Buddhist Society

DENNIS SHEPPARD - PRESIDENT

My name is Dennis Sheppard, I am 60 years of age. I was married for 35 years until my wife Dianne died after a relatively long illness in February 2007. I currently live a happy, interesting and contented life with my new partner Heidi. I first started to look at Buddhism seriously in 1975. At that time the society was run by a group of people meeting in private houses with a collective library housed in the boot of a member’s car. I joined the BSWA in 1978 when we had just bought a house in North Perth. This gave the society a base for visiting teachers to attend and allowed the group to expand. Eventually a core group led by Lynne Jackson went to visit Ajahn Chah, to make a request for monks to come and live. The rest, as they say, is history! My profession is that of a building designer. I have run my own business since 1975 and have been involved in many and varied projects over the years.
I have been a member of the Building Designers Association of WA (BDAWA) for many years and have taken an active part in the industry, including official positions with both the BDAWA and Government bodies involved in the building area including for example a ministerial appointment to the “Building Regulation Advisory Committee” (BRAC’s)

• Over the years I have been involved on many levels with the Buddhist Society of WA. (BSWA) Examples are listed below.

• Buddhist Society of WA since 1978. President, Vice President, & Committee.

• Buddhist Marriage Celebrant (Minister of Religion A2005) since 1986

• Accredited in marriage preparation education. (Prepare/Enrich 615107) since 1991.

• Buddhist Visiting Chaplain (prisons schools etc) since 1986.

• St John of God hospital from June 2008

• Meditation Teacher (1995 to present)

• Buddhist education for institutions, schools and general public talks from 1986.

• Honorary Building Designer for Buddhist Society WA, Serpentine Buddhist Forest Monastery, Gidgegannup Buddhist Nuns Hermitage, Samaritan Befrienders.

As mentioned above I have been one of the official marriage celebrants with the society for many years and do offer marriage preparation for couples. This can extend into all forms of counseling, especially when my chaplaincy work gets extended into prisons and hospitals etc.
Other community and therapeutic work in which I have been involved has included:

• Murdoch University Ethics reference group on Gene Technology 1997

• Set up & participation in of weekly telephone conference providing educational lecture for blind senior citizens. Quarterly lecture on astronomical and other topics. (1998 – 2001)

• Private psychological reference group. 1998

• NALAG Grief & Loss International Conference 2001 Organising Committee, Treasurer, Participant & Presenter.

• Samaritan Befrienders Perth WA since 1981 to 2004 including Leader and Director

A couple of the points above relate to my work with Samaritan Befrienders in Perth. I have been actively involved in suicide prevention from 1981, and have had a lot of experience in one to one counseling and more broadly on steering committees involved in this work. I was a member of the WA Ministerial Committee for Youth Suicide Prevention (YSAC) for 10 years from 1990. Over the past 5 years I have become involved with the art of Hypnosis. I have studied, practiced and am now accredited as a clinical hypnotist. I do see private clients who I feel I may be able to help, and have by and large found the process to be very effective. Suffice to say I do try to see clients that are sensitive to a Buddhist approach to things. I belong to the following professional bodies that cover this interest.

• West Australian Hypnosis Association (WAHA) from April 2004, then with same organisation but new name, “Professional Hypnotists of WA” from December 2006
• National Australian Clinical Hypnotherapists (NACH) from July 2004

The other main passion that I have in my life relates to astronomy and astrophysics in general. I have been a keen amateur astronomer over the years and like to keep abreast of the changing frontiers in astronomy and cosmology. It has always been a fascination to see how closely it all relates to the Buddha’s teachings and how well this knowledge can help ground a person in the moment. The mind and the universe are wonderful things to study, especially with the systematic approach that is offered with Buddhist Meditation, and the wonderful depth of experience that we can tap into through the Sangha.

MING CASSIM - VICE PRESIDENT

My name is Ming Shang, which means “Bright Coral … the treasures of the sea” … a most beautiful name which I only treasured after what happened when I was 12yrs. old.Dad was an atheist; mum was a mish-mash of Taoism, Buddhism, … & “Confusion”; aunt was a Catholic nun; hence I was educated in the best Catholic convent school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One day, whilst reading the Christian stories, I fell in love with the name VERONICA. Immediately, I raced to mum to ask if I could be converted to Christianity so that I could be called by that name! Very wisely, my mum advised that I had to consider what would happen if I married a man of another religion? True to her wisdom, I met & married my husband Salim, and had to convert to Islam more than 36 yrs. ago. (Thus I was a practising Muslim for more than a decade!)

Moving to Australia with the young family, opened up lots of facets within me. But with a supportive, caring husband and 2 beautiful kids, surrounded by noble friends, “life was good”.Thus, I became a dedicated, volunteer-carer, helping senior citizens, with “People Who Care” Organisation, after my beloved grandmother passed away. Then when my mum had cancer, (I was so ignorant about cancer & death then), I was devastated. But when I went to the Cancer Support group (C.S.A. of W.A.), it not only helped me deal with cancer but eventually I was trained & became a volunteer-carer for more than 14 yrs. there.But the turning stone was when I first met Ajahn Brahm in 1992. He had been invited to C.S.A. to give a talk. The compassion that he exuded, the clarity in his wise talk, the gentleness & humour in his mannerism, … blew me away. Subsequently he became the only “Guest Speaker” to be invited back every year!!!

And thus I took the 5 Precepts seriously only in 1996 and became a member of the B.S.W.A. Due to my good karma, my late 4-legged-friend Indii and I had the opportunity to support and do dana with Ajahn Sr. Vayama up in Gidgegannup since the caravan days! A weekly affair whenever we could …. and which we enjoyed thoroughly.But, it was the inspiring Dhamma talks that Ajahn Vayama gave every week before dana, that made me sit up and realise that being a Buddhist is much, much more than just keeping the 5 Precepts!!! Ajahn Vayama’s encouraging Dhamma talks were like pep pills to me. I would leave Dhammasara Monastery feeling so peaceful yet “high” … sometimes bringing home “spiritual-food-for-thoughts & action”. Thus, with Ajahn Brahm & Ajahn Vayama as my inspirational teachers & mentors, I hope that I am leading a life that is worthy of them!

CAROL CHAN - HONORARY TREASURER

I was born into a Buddhist family in Singapore. My first encounter in Buddhism was a toy Maitreya Buddha (The Laughing Buddha) that could spin and rock on the ground. I enjoyed playing with it but had no idea who or what it was. However, I do recall feeling very blessed and protected having it close by. When I was a little girl, I had some "problem", as a result I was given a Buddha necklace which was blessed by the temple as a protection. It was my favourite and I felt really happy wearing it.

My interest in Buddhism started when I was a teenager under the influence of my uncle. The practicality and realistic teachings of Buddhism appeal to me. It teaches one to be self-reliant and down-to-earth. Most of my knowledge in Buddhism was self taught and read. I started going to the library and temples and visiting various Buddhist shops in Singapore. There were plenty of free publications in shops everywhere. I also had formal education in Buddhism in my secondary school for two years. During that time, it was compulsory for all schools to teach religious studies and students had a choice of religious studies to take. I sat for the examination and got an "A" in Buddhism for my GCE "O" level examination (an equivalent to the TEE here). After I finished school, I made up my mind to learn more about Buddhism.

During that time (still is now), Christianity is on the rise. I witnessed many friends converting to Christianity because they encountered life's many problems and did not know how to deal with them. Christianity offers a path to them. Buddhism in Asian countries is different to Buddhism in Australia. It is entwined with culture beliefs and practices. It is not as "aggressive" in making itself known and spreading its good teachings to the public as other religions. Many young people, especially English educated ones, strayed away from Buddhism. This was because they were ignorant of its teachings and disliked the superstition that comes with it. Through witnessing all these, I made up my mind to educate myself so when I meet life's many problems, I know how to deal with it the Buddhist way and not be easily swayed by others.

I migrated to Perth in 2000 and was disappointed that Buddhism was little known here. I could not go to the temple as frequently as I did in Singapore. I had not heard about BSWA then. I kept my interest by visiting Buddhist websites. My favourite is www.buddhanet.net. It is very educational with lots of information and readings. In 2006, I came across the Global Conference in Buddhism on the website and read that BSWA needed volunteers for the conference. I volunteered selling books, CDs and t-shirts.

It’s interesting how I came to volunteer for BSWA. I read an article written by Angie Monksfield, President of The Buddhist Fellowship in Singapore. I wrote to her expressing my thoughts and agreement with her views. She suggested that I volunteer on the BSWA committee. Sometime in late 2006, I came across the website seeking volunteers for the 2007 committee and decided to put in for it. And I am still here for the 2009 committee. Being on the committee allows me to keep in touch with Buddhism. It keeps my feet on the ground.

Whilst volunteering for BSWA, I work full time as a Senior Business Analyst at the Water Corporation. I look after a shared services division in the Water Corporation. My role as a management accountant includes budgeting, forecasting and reporting for the division. I also provide financial advice and assistance to the division to help improve and streamline accounting processes. For 2009 at BSWA, I hope to be able to make improvements in certain areas of our "business" with the help of the Assistant Treasurer, Book-keeper and the committee.

SUZANNE KENNEDY-KEANE - ASSISTANT TREASURER

I have been going to the Buddhist Society since 1990. I came across Buddhism through a friend who went there, decided I liked their philosophies and have been going ever since. I was attracted to it because I wanted to learn the benefits of meditation and to learn how to develop a good attitude towards life as I suffer from arthritis which is a challenge for me. My husband, Norm, and I attend the Dhammaloka Centre regularly on Friday nights. We listen to tapes or CDs when we can't attend. We sometimes attend weekend activities, (usually when there is food involved!). I have visited and stayed at the monastery in Serpentine. We were blessed to have Ajahn Brahm bless our marriage on Dec 3rd 2005. It was an enlightening day!  I have only just started doing bookkeeping using MYOB, prior to that I had an office job in the Govt. It was boring. My main role at the moment is that of 'Housewife".
My hobby is the beach. I love to swim there and it is a great place to meditate. In winter I like to read and cook. I do a lot of baking because Norm has a sweet tooth. I am restricted with what I can do because of the arthritis, it affects me quite badly sometimes. I joined the committee in 2008 and am excited about continuing in my role as I feel I will be able to learn more about the Buddhist community being involved in it more. I find everyone in the Buddhist community inspiring.

PETER SMITH - HONORARY SECRETARY

I first took some notice of Buddhism probably fifteen years ago when a friend suggested that my views and values seemed to be naturally “Buddhist” – something I had been unaware of until then. However, my first good look at Buddhism didn’t come until 2000, when I did an Introduction to Meditation course at Dhammaloka. I heard about this through my brother, who had been to the centre a few times and, unbeknown to me, had been meditating for the previous six years. After establishing a daily practice I did some weekend retreats over the next few years. However, it wasn’t until 2005 that I felt I was ready for a longer retreat and now I do those as regularly as fits in with my very understanding wife and her activities.

My involvement as a volunteer with BSWA has grown gradually since 2004, when I first took up the Five Precepts. I have worked on a prison team teaching meditation, and have also visited members of the community and schools occasionally in response to requests through the Community Co-ordinator. All of this has been particularly illuminating and rewarding as I have seen again and again how Buddhist teachings help people cope with the inevitable difficulties of life. And as Ajahn Brahm says about volunteering, you always get back so much more than you give. In 2007 I joined the BSWA Committee as Assistant Secretary, looking after memberships and related matters e.g. mailing labels for the Enlightened Times, etc. This provides a steady stream of work as we now have close to 1000 members from all around the world. In the last year we switched over to a new database system and I am pleased that this has now allowed me to streamline many previously time-consuming operations down to a few clicks of the mouse. The committee work has also been very rewarding and inspiring due to the people I come into contact with, both in person and also by phone and email. I get constant reminders of others’ dedication to their practice and it gives me a lift each time.

Part way through 2008 I became the Hon. Secretary and will continue in 2009. These days I also enjoy taking Dana to Bodhinyana monastery each week using some fresh produce from my organic vegetable garden. Workwise, I am self-employed, teaching people how to play Bridge. (Strange, but true – just like Buddhism!) This has contributed to The Four Requisites for my family since 1981. Playing tournament bridge has also been a great source of mindfulness training and therefore a solid foundation for my meditation practice.

MICHAEL DOVE - ASSISTANT SECRETARY

On taking early retirement from a career in I.T. in England, I came to live in Perth some five years ago to help support my father and sister here. Quickly bored with retirement, I returned to work part-time in I.T. and took up part-time study at Notre Dame University, to pursue an interest in archaeology.
A friend introduced me to Buddhism at a Friday night talk by Ajahn Brahm nearly three years ago. Straightaway I felt drawn to this teaching as an education for life, and the attraction has grown easily. I am ever grateful to her for the introduction.  I appreciate Ajahn Brahm's understated and easy style, for what is in fact a challenging teaching. Having trodden many paths, most recently Advaita within the Hindu tradition, I have found good in all of them, but not a sangha in which I could have confidence, until now.  Meeting Ajahn Brahm has been something of a full circle for me. I discovered that were contemporaries at Cambridge, at different colleges, but quite possibly attending the same first-year lectures for the Maths Tripos. After a variety of volunteer activities at Dhammaloka, including the library, Thursday opendays and recording the talks, I welcome the opportunity to take on a more formal role in helping the Society as Assistant Secretary. I have ten year's experience on the governing body of a green organisation in the U.K.

SUE LEE - FUND-RAISING AND EVENTS CO-ORDINATOR

I am Sue. I am a mother of a son and a daughter, and grandmother of a grandson and grand daughter, a great joy to me. I was born in England, lived for eight years in Canada where I had my children, and settled in Perth in 1975. It was a good move. I find Perth the most beautiful city and having been here now for 34 years, I have life-long friends here.  I have a long professional career as a physiotherapist, and for the past 20 years I have managed the physiotherapy department in a local hospital.  I am very glad I chose a helping profession, it has given me a great deal of happiness over the years. Apart from treating patients and managing my staff, I have organised several professional conferences. My spiritual life has been with me since childhood and I spent about 19 years as a very active member of the Theosophical Society. There I had experience in programming, publicity, event organising and spent a total of 6 years as the president.

In fact it was through Theosophy that I met Ajahn Brahm, and my world changed forever. An Easter event was planned at the Mt Helena Centre of Theosophy and Ajahn was invited, along with a Catholic priest and one of the national Theosophical speakers. I attended an open forum between them, and several ethical issues were discussed. Somehow or other something happened, and I was just caught. I was flipped by a cosmic fish hook out of my accustomed little space and plonked down facing a completely different direction. I’d turned into a Buddhist, ready or not.  It was very disruptive. I’d been a church-attending Christian for the past 20 years and much of my social life revolved around this. I spent a few tortured weeks trying to work out if I could be both a Christian and a Buddhist, before the meditation took over and a day dawned when there was just no issue, no problem. Since then I have been totally committed to Buddhism and it has lit up my life. I joined the BSWA in 1995 and served as the Honorary Secretary in 1999. After that heavy professional and family commitments prevented my further involvement in committee work.  In 2008 I convened the World Congress of Health Professions here in Perth, one of my bigger projects. I have really missed working with my noble friends; it will be wonderful to come back. I am resolved to abstain from any big professional projects while I am engaged in this work for the BSWA so that I can give it my whole heart.

RON MUTTON - VOLUNTARY CO-ORDINATOR

I've been asked to nominate for the volunteers co-ordinator. I would be very happy to make a contribution in this area. Spirituality has always been a part of my life. I grew up in a Christian context and after a time in insurance administration became a Uniting Church minister for 15 years. I came to a point where I was not sitting well as a minister and attended a retreat lead by 2 Indian Roman Catholic nuns influenced by Hinduism. Can you imagine my surprise when they suggested "Buddhism might suit you" So some more seeds of my journey to Buddhism were sown. I was also reading and got significant insight from a great Christian contemplative Thomas Merton who was strongly influenced by Buddhism.

I have operated with a belief that the spiritual masters across religions have a similiar experience though expressed in different ways. I like to encourage mutual understanding between Buddhism and Christianity. I have been attending/involved with the Buddhist Society over a period of 15 years and participate regularly in Friday night meditation and retreats. My practice is gradually developing. Since letting go Christian ministry I have been a social worker with Centrelink. I retired 2 years ago and thought I was safely retired but find I'm writing this from Melbourne during my lunch hour where I'm helping with the backroom support of people affected by the bush fires.  The transition from working to retirement happened while supporting my partner who was travelling with cancer. I have been married and have 2 children. I enjoy the outdoors and am involved in kayaking, cycling, golf, bush walking, camping and 4WD driving. I have made an initial trip to Cambodia with a working party at a Children's home and hope soon to visit the young person whom I financially support. Well its the end of my lunch break so here's my blurb!

MARK SCHNEIDER - PUBLICITY AND MEDIA CO-ORDINATOR

No one is more surprised to find me serving on the committee of the BSWA as the new External Publicity and Media Coordinator than me. I'm also editing the Enlightened Times. For many years I was a dyed-in-the-wool greeny, marxist radical who regarded work and one of those “job things” as an unreasonable and unnessecary impediment to my contribution to world revolution. I was one of the founding members of the WA Green Party.  I also thought Australia's drug and alcohol laws needed reforming and campaigned for several years for marijuana law reform. I helped form the Australian Marijuana Party, which attracted more than 20,000 votes. Its preferences helped change the balance of power in the State upper house for the first time in history.  I briefly “went respectable” as the campaign director of the Alcohol Advisory Council of WA, a wonderful organisation, now sadly defunct. Here I campaigned for better alcohol laws, including alcohol taxes that are based on the alcohol content of a drink – an idea that's finally getting a hearing I'm pleased to see.  I'm a journalist by profession, though these days I work as a freelance commercial writer. For many years I lived in Manjimup and Nannup, the most beautiful little town in Western Australia, where I owned the local paper, The Nannup Times. I can't think of a better way of going broke slowly.

I've also worked as an editor on an Aboriginal newspaper in Geraldton and as a sub editor on the Albany Advertiser. So how does a dyed-in-the-wool greeny, marxist radical become a Buddhist? It's a good question. I certainly didn't wake up one morning and decide to become a Buddhist, it was a very gradual process involving quite a bit of reading and thought and a fair bit of meditation. I'm still reading and trying to get my head around some Buddhist beliefs. Buddhism's absolute commitment to non violence has always appealed to me and I find a deep ecological consciousness inherent in its anti-materialist ethics. So there's a consistency there with my long-held green attitudes to life. Another thing I like about Buddhism is that it's a lot less “religious” than marxism! Well that's me in a nutshell. There's only one other thing you may need to know about me – ladies, I'm single and available!

CLIVE: TECHNICAL OPERATIONS CO-ORDINATOR

I was born on 7/5/1959. Born without hearing grew up without sound until I reach the age of eight / nine when Dr Lyndsay Grey at PMH operated on my ears and a few sounds filtered through.When I went to Clontarf Boys school in the 70s, I articulated speech by singing first in a choir and finished in yr 10 and I began to play hockey from then onwards. After leaving year 12 at CBC Freo I began work at Sunday Times.About 1986 onwards, I began to tend BSWA at Nollamara, becoming a member a short time after that. I worked till 1990. Went to Brisbane Griffith Uni in 1994 where I was a member at the
Buddhist Society in Rocklea Brisbane. I also met my wife Kerry at Uni, graduated in 1997 as a primary school teacher, then spent 4 years in Townsville. Came Back worked in the WA country areas with Kerry before she started working at Western Australian Institute of Deaf Education. I worked in the city and country and now city schools before rejoining  BSWA this year,I have applied for the position of Technology co-ordinator.

NADIA - BUILDINGS & MAINTENANCE CO-ORDINATOR

My story ...

Personally: I raised my three boys on my own, worked part time as I attended University as a mature age student, and successfully completed my Bachelor of Commerce. Professionally: When I completed my degree I spent most of my time working in the Oil & Gas Industry specialising in Joint Venture accounting. While I was working for wages, I set up a portfolio of property, which I now manage. I have an Australian company and an International company, at this stage the main business is property. I have a few business ideas that I will be implementing and see what happens. Buddhism : Since I was a teenager I have valued the Buddha's teachings. Five years ago a friend introduced me to Dhammaloka and I have been attending the meditation and talks on a Friday night. Recently I applied for full membership, and applied for the committee property and maintenance role as I can add help in this area considering my experience with property management.

BO SCHAFERS – WEB SERVICES CO-ORDINATOR

I was born in a small spa town in Germany 48 years ago. As soon as I was old enough I wore the red and white robes of an altar boy in the village church, ringing bells during mass and chanting mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. When a little older my family migrated to Cape Town, South Africa. Initially well-adjusted I was quite a jock, even making Victorum Ludorum at my school. At around that time I had a sort of epiphany: I was stunned to realise that there was much more to human existence than the physical mechanics that unfold on the surface. Like many, I had until that point thought that the mundane physical reality was all there was! I became interested in art and psychology. Also, wearing an Afghan fur jacket, I became Cape Town's first white busker, singing Bob Dylan songs and wearing subversive T-shirts on Adderley Street, which had the 'fine white bosses and madams' tut-tutting. I also risked jail by having a black girlfriend, which was prohibted by law.

In my 20's, due my sex drugs and rock 'n rock lifestyle, I became ill with Reiter's Syndrome, a virulent form of arthritis that near-crippled me for 3 years. During this time, seriously considering suicide, I sought refuge in my Catholic roots, but also in the mysticism of Meister Eckhard, Rumi, Theresa of Avila, St. Paul and then -via the American Beat poets- in Zen Buddhism. As my health improved I took on a chef's apprenticeship in Germany. After that I travelled quite a bit, married and became the father of my son Mark Thembisa (Xhosa for Hope/Faith) and ended up in Perth ,Western Australia. I became a TAFE cookery lecturer in 1995, the same year I got divorced. As far as my spiritual beliefs were concerned over the years, I was as strongly influenced by post-modernist thought as well as transpersonal psychology, consciousness studies and the integral movement (Aurobindo, Gebser, Wilber), mixed in with a bit of 'crazy wisdom'/Zen. I continued playing and recording music. After a particularly painful relationship breakup I finally kicked my 50+ a day smoking habit. I also developed a passion for kitesurfing. WA is a kitesurfer's paradise. I truly love riding the brilliant blue waves, floating on the wind and feeling the crusted salt in my eyebrows...

A couple of years back, I accidentally stumbled on a link to an Ajahn Brahm talk on the BSWA website. I was instantly intrigued by his very austere and literal interpretation of the Pali Suttas, as practiced by the Thai Forrest tradition. After some study, I took the 5 precepts, meditated regularly and attended several retreats. I also stayed repeatedly at Bodhinyana Monastery. I have considered taking up the holy life. I continue to investigate and practice. I was the webservices co-ordinator on the committee in 2008 and am continuing in 2009.