Bee Yong Go (傳禮), Executive Secretary

One can never guess that the active and youthful looking Bee Yong, or B.Y. for short, is actually 70 years old! As one of the executive secretaries, part of B.Y.’s duties is to serve as liaison between Ocean Sky and the public. She also supervises the kitchen affairs so that all activities there run smoothly.

B.Y. joined Ocean Sky in 2008. Almost every night, if one doesn’t see her sitting as receptionist, one can find her upstairs attending meditation class. Her friends were all curious. They thought that she was wasting her time, and asked why she spent so much time in Ocean Sky. B.Y. answered: “I am very thankful I have this chance to attend Buddhist classes. After seeing the wonderful Sangha of Ocean Sky and listening to their Dharma talks, I no longer have any interest in going to other temples or anywhere else!”

When B.Y. celebrated her 70th birthday recently, she invited more than 150 friends, relatives, and students of the monastery to a vegetarian dinner in Ocean Sky, and most importantly to listen the Dharma talk from the Abbess. With the merits earned from giving the vegetarian dinner and making offerings to the Three Jewels, she dedicated them to her parents in repayment for their kindness. In celebrating her birthday this way, B.Y. was showing her friends and relatives how she had benefited and been transformed by Buddha’s teachings.

B.Y. reflected on this journey in her practice: “Listening to Dharma talks has taught me that all things are impermanent and empty, with characteristics that arise and cease. By this kind of logic, why then should we still go chase after them and even want to possess them? We should instead return to our inherent pure mind. Meditation is the best way to transform us by letting go of all our attachments, thereby sweeping away layers of afflictions, purifying our body, speech, and thoughts, and achieving a state of Bodhi where the deluded mind finally rests. I thank the Grand Master, the Abbess and all the Shifus of Ocean Sky for providing such an auspicious place to cultivate. Amitofo!”