Invitation to guide a new student organization @ UH

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A group of students, faculty and staff at the University of Houston invited me to attend their first “unofficial” business meeting today. They wanted to establish a Buddhist student organization on campus to offer meditation classes. I was invited to be the guiding teacher for this organization. Even before this meeting, I had had many discussions with several core members about the future plans. I can see their sincere wishes to establish a Buddhist group on campus. As a monk, it is my responsibility to offer my service whenever I can. As a result, I agreed to lead the weekly mediation class for Association of Buddhist Students. Today over vegetarian pizzas, I had the chance to chat with more members. In addition, we brainstormed ideas and made several important decisions today.

1. Our weekly meditation will be on Wednesday from noon to 1:00pm, to be held at UC (room not yet reserved)
2. Our monthly business meeting will be held immediately after the meditation session (starting time to be determined)
3. We will have information table at UC on Tuesdays (at least for a couple of weeks) to let people know about our Wednesday meditation
4. We will focus on establishing our meditation classes in the Fall semester. Invitation for guest speakers will be incorporated maybe in the Spring.

I hope this organization will do well. To start something from scratch is always the hardest part. However, with many dedicated members’ help, and with the blessing of the Buddha, I hope we will have the chance to plant some Dharma seeds on this campus.