On Thursday, April 11, 2024, through Zoom, from 3:00-4:30 pm, the 1st Peer Leader of The Center of Wellness, Student Advocacy, and Prevention Dixon Rexach Toro held an event for Passaic County Community College (PCCC) students to learn about the teachings and practices found within all sects of Buddhism with the intention to educate students of the ways they can personally cope with mental health-related ailments and to build personal skills needed to excel in all aspects of daily life.
The presentation was highly organized, as it highlighted the principle teachings of Buddhism, the history of Buddhism, and how Buddhism has shaped the Eastern and Western world to what it is now. It especially highlighted some of the work of famous Buddhist scholars like D.T. Suzuki, Alan W. Watts, and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to portray how Buddhism spread all over the world.
As presented by Dixon, there are many spiritual practices one may personally choose to improve oneself, regardless of religious background. Consider the use of contemplating on the nature of Karma, for example, and how it may take form in everyday life. Dixon explained the topic of “Karmic Seeds”, describing the unconscious conditioning one might have in which, without proper awareness of Self, can conjure experiences and behaviors that can negatively impact one’s life.
Dixon Rexach Toro has been attending the Eiryu-ji Zen Center of Wyckoff New Jersey as a part of a Sangha, or monastic community, since March 2023. Eiryu-ji Zen Center is a Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist temple that is open to all people to join and take part in the teachings and practice made by the Buddha himself and many Zen masters throughout history.
Eiryu-ji Zen Center of Wyckoff New Jersey
400 West Main Street Wyckoff, NJ 07481
201 891 0900