Ajahn Brahm's Dharma Talk

My friend wrote to me:

I want to thank you for emailing me the dharma presentation by Monk Ajahn Brahm. I also want to give thanks that my son went to the talk with me yesterday. I think as a 25 year old university educated person, he was curious what this Cambridge Theoretical Physicist has to say in a Science centre auditorium. The fact that Monk Ajahm Brahm is funny also helps. When my son faces challenges in life in the future, I hope the seed planted today will help.

Now..........I will next work on my daughter.

Thanks again


**************

In response to my friend’s note, I was very glad that I saw many young men and ladies attended the first lecture of Ajahn Brahm Toronto series of presentations.

My 3 kids went with me to the Science Centre lecture. They all enjoyed it very much and had a great time. So now it will be easier for me to persuade them to attend any future Dharma talks.

Ajahn Brahn has two books for laymen and beginners:
“Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?”
“Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond”
They are available on line at Amazon.

Have a Great Canada Day Long Weekend!

(June 29, 2008)

Teaching mom

Last night my daughter and I had a long mother and daughter talk.

The conversation took place when I asked my daughter for her opinion on an interpersonal problem that I recently encountered. She was very enthusiastic in finding out the details, analyzing the issues, and suggesting solutions. Understanding human nature and relation is her strong point. She said: “Mom, you have come to the right person!”

I was amazed by her in depth perception and consideration. This is the first time I noticed my little girl has grown up and mentally matured. She is always well-liked and loved by everyone, for she put humanity, together with looking great, on top of her priorities.

I am still filled with joy that my little girl turns out to be a fine lady who can teach mom tricks about life, besides computers and electronics. No wonder her boyfriend loves her so much.

(June 25, 2008)

Making life interesting

My husband is amazed by how much I can write on this blog. He was afraid that I would run out of topics. He suggested that I should watch more television, read more newspapers so as to keep myself up to date with the world news, and to expose myself to more themes.

What he does not know is that, as long as I have wandering thoughts, I get things to write about. Instead of running through my mind, the thoughts are now on black and white. Millions of thoughts arise in a split second, I am just not able enough to capture them in time to write it down.

Cultivation is marvelous; you can apply your practice in anything and everything you do, to make life so much more interesting.

(June 23, 2008)

Quest for the Truth

Few days ago, our Introductory Buddhism Class resumed after three months of disruption.

The class was formed out of unexpected incident and stopped unforeseeably, as everything in life impermanence took precedence. In order to finish off studying the book, we resumed the class.

When the class commenced, it served many proposes: to introduce Buddhism to beginners, to attract more members, to carry out activities as an organization, to socialize after class and so on… There were expectations and pressures.

The class resumed without purpose, maybe just for the sake of questing for the Truth together. So there is much at ease on my part. I am there just to share my understanding of Buddhism to the classmates. And the classmates are there not because of my title, status, knowledge and expertise, all of which I have none. People attend because we like learning Buddhism together. That is great enough for me, hopefully for them too.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, may the hills that we climbed alleviate us towards enlightenment!

(June 21, 2008)

To my little sister

Dear ShiXiong:

All best of wishes to you on your birthday and always!

Thank you for making our childhood memorable, for sharing our laughter and tears together, for standing by me when I need a friend, for your immeasurable kindness and patience, and for putting up with me.

You are one of the most selfless persons I have ever met. You devote your life to your family and the people you love. You always take care of others before yourself.

If you do not mind to take an advice from your older and therefore should be a little bit wiser sister, please start to spend more time on taking care of yourself and on your own cultivation. When you take good care of yourself, everyone around you benefits as well.

Loving you with my heart and soul,
Lung Zhi

(June, 2008)

Joy to the World

In this life of mine, there are two persons who I owe gratitude the most: Venerable Haiyun Jimeng and my better half, my husband.

My husband is my dharma protector, he provides me with a favorable environment so I can whoeheartedly devote my efforts into learning Buddhism. His first priority in life is for me to be happy, my happiness is his happiness. I may be down, depressed, angry, sad, miserable, and so on…but my inner spirit is always full of joy.

I am deprived of unhappiness due to three main reasons.

Firstly, the joy that I realized from my cultivation of Buddhism is inconceivable.

Secondly, my husband is too too good to me that I have no right to be unhappy. Anytime I am not happy, the negativity spreads onto him, I cannot let that happens.

Thirdly, every single cell in my body is forever tangling and applauding the magnificence of life. That is the result of the physical transformation of the four elements (earth, water, fire and wind) inside my body through the practice of Chan meditation.

Yes, both spiritual and physical I am full of joy. And that is the driving force for me to do whatever I can to help turning this world into a better place for everyone to live in, to help myself and others to realize our Dharmadhatu Bodies (Truth Wisdom Bodies).

May we all be full of joy at all time!

(June 19, 2008)

For my husband and I

My teenage daughter wrote to me:

M is for all our Marvelous Memories
O is for your Outstanding job raising us
T is for Turning Twenty-Three
H is for Happy B-day Mommy
E is for Everything you do for us
R is for always Ready to help us out

Put them all together they spell “MOTHER”, a word the means the world to me!

(My age stays at 23 since my 23rd birthday - LZ)

Somewhere out there

Timmy wrote:

I very much agree with you that ever since we've grown up and have children, we tend not to celebrate our own birthday, for we always have too many others birthdays to celebrate. But this year, I am going to buy myself a cake and celebrate with my close friends and we'll have wine too.

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moon light,

someone 's thinking of me and loving me tonight.......

and even though we know how very far apart we are,

it helps to know we're sleeping underneath the same big sky......"

Above is part of the lyrics of the song SOMEWHERE OUT THERE. I just love it so much.


(June 17, 2008)

So you think you can dance?

Last year, I ran across the TV series “So you think you can dance?” as my kids were watching it. Since then, I enjoy this series very much.

This year the season premier has just started again. It is a very amusing show to watch.

The choreographies are usually excellent and beautifully presented. The contestants dance with so much enthusiasm and passion, they put their lives into the dance. Good dancers are those who immerse their body, mind and dance into one.

As the competition and elimination progress, the contestants nurture their skills, techniques and charisma. It is amazing to see how people transform and advance in such a short period of time.

Watching the show provides me with a sense of how beautiful life is.

Watch it and be the judge yourself.

Betty and I both love this show. Hope that you do too!

(June 16, 2008)

My gratitude towards Mingte ShiXiong

On the Mother’s Day of this year, Mingte ShiXiong (dharma brother) turned my down side world up.

He and Kevin are the two guardian angles sent from heaven this year, so far, to rescue me when I am in difficulties.

I know very little about Mingte besides where he lives. However his kind nature and compassion really brighten up my days and warm my heart. We have not met but he said he will buy me lunch when he comes to my town or I go to his town, which is only 10 hours of driving. I get a rain check which I intend to cash some day.

I wish all the best for XiShong on this Father’s Day and all future days to come. Thank you for making me very very happy at this moment…

Happy Father’s Day (June 15, 2008)

Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads that I know-

Anthony, Stanley, Gerald, Miles, Mingte, Peter, Gus, Mel, Tony, Steven, Dunkin, Dannial, Harton, Derek, Cheng-Wen, Leo, Fred, Simon, Stephen, Ching, Philip, Terry, C.K., Paul, George, Eric, Joseph, Sunny, Jose, Keith, Chris, Ben, Sam, David, Luen, Grant, Cheong, Ken, Frank, Chak, Raymond, Alfred and my own daddy.

May you all spend some quality time with your family and have an awesome day!

You have given so much of yourself to your family, their love for you in turns brighten up your life and provide you with the strength to strive on.

Let there be a win win situation…

Have fun... fun... fun…

(June 14 , 2008)

Encouragement from Erin

Erin wrote:

Lung Zhi e-mailed me the blog that she created, Huayen Congregation, 華嚴海會. The blog website address is: http://anuttara-congregation.blogspot.com/. I was so excited about it.

One of my wishes during my two years as the chair person of the North American Huayen Buddhist Community was having blogs on the North American Huayen website, http://www.huayen.org/. I see this blog as a starting point.

I hope that the North American Huayen website will link to Lung Zhi’s blog. This way, we can truly offer our services by sharing our personal Dharma journeys, how we practice, how we interpret/understand the Dharma/Sutra and how we apply the Dharma/Sutra.

In my personal experience the encouragement that comes from sharing and discussing will keep our faith aligned with the Bodhi journey. We will keep walking on the Bodhi path and will not be derailed from it.

Please take the time to review the blog and participate in it. I believe as a Huayen member, we love to hear about one another’s experiences on how we practice, how we apply and how we understand the Dharma or the Sutra.

I hope I did not offend anyone by suggesting them to look at Lung Zhi’s blog.

Huayen Congregation, 華嚴海會. What a great name, I love it.

Erin

Profound Learning versus Elementary Learning

According to Master Haiyun, profound learning is the know-how that deals with humanity and life, whereas elementary learning is the know-how that is outside that boundary.

Einstein’s law of relativity, Newton’s law of gravity, the invention of electricity and nuclear power, they are elementary learning（小學）. These are knowledges and theories of physic（物理）. These knowledges enhace our quality of living.

Whereas, the value and meaning of life, the truth of existence, the purpose of living, and all aspects that deals with the betterment of humanity; these knowledges enhance our quality of life and touch upon the Truth（真理）. They are profound learning（大學）.

And the three basic domains of profound learning are:
1. Washing and cleaning （灑掃）- how to take care of daily living
2. Answering readily（應對）- how to deal with interpersonal relationship
3. Advancing and retreating （進退）- how to react appropriately

I have heard about these three basic domains from Master Haiyun (HeShang) years ago. It is only recently that I started to have a glimpse of its deeper meaning.

Loving Chris

Chris is my daughter’s boyfriend. He has been dating my daughter for more than one year. I have promised him that I would write an article about him for a while but I did not yet have the chance to do so. He wants me to write something about him so that he can tell how I feel about him.

On my birthday he wrote the following note to me:

Ms. T, I hope you like your new gifts. You don’t know how much your children (and I) love you. I‘d like to take this time to just say thank you. Your hospitality and kindness has made me really like your family. Your good qualities were clearly passed on to your kids. Thank you for accepting me and letting me date your wonderful daughter.
Love,
Chris

From the note that Chris has written, one can tell what kind of person he is.

I like the fact that Chris loves my family and every one in my family loves Chris.

I am rather traditional; I believe when two persons get married, they are not only marrying to each other but to both sides of the families as well. I am always very glad that my parents and my in-laws get along really well. I have a large family with very close sibling bondage, so does my husband’s side of the family. I wish that this tradition can be kept on.

Chris, welcome you to our family. You may not notice but you are part of our family already…

One day when I have more time, I will write the article that I promise you...

(10 June , 2008)

Ajahn Brahm is coming to town…... Toronto – June 26-29 2008, Ottawa June 30-July 1, 2008

Renowned Buddhist Monk Ajahn Brahm will be in Toronto from June 26 to 29, 2008, in Ottawa from June 30 to July 1, 2008.

He is the author of “Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?” He is being named as the Seinfield of Dharma. He earned a degree in theoretical physics in Cambridge University. Eventually disillusioned with the world of academe, he went to the jungles of Thailand and studied under the meditation master Ajahn Chah. A monk for over thirty years, Ajahn Brahm is now a revered spiritual guide and abbot of a large Buddhist monastery in Australia.

For further information, please go to the following links:

http://www.westendbuddhist.org/

http://www.westendbuddhist.org/images/M_images/abprogram2008.pdf

I enjoyed his lecture two or three years ago very much and I intend to attend this year with my family.

(June 8, 2008)

Sex and the City

Sex and the City

I saw the movie Sex and the City with my friend yesterday. I have never seen the TV series once and I have no idea about the story line.

For the last hour of the movie, I cried non stop. It was so sad that people who loved each other are hurting each other through misunderstanding, being selfish and self–centered.

Three out of the four main characters were unhappy because they either lived in the past (unable to let go of the past) or lived in the future (do not treasure what they are having). Fortunately, the screenwriter finished the story with a happy ending...

In real life, if we can be a bit more thoughtful, considerate and appreciative of our associates, many more people will have a happier marriage/relationship. Authentic practice starts with having a good relationship with your surroundings, especially with your family.

Try not let the past lingers onto you and try not live in the illusions of tomorrow, living at the present moment is what I am working on right now.

“Focus your mind, still your mind, if your mind wonders, bring it back.” Whenever my mind is in the past or in the future, I try to bring it back…

(June 7, 2008)

A Thank You Note from Erin

To My Dear Huayen Members,

I wanted to thank each of you, especially HeShang (Ven. Haiyun) and the Great Huayen Monastery of Taiwan for your mental and spiritual support during Kristen’s cancer ordeal.

Kristen has finally finished her second cancer treatments on May 29th. She has gradually regained her strengths and has started to enjoy her hobbies and friends. She is going back to school this fall and continues to pursue her civil engineer degree. She has always kept her sprits high and her ability to face each step of the cancer treatment has been beyond her age during the six month treatment. She is a very brave girl.

The merits of your prayers and Circumscribed practice have made her endurance of each harsh treatment smooth and successful. We encountered very little unexpected side effects. Even when we did, the outcome always was favorable to her.

I would like to give you an example of what I mean by “the outcome was always favorable to her”. Kristen needed an operation during her initial four rounds chemo treatments. The purpose of the operation was to get several tubes implanted into her central veins so nurses and doctors could directly get the blood out of her to do laboratory tests, administer drugs without sticking her all the time, and harvest (collect) her stem cells ( I hope that I was not too technical for you).

After the operation and before the harvesting of her stem cells, the blood bank technicians informed us that the tubes that the doctor just put in did not work (in other words no blood would come out.). That meant no collecting stem cells that day. By then, it was six o’clock in the afternoon and the O.R was already closed. The blood bank doctor decided to harvest the cells form her arm vein instead. The harvesting procedure was normally a four hour procedure. Using the arm veins turned out to be a twelve hours procedure and did not know how much they could collect from Kristen. The blood bank technicians finally finished the harvesting at two o’clock in the morning the next day. We went home and both of us were exhausted. However we had to be in the hospital early in the morning of the next day. We were told by the doctor the next day that Kristen had the highest yield of stem cells in the history of the local hospital. The doctor told her that she had so many stem cells that he wished that he could give some of hers to the kids could not get enough through multiple stem cells collections.

Finding the right method of practicing Dharma has saved me from many of the ordeals that I went through. I am so glad that I did all these years of Hua Zang workshops. Through following HeShang’s teaching and participating in the Hua Zang workshop’s discussions, I have since found my way to practice the Dharma. It is a very simple way to apply and I have been doing it every day. My practice has made me mindful. But I realize that I have a hard time to let go of the attachments and to achieve “the freedom and independence” in handling and dealing with things. I understand only through deeper dharma practice will I be able to do the later two parts well. Kristen’s ordeal has let me knew what level my practice was in. I have also learned that my understanding of sutra is deepened by applying the teaching of the sutra to my daily life rigorously.

I wish that no one would have to go through what I have been through. However, I do wish every one will find a method to practice the Dharma regularly and to do Hua Zang workshop at your local chapter regularly as well.

I would like to thank HeShang for his relentless Huayen Dharma teachings and in laying the foundation of Dharma for us to learn.

PS. The stem cells I was referring above are autologous (donated to yourself), bone marrow stem cell that forms all the blood cells (red cells white cells and platelets). After the stem cells graft to the bone marrow, the stem cells start to produce red cells, white cells and others. A transplant patient who has more stem cells will likely to recover from his/her transplant faster, with less infections and other unpleasant conditions.

Erin

What are the prerequisites or resources for practicing Buddhism?

According to Master Haiyun there are three prerequisites in learning Buddhism:
1. A wholesome character
2. A normal or healthy life style of living
3. The urge to find out the Truth of Life.

When one character is indecent or badly twisted, one is not ready to start practicing. One needs to try to correct the indecency or flaws in one’s character first. Without a wholesome character, one does not or cannot reflect or introspect. That is why having Right Views and Right Thought is important.

Then one needs to have a health life style of living. For example people who indulge themselves in gambling, drugs or alcohol, there are voids or emptiness in their spirits that require patch-ups. For a Buddhist who pamper himself in any kind of obsession is unhealthy, it is a sign for improvement. People who do not get along with their family, colleagues and friends are not ready for serious practicing. Here is where having Right Speech, Right Action and Right Living come in.

With a wholesome character and healthy life style, one naturally has the desire to higher fulfillment, to improve the existing status quo or to find out the Truth about life. Here is where having Right Effort, Right Mind and Right Concentration come in.

Only when we have the three prerequisites fully attained, we are ready to walk the Bodhi Path. Otherwise we need to spend our effort in acquiring these prerequisites first.

Notes:
The Eightfold Noble Paths are: Right Views, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Mind and the Right Concentration.