Visit to Malaysia (1 December 2022 – 26 December 2022)

Reported by: Sameeksha Kamble

This was our (Sameeksha Kamble & Samiksha Meshram) first visit to Malaysia. The main purpose of the visit were two: to explore new places, and to share our Dharma knowledge in a few Dharma centers.

Our first place of visit was Sam Poh Thang, a Buddhist temple situated in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Ven. Sing Kam is the present Abbess of the temple. We stayed in her nunnery for almost two weeks. It was the first place where we did our Dharma sharing. It’s a beautiful place, and we were privileged to meet Ven. Sing Kam, and to get to know about her life experience and work. While in Sam Poh Thang we also attended Ven. Dhammajoti’s press conference regarding the upcoming MA course in Buddhist studies, which gave us the opportunity to interact with different Buddhist organizations working to spread Buddhism in different parts of Kuala Lumpur. We gave our second talk at Buddhist Gem Fellowship, popularly known as BGF. Buddhist Gem Fellowship was started in the 1980’s with the aspiration to promote the growth of Buddhism. The topic of discussion was: “Introduction to Yogācāra and Introduction to Sarvāstivāda and The Beginning of Mahāyāna.” Although most of the participants were from Theravāda backgrounds, still their response reflected their interest and openness to learn about other Buddhist traditions.

We also visited a branch of Than Hsiang in Kuala Lumpur, Than Hsiang Mitra Welfare Centre. The staff of the center briefed us to the various activities conducted by the center to promote social welfare and Buddhism. It includes activities such as counselling, kindergarten, providing social education, and dharma activities conducted weekly and on special occasions to promote Buddhism.

Our third destination was Than Hsiang Temple in Penang. We are very thankful to Ven. Wei Wu, Brother Chew Kean Boon and entire Than Hsiang organization for providing us with the opportunity to share our knowledge and for all the arrangements made. The topic of our talk was “The System of the Four Buddhist Philosophical Schools” and “The Heart Sūtra”. The engaging participation on the part of the audience was quite impressive and encouraging. Brother Ming Tik gave us a tour of the whole Than Hsiang Temple and explained the various activities conducted by the Temple to promote Buddhism and social welfare. Our last place to visit was Xiang Yun Jing Yuan in Jawi.

On the last day we visited Bukit Panchor State Park with Ven. Wei Wu. He also showed us a few spots where he is planning to build a monastery and a nunnery. During our journey, we visited various places like Brickfield Little India, Batu Caves, Thean How Temple, Wat Chetawan, Tham Wah Wan, KLCC, Merdeka Square, Putra Mosque, Bujang Valley, The Kek Lok Si Temple, etc. We were extremely delighted to experience the multi-cultural aspect of the country. Overall, it was an exceptionally good learning opportunity and we are very grateful to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mattia Salvini and Brother Sherab, who organized this trip as well as to everyone whose kind support made it possible.