BFY Leaders’ Retreat (6 to 9 June)

The BFY Leaders’ Retreat was a time for the leaders to come together to discuss about BFY. It was a really eye-opening experience for the new leaders (like me). Often we find that service and other BFY activities are run very smoothly, and don’t realise how much hard work and planning goes behind all that. This helps us be a lot more appreciative of the leaders, and also get an insight into what leadership is about.

We stayed at Kwan Yin Chai Lin, a Zen Buddhist Centre during the retreat.

First, we did a personality test to help us know each other’s strengths so we can better work with each other. Next, we were presented with 2 different scenarios that could happen in BFY regarding membership numbers, and brainstormed solutions in groups. This got our thinking hats on, and we learnt that ultimately we have to be realistic and be flexible; we will only know the true effectiveness of solutions when we put them into practice.

We then relooked at our system – our Vision, Mission and Core Values. Initially none of us had any changes to make but ended up having a lot to say as the discussion went on. Before this discussion, many of us were unaware of how these three things really shape the way we run BFY. We also feel really appreciative of how BFY changed from a group centred on fun a few years back to one centred on Dhamma. Fun gets unfeasible after awhile, for people can just have fun elsewhere without coming to BFY and just focusing on fun can undermine the values of some people. Taking a gamble to focus on Dhamma proved successful; it won’t attract everyone but will attract and develop people who are really keen to learn and practise. Indeed, you never go wrong with Dhamma.

Over the few days of retreat, we had several discussions about the issues BFY faces; first identifying them, then coming up with solutions, and refining our solutions through further discussions. The Exco, Captains and Initiative Directors did the final discussions in our own groups then presented the finalised solutions and plans to everyone. Now that this had been done, we started discussions for the highlight of every year – the BFY Year-End Camp. Stay tuned for more updates.

For our last dinner of the retreat on Day 3, we had a surprise – a completely paid-for dinner by BF at Au Chocolate at MBS for our hard work.

Taking photos at MBS!

Sumptuous dinner :P

After that, the new leaders were invested into the BFY leaders, and each of us was presented with a gift from the leader whom we are working with.

On top of discussions, we were exposed to new things, one of which is the extended chanting that we do in the morning and evening. The chanting we do before and after service for BFY is in fact shorter than the chants that are done at many Buddhist centres and temples, and this exposed us to the practice and put us in the mindset to practise in the day.

One of the most memorable experiences was Day 2 when we went around Singapore to visit different temples of different Buddhist traditions. The rationale for this was that as a Buddhist, we should understand and appreciate the different forms of Buddhism and their history, which many of us were not aware of. The temples we visited are Wat Palelai (Thai Theravada), Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery (Chinese Mahayana), Wat Ananda (Thai Theravada) and Amitabha Buddhist Centre (Tibetan Mahayana).

At Wat Palelai, some of us had our first experience giving Dana (food) to the Sangha, which we gave to a resident monk, Ajahn Seng. It exposed us to the way Dana was done, and it was really heartwarming to see how much food was prepared in total, not just by us. It is really nice to think of how the other Sangha members would have the rest of the food during the next meal timeslot, and we also got to eat some of the leftover food. Ajahn Seng gave us a talk when we did Dana at his own will as well. This brings to light how the lay people and Sangha support each other; lay people provide the living necessities and the Sangha provide Dhamma teachings.

Bro Chye was our tour guide at Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery; explaining the significance behind the architecture and symbolism used in the Chinese Mahayana tradition. This was really eye-opening; most of us had not known that there is so much meaning behind them. It also helped us appreciate that what is central to Buddhism is the teaching regardless of the tradition, and to be appreciative on how the Mahayana tradition enabled us to learn the Dhamma since it spread through China.

Wat Ananda was the most similar to Buddhist Fellowship; also sporting modern architecture. We walked through an exhibition hall with various Buddhist statues and had a sharing session with the Young Buddhist Chapter youths there.

Our final stop, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, is a Tibetan Buddhist centre that practises the Mahayana tradition. The centre reflected the Tibetan culture, with many statues and vibrant colours used. We appreciated how they revere their teachers because they are a living example of what we can aspire to be as we didn’t have direct experience with the Buddha and would not have much of an impression of how he was really like. We also realised that the teachings are very similar in most ways but they do have some deviations; such as for the Theravada school we believe that once enlightened the being never returns, while the Tibetan school believes that enlightened beings can still return.

Overall, the Leaders’ Retreat was a really meaningful and eye-opening experience centred on Dhamma for all of us, and sharing our thoughts and experiences further enhanced it.

- Pei Si