The half-way point

So a few days ago, I had to give my very first ignite presentation. 20 slides in 5 mins. I presented my PhD research. It went really well.

It's been about 5 weeks since I came here. 5 more weeks to go. Again, being the kind of person who is extremely attached to people as I am, I can foresee myself missing these people so much. I am continuing to learn from those around me. They complete me. Somehow, I feel that way.

Team project is going quite well. We have a very good team packed with many passionate people. I think because of this, many more people would love to join our team. I have to chant for everyone's victories and happiness. No matter how different our personalities may be, we will all have to be able to work well together and enjoy ourselves in the process. I take it as my mission to create an environment where people can enjoy themselves at ease and feel equally precious.

We are looking at the problem of transportation in places where there is no road infrastructure. We are thinking of using the flying drones to deliver medicine, supplies, etc. to places like Africa. Isn't it a radical idea? Well, it has to be. Otherwise, why are we even doing this.

Talking about being a radical. Yesterday was such an amazing day! We had a call regarding Our New Clear Future campaign for nuclear abolition. I realized the profundity of my role in the organization.

It amazes me when I chant how much impact I can create through my determinations. It takes a lot of courage to even dream of what kind of causes we are creating. There are so many governmental institutes, United Nations, many prestigious schools in the east coast. If just one person stands up, just one, what kind of impact can he/she make? Imagine there is another Pres. Ikeda in the east coast and he/she is then awakened to her mission. What kind of world he/she can create? It gives me so much joy to even attempt to fathom that. What a great mission I have!!

Towards the 55th founding of the Student Division in 2012, let's create Sensei's Student Division.

Win battles of speech through invincible bravery, faith and wisdom!!! "A sword is useless in the hands of a coward. The mighty sword of the Lotus Sutra must be wielded by one courageous in faith." -- Nichiren Daishonin

Reflection

Waiting in San Francisco International Airport,  I am contemplating what it'd be like leaving SU. It's not easy I'd have to admit. Why is SU so special? When will I find myself among these many crazy people ever again in my life? The chance is highly unlikely.

I have never met so many people who share the same life philosophies that are not practicing Nichiren Buddhism with the SGI. No wonder that's what got us all here. We all want to help people. We are constantly asking ourselves if this is something that will feed those who are hungry around the world. How wonderful it is to be among these people! I only have 6 weeks left and I have to make the best out of it. My plan is to really immerse myself in learning and talking to these people as much as I can building a long lasting relationship through our shared vow throughout eternity.

I was particularly moved today when a friend of mine in the program showed me what he has written on his wall, literally on countless sheets of paper that he put up on the wall. It tells the story of how wonderful this person is. How fortunate I am to be able to encounter this wonderful person! I will not forget you, no matter what. Our hearts are always together when we walk the same path.

He turns his frustration into creation of something much greater than himself. I am amazed by the level of creativity and sincerity.  What a blessing for me to come across this kind of people! Anyways, it deeply touches my heart. It inspires me to dig even deeper than what I believe to be myself. He teaches me through his own actions how to be creative, to be oneself, and to explore the infinite possibilities of creation.

Many people have touched my life in the most profound way.  I have so many great girlfriends there that I am going to truly miss when I am gone. Olga, Miyeon, Justine, Monica, and many more. I remember how Olga asked me to do my nails for me just because I was going away. Or how Monica and I redetermined together while walking back from learning that bodies of soldiers just landed in NASA Ames, 3 mins walk away from our classroom. I would remember how respectful and loving my friend, Mi Yeon, is. She is my life. Justine, my little koala bear. How cute and sweet, and most of all truly humble person she is! She has taught me how to live with great respect and humility for every person. I love her! How lucky I am as a person who can encounter so many wonderful people! I am going to cry!

OK! Determination! I will come back and make sure we create wonderful memories that will last more than this single lifetime! I love you all! GSP11!!!

History of nuclear energy

It's truly shocking for me to learn about this. How the project Atom for Peace came about was not an extreme surprise for me. Here is an excerpt from the article from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

After the two bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is an aggressive movement to push forth the peaceful use of atomic energy through the Atomic Energy Commission, which was controlled by the military. How interesting. Anyways, the number of US nuclear stockpile increased from 1,000 to 22,000 by the end of Eisenhower's administration. If you think it is because of nuclear race, see the graph below. And to the nuclear deterrence argument, the US has always had more nuclear stockpile during the cold war.

And the nuclear weapons capability of India and Pakistan from their nuclear energy technology is truly worrisome. There is no justification to use nuclear energy over the renewable energy such as wind, water and solar considering how much CO2 emission was produced and the waste from nuclear energy.

Source: http://stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/susenergy2030.html

Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

By Josei Toda, second president of the Soka Gakkai
September 8, 1957

I would now like to share with you what I hope you will regard as the foremost of my instructions for the future.
As I have long said, the responsibility for the coming era must be shouldered by the youth. ... Today I would like to state clearly my feelings and attitude regarding the testing of nuclear weapons, a topic that is currently being debated heatedly throughout society. I hope that, as my disciples, you will inherit the declaration I am about to make today and, to the best of your ability, spread its intent throughout the world.
Although a movement calling for a ban on the testing of atomic or nuclear weapons has arisen around the world, it is my wish to go further, to attack the problem at its root. I want to expose and rip out the claws that lie hidden in the very depths of such weapons. I wish to declare that anyone who ventures to use nuclear weapons, irrespective of their nationality or whether their country is victorious or defeated, should be sentenced to death without exception.

Why do I say this? Because we, the citizens of the world, have an inviolable right to live. Anyone who jeopardizes that right is a devil incarnate, a fiend, a monster. I propose that humankind applies, in every case, the death penalty to anyone responsible for using nuclear weapons, even if that person is on the winning side.
Even if a country should conquer the world through the use of nuclear weapons, the conquerors must be viewed as devils, as evil incarnate. I believe that it is the mission of every member of the youth division in Japan to disseminate this idea throughout the globe.

I'd give my life to pursue the dream of my mentor. To abolish all nuclear weapons from the face of this earth by 2030!!!!!! 

Light activated neurons

This is so cool! Today, we had 3 speakers to come talk about the current groundbreaking technologies in medicine and one of the speakers is working on Optogenetics, the field voted as the Method of the Year in 2010 by Nature Methods. It's a crazy and fun concept. Listen to Ed here. 

I can't believe I work next door to this guy for 2 years and never really had an in-depth conversation with him. He's amazing. Anyways, cool stuffs. We also saw things about medical robotics which I think are extremely outdated and not scalable. So meh. Another one was the real-time fMRI. I think this one also has the potential for exponential growth as well.  Exciting!!! I love hearing all these things. So fascinating.

An article on spatial pattern recognition

In the future, I think we are going to be able to control and enhance our brain! wooahhh

crazy.

Lightning Session @ SU

We had this lightning session for brainstorming ideas for different global challenges such as poverty, global health, security, education, energy, and space.

There were so many ideas. omg. it was so much fun to think about these different possibilities. One thing I truly appreciate about this place is that you are never told wrong. You might be told to take initiative, give it a try, again and again until you succeed. And then you repeat the same thing over and over again, creating one great cause after another.

This weekend I had a blast, riding on the bike to downtown mountain view, through google, and around. :) It was nice to be outside and be so in touch with the world. I am so glad to be alive.

Another thing I truly appreciate is the fruits that Alaina brought from the Farmers market today. They were so beautiful and well crafted. To create something so beautiful and complex, someone must have to spend a lot of time and effort raising it, collecting it, cleaning it, cutting it and placing it in such nice containers. Many thoughts went into every little thing that made this meal so wonderful. I am filled with appreciation. Oh, and I got a special gift from our hero, Dan Barry. :) It's a beautiful sunflower. The cheerful sun of happiness. ^________^ Ikeda-kayokai. 

Leadership -- the essential lesson I learned in the SGI

Again, I can't be anymore thankful for having the opportunity to be a leader in the SGI. The training that I was able to receive is tremendous and most valuable of all.

We learned, again, about the quality of leaders and what it takes to create a successful team.

"Perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, victims: we can be clear about three of these categories. The bystanders, however, is the fulcrum."

The message is that those who are the game changers are ones who is watching from behind. A great leader empowers those bystanders to take action by initiating it. 

David Roberts also talked about courage. It takes a courage of just one person. And courage stems from compassion. Just like what Sensei said, courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Sensei writes, "Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine.  You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don't do or say anything, it's not real compassion." I realized how similar these philosophies are to what I learn in the SGI practicing together with Sensei. I cannot be anymore grateful. I will continue to strive to repay this debt of gratitude I owe to him, my mom and the SGI by exerting myself for social goods until the last moment of my life and unto the future.

Nothing contradicts Buddhism.

I am who I am today because of Sensei.