Anchorage Buddhism Meetup Group for Beginners

1. Please use the same name as your Meetup account when logging in to the Zoom meeting room.
2. Please remember the name of this group, Anchorage Buddhism Meetup Group for Beginners, especially when you're not from Anchorage, because we will ask you the name of the group when we don't find your RSVP.
3. Especially when you RSVP at the last minute, if you can drop a note to yuichi@coolbuddhism.com and write the name of this group, then we can easily find your RSVP and as a result you can enter the meeting room quickly.

In regards to how we view life, it's beneficial to remind ourselves that our minds are like an iceberg. There's some of it poking through above the water level, and there's a vast amount of it below which is unseen. Let me give an example of how a young couple moves into an apartment building. Each Saturday the wife would shout to her husband, "Look at our neighbors laundry hanging over there. It looks so dirty! They must be using the wrong detergent!" This went on each week for quite some time. Then one Saturday, the wife woke up and said, "Today they look beautiful and clean." Then the husband said, "I woke up early this morning and cleaned the window."
We all have this "window" in our mind through which we look at the world. When it comes to examining ourselves in particular, it is impossible to take off the tinted glasses of partiality and self seeking. Egoism clouds our vision.
In general all of us have poor memories and are forgetful. If we are aware of this, we can write ourselves a note or become better organized and that way we can avoid spending an extra 150 hours a year just looking for lost items.
One of Buddha's disciples, Cudapanthaka once asked the Buddha why he was born so stupid. Buddha's answer to him was telling him to cheer up and know that being aware of his foolishness is next to being enlightened. After dusting and cleaning in the monastery for 20 years, he had become an arhat and attained a high stage of enlightenment.
It is not always easy to know one's own shortcomings or unknowingness. Many are suffering because of their own misunderstanding. If I always think I'm right, this mindset can damage my relationships. Holding resentments and being overly proud can do the same thing. Because of these 'dragons' some people can find it difficult to ask for help. Some can be merciless to others if we think they are in the wrong. This shows how our minds are complex like an iceberg and that we might not have access to all the information we need, or may be influenced by our own biases and may be unaware of their grip on our perceptions. Having these illusions of always being right and our pride in not asking for help or holding resentments towards others can cause many problems in the world. Maintaining a right view means to be aware of our misperceptions as much as possible. Overall, we only know the tip of the iceberg.
By listening to Buddhism, we can understand ourselves better. It's also beneficial to be able to apologize when we need to and not always try to maintain the upper hand. Having humility is just as important.
We can deepen our understanding of Dharma by belonging to a sangha and listening to Buddha's wisdom. These are the three gems to value in this world; the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. When we work on ourselves with each other we are better able to choose good conditions and practice wisdom. Also, the more we practice, the more we are able to act in ways that bring harmony and compassion into our lives and our world.
Our classes are free for the first 5-10 sessions. After those sessions, if you see value in joining, please consider offering a contribution.
Our classes & sangha are sustained completely by the dana gratitude contributions of people like you!
Dana gratitude donations for our classes are gratefully accepted on Venmo @Bita-Enayati If you don't have Venmo, please email me at bitadharma22@gmail.com
so you can offer your contribution through PayPal or Zelle
Suggested donation for the event is $5 - $20.
Also please note that we're going to livestream this zoom session on YouTube for later access by our premium members. There will be an announcement from the Zoom app when it starts.
Bita and Yuichi Asakura

4. Our classes are free for the first 3 sessions. After 3 sessions, if you see value in joining, please consider offering a contribution.
Our classes & sangha are sustained completely by the dana gratitude contributions of people like you!
Dana gratitude donations for our classes are gratefully accepted on Venmo @Bita-Enayati If you don't have Venmo, please email me at bitadharma22@gmail.com
so you can offer your contribution through PayPal or Zelle
Suggested donation for the event is $5 - $20.
Check out our YouTube channel at
https://www.youtube.com/@right-view-lab!
Last but not least– the Zoom passcode is 426646.
We’re looking forward to meeting you!
Bita and Yuichi Asakura

If you're a newbie to Buddhism, please check out our Sundays 7 AM class for beginners to Buddhism.
Our weekly “Advanced” meetup group is open to those who have completed our basic course and are a contributing, sustaining member of our Sangha community. Each week we prepare a Dharma presentation for you on that week’s Buddhism topic, followed by Q&A. We kick off each meeting with some introductions and short ice-breaking to encourage one another to take our Dharma practice to the next level!
Check our our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@right-view-lab !
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To better explain the philosophy behind Happiness Lab (our weekly Saturday events, focusing on happiness):
The ultimate goal of Buddhism is experiencing true happiness. But if we don't know what it is, we won't know how to go about it. There's a goal, or the finishing point of experiencing happiness that does not abandon us, Buddha teaches us. That is lasting peace of mind and satisfaction.
Buddha teaches us what lasting happiness is in contrast to our fleeting sense of it.
A great master of Buddhism expressed his own experience of attaining such happiness as follows:
"Swiftly receiving the wisdom of Buddha, gaining perfect and flawless satisfaction."
Just visualize the beautiful image of a full moon in the night sky. The full moon has a perfectly circular shape, which is symbolic of something perfect in Buddhism.
How can we experience perfect happiness? It's when darkness of mind or avidya in Sanskrit will get lifted. It takes no time. When the light comes, our dark mind will be instantly gone. That's the moment we achieve true happiness.
Dark mind is like a spiritual illness of not knowing why we suffer, why we're born, why we live. It's the ignorance about our true self as well.
Why do we feel pain when we say goodbye to our loved ones? Why is separation always painful? A popular Japanese singer once said, "Human beings are immersed in pain from the beginning but while we have our loved ones around us, we can forget about our pain. But when we say goodbye to them, the pain comes to the surface. In a sense, our loved ones work like a painkiller." There are all these forms of “painkillers.” – social media, playing games on your phone, drinking, binging Netflix, etc.
Why do we lack energy to move forward? Is it because we feel we're stuck in a circular marathon? When do I reach the finishing line? How long should I continue doing this?
The following are the lines from a popular song of Japan.
Over this hill, happiness lies waiting:
Clinging to that hope,
seven hills have I crossed so far,
this my fiftieth year.
We want to reach a point of completion. Seeking is tiring, you know.
Artists seek perfection in their artwork. But it's difficult to find a point of perfection. One popular singer said this:
"I always focus really hard on an album or a tour, and at the time I'll think, “This is the greatest!" But when it's over, somehow I’m always like “Nope, I still have a long way to go.”
Don't we look for lasting joy through our work/hobbies/relationships? But each time, we feel disillusioned.
The original pain comes from our dark minds. Listening to the Dharma illuminates this pain and eliminates it.
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1. Also please note that we're going to livestream this zoom session on YouTube for later access by our premium members. There will be an announcement from the Zoom app when it starts.
2. We would appreciate it if you use the same name as your Meetup account so that the host of the meeting will easily recognize the contributing, sustaining participants. Your camera must be on when you enter the zoom just to greet the hosts.
3. Our classes & sangha are sustained completely by the dana gratitude contributions of people like you! Dana gratitude donations for our classes are gratefully accepted at https://donorbox.org/purelandschooldonation . Suggested donation for the event is $5 - $20.

Last but not least– the Zoom passcode is 426646.
Stay well and let's go forward towards the light of unconditional goodness together!
We’re looking forward to meeting you!
Bita and Yuichi