reflecting those ideas. Inevitably each group has its many problems, but from what I have come to see, it’s not about the problem or situation, but how you approach the situation that is important. During the pre-conference madness, the amount of pressure and stress was blatantly apparent, yet NY YAD kept a great attitude going about their tasks. The night before a majority of the staff was heading up to Deer Park, everyone was scrambling to paint this, draw that, print this, plan that, put beads together, about to crack! Yet, everyone maintained a positive attitude, singing songs, telling jokes, and having a blast but most importantly working together to get things done. It was truly an inspiration to see a group work together like that. Instead of feeling tired or grumpy working on all these preparations, it was really fun to be there! The next day, in the midst of more preparation madness, (the day most staff was heading to Deer Park) a shipment of a gazillion chairs and tables came in. If that was not stressful, I don't know what is. Everyone pretty much had to stop with their preparations and help move a few hundred tables and chairs individually off a truck and into the temple or the storage basement across the street. Venerables, devotees, and YAD were everywhere moving tables and chairs left and right! [Keep in mind this was in the afternoon, and everyone was supposed to get ready to leave for Deer Park] Yet, everyone carried a positive energy and worked together to finished the job. I am sure much of the staff was even overwhelmed and even more stressed at this point, but nonetheless they did it without grumbling. And it was because of each individual’s choice to have a positive attitude that the entire group could maintain keep that positive energy. Really a reflection of, “A changed world starts from within.” Also, I remember one night during the conference I was fixing up some notes from the discussion earlier that day and it was really late, but the entire staff was still meeting, practicing, and having a great time. However, one of them was completely exhausted and burnt out, but through the encouragement, love and support from her team. Or what I have learned from school the, "Holla back. “I got yo back!" attitude from those around her, her smile and energy returned. This really presents how important it is for a team to support each other, and how much a team’s success depends on that support. Knowing you have that encouragement and support from those around you pushes and motivates you to move forward. Thank you New York YAD for reminding me that everything we do effects and influences the people around us, realizing that, "It's not my world my world – your world your world – it's OUR WORLD." As Toronto's banner simply summarizes - "Change Me, Change Yourself, Change the WORLD!" You = Me = World. (Diana Ye) Besides being sick, I thoroughly enjoyed this regional conference. I felt it had the perfect combination of Buddhism and fun. We were able to cultivate, widen our Buddhism knowledge base, establish new friendships, and share ideas to better our own local YADs, all at once within a 2-3 days program. It was very entertaining because everyone who came and were involved were so creative in presentations, lecturing…etc. I especially liked how global warming/environmental issues played such a large role in each day of the regional conference. I’m so happy to see that the issue is being seen by all these people and here how they felt they could do their part to help. The only thing that I would change is the camp fire. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time and it was really nice to end it all that way with such happiness and togetherness. But the fire created so much carbon dioxide emission in this beautiful environment. We had just gotten done talking about global warming, too, and the fire was so big and it burned for such a long time. I warned myself by it too, so I can’t say that I was Miss Environment, but I want to help think of having something else to have so much fun around. Maybe a smaller fire, tighter circle around the fire, with a covered or half enclosed stage for the activities to take place next to the circle. (Deborah Tsai @ LA YAD) It was tiring time, but a good experience overall. (Tm Shiau @ LA YAD) I wish I didn’t have to sleep on the table. (Emily Chen @ Hsi Lai YAD) This conference an experience I will never forget NY YAD was so great in making us fell like part of their family. (Jody Hou @ LA YAD) Overall, I love the cozy atmosphere and being able to experience Buddhism in a whole new way.

The 2007 BLIA YAD Regional Conference ended on 8/19. We hope all the participants enjoyed the conference. Not only that, we hope that you got something useful out of this conference and can bring back what you learned here to your YAD group. As usual, there are tons of people we need to thank for making this event possible. Since there were way too many people, we'll just say "THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH" here to all those who helped us out. For those who missed the conference, we'll have other updates and photos for you later on. Please stay tuned. -- Caber

8/16/2007 Frank Yao [大會快報] 2007年美州佛光青年生命成長營熱烈開鑼了！來自美州各地約一百三十名學員齊聚佛光山鹿野苑，部份先抵達的學員熱心地協助準備歡迎晚會，極具巧思的佈景，贏得學員們一致的讚嘆，無論是初來乍到的新訪客，或是多次造訪鹿野苑的熟識，對重新佈置過的鹿野苑皆有煥然一新的感覺，我們相信未來三天會有特別的活動、豐富的課程，希望青年們能把握這次難得的機會，推廣三好運動，將所學帶回自己的分團，與更多人分享。 8/16/2007 Frank Yao [會前會議] 為什麼這次生命成長營有這些議題？為什麼四大議題有這些特別的名稱？本次執行長陳澄慧在會前會議時揭示四大議題的由來，簡述議題討論的內容，為分組討論熱身，希望明天討論時大家都能很快進入狀況，提出完善的建議。

8/16/2007 Frank Yao [Welcome Party] “There’s nothing in this world but change…” The beautiful melody kicked off the Welcome Party for 2007 America Buddha’s Light Young Adult Regional Conference. Thanks to our host Justin and Anita, we enjoyed a great night of performance by New York YAD Band. Our thanks also go to our volunteers and our Iron Chefs Vegeterian since they provided us with delicious food and drinks. The night ended with joy when the “new lady liberty” showed up after the “New York New York” performance. We look forward to the Night of Buddha’s Light camp fire!

8/16/2007 Stanley Chan @ Toronto YAD [Shout Out] Keep up the awesome work! You guys are always welcome to Toronto XD

Ok, folks, here they are, the photos from the last day of the regional conference. And it's only 9/2. Faster than my original estimate. :) The day started with presentations from representatives of the 4 topic discussion groups. Then the closing ceremony followed by a farewell lunch with performances from the different YAD subdivisions. The last day was filled with both laughter and emotions. You really needed to be there to feel it. Well, hope you enjoyed the photos. Take care, every one. View Albums -- Caber

Photos from the third day of regional conference are up. David started the day with some of his famous morning exercise. Then came the talk from two special guests. Presentations from each of the YAD subdivisions. Group discussion (part II). Lesson on recycling from a guest speaker. What's for dinner you asked? It's BBQ, vegetarian of course but it was pretty tasty. :) Then you'll see groups practice for their performance for the night followed by the camp fire. And we ended the night with the "Lighting the Candle" ceremony. Some photos' order near the end are not correct, sorry about that. Photos for the 4th and the last day of the conference will be up in about 3 to 5 days. View Albums -- Caber

I've compiled all the reflections in YADBucks. We received many reflections, suggestions, and comments. Even now we still receive emails from YAD members telling us what a great time they had in New York. Thank you all for the input. However, due to space limitation, I can only put the reflections with names/subdivision name here. We plan to make special poster for those who draw pretty pictures on their comments (thus, they won't be seen here). Rest assure, we value all your input and I will compile them all into the report for our abbess and headquarter. --frank-- (陳怡瑄) 在這為其三天的生命成長營，除了豐富精彩的課程及趣味十足的活動遊戲外，最令人印象深刻的就是美味的三餐！扣扣扣三聲清脆的板聲，沒有語言的隔閡，我們都知道：開飯了！相信絕大部份的青年都注意到，廚房的師兄師姐們如小蟻雄兵般，不停歇的忙進忙出，才剛端出最後一盤早餐，轉身間又要開始張羅中餐，但他們永遠掛著和藹可親的笑容，用香噴噴的食物迎接我們，無非是想要提供我們一個美好的學習環境。親愛的師兄師姐們，感謝您們這幾天的付出，我們用一顆感恩的心，向您們說聲：「謝謝！」 (Steven @ Toronto YAD) Awesome conference! It had a very family and homely feel to it, and I think it was very successful in rallying our North American YADs. I can’t really think of things to improve on, but if I think of anything, I’ll let you know. Bravo again on one of the best conference ever! (Austin YAD) Thank you all the venerables who tried to speak in English as much as they can through out the conference. It really shows that Sangha members also support the localization effort in U.S. and Canada. Thank you! (Anita, Cynthia, and Kaitlin @ Toronto YAD) Your camp fire was amazing. You did a wonderful job on the conference. Possible improvements: 1. more free time to relax and get to know group members 2. more time slots for group discussions to allow for discussions of different topics or further discussions of chosen topics Thanks for everything! (Theresa Tsao @ South Bay YAD) I really would like to thank NY YAD for being such an inspiration. I had the chance of arriving few days before conference started, and I was amazed by what I saw. It really reminded me of Master Hsing Yun’s approach of “Perfectly Willing - 心甘情願” as well as reiterated the conference’s theme of, “Changing the World and Benefiting Humanity.” NY YAD did an amazing job on reflecting those ideas. Inevitably each group has its many problems, but from what I have come to see, it’s not about the problem or situation, but how you approach the situation that is important. During the pre-conference madness, the amount of pressure and stress was blatantly apparent, yet NY YAD kept a great attitude going about their tasks. The night before a majority of the staff was heading up to Deer Park, everyone was scrambling to paint this, draw that, print this, plan that, put beads together, about to crack! Yet, everyone maintained a positive attitude, singing songs, telling jokes, and having a blast but most importantly working together to get things done. It was truly an inspiration to see a group work together like that. Instead of feeling tired or grumpy working on all these preparations, it was really fun to be there! The next day, in the midst of more preparation madness, (the day most staff was heading to Deer Park) a shipment of a gazillion chairs and tables came in. If that was not stressful, I don't know what is. Everyone pretty much had to stop with their preparations and help move a few hundred tables and chairs individually off a truck and into the temple or the storage basement across the street. Venerables, devotees, and YAD were everywhere moving tables and chairs left and right! [Keep in mind this was in the afternoon, and everyone was supposed to get ready to leave for Deer Park] Yet, everyone carried a positive energy and worked together to finished the job. I am sure much of the staff was even overwhelmed and even more stressed at this point, but nonetheless they did it without grumbling. And it was because of each individual’s choice to have a positive attitude that the entire group could maintain keep that positive energy. Really a reflection of, “A changed world starts from within.” Also, I remember one night during the conference I was fixing up some notes from the discussion earlier that day and it was really late, but the entire staff was still meeting, practicing, and having a great time. However, one of them was completely exhausted and burnt out, but through the encouragement, love and support from her team. Or what I have learned from school the, "Holla back. “I got yo back!" attitude from those around her, her smile and energy returned. This really presents how important it is for a team to support each other, and how much a team’s success depends on that support. Knowing you have that encouragement and support from those around you pushes and motivates you to move forward. Thank you New York YAD for reminding me that everything we do effects and influences the people around us, realizing that, "It's not my world my world – your world your world – it's OUR WORLD." As Toronto's banner simply summarizes - "Change Me, Change Yourself, Change the WORLD!" You = Me = World. (Diana Ye) Besides being sick, I thoroughly enjoyed this regional conference. I felt it had the perfect combination of Buddhism and fun. We were able to cultivate, widen our Buddhism knowledge base, establish new friendships, and share ideas to better our own local YADs, all at once within a 2-3 days program. It was very entertaining because everyone who came and were involved were so creative in presentations, lecturing…etc. I especially liked how global warming/environmental issues played such a large role in each day of the regional conference. I’m so happy to see that the issue is being seen by all these people and here how they felt they could do their part to help. The only thing that I would change is the camp fire. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time and it was really nice to end it all that way with such happiness and togetherness. But the fire created so much carbon dioxide emission in this beautiful environment. We had just gotten done talking about global warming, too, and the fire was so big and it burned for such a long time. I warned myself by it too, so I can’t say that I was Miss Environment, but I want to help think of having something else to have so much fun around. Maybe a smaller fire, tighter circle around the fire, with a covered or half enclosed stage for the activities to take place next to the circle. (Deborah Tsai @ LA YAD) It was tiring time, but a good experience overall. (Tm Shiau @ LA YAD) I wish I didn’t have to sleep on the table. (Emily Chen @ Hsi Lai YAD) This conference an experience I will never forget NY YAD was so great in making us fell like part of their family. (Jody Hou @ LA YAD) Overall, I love the cozy atmosphere and being able to experience Buddhism in a whole new way.

Photos from the second day of regional conference are up. The day of opening ceremony, walking around the Deer Park, the break-up into "Avenues" (groups), icebreaker and topic discussion. View Albums -- Caber

Hey fellow YAD members, I know a lot of people must be interested in news/photos from conference. We'll try our best to update the website in regards to this matter. However, it's Emporer Liang's Repentance Ceremony lately, please give us some time:) Currently, I'm reading through all the comments/reflections from YADBucks. Hopefully you will see them by the end of this week. --frank--

Photos from the first day of regional conference are up. The first day was all about preparing for the conference and you'll see quite a bit of photos on people doing just that. View Albums -- Caber

The 2007 BLIA YAD Regional Conference ended on 8/19. We hope all the participants enjoyed the conference. Not only that, we hope that you got something useful out of this conference and can bring back what you learned here to your YAD group. As usual, there are tons of people we need to thank for making this event possible. Since there were way too many people, we'll just say "THANK YOU SO SO SO SO SO MUCH" here to all those who helped us out. For those who missed the conference, we'll have other updates and photos for you later on. Please stay tuned. -- Caber

8/17/2007 Frank Yao [開營典禮] 國旗在歌聲中冉冉升起，美州佛光青年生命成長營正式開營，紐約道場住持 永固法師期勉在場青年好好把握這次難得的機會，用心學習，在接下來的三天中有所成長，從此刻起力行三好運動，在成長營期間鼓勵讚歎隊友，活動時合作無間，日後將所學帶回各分團，把經驗分享給此次沒有參加的朋友們，一起為推廣三好運動而努力。 8/17/2007 Frank Yao [深夜禪坐] 當晚課於佛光四句偈中結束，全體佛光青年在妙忠法師帶領下進行禪修課程，在沁涼如水的夜裡沉澱紛擾的心靈，聆聽四周此起彼落的蟲鳴聲，靜靜地體會這前所未有的感覺。大家答應妙忠法師，結營後回家每天會打坐五分鐘為定課，做為三好運動的一部份。 8/17/2007 Frank Yao [幕後花絮] 2007年美州佛光青年生命成長營義工們，在百忙中抽空進行山水讀書會。覺屏法師提醒青年義工們：緊繃的琴弦易斷，雖然生命成長營的各項行政作業非常繁忙，但我們仍要以佛法滋潤身心，適時休息，即使僅有短短數分鐘，也可以稍微恢復精神，支持自己繼續完成未完的工作，否則就會像緊繃的琴弦一樣，被沉重的工作量壓垮。

8/16/2007 Frank Yao [大會快報] 2007年美州佛光青年生命成長營熱烈開鑼了！來自美州各地約一百三十名學員齊聚佛光山鹿野苑，部份先抵達的學員熱心地協助準備歡迎晚會，極具巧思的佈景，贏得學員們一致的讚嘆，無論是初來乍到的新訪客，或是多次造訪鹿野苑的熟識，對重新佈置過的鹿野苑皆有煥然一新的感覺，我們相信未來三天會有特別的活動、豐富的課程，希望青年們能把握這次難得的機會，推廣三好運動，將所學帶回自己的分團，與更多人分享。 8/16/2007 Frank Yao [會前會議] 為什麼這次生命成長營有這些議題？為什麼四大議題有這些特別的名稱？本次執行長陳澄慧在會前會議時揭示四大議題的由來，簡述議題討論的內容，為分組討論熱身，希望明天討論時大家都能很快進入狀況，提出完善的建議。 8/16/2007 Frank Yao [Welcome Party] “There’s nothing in this world but change…” The beautiful melody kicked off the Welcome Party for 2007 America Buddha’s Light Young Adult Regional Conference. Thanks to our host Justin and Anita, we enjoyed a great night of performance by New York YAD Band. Our thanks also go to our volunteers and our Iron Chefs Vegeterian since they provided us with delicious food and drinks. The night ended with joy when the “new lady liberty” showed up after the “New York New York” performance. We look forward to the Night of Buddha’s Light camp fire! 8/16/2007 Stanley Chan @ Toronto YAD [Shout Out] Keep up the awesome work! You guys are always welcome to Toronto XD

八月五日下午，紐約青年團召開特別會議，討論美州佛光青年生命成長營各項籌備工作，在顧問指導 永固法師、各位與會法師和執行長陳澄慧領導下，副執行長及各組組長就種種營前準備進行工作會報，並報告各組面對的問題及準備進度，同時也感謝常住與佛光會紐約協會的指導與支援，協助各組工作人員，一起會這次生命成長營努力。 本次生命成長營將針對健全團務組織、環境保護、化世與益人、普及兒童教育等四大議題討論，屆時北美各地的佛光青年將齊聚一堂，藉由青年們彼此間的交流互動，集思廣益，共同解決現前世界所面對的幾項問題。下次工作會報將於八月十二日下午展開，希望各項準備作業如期完成。 --By Frank--

The 2007 International Buddha's Light Young Adult Executive Conference has successfully come to an end. We got back from Geneva and brought many chocolate:) I put some pictures from this trip. If you'd like to share your reflection regarding this executive conference, please post them in forum. click here for photos

七月二十七日至七月三十一日，來自世界各地的佛光青年幹部齊聚佛光山日內瓦會議中心，參與2007國際佛光青年幹部會議，紐約青年團亦有六位幹部與會。此次幹部會議除探討落實「化世與益人」外，亦希望能與歐洲青年們分享經驗，認識歐洲與瑞士風土民情。 這次以歐洲青年團對歐洲各國的介紹揭幕，上午各團報告2006年大會議案執行成果後，青年們在法師帶領下，步行至會議中心鄰近的公園，分中英文四大組，針對2007年的新議題展開討論。然而隔日的行程卻遭受少許挫折，十餘名中華總團的青年持中華民國護照，在日內瓦聯合國門前被攔阻，無法入場，使得在日內瓦聯合國內進行的青年會報稍嫌美中不足，當晚的專題演講也改變形式，由青年們各自抒發此事對內心的衝擊，所幸大家皆能以正面的態度接受，轉念化解心中的失落，顯出佛光青年們的成長與教性。 在綜合報告中，各組紛紛報告議題討論的總結，希望能健全組織，落實各項提案，也有青年對2008年國際佛光青年會議提出意見，建議新課程和不同的活動。整體來說，此次幹部會議雖然受歐洲環境限制，沒有很多義工幫忙，某些會議行政需要法師推動，或臨時邀請與會青年協助，但幹部們獲益良多，尤其歐洲青年們能與其餘資深的青年團經驗交流，相信對日後歐洲青年團務的推動方面有非常大的幫忙。 --2007 Geneva IBLYA Executive Conference Report by Frank--

2007 IBLYAE Conference

The 2007 Summer Camp is now over. The weather was GREAT. Lots of sunshine, mild temperature and low humudity really made the five days pleasant for all of us. A HUGE thank you to the venerables and those who helped to make the camp possible. Hope to see all of you again at the coming up regional conference. Stay tuned for some summer camp photos. -- Caber Photo Link: June 30th, Day 1: Day 1 ALbum Some photos from 6/30 ~ 7/4: View Albums

2. 四聖諦 The Four Noble Truths 四聖諦就是指苦、集、滅、道四種真理。 「聖」，是正的意思，「諦」，是指真理，包含有審查、真實不虛的意思。苦諦，是以智慧觀察出這個世界充滿痛苦；集諦，是以智慧徹悟煩惱與造業是形成生死痛苦的原因；滅諦，是透過智慧，證得涅槃自性，究竟解脫生死煩惱；道諦，是達到究竟涅槃的方法。 一、苦諦 　　苦，泛指逼迫身心苦惱的狀態。苦諦，說明人生實相是苦的道理，人生有生老病死，人人免不了的痛苦，還有愛別離苦，怨憎會苦，求不得苦，五陰熾盛苦等等，都是苦的果報。如果我們進一步就痛苦的對象來探討，形成苦的原因不外以下幾點： 　　1.我與物的關係不調和：譬如居住的空間太窄小，而人口又多，不能稱心如意；書桌的高低、燈光的照明不恰當，無法安心研讀等，都會帶給我們困擾，因而心中產生不快。 　　2.我與人的關係不調和：譬如自己喜愛的人，偏偏無法廝守在一起，而自己討厭的人，卻又冤家路窄，躲避不了，這就是八苦中的「愛別離苦」和「怨憎會苦」。 　　3.我與身的關係不調和：生、老、病、死所帶來的痛苦即屬於此。 　　4.我與心的關係不調和：我們的心常如脫韁野馬般到處奔竄攀緣，妄想紛飛，不但生出種種煩惱，甚至指揮身體為非作歹，因而造成痛苦。 　　5.我與欲的關係不調和：慾望有善欲與惡欲之別。善法欲如立功、立德、立言等向上求進的慾望，如果調御不當，將造成精神上的負擔。惡法欲如貪圖物質享受、眷戀男女歡情等造成墮落的慾望，由此所帶來的痛苦，更是不堪負荷。 　　6.我與見的關係不調和：指因邪知邪見所帶來的痛苦。例如：佛世時的裸形外道，因思想見解的錯誤，不但徒然使身體受苦，也障礙了真理的追求。 　　7.我與自然的關係不調和：氣候寒熱所帶來的不適，以及水潦、乾旱、地震、颶風等所造成的災難，即屬此類。 　　不管世間充滿多少苦，其實佛教之所以講苦，目的是為了讓我們知道苦的實相，進一步去尋找滅苦的方法。因此，了解苦的存在，只是一個過程，如何離苦得樂，獲得解脫，才是佛教講苦的最終目的。 　　二、集諦 　　集，積聚、招感的意思。集諦就是指形成痛苦的原因，說明人生集起貪瞋癡等許多煩惱的「因」，去造種種的不善業，才會招受種種的苦果，故「苦」以「集」為因。 　　我們如果想從痛苦的深淵中解脫出來，首先要滅除集苦的原因，不再造作新的苦業，快樂的人生就離我們不遠了。因此，徹底瞭解造成痛苦的原因──集諦，是追求幸福不可忽視的要務。 　　三、滅諦 　　滅是寂滅的意思，是指滅盡貪、瞋、痴等煩惱，而顯現出清淨的真如體性。 　　滅，其實就是「涅槃」的異名。涅槃是修道者在知苦斷集後，由修道所證得的解脫境界。它是滅除了煩惱、痛苦、人我、是非、差別、障礙等種種無明，而獲得的一種境我一如，超越生死，自由自在，光明幸福的圓滿境界。 　　四、道諦 　　道，是通達的意思，能通至涅槃，故名為道。道諦就是指從痛苦的此岸到達涅槃的彼岸所必經的道路，也就是證得涅槃的正道，一般指佛陀初轉法輪時所開示的八正道。 The Four Noble Truths are: The 1st Noble Truth - Suffering, dukkha exists Suffering, if uncured, can be like cancer spreading and infecting the whole body, and our life will undergo a continuing process of pain, conflict and torment. All these things trap us in the confinement of distress and unhappiness. We have little or no control over our lives. This is what the Buddha meant by suffering. The 2nd Noble Truth - The Cause of Suffering The cause of suffering is our attachment or clinging. The many dissatisfactions of life are caused by our greedy nature of wanting something our own way, and when things don't turn out the way we expected them to, we get angry. This is due to our ignorance, which is the root of all afflictions and turmoil. The 3rd Noble Truth - The Cessation of Suffering We live in a world of delusion assaulted by life's affliction. This is caused by our craving and dissatisfaction. Attachment to desire plagues our peace of the mind. The Third Noble Truth aims at annihilation of craving so that we are no longer enslaved by it. When cessation of craving is attained, the cessation of suffering will follow. The 4th Noble Truth - The Path to the Cessation of Suffering Buddhism is called the Middle Way because it teaches us to travel on a path that lies midway between the extremes. Although the Buddha emphasised that we are responsible for our own happiness, he taught methods through which we can transform ourselves into a joyful, pure and wholesome person. One of his methods is the path leading to the end of suffering. It is called the Eightfold Path of Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

1. 三皈依 Taking The Three Refuge 皈依是「皈」投「依」靠的意思，也含有救濟、救護之義。三皈依是指歸投三寶、依靠佛、法、僧三寶，藉著三寶功德威力的加持、攝護，能止息無邊的生死苦輪，以及能遠離一切怖畏，而得呵護、解脫一切憂悲苦惱。 一般而言，皈依是信仰。希願領受外在的助力，從他力而得到救助，這是他力的宗教，佛教皈依固然有此意義，而除此之外，更有不共外教的地方，因為皈依的最深意義、最終目的，乃是皈向自己的自心、自性。即如佛陀在涅槃會上教誡弟子的「自依止、法依止、莫異依止」的皈依真義。這明示了弟子應依仗自力，依正法修學，依自己的佛性，自己能成佛故。因此自己身心之當體，即為正法涅槃。能夠有這樣的認識，這才是皈依的真正意義。 All Buddhists following the proper practice should take refuge in the Triple Gem as their first step. By taking refuge, one declares that he is a disciple of the Triple Gem. Triple Gem is the collective name for the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Taking refuge in the Triple Gem means "go to" and "rely on" the Triple Gem, to ask for help and get deliverance from sorrows. It is like children who feel safe in the protection of their parents. Old people find confidence if they go about with a walking stick. Sailors need the compass so that they will have a safe passage, and the people walking at night require bright street lights so that they can see which way to go. The Triple Gem is also like a compass to us. We rely on it to find a safe harbour on the big ocean. Continual recitation of the refuge formula can bring about the support of the Triple Gem. We can overcome life's misery to find our true self, a haven in this life and in the future.

Summer camp training: Day 2 photos. View Albums In case you are wondering what the last couple photos from the 2nd day are about, we celebrated recent birthdays at the end. - Caber

5月26日，佛光山紐約青年團於佛光山紐約道場舉辦2007年佛光山三好兒童夏令營輔導人員訓練營，四十餘名學員在常住法師及授課老師引導下，為今年的兒童夏令營熱身，除了增進義工與小老師的佛學行儀，也透過「雲水三千」的影片，讓學員們認識師父上人和佛光山的宗風理念。此次也配合近日引人注目的環保問題，觀賞「An Inconvenient Truth」，大家十分熱烈地討論各項生活中可行的環保措施，也希望能將愛護地球的觀念傳達給夏令營的小朋友。

Summer camp training: Day 1 photos. View Albums

Temple held a Buddha's birthday/Mother's day celebration on 5/20/07. Was supposed to rain on that day but it turned out to be a great day in the end. Amazing. This year's celebration is a bit different from the previous' years. Definitely a nice change in my opinion. Here are the photos. I decided to mark "www.nyyad.info" on the photos this time. Hope no one has any objections. If I may say, the photos look pretty good this time. At least on my 12" LCD monitor. =D View Albums Caber

On 5/12/2007, we had the Mother's day cook off contest for the 2nd year. A huge thank you to the 7 groups that participated in this contest. Hope the kids and the parents enjoyed the event. Our TD, Angel, the project leader of this contest, did a good job once again this time. She was able to do this because of the help of Emmy, Esther and Jackie. They all went to the temple early in the morning, even skipped lunch, to make the event possible. When you see them next time, please give them a big hug. And of course, thanks to Tiffany's cute, cute, cute poster. If any one has any comments/suggestions about this event, feel free to contact us and tell us about them. For people who did not attend the contest, check out the photos here. View Albums

Photos from Buddhism Retreat 4/14/07 - 4/15/07 has been posted Click on the photo to view

(4/16/07) 佛光山紐約青年分團於上週末(4/14-15)假佛光山紐約道場舉辦一日一夜青年戒會。 此次戒會藉由八關齋戒形式讓青年們體驗一日一夜的出家生活。在住持法師與所有法師的帶領與指導下，每人均受益良多。課程安排包含辦此戒會的意義與內容，五戒的理解與實踐，從佛光四句偈看人間佛教，以及今年大師演講主題化世與益人的深度探討。這樣法喜充滿的一日在師父教導的四句偈美妙旋律中圓滿。所有參與學員深覺充實與成長。我們深深感謝常住在百忙之中仍安排讓此次戒會能圓滿完成。此次戒會共有青年團與青少年團共二十餘人參與。

The 2007 America Buddha’s Light Young Adult Regional Conference will be held at IBPS-Deer Park in New York, United States, from August 16th, 2007, to August 19th, 2007. The New York YAD is proud to be a co-sponsor of this event and anticipates on the participation of all the subdivisions located in the continent of America. Due to limited accommodation, we encourage each subdivision to submit their applications as soon as possible.

謹訂於2007年8月16日至2007年8月19日﹝共四天﹞，假佛光山鹿野苑舉行「2007美洲佛光青年生命成長營」。紐約佛光青年分團今年榮獲承辦「2007美洲佛光青年生命成長營」的殊榮。對我們而言，這是一份很大的榮耀，也很期待美洲各地的佛光青年能前來共襄盛舉！ 因名額有限，建議各團僅早報名參加。

日期:2007年3月11日 由會長陳澄慧與指導法師妙忠法師帶領，紐約青年分團召開幹部會議，針對未來活動策劃與細節安排。未來活動策劃包括4月份之佛學營課程安排，2007年5月至2008年6月間每月佛學課程大綱安排，7月份之兒童夏令營課程安排與規劃，8月份之美洲生活營活動策劃等等諸多細節。共有11位青年分團幹部參與討論

三月四日，永固法師與紐約青年團青少年團成員們進行一場特別座談會，約有二十多名團員參與，永固法師期許在場團員們確立一個長遠的人生目標，以饒益有情為己任。雖然夢想的實踐似乎充滿困難，但是有夢就可以成真，只要立下自己的志向，一步一步地朝目標努力，在思考如何圓夢的當下，人生便不是一成不變的單調生活，當我們幫助他人的同時，也豐富了自己的生命，從小我的狹隘眼界，擴展至大我的慈悲。 青年青少年們總是為時間不夠而煩惱，覺得每天都很忙碌，然而永固法師以自身經驗與大家分享，告訴我們「忙就是營養」，即使工作十分繁雜，行程緊湊，如果能集中心力於單項工作，制心一處，不為其餘事務煩惱，雖忙而不亂，一項一項按部就班地完成，以佛法調和急促的生活節奏，那麼僅需小歇片刻，疲憊倦怠的感覺可於短時間內恢復，彷彿內心裡有個發電廠，源源不絕地產生精力，處理事務條理分明，不會在繁忙的過程中，因生起無謂的煩惱而失去方寸。 我們辦活動時，倘若能把握專注的準則，時時刻刻提醒自己，以利益眾生為目的，那麼再艱鉅繁複的工作也會迎刃而解。永固法師冀望大家能於此次的座談會獲益，記得運用佛法的智慧，有佛法就有辦法，面對接下來的挑戰。

Photos from February posted. View Albums

Discussion Session with Venerable Yung Ku 青年團與永固法師座談

A special discussion session will be held this coming Sunday in our NY Temple. We how to introduce all the members of our YAD and TD to our abbess, Venerable Yung Ku. Through this discussion, we hope to enhance our interaction with our venerable and also present the upcoming events we will be hosting for the year of 2007.

希望藉由這次的特別座談, 讓法師能更加了解紐約青年團. 除認識所有青年團與青少年團團員外, 同時也將介紹青年團未來一年的活動.

Pictures From the Tour Simulation has been posted! Please go to the Photo Album for review. If you would like a copy of the pictures, please email us and let us know. We can send a copy for you to keep. Enjoy~

1/14)紐約青年分團今日下午舉辦例行會議. 重點討論2007前半年之活動策劃及進行方向‧ 團員針對各項活動提出議點與看法‧面對越趨嚴重的溫室效應問題, 團員亦提供有效策略和簡易、省電、不浪費資源的措施.

2006's Last NY YAD performance View Albums