South Bay Buddhism for Beginners Meetup

Hi our Dharma friends!
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 7 AM PST 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/@EquanimityLab2025

In these advanced sessions, we would like to dive into the Pure Land teachings of Buddhism in particular as it deals with the cycle of birth and death (Samsara) and liberation from it (Nirvana).
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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 record 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 by the dana gratitude contributions of people like you! Dana gratitude donations for our classes are gratefully accepted on Venmo, PayPal or Zelle to Bita Enayati
5. 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

Hello Dharma friend, the truth seeker,

Hope this message finds you well. If you feel overwhelmed with what's happening in the world and can't quite unplug from the news cycle, you might benefit from a stronger sense of purpose to it all. Why do things happen the way they do? My Dharma friend Kevin and I have decided to host a monthly meetup event (every 3rd Saturday of the month) on zoom to read and discuss the book You were born for a reason. The content of this book changed my life from a state of despair and powerlessness to a state of hope, wisdom, and empowerment. It is our hope to share our findings with you. This book You were born for a reason in its original form in Japanese with the title of Why Do We Live? has now become a million seller after its first publication in 2001. You were born for a reason is a translation of that and there might be some cultural gaps as we read it in English but that's where you and I, you and Kevin come in. By sharing our own examples, we breathe life into every word of this book and in the process find greater wisdom and hope than we ever knew. The following is from the introduction to the book:

"Today in countries around the world, people enjoy wealth and comfort
unheard of in centuries past. Medical and scientific advances mean that
we live longer and have greater ability to change and control our envi-
ronment to suit our needs. But have these advances brought greater hap-
piness? Modern society is plagued with ills such as violence in its many
forms, including tyranny, terrorism, murder, and suicide. Real answers
to these problems continue to elude us.
Our advances may have made us richer, but they have not done any-
thing to ensure our happiness or provide us with a sense of abiding
meaningfulness. In fact, modern life often seems only to bring more
acute feelings of isolation, loneliness, and emptiness.
Why is it that, although blessed with physical health and an abundant
lifestyle, we cannot find heart’s ease?
This question was addressed more than twenty-five hundred years
ago in India by Siddha ̄rtha Gautama (S ́a ̄kyamuni), the founder of Bud-
dhism. Born a prince, he excelled from boyhood in literary and military
arts; he wedded the loveliest young woman in the kingdom; he lacked
for nothing. Yet his heart was not cheered in the least. He passed the
days despondently, knowing that even though good health, treasure, sta-
tus, honor, family, and talent were his, he would one day lose them all:
no earthly happiness could prevail over old age, sickness, and death. Re-
alizing the nature of human existence, Siddha ̄rtha was unable to experi-
ence true ease or satisfaction."

Join us to learn more! The zoom password is 426646

This is the Amazon link to the book You were born for a reason. You don't need to have the book at the beginning as I will share my screen with you to get a feel for the book. You can also find the book used online at a reduced price:

https://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Born-Reason-Purpose/dp/0979047102

Hello Dharma friend, the truth seeker,

Hope this message finds you well. If you feel overwhelmed with what's happening in the world and can't quite unplug from the news cycle, you might benefit from a stronger sense of purpose to it all. Why do things happen the way they do? My Dharma friend Kevin and I have decided to host a monthly meetup event (every 3rd Saturday of the month) on zoom to read and discuss the book You were born for a reason. The content of this book changed my life from a state of despair and powerlessness to a state of hope, wisdom, and empowerment. It is our hope to share our findings with you. This book You were born for a reason in its original form in Japanese with the title of Why Do We Live? has now become a million seller after its first publication in 2001. You were born for a reason is a translation of that and there might be some cultural gaps as we read it in English but that's where you and I, you and Kevin come in. By sharing our own examples, we breathe life into every word of this book and in the process find greater wisdom and hope than we ever knew. The following is from the introduction to the book:

"Today in countries around the world, people enjoy wealth and comfort
unheard of in centuries past. Medical and scientific advances mean that
we live longer and have greater ability to change and control our envi-
ronment to suit our needs. But have these advances brought greater hap-
piness? Modern society is plagued with ills such as violence in its many
forms, including tyranny, terrorism, murder, and suicide. Real answers
to these problems continue to elude us.
Our advances may have made us richer, but they have not done any-
thing to ensure our happiness or provide us with a sense of abiding
meaningfulness. In fact, modern life often seems only to bring more
acute feelings of isolation, loneliness, and emptiness.
Why is it that, although blessed with physical health and an abundant
lifestyle, we cannot find heart’s ease?
This question was addressed more than twenty-five hundred years
ago in India by Siddha ̄rtha Gautama (S ́a ̄kyamuni), the founder of Bud-
dhism. Born a prince, he excelled from boyhood in literary and military
arts; he wedded the loveliest young woman in the kingdom; he lacked
for nothing. Yet his heart was not cheered in the least. He passed the
days despondently, knowing that even though good health, treasure, sta-
tus, honor, family, and talent were his, he would one day lose them all:
no earthly happiness could prevail over old age, sickness, and death. Re-
alizing the nature of human existence, Siddha ̄rtha was unable to experi-
ence true ease or satisfaction."

Join us to learn more! The zoom password is 426646

This is the Amazon link to the book You were born for a reason. You don't need to have the book at the beginning as I will share my screen with you to get a feel for the book. You can also find the book used online at a reduced price:

https://www.amazon.com/You-Were-Born-Reason-Purpose/dp/0979047102