The 10-7 English 1000-Day Practice Opening Ceremony was held on November 1, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
A total of 16 people participated in the ceremony: 5 from the US East Coast, 6 from the US West Coast, and 5 from Europe and Asia. In addition to the 19 existing members, 9 new members joined the English 1000-Day Practice, so a total of 28 people will be practicing together. In addition, Jungto Society practitioners from around the world took part in the livestreamed ceremony via Zoom to support the English-speaking practitioners.
We watched a video about various events and activities that were held during the last 100 days and another video made up of several English speaking practitioners sharing their experiences about practice. Then, we listened to Ven. Pomnyun Sunim’s Dharma talk. He explained in detail the principles of Jungto Society’s 1000-Day Practice and welcomed the new participants who took their first steps towards a life of meditation, donation, and service.
Following the Dharma talk, participants from Singapore, the U.S., and the UK each asked a question to Ven. Pomnyun Sunim. After ending the Opening Ceremony with the Four Great Vows, the English 1000-Day Practice participants gathered into small groups for sharing sessions. The following are the sharing of two of the participants:
Kevin’s video was sensational! In the video, Kevin picked up a blade of grass and said “Sunim always says that I am just like this grass!” He then started his lawn mower and showed that he had cut the letters “100 Days” into the grass on his lawn. With this, I will never forget Sunim’s teaching – I am just like a blade of grass on the side of the road!
All of the questions were very good today and Sunim’s responses were exceptional, especially his responses regarding Karma and black and white haired elephants.
We hope that the practitioners of the English 1000-Day Practice group continue to practice during the 100 days. We wish to see them again at the 10-8 Opening Ceremony in February 2022.
