Buddhist Hour
Script No. 398
Broadcast live on Hillside 88.0 FM
on Sunday 11 September 2005CE  2549 Buddhist Era

This script is entitled:
Founder’s Day 2005

Founder’s Day at the Buddhist Discussion Centre is always a good day for good practice.  There is always so much to be done and there is so much merit to be made.

This year, on the 9th of September 2005, we had 10 Venerable Monks from 6 different Temples bless Founder’s Day with their presence.

We had our Members and Friends driving here and there, cooking this and that, and preparing, cleaning, and anything you could think of.  A lot of merit was made, and a lot of good work was done for the sake of the Dhamma.

Throughout the day our members gave a total of five speeches.  As a tribute to the day and those involved we would now like to share with you what was said.

We will begin with the opening address for Founder’s Day, which was given by our President, Mr. Julian Bamford.

Venerable Sangha,

Our Abbot, Anita Hughes, Members and Friends in the Dhamma,

Welcome, to our 27th Founders Day Celebration here at No. 33 Brooking Street, Upwey Victoria at our home the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.

A Monk once asked his teacher, "What is the fundamental teaching in Buddhism?"  The Master replied, "Attention".

The student, somewhat dissatisfied with the answer said, "I wasn't asking about attention, but was wanting to know the essential teaching in Buddhism".

The Master replied, "Attention, Attention, ATTENTION".

Similarly we could ask, what is the practice?  Vague advice to an aspiring meditator, making a first tentative visit to a Temple, such as 'be mindful' or 'be attentive', while offered with good intention, is unlikely to be effective.

In a Buddhist Hour radio script titled:  “Are you moving with the times” which was broadcast back on the 7 May 2000, our Founder John Hughes explained that the likely ineffectiveness is because the student is advised about a single (in Pali eka) cause and it is in first order knowledge.  We need multiple causes and higher order knowledge just to begin to practise.

Our Lemma is ‘Lifetimes of Learning’.

We teach our Members to pay attention to our five styles of Friendliness, Practicality, Professionalism, Cultural Adaptability and Scholarship.

In the Heavenly Chan Garden that surrounds us this can mean “Chop Wood, Carry Water” while inside it might be “wash the dishes, clean the amenities block, light the fire, take out the dead flowers, one stroke one stroke”.  One hundred different things for one hundred different persons and dispositions.

A student may forget the basics as he or she tries to answer the question, "Does time move us?  Or do we move with the times?"

It is easy for the student to forget, that we are each of us in a life series of processes, like it or not like it.  You are becoming involved in the change and aging of your body.

Over the past 27 years, hundreds and hundreds of persons, young and old, have come and lent a helping hand, some just once, some again and again.

Our Life Member and True Friend in the Dhamma Frank Carter, a student here for over 20 years, has seen hundreds and thousands of noble projects begun and completed.

In that time our Buddha Dhamma library with its many rare and precious texts has grown to now reach out to the world through the virtual library corridors of the world wide web, in written words, pictures and the recorded talks of our Precious Teacher, the late John D Hughes.

In a few moments Frank will tell you a little of our most important project of recent times, the Digitisation of our Buddha Dhamma Recordings.

Calling on the vernacular of a recent Star Wars film, our young Padawan and Junior Vice President Alec Sloman beats the Dhamma Drum for our new generation of students and future teachers.  Alec will shortly present a small Dhamma talk for you on the Law of Cause and Effect.  Thank you Alec.

Thank you to everyone here today and all those who have blessed this Temple with their practice over the past year, over the past 27 years.

We have a bright future, with a determined commitment to making each action we take here a powerful cause for the Buddha Sasana and that this Buddha Dhamma Centre here in Upwey, last for 500 hundred years.

May we meet here together in harmony again and again.

May all beings who come here become fully enlightened.

May you be well and happy.

Thank you very much.

Following Julian’s speech our Vice-President of Local Area Planning and Asset Management, Frank Carter, gave a short speech about an exciting project we have been developing over the past six months.  We will read that now.

The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. is a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and an Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University.  We are dedicated to the preservations and propagation of the Buddha Dhamma in the 21st Century.

In 2004 we commenced a major project to develop a practical solution for preserving Buddha Dhamma recordings, which have been made using audio tape cassettes.  Audio cassettes generally have a reliable lifespan of 15-25 years after which the recordings can become impossible to understand, and in the case of possibly unique Dhamma teachings, those Teachings would be lost and probably unrecoverable.

Our Library, the John D. Hughes Collection, includes approximately 1000 Dhamma recordings on audio cassettes and as some of these were originally made 20 or more years ago we recognised the urgent need to find a safe method of long term preservation.

We sought expert advice for our project from ScreenSound Australia, which is responsible for preserving Australia’s national archive of film and sound recordings.  ScreenSound Australia offered their help and expertise at no cost providing a summary of the types of equipment and methods available to preserve our collection and giving written recommendations specifically designed for our circumstances.

We have written a report titled “Digitising Buddha Dhamma Recordings – A Report to Buddhist Organisations on the Urgency of Preserving your Audio Cassette Tape Recordings of Buddha Dhamma Teachings” describing the method provided to us by ScreenSound Australia that we have field tested for the past six months and found to be perfectly suited to the task.

We assume many other Buddhist organisations may have similar circumstances as ourselves regarding; the size of their audio cassettes collection, a limited knowledge of the options for preservation, little or no knowledge of the equipment required and the process of preservation and limited financial resources.

Our report alerts Buddhist organisations about the limited lifespan of audio cassettes as a storage medium for recordings of Buddha Dhamma Teachings.  The report provides “do it yourself” instructions about how those Dhamma recordings can be preserved through digitsation on a standard personal computer.

The report will be available for free download on the Internet, and we will also provide CD ROM or hard copies free of charge for those who do not have access to the Internet.

We believe it is very important that Buddhist orgainisations act quickly to preserve their cassette collections of recorded Dhamma Teachings.  Many of these recordings were made fifteen to thirty years ago and contain Teachings of great Buddhist Masters who many since have passed away and if lost are irreplaceable.

The report will be published for free distribution during October 2005.

Immediately following, our Junior Vice President, Alec Sloman, gave a short talk about Cause and Effect and how it relates to Founder’s Day.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhasa

Friday, the ninth of September 2005, was Founder's Day of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., and was the birthday of the founder of our Centre, the late Master John D. Hughes.

This is the second time we have celebrated the achievements of Master John D. Hughes since his passing away, leaving behind the legacy of his Dhamma teachings, and the structures that comprise this Dhamma Centre.

Master John D. Hughes passed away on Saturday the twenty-ninth of November 2003 at 5:50pm at the Angliss Hospital in Melbourne.

Master John D. Hughes was the Founder, Abbot and Resident Teacher of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.  It is a Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, an Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University and is a member of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria.

Master John D. Hughes was a former Vice-President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and the recipient of the Visudhananda Peace Award 1999, as well as being a Council Advisor to the World Buddhist University.

He taught over 1 million students in 14 countries during his lifetime.

He was a great man who dedicated his life to the Buddha-Dhamma and his passing away is a loss to this Buddha Sasana.

The most important thing for John fundamentally was to show teachable beings the way out of suffering, to help them to understand the way out of suffering and to provide the materiality to do it.

The theme that has been chosen for reflection today is that of cause and effect, which brings us back to the very reason that Master John D. Hughes established this Centre.  He built this temple to provide persons in Australia the opportunity to make merit, so that they can make the causes to receive the effect of being able to learn and practise the Buddha Dhamma.

John chose a suitable location for the temple in the quiet hills of the Yarra Ranges.  He established a heavenly Chan garden, which surrounds the Buddhist Centre as well as a multilingual Buddhist reference library, called the John D. Hughes Collection.  His wish was that this Centre last for five hundred years.

As well as providing the structure to support students in their practice, John also established many systems based on his understanding of the law of cause and effect.  He set up the conditions for his students to create the causes for their own advancement along the Buddha Dhamma path.  Some of these systems include library referencing activities, the writing of life plans, Chan painting classes, association with Buddhist conferences and Buddhist organisations in Australia and overseas, publishing our flagship journal, the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review, many websites containing precious Dhamma material, which continue to be upgraded and expanded on a regular basis.  Even after his death these systems have remained in place.  There is still much merit to be made.

His knowledge’s were vast and he was full of loving kindness, always ready to lend a helping hand, and to show people the way out of suffering.  John was practical and was often delegating tasks to others; he had many people helping him.  John D. Hughes was a very inspirational person who helped and will continue to help many beings.

May we always honour his memory with our efforts in practicing in the way in which we have been taught.

We dedicate the merit of today's virtuous activities to Master John D. Hughes' wish that this centre last 500 years.  As a token of our gratitude for his great wisdom, will, determination, and above all for his love for all human beings and Gods in founding this Buddha Dhamma temple, we vow to continue his Dhamma work at this temple within the Triple Gem Rules.

Then, another member, Leila Igracki, read a short paper concerning another member’s, Pennie White, thesis she wrote over a two-year period.  The thesis detailed the opportunity for Buddhist learning within the frame of today's new information technology systems, such as the internet, the capacity for storage of digital texts on a large scale, and the possibility of 1:1 training over the internet.

Ms Pennie White is passionate about Buddhist practice and how technology will enhance learning and communications.

She made contact with the World Buddhist University through one of its Associated Institutions, in Australia where she has been an active member for five years.

For these reasons she was well positioned to conduct research into “The Use of Information and Communication Technology by the World Buddhist University” for her Master of Education (Information and Communication Technology in Education) degree (2005).

Thank you to all the WBU faculty and students who assisted with this research.  The researcher wishes to acknowledge that the recommendations made in this paper and the thesis have originated with the 40 people who are the WBU and have participated in this research by interview or questionnaire.  The researcher merely collaborated and reflected on the WBU faculty and student responses.

Ms White works for the Department of Education and Training, Victoria, Australia as a Development Manager for the Yarra Valley eLearning Community, initiated to support a collaborative learning environment for seven secondary schools.  Ms White’s role includes evaluating and developing eLearning materials, providing professional development and assisting teachers in developing e-rich resources.

For Buddhist communities in the Digital Age, embracing technology is the obvious next step.  The Internet and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) developments have had a significant impact on the networked learning organisations aiming at immediate communications between people in different countries.  There is now a need for people to adapt to use these technologies in ways similar to other segments of society.  It is a natural progression to use the technologies in the tradition of preserving and disseminating the sacred texts.  The future Buddhists are the generation.com and they are looking for the teachings in their online ‘always on’ world.  We must embrace the technologies of the Digital Age to reach the goal of being a truly globally networked organisation.

Certainly, Information and Communication Technology is indispensable in the operation of a virtual university.  The World Buddhist University is a new model virtual university.  The WBU has developed a strong foundation for its operations as a globally networked learning organisation modeled on successful world-wide organisations such as the UNU and UNESCO.  ICT is without doubt fundamental to its operations.

My research for my Master of Education thesis was based on the broad guiding question: “How does the World Buddhist University use Information and Communication Technology to facilitate communication and learning through its network?”  The methodology was developed concurrently with the extensive Literature Review, which suggested research into the effectiveness of ICT.  This qualitative case study used ethnographic methods that captured attitudes and issues particular to the WBU with regard to the use of ICT.

The WBU is a network of Buddhist organisations and as a consequence this research took place in multiple locations.  People were recruited from the following organisations:  the WBU headquarters, the World Fellowship of Buddhists and three (of the ten) Associated Institutions, namely:  Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd., Australia;  Mahachula University (MCU), Thailand and Mahamakut Buddhist University, Thailand.  Forty faculty and students of the WBU participated in this research by way of interview or questionnaire during September and October 2003.  The term 'faculty' refers to the international network of scholars, while the 'students' are researchers, professionals, trainees and all other participants linked by the Internet.  The University does not have a campus or enroll students.  In this way, the World Buddhist University is a virtual university.

The WBU faculty and students expressed their commitment to putting into practise objectives to provide facility for research, learning and communication through its network.  The WBU is a new kind of network, free from the traditional structure of education consisting of teachers, students and a body of knowledge to be learnt.  The literature has suggested that networks are the new “social morphology” (Castells, 2000, p. 502) of our time.  The faculty and students of the WBU acknowledge both the limitations of ICT in achieving their objectives and their personal limitations in using ICT.  In acknowledging this, many saw the need to change and adapt in order to make the best use of ICT.  The WBU is by no means the first or most advanced in this kind of networking although most respondents had a similar understanding of the nature of the WBU as a virtual university.

The new WBU website was launched during this research.  Prior to this, the WBU website contained basic company information.  Some participants said that the website was fundamental to the operation of the WBU because as a virtual university the website is the face of the university.  The new dynamic website may achieve the aim of providing a one stop service in the future.

The WBU website contains a web-board.  Postings need to be made available in the English language if the WBU’s vision to attract world audience and operate globally is to be realised.  This web-board needs to be moderated by a World Buddhist University Staff Member to ensure that the content is appropriate (ethical and relevant).  As a globally networked organisation the WBU’s participants speak different native languages and this poses a challenge.  To overcome this the WBU has a policy of working globally and using English as the language for communication as most of the online world is dominated by English.

The WBU network is being developed in two ways; electronically and personally.  Both elements were found to be important to the WBU.  Participants acknowledged the benefits of using technology for networking but found that, at this stage, trust and rapport was easier to develop using face-to-face communication.

Buddhism as an academic pursuit can be aided by the use of ICT but it is questionable whether Buddhism as a practice can be transmitted online because it is so subtle and has been passed from teacher to student for centuries as recommended by the texts.  Buddhism is usually practised in communities.  The WBU must be wary of people thinking they can achieve this through the technology alone.  ICT could be a threat to the traditional forms of Buddhist instruction and care needs to be taken not to undermine the fundamental teachings.

The use of ICT is not contrary to the Buddhist teachings however there are some caveats on this.  Lay Buddhists who live a family life and keep five precepts (a code of morality to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants that cloud the mind), may use ICT for any legal purpose not contrary to these precepts.  There were concerns about Buddhist Monks using ICT for some purposes because many Monks adhere to 227 precepts including the abstinence from entertainments (such as listening to music or theatrical plays or dancing).  Another issue for Monks using ICT or learning about worldly subjects is that it must not interfere with their learning of the Pali language or study of Buddhist texts.  The main areas of study and development in Buddhism are morality, concentration and wisdom as the means of reaching enlightenment.

The digital divide – Participants explained that the WBU is located in Thailand where ICT have only become available in the city areas in the last few years and are not yet available in most of the villages.  This was an issue for the WBU because many of the staff and students had little exposure to the technologies.  Participants who resided in Australia have had better access to technology and have had so for a longer time.

The generation divide; Strategy for closing the gap - This research found that the senior WBU staff were not as skilled as younger staff in using ICT and it was difficult for them to learn.  One way the WBU addressed this issue was by organising a staff consultation meeting about the proposed new website.  The website was displayed using a digital projector and this allowed the staff to work collaboratively.

What are our next steps to realising our lemma of “All for the World Buddhist University through sharing and participation?”

The WBU is moving beyond the function of the scriptoria in just reproducing the texts and is developing new ways of learning like a fully searchable World Buddhist Library, data warehouse and other future developments.  Planning is needed to develop an intranet site set up with WAN (Wide Area Network) access for Associated Institutions and Scholars containing information such as Members and organisations contact details and profiles databases.

The WBU will link Buddhist organisations around the world through the Internet, email and web-board systems, virtual conferencing and online global forums.  A Buddhist online learning environment would need to embrace a new pedagogy capable of supporting Buddhist methods of learning.  In future the WBU will, with more advanced video and holographic technology, include the development of virtual teachers using the Internet to provide a traditional teacher student face-to-face relationship suitable for learning Buddhist teachings.

There is potential for further development of Information and Communication Technology by the World Buddhist University to enhance the roles and mission of the University among its networks in the future.  The WBU would benefit from setting up a system to evaluate their operations periodically to determine if they are meeting their objectives and to plan for how they will do this in the future.

This research showed that the participants’ main motivation for contributing to the WBU was that they could make merit and share the Buddhist teachings with others.  The organisation was strengthened by the common ideology among participants because they had common personal and organisational goals.

Conducting this investigation into the issues surrounding the use of ICT by the WBU has been both personally and professionally rewarding for me.  I hope that this research project is useful to the WBU in reflecting on the issues particular to the WBU in their use of ICT at present; especially the issues of language and also in exploring how ICT can be best used to meet their objectives in the facilitation of Buddhist studies and practice.  This research has highlighted some of the ways ICT may be developed and I hope this may assist the WBU in their planning for ICT use in the future.  The main achievement of this research in the field of education is its impact on the future development of the virtual university.  Thank you for your assistance.  I look forward to meeting you online in this Digital Age.

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Accordingly, we accept no liability to any user or subsequent third party, either expressed or implied, whether or not caused by error or omission on either our part, or a member, employee or other person associated with the Chan Academy Australia (Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.)

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