I grew up as a Catholic. I was 12 years old when I first heard about Buddhism. It was not until my son Ivan graduated from high school and expressed interest in Philosophy as his course in college, that I took studying Buddhism seriously. I started to read about the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. My interest progressed from that point, so my son and I searched for a Buddhist monastery and found Ocean Sky Chan Monastery in San Juan. We joined the beginners’ meditation class in September of 2011. After completing the intermediate meditation class this past January, we became more involved in Ocean Sky’s activities. I was even made coordinator of our class.
My son and I felt a big change in ourselves after finishing both the Beginners’ and Intermediate classes. We gained a greater understanding about the Buddha’s teachings and being compassionate to all sentient beings. We are now more aware and mindful of our thoughts, words, and actions. We are also more able to detect which is ethical, honorable and righteous and discard which is corrupt, immoral, and unfair. The biggest change in our lives is when we understood what true nature is, and how to liberate ourselves from all misapprehensions and delusions by way of the Four Noble Truths. It is really an irrefutable fact that our deluded mind is the main obstacle to our enlightenment. The indispensable Dharma teachings of our Great Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha will put us on the right path towards freeing our minds from suffering and erroneous views.
My advice for new students is to be diligent and study, learn, and apply the teachings of Buddha in their everyday life. Practice meditation daily and focus on the present moment so that you can be awake, mindful and aware of your thoughts, words, and deeds every moment.
In this way, the mind will be pure, and you will do good deeds and have right thoughts, and will eliminate bad karma. I also want to remind them that one of our main duties is to enlighten all sentient beings who deserve all our everlasting compassion, love and affection.
We all possess a mind of a Buddha. Sooner or later we will all reach Buddhahood through diligent practice. We just need to get rid of all the pollution that clouds our mind from reaching perfect enlightenment. But how do we do it? By looking inwards and meditating deeply. And from daily meditation, we can finally control our mind to be still and focused, which is Zen.