A Letter to a Friend

Letter from a friend:

My name is .... and I have an interest in the Lord Buddha's teachings. I have been searching for support in my choice to study this religion. I feel real alone because no one around that I know of is practicing the way. I could really use some kind words.

Response from Editor:

I think it's quite common in North America that people who are interested in Buddhism have difficulty to find a meeting place or a practice center for the teachings of the Buddha.

That's why the Buddhist Association of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania (BALV) participates in several occasions of Religious events held by City of Allentown, making it known to more people so that they know where to turn to and practice together.

It's our believe that 1 plus 1 is more than 2 and 9 plus 9 is definitely well over 81. So BALV has weekly meeting
and invites scholar or practitioner every now and then, keeping members and friends in touch with Dharma (Buddha's teachings, the way things are).

And Dharma is in our daily life. When you blink your eyes, when you step on the ground, when you hold other people's hand, when someone looks straight into your eyes, when the clock is ticking like crazy and you haven't even finished half of your exam, when there is only one chair left but more than two people still don't have seat, ....

Dharma is, in a way, like catfish. Unless you know how, it's very difficult to catch it by hand. Extremely slippery, It slips through your hand in a split of second. The harder you hold it, the easier it slips away.

To benefit from Dharma, you need to get it, bite it, chew it and fully digest it. So read about it, think about it, and practice it.

You should have no problem to get reading material about Dharma. There are a lot of organizations where you can get free books (some handling charges are involved) and if you don't mind electronic version, Internet has incredible amount of stuff that can take you months or years to screen out.

After going through Get-it, Bite-it, and Chew-it stages, you can move to Digest-it stage. Attend Buddhism retreats. Usually it's 3-days, 5-days, 7-days, 10-days, or 3 months. S. N. Goenka's Vipassana Meditation (10-days) is a good one. If you don't practice it at home first, you may feel like a spiritual boot camp. (No pains, no gains?) Did I scare you? Don't worry, it's just a figure of speech.

With these kinds of experiences, you can start your own study group if there is no established organization in your area.

The way I see it, by practicing Buddhism, you are exploring your full potential, the complete depth of life, the ultimate reality of the universe. Thousands of millions of people before you have spent their whole lives, devoted completely to achieve this goal. With right understanding and right actions, they become the master of life and artist of living.

The fact of the matter is: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!