Experience sharing

The greatest takeaways for me in 2026

Written by Grace L. 

It was a blessing to be able to join the English intensive meditation class on January 3 & 4, 2026, at Yun Lai Branch.
 
The greatest takeaways for me are as follows:

 1. Be the finest horse: Fashi mentioned at the beginning of the class an analogy given by the Buddha about different levels of spiritual awareness. The finest horse runs just by seeing the shadow of a whip. The good horse runs once the whip touches its hair. The average horse only runs when it feels the pain of the whip. As for the stubborn horse, only when the spur pierces its bones will it move. Fashi shared this story to inspire us to work diligently in the Year of the Horse. The galloping sound of horse hooves still echoes in my mind and reminds me to develop my Buddhahood.

 2. Questions were most welcome: What impressed me a lot was the atmosphere of the English meditation class. Questions were very much welcomed, and discussions—including subgroup discussions and large group discussions—were also encouraged, which created a very open and friendly environment for clarifying meditation methods.

 3. Hands-on experiences of sitting postures: When introducing the sitting postures, such as loose lotus, half lotus, full lotus, Burmese posture, etc., Fashi encouraged all of us to give each posture a try right away. At the end of the introduction, Fashi gave us a short quiz by naming a kind of posture and asking us to do it accordingly. I think this design was fun and educational, helping me remember the postures even better.
 
This time, I was especially fortunate to participate both as a student and as a volunteer. Serving as a volunteer gave me the chance to observe whether I was able to maintain mindfulness in and out of the Dharma Hall. I therefore also observed more closely how the senior in my group conducted the subgroup discussions and helped answer the students' questions regarding meditation practice. Seeing many international friends, and especially young people in my group, come into contact with the Buddhadhamma filled my heart with happiness and gratitude. May more and more people join the English meditation class and enjoy peace and happiness in their lives.