It was late Sunday, 27 November 2005, afternoon when Bro. Hong lead a group of us from Than Hsiang to IBC (International Buddhist College) to attend a weeklong course on Mahayana Buddhism by Dr. Peter Della Santina, a renowned researcher-teacher in Mahayana Buddhism.

The Seven Day Amitabha Recitation Retreat had just ended at 3.00pm and most of those going for the Course had also participated in the Retreat, so it was like carrying your bag from one event to another without any break in between. We left for IBC in a convoy of three vehicles. I was with Sis Chooi See and Sis Ng in an Unser driven by Bro. Ah Hai and his friend cum co-driver. Bro. Hong was in the Kia Pregio with an Argentinean lady, Maria, Bro. Wong, Sis. Saw Cheng, Madam Yap, and two drivers. Ven. Tian Wen and Ven Zhi Jun traveled with Dr Bong, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Ven. Zhen Man and others from IBC.

We arrived at the border without catching sight of Bro. Hong's vehicle, the first in line of the convoy, so we thought they had gone across the border. After clearing Thai Immigration and Custom, we then learnt that the others had turned off at Changloon for dinner. It was too late for us to turn back and join them, so we proceeded on to IBC, which was about 37 kilometres away from the border. We reached IBC around 6.30pm (7.30pm Malaysian time) and were lucky to be provided dinner, after which Bro. Ah Hai left with his co-driver friend, as they were anxious to be back in Malaysia. I then met Bro. Ooi and Bro. Khoo from Tham Wah Wan, Kuala Lumpur. I was put up in the Tusita Dormitory with them for the duration of my stay at IBC.

The Tusita Dormitory had nineteen beds in two long rows along the walls of the dormitory. Four large windows lined one long wall and the opposite wall had two doors for entrance and exit. The windows, when opened, allowed fresh, cool breeze to air the whole dormitory. There were also ten small metal folding tables and chairs and two clothes horses in the dormitory. The bed I slept on was quite comfortable and the blanket had a most delightful fragrance on it. This is something uniquely Thai I suppose. What a wonderful idea to scent the blanket so that you can have a fragrant night's sleep!

More than an hour after we reached IBC, Bro. Hong arrived with his party except for Maria and informed that he had to go back as the Argentinean lady was prevented from entering Thailand and was waiting for him at the border. Both of them would come to IBC, probably on Tuesday (29 November 2005), after sorting out Maria's visa problem. Dr. Bong and her entourage arrived soon after and everyone, thereafter, retired for the night.

Early next morning (Monday, 28 November 2005) at 6.00am Thai time, we attended morning prayers at the Auditorium before going down to the canteen for breakfast. The monks said prayers before and after breakfast. In fact for the two meals a day that the monks partook, they said prayers before (for blessing) and after (for transference of merits) each meal. All the meals at IBC were vegetarian. The chef had such a large repertoire of dishes that I don't remember eating the same dish twice for the whole week I was there.

After breakfast, we retired to our dormitory to rest and await our first lecture of the Course with Dr. Peter Della Santina. Dr. Bong and Ven. Yuan Liu, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Buddhist Studies, went to meet Dr. Peter D. Santina at 8.45am to discuss how he would want to present his lecture for the duration of the Course. I was privileged to tag along as the “official” photographer and, more importantly, I would be videotaping all of Dr. Santina's lectures so as to keep a record for those who couldn't attend the lectures.

Dr Peter Della Santina was tall and commanded attention with his presence. He had a ready smile that eased any anxiety that might arise from meeting him for the first time. While being sight disadvantaged you could hardly notice this as he did not carry a white cane, depending mostly on Mrs. Santina (Dr. Krishna) to guide him in his movements. The only give-away to his being sight disadvantaged were the pair of dark glasses he had on. Dr. Santina informed that he preferred to deliver his lecture straight through for the whole two hours of each lecture.

Come time for Dr. Santina's first lecture, I had butterflies in my stomach, as this was the first time I would be operating the video camera, having learnt how to do so from Bro. Ah Jin just before my departure to IBC the day before. My main concern was that the audio portion of the videotaping would not be done properly and on playback, only the video portion could be seen without any sound, which was the more important of the two. You could imagine my utter relief when the videotaping turned out good for both video and audio. (Well, maybe not as good a job as done by a professional, but good enough for its purpose.)

After the lecture we had lunch followed by a few hours' rest before another lecture at 3.00pm. During my rest period, I went to the computer room at IBC to check my email. There, I met Ven. Zhen Man who picked up my feeling slightly unwell from the weak sound of my voice and kindly gave me some Vitamin C tablets to improve my immune system.

For the second of Dr. Santina's lecture I used a two-hour videotape. Unfortunately, Dr. Santina lectured longer than the expected two hours and the last few minutes were thus left unrecorded. I was disappointed with myself for not doing a proper job of videotaping the event.

The laity at IBC had dinner around 5.00pm and after this we were free for the rest of the day. I, of course, took the opportunity to access the Internet and do some emailing. By 9.30pm, I was asleep so that I could wake at 5.00am to be in time for morning prayers at 6.00am. This then was the daily routine I followed at IBC.

Bro. Hong made it back to IBC with Maria and Bro. Yee, an English teacher at IBC, on Tuesday evening and joined in Dr. Santina's lectures from Wednesday morning onwards. Wednesday was eventful in that Shifu, Venerable Wei Wu, paid a short visit to IBC. He joined us for lunch and mentioned that he looked forward to meeting Dr. Peter D. Santina. Shifu also talked about receiving emails from some of the student monks at IBC. He encouraged more to communicate with him through email.

After lunch, I let the visiting Chinese physician, Mr. Goh, have a look at me. He diagnosed that I was too heaty and gave me some medication, one of which would be very good for my dry cough. Ah Jin, who followed Shifu to IBC, also consulted the physician regarding his “dry” eyes. Mr. Goh acupunctured the area around his eyes and pretty soon tears were flowing freely out of his eyes. I am sure the treatment had relieved his “dry” eyes.

I had discussed with Bro. Ah Jin about interviewing Dr. Peter D. Santina and he suggested that I videotape the interview. The following day on Thursday, 1 December 2005, I learnt that the Editorial Board of IBC Magazine would be interviewing Dr. Santina as well. I decided to join forces with them by pooling our questions together. I would videotape them doing the interview with Dr. Santina.

Friday, 2 December 2005, was another eventful day as it was the 78th Birthday of His Majesty, the King of Thailand. At 1.00pm, everyone in IBC gathered at the Auditorium to witness the celebrations. Mr. Leong Kok Hing, Assistant Rector of IBC, started the programme by paying homage to Lord Buddha. He lighted the candles and offered incense at the alter. This was followed by chanting of the suttas, first by a group of Theravada monks from Thailand, then by a mix group of Theravada monks from Bangladesh, Sri Langka, India, Malaysia, and Cambodia. The third group to chant was the Chinese Mahayana monks. Dr. Dhammanandhi, a Korean bhikkhuni, then did a solo chanting in Korean. Mr. Leong then gave a speech congratulating His Majesty, King Bhumuibol Adulyadej (King Rama XI), on His Majesty's birthday. A video presentation was then shown on His Majesty's projects on water conservation and irrigation for the rural areas of Thailand. The celebration ended with the Thai staff of IBC singing two songs in praise of the King.

The interview of Dr. Peter D. Santina was fixed for Saturday afternoon, 3 December 2005,. Come time for the interview I went in the guest room where Dr. and Mrs. Santina were staying, with Dechen Angmo or Pami as she was called by her friends, Jiang Liping and Yeoh Tze How, all first year students at IBC. Each of the students took turns to ask Dr. Peter Santina and a few questions were posed to Mrs. Santina as well. At the end of the interview I walked off with a fairly good videotape. I do believe I'm getting the hang of this videotaping business.

At 5.00pm (Thai time) that day (Saturday), I packed my bag and left for Penang with Bro Hong, Bro. Wong, Sis. Ng, and Mdm. Yap. Bro. Hong drove the initial stage of the journey and I took over at Gurun. We arrived safely at Than Hsiang just before 10.00pm. (Malaysian time). We were all tucked out and glad to be home; at the same time we were glad we went for the course in Mahayana Buddhism.