NY Buddhism for Beginners Meetup Group

Our weekly “intro to Buddhism” meetup group is open to all! No experience in Buddhism is necessary. Each week we prepare a Dharma presentation for you all on that week’s Buddhism topic, followed by Q&A. We kick off each meeting with some introductions and short ice-breaking so that you get to know the other members of our sangha community! We have a good mix of regulars and newbies each meeting.
Check out our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@right-view-lab !

To better explain the philosophy behind Purpose Lab (our weekly Friday events, focusing on our life’s purpose and meaning):
In Buddhism, our life’s purpose 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, by coming to this meet-up you will be a part of our sangha community!

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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. The Zoom meeting passcode is 426646.

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 participants.
3. Please make sure you RSVP 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
4. Our classes are free but 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.

We have about 10-20 people join us each week, including the regulars, so hope you don't get discouraged by seeing the few RSVPs here on this page. See you soon too!!!
We are looking forward to meeting fellow truth-seekers such as yourself, interested in the path to discovering their life’s purpose and meaning!
Bita and Yuichi Asakura

Welcome to Buddhism for our advanced members! Our Happiness Lab meeting is a friendly get-together of like-minded people to learn about happiness in Buddhism.
If you're a newbie to Buddhism, please check out our Sundays 10 AM ET 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.

4. 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