2nd Zen meeting at USC — Fall 2007

Today was the 2nd Zen meeting. There were some newcomers as well as some returning from last time, the first session. Overall, there were 13 people coming. We first did a quick recap of basic meditation techniques, for newcomers. Then we practiced belly breathing and stand-up breathing technique.
The time was then shifted to me to [...]

New Zen Session Kicks Off at USC — Fall 2007

New semester and new session! Our new meditation session kicks off today, at USC. 21 newcomers joined us today. Plus some returning practitioners, we got the room really cramped! (Of course, this is because we sit in a circle, the space in the center is wasted.) And we ran out of mats too! As usual, [...]

In this household…

My wife and I both have very broad interests. While our studies are largely engineering related, our interests are not limited to it. In fact, to maximize the efficiency of our time and energy, we have decided to explore different things, and then share with each other. Based on our interest, below are what we [...]

Some of the formed charity I am currently doing

Anyone who has read the Diamond Sutra should know there are two kinds of charity: formed and formless. For instance, in Chapter 11 of the Diamond Sutra:
Subhuti, if there were as many Ganges rivers as the sand grains of the Ganges, would the sand grains of them all be many?
Subhuti said: Many indeed, World-Honored One! [...]

Heart Chan meditation DVD 2A

Lectured by Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian
Translated by Ronald
(To see this video lecture online, please go to www.heartchan.org and register and login to see it.)
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(Opening Sutra Remarks) Avoid all evil. Do all good. Purify the heart. Attain enlightenment.
Last time in Lecture One we introduced sitting postures, Belly Breathing, and some Buddhist concepts. Let me [...]

Heart Chan meditation DVD 1B

Lectured by Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian
Translated by Ronald
(To see this video lecture online, please go to www.heartchan.org and register and login to see it.)
————————
(Opening Sutra Remarks) Avoid all evil. Do all good. Purify the heart. Attain enlightenment.
Today I will teach you Heart Chan meditation. Any volunteer to come up here and demo for [...]

Heart Chan meditation DVD 1A

Lectured by Chan Master Wu Jue Miao Tian
Translated by Ronald
(To see this video lecture online, please go to www.heartchan.org and register and login to see it.)
————————
(Opening Sutra Remarks) Avoid all evil. Do all good. Purify the heart. Attain enlightenment.
We have finished the Diamond Sutra lectures last time. Thirty two chapters were all interpreted clearly. Today [...]

The Four Verses in the Diamond Sutra

If you have never read the Diamond Sutra before, you should read it. It’s short, elegant, insightful, enlightening. In short, it’s cool. And although it is an important sutra in Buddhism, readers need not be Buddhists to read it. The wisdom in it is universal. The Four Verses in it are pretty popular and due [...]

Shao Lin Chan – new session

Starting this Sunday, 9/9, a beginners’ session teaching Shao Lin Chan meditation will take place at Diamond Bar, CA. Shao Lin is best known for its martial arts and Kung Fu practices, yet originally sitting meditation was taught by Bodhidharma at Shao Lin Temple more than 1,500 years ago. Now our Master is bringing the [...]

Heart Chan Retreat 2007 (3) – translation

During this retreat, we watched our Master’s DVD lectures. It was given in Mandarin, so we need to put English subtitles for English speakers to be able to understand it. I was in charge of the translation, and ZY was in charge of the technical task of adding the subtitles to the DVDs…
Both jobs were [...]

Reading “Zen in the Art of Archery”

Zen in the Art of Archery was a delight. It has only 80 pages, elegant and concise account of a Westerner who went to Japan to practice the art of archery with a Japanese master. What the author ended up learning the most was not the skill itself. It was the Eastern philosophy — Zen [...]

Heart Chan Retreat 2007 (2)

Just two days back from the retreat, some of our fellows are already planning on next year. The venue this year was by the beach, and was so perfect that people are joking that finding a comparable place next year may be tough…
Well, we will see…
Holding a retreat by the beach was great. It is [...]