We just completed our 10th Annual Youth Advocacy Committee retreat this week at the Sacramento Buddhist Church. It is a very extensive one week training/learning session with kids from all over California and out of the state. They begin each morning at 7am and have morning service, breakfast, class, lunch, afternoon class, afternoon service, class, dinner, evening session, evening service, and evening Teen Discussion at 9:30pm. Its a CRAZY schedule which runs for most of the week! We started this program a decade ago with the hopes of educating the youth about Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, and it has become one of the most influential and meaningful youth programs in the entire BCA. No one else is doing anything like it. And many of our kids who have completed the program are continuing on with their participation and education back at their home temples. This program has truly planted the seeds for the future of Buddhism in America. I have a very unque position with our team, in that I am the facilitator for the Teen Discussions. I usually stay at the temple until the wee hours of the morning long after our discussion session formally lets out. It is in those late night after hours that our inhibitions are down and some of the most intimate thoughts, fears and pain are revealed. We connect on a level much deeper than most people will ever experience. The tears that are shed come out in an uncontrolled release, and seem to unbottle things that they have been locked inside for years. Our discussions are private, what we share in our room stays in our room. Some of the most intimate feelings and secrets come out in these sessions. This creates a very special bond between us that is both sacred and safe. The connections made in these sessions are undeniable, and these kids stay in touch long after this retreat has ended. This program has been life changing for both the participants and the entire Sacramento staff that is involved. The entire week passes us by in the blink of an eye, and as the retreat draws to an end we realize that it will all be a distant memory. It is an exhausting but extremely rewarding week. I am truly honored to be a part of this amazing team that makes it all possible. Today is not yesterday, today is not tomorrow, today is today. Embrace and live each moment to its fullest.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 06:02:42 +0000
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