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8/6/2019 Blue Sky White Clouds - Zen Mirror Jan-Feb2011
1/8
1-Day Zen Meditation Retreat
and Dharma talk
(Pls register)
1
8/1
67th Zen Meditation Course for
Beginners - by Ven. Chi Boon
(Pls register)
2/2
Reunion Dinner (Pls register)
Medicine Buddha Repentance
Chanting
27/2
)
Visit Old Folks Home
(Pls register)
1/1
)
Whole year Offering of Lights
(Pls register)
Blue Sky, White Clouds
New Year Fund Raising Dinner
13/2
Futsing Building, Level 2 Auditorium
Please book dinner tickets early
1/1
)Whole year Offering of Lights
(Pls register)
3/2 - 6/2
()New Year Liang Huang Fa Hui
(Pls register)
10/2 - 12/2
()New Year Liang Huang Fa Hui
(Pls register)
Editors note: The editorial team had a rare chance to have a candid talk with our
KYCL abbot. Below is the transcription.
Q : What is the vision of KYCL?
Shifu: To revitalise Zen practice.
Q : What is the teaching of Zen? How to begin Zen practice?
Shifu: To enter this gate, do not attach to your understanding and concepts.
Q : What is your view of the students today? Are they more difcult to teach com-
pared to students, say, 10 years ago?
Shifu: The students 10 years ago saw that the sky is blue, clouds are white. Students
now also see that the sky is blue, the clouds are white.
Q : What is your wish for KYCL?Shifu: My wish is that everybody can always live among blue sky and white clouds,
and nd their correct life.
MICA (P) No. 019/05/2010
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shopping
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TransformingGrief and FearExtracted from No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh
In chemistry we would call the ground of beingof water H2O: two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen
atom. From this ground of being, a molecule, many
things can manifest: clouds, rain, snow, water. It is
wonderful to be a cloud, but it is also wonderful to
be the rain. It is also wonderful to be the snow or
water. If the cloud remembers this, then when the
cloud is about to transform and continue in the form
of rain, it will not be so frightened. It will remember
that to be a cloud is wonderful, but to be the rain
falling down is also wonderful.
When the cloud is not caught in the idea of birth and
death, or being and non-being, there is no fear. By
learning from the cloud, we can nurture our non-
fear. Non-fear is the ground of true well-being. As
long as fear is in us, happiness cannot be perfect.
When you practise looking deeply, you see your
true nature of no birth, no death; no being, no non-
being; no coming, no going; no same, no different.
When you see this, you are free from fear. You are
free from craving and free from jealousy. No fear
is the ultimate joy. When you have the insight of
no fear, you are free. And like the great beings, you
ride serenely on the waves of birth and death.
The true nature of all things is not to be born, not to
die, not to arrive and not to depart. My true nature is
the nature of no coming and no going. When there
are sufcient conditions, I manifest, and when the
conditions are no longer sufcient, I hide. I do not go
anywhere. Where would I go? I simply hide.
If your dear one has just died, you may have a difcult
time overcoming your loss. You may be crying all the
time. But look deeply. There is a divine medicine to
help you overcome your pain, to see that your dear oneis not born and does not die, does not come and does
not go.
It is only because of our misunderstanding that we
think the person we love no longer exists after they
pass away. This is because we are attached to one
of the forms, one of the many manifestations of that
person. When that form is gone, we suffer and feel sad.
The person we love is still there. He is around us,
within us and smiling at us. In our delusion we cannot
recognise him, and we say, He no longer is. We
ask over and over, Where are you? Why did you
leave me all alone? Our pain is great because of our
misunderstanding. But the cloud is not lost. Our beloved
is not lost. The cloud is manifesting in a different form.
Our beloved is manifesting in a different form. If we
can understand this, then we will suffer much less.
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What Is It?
When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking, being silent, moving, being still, at all
times, in all places, without interruption, what is this?
One mind is innite kalpas.
1. All times and all places come from where?
2. One mind is innite kalpas. Are innite kalpas inside or outside this one mind?
3. What is one mind?
4. What are innite kalpas?
Commentary:The Avatamsaka Sutra says, If you wish to thoroughly understand all the Buddhas of the past,
present, and future, then you should view the nature of the whole universe as being created by
mind alone. If you have no mind, where can the Buddha stay? Who comes? Who goes? If onemind disappears, where are time and space? Put it down, then everything is clear. The moun-
tain is blue, water is owing.
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Diary of a Zen Workshop
Sentient being are numberless, we vow to save
them all. Zen Master Wu Bong jokingly said we werebeing tricked into saying the vows so now we cannot
eat back our words! When I rst recite these vows four
years ago, I thought that I would not be able keep them;
I probably would not want to keep them as well. How-
ever, after these few years of practise, I came to realize
these vows were actually helping us to relieve our own
suffering. The masters said we must throw away I-my-
me. I realized that when we hold onto I-my-me, any
situation, regardless of whether good or bad, will one
way or another, become a burden that weighs on us.
All this is due to the existence of I-my-me. As we ex-perience difcult situations, this burden becomes even
greater. There will come to a point where the burden
becomes unbearable and we cannot handle it anymore.
However, the magical thing is that when we throw
away I-my-me, the burden in our life just fall away and
disappear immediately as there is nothing for the bur-
den to settle on. Just like what the Sixth Patriarch said,
Originally there is nothing, where does dust settle?
To throw away I-my-me, we have to completely stop
thinking of ourselves, the purpose behind our actionswill then only be for others. The other thing I realized
is that we do not need to wait for enlightenment before
we do this. We can do it right now! Previously, my
thinking has been, If we cannot save ourselves, how
can we save others? But right now, it is, When we
have the correct direction in life, saving ourselves and
saving others go hand in hand. When we try to save
others we are actually saving ourselves. If we really
want to save ourselves, we will eventually realize that
we must save others rst, which also means throwing
away I-my-me. So to me, these vows are amazinglynot a sacrice at all; it is really a remedy to relieve
us from our own suffering. Hahaha! I nd this really
funny.
There was one common message that all the mas-
ters persistently trying to get across to us; Just Do
It!Which means to start our Zen practice now. That isto keep a clear mind moment to moment. So I wish
we can Just Do it, try, try, try for ten thousand years,
gain enlightenment and save all beings from suffering.Cheers!
During my rst 7-day retreat at Pengerang, Ven. Chi
Boon said that even a child can answer kong-ans. I wassceptical about this. After the retreat, immediately upon
stepping into the house, I asked my 3-year-old daugh-
ter, What is Buddha nature? I was sure she could not
even understand the word nature, so for her to be able
to answer the kong-an correctly would be next to im-
possible. But without hesitation, she turned to her right,
pointed to a toy on the table and said, The toy is blue.
My jaw almost dropped to the oor. So today during the
Zen Workshop, when Zen Master Dae Bong said that
when we grow up, we lose our childs mind, I totally
agree!
The Zen Workshop was a success in every way.It was a success because everyone was ONE with the
talks and practice. It was also a success because of the
number of young participants in the workshop and how
the Dharma talks triggered big questions in them. It was
heart-warming to see young people having such good
karma to have the opportunity to hear Dharma talks by
keen-eyed teachers. I remembered when I rst read Zen
Master Seung Sahns book, I said to myself, This isit! This is the essence of the Buddhas teaching. It is so
simple! I have read many books, went to different cen-
tres, heard the teachings of other religions, but I could
not nd answers to real life problems. When I nally
read his teaching, my thought was that if only I had
found it earlier. So it was really wonderful to see many
young participants at this Zen Workshop. They do not
need to waste years searching before they have the op-
portunity to hear the teaching.
The Dharma talks were powerful and come invarious favours.We have four great masters givingsimple, clear and complete Buddhist teachings, each
approaching it from different angles. As the Dharma
talks progressed, I thought to myself that these could
easily be the best Dharma talks ever! But it also made
me sad; if only there were more people attending this
workshop to hear these talks. So when I reached home
after the rst day of the workshop, I spoke very strongly
to my father, urging him to attend the workshop on the
second day. Somehow I manage to penetrate his usually
strong cage, and he agreed without too much difculty.
- Charles
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The construction of the new Zen Centre involves three
elements of Zen practice: Great Faith, Great Question
and Great Courage. Great Faith is the strong faith that the
building can be constructed despite great difculties and
that it will benet many people when completed. It gives us
a clear direction in the construction project. Great Question
is the question If other much more costly temples can be
constructed, why not our new Zen Centre? It provides
New Zen Centre
Building Progress
us with a single-mindedness, a not-moving mind that is focused on one thingcompletion of the building
construction. Great Courage involves everyone focusing their energy on activity after activity to propagate the
teachings and to raise funds. It is the courage to overcome the many obstacles faced during the construction.
Of all the obstacles, the most pressing is that of funding. Right now, the sixth storey of the 8-storey Zen Centre
is being constructed. Our funds will be depleted by the middle of this year. We are still in need of $1.5 million
to complete the project.
We earnestly invite you to join us in the great effort to complete the construction of the new Zen Centre. Many
activities are lined up for the year to propagate the teachings and to raise funds. We require many volunteers
to help in the organisation of these various activities. Above all, we appeal for your continuous and generous
support of this meaningful project that will benet people in the years to come.
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/
Bi-monthly Issue / Issue No. 61
Spiritual Leader : Zen Master Seung Sahn
Abbot : Ven. Chi BoonEditor : Leow Wee Kheng
Printer : Qiantai Printing &
Publishing Pte. Ltd.
(T) 6743 0478
Publisher : Kwan Yin Chan Lin
kyclzen@singnet.com.sghttp://www.kyclzen.org
Kwan Yin Chan Lin203C Lavender Street, Singapore 338764(T) +65 6392 0265 (F) +65 6392 4256
Pengerang International ZenMeditation Centre
Lot. 109 Telok Ramunia, 81620Pengerang Johor
(T) 0207 826 4848
8
TO DATE
SHARES
3650 Kerk Sock Leng/Abner Low Mao ZeTan Chong Sing
Teo Ji Mung (Deceased)Ang Kim Siew
Tan Kok HuaTan Sioh Leng
Sponsors for Commencement of Construction of New Zen Centre
/
Wong Sou Hwa
Tan Choon Huat
PolyQuid (S) Pte Ltd
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