The First SSBU Student Conference was successfully held at Shan State Buddhist University on November 6, 2024. This significant event aimed to celebrate the 60th birthday of the Most Venerable Oxford Sayadaw Prof. Dr. K. Dhammasāmi, the founder and rector of the university, while also providing a platform for students to showcase their academic progress and enhance their social skills

.
Purpose of the Conference

The conference had several key objectives:
Celebration of Rector Sayadaw’s Birthday: The event honored the contributions and teachings of Prof. Dr. K. Dhammasāmi, recognizing his influence on the academic community and the broader Buddhist tradition.
Showcasing Academic Progress: Students presented their research and findings, reflecting their learning journeys and academic achievements within the framework of Buddhist studies.
Enhancing Cooperative Work and Social Skills: The conference fostered collaboration among students, encouraging them to develop essential social skills necessary for their future endeavors.

Highlights of the Event

The conference featured a variety of presentations and discussions that engaged both students and faculty members. Participants had the opportunity to:
Engage in Scholarly Discussions: Topics ranged from traditional Buddhist teachings to contemporary issues in Buddhist scholarship, allowing for a rich exchange of ideas.
Network with Peers and Faculty: The event provided a space for students to connect with each other and with faculty members, promoting a sense of community within the university.
Participate in Workshops: Various workshops were conducted to help students improve their presentation skills, critical thinking, and teamwork abilities.

Speaker Panels
The conference showcased a total of 16 speakers, divided into two panels:

English Panel: 8 Speakers

1. Ven. Municara (M.A. 2nd years)  - Topic: "An analytical study on the practical applications of equanimity (Upekkha) in addressing and managing everyday challenges from a Buddhist perspective."

2. Ven. Ariya (M.A. 1st year) - Topic: "The Art of Speaking (Sammāvācā) in Buddhism"

3. Ven. Ratanadīpa (M.A 1st year) - Topic: Three Spiritual Benefits of Jhāna Attainments

4. Ven. Vilinda (M.A 1st year )   -  Topic: The Buddha’s Ethical Innovation: Re-Ethnicization of Karma and Rebirth in Pre-Buddhist Beliefs within a Rational Framework.

5. Sayalay Ma Teja (M.A final year) - Topic: The Holistic Outlook of ‘Suffering’ in Buddhism: Not Being Pessimistic

6. Dr. Ohmmar Myint Shein  (Postgraduate Diploma in Pāli and Buddhist Studies ) - Topic:  Timeless Relevance of the Buddha’s Teachings in Modern  Society

7. Ms. Aeint Kyawt Hmuee  (M.A. 1st year) - Topic: Applying Conditional Relations (Paṭṭhāna) for Health and Business Success among Buddhist Business People in Myanmar

8. Mr. Aye Khant Zaw (M.A. 1st year) - Topic: A Discussion on Buddhism as Pessimism

Shan Panel: 8 Speakers
 

1. လဵပ်ႈႁဵၼ်းၾိင်ႈထုင်းတၢင်းၵႃႈၼူၵ်ႉၵိင်ႇၼရႃႇၵိင်ႇၼရီႇ -

 ၸဝ်ႈၶူး ၵုလိသ လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း M.A Lik-Loung 1st (SSBU)

2. လွင်ႈတၢင်းသိူဝ်း ၵဵဝ်ႇလူၺ်ႈပၢႆးၸႂ် - 

ၸဝ်ႈၶူး သေႃးၽိတ B.A 1st လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU

3. ၵၢၼ်ၵုသူဝ်ႇလႄႈ ဢၵုသူဝ်ႇ ၽွၼ်းပၢင်ႈမၼ်း -

 ၸဝ်ႈၶူး ၼႃႇၵိၼ်ႇတ B.A 2st လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU

4. လွင်ႈတၢင်းသိူဝ်းသီႇပိူင် - 

ၸဝ်ႈၶူး ရႃႇၸိၼ်ႇတ-ဝၼ်းလိူၼ် B.A 2nd လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU

5. လဵပ်ႈႁဵၼ်းၾိင်ႈငႄႈသႃႇသၼႃႇၵိူင်းယူၼ်း ၼႂ်းမိူင်းတႆး - 

ၸဝ်ႈသၢင်ႇ ဝိၸ်ႉၸႃႇၼၼ်ႇတ B.A 1st လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU 

6. ပျၢမ်ႇမဝိႁႃႇရတြႃးသီႇပိူင် - 

ယိင်းၸွမ်ၽူၺ်းလၢဝ် B.A 2ndလုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU

7. မင်ႇၵလႃႇသုတ်ႈ လွင်ႈၶိုၼ်ႈယႂ်ႇၵတ်းယဵၼ် - 

ၸဝ်ႈသၢင်ႇ ၸၼ်ႇတေႃးၽႃႇသ B.A 3rd လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU 

8. တႃႇတေပဵၼ်ၶုၼ်လီၼႆႉ တေလႆႈႁဵတ်းႁိုဝ်? -

 ၸဝ်ႈၶူး ဢေႃးၸေႇယ B.A 2nd လုၵ်ႈႁဵၼ်း SSBU

The First SSBU Student Conference not only celebrated a significant milestone for the Most Venerable Oxford Sayadaw Prof. Dr. K. Dhammasāmi, but also marked an important step in fostering academic excellence and community spirit among students at Shan State Buddhist University.

Photo Crd: Ven Dr. Pandava, Sai Ohm Khay