Mahavira News:

On September 17, 2022, on the morning of the 22nd lunar 8th month, more than 80 students from University Tanjung Pura, West Kalimantan National University, paid a visit to Wihara Purva Vaidurya Pontianak Temple.

During this visit, more than 40 new students joined the Buddhist Association. The Buddhist associations organized an exchange orientation programme for the new students to learn more about Buddhist culture.

First, the Buddhist Association Preparatory Committee introduced to the new students how to participate in the Buddhist Association and how to become excellent university student.

After lunch, the students organized their own cultural activities such as drama and songs to communicate with each other.

At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the student invited Venerable Chuan Pei to introduce the concept of Mahayana Buddhism.

The Venerable explained that Indonesia was an ancient Buddhist country as early as thousand years ago, and the monuments left behind include Borobudur as a “sky university”.

In the early days, royal and noble people from all over the world who wanted to go to Nalanda to study at a university must go to the Indonesian Buddhist University to learn Sanskrit and understand the oldest concepts of Buddhism.

In Mahayana Buddhism, to develop bodhicitta, one has to be broad-minded, in order to cease arrogance, selfishness, and clinging, and to transcend the ego.

As long as we have a logical conception it is Dharma.

Therefore, when we cultivate a broad mind, we must learn to tolerate and contribute, accept to forgive others for doing wrong or hurting me, and be able to let go of the arrogant and the selfish, this is the concept of transcending life.

To forgive those who hurt us is to practice compassion.

With compassion and understanding the cause and effect, we must believe everything that happens in life has its own karma. One must learn to tolerate and observe with wisdom, this is called the Bodhisattva’s Compassionate Vow.

Therefore, if we want to be successful, we must have bodhicitta. In our future life, career, and family, if we have bodhicitta and make great wishes, we will definitely be able to become great successes in our own business and society or build a happy and blissful family.

At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, under the Sangha’s leadership, all the Buddhist Association students praised and recited the Sanskrit Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra. After learning about the Buddhist culture, everyone was joyful and delighted.