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give Dharma sharing, the residents are always happy activities but will retain the online mode for some
to help with the preparations, such as preparing suitable activities.
food, which cannot be experienced through online
activities. Conclusion

Lai Hui Xuan explained that for community residents, The technology of digital Dharma propagation is
the Buddhist society is not only for religious purpose increasingly mature now, but its effectiveness varies
but also has a community function, which is a place depending on the type of activity, the strategy
for residents to spend time, meet and chat. According to implement, the target audience, and people’s
to her observation, after the closure of the Buddhist preferences in different communities. Although it
society due to the pandemic, members of Buddhist cannot completely replace offline activities, digital
societies in urban areas would create their own chat Dharma propagation has the advantage of breaking
groups, but rural residents who were not familiar down geographical boundaries and is an important
with new technology would have difficulty doing so. aid to attract more people to learn Buddhism. The
key to its success lies in adapting the content of the
In addition to these limitations, Tan Chang Yong said activities and its immplementation mode to suit
participants in online events are easily distracted the internet ecosystem and meet the needs of the
by what is going on around them and are not able times, with youth who are well versed in the new
to fully engage in the activities, and the interaction technologies as the pioneers.
between people is not as good as in offline events.
Participants were initially enthusiastic about online The medium of Dharma propagation has been
activities because they found them new and exciting. changing with the times, but its objective remains
But after a while, they felt a bit dull and the number the same regardless of the changes. As long as we
of participants tended to decrease. In addition, he make good use of the network to propagate and
believes that online activities are too convenient that learn Dharma and do not forget the original intention
participants do not appreciate them instead. while enjoying the convenience, Dharma would
continuously spread from generation to generation.
When being asked whether the online activities
had attracted participants from different regions, Reference:
both Tan Chang Yong and Lai Hui Xuan said that the Chai, K.C., Teoh, Y.S., Wong, C.T., Lim, C.Y., Tan, H.L.
online activities had successfully attracted many (2021, July). A Case Study on The Training Model
participants from other states and overseas. Lai Hui of Buddhist Youth – Bodhi Buddhist Fellowship
Xuan cited the example of the ‘Last Farewell during Malaysia. Paper presented at the 2021 International
Pandemic’ Dharma talk organised by the YBAM Negeri Contemporary Buddhist Seminar, Malaysia.
Sembilan SLC on 24 September 2021, which featured
Venerable Chang Zao from DDMMY. As the subject of
the talk met the needs of the time and Dharma Drum
Mountain cooperated with the publicity, this activity
successfully attracted many out-of-state and oversea
participants. She also said the online activities also
succeeded in attracting people who had never joined
a Buddhist society before and became a cause for
them to join.

As for the future, Tan Chang Yong said that the 法鼓山“学佛五讲“线上课程。
Buddhist societies will gradually resume offline DDMMY Online Course ‘Five Dharma Lectures’.

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