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常藻法师 符祥伦 江暐颉 陈昌勇 赖慧璇
Venerable Chang Zao Foo Siang Luen Kong Wai Keat Tan Chang Yong Lai Hui Xuan

25 March 2020 through the Zoom platform. The
reading group studied ‘The Way to Buddhahood’ by
Venerable Yin Shun with the objective of reinforcing
the fundamentals of Buddhism as well as linking
Buddhism to life and current affairs. The participants
learned to apply the Dharma to their lives through
listening to lectures, discussions, improving in their
thinking and mindset.

The lecturers disagreed with the concept of online
teaching initially. However, the online Dharma
Fellowship Reading Group saw a much larger turnout 菩提工作坊于线上举办的法侣读书会。
than the offline one. Furthermore, the diversified Online Dharma Fellowship Reading Group that is organised by BBFM.
Buddhism background of the participants enriches their careers as lecturers or mentors to accompany
the content and atmosphere of the class and breaks participants in facing dilemmas and transformations
the boundaries of the region. The Dharma Fellowship in their workplace. Two-way communication enables
Reading Group has been successful in attracting youth to practise Buddhism in the workplace and in
students from many states in Malaysia and even their lives in the face of the impact of the pandemic
from overseas, including Singapore and the United on their careers, as well as the transformation and
Kingdom. This has enabled the BBFM to grow from new direction of the Industry 4.0.
an organisation confined to a physical location in
Kuala Lumpur to an organisation where everyone can In addition, BBFM continues to make good use of the
now participate in its online activities both at home online teaching during the pandemic, offering online
and abroad. training courses for Dharma speakers, Kalyāṇa-mittatā
courses, and online training courses for practitioners
Following the success of the Dharma Fellowship of Dharma propagation via Buddhist hymns.
Reading Group, the weekly Friday puja, Bodhi’s
Meet, began its first online puja on 3 April 2020. The However, due to technical difficulties and the lack
transition to online saw an increase in participation of executors behind the scenes, several workshops
in both the Dharma Fellowship Reading Group and and training courses of BBFM had to be reduced
Bodhi’s Meet. ‘Late Supper with the Grim Reaper’ in frequency and content, or even terminated. For
held on 4 September 2020 by the Bodhi’s Meet met example, the regular vocal classes of the Buddhist
the highest number of attendees, with a total of 572 Hymn Group were transformed into monthly
people participating through Zoom and Facebook online classes, and physical vocal class could not
Live. be implemented, nor could the musicians of the
Buddhist Hymn Group conduct physical sharing of
The transformation of BBFM is not merely moving Buddhist hymns. On the other hand, Bodhi’s Meet
from offline pujas to online ones but a continuous held every Friday previously has been reduced to once
effort to seek innovation and connect with social every fortnight, and the Sunday Dharma Morning has
issues throughout the process. been suspended due to the involvement of various
physical practices.
The epidemic has also spawned a new activity - the
Workplace Dharma Talk course series. The course, BBFM Chairperson Kong Wai Keat said that online
which commenced on 19 April 2020, brings together activities have the advantage of saving time on
experienced Buddhist veterans who succeed in transportation and bringing more people together to

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