NFT assisted a Buddhist Students’ Organization at the University of Manitoba organize the second in the series of “Awaken to Conscious Living”. This session was also conducted by the most Ven. Jeevananda bhante. Eager attendees, both university students and non-university students were able to ask questions and engage in very informative discussions on stress and anger management as well on ways on how to enrich one’s life in accordance with Buddhist teachings. Each attendee received a copy a Dhamma CD: Awakening: A Collection of Dhamma Talks.
Noble Friends of Toronto held the first in the series of discussions about Buddhism titled “Awaken to Conscious Living” at York University. This session was conducted by the most Ven. Jeevananda bhante. Eager attendees, both university students and non-university students were able to ask questions and engage in very informative discussions on stress and anger management as well as ways on how to enrich one’s life in accordance with Buddhist teachings. Refreshments were served to the participants and each attendee received a copy a Dhamma CD: Awakening: A Collection of Dhamma Talks. Noble Friends of Toronto and other devotees of Toronto Mahamevnawa Bhavana Monastery contributed generous donations towards the aid of flood relief victims. Nearly 900,000 Sri Lankan Rupees (roughly $9,000 CAD) was raised. Aid went to help buy educational and medical supplies as well as assist pregnant mothers. Aligned with Vesak, NFT assisted with another opportunity for devotees to pay homage to the Sacred Hair Relics of the Supreme Buddha. This was done to commemorate the 2600th anniversary of the Enlightenment of the Supreme Buddha. NFT assisted with such tasks as directing parking for nearly 1,000 attendees.
NFT assisted with the preparation of hosting a Dhamma Sermon, given by the monks from Toronto Mahamevnawa Buddhist in October of 2010 for the residents of Halton and Peel reg ion. Many attended, including regular devotees of Mahamevnawa. This sermon was also played on a live audio webcast, enabling anyone around the world to join and watch it live.) NFT also advertised this event by preparing flyers and posters and sending email notification flyers about the event. oble Friends of Toronto organized a personal development program for youth in the community. The prog ram provided a chance for youth to discuss issues that they felt were important to today’s youth. They also had a chance to get into groups and find what they thought were the best solutions to these problems before having heard solutions in the advice by the venerable monks of Toronto Mahamevnawa. Discussions around recent current affairs such as scandals and social issues in the news were also part of the group discussion, allowing the youth to discuss how to avoid undesirable behaviour in society and how to become useful individuals within our society. The aim of this interactive youth program was to encourage them to find true happiness, for them explore their positive attributes and help them realize their abilities. It was also a way to promote positive relationships with peers, provide the opportunity to learn healthy behaviours, practice communication within a group and improve problem solving skills. NFT would like to make this an annual event, as it would greatly benefit society’s youth by educating them on how be become more effective and productive within in our communities, families and in society. It is also a great way for them to develop self-esteem and meet like-minded youth with whom they can build lasting friendships.
On November 5th, 2011 Noble Friends of Toronto Youth group conducted a Dhamma session at the Seven Oak Nur sing Home. We coordinated with the faculty to obtain permission in hosting a Dhamma session and with their assistance, we had a successful turn out. We were able to assist approximately 12 – 17 senior s to the Seven Oak Chapel to conduct the Dhamma session. The session lasted approximately one hour. During the session, the seniors engaged in some discussions and Bhante was able to provide the seniors some guidance as to how to perform Loving Kindness meditation. We are currently in the process of scheduling monthly Dhamma sessions at the Seven Oak Nursing Home. NFT is currently trying to accommodate Seven Oak Nursing Home’s request for monthly Dhamma sermons to be held for its residents. Noble Friends of Toronto organized a personal development prog ram for youth in the community. The prog ram provided a chance for youth to discuss issues that they felt were important to today’s youth. They also had a chance to get into groups and find what they thought were the best solutions to these problems before having heard solutions in the advice by the venerable monks of Toronto Mahamevnawa. Discussions around recent current affairs such as scandals and social issues in the news were also part of the group discussion, allowing the youth to discuss how to avoid undesirable behaviour in society and how to become useful individuals within our society. The aim of this interactive youth program was to encourage them to find true happiness, for them explore their positive attributes and help them realize their abilities. It was also a way to promote positive relationships with peers, provide the opportunity to learn healthy behaviours, practice communication within a group and improve problem solving skills. NFT would like to make this an annual event, as it would greatly benefit society’s youth by educating them on how be become more effective and productive within in our communities, families and in society. It is also a great way for them to develop self-esteem and meet like-minded youth with whom they can build lasting friendships. Noble Friends of Toronto youth group organized an event to distribute lunch bags to 100 homeless people in downtown Toronto on August 6th, 2011. Volunteer s prepared 100 lunch bags consisting of a peanut butter sandwich, bologna and cheese sandwich, a drink, and a granola bar. The volunteer s were divided into five groups and each group was assigned a quadrant of downtown Toronto in which to distribute these lunch bags. The goal was to seek homeless people and provide them food with-your own hands. We finished all the lunch bags and the youth had an opportunity to fill someone’s empty stomach by offering food to the needy. Our hope is to make this an annual event. The third blood donation was held on March 10, 2012 at the Centennial Community Centre in Markham. Noble friend liaised once again with Canadian Blood Services to ensure a successful event. NFT prepared posters and flyers to notify Mahamevnawa devotees and members of the public about the event. There were 28 first time donors, and CBS was able to exceed its blood collection quota yet again. NFT and many others were able to collect and rejoice in the merit collected by being part of this lifesaving event. NFT’s most recent flower puja was held on March 3, 2012. For this puja, NFT collected 100 types of flowers, each type representing one quality of the Supreme Buddha. Many regular devotees and NFT members volunteered the whole day to assist in creating one hundred beautiful and creative flower arrangements, and several floral garlands, using thousands of flower s. These flower s, offered to the Supreme Buddha, brought much delight and rejoicing to those who assisted and attended this event. Noble Friend of Toronto assisted Toronto Mahamevnawa devotees with the cleaning up tasks around the g rounds of the monastery. Several youth devotees assisted with cleaning the grounds by picking up fallen branches and removing weeds. Others assisted with repair s around the monastery. Some assisted with landscaping and others in raking fallen leaves. Afterwards, the youth had an opportunity to listen to a Dhamma sermon and take par t in a Dhamma discussion. This event highlighted the importance of working together as a team, as well as taking pride in keeping our monastery clean. The risk of getting cancer can be considerably mitigated if the information regarding symptoms of cancer and preventative measures have been conveyed. Taking this notion into consideration the youth of Mahamevnawa pledged to make cancer history by joining hands with Canadian Cancer Society. This event conducted at Milliken Mills Community Centre on July 28th. A representative from Canadian Cancer Society addressed the importance of healthy living and maintaining healthy habits. After the lecture of the Canadian Cancer Society representative had ended. A venerable monk from Mahamevnawa monastery delivered a speech addressing how to have a remorse free life by virtuous living and how to have a stress free life through meditation. The member s of the Mahamevnawa monastery coordinated the event and provided refreshments for the participants. Many of the children born in Sri Lankan Buddhist families are not aware of how Buddhism was established in Sr i Lanka. To make sure that the future Sr i Lankan generation remember their roots Mahamevnawa Monastery organized Sri Lanka day which was held 3rd of June 2012 at Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery. The fir st session in the morning was conducted by venerable monks at Mahamevnawa. During this session monks explained how Buddhism was established in Sri Lanka. During the second session which was held in the evening, the youth members of Mahamevnawa conducted a presentation regarding the Sr i Lankan Buddhist places of worship. The session was very informative to both children and adults since most of the Buddhist places of worship in Sri Lanka have a proud history of more than two thousand years. The Mahamevnawa Bhavana Monastery organized three blood donation clinics. The first of these three was held at Boxgrove Community Centre in Markham in October of 2010. Due to a very large turnout of donors, CBS was able to exceed its expected quota of pints of blood collected. Noble Friends of Toronto (NFT) coordinated the tasks for this event, such as contacting donors to obtain information, looking for a community centre to host the event, creating posters and flyers to promote the event, offering refreshments to the donors who participated in the event, and directed all traffic throughout the event. This event enabled NFT to offer the community a lifesaving gift. NFT organized another flower puja, this one for back to school students. Several roses were ordered and arranged in vases. Many of the youth members assisted other NFT member s and several devotees in creating beautiful rose flower decorations. The youth’s flower arranging and team work talents has a great chance to blossom during the preparations of this event. For a second year in a row, Noble Fr iends of collaborated with Everg reen Society of Canada to organize yet another stewardship event in July of 2011, Downsview Park. Once again, Noble Fr iends of Toronto youth member s played a very impor tant role in initiating and promoting the event throughout the community. Youth member s were paired with an adult member or adult volunteer from the community and assisted with clearing away several weeds and other unwanted plants that were hindering the success of saplings, which, once big enough, will be transplanted in various locations around the city. Refreshments and lunc h were ser ved to all volunteer s. A Dhamma desana was g iven by Ven. Kemaratna bhante after the prog ram was over. NFT wanted to show gratitude to their parents and grandparents, and all parents and grandparents by organizing a special event at Toronto Mahamevnawa. Parents and grandparents were invited to the monastery to partake in the event and lunch was also provided for them. NFT cooked all the food for this event. All NFT members and other youth and devotees were able to pay homage and gratitude towards their parents and grandparents as well as all parents and grandparents present that day. This emotional event truly showed us the importance of our parents and their roles in our lives. We Care For You then known as Noble Friends of Toronto, organized a mar igold flower puja offering to The Supreme Buddha. During this event, NFT members, including its youth member s as well as several Toronto Mahamevnawa devotees, got the opportunity to prepare a golden array of marigolds around the main stage of the monastery. Thousands of marigolds were stringed into garlands and also placed around the statue of the Supreme Buddha. This event was organized to commemorate the 2,600th anniversary of the Enlightenment of Gautama Supreme Buddha |
AuthorWe learned many great things about helping others from our great teacher, Supreme Buddha. Before becoming a Buddha, our Bodhisatta (Buddha-to-be) was able to collect immense merits by helping others and providing a service to the society. |