The first 2025 lay sangha gathering was held at the Dabeidian on February 22, with 6 sanghas and 27 lay sanghas in attendance. At 3:00 p.m., the emcee, Sister Wai Cheng, welcomed and thanked the members who came to attend the gathering. Then there was an interesting activity in which Sisters Lyn Foong, Liang Nee and Sister Gan Lau warmed up the venue with Taiji actions. Sister Lyn Foong told everyone that the correct name should be “Taiji Quan” in mandarin, she demonstrated the basic standing posture of Taiji. Practicing Taiji not only makes the body healthy, but its soft and hard actions can also bring the benefits of self-defense. Sister Liang Nee and Sister Gan Lau demonstrated the self-defense actions, and other members also paired up to learn the skill together.

After the warm-up activities, we entered a more serious session. Brother Kian Seng led everyone to recite the Ten Good Deeds and the Vows of the Lay Sanghas with a sincere heart. This is a brief ceremony that must be done at every gathering, it can remind everyone of the good deeds and wishes they should make and pray that everyone's believe in Triple Gems can be strengthened. At this solemn moment, Brother Kian Seng led everyone to respectfully chant the Buddha's name for 15 minutes and grasp the opportunity to practice together. Amitabha!

Our honorable Master Wei Wu introduced the Indian Buddhist Revival Movement in his Dharma talk this afternoon. This is a challenge to the Indian caste system by the Indian untouchables, advocating the rights of the untouchables (Dalits). It is well known that the Indian caste system divides people into four different levels: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Below the Shudras are the untouchables (Dalits). Indian law does not allow individuals to be labeled by class, but in reality, the class system in society is deeply rooted and cannot be changed. Dalits were discriminated against by society in every way. They were not allowed to attend classes in the classroom and had no textbooks. A hero emerged from this untouchable background. He was Dr. Ambedkar. Although he was born in the untouchables, he was very outstanding. After graduating from college in India, he went to the United States to obtain a master's degree and a doctorate degree. Later, he went to London to successfully obtain a barrister's license and a doctorate degree in economics. He was recommended to Prime Minister Nehru by Gandhi and assisted the post-independence government in drafting the constitution. He served as India's first attorney general.

In 1956, in a place called Nagpur in central India, he led 500,000 untouchables to convert to Buddhism collectively, allowing them to break free from the shackles of the caste system. He firmly believed that only Buddhism could change the fate of his ethnic group because the Buddha also overthrew the class system in India at that time. Unfortunately, less than two months after this movement, Dr. Ambedkar died of diabetes. Then a monk who followed him continued to lead the untouchables to convert to Buddhism. In just one year, the number of Buddhists in India increased to 8 million. Thirty years later, the number of Buddhists in India, including other sects, reached 60 million, but it is still a very small number compared to the total population of 1.4 billion in India.

In year 2017, Ven. Wei Wu led Ven. Zhen Ru, Ven. Chen Cong, Dato’ Dr Lim Siow Jin and lay sangha members visited Nagpur. Year 2023 honorable Shifu led Ven. Zhen Sheng, Ven. Zhen Yuan, Ven. Zhen Nian and members of the lay sangha group to visit Nagpur, Sera Monastery and Namdrolling Monastery Golden Temple in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of Southern India. The 2023 visiting group paid homage to Dr. Ambedkar’s bronze statue at Nagarjuna College and also visited the Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Hall in Nagpur. The lay sangha members who accompanied honorable Shifu on the trip that year will definitely recall some memories.

Another Buddhist enthusiast that honorable Shifu introduced to everyone was Mr. Lokamitra, whose teacher, Ven. Sangharakshita, was a British monk who followed Dr. Ambedkar back then. In order to continue his teacher's dedication to Indian Buddhism, he also came to India. He started out as a monk, but ten years later, he could not obtain a residence permit and had to return to secular life and marry an Indian woman. All this was to make it easier for him to stay in India and dedicate himself to Buddhism. About thirty years ago, Lokamitra came to Penang, honorable Shifu introduced him to the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia. Through the World Buddhist Fellowship, he met people in the Taiwanese Buddhist community such as Mr. Lan Ji Fu and others. Later, he was introduced to Mr. Nan Huai Jin from China. These overseas people provided a lot of financial support to Lokamitra for the development of Buddhism in India.

Lokamitra had a deep contact with Indian Buddhists. Their organization is called the Western Buddha Order in the UK and is now called the “San Bao Seng Tuan” in India. There are about 1,600 people, half of whom are in India. It is a very influential organization. They uphold the spirit of Dr. Ambedkar's struggle for class change for the untouchables to propagate Buddhism. The Buddhist revival movement in India has produced many Buddhists, but they may not understand Buddhism or even read a Buddhist book. Therefore, Buddhist education has great potential in the local area. There are many young people in Maharashtra State who need Buddhist education. Lokamitra founded a center in Nagpur. The 15-acre land includes a college, student dormitories, a meditation center, a library, a kitchen and a canteen, and some open space can be rented out for weddings. There is a standing walking Buddha statue in the center, which is very solemn and makes people instantly respectful. It was built by Taiwanese. The college can accommodate about 600 students from all over India. After completing the diploma course here, student can be recommended to Nagpur University to study for a bachelor's degree. In 2017, five bachelor's graduates from Nagpur University with excellent grades received scholarships from the International Buddhist College (IBC) and are still studying in IBC’s doctoral program. This year, it plans to select four scholarship candidates through an online entrance examination to help Indian youth who are interested in further studies but need financial support. Lokamitra also visited Penang last year, and several members of our lay sangha group were responsible for the reception.

After the Dharma talk, Brother Eng Lu helped to take one group photo. it was time for evening prayers, which was another wonderful opportunity for joint practice. After the evening prayers, it was time for dinner. Various delicious foods were happily offered by brothers and sisters, everyone enjoyed dinner happily. The first lay sangha group gathering this year ended successfully!

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More photos: https://www.thanhsiang.org/ch/node/6392
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