I Wandered Through the City, a Monk in Old

Home , Dongchu, Guo Xing, Red Pine (author)

wandered through the city, a “Imonk in old robes, sleeping in doorways, nodding with the homeless through the night in coffee shops, foraging through dumpsters for fruit and vegetables. I was in my early fif- ties, no spring chicken, but I was lit from within by my mission to bring the Dharma to the West. Besides, what did it matter? The lessons Don- chu had taught me made it a matter of indifference to me whether I slept in a big room or a small room or in the doorway of a church.”

From Footprints in the Snow: The Autobiography of a Chinese Monk by Chan Master Sheng Yen, Doubleday, 2008

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine Chan Magazine

Volume 23,29, Number 41 Autumn,Winter, 2009 2003

Chan Magazine is published quarterly by the Institute of Chung-Hwa Buddhist Buddhist Culture, Culture, Chan Chan Meditation Meditation Center, Center, 90- 90-5656 Corona Corona Avenue, Avenue, Elmhurst, Elmhurst, NY NY 11373. 11373. The The magazine magazine is isa non-profit a non-profit venture; venture; it accepts it accepts no advertising no advertising and is and sup is- supportedported solely solely by contributions by contributions from frommembers members of the of Chan the ChanCenter Center and the and readership. the readership. Donations Donations to support to support the maga the- magazinezine and otherand other Chan Chan Center Center activities activities may maybe sent be sentto the to theabove above address address and and will will be be gratefully gratefully appreciated. appreciated. Please Your donationmake checks is tax-deductible.payable to Chan For Meditation information Center; about your Chan do- Centernation activitiesis tax-deductible. please call For (718)information 592-6593. about For Chan Dharma Cen- Drumter activities Publications please call please (718) call 592-6593. (718) 592-0915.For Dharma E-mail Drum thePublications Center at please [email protected], call (718) 592-0915. or E-mail the magazine the Center at [email protected],at [email protected], or orthe visit magazine us online at at:chanmaga - http://[email protected], or visit us online at: http://www.chancenter.org. Founder/Teacher Founder/TeacherChan Master Ven. Dr. Sheng Yen Chan Master Ven. Dr. Sheng Yen Editor-in-chief Editor-in-chiefDavid Berman David Berman Coordinator AssociateVirginia Tan Editor Buffy Laffe News editor CoordinatorBelia Pena Virginia Tan Photography PhotographyDavid Kabacinski (Chang Wen) John Feng, Jerry Roach, Kaifen Hu Contributing editors ContributingErnie Heau, Chris editors Marano, Virginia Tan, Wei Tan Ernie Heau, Kevin Mathewson, Virginia Tan, Wei Tan, ContributorsGuogu Rikki Asher, Berle Driscoll, Jeffrey Kung, Rebecca Li, Char- Contributorslotte Mansfield, Mike Morical, Bruce Rickenbacker, Wei Tan,Rikki Tan Asher, Yee TinaWong Kacandes, (Chang Ji) Jeffrey Kung, Rebecca Li, Mike Morical, Bruce Rickenbacker, Ayn Steele, Tan Yee AdministratorWong (Chang Ji Fa Shi), Chang Wen Fa Shi Guo Chen Shi Administrator Chang Wu Fa Shi

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 From the Editor 4

The Noble Eightfold Path 6 The second of four articles by Chan Master Sheng Yen

“Full Moon” 7 Painting by Rikki Asher

A Buddhist Pilgrimage to China 18 A report by Rebecca Li and David Slaymaker

The Past 29 News from the Chan Meditation Center and DDMBA

The Future 36 Retreats, classes, and other upcoming events

Chan Center Affiliates 38

Cover photo by Chris Milson

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine From The Editor

I’ve just read a book by the Italian novelist erywhere, its quality is controlled by technol- Alessandro Baricco (author of Silk, soon to be ogy, it is immediately drinkable, its sensory a major motion picture) called I Barbari, The appeal is extravagant, it all tastes the same... Barbarians, a collection of essays that exam- and sales have gone through the roof. ine the deterioration of the institutions of life that he holds most dear – literature, music, A similar thing has happened with books. Writ- scholarship, wine, soccer (he’s Italian, after ers and intellectuals are fond of saying that all), civilization as he knows it. He treats what with TV and the internet people don’t the institutions as “villages” under attack by read anymore, but in fact U.S. book sales are some new kind of creature, “mutants,” with up 60% in the last decade. What people don’t something like gills instead of lungs, who do read anymore is what we call “literature,” not simply destroy, but rather transform what meaning those books that stand on their own they encounter into a landscape better suited as complete works of art, but they’re reading to their transformed anatomy, one in which the heck out of all the thousands of books they will breathe freely but we (I clearly iden- that are by-products of other cultural artifacts tify with the author), alas, may not. He uses – the insider tell-alls, the ghost-written celeb- this metaphor to examine the phenomenon of rity autobiographies, the extended op-eds, the headlong cultural change, by asking and try- books based on the film. These are books that ing to answer a series of questions: Who are have no independent value; they hang like so the barbarians? What do they want? What are many twinkling lights on the Christmas tree the characteristics of the new artifacts they of popular culture, and begin to cloy as soon create, as opposed to those of our beloved dy- as their season passes, but we are writing ing traditions? And by what methods do they and reading a huge lot of them. wreak what we old folks see as such havoc? But it is in Google that Baricco finds the icon The analysis Baricco makes is complex, but of the cultural phenomenon he is trying to I’ll try to convey its essence through a couple understand and identify. In the old epistemol- of his examples: ogy, an idea was considered correct and important according to how well it corresponded Wine was made, for centuries, in a very few to something identified as the truth, but in the countries, by a small elite of artisans, who had world according to Google the very concept of inherited their unique land and their esoteric information, of truth, of quality, of what is skills from generations of forebears, and who important and what is not, has been radically created a product that was profound, austere, reformulated. The Google search leads not to difficult, unapproachable in its youth, unpre- the truth, as determined by an elite cadre of dictable in its age, and reliably different from experts, but to the most popular hub, as de- year to year, from hillside to hillside, even termined by the pathways of links that make from bottle to bottle. Now wine is made ev- up the web. And once there the imperative

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 is not to stay for any length of time, but to replaced “stopping and seeing” as the road to alight and be off, following the web wherever wisdom? it may lead. “The idea that understanding and knowing signify entering deeply into that And what will such a world make of Bud- which we study, until we discover its essence, dhism, and of an institution like Chan Maga- is a lovely idea that is dying,” he writes. In zine? Even if we were to become Chan Mag- the Googled world the truth “is not hidden in azine Online – toward which the economics the depths, but dispersed along the surface,” of printing and mailing already propel us and the act of knowing, thus redefined, has a – would not our mission define us as some specific name, coined in 1993: surfing. kind of reactionary holdout, preaching still- ness and contemplation to a growing legion “Never has a name been more precise,” writes of mobile multi-taskers for whom wandering Baricco. It’s not the ding an sich, the thing in mind is not the problem, but the goal? itself, nor the depth of experience that mat- ters, but the ever-shifting web of relations be- Baricco makes it clear whose side he’s on, but tween things, and the freedom of movement he also recognizes that this kind of cultural that implies – sounds positively Buddhist, shift has occurred again and again through- like emptiness made electronically manifest. out history, that it’s always seen as catastro- On the other hand, lightly skimming over the phe by the elders, and that things are more waves from one briefly held notion to another complex than nostalgic value judgment makes sounds a lot like wandering thought – how them seem. I wonder, though, what kind of are we to “penetrate through the heights and Buddhism we can pass on to Gen iPod, and the depths, without omitting anything,” as whether it, like so much modern merlot, will Yuanwu taught, in a world where surfing has be as easy to forget as it is to drink.

Photo: Kaifen Hu

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine The Noble Eightfold Path Part Two by Chan Master Sheng Yen

In the fall of 2003 and the spring of 2004 Master Sheng Yen gave several lectures at the Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York, on the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. This article is the second of four in which Master Sheng Yen discusses the Eightfold Path as a liberation process. The articles are part of Master Sheng Yen’s forthcoming book on the 37 Aids to Enlight- enment. The lectures were orally translated by Dr. Rebecca Li, transcribed by Sheila Sussman, and edited by Ernest Heau.

The Noble Eightfold Path can be seen from vate the Path we will surely experience con- the point of view of the threefold division of tinued suffering. Unless we understand that Buddhist practice into precepts, samadhi, and we create the causes of our own suffering, we wisdom. In this representation, the first two cannot appreciate the importance of practice. Noble Paths, Right View and Right Intention, However, it is also within our power to create comprise the path of wisdom. Precepts, or the causes and conditions that can end our ethical behavior, include Right Speech, Right suffering. So, both the aggregation of suffer- Action, and Right Livelihood. Samadhi, the ing and the cessation of suffering result from practice of meditation, consists of Right Ef- causes and conditions. fort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentra- tion. With that in mind, in this article we will Soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha discuss Right View and Right Intention, the expounded the Four Noble Truths to his five Noble Paths of wisdom. original disciples. In this sermon he commu- nicated just four ideas: suffering, aggrega- Right View tion, cessation, and the Path. Suffering is a fact of existence and is caused by our accu- Right View is the foundation teaching of the mulating (aggregating) the causes of suffer- entire Eightfold Noble Path. Without Right ing. However, suffering can indeed be ended View one cannot properly practice the Eight- and the way to cessation is through the Path. fold Noble Path. For a practitioner, not having Therefore, Right View is also precisely about Right View is like trying to drive on a moun- the Four Noble Truths: understanding that tain road at night without headlights. With this world is suffering, and knowing how we Right View traveling the Path is relatively can depart from suffering. easy — we understand that unless we culti-

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 Winter 2009 Chan Magazine The Origins of Suffering our lives, and being ignorant of this we create more karma. In trying to escape suffering we As human beings living in this world we need create more causes of suffering, and pursuing to acknowledge and understand that in life happiness we create more causes of unhap- there is suffering. Where does this suffering piness. come from? What causes it? Suffering comes from the countless past lives in which we Therefore, to liberate ourselves from suffering have been creating karma. We create karma we need to eliminate the causes of suffering. and then we experience the retribution from To stop a pot from boiling over, you remove that karma. At the same time, in this life we the heat. If you want to stop suffering you create more karma and as a result we experi- have to remove what causes suffering — the ence more retribution. That is what we have creation of new karma. To depart from suffer- been doing life after life — creating karma ing, stop creating more causes of suffering. and experiencing retribution. When karma is Put simply, that is the approach. created we call that “aggregation.” And when causes and conditions ripen, retribution is We can speak of two kinds of cause and effect: experienced as suffering. Therefore, we suffer first is “worldly cause and effect” that brings because the causes of suffering still exist in about the aggregation of suffering; second is

Photo: Kaifen Hu

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 “world-transcending cause and effect” that tremely strong entrenched habits. That is why brings about cessation of suffering. Worldly it is necessary to cultivate the Path. We need cause and effect is that which creates more it to help us regulate our actions, speech, and retribution karma, and world-transcending thoughts so that we will stop generating more cause and effect is that which does not cre- causes of suffering, and really bring suffering ate retribution karma. Those who do not un- to a stop. derstand how suffering accumulates can be said to be ignorant, while those who do can Unless we actually cultivate the Path, just un- be said to have wisdom. derstanding suffering and its causes will not help us that much. When we have problems Understanding the aggregation of suffering we will still suffer, and we will continue to is the wisdom of Right View but it is not yet generate the causes for more suffering. There- the wisdom of cessation and liberation, not fore, it is important to also understand the yet the wisdom of nirvana. The Sanskrit word meaning of samsara, which is made up of the “nirvana” literally means “extinction,” or in cycles of our previous lives, the present life, the Buddhist context, the state of non-arising and our future lives. A new cycle recurs every and non-perishing. Having Right View is un- lifetime that we live without attaining libera- derstanding that causes and conditions bring tion. These cycles of past, present, and future about the aggregation of suffering, and that lives make up the transmigration of birth and causes and conditions also bring about the death, otherwise known as the nidanas, the cessation of suffering. But this understand- Twelve Links of Conditioned Arising. ing is not enough for one to become liberated; one still needs to cultivate the Eightfold No- If we can understand how the links lead from ble Path. one life to another, thus continuing the pat- tern of suffering, we will understand that to Take a person who commits a crime and goes depart from suffering we need to cultivate the to jail. If he serves out his sentence, one day Path. That is how to generate wisdom and at- he will be free. Let’s say that before his sen- tain liberation. This transmigration will then tence is served he tries to escape. He is caught cease because the first link in this chain, ig- and is sentenced to even more time in prison. norance or avidya, will have been dissolved. Trying to put an end to his suffering by es- The Sanskrit avidya translates in Chinese as caping, he creates more suffering for himself. “without brightness.” In the ordinary mind Similarly, in order to be liberated from life’s there is no brightness and no wisdom be- suffering, one needs to cease giving rise to the cause it is obscured by vexations. If by culti- causes of suffering. It is not enough to want vating the Path we eliminate vexations, then to stop unwholesome behavior and attitudes, this ignorance will be eliminated as well, and because we have created a lot of karma in nu- wisdom will manifest. Once we eliminate ig- merous past lives. This karma manifests as norance the remaining links will not arise. habit in our present life, and though we want In this manner, the cessation of the cycle of to stop unwholesome deeds, we still have ex- birth-and-death is accomplished.

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine Precepts, Samadhi, and Wisdom feel attraction. Such people may be very pure in their actions and would not do anything In Buddhism, there are three approaches to unwholesome but these internal struggles are cultivating the Path: upholding the precepts, still vexations. cultivating samadhi, and generating wisdom. The first, upholding the precepts, has two as- As long as there is desire one is immersed in pects: regulating errors of the body and regu- samsara, giving rise to more and more suf- lating errors of speech. Committing errors of fering. The reason why we can have vexa- the body means causing suffering to others tions even though we uphold the precepts is with our actions; committing errors of speech because we do not have a mind that is stable means saying things that bring suffering to and calm, one that is not affected by the en- others. To cease causing further suffering vironment. Therefore, besides upholding the through these kinds of precepts, we should mistakes, we need to “THEREFORE I OFFER YOU also cultivate samadhi to generate a calm and constantly retake the THESE WORDS TO REMEMBER: precepts whenever we stable mind. make such mistakes. ‘BEFORE LIBERATION ONE This is what it means There are two ap- to uphold the precepts. OUGHT TO FULFILL ONE’S RE- proaches to cultivating samadhi: the grad- SPONSIBILITIES; BEFORE AT- Merely upholding the ual and the sudden. In precepts does not mean TAINING BUDDHAHOOD ONE the gradual approach that one will no longer one begins with the have vexation. It is SHOULD FIRST BE A GOOD Five Methods of Still- ing the Mind, then one also important to keep PERSON.’ THIS IS THE WISDOM the mind stable and proceeds to the Four calm, so that whatever OF UNDERSTANDING THE RE- Foundations of Mind- happens in one’s body fulness, progressing or environment, one’s ALITY OF PHENOMENA.” all the way through mind does not suffer. the rest of the Thirty- Some uphold the precepts very diligently yet Seven Aids to Enlightenment, ending with still have internal conflicts and serious vexa- the Eightfold Path. This gradual approach tions. For example, they may have a strong proceeds step-by-step towards becoming lib- desire for something, but know that to up- erated as an arhat. In this process one will hold the precepts they should not give in to naturally cultivate samadhi as well as wis- the desire. Still, if the desire is strong enough dom. in their minds they will be vexed. This is particularly true for romantic and sexual desires. Instead of going step-by-step through the A man will desire a certain woman but feel Thirty-Seven Aids, the sudden approach of that he should not even be looking at her. Or Chan proceeds directly to realization through a woman will hear gentle words from a man, such methods as huatou or Silent Illumina- and feel that she should not allow herself to tion. Through these practices one can culti-

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 10 vate a mind that is always in accordance with Recently I did a pilgrimage to some of the sites Chan samadhi. This is a direct way to attain where the Buddha taught. In one place I saw a calm and stable mind, one that will not be a memorial to the place where a great brah- affected by what’s going on in the body or min asked the Buddha to teach him Dharma. the environment. In the gradual approach, Upon seeing the monument, I knelt down one first cultivates samadhi and the arising and couldn’t help but shed tears. One of my of wisdom follows; in the sudden approach, disciples asked me, “Shifu, why are you so one cultivates and gives rise to samadhi and sentimental, crying at the sight of this monu- wisdom simultaneously. ment?” I said that I was crying out of gratitude to Shakyamuni Buddha for remaining in So is it clear now how one departs from suf- the world after his enlightenment to teach the fering? Dharma. Had he not done that, we would not be able to hear the Dharma and use it to help Student: Cultivate the Path. ourselves as well as others. Therefore, I am really moved and grateful to Shakyamuni. Is Sheng Yen: What path? One cultivates the that ignorance or wisdom? Noble Eightfold Path. But what makes up the Noble Eightfold Path? The Path consists In 1977, when I had recently arrived in the of the three disciplines of precepts, samadhi, United States, I received a call from Taiwan and wisdom. Among the Noble Eightfold Path, with news that my master Dongchu had Right View is the most important because it is passed away. I became very emotional and the foundation for all the others. If one under- speechless. I just cried. A Dharma brother stands Right View, then the remaining paths said to me, “Brother, you are not a child any will be relatively easy to understand. more. That your old master has died is a fact of life, so why are you crying?” The thought Right View is a necessary aspect of wisdom that I no longer had my master made me real- but it is not complete without also under- ly sad. But then I felt grateful to this Dharma standing the reality of phenomena. In my brother for reminding me that it is normal for autobiography I wrote that I wept when I vis- old people to die. It was ignorant of me to feel ited my parents’ graves after being away for so sad, but I couldn’t help it because he was many years. A journalist who read about this my master. asked me, “Shifu, you are a highly attained monk. Why would you weep over your dead From the perspective of Right View, these sto- parents?” I said to him, “I am not a highly at- ries have to do with the wisdom that comes tained monk, just an ordinary person. When from understanding the reality that all phe- my parents died I couldn’t even be by their nomena, including birth and death, have their side. When I returned, I could only find their place. Whatever roles we play in life — as gravestones. Knowing there was no way I parent, child, teacher, student — we should could repay everything they did for me, all my fulfill our responsibilities. We do not just say, feelings for them came to mind. It was impos- “Oh, dying is just proof of impermanence. If sible not to shed tears.” Was I being ignorant phenomena are empty and there is no self, or was there some wisdom there? why feel sad?” If one thinks this way, one is

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 11 truly ignorant. From the perspective of Bud- derstanding the reality of phenomena is an dhadharma, we have our relationships and erroneous view. Therefore I offer you these we have responsibilities to fulfill. Denying words to remember: “Before liberation one their existence is an erroneous view. Before ought to fulfill one’s responsibilities; before we are liberated we experience the causes and attaining buddhahood one should first be a effects of the three times — past, present, and good person.” This is the wisdom of under- future — and denying that is also an errone- standing the reality of phenomena. ous view. On the other hand, affirming social ties as well as causes and effects is the Right Attaining the wisdom of nirvana is our ulti- View; it is the wisdom of understanding the mate goal but the wisdom of understanding reality of phenomena. the reality of phenomena is the process. The wisdom of nirvana is realized when one has People fear death; they also fear the dangers attained self-understanding, self-verification, in life, anticipating misfortune. Is that wis- and self-enlightenment. When that happens, dom or ignorance? After returning to America one has accomplished everything that one from conducting a retreat in Moscow, I was needs to on the Path. It is the complete real- very exhausted. One of the lay disciples took ization of understanding the reality of phe- pity on me: “Oh, Shifu you are so exhausted, nomena. At this time there is no longer any poor thing.” So she said, “Shifu, with this arising and perishing of causes and condi- SARS epidemic, are you sure you want to go tions. This is the wisdom of nirvana. to Taiwan?” Now, I am old and do not have a robust immune system, so this person was Verification means that we completely under- apparently worried. I told her there was a time stand that life arises from causes and con- when a lot of planes were crashing and peo- ditions and also perishes with causes and ple advised me not to travel by air. I told them conditions. We recognize two kinds of arising that if it were time for me to die it would hap- and perishing. One is the arising and per- pen whether I travel by air or not. If it’s not ishing of the entire life of the body that we my time to die, that is because I still need to now have. This begins with conception in our experience retribution karma. When it’s time mother’s womb and ends with death. Second, for me to die it will happen. At the same time within one’s life, there is also the moment- I am also very careful to take preventive mea- to-moment arising and perishing of micro- sures. I am not going to Taiwan to get SARS scopic events in the tissues and cells of our on purpose, but I am nevertheless not afraid body. This is the process by which we grow, to go there. Is this ignorance or wisdom? If it mature, get old, and deteriorate both in mind is wisdom, it would be the wisdom of under- and in body. This is all due to the moment- standing the reality of phenomena. to-moment arising and perishing that goes on within the larger arising and perishing of Right View includes having the wisdom to birth-to-death. accept the reality of phenomena. Just wanting to escape suffering would be failing in Two years ago I met an elderly practitioner our responsibilities and denying causes and who could recite the entire Surangama Man- conditions. Wanting liberation without un- tra, which is very long. I said to her, “It’s very

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 12 Photo: Kaifen Hu I see her she will only be reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name. Within the larger arising and perishing of one’s life, there are many small- er arisings and perishings and memories are among them.

Therefore, the idea of arising and perishing refers not only to our entire life; more important, it also refers to every moment of our life. With the wisdom of nirvana we understand very clearly that in every mental, physical, and environmental phenomenon, there is si- multaneous arising and perishing. As soon as dharmas arise they are already perishing. Each of you here, do you believe that in every moment, there is constant arising and perishing in your body? In fact, if this were not the case, you would not even be alive. For living things, there must be motion and change. If there is no change, there is no life. As long as we are alive there is metabolism: cells and tissues constantly moving and transforming. How about when we’re dead? Actually, when we die we change even faster. Therefore, those who have realized nirvana, those who have good that you can recite the entire mantra attained self-verification, clearly understand even though you are an older person.” She that everything that arises simultaneously said. “Oh, this mantra is nothing; I can recite perishes. Whatever arises is on its way to the entire Surangama Sutra.” She has known perishing. But from whence do things arise? the mantra since she was young, so she knew Things arise out of causes and conditions. it by heart. A year ago I met her again and learned that she was no longer reciting the This is different from the view that we are Surangama Mantra, but another shorter man- all creatures of a God, and when we die we tra. I asked her why she was not reciting the return to that Creator. The Buddhist view is Surangama Mantra anymore. She said, “Oh, that everything arises and perishes due to the Surangama Mantra is way too long and causes and conditions. The Buddhist scrip- wordy. I’m reciting a mantra that is more tures do not deny the existence of a God who concise.” But the truth was that she could no created everything; rather, a deity would have longer remember the whole mantra. This past been born out of myriad causes and condi- spring I saw her again and this time she was tions along with the universe. In Hinduism, reciting an even shorter mantra, the Mantra this is the Brahman God-King who lives until of the Deceased. I am afraid that next time the death of the universe. When the universe

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 13 disappears, the Brahman God-King disap- as well. One can only completely attain this pears with it. This Brahman King God does wisdom after one has realized nirvana, which not experience human mortality and there- it why it is called the wisdom of nirvana. fore appears eternal. From the perspective of a buddha this world is only one of myriad To the question, “From where does everything worlds all of which arise and perish eventu- arise?” the wisdom of nirvana answers that ally. Buddhists do not say that belief in God things do not arise from anywhere. Rather, is superstitious. However, from the Buddhist everything arises from causes and condi- perspective even such a God must experience tions. So when we think, “I’m from Taiwan, birth and death. Therefore, in the wisdom of or India,” it is as if there were something nirvana there is a very clear understanding from these places that could come to Ameri- that all phenomena, even universes, experi- ca. There is something that comes from those ence arising and perishing. places but from the perspective of the wisdom of nirvana that something arose from So if one looks at the stage between the birth the coming together of causes and conditions of the universe and its death, there is arising in every moment. I was born as a result of and perishing, and within this period there are many causes and conditions coming together, also infinite momentary arisings and perish- including karma that I created from previous ings. Take planet Earth, which is undergoing lifetimes. Then there were my parents, the en- constant moment-to-moment arising and per- vironment I grew up in, whatever I consumed ishing. These changes occur on other planets growing up, that’s how I arose. According to

Photo: Kaifen Hu

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 14 physiology, our body replaces all its cells ev- ing the Right View that one has acquired. ery seven years, so if I stayed here for seven One could say that when we have Right View, years, only eating Western food, after seven Right Intention should follow. This does not years, I would have a Western body even mean just thinking about it abstractly, but though I would still look Chinese. You see understanding it through the practice of med- the point: our body is undergoing arising and itation, or dhyana. With the resulting clarity perishing all the time. and stability of mind, you will be able to understand phenomena from the perspective of Several years ago a mother brought her teen- the Four Noble Truths. For example, normally aged child here. When I asked him, “Are you we are pleased with our body, but at times Chinese or American?” this boy said, “I’m the body is also a burden and a source of American.” And I asked, “How about your suffering; it is not entirely under our control mother?” “Oh, she’s Chinese.” Upon hearing — we get sick, we age, we die. Or, trying to that the mother was very upset: “This kid relieve or suppress the problems of the body can’t even remember his own heritage!” I said may result in more suffering. Observing the to her, “Well, he is right. He grew up here in body and the mind with Right Intention, we America, he eats American food; everything come to understand that impermanence is at he has experienced is American. Of course he the root of suffering. This is an opportunity is American. And you came from China and for some wisdom to arise, but an intellectual grew up in Taiwan, your experiences all came understanding of suffering is not enough to from Chinese society. Of course you’re Chi- liberate us from suffering. One also needs to nese.” Upon hearing this, the child was very perceive that suffering is illusory and empty, happy: “I’m right, I’m American.” and so is the self that suffers. Only when we thoroughly penetrate this understanding of So according to the wisdom of nirvana, all emptiness and no-self can we depart from phenomena are the way they are because of suffering. the coming together of causes and conditions. But as phenomena arise they also perish. And I met someone who felt that his life was filled to where do they perish? They don’t perish with so much suffering that he saw not much to anywhere; they become new causes and point in living. He saw his body as falling conditions for further arising and perishing. apart, capable of dying anytime. From his From the perspective of the wisdom of nir- point of view, one may just as well have com- vana, there is no place to which phenomena mitted suicide to escape suffering. Is there perish. Nirvana means extinction, no arising, wisdom in thinking this way? Actually, while and therefore, no more perishing. having some understanding of impermanence, he does not understand that there is Right Intention also emptiness and no-self. Theoretically, understanding impermanence should lead one The second of the Noble Paths, Right Inten- to understand emptiness as well as no-self, tion, is also referred to as Right Thought, but that is only conceptual. Without experi- Right Discrimination, or Right Enlighten- ential realization of emptiness, this person is ment. The essence of Right Intention is us- unable to see that there is no self behind the

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 15 suffering. He does not understand that want- to her, “Perhaps you can go back to the Chan ing to end one’s life is actually clinging to the Hall to deliver other sentient beings.” “How self because it is a self that wants to escape. am I supposed to deliver sentient beings?” I told her, “When you go back to the Chan Hall, There can be no true realization of emptiness tell yourself that you are there to sit well and when we cling to the self. To truly realize inspire your neighbors to practice diligently.” emptiness one needs also to give rise to bo- She accepted my suggestion and went back to dhi mind. In fact, emptiness and bodhi mind the Chan Hall. There, she thought, “My body are two sides of the same coin; one cannot aches, but if I am not willing to go to hell to truly realize one without the other. Trying to help others, who will?” By thinking this way, realize emptiness without giving rise to bo- she had a very good retreat. dhi mind can only result in a nihilistic kind of emptiness. That will not help one depart from After studying Buddhadharma and the teach- suffering nor experience liberation. ings of suffering, impermanence, and no-self, someone can conclude that they have expe- The mind of bodhi is not centered on one’s rienced emptiness. While thinking that, this own problems, so when we are suffering, at person may continue to suffer a great deal. that moment, we are more concerned about This person understands that everything is the suffering of others. When I am ill, I use empty and without self but their suffering is Right Intention and think about an infinite there and it’s real. So with all this understand- number of beings who are suffering more ing of emptiness and no-self, there’s still a lot greatly than I am. This way I hope to use the of suffering. What is missing here? What is power of my vows to help deliver people from missing is bodhi mind. When you have bo- suffering. In that moment, of course I haven’t dhi mind, you will not be so concerned about really decreased anybody’s suffering, but just yourself. When you put the welfare of other by giving rise to that thought I am already sentient beings at a higher priority than your suffering less. So, giving rise to bodhi mind own, you will naturally be less concerned and thinking about the suffering of others can about yourself. When you are not so attached definitely help to decrease one’s suffering. to your ego, you are already experiencing no- For example, if you feel that you lack certain self and realizing the nature of emptiness. necessities, remind yourself that many have even less. In your bodhi mind, give rise to the Emptiness does not mean that there is noth- wish that they will all have a better situation ing there; it is the idea that you are not so soon, and that you will form an intention to attached to your self-concerns. When you are help those who have less than you. You will less attached to yourself, you can begin to find that this thought will bring warmth to have a true understanding of emptiness and your mind and you will feel less unfortunate. are able to give rise to wisdom. When you can do that you are on the path towards libera- On one seven-day retreat, a participant was tion. You will be able to depart from the five in so much physical pain that she felt like she desires of wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, was in hell. Feeling that practice was not for and truly be able to depart from suffering. her, she was about to leave the retreat. I said

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 16 “Full Moon” Painting by Rikki Asher

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 17 A Buddhist Pilgrimage to Mainland China by

Rebecca Li and David Slaymaker

Rebecca Li is a professor of sociology at The College of New Jersey. She began practicing with Master Sheng Yen in 1996, became one of his principal translators in 1999, and is now a Dharma teacher-in-training and member of the board of directors of the Dharma Drum Retreat Center. David Slaymaker is a professor of biology at William Paterson University. He began practicing with Shifu in 1995, has served on the board of the Chan Meditation Center, and is also now a Dharma teacher-in-training. Rebecca and David were married in 1999.

In May of 2008, we were very fortunate to join Beijing to Wu Tai Shan a group of sixteen on a Buddhist pilgrimage to Eastern mainland China led by Drs. John In Beijing we visited two famous monaster- Crook and Simon Child, two of Master Sheng ies. One was Lama Temple, which had origi- Yen’s Western Dharma heirs and the guid- nally been an imperial palace but was con- ing teacher and secretary, respectively, of the verted into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Western Chan Fellowship in the UK. the early 18th century because the Qing imperial family practiced Lamaism. This site was Our trip consisted of two legs, the first a stunningly beautiful for its grand buildings “northern” leg from Beijing to Datong to and intricate façades, and an inspiring first Wu Tai Shan, and the second a “southern” stop because of the many people of all ages leg along the Yangzi River from Nanjing to carrying out devotions and making offerings. Shanghai to Ningbo. The first leg consisted of an interesting mix of city monasteries of both Our second stop in Beijing was Fa Yuan Si Chinese and Tibetan lineage, the Yungang (Source of the Dharma Temple), originally Grottoes, and again both Chinese and Tibetan built in the 7th century and completely rebuilt monasteries on Wu Tai Shan (the holy moun- during the 15th, now both an active monas- tain of Manjushri). The second leg consisted tery and the central Buddhist seminary for primarily of historically famous Chan monas- mainland China. teries. Finally, we ended the trip with a visit to Master Sheng Yen (Shifu) at Dharma Drum Prior to 1949, Fa Yuan Si had been a vinaya Mountain in Taiwan. (precepts) temple. At that time, monks and

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 18 The pilgrims at Qixia: Rebecca Li, first row, far left; David Slaymaker, last row, far left. nuns studied at one of 70 or more seminaries When we arrived, however, a senior admin- located throughout China. A few years after istrator agreed to show us around, and we the 1949 revolution, however, all those semi- found the monastery grounds old and impres- naries were closed. Then, in 1956, the gov- sive, with a large collection of very ancient ernment allowed one seminary to open at Fa Buddhist artifacts saved from the many mon- Yuan Si, and it remained the only seminary in asteries that had been closed. The seminary China until well after the Cultural Revolution, also proved quite active, with 40 resident primarily training government-minded mo- monastics, 90 student monks in the four-year nastics to administer the few open monaster- seminary program, and 20 graduate students ies and to conduct diplomacy with neighbor- carrying out scholarly Buddhist research. ing Buddhist countries. Knowing this history, but not Fa Yuan Si’s current status, we did One thing that impressed us was what our not know what to expect. host said about studying the Dharma: that it

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 19 requires a lot of thinking and effort to prop- Finally, Rebecca spoke with a researcher at erly understand Buddhism, and that study- the seminary who said that Shifu’s Essence of ing these dense texts is a much more diffi- the Vinaya and History of Indian Buddhism cult Dharma door than meditation, because were both used as texts in the seminary. sitting is easy! This may have been to bal- ance our group’s bias toward meditation, but After our time in Beijing, we took a five-hour Shifu’s writings also note the importance of train ride west to the Yungang Grottoes, a engaging in serious Dharma study. Our host collection of Buddhist cave carvings begun in said that all practices are equally good – med- 460 CE and finished in 524 CE, near Datong, itation for some, reciting Buddha’s name for which had been the capital of the Wei dynasty others, and for some the study of Sutras and (398-494 CE). While the spectacular carvings commentaries. “The Dharma is boundless,” have been repaired throughout history, two he said; it can be approached from many an- significant benefits have befallen the caves gles. recently. First was the Communist govern-

The Yungang Grottoes

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 20 ment’s recognition of the caves as an important cultural site in 1961, which spared them during the Cul- tural Revolution. Second, Datong is coal country, and a coal road that used to pass right in front of the caves has been rerouted, greatly slowing coal dust exposure and the associated erosion. Of course, wind and sand and time still take their toll.

The statues were exceptional. Their size, level of detail, diversity of im- ages and themes, and the expres- siveness of the faces and postures were all very impressive and inspiring. There is much on-line information about the caves, and the Win- ter 2008 issue of Buddhadharma contains an article about the caves by Bill Porter (Red Pine).

We also went to the Upper Hua Yen Monastery in Datong, which Shifu had visited in 1991. He had been quite surprised that the dozen monastics and couple dozen lay people there in this remote part of China had heard his audiotapes from Tai- recitation hall, and do sitting meditation in wan, and read his book Common Questions their own rooms. They are so busy with ad- When Studying the Dharma in Chinese. And ministrative work during the day, however, in fact, when we entered this monastery, the that if they wish to practice sitting meditation first thing we saw was a lay person copying they have to stay up quite late. For reasons on a chalk board Shifu’s teachings on libera- not elaborated, the monastery does not hold tion from a small booklet! retreats.

From Rebecca’s discussions with a monas- Finally, we set off for Wu Tai Shan (Five-Peak tic at the temple, they integrate Pure Land Mountain), which we reached by crossing a practice with Chan, which is typical of all the 9000-foot pass at the East Gate. We stopped Chinese Buddhist monasteries we visited. at the top of this pass and hiked to a peak The monks recite the Buddha’s name in the where many Tibetan prayer flags were blow-

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 21 ing in the cold, strong wind, and we sang a Si, and Pu Sa Ding. All three were busy with Tibetan mantra for crossing a pass and recit- visitors (pilgrims and tourists). White Pagoda ed a Manjushri mantra, Wu Tai being the holy Temple is an active Tibetan monastery, and mountain of Manjushri. an exceptionally beautiful one, with a 270- degree view of the surrounding valley. Xian Mount Wu Tai houses both Chinese and Tibet- Tong Si is the earliest and largest monastery an Buddhism together, sometimes in separate on Wu Tai, the site having been first devel- and sometimes in the same monasteries, in oped as a temple in 58-75 CE. The temple’s the latter case with monks of both lineages architecture today is from the Ming and Qing living and practicing side by side. Most of the dynasties, 14th century to 1911. monasteries are concentrated in a beautiful wooded valley at around 7000 feet. It was at Xian Tong that we found our first living Chan Hall. We first noticed it by follow- While there, we visited three popular mon- ing a stream of monks passing through the asteries: White Pagoda Temple, Xian Tong monastery and into a building with its door

White Pagoda Temple

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 22 covered by a very heavy cloth. While we could method. He also told us they use this method not see inside, the sign outside was quite in their services and asked if we would like clear: Chan Hall. We asked a monk about it him to demonstrate. Of course we said yes, and learned that the monks were in a three- and he did an amazingly engaging version month retreat, and that unfortunately we of the slow four-step recitation – Namo, Ami, would not be able to look inside. We were Tuo, Fo – and then the faster two-step version surprised to learn that lay people are never – Amituofo, Amituofo – both done while cir- allowed in, nor even novice monks, nor nuns. cumambulating. We would later do this our- In fact, no Chan Hall on Wu Tai lets lay people selves as part of morning services at the two in. The monk said that as far as he knew, Gao monasteries where we stayed. Min Si was the only monastery in China that allowed lay people to sit in their Chan Hall. A number of us were inspired by this special Fortunately we would visit Gao Min Si on the monk to try the recitation method during the second leg of our journey. rest of our trip. Why is this significant? Be- cause many of us, perhaps all of us, did not Chan monasteries in China, at least in recent frankly think much of the practice of Bud- centuries, had by rule excluded laity from dha’s name recitation prior to meeting this their Chan Halls, with the modern Patriarch monk. But after hearing his emphatic teach- Xu Yun being an exception. Evidently allow- ing on the virtue of this practice, some of us ing lay people into the Chan Hall reduces a made a vow to give it a try, and we gained a monastery’s reputation, and the only reason better understanding and appreciation of this Gao Min Si could do so was because their rep- proven and effective method. utation was already so high. We were disap- pointed, but it definitely made us appreciate The third temple we visited on Wu Tai was Pu what we have at DDRC in New York and at Sa Ding, a monastery of mixed Chinese and Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan, where lay Tibetan practice that highlighted the chal- people can practice side by side with monas- lenges to Tibetan Buddhism in mainland Chi- tics in intensive Chan retreats, and it inspired na. The predominantly Mongolian monks of us to make better use of the opportunities we Tibetan lineage do two hours of sutra recita- have. tion each day, and perform 3- and 5-day pujas (devotional/offering/repentance ceremonies). Inside the Buddha Hall at Xian Tong we met They have no teacher, however, to give them an older patch-robed monk who offered to an- lectures on the Sutras, because as Tibetan swer our questions. When asked about Chan Buddhists they are not allowed to receive compared to Buddha’s name recitation, he teachings in a group – they must study on said that practicing Chan is difficult and that their own. In fact, most of the Chinese Bud- without the guidance of a master one could dhist monasteries we visited are struggling get into difficulty, while reciting Buddha’s to establish themselves because they lack old name is the safest and easiest method for all masters to guide them, but the Tibetan Bud- to practice. He reminded us that even great dhist monasteries struggle with even further Chan masters had used and recommended this restrictions.

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 23 Our real treat on Wu Tai Shan, however, was families, and careers. He explained that this the chance to have an audience with Hua Yen means we must understand these are “not Master Meng Can at Pu Shou Si, where he me,” and that we must live seeing that noth- acts as guiding teacher. John Crook’s friend ing belongs to us. The master gave a really Eva, who is Taiwanese, was able to use her helpful example to illustrate his point. Many contacts to arrange our meeting with the 90- people think of him as accomplished, being plus-year-old master. Pu Shou Si is a nunnery the head of a large monastery, but he said, that is not open to the public, and is usually “None of this is mine. I only live here.” This not open to men at all (the master and his is the attitude of “letting go,” fulfilling one’s attendants excepted), built by a nun who left responsibilities without putting the self in it. home in 1940, and expanded by two of her disciples to include a seminary. In fact, it re- When we were leaving, we asked about their minded some of us of DDM in Taiwan, with evening service and were invited to return at the large scale of ongoing construction and 7pm. After putting on our robes and being the large number of nuns with exceptionally lined up according to rank and robe-type, we dignified demeanors. It was clearly a place of joined approximately 300 nuns for the ser- practice, particularly compared to the hybrid vice. The discipline and quality of the service monastery-tourist sites that we had previ- were superb and inspirational. ously visited. Pu Shou Si was our first taste of what many We met with Master Meng Can for about 45 of us would call a truly practicing monastery, minutes, and among other teachings he of- that is, a community where everyone is of the fered some advice on “letting go,” saying that sincere mind to practice, discipline was deep we must learn to let go even of our bodies, and pervasive, and the environment was sol-

Gaomin Si

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 24 emn yet warm. At the other locations we had some monastic exchanges between Gaomin Si visited, deportment was generally loose, and and DDM, Shifu is well known there. There while we had met individuals like the patch- are seventy-some resident monastics at Gao- robed monk who were quite inspiring, many min, and monks and nuns practice together residents had been obviously distracted, and in this monastery – an unusual situation in sometimes rude. The tourist nature of these mainland China. In their three-month win- other sites was surely a factor, but we felt that ter retreat from mid-October to mid-January, the lack of a strong central authority – an old however, there are 500-600 people attending, guiding master – was also key. Of the mon- with about 300 staying for the entire three- asteries we visited, only those that had such month retreat, including monastics and lay a guiding master also had an inspiring, solid people. Not only is Gaomin Si’s Chan Hall the atmosphere of practice: Pu Shou Si, Gao Min only one that allows substantial lay partici- Si, and Dharma Drum Mountain. pation, it is the only one that allows women to participate! With only one Chan Hall in all Following the Yangtze: of China for women to join in intensive sitting Nanjing to Shanghai to Ningbo practice, you can imagine the gratitude many of our participants felt to Shifu and to Bud- The southern leg of our journey included a dhism in the West for its inclusiveness. series of historically important monasteries – all Chinese, and mostly Chan. Of these, four After lunch, we checked into our dormitory were reputed to have had the best Chan Halls rooms where we would stay the night, each in mainland China prior to 1949: Gaomin Si, very spacious with two beds and a private Jinshan, Tianning Si, and Tiantong Si. Two of bath, two hot water jugs, tea, and fresh fruit. these – Gaomin and Jinshan – had been the And we thought the nights in the monasteries two “model monasteries,” meaning that their would be rough! With the beauty and peace- Chan Halls had been the strictest and most fulness of the atmosphere, it was far better austere, the most desirable in which to live than any hotel. and attend retreat, and had turned out many of the most cultivated and/or famous monks While waiting to meet with the old master of of the time. Those who had trained in these Gaomin Si, Master De Lin, our hostess, the Chan Halls were highly respected and moved nun who would care for us during our stay, up the ranks quickly; they were very much talked with us for a while and eventually sought after to lead the Chan Halls or be the came to the topic of our trying on the monas- abbots of other monasteries. tic robe. At first we all just tried to change the subject! But she insisted that we should wear Like Pu Shou nunnery, Gaomin Si is not a it for the meditation sessions and soon she tourist site. In fact, our bus driver got lost returned with a huge suitcase full of outer trying to find it. When we arrived we had a monastic robes of all shapes and sizes, one to pleasant and simple lunch with the receiving fit everyone in our group. She told us that the monk, and he was surprised and impressed to robe is called the “garment of liberation”, and hear that John and Simon were Shifu’s West- that by wearing it perhaps we would develop ern Dharma heirs. Because there have been an affinity for leaving home in a future life.

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 25 Master De Lin, 90-some years old, had stud- stop and everyone took a seat on the medita- ied with Masters Xu Yun and Lai Guo, and tion platforms for a 45-minute sitting period; is a Dharma Heir of Master Lai Guo. He very another signal noted time to leave the Chan generously gave us more than an hour and a Hall for restrooms and then return for circum- half of his time. He discussed the importance ambulation until the next sitting. At the be- of maintaining a strong practice outside of re- ginning of the second sitting, the large sliding treats, this being the “key issue” if one wishes wooden doors to the Chan Hall closed with a to make progress, as he put it. His main point loud crash, letting the participants know that was that to cultivate the Buddha path, first they were now cut off from the outside world one must not engage in any unwholesome physically, and should also be mentally. The deeds whatsoever, including no thoughts of effect of these crashing doors was indeed iso- attachment, and second one must engage in lating and inspiring. all wholesome deeds possible, and one must do so to perfection. After the morning session, some people talked with the head monk about huatou prac- The master also talked extensively about tice, while others strolled the monastery for a dealing with wandering thoughts, and how view. Leaving Gaomin Si later that day – leav- treating them like the enemy is ineffective. ing such a place of committed practice – was Instead we must replace those habits of mind a quiet affair for some of us. Nonetheless, we with wholesome, liberating habits of mind, were off for Jinshan in Zhenjiang. such as reciting Buddha’s name. Finally, he talked extensively with us about the practice Like Gaomin Si, Jinshan had been one of the of silent illumination, which he acknowl- two model Chan monasteries in pre-Commu- edged had basically disappeared from main- nist times. Today, they couldn’t be more dif- land China, leaving huatou and Buddha’s ferent. Although Jinshan does two seven-day name recitation as the two primary medita- Chan retreats a year, it is basically a tourist tion methods. Nonetheless, his insights and site. The crowd was immense, there were directions regarding silent illumination were many knick-knack shops on the grounds (al- useful to us all. though not in the monastery proper), and to be honest, the monks were not very friendly. The next day we were able to join in a session This is understandable considering that these in their Chan Hall, a hybrid-traditional style monks, who had perhaps left home hoping in that it is hexagonal rather than square or to cultivate the Dharma, were instead asked rectangular, and because of the number of to run ticket booths, or to keep people from participants they encourage for their winter taking pictures in a Buddhist theme-park. De- retreat, there are three concentric rings of spite all this, we noticed a few monks trying meditation platforms. The schedule for the to study books while manning their posts. session, however, was typical of the traditional style. We started by circumambulating the Large monasteries, like Jinshan, once had Buddha shrine in the center of the hall, with large property holdings, and supported them- people walking either slowly or quickly. Then selves by leasing land to farmers and col- a signal brought the circumambulation to a lecting their annual portion of the harvest.

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 26 Our next stop, moving further east along the Yangzi, was Tianning Si in Changzhou. In the early 1900’s Tianning was the largest Bud- dhist Monastery in China; it was then destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and today it is basically a tourist site. We do not recall seeing a monk on the premises, and cannot say if any reside there.

After Tianning, we continued to travel east to Shanghai, where we visited two city temples. This day, however, was the first day of the new lunar month, so many, many people, Buddhists and non-Buddhists, were attending the temples to pray, offer incense, and ask for blessings. It was an amazing experience to witness firsthand how much the devotional aspect of Buddhism is a part of daily Chinese life, and how much the previous restrictions on religion had been relaxed in recent years.

After visiting Longhua monastery, we visited the famous Jade Buddha monastery. On the way to see the famous jade statue, Rebecca The Chan Hall at Tianning Si spotted a plaque reading “Buddha Selection Hall”. We walked through the gate into an Financial independence allowed prominent empty courtyard, and discovered that just off monasteries to focus on religious cultivation this courtyard was the Chan Hall...with its instead of having to spend all their time per- doors wide open. Unlike the rest of the mon- forming services for the dead or blessing new astery, which was crowded beyond capacity homes and businesses. Under communism with people, this area was quiet and calm. these monasteries lost all of their land; those So we entered the Chan Hall, did our pros- few that remained active either shifted much trations, took some seats, and did a lengthy of their energy to commercial production of meditation. On the wall, there were two signs: some sort or found themselves dependent on one saying, “Look after the huatou,” and the shrinking donations (due to the danger of other, “Who is reciting the Buddha’s name?” donors being associated with the “superstitious”). Today, some large monasteries have Finally, we headed to our last location in Chi- re-opened, but few receive enough donations na – Tiantong Si in the hills outside of Ning- to allow them to shut their doors to tourism bo, most famous for being the monastery, and concentrate solely on practice. and Chan Hall, where Dogen attained his en-

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 27 lightenment in 1225 before establishing the seemed, had given in to the trying circum- Soto sect of Zen in Japan. While none of the stances, and had been reduced to simply man- buildings from that period remain, in the ear- aging tourists. We left Tiantong Si and main- ly 1900’s Tiantong was among the four best land China with the heartfelt wish that the Chan Halls in China, and housed about 250 new generation of Chinese monastics would monks. succeed in establishing themselves deeply in the teachings and practice, and bring the ben- There were three Chan Halls at Tiantong; only efits of the Dharma to the people of China. the oldest of the three is still in use, which according to our monk-guide is the oldest Dharma Drum Mountain, Taiwan extant Chan Hall structure in China, with at least much of it dating to the 1700’s. This Our final stop, and the proper way to end was a truly traditional Chan Hall, with sleep- such a journey, was Dharma Drum Mountain ing platforms behind the sitting platforms, in Taiwan to see Shifu. After a short discus- and even a few monks napping back there. sion with Shifu, seven of the pilgrims took The room was fairly dark, with a large stone refuge with him. John and Simon met with floor, and a heavy silent feel. We were told students of the Sangha University, where that although they lack a guiding master at they discussed their own backgrounds in the monastery, a number of monks live in the Buddhism and their relationship to Shifu and Chan Hall and follow an intensive schedule. his teachings. We had lunch with a number of Some stay for weeks, others over a year. But it the monastic leaders, and were given a first- is self-imposed; for teachings, they are occa- rate tour of the DDM campus. sionally visited by a master, or they go to receive teachings elsewhere. Mostly they study Even though most of our group had never been the Teachings of Master Xu Yun to guide their to DDM, arriving there felt like coming home. practice, and use the huatou, “Who is reciting This is indeed our Dharma home. While the the Buddha’s name?” buildings at DDM are not ornate like those in the large monasteries we visited in China, ev- Of the other two Chan Halls, one is now a erything on the DDM campus, along with the monastery museum and the other a gift shop, monastics and lay volunteers we met there, where we saw a monk watching kung fu soap embodied the spirit of Shifu and of Chan. It operas on TV. Tiantong seemed to sum up the was deeply inspiring to come home and to state of Chan as we had encountered it in be reminded what great vows can do for our China. Many monasteries only serve as muse- practice and for our ability to help others. Af- ums, others are struggling to find their prac- ter witnessing the travails of practitioners in tice in the midst of tourism, and only a few China, we simply cannot help but feel deep have managed to isolate themselves enough gratitude in our hearts for Shifu’s tireless ef- to focus solely on practice. Older, deeply ex- fort to spread the Dharma and to establish perienced masters simply don’t exist in large places of profound practice. Now that Shifu is numbers in China, so most of the monastics ill and cannot travel, it is time for us to pick we encountered were striving to do their up the load and carry on Shifu’s great vow in best without such guidance, while others, it all the small ways that we can.

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 28 The Past News from the Chan Meditation Center and the DDMBA Worldwide

North American the constituents of that root – the core values, Development Forum or guiding principles, of DDM.

By David Slaymaker DDM’s core values were presented first from the perspective of traditional Buddhadharma, One hundred and twenty people associated i.e., working to transform greed, hatred, and with CMC, DDMBA, DDRC, DDMA Vancouver, ignorance into joy, happiness, compassion, and DDM Taiwan met from August 21-24, and right view, for the benefit of all living 2008 for the North American Development Fo- beings. To work toward this transformation, rum, with the theme of “One Heart, One Vow.” DDM specifically pursues “Four Ways of Pro- The forum was meant to bring together lead- tecting the Environment”: 1) Protecting the ers and long-term participants from the North spiritual environment (the mind); 2) protect- American Dharma Drum community in order ing the living environment (one’s immediate to build a stronger network among members environment and close relationships); 3) pro- and to seek some consensus on general fu- tecting the social environment (society); 4) ture directions for the organization in North protecting the natural environment (nature). America. The core of these four guiding principles is the first – protecting the spiritual environment. After an evening of introductions and re- Furthermore, these four types of protection unions on Thursday, Aug 21st, the first full are taught and spread to others through aca- day of activities was Friday. Following the of- demic education (at DDM Taiwan’s universi- ficial welcome by the forum’s organizer Guo ties and associated scholarly programs), uni- Chan Fa Shi, CMC’s new abbot, Friday’s ac- versal loving care education (social services, tivities revolved around two presentations by charity work, and care for the sick and dying), Guo Kuang Fa Shi, the Provost of DDM Tai- and universal outreach education (the teach- wan. Venerable Guo Kuang started by noting ing of Buddhadharma in all its guises and that Master Sheng Yen’s having reduced his applications). In addition to the four guiding role as an administrative leader in the organi- principles of environmental protection, three zation, the future of DDM will depend on the parallel guiding principles of DDM are: 1) to entire community’s having a shared focus, uplift the character of mankind; 2) to create a like many branches of a tree working from Pure Land on earth; 3) to propagate and sus- the same root. After lunch, Venerable Guo tain Chinese Chan Buddhism. Together with Kuang gave a more detailed presentation of the four Ways of Protecting the Environment,

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 29 these make up the root which guides the ac- whole) should take. While each small group tivities of all of Dharma Drum. had a particular focus, most of the groups overlapped in their ideas, showing that over- Following Guo Kuang Fa Shi’s presentation, all there was a fairly clear consensus on the participants thought over and discussed these major directions that might benefit the or- principles in small groups, and in the evening ganization: 1) To clarify the relationships the entire group was able to ask questions between the various North American organi- about them and to share ideas about the di- zations, including communication channels rection of DDM based on these values. and transparency of function; 2) To develop a well organized database for keeping records On Saturday, the group was visited by Shifu of participants and their contact information, via video teleconference, during which, de- and volunteers and their skills, that is linked spite some technical glitches, the group was up for all of North America; 3) To increase the able to hear and speak with Shifu in real time. care, oversight, and training provided for vol- Shifu reiterated that Protecting the Spiritual unteers across North America; 4) To provide Environment is the core value of DDM, and ongoing opportunities for people to learn and said that this means using Chan practice to study the Buddhadharma, and to train those protect the mind from all forms of pollution. interested in helping to teach and spread the Shifu also talked about the history of the Dharma to others; 5) To improve outreach whole organization and the need for everyone that will increase the number of young and to support future activities and progress. Western participants (“Western” in the cultural, not the ethnic, sense); 6) To better utilize Following Shifu’s talk, Ms. Dena Merriam, those lay members within the organization founder of the Global Peace Initiative of who can currently help teach Dharma and/or Women and an organizer of national inter- meditation to accomplish objectives #4 and faith gatherings in the U.S., spoke about the #5. current status of Buddhism in North America, noting that Buddhism has now become a ma- Finally, on Sunday morning, participants had jor influence affecting the lives of tens of mil- a final chance to submit input on the major lions of people. Ms. Merriam also spoke about objectives put forward by the group, and to the need for a great influence of compassion comment on the forum itself. In her closing and wisdom in North American culture and remarks Guo Kuang Fa Shi noted again the society, and thus the need for a greater Bud- guiding principles of DDM and encouraged dhist voice in America. She also noted the everyone to work together to move the mis- need for Buddhism to directly address issues sion of DDM forward in North America. more important to the North American culture, such as fear, the economy, and the environment. A Royal Gift

th Saturday afternoon and evening the par- On October 12 a ceremony was held for the ticipants broke into small groups to discuss presentation of the Phra Sassada Buddha stat- various directions DDM North America (as a ue in the Grand Buddha Hall at DDM’s World

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 30 Center for Buddhist Education in Taiwan. The teachings to promote peaceful co-existence in statue is a gift from the King of Thailand. the world.

The Phra Sassada Buddha statue is one of 19 Venerable Guo Dong also expressed his appre- statues created by Thai master craftsmen in ciation, affirming that Buddha is the incar- commemoration of the 80th birthday of His nation of equanimity, peace and compassion, Majesty, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thai- and urging everyone in attendance to emu- land. It weights 125 pounds, and measures 50 late the Buddha’s compassion to bring about inches high and 28 inches wide, with a depth a society at peace. of 18 inches. Each brass statue veiled in gold is to be enshrined at Buddhist organizations Pointing at the Moon in New York in 19 different countries. DDM is the first organization to have received this honor. On September 13, 2008, the Chan Meditation Center in New York celebrated the Chinese tra- DDM founder Master Sheng Yen, Abbot Guo dition of the Full Moon Festival. In attendance Dong and Deputy Abbot Guo Hui were all were some 120 people, including Venerable present to witness the ceremony. Other hon- Jinyi, Venerable Chuanhui, Venerable Ming- ored guests from Thailand included Phra kuan from the Fo En Monastery and Vener- Tham Varajaraya, Phra Prom Wachirayan and able Zhilung from the Pu Zhao Monastery. Phallop Thiarry. In his opening remarks, Venerable Guo Chan, Prior to the start of the Thai Kai Guang conse- Abbot of the Center, said that in the Buddhist cration ceremony, Thai Venerables held a spe- scriptures, the pure mind is often portrayed cial ritual in the Grand Hall, chanting Sutras as the bright moon, a moon covered by a dark to bestow blessings on the King of Thailand, cloud suggesting adversity. But if one can Master Sheng Yen, the Sangha and the people cultivate a joyful mood through positive prac- of Taiwan. tice, the pure mind will gradually be revealed, even in times of adversity. An atmosphere of serenity prevailed with devotees chanting Namo Amitofo as the ritual The evening’s events included Taijiquan, the began with the removal of the veil by Venera- Dong Chu Chorus, Chinese Fan Dancing, sam- ble Guo Dong, Venerable Guo Hui, Phra Tham pling vegetarian cuisine, games and the intro- Varajaraya and Phra Prom Wachirayan. duction of both the Chinese and English publications of Master Sheng Yen. The program Master Sheng Yen expressed his gratitude to ended with a Moonlight Chan Meditation for the King of Thailand for his generosity and to all present, led by Venerable Guo Xing of the the Thai Venerables for escorting the statue Dharma Drum Retreat Center. and its relic all the way from Thailand. He noted that although there are many different Buddhist Exchanges in China Buddhist sects in the world, they all hold Bud- dha Sakyamuni in common as their founder, Last September a DDM delegation led by Ab- and all Buddhists are united in sharing his bot Guo Dong embarked upon a seven-day ex-

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 31 cursion to encounter Buddhists in China. Be- The delegation was headed by Professor Mi- fore they departed, Master Shen Yen reminded tomo Kenyo, head of Rissho University’s De- each member to keep a clear mind for exercis- partment of Buddhist Studies, and a longtime ing Chan during the tour. friend of Master Sheng Yen. The two teachers signed an agreement to establish the institu- The delegation was due to visit Buddhist mon- tions as sister schools for future academic asteries and masters in cities such as Beijing, exchanges. Shanghai, Nantong and Jiashan, with the aim of promoting exchanges between China’s 2008 Youth Camp in Vancouver Buddhist communities and Dharma Drum Mountain in the future. In late August, DDM Vancouver hosted its 2008 Youth Camp under the leadership of The travelers were greeted at Beijing Interna- Venerable Guo Shu, Venerable Chang Yi and tional Airport on September 22 by officials of Venerable Chang Xing, offering an excellent China’s Administration of Religious Affairs, opportunity for young people to learn about who took the opportunity to express their Chan practice. keen appreciation for DDM’s agile humani- tarian relief efforts in earthquake-stricken re- In the course of the 3-day event, Venerable gions of Sichuan Province. Chang Yi taught students how to relax their minds using methods such as Chan medita- In addition to visiting China’s Buddhist com- tion and the Eight Form Moving meditation. munities, the delegation also planned to meet with Taiwanese businessmen and their fami- Venerable Chang Xing, who had just returned lies to convey blessings from Master Sheng from earthquake-stricken Sichuan Province, Yen and share Dharma wisdom. shared with students what he had experienced there. He told them he had been able to Exchange With Rissho University share the feelings of pain and sorrow felt by families of earthquake victims, and more im- On September 7th and 8th a delegation of 47 portantly, that life really is impermanent. He Buddhist scholars and students from Japan’s urged them all to grasp each moment of life Rissho University visited Dharma Drum Bud- and contribute compassionately to society. dhist College (DDBC) and the DDM World Cen- ter for Buddhist Education. Master Sheng Yen Venerable Guo Shu taught that our circum- was on hand to give them a warm welcome. stances do not exist naturally but arise as a result of many different causes and condi- The next morning scholars from Rissho and tions. Therefore, if we could be more humble DBC took part in an academic forum at the and show appreciation for our surroundings Library on the development of Buddhism in it could curb the arising of arrogance in our Taiwan and Japan, along with current efforts minds. We could develop a sense of inner to propagate teachings of Japanese Buddhism peace, becoming more compassionate and in Chinese-speaking societies. better able to contribute positively to society even in adverse situations.

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 32 On the last day, all participants promised to period of teaching Chinese Buddhism in the meet again next year and made a vow to do United States. their best to assist people in need in the future. The six-day conference started on June 23rd at Atlanta’s Emory University, with some 450 Sangha Education Exchange international Buddhist scholars in attendance presenting 325 research papers. With the aim of fostering Sangha education, seventy Buddhist venerables from mainland The DDBC delegation, led by Venerable Hui China, Thailand and Vietnam visited DDM’s Min and represented by distinguished schol- World Center for Buddhist Education in Tai- ars from DDBC and the Chung Hwa Institute wan late last August. of Buddhist Studies (CHIBS), addressed issues involving Chan and initiatives for the They were warmly received, on behalf of Mas- promotion of Chinese Buddhism, as well as ter Sheng Yen, by Abbot Guo Dong and Deputy the use of technology in contemporary Bud- Abbot Guo Hui, who made plain their enthu- dhism in Taiwan. siasm for closer exchanges in the future. A highlight of the conference was the presen- At lunch, Abbot Guo Dong availed himself of tation by Professors William Magee and Mar- the opportunity to thank Venerable Jing Yao cus Bingenheimer on the digitization of Bud- and the All Buddhas and Sanghas Associa- dhist scriptures as carried out by the Chinese tion for donating NT$500,000 in support of Buddhist Electronic Text Association (CBE- DDM Sangha Education, and offered an over- TA). DDBC’s substantial involvement in this view of the Six Ethics of the Mind campaign. project prompted keen interest, particularly of scholars from Denmark and Bhutan. By the end of the meeting the consensus had been firmly established that educational ex- Partly in recognition of these distinguished changes offered great promise, and all looked efforts, DDBC has been awarded the honor of forward to future encounters. hosting the upcoming 16th IABS Conference for the international Buddhist community in DDBC to Host Buddhist Conference Taiwan in 2011.

Dharma Drum Buddhist College (DDBC) has Choosing Life taken part in its first conference of the In- ternational Association of Buddhist Studies The 2008 International Caring for Life Awards (IABS). were presented by the Dharma Drum Hu- manities and Social Improvement Foundation The IABS was established in 1976 and has (DDHSIF) September 6th at the Grand Hotel held conferences every 3 to 4 years. Venerable in Taipei. Master Sheng Yen was one of the founding members of this initiative during his early Those present included DDM founder Master Sheng Yen, DDM Abbot Venerable Guo Dong,

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 33 Paul Cardinal Shan Kuo-hsi, Secretary Gen- Dr. Fredrick F. Chien, Chairman of the Awards eral of DDHSIF Dr. Lee Shen-Yi, and Professor Committee, explained that a total of 68 in- Brian L. Mishara, President of the Interna- dividual and group award nominations had tional Association for Suicide Prevention. been received. He noted that after reviewing only a few nominations he found himself Master Sheng Yen said, “Life is precious. overwhelmed by the candidates’ extraordi- Committing suicide cannot solve our prob- nary stories, and said that committee mem- lems. From a Buddhist perspective, no matter bers were frequently moved to tears as they what form it takes, suicide always results in processed the nominations. intense suffering.” When the process was over, the award win- He explained that Taiwan’s suicide rate is ners were: ranked third in Asia, with four thousand people choosing to end their own lives each year. Special Contribution Award: Professor Brian In order to foster awareness of the precious- L. Mishara ness of life, DDM has been collaborating with Wisdom Award: Chen Ming Li the media to promote the idea of caring for Compassion Award: Wu Xin-An life. Group Award: The Taiwan Association for Vic- tims of Occupational Injuries Master Sheng Yen went on to say that none of us are really alone, and none of us lack rela- Windfall for Sichuan Relief Efforts tionships and support. Our lives are interwo- ven with those of others in a web of relation- To help with DDM’s reconstruction projects in ships. Hence, we all bear some responsibility China’s Sichuan Province, last July Mr. Rob- and duty towards our fellow participants in ert Tsao, Chairman of United Microelectron- this web. Each one of us should cherish our ics Corp. (UMC), donated 20 million yuan to life and make good use of it, upholding our DDM. responsibilities and duties as best we can. At Mr. Tsao’s behest, DDM will transfer the Professor Mishara stated that the real chal- funds to China’s Association for Relations lenge lies in the development of effective sui- Across the Taiwan Strait for the reconstruc- cide prevention strategies. Each year, more tion of 40 primary schools badly damaged by people die by suicide than in war, terrorist the earthquake last May. Mr. Tsao donated an attacks and homicides combined. Yet many additional 10 million yuan for DDM’s provid- change their minds at the critical moment. ing spiritual guidance to quake victims. Prof. Mishara called for research into the reasons for this vital change of attitude so more Mr. Tsao is a longtime associate of Master people can be steered away from suicide. He Sheng Yen, and these donations are in line noted that prevention programs often focus with Sheng Yen’s view that “the more you on young people and tend to overlook other give or contribute to your country, its com- high risk groups such as the elderly, who have munities and others in need, the more wealth the highest suicide rates in most countries. you will possess.”

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 34 DDM Launches Reconstruction DDM relief teams have visited the town many times in the past few months to distribute On August 21st Venerable Guo Pin, Deputy Ab- supplies to the local community and provide bot of DDM and leader of relief efforts in Sich- medical treatment to the injured. This latest uan Province, signed contracts with officials visit was warmly welcomed by local residents, of Xiushui Township to rebuild the town’s el- who have experienced an acute shortage of ementary school and health center. medicine, housing and other necessities because of the town’s remote location. The reconstruction projects aim to build safe, high-quality and beautiful facilities for resi- DDM Deputy Abbot Venerable Guo Pin has dents of Xiushui, which was severely dam- said that Chenjiaba is in urgent need of as- aged by the earthquake May. Seventy percent sistance and DDM will do its best to support of the buildings in the town were crushed. residents through this difficult time.

Although the school buildings were destroyed, Future Relief Efforts in Myanmar some 1,800 students at the First Xiushui El- ementary School escaped unscathed from the Last July 13, Mr. Kuo-Kai Chen, executive di- quake, which reportedly took 200 lives and rector of Dharma Drum Mountain Social Wel- left 2,000 injured. At present, students are fare and Charity Foundation, accompanied by continuing their studies in temporary struc- volunteers, met with local officials of Myan- tures. mar to plan further relief and reconstruction projects in areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. DDM’s donation of RMB$15 million will be The meeting was the result of the Founda- used to rebuild the entire facility, consisting tion’s successful relief operations in Myan- of class buildings, dining halls and an ath- mar over the past few months. letic field, as well as dormitories for students and teachers. Structural engineers from DDM On a visit to the remote regions of Dan Lan will ensure the safety of the new school. and Kwan Gyan in the Irrawaddy Delta, Mr. Chen reported that although the capital Yan- With an additional RMB$16 million, DDM is goon was on the road to recovery, people liv- planning to provide medical facilities in a new ing in these more remote regions were facing health center that will include a Public Health harsh living conditions, without potable wa- Pavilion and a Medical Pavilion, as well as Or- ter or electricity. dinary and Special Wards. The reconstruction projects will build or re- DDM Donates Tents store two schools, one hundred shelters and two monasteries that were devastated. The On August 22nd a DDM relief team returned group will also set up a center in Yangoon to to Chenjiaba township in Sichuan Province, provide spiritual counseling and Chinese lan- which suffered severe earthquake damage guage classes, as well as scholarships for oth- last May, to distribute fifty tents as temporary er studies. The projects are expected to cost shelter for quake victims. over NT$14 million.

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 35 One-Day Retreat The Future Saturday, March 21, 9 am – 5 pm Retreats, classes and Overnight Retreat Friday, March 27 – Saturday, March 28 other upcoming events.

To subscribe to our new e-bulletin of Chan Regular Weekly Activities Center activities, please send an email to: Thursday Evening Meditation [email protected] 7 – 9 pm; Sitting, walking, moving meditation and discussion. At Dharma Drum Retreat Center in Pine Bush, NY Wednesday Study Group 7 – 9 pm; Reading and interactive discussion Phone: (845) 744-8114 of important Chan Buddhist texts; instruc- E-mail: [email protected] tion in applying the concepts in daily life. Website: www.dharmadrumretreat.org Sunday Service Schedule is subject to change. Please check 9:30 – 11:30 am; Sitting, walking and mov- the website for updated information. ing meditation; Dharma talk; chanting.

Open House – Presentation: A Pilgrimage to Chan Monasteries in Mainland China At Chan Meditation Center Saturday, January 10, 9:30 am – 12 pm in Elmhurst, Queens, NY

Beginner’s Mind Retreat Phone: (718) 592-6593 Friday, January 16 – Sunday, January 18 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.chancenter.org or Chinese New Year Celebration www.ddmba.org Sunday, February 1, 9:30 am – 3 pm Weekly Activities One-day Retreat Saturday, February 7, 9 am – 5 pm Monday Night Chanting 7 – 9 pm (On the last Monday of each month 3 – 10-Day Introduction to Chan Retreat there is recitation of the Eighty-eight Bud- (Retreatants may choose to stay for 3, 5, 7 or dhas’ names and repentance.) the full 10 days.) Friday, February 13 – Sunday, February 22 Tuesday Night Sitting Group 7 – 9:45 pm: Sitting, yoga exercises, walking Introduction to Meditation meditation, Dharma discussions, recitation Saturday, March 14, 9:30 am – 12 pm of the Heart Sutra.

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 36 Saturday Sitting Group (Please pre-register for meditation classes.) 9 am – 3 pm Sitting, yoga exercises, walking meditation Dharma 101 with David Slaymaker Buddhist basics via the Four Noble Truths, in Sunday Open House three Saturday sessions, March 7, 14 and 21, 10 – 11 am: meditation 9:30 – 11:30 am. 11 am – 12:30 pm: Dharma lectures 12:30 – 1 pm: lunch offerings Taijiquan with Instructor David Ngo 1 – 2 pm: vegetarian lunch Thursdays, 7:30-9:00 pm, ongoing, 2 – 3 pm: Chanting (Second Sunday of the $25 per month, $80 for 16 classes. month, chanting of the Great Compassion First Thursday of the month is free for Dharani Sutra; last Sunday, renewal of the newcomers. vows of the Bodhisattva Precepts.) Special Events Classes Chinese New Year Celebration Beginners’ Meditation with Nancy Bonardi Sunday, January 15, 10 am – 3 pm Five hours of training on two Saturdays, Jan- uary 31 and February 7, 9:30 am – 12 pm. “Zen & Inner Peace”

Intermediate Meditation with Rikki Asher Chan Master Sheng Yen’s weekly television Saturday, February 14, 9:30 am – 3 pm. program, Sunday, 7 am, WNYE (Channel 25) Photo: Guang Lin

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 37 Chan Center Affiliates Local organizations affiliated with the Chan Meditation Center and the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association provide a way to practice with and to learn from other Chan practitioners. Affiliates also provide information about Chan Center schedules and activities, and Dharma Drum publications. If you have questions about Chan, about practice, or about intensive Chan retreats, you may find useful information at an affiliate near you.

Orlando Sacramento Tel: 407-963-0423 NORTH AMERICA Contact: Janice Tsai Email: [email protected] 9196 Campobello Court http://orlando.ddmba.org Elk Grove, CA 95624 USA Email: [email protected] Tampa http://sacramento.ddmba.org USA Headquarters Contact: Nancy Kau Tel: 727-393-9588 San Francisco Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Email: [email protected] Contact: Hogan Chang Association (DDMBA); Dharma http://tampa.ddmba.org Drum Publications; Chan Medita- 1153 Bordeaux Dr. #106 Sunnyvale, CA tion Center: 90-56 Corona Avenue Tel: 408-828-9218 Georgia Elmhurst, NY 11373 Email: [email protected] Tel: 718-592-6593 Duluth: Fax: 718-592-0717 Connecticut Contact: Sophia Chen Email: [email protected] 4977 Dillards Mill Way http://www.chancenter.org Contact: Alice Peng Duluth, GA 30096 Tel: 770-416-0941 Dharma Drum Retreat Center Tel: 203-972-3406 Email: [email protected] Fax: 770-417-5897 184 Quannacut Road Email: [email protected] Pine Bush, NY 12566 District of Columbia Tel: 845-744-8114 Illinois Fax: 845-744-8483 Email: [email protected] Washington D.C. Tel: 301-982-2552 Belvedere http://www.chancenter.org Contact: John Chen Email: chiehhsiungchang@yahoo. 1632 South State Street California com Belvedere, IL 61008 Los Angeles Florida Tel: 815-978-7159 Contact: Ashley Chiang Fax: 815-547-5550 Email: [email protected] 9674 Telstar Ave. #C Gainesville El Monte, CA 91731 Tel: 352-336-5301 Chicago Tel: 626-350-4388 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Contact: Belinda Li Tel: 773-907-9853 http://members.aol.com/ddmchan Miami 1234 N. River Road Contact: May Lee Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 Riverside Tel: 954-432-8683 Contact: Gilbert Gutierrez Email: [email protected] Tel: 951-897-2286 http://www.ddmbachicago.org

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 38 Indiana New York City Philadelphia Contact: Chi-Liu Wu Tel: 610-254-5028 Fort Wayne 90-56 Corona Ave. Email: [email protected] Contact: Barry Wadsworth Elmhurst, NY 11373 8728 Sandpiper Ct. Tel: 718-592-6593 Texas Fort Wayne, IN 46804 Fax: 718-592-0717 Tel: 260-436-5124 Email: [email protected] Arlington: Email: [email protected] Contact: Patty Yi http://www.chanpractice.org Rochester: 2150 East Pioneer Pkwy Contact: Yi-Jen Chiu Arlington, TX 76010 Michigan 413 University Park Tel: 817-274-2288 Rochester, NY 14620 Fax: 817-274-7067 Contact: Li Hua Kong Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 1431 Stanlake Drive http://www.geocities.com/dd- E. Lansing, MI 48823 mbarochny Austin Tel/Fax: 517-332-0003 Tel: 512-249-9220 Email: [email protected] Nevada Email: [email protected] http://michigan.ddmba.org Las Vegas Dallas Missouri Contact: Mabel Tan Contact: Patty Yee Email: [email protected] Tel: 972-660-5971, 812-226-6888 Contact: Tai-Lin Lee Email: [email protected] Tel: 636-529-0085 North Carolina http://dallas.ddmba.org Email: [email protected] Tel: 919-852-4860 Houston New Hampshire Email: [email protected] Tel: 281-589-0718 Email: [email protected] Tel: 603-276-9415 Ohio Email: [email protected] Tennessee Northeast Ohio: New Jersey Contact: Jeff Larko Memphis 755 Savannah Trail Tel: 732-777-9618 Contact: Paul Lee Medina, OH 44256 Email: [email protected] 1 Ireland Brook Drive Tel: 330-241-5321 N. Brunswick, NJ 08902 Email: [email protected] Utah Tel/Fax: 732-398-1569 Email: [email protected] Oregon Salt Lake City Tel: 810-947-9019 Piscataway: Contact: Sabrina Huang Email: [email protected] Contact: Maggie Laffey 3300 SW 110th Ave. Tel: 732-253-7248 Beaverton, OR 97005 Vermont Email: [email protected] Tel: 503-352-9214 Email: [email protected] Tel: 802-658-3413 New York Email: [email protected] Pennsylvania http://www.ddmbavt.org Long Island: Washington Contact: Hai Dee Lee State College Email: [email protected] Tel: 814-867-9253 Tel: 425-889-9898 Email: [email protected] 14028 Bel-Red Road, Suite 205 http://ddmbapa.org Bellevue, WA 98007 Email: [email protected] http://seattle.ddmba.org

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 39 Western Ch’an Fellowship:

Canada Belgium 24 Woodgate Ave. Bury Toronto Luxemburg Lancashire, BL9 7RU, U.K. Contact: Simon Child, secretary

Email: DDMBA Ontario 15, Rue Jean Schaack L-2563 secretary@westernchanfellowship. 1041 Avenue Road, Unit #1 Bonnevoie GD.DE Luxemburg org, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5N 2C5 Tel: 352-400080 www.westernchanfellowship.org Email: [email protected] Web: www.ddmba-toronto.org Poland Vancouver Warsaw ASIA DDMBA Vancouver Center Zwiazek Buddystow Czan (Chan 8240 No.5 Road, Buddhist Union): Hong Kong Richmond, BC Contact: Pawel Rosciszewski, Beata Room 205, 2/F BLK B, V6Y 2V4 Canada Kazimierska Alexandra Industrial Building, 23- Tel: 604-277-1357 Tel/Fax: (22) 7275663, GSM 0-601- 27 Wing Hong St., Cheung Sha Wan, Fax: 604-277-1352 205602 Kowloon, Hong Kong Email: [email protected] Tel/Fax: (22) 6208446, (22) Tel: 852-2865-3110 http://www.ddmba.ca 6498670, GSM 0-601-205602 Fax: 852-2591-4810

Mexico Malaysia Switzerland Mar de Jade Oceanfront Retreat Dharma Drum Mountain Center Zurich Buddhism Information Centre in Chacala, Nayarit, Mexico Malaysia: Contact: Laura del Valle MD Teacher: Max Kalin (Guo-yun) 30 Jalan 16/6, 46350 Petaling Jaya, USA phone 800-257-0532 Tel/fax: 411 382 1676 Selangor DE, Malaysia Mexico phone 01-800-505-8005 Mobile: 4179 416 8088 Tel: 603-79600841, 603-7319245 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Fax: 603-7331413, 603-79600842 Website: http://www.mardejade.com http://www.chan.ch Email: [email protected] Daily meditation; regular retreats; http://www.media.com.my/zen 2005 residential period Bern

Hildi Thalmann Singapore EUROPE Haus Sein Dharma Drum Mountain Bruungasse 16 (Singapore Liaison Office): Croatia CH3011 Bern Switzerland No. 10 Second Avenue, Email: [email protected] Singapore 266660 Dharmaaloka Buddhist Center Tel: 31 352 2243 Contact: Ms. Yeh Yin Shia Dordiceva 23 Tel & Fax 10000 Zagreb, Croatia United Kingdom (65) 6469 6565 Tel/Fax: ++385 1 481 00 74 Cell 9745 6565. Email: [email protected] London Email: [email protected] http://www.dharmaloka.org Teacher: Zarko Andricevic 18 Huson Close Ongoing program of study and prac- London NW3 3JW, England tice, including courses in Buddhism Tel: 44-171-586-6923 and Chan meditation, meditation group meetings, and retreats.

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 40 Taiwan Nung Ch’an Monastery: No. 89, Lane 65, Tayeh Road Peitou, Taipei Tel: 02-2893-3161 Fax: 02-2895-8969 Dharma Drum Mountain: No.14-5, Lin 7, Sanchieh Village, Chinshan, Taipei Tel: 02-2498-7171, 02-2498-7174 Fax: 02-2498-9029 Email: [email protected] http://www.ddm.org.tw

Dharma Drum International Medi- tation Group: Contact: Antonio Tel: 02-2893-4646 ext. 6504 Email: [email protected] Saturdays, 2:00 – 5:00 pm at the Jiantan Group Practice Center http://www.ddm.org.tw

Australia: Melbourne

Contact: Laura Chan Email: [email protected] Tel: 61-4-0204-1997

Sydney

Contact: Agnes Chow Email: agneschow323@hotmail. com Tel: 61-4-1318-5603

New Zealand: No. 9 Scorpio PL. Mairangi Bay, Auckland, New Zealand Tel: 64-9-4788430

Photo: Kaifen Hu

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 41 The Method of No-Method The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination Chan Master Sheng Yen

“Chan Master Sheng Yen is a great teacher, and I have great confidence in his scholarship and wisdom.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

ut aside all thoughts other than the perception of yourself “just sitting.” It’s a simple practice, but one that Pcan lead to an experience of the vast ocean of pure awareness. The beloved master’s wonderfully practical teaching on Silent Illumination shows what a skillful means to awakening it truly is.

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Chan Magazine Winter 2009 42 Attaining the Way A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism Chan Master Sheng Yen

his new book is an inspiring guide to the practice of Chan in the words of Master Sheng TYen and three great masters who are his Dharma ancestors: the contemporary master Xuyun and Jiexian and Boshan of the Ming Dynasty. Though the texts were written over a period of hundreds of years, they are all remarkably lucid and are perfect for beginners as well as more advanced practitioners today. All the main points of spiritual practice are covered: philosophical foundations, methods, approaches to problems and obstacles—all aimed at helping the student attain the way to enlightenment.

$16.95 Paperback

Winter 2009 Chan Magazine 43 The Inimitable Master Sheng Yen

The Poetry of Enlightenment Poems by Ancient Chan Masters An anthology of teaching poetry direct from the minds of the enlightened masters—presented by Master Sheng Yen as inspirations to practice. $14.95 Paperback

The Infinite Mirror Commentaries on Two Chan Classics Here is the inimitable Master Sheng Yen at his best, illuminating the ancient texts Inquiry into Matching Halves and Song of the Precious Mirror to show how wonderfully practical they really are, even for us today. $14.95 Paperback

Faith in Mind A Commentary on Seng Ts’an’s Classic The most beloved of Zen texts—Seng Ts’an’s “Faith in Mind”—revealed as a source of practical guidance. $14.95 Paperback

Dharma Drum The Life and Heart of Chan Practice A guide to the practice of Chan Buddhism by today’s most prominent master of that tradition— with 180 of his gemlike sayings and aphorisms that serve as inspirations on the Way. $17.95 Paperback

Shambhala Publications Visit www.shambhala.com to receive a 20% discount on this and over 600 other great books!

Chan Magazine Winter 2009 44