Atlanta Buddhism Meetup Group for Beginners

Hello everyone.
Welcome to the gateway to Buddhism 101 for all. The Zoom passcode is 426646. We have a strong aspiration to reach out to those who need help. That's one reason we hold online events.
First of all, we'd like to ask the participants to follow these rules:

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 Phoenix Buddhism for Practice Meetup Group especially when you're not from Phoenix 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.
We're able to continue bringing these Dharma sessions for you thanks to the generosity of those of you who support us. Let me take a moment to express our gratitude now. If you too are able to support our cause, you can offer your donations on PayPal or Venmo to Bita Enayati at bitae22@hotmail.com.
Thank you for your support and encouragement in helping us continue to bring quality teachings to you, day in, day out. It's not the amount that matters but your desire to be part of a cause greater than ourselves.
If you're interested in learning Buddhism but have a schedule conflict, please write to me for a one on one session. Thank you very much for reading this till the end.
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

Hi, our Dharma friends!
This meeting is an online event.
The passcode of the Zoom meeting room is written at the end of this event description.
First of all, we'd like to ask the participants to follow these rules:

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 Phoenix Buddhism for Practice Meetup Group especially when you're not from Phoenix because we will ask you the name of the group when we don't find your RSVP upon your logging in.
3. If you RSVP at the last minute, please send an email to yuichi@coolbuddhism.com and write the name of this group so that we will recognize you easily.

This event is a friendly get-together of like-minded people starting with light-hearted ice-breaking for 10 to 15 minutes followed by a Dharma talk, which is more like a lecture for 40 minutes. During the last 10 minutes, we have a Q&A session. (The length of time varies according to time and circumstances)
The following is the review of our recent meeting. Main topic: Ours is a long-term mission.

1. We all have our purpose in life, which energizes us to move on.
2. Our ultimate goal is different from our short-term goals or mid-term goals in life, such as marriage, landing a job, forming a family, or retirement.
3. If we think about our mortality and impermanence of life, minor issues become less important, and we feel an urgency to accomplish our real purpose.
4. It is helpful to have friends and family members who can support us as we travel through this Saha world of suffering toward our destination.
5. Practicing compassion and kindness to such good people is important.
6. We all have shared imperfections, and sometimes we hurt each other because we are human and are fallible. Self-reflection can help us move through such troubled times. Remember, we’re all in this together, we are all struggling, and we are all suffering.
7. Buddha said the purpose of this journey is to find genuine happiness that overcomes life’s sufferings.
8. The eight universal sufferings taught by the Buddha are: birth ( life), aging, sickness, death, separation from the beloved, encountering the despised, and being of the flesh (our body). This last suffering contains all the other sufferings.
9. When we practice Six Paramitas (our daily practices), our good efforts will be rewarded. Good people will be drawn to us and be a source of support. It might take some time but no effort is wasted. Some seeds take time to bear fruit.
10. When we know our purpose – self transcendence – we can overcome our limitations, the obstacles in our way, and the pain we suffer on our journey.
11. Self transcendence is to forget the desire for instant gratification and remember those people who will benefit from our effort, and to be grateful for the people who have been supporting us.
12. If you don’t have such people please make an effort to find at least one such person. And of course, coming to this meet-up you will be a part of the community.

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We're able to continue bringing these Dharma sessions for you thanks to the generosity of those of you who support us. Let me take a moment to express our gratitude now. If you too are able to support our cause, you can offer your donations on PayPal or Venmo to Bita Enayati at bitae22@hotmail.com.
Thank you for your support and encouragement in helping us continue to bring quality teachings to you, day in, day out. It's not the amount that matters but your desire to be part of a cause greater than ourselves.
Stay well and let's go forward towards the light of unconditional goodness together! Please message me at bitae22@hotmail.com with your self-introduction if you'd like to get to know each other more and also to confirm your RSVP.
If you're interested in learning Buddhism but have a schedule conflict, please write to me for a one on one session. And we have about 10-18 people join us so hope you don't get discouraged by seeing the few RSVPs here on this page. See you soon too!!!
Also we're planning to record this session and upload to our Right View YouTube channel for access by our premium members who can't join us live. Thank you for your understanding.
Last but not least, once you RSVP, you will see the link to the Zoom meeting room. When you click the link and your Zoom application starts, then you'll be required to type the passcode. The passcode is 426646.
Bita and Yuichi Asakura