Sixfold Buddhahood (六即佛)

六即佛

南宋‧普潤大師

理即佛：

動靜理全是，行藏事盡非，冥冥隨物去，杳杳不知歸
名字即佛：

方聽無生曲，始聞不死歌，今知當體是，翻恨自蹉跎
觀行即佛：

念念照常理，心心息幻塵，遍觀諸法性，無假亦無真
相似即佛：

四住雖先落，六塵未盡空，眼中猶有翳，空裡見花紅
分證即佛：

豁爾心開悟，湛然一切通，窮源猶未盡，尚見月朦朧
究竟即佛：

從來真是妄，今日妄皆真，但復本時性，更無一法新

The Sixfold Buddhahood

By Master Pu Run, South Song Dynasty

In Principle:
In stillness and in motion, the Great Principle embodies all
Yet in ignorance, all your moves go against It.
Blindly you pursue the worldly things,
Without knowing where you’ll end up.

In Name:
The tune of the unborn, the song of the deathless
Had just been heard.
Seeing the truth in everything as it is,
You cried, “How I had lived my life in vain!”

In Contemplation:
Thought by thought you’re mindful of the ever present Principle
Moment by moment each delusion ceases
Contemplate the entire Dharma realm, you find
The nature of all things is neither real nor unreal.

In Resemblance:
The four abidances are cleared,
Yet the six dusts are not emptied.
The disease is still in your eyes—
Seeing red flowers from emptiness!

In Progressive Realization:
Suddenly your mind is fully awakened;
In all clarity everything is understood.
Haven’t yet reached the ultimate source,
The moon still appears somewhat hazy.

Ultimate Buddhahood:
Before, all that appeared real were illusions
Now, all illusions are part of reality.
Simply return everything to its original nature;
There is nothing new whatsoever.

2009 Zen 7 Retreat Initiation

Has it really been two months since I last posted? Time does fly.

The Zen 7 Retreat has started yesterday, on Christmas day.

60 diligent participants are ready to make an real effort to see their original nature. Since many people had to be turned away because the retreat was full, we decided to hold another Zen 7 from 3/28 ~ 4/4. Those interested should sign up soon, because it is already more than half full.

Here are the Initiation Verse for the Zen 7:

   寒冬風寒意不寒    殿內佛光暖入懷
   抖落千般人不是    放卻萬種世間乖
   念念明湛照常理    心心寂然息幻塵
   忽得晴空爆碎矣    覷得娘生前面門

諸位知識，即今起七一事，最後一句又怎麼說法？

   莫執莫放莫掛礙    無心無住無形骸

起—


In English:

Initiation Verse
December 25, 2009

Chilly winter, cold winds, but your hearts are not
   In the Hall the Buddha’s light warms your minds.
Let’s drop the hundred gripes with others
   And the thousand misgivings of the world outside.
Thought by thought, with clarity, you’re mindful of the Ever Present;
   Moment by moment, in stillness, each delusion ceases.
Suddenly, when the sky is blown away,
   You get to see the face before you’re born.

Good cultivators, for this Zen-Seven Initiation, how does the last verse go?

Neither grasp, nor let go, nor worry;
  There is no mind, no abiding, and no body.

Begin—

Zen Center events update

Hello everyone, Jianhu Shifu has been the "invisible shifu" recently, now he's here, now he's gone. I haven't kept up with the blog, so it is time to give a little update about what has been happening in the past couple of months and what is to come:

Some of the events in September and October:

• Returned from the Pilgrimage trip in Taiwan
• Two lectures at San Jose State University
• A weekend in Vegas: two lectures and a half-day meditation retreat
• Hosted an ING Interfaith meeting
• A workshop at Hewlett-Packard on stress management
• Presided at San Francisco annual Dragon-Boat ceremony
• Two lectures in Denver & Boulder, Colorado
• Attended a 5-day Western Buddhist Monastic conference
• Working on a booklet of Dharma Talks by the Grand Master Wei Chueh for the December Parliament of World's Religions in Melbourne
• Focus on the theme of Buddhism and the environment for adults, Dharma Youth, and AWESOME children classes.
• Two monthly services: Guan Yin and 88 Buddhas at Sunnyvale & Buddha Jewel.
  
• Of course, all the regular classes are still going at Sunnyvale & Seattle
• Our Go Vegetarian 1 Day a Week Facebook group now has over 600 members.
• Our solar panels have generated 110% of the electricity the Zen Center needed (and returned the extra 10% to PG&E so others can use it).
  

Events for next week:

• Give an invocation at Santa Clara County supervisor's meeting
• Two lectures at Harker High School
• Receive visits from three religious classes from Santa Clara University
• Two lectures at Santa Clara University
• Monthly service: Guan Yin Ceremony at Sunnyvale
  
• October 24: Green Action Day, everyone attend!!

All of these Dharma deeds we thank all the shifus and you, the Dharma supporters to help make them happen.

十宗綱要：唯識宗3: 賴耶緣起、心法四相

20090922~23

唯識宗第三堂：

• 阿賴耶緣起之意義
• 心法四相：見分、相分、自證分、證自證分

Q:

1. 前五識、第六識、第七識、第八識之見分、相分各為何？
2. 「我執」有粗的（第六意識）及細的（第七意識）。這是執著何者之見分或相分而形成的？
3. 相分是外在存在之相嗎？若不是，它由何而來？
4. 自證分與證自證分有何差別？為何沒有「自證自證分」？
5. 根據賴耶緣起，這個世界與人類是阿賴耶識所創造的嗎？
   

Coastal Cleaning Day

20090919

Zen Center joined the California-wide effort on Sep. 19th to clean up the coast. Our team of volunteers ranged from middle school kids, Dharma Youths, and adults and helped cleaned up the Guadalupe Slough, near the Water Control Plant in Sunnyvale. Many tennis balls washed up from the Bay, a chair, a bed, beer bottles, etc. It's amazing how we treat our own ocean and land.

See our pictures on flickr.




Also, this is provided by Bessie: photos from 2005 International Coastal Cleanup

http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/photos/sources.html

"Everything that happens in the ocean will affect us." --Fabian
Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau's grandson)

Every year, trash in the ocean kills more than l million seabirds and 100,000 marine turtles through ingestion and entanglement. What we do on land directly affects the oceans. If you visit the beach and ocean this summer, take a long look at the lovely sight, and think about how you can help save it. Click the above link to see a slide show of the ocean debris that we humans have
created.

Surangama Sutra Study Class 01 & 02

20090910 Lecture 01

This term we study sections from the Surangama Sutra, an immensely influential and important sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. Recently a complete, decent translation has become available by the BTTS. (I've waited twenty years for this!) The class is taught concurrently at Zen Center of Sunnyvale and Buddha Jewel Monastery.

In the first class we covered the following:

• Introduction
• The meaning of Surangama: indestructible; heroic progression
• Organization of the Surangama Sutra:
  
  1. Understanding the Way (見道分)
     
  2. Cultivating the Way (修道分)
     
  3. Realizing/Attaining the Way (證道分)
     
  4. Assistance on the Way (助道分)
• "Thus have I heard" (Ananda's role in the Tripitaka)

20090917 Lecture 02

• Sutra Opening Gatha and respecting sutras
• How Surangama was brought to China by Paramiti and translated
• Story of Anathapindada and the Prince Jetri's Grove
• Three kinds of outflow (desire, existence, and ignorance)and the Three Realms of Existence (Realm of Desire, Realm of Form, and Realm of Formlessness)

Questions:

1. If everything is impermanent, how can there be an indestructible samadhi, the Suragama?
2. What is the main purpose of the teaching in Part 1 of the Surangama ("Understanding the Way")?
3. Why is Anathapindada willing to offer all his wealth just to build a monastery for the Buddha? Why is Paramiti willing to endure such physical pain to carry the sutra to China? How do we distinguish religious fanaticism from selfless bodhisattva devotion?
4. Why is this world we live in called the "Realm of Desire"?
5. What does the name "outflow" designate?
   
6. Which outflows exist for each of these three realms?
   

十宗綱要：唯識宗1: 歷史源流; 2: 賴耶種子

20090908~09 十宗綱要：唯識宗1: 歷史源流
20090915~16 十宗綱要：唯識宗2: 賴耶種子

第一堂課，介紹法相/唯識宗的祖師、歷史脈絡。
第二堂課，開始介紹唯識的重要理論。這堂主講了阿賴耶識，其「能藏」「所藏」「執藏」的特點，以及「業力種子」「異熟」的觀念。

請查閱並整理以下的資料：

那爛陀寺
長安慈恩寺
真締三藏
玄奘大師
窺基大師
（二位大師對佛教的貢獻）
會昌法難以及其對後代佛教的影響

問題：
1、為何此宗稱為「法相」宗？
2、為何此宗又稱為「唯識」宗？
3、稱此宗為「佛教的心理學」可以嗎？
4、第八識怎可能又是「能藏」又是「所藏」？世間事物有同樣的例子嗎？
5、業力為何又稱為「種子」？種子何時成為果報？如何影響它？

Some Pilgrimage Pictures

Some pictures from our 2009 Pilgrimage have been uploaded to flickr.

請大家看看一些太谷精舍及佛寶寺2009年中台朝聖之旅的照片。

十宗綱要-三論宗3-6

2009-07-14 & 15 No.3

課文第三章、三論要義第一、二節：破邪顯正、八不中道完。
中論第一品，八不中道總論介紹完畢。

2009-07-21 & 22 No.4

課文：真俗二諦。中論第一品：四門無生（不自生、不他生、不共生、非無因而生）。Ex: 福報從俗諦、真諦來看。

2009-07-28 & 29 No.5

三論宗課文完。十二門論第十品，「觀作者門」(自在天造萬物)論辯選錄(檔案在此)。由此可看出佛法思辯之清晰合理。

三論宗是十宗裏相當艱深的學問，中論、十二門論等也是古人智慧最高的表現，可惜目前甚少有人深入探索。見護目前找到一本百論的英譯，應是唯一的一本英譯，還是1929年一位意大利學者翻的。

2009-08-04 & 05 No.6

三論宗介紹到此為止。百論摘錄，我們研讀了第一品「捨罪福品」，但沒有時間討論選錄的最後一品「破空品」。

Twitter update

These are some of Jianhu Shifu's "twits" from the past month.
http://twitter.com/SunnyZen

The Supreme Way is difficult
Only for those who pick and choose
Let go of love and hate
The Way will reveal itself.
--Trust in Mind

In the US, 10 billion animals are raised and and killed every year. That's 27 million animals a day for our appetite. http://bit.ly/l6jzg

Health is the greatest possession, contentment the greatest wealth.
A trustworthy friend the greatest relation, nirvana the greatest happiness. -Dhammapada 204

Without conventional reality there is no absolute reality; without absolute reality there is no conventional reality.

As you accept praises, also be prepared to accept blame from the same source.

In walking meditation we are not trying to get somewhere; taking each step mindfully is the practice as well as the goal.

In Zen meditation we are not trying to achieve any goals, but simply to live each moment mindfully, calmly, and with clarity.

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life--while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness. -Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet"

"If we don’t change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are going." Chinese proverb

Monkeys live longer on low-calorie diet, a 20-year study shows. Will humans too? http://bit.ly/monkeydiet

In a thousand rivers A thousand moons appear Clear ten thousand clouds Come ten thousand miles of sky 千江有水千江月，萬里無雲萬里天。


Inside a box is square space; inside a cup is round space. Space is actually unlimited, if you can see beyond the box. So is our mind.

There is no fire like lust, and no crime like hatred. --Dhammapada 202

Being always mindful, we can maintain calmness, gain insights, and be our own masters. --Master Wei Chueh of Chung Tai Chan Monastery

When the wind changes direction, there are those who build walls and those who build windmills. --Chinese Proverb

"The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be." -Paul Valery. What is your vision for our future?

Real compassion should be natural and unforced. It comes from the recognition that all sentient beings are fundamentally equal.

Zen is the mind of the Buddha.

The Zen way of dealing with anger is to simply observe your own anger. When you do, the anger no longer takes control over you.

Our body is like a river or a sand dune, constantly flowing, changing, exchanging with the environment. It is inseparable with nature.

"If all you'll ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you've ever got." Texas Zen Proverb

What restless minds are seeking is a way to truly rest.

The best way to know yourself is from people who harshly criticize you.

When we understand our interconnection with the world and all beings, then living in an environmentally responsible way is natural.

Poems from Chinese Buddhis Nuns

Here is a nice book: Daughters of Emptiness--Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns, by Beata Grant. It has brief biography from these (often little known) nuns, many having achieved enlightenment or some sort of prominence in their times. The book contains the original Chinese poems as well.

I selected some of the poems below. Suffering from occupational addiction, I had to re-translate some of them, mosly on the airplane between Seattle and San Jose.

Don’t you know that afflictions are wisdom itself
But to cling to afflictions is foolishness
You must recognize when afflictions arise and when they cease
Yet the hawk flies through Silla without anyone noticing
--Bhiksuni (Buddhist nun) Benming

不識煩惱是菩提
若隨煩惱是愚癡
起滅之時須要會
鷂過新羅人不知
--本明尼

The nun Benming lived in the 12th century. Not much was known about her, but her poems impressed several important Chan Masters.

I suddenly find myself upside down on level ground
Picking myself up, I find there is nothing to say!
Should someone ask me what this is all about
Smiling, I’d point to the gentle breeze and the bright moon.
--Bhiksuni Zhenru

平地偶然著顛
起來都無可說
若人更問如何
笑指清風明月
--真如尼

As a young girl, because of her talents, Zhenru was inducted into the inner palace as an attendant to an imperial concubine. The lady was a Buddhist, and gave permission when Zhenru expressed her desire to become a nun. Her poems are highly regarded by the great master Dahui Zonggao.

A Self-Description

I try to characterize myself, but I cannot
I try to make a self-portrait, but failed!
There is such a thing as original face
But how can I show it to anyone!
Alive, lively, unborn
The nostrils still hang over the upper lip.
--Bhiksuni DeYing

自贊
自贊贊不出
自畫畫不成
有箇本來相
如何呈似人
活潑潑 本無生
鼻孔依然搭上唇
--德英

Buddhist nun DeYing came from an elite family; she was also a descendant of an eminent scholar that edited the famous Chan genealogy book Jinde Chuan Deng Lu (Transmission of the Lamp). She became a Dharma heir and taught in many monasteries.

Is she a woman or a man, in reality?
When Guanyin manifests—which is the real person?
Peeling away the skin, down to the bare core prior to any function
I ask you: is this the body of a man or a woman?
--Bhiksuni One-Eyed Vajra

男女何須辨假真
觀音出現果何人
皮囊脫盡渾無用
試問男身是女身
--獨目金鋼

This nun lost eyesight in one eye from studying the Diamond Sutra too intently. She lived a simply lifestyle and gave away everything she owned. When she lectured monks, nuns, and laipeople came to listen, and she converted many to Buddhism.

The vast expanse of dust-world is essentially one-suchness
Whether vertical or horizontal, everything bears the seal of Vairochana
Although the entire wave is made of water, wave is not water;
Although all the water may turn into waves, water is not wave.
--Bhiksuni Zhitong

浩浩塵中體一如
縱極交互印毘盧
全波是水波非水 全水是波水自殊
--智通尼

On this frosty day, clouds and mist congeal,
On the mountain moon, the icy chill glows.
At night I receive a letter from my home,
At dawn I move on without anyone knowing.
--Bhiksuni Fahai

霜天雲霧結
山月冷涵輝
夜接故鄉信
曉行人不知
–法海尼

In the shade of two trees and the hanging green of the cliffs
A light from the ancient lamp shutteres the dark barriers
I too now realize that phenomena are like illusions
And happily grow old among the mist, the rivers, and the stones.
--Bhiksuni Miaozhan

雙樹陰陰落翠岩
一燈千古破幽關
也知諸法皆如幻
甘老煙霞水石間
–妙湛

Zen Center roof painted white

"I see a black roof and I want to paint it white."
(apologies to the Rolling Stones)

This from Michael (Chuna Guan) of the Zen Center:

For the past week, Jian-Xie shifu led a group of volunteers painting
Zen Center’s roof white. This effort is one action of Zen Center’s
overall SunnyZen Green Initiatives.

A pale colored roof would help to contain climate change both by
reflecting more solar radiation into space and by reducing the amount
of energy needed to keep buildings cool by air-conditioning. It also
has the potential of increasing the efficiency of solar panels.

We used a surface thermometer to measure the temperature of two areas,
side by side, of our tar roof. One area is painted white while another
is not. The difference in temperature is about 40F degrees (please see
the posted photos in Files section). Using the rule of thumb that
“1000 square feet would offsets 10 tons of CO2 emission; our action
would offset about 160 tons of CO2 or more. For comparison purposes, a
typical US house emits about 10 tons of CO2 per year. The average
world car emits about 4 tons of CO2 each year. “

There is a winter penalty of a white roof as more heating is needed.
The penalty is about 5 to 15%. There is no specific data for
California, but it would be on the lower end of the scale. “In the
winter, the sun is low and sees mainly the south wall. As long as the
south wall of the building is in dark color” that should compensate
the penalty to great extent.

California has an ordinance, since 2005, that requires all flat roofs
on new commercial buildings to be white. This ordinance is the brain
child of Dr. Art Rosenfeld, a member of the California Energy
Commission. In 2008, Dr Rosenfeld and two colleagues from the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory in California, Hashem Akbari and Surabi
Menon, calculated that changing surface colors in 100 of the world’s
largest cities could save the equivalent of 44 billion tons of carbon
dioxide — about as much as global carbon emissions are expected to
rise by over the next decade.

Dr, Rosenfeld’s research result influenced Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-
winning physicist appointed by President Obama as Energy Secretary. On
May 26th of 2009, Dr, Chu announced a global initiative to change the
color of roofs, roads and pavements in containing global warming.

Please see following links for more information:
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00007&segmentID=7
A link to an interview with California energy commissioner Arthur
Rosenfeld on the reasons to paint our roof white. It also commented on
the CO2 emission and economy of this action.

http://www.loe.org/images/090213/White%20Roofs%20Cool%20the%20World.pdf
A non-technical summary of this action.

http://www.loe.org/images/090213/Global%20cooling.pdf
A technical summary of this action.

十宗綱要-三論宗2

2009-07-07 & 08

三論宗第二講：

• 三論宗所依經論（課文第二節）
• 中論第一品：「不生亦不滅」之「不生」義，以穀之不生為例。今穀由上一代穀組成，上一代穀亦含上二代穀，故今穀實包含了過去無數代穀，綿延不斷，無有「生」期。不生亦不滅，前穀亦無有滅期。

感謝幾位居士的費心的整理，提供如下的三論全文。

• 中觀頌
• 中論
• 十二門論
• 百論

學員應看完「三論宗」的課文，並試著理解中論第一品中「八不中道」的說明。

另外，這是學員收集的「三論宗」資料：

• 三論宗資料
  

Go Vegetarian 1 Day A Week

We are encouraging people everywhere to pledge "Go Vegetarian 1 Day A Week".

Director of IPCC, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has stated that the meat and dairy industry contributes 18% of all the greenhouse gases that causes global warming. In comparison, all the air, land, and water traffic produces 13%. (IPCC shared the Noble Peace Prize with Al Gore in 2007.)

If everyone make a slight change in our diet, we can make a real difference to our world.

Be kind to your body. Be kind to the animals. Be kind to our planet.
Go Vegetarian 1 Day A Week (more than 1 day is even better, of course).

Show your support by pledging (joining) the Facebook group we created.

Ask your family, friends, boss, coworkers to pledge.

If you're not on Facebook, please make your pledge by signing up at the Zen Center of Sunnyvale or Buddha Jewel Monastery.

Currently, we already have over 200 people signed up from all over the world. Our goal: 100,000 people. This will effect a change of lifestyle for human beings.


Some facts taken from the book "The Food On Your Plate" (references to these data can be found in the book):

The more than 2.5 billion pigs and cattle excrete more than 80 metric tons (176 billion pounds) of waste nitrogen annually; by comparison, the entire human population produces 30 million tons. (Nitrous oxide has 296 times the effect on global warming than CO2).

The EPA says that the 3 trillion pounds of waste from factory animals is a greater source of pollution our our rivers and lakes than ALL OTHER industrial sources combined.

Animals on factory farms in the U.S. produce 87,000 pounds of waste EVERY SECOND, which 130 times more than the entire population of the United States. This equivalent to about 5 tons of animal waste for each person in the U.S.

A typical pig factory farm generates as much wast as a city of 50,000 people.


Cornell University research has calculated that it takes 13,000 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef. Other researches found that it takes 2,600 gallons of water to produce a single serving of steak.

Producing 2 pounds of animal protein requires about ten times more water than producing 2 pounds of grain protein.

EPA: chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams.

Our water sources are also disappearing fast. 17 trillion gallons of water were used for irrigation annually to produce feed for U.S. livestock.

New York Times: "As the world's appetite for meat increases, countries across the globe are bulldozing huge swaths of land to make more room for animals and the crops to feed them. From tropical rain forests in Brazil to ancient pine forests in China, entire ecosystems are being destroyed to fuel our addiction to meat."

十宗綱要-三論宗1

2009-06-30 & 07-01

今天開始三論宗，中國佛教特有的宗派，建立在印度佛教般若及中觀的研究。
本課介紹了課本內三論宗的歷史源流，並開始看了一段中論第一品，「八不中道」。

「中論」第一品 pdf

請大家有興趣者可查查以下資料：

1. 龍樹傳
2. 提婆傳
3. 僧肇傳
4. 吉藏傳
5. 中論全文
6. 中觀頌全文
7. 百論全文
8. 十二門論全文

若做 5-8 時希望發心將文字格式整理整齊。

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.