Buddha's Light International Association (BLIA) New York Young Adult Division (NY YAD) Introduction
BLIA Young Adult Division New York subdivision was formally certified on January 1998 (Abbreviated for NY-YAD). The goal of the organization of NY-YAD is to provide the younger generations of temple participants a well-developed place to stay, to meet friends in such enviornments, while gaining Buddhism knowledge, cultivate the mindful point of view for life, and to develop mutual relationships with others.
As one of the largest city in the world, New York attracts thousands of foreign students yearly. Since the certification of YAD New York subdivision, we have actively provided assistance to these students with their studies, work, and emotional support and advice. Under the supervision of Ven. Yi-Hen, we also attracted many young adults during activities to join our footsteps in integrating buddhism into our daily lives.
The Young Adult Division organizes a variety of activities annually to enrich ourselves. For outdoor activities, we had orangized sightseeing/cherry blossom trip, ski and ice skate trips, movie appreciations, and etc. For indoor activities, we've had Thanksgiving dinner party, New Year party, and family visits. To the extent of community services, we had joined in donation walk-a-thon, blood drive, street fairs, and clothing drives. We also valued inner-developments and enrichments, therefore, we had organized annual buddhism retreats and meditation camps, in addition to monthly study groups and buddhist instrumental classes.
We are very fortunate to hold several activities at upstate New York Deer Park. With the peaceful surrounding of Deer Park, it intrigued us with a calmer and peaceful heart to focus on buddhism teaching and learning.
Aside from organizing activities, the Young Adult Division also placed importance on the upbringing of the next generations with buddhism involvements, for the passing on of buddhism. Besides the weekly Sunday Class, where children are taught the basic doctrines and knowledge of buddhism, the YAD also organized annual children's summer camp. We hoped to germinate the seed of buddhism in our next generations and continue its development, meanwhile providing the righteous foundation and insight for them and other young adults. Four years of experiences have shown us the importance of educating the next generation, not only academically, but also mentally and in mindfulness. Therefore, the summer camps have become the highlight and the most thoroughly planned activity for the New York Young Adult Division.
Since the re-elected executives of 2002, the division was introduced to the youth conference with president Jenny Chen and vice president Jeffrey Chen. We have gained valuable experiences and emotional impacts. For the theme of the conference, we brought the song of "Harmonize" to share with the other youth memebrs. The words of the song initiated a desire to resolve all anger for a world of peaceful future.
We are grateful for the supports and supervisory from the Abbot of IBPS-NY, Ven. Yi-Hen. We are also appreciative for all the venerables who had guided us through our growth. We are sincerely thankful for all the assistance we had received along the way. The NY-YAD had developed, grown, and learned richly during the past years, which bought us to our current achievement. We will endlessly endeavor our efforts for future developments. |
: IBPS - NY 154-37 Barclay Ave., Flushing NY 11355
: (718) 939-8318
Fax: (718) 939-4277
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