Zen Center of Sunnyvale's permanent use permit approved in public hearing

Four years ago, the City of Sunnyvale Planning Commission approved our use permit (for nonprofit, religious, assembly use), but it was a four year temporary permit. Monday night, June 22nd, we finally passed our second public hearing, as Sunnyvale welcomes the Zen Center with open arms, granting us the permanent use permit.

It was a long, five hour public hearing (with two controversial projects before us that took four hours). By the time we finished it was 1am in the morning.

We want to thank all our great friends, from the Interfaith Community, Academic Community, from the Industry, and of course, all the participants of the Zen Center, who wrote support letters, and the 80 of you who showed up and stayed till 1am at the public hearing and impressed greatly even the commissioners. They loved your testimonies and stories from the heart.

Thank you all!

太谷精舍拿到永久使用執照。感謝所有居士的支持！

A song about the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng

Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng is probably the most important Chinese Zen Master, next to Bodhidharma. An illiterate woodcutter that nevertheless had an immediate affinity and capacity to grasp the most profound Zen teachings, he ultimately was responsible for bring the Zen teaching to all parts of China.

This is a very nice song about Hui Neng by an American John Wheeler.

這是一首美國人寫的「六祖慧能」的歌！

New forum for discussion of CT-Zen initiatives

We have created a google group (i.e. an online discussion forum) called "CTZEN Development" for the discussion of Chung Tai Zen Center possible initiatives and developments for the future, topics such as protecting our environment, outreaching, how to better serve the public with the Dharma and the Buddhist way of life.

Everyone can see the group discussions here: http://groups.google.com/group/ctzen-dev

However, I encourage you to "join this group" (on the left panel of the webpage), so that you can be an active participant and post messages to the group. To do so I believe you need a google account; you can use your regular email to set up the google account. If you have gmail then use that as your email, though gmail is not necessary (it is slightly more convenient with gmail if you use other google services like google calendar).

Then, please post to to group with your suggestions to what the Zen Center can do, or information and links regarding the environment, global warming, vegetarianism, etc. I see this forum as one for both discussion of ideas and also a depository of information. You may post from the website, or send an email to ctzen-dev@googlegroups.com. Remember this will go to everyone in the group.

Anyone who is a participant of Zen Center of Sunnyvale or Buddha Jewel Monastery classes may join.

You may also set up the way you receive messages from the group: receive each message as an email, as a digest (aggregate of emails once a day or so), or never--that means you need to use the website to see the messages and information.

There are some older posts on this group because it was originally set up for the development discussions of Buddha Jewel Monastery in Seattle. You may read them or ignore them. This group is now expanded to discuss issues relevant to both Sunnyvale and Buddha Jewel.

Ten Commandments and Eightfold Path for Inter-religious Dialogue

Shifu attended an South Bay Interfaith meeting today, and in part of the meeting we discussed the "Ten Commandments for Inter-religious Dialogue". It was quite interesting. Here they are:

First Commandment: The primary purpose of dialogue is to change and grow in the perception and understanding of reality and then to act accordingly.

Second Commandment: Interreligious dialogue must be a two-sided project—within each religious community and between religious communities.

Third Commandment: Each participant must come to the dialogue with complete honesty and sincerity.

Fourth Commandment: Each participant must assume a similar complete honesty and sincerity in the other partners.

Fifth Commandment: Each participant must define him/herself. Conversely—the one interpreted must be able to recognize him/herself in the interpretation.

Sixth Commandment: Each participant must come to the dialogue with no hard-and-fast assumptions as to where the points of disagreement are.

Seventh Commandment: Dialogue can take place only between equals, or par cum pari.

Eighth Commandment: Dialogue can take place only on the basis of mutual trust.

Ninth Commandment: Persons entering into interreligious dialogue must be at least minimally self-critical of both themselves and their own religious traditions.

Tenth Commandment: Each participant eventually must attempt to experience the partner’s religion “from within.”

This is called "Dialogue Decalogue" written by Professor Leonard Swidler. This is a good beginning. Now can you come up with a "Four Noble Truths" or "Eightfold Path" of inter-religious dialogue and, more importantly, cooperation? That is, after fruitful dialogues, how do we apply the ideas of Eightfold Path to bring different religions together to work on projects of common human interest?

Morality in animals and stress reduction

How are these two topics related?
By Buddhism, of course!

In the sutras Buddha have told stories of all animals can help or even sacrifice themselves for others. Sounds incredible? Well, more and more evidence shows that animals are indeed capable of doing that. A monkey and a rat would rather starve themselves than obtaining food at the cost of hurting another of their kind. Chimpanzees have drowned themselves trying to save others. Dolphins gathered to carry shipwrecked humans to safety. These are real stories reported by scientists that seem obvious to Buddhists but incredible to those who believe that only humans have intelligence and ethical behavior. Here are a couple of links: New York Times article, a book by a U. of Colorado professor Marc Bekoff, "Wild Justice".

On another thread, CNN just reported on a West Virginia University study that identified the benefits of mindfulness practice on reducing stress.

they found those who received the mindfulness training "had significantly less daily hassles, psychological distress and significantly fewer medical symptoms" -- like lower blood pressure and fewer aches and pains -- than those who were handed a pamphlet.

Waugh says she was thrilled to find that after practicing mindfulness techniques, the back pain that had plagued her for almost a decade went away. She also said she "communicated better with fellow employees and actually had a better attitude towards my job." ...

Mindfulness is not new. It goes back to the time of Buddha, who believed that the mind should always be fully in the present -- not looking back at the past or anticipating the future. Being mindful of the here-and-now, Buddha said, reduces stress and brings inner peace ...

According to the study, even 10 minutes of meditation can help. "[Meditation] can take the anxiety out of a stressful workday," said Williams.

West Virginia University is not the first -- or only -- institution in the country that has tested the effects of mindfulness techniques on stress. UCLA completed a study a few years ago that found the same thing the WVU study found: Mindfulness exercises are excellent stress-busters ... Yale University is recruiting patients for a smoking cessation study that includes a mindfulness training component.