Just came back this morning from 9th Sakyadhita(daughters of Buddha) International Conference on Buddhist Women..volunteered myself to help around…

well,i must say that i really learnt a lot of things over there….so much that i cant write down everything about it…it was an eye-opening experience,and a once-in-a-life time exposure too since this conference is held in different country every 2 years…

i met a lot of people there..though i din really have the time to talk in depth with everyone of them..i met many great Buddhist women there…they’re really nice and have deep faith in Buddhism…before i went to this conference i was wondering whether it’s a feminist movement but after the event i think i know the answer…it’s just a medium where women can speak up for themselves since most of the voices are unheard…

there was even a Catholic nun attending the conference..she conducted a workshop together with the president of Sakyadhitta,Karma Lekshe Tsomo on Christianity and Buddhism.too bad i had to leave halfway to settle something…fortunately,i had the opportunity to attend another workshop by Tenzin Palmo on dealing with conflicting emotions…feel abit regret for not able to attend workshops and panel discussions…the topics were really interesting..

my job during the conference was tiring…since there’s a shortage of volunteers i had to be in-charged of things that i’m not familiar with, such as dealing with foreign speakers with my broken "manglish" and did some coordinating work..it’s abit too heavy for me as i was not exposed to such so-called "big" event..imagine this, it’s an international affair and u’re representing Malaysia when u’re dealing with foreigners…so i can’t afford to get things done wrongly..nevertheless, i learnt a lot through this…

it dawned me the importance of being proficient in english, as well as mandarin…it’s a huge advantage if we’re able to converse in both languages..me and my friends sometimes have to be translators on the spot..what an experience!!!

and yes, we met wonderful Korean women (or rather aunties) who can’t converse in english nor mandarin but still being nice to be with….they’re really "re qing" and sometimes we get stunned by their passion…one of the Korean "Sunim"s(meaning nun in Korean) even get us to sing "My Heart Will Go On" with her!!and they really like to sing….gosh…

through this event i realised that Buddhism is timeless and beyond all the differences…it’s an experience that i shall never forget…Amitabha!

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