When I first entered Dharma Youth as a student, I had a basic understanding of Buddhism and meditation. I knew what the Four Noble Truths were and what the Eightfold Path was; I knew that to meditate, you are supposed to clear your mind of all thoughts. What does it mean, though, to put these concepts into practice？As I learned more and more about Buddhism in Dharma Youth, I found myself wondering if I would be able to follow these teachings in real life. It wasn’t until I left the sheltered environment of high school for college life that I was challenged to put the Zen teachings into practice. 

　　At the beginning of my first semester, while listening to others complain about the work they had to do for their writing courses, I realized I had accidentally skipped the first class of my writing course. I had barely been in college for a week, and I had already made a mistake! The class only had eighteen students, so my absence must have been obvious. My new friends suggested dropping the class or even lying about why I had missed class. Shouldn’t I follow the Eightfold path principle of Right Speech, though？Writing an email to the graduate student teaching the course, I sincerely apologized for my mistake, saying I was unaware we had class that first day.  The following day, I received his reply, which began with,“Yes, freshman writing seminars start the same week classes start. It's been that way for a couple of years now.” 

　　When I read this, I thought,“This teacher must think I am very stupid for making such a foolish mistake. How can I attend the next class after making such a bad first impression？”Although my pride was at stake, I could not quit so easily. I decided to go the next class meeting and talk to the teacher after class to explain I did want to take his class but had just made a simple mistake. In the end, the teacher accepted my apology and even told me that because I sounded sincere in my email, he was willing to give me a second chance. After this incident, I was not only relieved but also surprised at how easily it was resolved. It showed me that if you are sincere and honest about your mistakes, people will forgive you.

　　Now that I am a TA for Dharma Youth, I can share stories such as this one with the students and give them real life examples of how Buddhism can influence their lives.  Although these teenagers are only in high school, it is never too early for them to learn the importance of Buddha’s teachings. As a former participant of this program, I can only hope that the current students learn as much as I did from Dharma Youth.

　　（參加精舍青年禪學會時，法師教導我們基本佛學知識、八正道和中台四箴行，並告訴我們，禪修靜坐可以使頭腦更清楚。

　　隨著愈加地深入學習佛法，我開始思考如何將這些道理運用在日常生活上？直到高中畢業，離開父母到東部上大學，開始面對充滿挑戰的生活，以及學業、人際關係的壓力，這時，佛法真的派上用場了。

　　大學新鮮人的第一個星期，當朋友在埋怨寫作課的一些必做功課，才發現自己的第一堂寫作課，居然無故缺席了！剛上大學的第一週，我就犯下錯誤！

　　由於這一個班級只有十八個人，所以我的缺席是很明顯的。同學們七嘴八舌地幫我出主意，有人叫我退選，也有人叫我撒謊欺騙助教。但我想到法師教導我們不要打妄語，所以我依循佛法八正道裡的「正語」，寫了e-mail給助教，對於缺席一事誠心道歉。助教回信嚴詞告誡我：「新鮮人，寫作課和其它課一樣，每學期開學的第一天就要開始上課，這已經實行好幾年了。」我讀了助教的信後，心想：教授一定覺得我很愚蠢，怎麼會犯下這樣的錯誤！因而懊惱不已。但在自尊心的趨使下，我下定決心不輕易退選。第二堂寫作課下課後，我去找教授，並向他表示自己很想上這堂課，實因不知情而犯了缺席的錯誤。教授很慈祥地回答我：「因為你很誠懇，我會給你第二次機會。」經過這次事件，我學到每個人都會犯錯，只要誠心承認錯誤，並且願意改過，別人都會原諒你的。

　　我將這個故事和青年禪修班的同學們分享，雖然他們都還只是高中生，但在禪修班裡學到的佛法，是可以讓我們在生活中落實的，希望大家都能把握因緣，在法師的教導下好好學習。）