Yes, I know I know. All the kittens also turned into cats and tigers already, yet my blog is still left untouched. Hehe. Honestly, I thought I'd have more time once my finals was over.. HAR HAR. What a joke. I still need more than 24 hours a day to do everything! Time, YOU HAVE GOT TO SLOW DOWN! Why are you always rushing?! ._.
Well anyway, since most of you know that I just came back from a Buddhist camp with the amount of spamming in Facebook, I bet you are dying to know what is it about, eh? Okay la, maybe not dying, but at least.. curious? :P
If you have never heard of it before, it's known as Incovar Dhamma Camp. This was, in fact, their 35th camp already but only my second time attending. It's organized twice annually, usually in the middle and the end of the year. It's a 4-days-3-nights camp which bring students from various universities and colleges to learn the Dhamma in a fun and experiential way. Don't worry, I'm not going all factual on you, but that is pretty much the objective of the camp.
Now, it's all going to come from my personal experience of 35th IDC. :)
I'm not gonna lie. I was shocked by the total number of participants this time because I could literally count them all with my fingers. I mean, I was already expecting it to be lesser than the previous camps, but I didn't know it was going to be so few of us! I was beginning to feel a little nervous at that time because I didn't know most of them except for our 34th IDC camp warden, John and some of the committee.
But once the ice was broken, we became more comfortable around each other and the camp just kick start from there onwards. We were the one and only group there because of the small number, so we practically know everyone in the camp. It was then that I realised all the committee were there with us (and I actually know all of them!), in contrary to the previous camps where I can't even catch a glimpse of them because they were always rushing to prepare for the next activity.
Talks & speakers
The next thing we see was our time schedule. And then, we got another shock because we realised that the 'Activity' means Dhamma talk, 'Workshop' means Dhamma talk, and obviously 'Talk' means more Dhamma talk. HAHAHAHA!! But for once, we have sooooo many "Free and Easy" in between. This was another mini shock because... since when does Incovar gives you time to rest and shower?! If you have been to any of the Incovar camps, you'll know what I mean. :P
Although it may seem frightening to have so many talks at first, trust me.. it didn't feel that way. I actually enjoyed myself, listening to the Dhamma and personal experiences, and even ghost stories from the speakers. :D
Camp activities
Yes, Dhamma talks may be the main core of this camp, but we do have other activities as well. I had SO MUCH FUN playing the Guardian Angel game. The rule is simple: each of us just randomly picked a person's name and be their guardian angel throughout the entire duration of the camp. The only twist is that you're not supposed to reveal your identity. You can leave messages/hints/clues for your "guarded" angel to guess who you are. Our true identities will only be revealed on the last day of camp.
I simply love this game! It is very intriguing, trying to guess who your guardian angel is, and at the same time, leaving tips here and there for your own "guarded" angel to guess who you are.
We also had a lot of hymns singing. We even had our own "Backstreetboys" and opera singer. There were so many random and funny "performances" that I think I laughed until my jaw dropped! It was really fun because we just sorta relax and goof around. And we even discovered we have a few talents among ourselves too. ;)
Next: sharing. We definitely had a lot of sharing sessions in this camp (and so does the previous camps). I guess it plays an important part during the camp because it is where everyone shared their problems, opinions, suggestions and practically anything that you wished to share. I personally like the idea of sharing a lot. Just by having somebody listening to you and feeling a hand of comfort on your back; though not solving the problem, it makes you feel soooooo much better because you now realised that you're not alone in this world. :)
And there was Movie Night as well. Yes, movie together with popcorn and snacks and pillows. Hehe, I was so comfortable that I just fall asleep! We watched Pay It Forward starring Haley Joel Osment, more known as that kid from Sixth Sense. This movie was actually very meaningful, but I conked out for about 3/4 of the movie. Thank god for another sharing session after that, so at least I know the story now! Hahaha..
Meals
We had vegetarian food that actually tasted good (this comes from a person who don't eat leafy vegetables) Haha. For the first 2 days, the food were delivered pretty late and we were all starving by the time the food arrived. But we later found out that one of the committee, ChunNang had to sacrifice his time from work and suffer the KL traffic just to deliver our food! Big Sadhu to him.. our food was never late after that. :)
As usual, we also had the hand-tyings during meals, but no blindfolds this time. Fun Fun Fun! Unlike previous camps, we don't really have to be noble silent during meals because it was only so few of us. We are allowed to bond during meals and we do our own dishes! :D
IXP
Also known as Incovar Experience. It is considered to be the highlight of every Incovar camp. It is always different and we're not supposed to disclose about it to anyone after the camp was over. Everything we shared remained within that four walls, so come for the next camp to experience it for yourself!
Participants & Committee
I have met so many awesome people in this camp!! I pretty much know everyone from head to toe, irregardless participant or committee. Though it was only 4 days, all of us just clicked! We had so much fun together! Every night, we will have our own chitchat sessions till 1-2am, even when we were supposed to wake up early the next day!
We do exercises together in the morning, cleaned up the temple together, played games together and did almost everything together as a group! And because we know each other so well, it is especially hard for me when I realised it was all over. 4 days just flew past so quickly! :(
All in all, it was very different from the previous camps. It is much more slow-paced and relaxing this time compared to the previous camp that I've participated in. And although we may be a small group, I now know quantity doesn't matter at all because at the end of the day.. we learn, we had fun and we made new friends. And with that, I think Incovar had already achieved their objectives.
I'm glad I came for this camp and I will definitely go for the next one, if time permits. :)
1 comment:
Niceee! Wish I could have gone :)
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