Next meeting: 31 March 2023.
Time: 11am – 12pm
Each month, Book Group facilitator KK Lim will choose a book from the Library’s collection of free e-resources. You download the e-book, and read and reflect on it over the month. Then on the last Friday of the month, meet up online via Zoom to exchange ideas and opinions with others who’ve read the book, and expand your understanding of Buddhism.
Please be sure to register each month so we can email you the Zoom link before the meeting.
Theme for the March Book Group meeting:
‘Collective Responsibility’
Some may think this concept is somewhat alien to Buddhist teachings where the focus is on cultivating personal understanding, responsibility and accountability. However, the Buddha Dhamma continually alludes to interdependence of all things in Nature where all beings co-habit and share one common world.
In the second half of Venerable Wuling’s book Everything We Do Matters, she explores these links and conditions that affect things that happen. The impending catastrophe of Climate Change is discussed and tied to accelerating human pursuit of gratification through greed, anger and delusion. Multiple issues such as materialism, rise of ‘convenient’ household technology, disposable equipment, throwaway society (food, clothes etc), depleted water resources, deforestation and other unnecessary matters have resulted in increasing suffering of the disenfranchised majority. The mountains of waste have caused enormous pollution, rapid environmental degradation, drought, floods, extinction of species plus a myriad of other problems. Powerful government agencies and profit-seeking corporations have added to the speed of deterioration.
The teachings on how Dhamma works can inspire action by individuals to help reduce these negative impacts and collaborate as a global community to slow the destruction of our environment by being aware that ‘Everything We Do Matters’.
Reading:
Everything We Do Matters
By Venerable Wuling
(pages 65 – 180)
To access this resource please click here
About the facilitator
KK Lim is a Buddhist practitioner focused on learning more and working on Engaged Buddhism. He is involved in various initiatives to alleviate the suffering in disadvantaged communities both in Australia and overseas. He is a member – and past president – of the Association of Engaged Buddhists. Before dedicating himself to social work–related activities, he worked in several countries as a senior banker, then left the profession to run a corporate training business.
All Sessions are by Donation (Dana) to the Buddhist Library. All donations to the Buddhist Library of $2 and over are tax deductible.
Dana is the traditional practice of generosity, the extending of one’s goodwill, which is fundamental to Buddhism and other spiritual traditions. The dana you give helps to maintain the Library and allows it to offer more teachings on the Dhamma so that others may benefit in the future. It is up to each person to determine the amount of dana they’d like to offer. We understand that this is a difficult time financially for many, and people will give what they can. An appropriate dana can’t be prescribed but requires sensitivity to its intent and to the individual’s own situation, as well as awareness of the cost of organising events and supporting teachers who spread the Dhamma.