Dedicated to Protecting the Spiritual Environment: Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts organizes a student life experience camp
Featuring a campus life helping the student cultivate their minds and learn to take care of their own and other people’s physical and mental well-being, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA) has issued admission guidelines regarding its graduate school programs for the Discipline of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of Buddhist Studies for Year 2016, which will start receiving application respectively from October 15 and 30. As a recruitment effort, DILA held a Humanities and Social Sciences Study Experience camp on October 3 and 4, with over 70 people signing up to experience campus life as a freshman.
Participants were mostly from the Merit Field Program and Chan Studies Program, who have long wanted to learn about DILA. “With inner tranquility, you will feel happy wherever you are,” participants responded joyfully to the instructor as feedback. Through speeches, hands-on sessions, and small-group sharing, teachers and students from the four graduate programs of Environment and Development, Social Enterprise and Innovation, Community Regeneration, as well as Life Education, helped participants learn about cross-discipline study, a much emphasized aspect of the Institute’s education, providing them with wonderful memories of “an intriguing and vivid experience, with rich content far beyond their imagination.
Chen Shuhui, one of the participants, said the two-day course allowed her to realize that “it is in the process of giving that we grow and develop,” and to “never overlook our insignificant personal power; by starting from ourselves we will create an impact of group insight and group effort.” She believed that studying at DILA will broaden and purify one’s minds and hearts as its programs reflect protecting the spiritual environment. In addition, through this experience many participants expect themselves to be able to further share with others the compassionate vow of Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain, in establishing the Institute to benefit all.
Students of the forward-looking DILA consist of college graduates and people from different walks of life, who all share the ideal and passion to benefit others. Ji Dongqin, a graduate student of the Community Regeneration program, said that he chose to study at the graduate school after retirement in the hope of using the school’s well planned curriculum as a platform for his research skills, social work practice and visit. He expects to enhance the views regarding a more complete, comprehensive social welfare system through doing reports and dissertation research and study. Also, he encourages people who are concerned about how to help others face and deal with problems to study at the Institute, engaging in learning and sharing experiences together.
According to DILA, students with a bachelor’s or equivalent degree from a university or college accredited by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education are eligible to apply for admission. The Institute’s tuition fee is in line with the standard adopted by Taiwan’s national universities. Each postgraduate can apply for a scholarship of NT$30,000 to NT$60,000 per semester. Please go to http://www.dila.edu.tw/ for admission guidelines, or call (02) 2498-0707 for further details.
Translated by Sherry Lai / Edited by Chiacheng Chang.