Funding Acquired
Together we can spread the Dhamma
far and wide!
Special fund raising events are conducted when Refuge In Dhamma has urgent needs.
At these times, Buddhists who lend a helping hand are genuinely generous and selfless. This is because, on short notice, they are willing to sacrifice their own wealth for the benefit of others in order to help propagate the Dhamma.
This is a truly noble, admirable and wholesome act.
Therefore, let’s rejoice in the contributions that the donors have done!
Funding Acquired
Circumstance
I had been using the free version of Zoom Workplace to hold online talks.
Although it is sufficient for short talks within 40 mins, it is not enough if there is a need to hold 60 mins and longer talks and/or classes.
Some of the features in the Pro version include:
The most important Zoom Workplace Pro feature is the extended meeting duration of 30 hours. On top of using it for talks and/or classes, it gives the possibility of holding retreats through Zoom Workplace.
Details about full features of Zoom Workplace Pro can be found here.
Fund raising
The following Buddhist devotees offered to pay for the subscription cost of 1 year:
- Bao Lun
- Chris Lee
- Koelyn Tan
- Lee Ching Ghee
- Peggy Yoon
- Winnie Ho
Benefits
By making this fund raising a success, the donors for this fund raising event are not only contributing to a Sangha member; they are also helping to make sure that Refuge In Dhamma is able to open up more avenues for Buddhists to attend its classes. By holding hybrid (onsite & online) classes, this ensures that Buddhists are able to learn Dhamma regardless of their locations.
Therefore, the donors can expect extremely substantial good karmic rewards.
Circumstance
I had been using a free software called “Davinci Resolve” to edit my videos since I started this website.
Although it is a very capable video editing software with many features enabled for the free version, there are many new AI features that are only available in the paid “Davinci Resolve Studio” version.
These AI features include:
These AI features can help speed up my workflow so that I can spend more time working on explanations for the Dhamma being presented in videos.
Details about full functionalities of Davinci Resolve Studio can be found here.
Fund raising
A Buddhist devotee offered to pay for the software cost which is a one-time payment for a lifetime license.
Benefits
By making this fund raising a success, the donors for this fund raising event are not only contributing to a Sangha member; they are also helping to make sure that the subsequent videos created by Refuge In Dhamma can be done more efficiently and of better quality. This helps to increase the viewing pleasure for all Buddhists.
Therefore, the donor can expect extremely substantial good karmic rewards.
Circumstance
I had been using an old laptop to work on this website and to prepare lesson materials for the meditation courses. The old laptop was slow and constantly gave me problems like software freezes and operating system crashes. After I upgraded the hard disk and RAM, it made the laptop more stable but still experienced freezes and crashes albeit less frequently.
On 25 September 2022, Jovin Sng approached me to offer to help raise funds to get a new laptop for me. I agreed but told her that it would be cheaper to get 2022’s model the following year in 2023 when new models come out. So, it was agreed to wait until March 2023 and to try to raise funds in the mean time.
However, my old laptop broke down on 26 September 2022. I tried to get it repaired but it costs a few hundred dollars. To me, it is not worth it so I needed to raise enough funds to buy a new laptop as soon as possible as I had the October meditation courses starting on 7 October 2022. This only gave me 2 weeks to get the laptop and set up all the necessary software for live streaming and in-person lessons.
Fund raising
With Jovin Sng organising the fund raising event, thankfully, a number of Buddhists responded to the emergency situation with no hesitation and the funds was raised in 1 week’s time. Among the donors, it should be mentioned that Jennifer Tan and Jessica Poh contributed the most and without the two of them, the fund raising would have taken a much longer time, possibly beyond 7 October 2022. If this had happened, it would mean that the October meditation courses would have to be cancelled. Therefore, through a number of fortunate coincidences, this fund raising was successfully accomplished.
Benefits
By making this fund raising a success, the donors for this fund raising event are not only contributing to a Sangha member; they are also helping to make sure that the October 2022 and subsequent meditation courses can be successfully conducted. Furthermore, new Dhamma articles on this website can be regularly updated to benefit many visitors of Refuge In Dhamma. Since the propagation of Dhamma by Refuge In Dhamma is done mainly through these two channels, donors who provide support for these two channels are also enhancing the operations.
Therefore, with all the factors mentioned above, these donors can expect extremely substantial good karmic rewards.
Here is the list of donors for this fund raising event:
- Jennifer Tan
- Jessica Poh
- Mae Chee Eng
- Donor
- Alice Yao
- Ellane Wong
- Gan Fong
- Goh Siang Tiang
- Jonn Goh
- Jovin Sng
- Ng Hong Tou
- Pamela Heng
- 三宝弟子
- Tiffany and Jim Family
Blessing ceremony
In appreciation of the donors’ generosity, a blessing ceremony was conducted on 9 October 2022 at 9 am at the Meditation Hall in Palelai Buddhist Temple. (Special thanks to Huixin for taking the time to help record the ceremony in video and take pictures.)
