AWAKEN THE BODHI MIND: A MEDITATION GUIDE AND CHANTING TRACKER MOBILE APPLICATION

Abstract

The global pandemic has impacted our lives in ways unimaginable. It changes the way we interact with each other and how we live. Alcohol, mask, and face shield for some have been part of our daily necessities and routine. A number of companies switched to teleworking to avoid contact and to maintain business as usual. Schools implemented modular learning, online classes, and blended learning. Traveling was also one of the hardest parts of the pandemic as most of the borders were closed. Face-to-face meetings and religious gatherings were also stopped but were allowed eventually as long as attendees are limited and the venue is not in full capacity. In spite of that, we learn to adapt and leverage the resources that we have to be able to adjust to the new normal. Due to the global crisis, meditation classes and ceremonies have been canceled however, the community still continues to meditate and chant Sutras as part of their practice. The free classes allow the students to practice meditation and learn Buddhist principles. Sutra chanting is part of the Buddhist liturgy where one’s karma is purified and a way to dedicate our merits to all sentient beings. The practitioners are using a manual card and prayer beads to keep track of their total chants. These total counts per person are consolidated by the organization as they have a certain goal to achieve. By chanting, we dedicate the merits to world peace and wish for everyone to be free from suffering. This project aims to focus on the individual users to help them track their chant counts and meditation minutes. A collection of Sutras and Gathas for readings that are portable is also beneficial. For better quality results and fast development, Agile methodology was used. Since it is an iterative and incremental development approach, it reduces the risk for possible issues and at the end of each sprint, there is an application ready to be tested and presented. As a result, the mobile application was well designed and coded and has undergone several quality assurance tests to assure the excellence of the application. Overall, the meditation guide and chanting tracker mobile application has solved the issue of the manual approach and encourages the practitioner even more to practice mindfulness through chanting and meditation. A recommended additional feature to the application would be a function to be able to download a backup of the user data so that it can be restored if the app has been reinstalled.