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Upcoming Events

6 – 13 August 2016

Ullambana Festival Filial Piety Buddhist

Chanting Service

13 August 2016

Sangha Offering Ceremony

14 August 2016

Amitabha Thrice Yearning Dharma

Function & General Merits transference

17 August 2016

Sangha Day Service & Grand Offering

24 August 2016

Longevity Dharma Service & Grand Offering (Birthday of Ven. Master

Hsing Yun)

Chung Tian Buddhist Temple

1034 Underwood Road

Priestdale QLD 4127, Australia

Website: www.chungtian.org.au

Email: ibaq@chungtian.org.au

Ph: 3841 3511 Fax: 3841 3522 Buddha’s Light International Association of Queensland, Australia

The Origin & meaning of Ullambana Festival

BLIAQ Newsletter

Edition 116 July 2016

After listening to the Buddha’s words, Maudgalyayana made the required oblations and his mother was finally liberated from the realm of hungry ghost and ascended to the realm of heavenly beings. The Buddha then reaffirmed the merit of Sangha offering to Maudgalyayana: all Buddhist could deliver their parents from the miseries of the three lower realm as long as they observe the practice of Ullambana Sangha Offering.

In China, Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty (502C.E.—549C.E.) established the Ullambana Sangha Offering Ceremony to formally make oblations to monastics of the ten directions and to promote the spirit of filial piety. Thenceforth, the ceremony was deemed very important by successive emperors and the general public. In time, it became a widely practiced Chinese custom. For it not only provides protections from the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, it also coincides with the popular Chinese practice of feeding the spirits in the month of July. By making offerings to the Sangha, not only will the deceased be liberated, the living will also be protected from harm.

Ullambana can be considered as a purely Buddhist ceremony if the Buddhists devote themselves to remember their departed relatives and friends during the days prescribed for the ceremony by transferring merits to them for their well being. Noticeably, Ullambana focuses its attention to filial piety which Maudgalyayana exemplified by performing meritorious deeds in the name of his mother.

Today, the tradition of the Ullambana Festival lives on. On the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, all Buddhists celebrate the Day of the Buddha's Rejoicing, and the Sangha's pravarana. It is believed that the merits and virtues derived from making offerings to the Triple Gem on this day is several times greater than on ordinary days, and that by doing good deeds and making offerings on such a day we can help rescue our parents from the hells and secure for them rebirth in the heavens.

Whatever our personal inclinations, perhaps, there is meaning to be found in the observance of this festival after all. Looked at it in the right spirit, the festival of the Ullambana which celebrates filial piety. But more than that, it is an exercise of compassion as we transfer merits and extend loving-kindness to all sentient beings. By observing such a tradition mindfully, we can also develop our own spiritual practice. This Ullambana festival will commence at Chung Tian Temple from 6- 14 August 2016 which includes chanting, offerings to the Sangha, and transfer of merits. All are welcome to participate!

Ullambana, translated as "to hang upside down" or "to be in suspense," connotes the extreme sufferings of hungry ghosts, which can only be alleviated by making offerings of exquisite delicacies to the Buddha and providing meals for the Sangha. According to the Ullambanapatra Sutra, Maudgalyayana, a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha, turned to the Buddha for guidance when he was unable to lessen the miseries suffered by his mother who had descended into the realm of hungry ghosts upon her death. The Buddha told Maudgalyayana that the only way to deliver his mother from the pains of suffering is to rely upon the power acquired by monastics of the ten directions in their cultivation of meritorious virtues. The Buddha instructed his chief disciple to dedicate an elaborate oblation of dainties and fruits to all Sangha members in the names of his parents from the past seven lifetimes as well as the present lifetime. For the merits thus acquired could emancipate the deceased from the three suffering realms and allow the presently living to enjoy a life of abundance, good fortune and longevity because the practice of Sangha offering is a skillful mean that benefits both the deceased and the living with its power to deliver and transform all sentient beings.

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Opening Ceremony of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-Stroke Calligraphy Exhibition

To celebrate the 50th

anniversary of Foguangshan, Chung Tian Temple held the ‘Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-Stroke Calligraphy Exhibition & Foguangshan 50

th Anniversary Photography Exhibition’. The Opening

Ceremony was on 9th

July, starting with the ‘Birthday’ dance performed by World Dance Academy led by Brisbane dancer Wang Feng-Zhi.

Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan said that the exhibition was to celebrate the 50th

anniversary of Foguangshan. Over the years, the eyesight of the Venerable Master deteriorated due to diabetes and thus he used the one-stroke calligraphy to make affinity with people. He used his ‘heart’ to write and his written words showed the Prajna wisdom of Buddhism, emphasizing the direction of developing ‘Buddhist arts culture’ to propagate Humanistic Buddhism. Also the practice of the ‘Three acts of goodness’ and ‘Four offerings’ to promote ‘Five harmonies’ demonstrated the social educational functions of Humanistic Buddhism. The Photography Exhibition allowed people to experience the Venerable Master’s aspirations and vows of ‘May the Buddha’s Light universally shine upon the entire universe. May the Dharma water continuously flow towards the five big continents.’ Let us look forward to the future and hope of Foguangshan.

Mr. Duncan Pegg MP on behalf of the Minister of Multicultural Affairs of Queensland thanked Chung Tian Temple and BLIAQ for holding this excellent international touring exhibition. Queensland residents came from more than 220 countries with over 200 languages and more than 100 kinds of religions. The government has strongly promoted multiculturalism and advocated respect and tolerance to different religions. “Thanks Venerable Master Hsing Yun for his contributions to Buddhism for 50 years. I often come to visit Chung Tian Temple as it is a beautiful and peaceful place. Congratulations to the success of the exhibition.”

Superintendent Glenn Horton on behalf of Queensland Police Commissioner said that it was his first time to visit Chung Tian Temple. Queensland Police Service was concerned about various cultures and ethnic people. He congratulated the success of the exhibition.

Director General of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (Brisbane) Lai Wei-Chung said that Venerable Master Hsing Yun was a Prajna cultivator, focusing on culture, education and charity. Throughout his life, he promoted culture and education. At present, he had blurred vision but with the eyes of his heart and discernment, amazingly he was able to write prolifically. Everybody could read the writing as if seeing the Master, and see the words as if reading the Dharma.

Social Charity and Service Committee Director Lu Shu-Yuan pointed out that because of Foguangshan, countless people became Buddhists in the past 50 years. Because of Chung Tian Temple, she had the opportunity to study Buddhism. The Venerable Master had blurred vision, but with the illumination of his mind, he achieved his perseverance, persistence and the great vow of making good affinities using his coherent one stroke. She wished everyone had the spirit of the one-stroke, experiencing its underlying Buddhist wisdom and compassion. The writing enriched us in the understanding of the value of life. When there is Dharma, there is a way.

BLIAQ Vice President Arthur Liu on behalf of the second generation of Buddha’s Light people thanked Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s vision in building temples in overseas countries, and establishing Chung Tian Temple. The Venerable Master was a prolific writer, but he still continued to write one-stroke calligraphy everyday without ceasing. With the spirit of ‘a life living for 300 years’, he promoted Humanistic Buddhism, advocating the ‘Three acts of goodness’ and ‘Four offerings’ to bring peace and harmony to families and society as well as to enhance world peace and a pure land on earth. He said that he was honored and fortunate to follow the right Buddhism.

Hilary Lennon, a psychologist from BLIAQ Chung Tian Branch personally wrote the poetry ‘Master Strokes’, praising the lifetime contribution of Venerable

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Master Hsing Yun to Buddhism and a tribute to the Master’s 90th

birthday. Children from English Children Buddhist Class performed ‘Happy Birthday’.

Finally, Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan, Duncan Pegg MP, Superintendent Glenn Horton, Director Lai Wei-Chung, Paul Massingham Tourism Officer of Logan City Council, Honorary Benefactor Lu Shu-Yuan, a total of 12 VIPs performed the opening ceremony, each holding a glass of gold powder to sprinkle onto the Master’s word of ‘Heart’. The golden sparkling word represents Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Bodhisattva heart in promoting Humanistic Buddhism to benefit all living beings. This creative opening ceremony won the warm applause from the participants, allowing them to see the word as if seeing the heart of the Master. The book of ‘Humanistic Buddhism – Holding True to the Original Intent of Buddha’ by Venerable Master Hsing Yun was presented to the guests as gift.

More than 200 people participated including Logan Police Inspector Michael Dowdy, Director General of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (Brisbane) Lai Wei-Chung and his wife, World Arts & Multi-Culture Inc., McCullough Robertson Law Firm, Hakka Association of Queensland, Taiwan Women’s League of Queensland, Chinese Fraternity Association of Queensland, Feng Chia University Alumni Association of Queensland, Overseas Community Affairs Council (Brisbane), Chinese Ethnic Broadcasting Association of Queensland, Queensland Chinese Orchestra, Qianguang Calligraphy Club, Chinese & Australian Ba Gua Tai Chi Association and representatives of all sectors in society. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

In China’s Jiangsu Province, some 90 years ago – A young boy born, began a path. Beyond his years so wise, with wisdom and with merits earned, from eons of past lives. A seed to nurture and to grow this boy was soon to be, a light that shone, across the world to all humanityand taught the Dharma, so profound three acts of goodness, when unfurled are treasures Mara’s Will confounds. To think good thoughts, to speak good words and do good deeds, the aim, for they in truth do pave the way along the Eightfold Path then at the age of twelve, this boy ordained in far off China, studied more, and learned and grew in wisdom and in prudence. In turbulent times he left his land then in Taiwan found guidance.

In 1949 while there, he was chief editor for 'Human Life', 'Awakening World' and 'Buddhism Today’. He recognized the written word was powerful indeed a methodology to propagate the Buddhist truth and creed. In 1957, with skilful means he found a place to publish written words known as the Fo Guang House to be a source of Buddhist Text, of Teachings and the Sutras a font of wisdom and a key for those who choose to see. In 1967, more precious work began as Venerable Master Hsing Yun, toiled and Founded Fo Guang Shan.

An Order where the Sangha all through culture, arts, and prayer can bring to life Four Noble Truths for sentient beings to share. They practice loving kindness, with equanimity their merits gained though eons past help all Humanity to Propagate the Dharma, and meditate and chant will benefit our Karma for merits it will grant. Where once just bamboo forest grew it now a temple holds where non-duality abounds and loving kindness grows where pilgrims come together in daily prayer and grace to gather and to gently share the wonder of the place.

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, still epitomizes love, he gives to all around in need, he sows the Dharma seed. With wisdom and compassionate care to sentient beings here or there. He sees their Buddha nature all and offers them a prayer. The humble ants who toil in groups and share the load of tasks, he sees as sentient beings who can take the Noble Path. With Humanistic Buddhism the Master reaches out to all who share this life and time and also lives to come. He uses music, art and things from modern world begun…

To teach and guide and be a light, to liberate and heal. To show us ways to banish far the poisons that we feel. He demonstrates the simple truths of cause, effect and Karma, of how conditions we can change and propagate the Dharma. By cultivating in our hearts the Four Great Virtues now, through Chan and purity of thought by Skillful Means and Practice by ever seeking to improve and recognize illusion the obstacles to peace remove and banish all delusion. The Master says we should not be obsessed with our longevity nor should we fear that death will come for it is just a step “Ordinariness is greatness, demanding nothing is sublime” Tirelessly he gives the world his wisdom and his time. Today we view his works of art Calligraphy so fine created by a life of love that shows in every line. Those strokes unbroken make each one complete in every way they tell a story, and a truth of cause, effect, and say with master-strokes The Master shows a Buddha we can be by following the Noble Path if we can just but see. Hilary Lennon

Master Strokes

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Interview with Venerable Man Ko Head Abbess of Foguangshan Australia & New Zealand

On 25th

June in early winter, Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s One-Stroke Calligraphy Touring Exhibition was held in Sydney. Venerable Man Ko, Head Abbess of Foguangshan Australia New Zealand presided over the Opening Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony during which she introduced in detail how Venerable Master Hsing Yun began practicing one-stroke calligraphy and how he made affinities with devotees and people with his calligraphy of unique style. In her narration, Venerable Man Ko brought forward the great love and tolerance of Buddhism in her clear and influential voice. With her slim appearance of a woman, she served for Venerable Master Hsing Yun to shoulder the responsibility of Dharma propagation in Australian and New Zealand. Actually how strong was her mind? With lots of doubt, the reporter interviewed this amazing lady Venerable Man Ko after the Opening Ceremony.

When the reporter asked Venerable Man Ko to talk about her personal background and experience, she always explained that being a Buddhist disciple, all of her belonged to Foguangshan. What she had done was to propagate Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Dharma around the world. The individual of her was insignificant. Her humility made you feel an irresistible force and that she had a world-inclusive mind. Speaking about Venerable Master Hsing Yun and the one-stroke calligraphy exhibition, she was expressive as if words were pouring out. The exhibition had double meaning. It was to commemorate the 50

th anniversary

of Foguangshan as well as to celebrate the 90th birthday of Venerable Master

Hsing Yun. When she introduced the Master’s one-stroke calligraphy, she quoted the Master’s words, “Do not look at my words but look at my heart”.

Venerable Man Ko explained that the Master’s calligraphy was different from others in that it did not belong to a particular sect such as official script, running script or cursive. The Master’s eyes were not good and thus by listening to the movement of the writing brush and forgetting the hands, his writing was produced in a natural style with a mind of purity and sincerity. The written words were Buddha’s teachings to advise people to perform good deeds with positive and optimistic philosophy. Venerable Man Ko said that the Venerable Master with a heart of making good affinity and giving happiness to people hoped that everyone could bring back the meaning of the Dharma words and appreciation of faith and Dharma joy with them. This was the sincere prayer of the Master to all. Venerable Man Ko said when Venerable Master Hsing Yun proposed to build Nan Tien Institute in Australia, he donated nearly 1,000 pieces of one-stroke calligraphy. Last year, he also donated one million dollars to set up an Education Fund. The Master’s charitable act had the effect of ‘setting a good example for others to follow’, thus attracting donations from many people in the community. About the future planning and development, Venerable Man Ko said that currently Nan Tien Temple attracted 500,000 visitors and tourists every year. Since Nan Tien Institute and Nan Tien Temple were separated by a highway, it was inconvenient. Fortunately, devotee Wang Wei-Xian from Shanghai Goldman Sachs Land Company of China after his visit was willing to raise funds, spending tens of millions Australian dollars to build a bridge, linking Nan Tien Temple and Nan Tien Institute. Nan Tien Temple is a traditional Buddhist site whereas Nan Tin Institute is a modern institution of higher education. Nan Tien Temple is for monastics whereas Nan Tien Institute is for elites in the lay community. Now the tradition and modernity collide together, resulting in an interaction and binding of the Chinese and Western cultures. It could be seen that Venerable Man Ko had more ambitious vision in her mind. Being born in Malaysia, she was graduated from Buddhist University and renounced in Foguangshan at the age of 23. In 1990, she was transferred to Nan Tien Temple to help in the building of the temple. In 1996, she was deployed to Singapore to establish the Foguangshan Temple where she became the Abbess for more than 20 years. Currently, being the Head Abbess of Foguangshan Australia New Zealand, she worked for the development of Nan Tien Institute. As a disciple of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, Venerable Man Ko inherited and carried forward the propagation of the Master’s Dharma as her own mission, shouldering this heavy burden. However, devotees were able to see in her, a petite woman, the strong faith and courage with persistence and pursuit. Finally, when it came to the value and happiness in life, Venerable Man Ko shared the following saying, “Life is meaningless by itself. In order to make it meaningful, we must do something meaningful to make life more worthwhile.” The reporter also hoped that readers from her words could gain enlightenment to the significance of one’s life. Translated by Elaine Pun

# Venerable Master Hsing Yun # 366 Days with Wisdom

Give others happiness anywhere. Give others confidence anytime. Render your services to others readily. Provide convenience to others befittingly.

The most precious thing in the world is neither money nor social status but happiness. Happiness fills the world with colour and our life with hope. Hence, we should constantly think of ways to spread happiness, how to use loving kindness, compassion, joy and benevolence to bring happiness to others; how to use delicious food to give joy to others; how to use good words to make others happy. A person who has a joyous heart and thought is one who is the happiest and wealthiest person in the world.

Being happy or unhappy is just a matter of switching thoughts. Coming to this world, we should provide happiness to others and not infect them with sadness and worries. To do so, we have to create pleasure for ourselves as well as for others. These days, to attract customers, businessmen incorporate certain pleasing features into their merchandise, such as clocks that chime with interesting sounds; mobile phones with different music tunes, computer screens with beautiful sceneries; all these are readily accepted and give pleasure to customers.

Happiness is the most glorious entity in the world. People in this world will all pursue happiness because it allows us to experience the meaning of life and ascertain the value of life. Therefore, as a person, we should create happiness for others and make ourselves the fruit that brings joy to ourselves as well as to others. This is certainly a worthy objective of life. Venerable Master Hsing Yun

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Developing Future and Hope – By Possessing Self-Nature Triple Gem

“Make a wish! If you are given an opportunity, what do you want?” Venerable Man Ko, Head Abbess of Foguangshan Australia New Zealand guided young people to think. A seemingly simple question in fact was full of the mystery of life. On 2

nd July, Venerable Man Ko in her talk of ‘Future and Hope’ encouraged every

student to believe in themselves and transcend themselves to achieve a successful life. The Venerable guided students in a progressive manner to understand themselves from one level to the next. First, through the story of ‘cat and mouse’, she encouraged young people to learn different languages and skills to achieve a breakthrough and be able to select a key for the future. “What is faith?” The Abbess guided young people to think, from the ‘Original Triple Gem’ to the ‘Abiding Triple Gem’ and further hoping everyone to attain the ‘Self-Nature Triple Gem’. ‘Buddha, Dharma and Sangha’ are the centre of Buddhist faith. ‘Self-Nature Triple Gem’ is to allow oneself to be like the ‘Buddha’ to possess self-charging ability, to master the ‘Dharma’ so as to accommodate all things clearly in the mind, and to let go like the ‘Sangha’ so as to cultivate the mind of purity.

There was once a congressman asking Venerable Master Hsing Yun, “Among all gods in the world, which one is the greatest?” The Venerable Master smiled and replied, “You are the greatest because you would feel which god is the greatest. When you believe, he is the ‘god’ or else he is the ‘devil’.” The Abbess gave an example to help the youths to further understand the inner meaning of it and reminded the important significance of ‘faith’ in life. In faith, there are morality, history and energy; it is a lifetime learning object that people look up to, helping them to purify the body and mind, and more importantly guiding them in growth to find the direction of life.

The Venerable further explained the meaning of ‘Buddha nature’. It is the right mindfulness from the pure self-nature. When the mind has the right mindfulness of truth, goodness and virtue, everyone can become a Buddha. When the mind has affliction, anguish and sadness, everyone can be a devil. “In life, every day we are in the rebirth cycle in the six realms.” Her words of wisdom enlightened and benefited everybody present. Finally, Venerable Man Ko wished Foguang youths to possess ‘Self-Nature Triple Gem’, believing in the self ability, transcending the differentiation of self and others, and surmonting attachment. She encouraged everyone to have four investments in life: ‘people’, ‘time’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘self’. Through making good affinities, cherishing time, increasing knowledge and staying healthy, one should further have faith. “Successful tasks only belong to successful people. I hope that everyone can be your own master.” Venerable Man Ko used these words to encourage them. The night’s course was successfully ended in the warm applause of all Foguang youths. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

Australian and New Zealand Buddhist Youth Conference Welcome Party

In the evening of 1st July, Australian and New Zealand Buddhist Youth

Conference held a Welcome Party in Nan Tien Temple. More than 80 youth participants coming from YAD (Young Adult Divisions) of various states used drama to kick off the activity. The performance was brilliant, full of youthful vigor and rich in creativity. Venerable Man Ko, Head Abbess of Australia & New Zealand was present to appreciate the students’ performances and give them full encouragement.

Many students were the first time to be in the Buddhist temple. In order to give them a different impression, they were arranged to experience sitting meditation in the Main Hall in the evening when Venerable Zhi Li led everyone to understand the state of meditation. Though many of them felt tired after the distant journey, the feeling of the sacred and peaceful atmosphere seemed to remove their tiredness when they first entered the Main Hall. The Conference lasting for four days would be led by Venerable You De and planned by the YAD committee, bringing everyone the 4 days program, both educational and entertaining. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

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Experiencing Buddhist Life – Both Static and Dynamic

July 2 was the second day of Australian New Zealand Buddhist Youth Conference. In order to allow everyone to experience the temple's life, team leaders led every Foguang youth to experience ‘outdoor work’. Since Ch’an Master Bai-Zhang in Tang Dynasty, monastics regardless of seniority and hierarchy, need to work with the public. The students not only learnt mutual support and team cooperation, they also understood that monastics through work service as a part of their cultivation achieved self-sufficiency.

In the afternoon, with the concept of ‘Environmental and Mind Protection’, students were divided into eight teams to unfold the battle of watering saplings. Each youth for the sake of their team honor struggled to reach the highest point of the hill behind Nan Tien Temple in spite of the slanting slopes. Sweating profusely, they ran up to the peak where they could see the whole view of the beautiful Nan Tien Temple and Wollongong. Then 80 young people with mutual help and team cooperation, gradually transported bottles of water up the hill and smoothly irrigated all the tree saplings, implementing the priceless spirit of the ‘powerful strength of unity’. Apart from outdoor activities in nature, young people also learned a lot in a series of programs. Senior Constables of NSW Police Scott Burgess and Jane Keating were invited to talk about the importance of internet privacy safety, and through youngsters’ popular social network, students realized that personal information security could not be ignored. Painter Wang Hui-Juan from Melbourne led young people into the world of Buddhist art through the innovative ideas of ‘Transformers’. Nan Tien Institute Venerable Jue Wei starting from economy to education and Buddhism, taught students about the truth of harmonious coexistence and universal happiness. The schedule of both dynamic and static activities not only helped the youths to have a close experience of the temple's life, but also to understand Buddhist culture. More importantly, they felt that it was a most rewarding experience. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

Thousand Young People Guarded FoGuangShan in Typhoon Nepartak

Super typhoon Nepartak hit Taiwan. On 9th

July in the early morning, there were still heavy wind and rain. More than a thousand Foguang youths coming for 2016 International Buddhist Light Youth Annual Conference were still wearing raincoat, distributing themselves in batches at Foguangshan and Buddha’s Memorial Centre to help in restoring the environment. With enthusiasm and happiness, they seriously worked in the rain, not only to contribute themselves to the Buddha’s Light homeland, but also to follow the footsteps of the Venerable Master Hsing Yun when founding Foguangshan in the early days. Venerable Hui Chuan, BLIA World Headquarters Young Adult Division Director was responsible to assign the work and mentioned that the past Foguangshan was opened up by Venerable Master Hsing Yun and devotees, and now, Foguang youths from the five continents of the world guarded the homes with concerted efforts. “Everybody should have the faith of ‘Buddhism relies on me’ and the spirit of ‘Bodhisattva’s mind and youth's strength’ to work together to continue the lineage of Dharma.” Venerable Hui Chuan said that the Sacred Tree could survive to 4,000 years because it already had the designated gene in the stage of a seed. He encouraged young people to study the macro vision of Venerable Master Hsing Yun and to cultivate the Bodhisattva’s mind when young before they could really turn the Dharma wheel. During the hit of typhoon, the thousand young people lent their helping hands without hesitation. They timely assisted in clearing up the environment and verified that no matter how big the difficulty ahead, the immediate crises could change for the better as long as one could continue to move forward. The Foguang youths demonstrated tremendous commitment and vitality, jointly creating a new historical page of significance. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

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IBLYAC Opening – Over a thousand youths celebrated adulthood

To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Foguangshan and 20

th Anniversary of

BLIA Young Adult Divisions (YAD), 2016 International Buddha’s Light Young Adult Conference (IBLYAC) held a grand Opening Ceremony on 9

th July. More

than 1,000 youths from five continents, 23 countries and 41 regions of America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania came in succession, bringing the torch, symbol of Dharma propagation to its place of origin Foguangshan. At the ceremony, new Divisions, White Elephant Executives of 1

st and 2

nd grades,

Sudhana/ Sumati Lecturers and Pegasus Executives were inducted. One thousand Buddhist youths jointly reviewed the glorious history, and promised to inherit the original mission of youths with a common vision towards a bright future. On the day before the conference, Foguangshan was hit by strong typhoon. The organizer specially arranged the thousand youths to work outdoor, distributing them in every corner of Foguangshan to assist in tidying the environment. Though it was a large storm, they still worked in happiness.

“Striving forward in the wind and rain, this is Bodhisattva’s heart and youthful energy!” Venerable Hui Chuan, BLIA World Headquarters Young Adult Division Director said at the opening ceremony. Working early outdoors was actually to experience Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s toil and bravery in the early days in establishing Foguangshan. This time, the conference inviting senior YAD members to come back carried the deep meaning in regards to passing down the light. He hoped that the youths possessed Bodhisattva’s heart and youthful energy to move forward bravely on the way to revive Buddhism.

Apart from exchanges, Head Abbot of Foguangshan Most Venerable Hsin Bao during the conference encouraged the youths to let the whole world feel the existence of a global village without distinction. BLIA ROC North Branch President Jiang Feng-Ping on behalf of Buddha’s Light parents, congratulated youth members for choosing the most correct faith, and be able to gather together with good people. Venerable Master Hsing Yun could be their navigator for wisdom in life and this enabled young people to become better in service.

The Venerable Master said, “Though YAD is a small step in BLIA, it is a big step in the human world.” In 20 years of strategizing, currently there are more than 200 YAD on five continents around the world, training nearly 300 staff and lecturers. They transmit moral concept to schools and society, and set an example in the community to create an atmosphere of Buddhist study. The Master hoped that the strength of the new generation could bring a landmark for Buddhist revolution.

The 20th

Anniversary of Buddha’s Light Young Adult Conference was held in Foguangshan from 9

th to 14

th July. Both static and dynamic activities were

arranged. Venerable Master Hsing Yun, founder of Foguangshan was invited to have intimate exchanges with the youths. Senior YAD members were invited to come back, sharing faith in discussions. There were keynote speeches, ‘Celebration of 20

th anniversary YAD’ dinner party, ‘Talking about Foguangshan’

forum, ‘YAD 20’ exhibition and other wonderful courses. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

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Buddhist Youths Forum of 20 Yrs Heritage of Faith – to emulate the Vows of Ven Master Hsing Yun

Among the courses arranged by senior youth staff at ‘2016 International Buddha’s Light Young Adult Conference’, the ‘Forum on Faith’ was held on 10

th

July, inviting BLIA World Headquarters Deputy President Venerable Tzu Jung, President of Charity Yuan of FGS Headquarters Venerable Yi Lai and BLIA ROC Young Adult Division Director Venerable Ru Bin to share their backgrounds with FGS and the continuous assistance of Dharma propagation in different places. 50 young people participated.

Venerable Tzu Jung said that when Venerable Master Hsing Yun first came to Taiwan, he had no place to settle down. He was then accepted by Buddhist Master Miao Guo of Yuan Kuang Ch’an Monastery at Chungli. To show his gratitude, he committed himself to serve the temple by doing all kinds of work like purchase, carrying water, cleaning yard, guarding forest and working in kitchen. Venerable Tzu Jung quoted the Venerable Master’s words, “The self is a member of the public and cannot exist alone. Thus the mind should embrace other people and everyone is related to us. All Buddhists should hold this view.”

BLIA Young Adult Division (YAD) Development Assistant Committee Director Song Yao-Rui said that Buddhism in the past was just offering incense to pay homage, but because of his sister’s advice of faith in a proper religion, he was able to establish a relationship with FGS when Malaysian Buddhist Association supported the founding of Buddha’s Light Young Adult Division. For more than 20 years without ceasing, the ‘Loving Youths Buddhist Camp’ was held annually, attracting many young people to study Buddhism.

Micheal Liu, the former BLIAQ YAD said that since 1997, YAD has been assisting in Buddha Birthday Festival activities in Brisbane for 20 years. At present, the festival is one of the city’s three fixed annual event. This year, Brisbane City Council specially invited Venerable Yi Lai to come to Brisbane to participate in the celebration of 20

th Anniversary Buddha Birthday Festival.

Venerable Yi Lai praised the commitment of BLIAQ YAD. She said that in Brisbane with a population of over a million people, every time there were 200,000 people coming to the festival, contributing considerably to the development of Humanistic Buddhism in Australia. BLIA YAD Development Committee Deputy Director Shi Ting-Ru reported that in the latter half of the year, BLIA Vancouver Chapter would establish a Youth Division to gather the senior youths in Vancouver, while actively training YAD members in North America to acquire certified White Elephant staffs.

BLIA South Africa Chapter Vice President and South Africa YAD Founding Leader Zhan Kai-Ying thanked the temple for establishing the South Africa Dragon Skates Team to help poor high school girls, preventing them from doing indecent jobs. Also South Africa YAD was asked to organize ‘2015 International Buddha’s Light Young Adult Conference’ and had 17 young people participating, the largest number since the beginning of time.

Finally, Venerable Tzu Jung told them that faith in Buddhism was a commitment lasting for as long as a lifetime. As Venerable Master Hsing Yun said, he had been a monk in this life and would also be a monk in the next life. Young people after having their families should still commit themselves to serve and to guide their children to continue learning Humanistic Buddhism, enabling the heritage of the faith. FoGuangShan News Translated by Elaine Pun

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Mindfulness Theory and Practice; Course held in Chung Tian Temple

On 2nd

and 3rd

July, Nan Tien Institute’s course of ‘Mindfulness Theory and Practice’ by lecturer Ms. Catherine Ramos was for the first time arranged to be held in Chung Tian Temple. 28 people attended including Venerables of Chung Tian Temple, English Buddhist class teachers, Chung Tian School and teachers from New South Wales and Queensland. Ms Catherine Ramos taught how to cultivate one’s mindfulness through the study of meditation, and how to design lesson plans for teachers and students to calm down the mind to prevent distraction in class through the training of mindfulness. This could also be used by the temple to train people’s mindfulness, cultivate acute thinking, and attain peace and comfort. The course has been accredited by New South Wales Department of Education and can be promoted in school teaching. The lecturer encouraged the participants to make use of teaching environment to help students to focus and study with interest and calm mind. Based on the ‘Smiling Mind’, she used the ‘3 B’s (three times of breathing)’ method to teach participants to observe breathing at any time, and through the body scan relaxation method to let go attachment of delusive thoughts and recover the pure mind, not to be influenced by external environment. The next day of the course was mindful walking – in steady walking to feel the nature and the self, allowing the natural flow of the five senses for form, sound, smell, taste and touch. Then they had meditation to realize that ‘future mind’ and ‘past mind’ could not be attained. Rather one should focus on the present moment and contemplate on the ‘present mind’, training the self to be the ‘gatekeeper’ for the ‘present mind’ so as to stop delusive thoughts from intruding the mind of purity. Another training was ‘mindful eating’, with calm mind to develop gratitude to the source of food, and observe the colour, smell, sound etc.. Breathing in and out, and enjoying every mouthful of food slowly could cultivate calmness, nourishing physically and mentally. The teaching and practice of the goodwill contemplation of ‘Loving Kindness’ helped to remind the self “I can be happy”, “I can be harmonious” and “I can be good” which further led to the contemplation of happiness and harmony for “My family”, “My friends”, “People around me”, “People I don’t know” to “People unfriendly to me”. Finally, Ms Catherine Ramos encouraged everyone to promote mindfulness. In school, it could improve the quality of teaching whereas in society, it helped the public to have better health. After the two-day course, everyone was fully rewarded. They understood the significance of mindfulness and learnt how to implement the method to promote mindfulness. Let mindfulness be spread among people and let the world be filled with goodness. When everybody makes good affinity without dispute between self and others, the world will naturally be good. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

On 30th

June at 1.00 p.m., Regional Fundraising Coordinator of Cancer Council Queensland Ms Melanie Robson came to Chung Tian Temple to receive the donation of AUS $7,000 to the Cancer Council Fund, presented on behalf by Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan, BLIAQ Loving Care Group Advisor Lu Shu-Yuan and Logan Branch President Khor Kwang-Hooi. Ms Melanie Robson in her speech thanked BLIAQ Loving Care Group and Logan Branch for their support of the Cancer Council and their enthusiastic sponsorship was very meaningful and encouraging. Over the years, Cancer Council Australia has spent AUS $740 million to save the lives of 323,000 people. In Australia, in two 85-year-old elderly, there was one being diagnosed with cancer. The raised fund would play a role in helping Cancer Council in programs of important research, prevention and supporting services. Recently, BLIAQ Loving Care Group and Logan Branch based on Foguangshan’s objective of ‘Benefiting society through charitable programs’ held the ‘Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea’, selling tea, coffee and all kinds of refreshments for the Cancer Council fundraising so that people had the opportunity to come to the temple and involved themselves in the activity. The event led everyone to practice the ‘Three acts of goodness’, raising AUS $7,000 for the Cancer Council to help cancer patients. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

BLIAQ Loving Care Group & Logan Branch supported Cancer Council Australia

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Chung Tian Temple’s Humanistic Buddhism – Preachers’ Training Seminar

Chung Tian Temple’s Scholarly Forum of ‘Turning Points in Life’

On 30th

June at 10.00 a.m., ‘Scholarly Forum – Turning Points in Life’ was held in Chung Tian Temple by BLIA ROC Deputy Secretary General Venerable Jue Duo and her team of Dharma teachers and preachers, using self experiences in Buddhist study to explain the essence of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ‘Hear Me Out: Messages from the Humble Monk’ to verify the concept of Humanistic Buddhism. 70 BLIAQ and Branch committee members participated.

First, Venerable Jue Duo talked about the background of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s renunciation, philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism and importance of causes and conditions in life. Dependent origination is the truth and with such truth, one would be able to have everything in the world.

Dharma teacher Chou Xue-Wen shared how he used Dharma to run his business. When his company suffered from a fire disaster, he was able to overcome the most adverse turning point as he used to uphold the Master’s concept of widely making good affinities. Not only this, the company had high performance. The power of Dharma was really inconceivable.

Dharma teacher Chen Hui-Zhu was affected by ‘Handing Down the Light – The Biography of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’ and realized that making affinity was not just through money but also by speaking the Dharma. Never be the slave of money but one should learn how to make use of money. We should learn the way how the Venerable Master made good use of people’s initiatives and how he had the best use of money in educational, charitable and cultural undertakings.

Humanistic Buddhist preacher Chen Xiu-Qing used herself as example to illustrate that a family would be more harmonious if the couple had the same faith and participated together in BLIA activities. Preacher Wang Shu-Hui said the largest filial piety was to encourage parents to study Dharma and become volunteers in the temple. Dharma teacher Chang Pei-Ming encouraged everyone to have right views and strong faith. In Humanistic Buddhism, everywhere was the pure land and we should have the character that Buddhism relied on us. Cherishing causes and conditions as well as making good vows helped us to develop bliss and wisdom and a successful life.

The talk and sharing of Venerable Jue Duo and Dharma teachers allowed devotees in Brisbane to know how to use Dharma to calm down the mind and overcome many turning points in life in order to move forward. A shift of the mind could cause adverse situations to become supporting conditions. From the forum, people were given the right direction in life and they benefited a lot. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

To promote the concept of Humanistic Buddhism, BLIA ROC has been fostering a force of preachers. On 30

th June at 1.00 p.m., ‘Humanistic Buddhism

-- Preachers’ Training Seminar’ was held in Foguangshan Chung Tian Temple, conducted by BLIA ROC Deputy Secretary General Venerable Jue Duo. 42 committee members of BLIAQ and Branches participated. Venerable Jue Duo taught about the ‘Secret of speaking for preachers of Humanistic Buddhism’, explaining the ‘Three-step method’ of delivering a speech. She stressed that through organization, a preacher should properly control the time and explain clearly the content with sincere attitude to move others. Humanistic Buddhist preacher Wang Shu-Hui was invited to demonstrate, using Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ‘Transcending’ in ‘Ten Thousand Tasks of Life’ to guide students to grasp the core concepts of the article. Then, students were divided into four groups to discuss. A representative from each group presented their learning outcomes on how to present Humanistic Buddhism in a controlled time frame. Cai Yi-Xiu thanked the Venerable Master for transcending the idea of countries to establish the concept of the global village. Xu Xiu-Mei shared that

Page 11

couples should lessen the self importance and enlarge the use of Dharma to guide parents to learn and take refuge in Buddhism. Cai Shu-Man introduced how she transcended herself in becoming a vegetarian. Tang Cong-Ling explained how she accepted her Japanese daughter-in-law by letting go her attachment with Dharma.

As a conclusion, Venerable Jue Dao reminded them to note the facility available in the speaking location and be able to act according to circumstances with flexibility. The content of the talk should publicize the concept of Foguangshan, and the speech should be positive as well as encouraging to enable the audience to have increased confidence in Buddhism.

Abbess Venerable Cheuh Shan encouraged everyone, saying, “Being volunteers could validate the Six Paramitas. We should widely make good affinities with people and verify a lot of our Buddhist learning in daily lives. Since everyone has rich life experience, I hope that you can all become the practitioners and preachers of Humanistic Buddhism.” Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Buddhist Class talking about ‘Humanistic Buddhism: Holding True to the Original Intents of Buddha

On 2nd

July at 1.30 p.m. in the Chinese Basic Buddhist Class at Chung Tian Temple, devotee Shao Wei led 30 students of new Chinese immigrants to come to attend. Dharma teacher David Yang explained Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s book of ‘Humanistic Buddhism: Holding True to the Original Intents of Buddha’. Venerable Master Hsing Yun was the Founding Master of Foguangshan and has established more than 300 branch temples around the world in the five continents, propagating the concept of Humanistic Buddhism. The Venerable Master said, “What Buddha said, what people need, purified, good, virtuous and teachings helping to promote the happiness of life are all Humanistic Buddhism.” Foguangshan propagates the eight schools of Buddhism and is a Bodhimanda for both monastics and devotees to cultivate the Bodhisattva way. It advocates that Foguang people should care for the mundane world before aiming at transcending themselves, save the living ones before saving the dying, lead a good life before thinking of death, and lessen before expanding. Priority is placed on the temple, people and Buddhism, and Foguang members should actively involve themselves in education, culture, charity and medical care to benefit people. Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan presented Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ‘365 Days for Travelers’ of English and Chinese editions to the students as gift, hoping that they would read it every day to guide them to a life of brightness. In the Chinese Sutra Guided Study Class, 21 people attended. Dharma teacher Andy Hsueh talked about the ‘Lotus Sutra’: 16 Chapters from Introduction, Expedient Devices, A Parable …… and The Thus Come One’s Life Span. When explaining the Chapter on Expedient Devices, he said that from the Chapter, the original intent of the Buddha was to hope everyone to attain Buddhahood. However due to the different roots of sentient beings, many were unable to directly accept the profound and intricate teachings about the way to Buddhahood. Thus Buddha had to use different parables as illustration. He first used the expedient way of teaching the Three Vehicles to suit the capacity of people, and finally, he guided them to the reality or the complete truth of One Vehicle. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

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Vegetarian Cooking Demonstration at Water Drop Teahouse

On 7th July at 10.00 a.m., vegetarian cooking demonstration was held at the

court of Water Drop Teahouse in Chung Tian Temple to attract more Australians to eat vegetarian food. Logan Branch President Kwang Hooi Khor, the professional chef was invited to do the cooking demonstration. There were 22 local Australians participated.

Kwang Hooi Khor has 35 years of professional cooking experience, a former five-star hotel chef and currently a chef serving in Qantas Airways Limited. He has extensive experience in Asian and Western dishes. On the day, he explained and demonstrated the cooking of Malaysian Curry Laksa and Agar Agar, from cleaning, cutting and arrangement of ingredients.

Participants listened and watched attentively. They tasted in turn and praised his delicious cooking of Laksa and Agar Agar. They felt lucky to be able to learn vegetarian cooking from a professional chef in the temple and would like to try cooking them for their families to taste.

With the increase in health conscious among Westerners, more and more people have become vegetarians. One of the participants discovered that she had cancer and could not eat meat, thus she registered to attend the class. She was happy to find that Laksa noodles were healthy and tasty, and prepared to attend the cooking class again next time. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Logan Branch Group Sturdy – Tea Ch’an

On 2nd

July at 1.30 p.m., BLIAQ Logan Branch held the ‘Tea Ch’an Group Study’ in Chung Tian Temple. 25 Logan Branch members participated. Tea Masters Sunny Fang and Xu Yu-Pei demonstrated the entire process of tea brewing, tea tasting, correct sitting posture and calming down of body and mind. Sunny Fang introduced different types of Oolong tea such as Dong Ding Oolong and Pouchong of Taiwan Oolong, Iron Goddess of Mercy of Southern Fujian Oolong, Big Red Robe of Northern Fujian Oolong, and Dan Cong of Guangdong Oolong. Oolong tea representing Chinese tea is semi-fermented and the tea is transparent with a characteristic amber colour. In the Tea Ch’an gathering, there were friendship exchange and sharing of Buddhist study. Tasting tea is a common thing in life but the taste differs with the change of the mind. A calm mind gives rise to the taste of Ch’an, corresponding with the truth. Tea Ceremony helps to develop the inner mind of purity & harmony. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

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Chung Tian Temple Diamond Men’s Group meeting friends with tea

On 10th July in the morning, Chung Tian Temple Diamond Men’s Group

held a Tea Ceremony gathering in the Kuan Yin Courtyard, organized by Tea Masters Sunny Fang, William Zhao, Wang Li-Li, Crustal Kuo, Sun Yi-Qiao and Huang Xue-Ling with the aim of meeting friends with tea. Through the drinking of the ‘Three goodness’ tea, the meaning of life could be enhanced with a pure mind and the feeling that every day is a good day. It attracted more than 200 people to participate. Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan, Venerable Miao Xin and Diamond Group Leader Liu Tai-Dian also came to show their concern and offer their assistance. It was a warm sunny morning. The Diamond Group helped to prop up the big red umbrellas. The Tea Masters set up tea tables, featured with seasonal decorations of spring, summer, autumn and winter, thus transforming the Kuan Yin Courtyard to a Ch’an Garden, displaying strongly the art of Tea Ceremony and the state of Ch’an. It attracted visitors in the temple to come to taste tea. Chung Tian School students and parents led by teacher Yang Guo-Li also came to join in, gaining knowledge about types of tea and tea set. Through the processes of tea brewing and serving tea, they learnt respect in giving and receiving, and in making acquaintances. The Tea Masters introduced to the participants different characteristics of Pu’er tea, Longjing tea and Mountain tea, demonstrating the brewing methods for various kinds of tea. At the same time, they conveyed the concept of three acts of goodness and four offerings. ‘Giving’ allows us to achieve a life of truthfulness, goodness and virtue. It is hoped that everyone could develop the inner mind of purity and harmony through Tea Ceremony. Members of the Diamond Group said that they cherished the opportunity of joining the tea gathering. Enjoying tea in a natural outdoor environment was really refreshing, experiencing the state of Ch’an. This was the first time for Tea Ceremony to be held outdoors. Not only it was spacious and combined with nature, but also enabled visitors to participate. BLIAQ Director Ralph Smith praised that the day’s outdoor Tea Ceremony activity showed a strong cultural and artistic atmosphere. If this could be held once every month, more Australians would be attracted to the temple. This event had the enthusiastic response from local Australians and some even registered to attend the Tea Ceremony Tutorial. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

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English One-Day Meditation Retreat

On 10th

July, Chung Tian Temple held the English One-Day Meditation Retreat, attended by 36 local Australians from all walks of life such as professors, engineers, accountants, administrative staff, students and retirees. Most of them enrolled online, hoping to release anxiety and pressure through meditation. At 9.00 a.m. in the Conference Room, Chung Tian Branch President Brian Kemp explained the schedule and precautions to the learners, including observing silence, signal of the hitting board, food allergies and other emergencies. Venerable Miao Lai led them to do Tai-chi exercise in the Kuan Yin Courtyard, followed by meditation in the Meditation Hall. After walking meditation, they were taught the ‘Vairo seven-steps of sitting’ in sitting meditation – lotus sitting, making mudra, erecting spine, flattening chest, drawing-in chin, tongue touching palate, closing eyes and contemplating relaxation from head to toes. Through counting and observing breaths, the scattering mind could be subdued to attain concentration. The way to use meditation to cultivate mindfulness was explained. They were led to do walking meditation outdoor, a kind of dynamic Ch’an. At 1.00 p.m., the course of Tea Ceremony was conducted in the Meditation Hall. Demonstrations were performed by Tea Masters Xu Yu-Pei, Yan Ling and Cai Yun-Shan. Venerable Miao Lai explained the meaning of Tea Ch’an and the contemplation of every movement in the processes of appreciating tea, warming teapot, warming tea cups, brewing tea, savoring tea and resetting to cultivate the power of mind concentration. Finally in the sharing of experiences, students praised the quiet environment of Chung Tian Temple which was very suitable for meditation, and hoped that one-day meditation retreat activity could be increased every year. The Meditation Hall was spacious to conduct Tea Ceremony which helped to stabilize the body and mind and to experience the state of ‘Ch’an’. The demonstrations of Tea Masters were very clear, guiding everyone to appreciate peace and harmony in Ch’an. There were students suffering from trauma caused by family problems at a young age and they hoped to enhance physical and mental health through meditation. After the course, some participants enrolled in English Buddhist and Meditation Classes in the next term, hoping to further study Buddhism and meditation to inspire wisdom. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Thank You Message from the Editor of BLIAQ English Newsletter

First and foremost, I would like to thank Chung Tian Temple and BLIAQ for giving me such an opportunity to be the Editor of English BLIAQ Newsletter to serve and contribute for almost 15 years over three periods of time.

I would like to take this opportunity to convey my gratitude towards the support and guidance I’ve been receiving throughout the role as the Editor. Thanking you all for the continued support, assistance, sincere co-operation and friendship. It has been a great journey and a great learning experience for me where I have enjoyed every moment and appreciate having had the opportunity to be able to contribute and share my ideas. My deepest appreciation to former Abbess Venerable Yi Lai and current Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan for giving

me the opportunity. But I couldn’t have done it without the great help from Elaine and photos from Peter and also BLIAQ members who continued supporting me over the years to produce the monthly newsletters. I am also very thankful to Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan, Venerables and BLIAQ past and present Presidents, BLIAQ Committee and BLIAQ friends who were always there to guide and support me throughout the journey. I am eternally grateful to you all.

Now looking back over twenty one years ago when former Abbess Venerable Yi Lai asked me to assist with producing the English Newsletter. During that time, I have no idea how to use a computer and the teachers that taught me how to use a computer and word processing were Venerables Chueh Shan and Chueh Chu at that time. During that time we were only producing black and white hard copy newsletter in 4 pages and now colourful electronic copy of newsletter up to 16 pages. I can still recall when I first started, I didn’t know how to insert an electronic picture into the word processing. I just photocopied the picture in hard copy, then cut into small piece and pasted onto the hard copy of newsletter and then re-photocopied it. Haha!!! You can see my computer skills from incompetent to now competent. There were so much laughter and fun memories when I look back.

I always seek improvement for the role and I went on doing extra tasks by taking photographs for the newsletter, now taking video clip and editing it. Reflecting back I am so thankful for the opportunity and the causes and conditions of the role that allowed me to grow, learn and improve as a person, otherwise I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that.

I am confident that Tina will do a great job in this role and it is good opportunity for another person to learn and share their ideas. Most of all it is good in terms of localization of Buddhism. Wishing her the very best and good luck. Meng

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Chung Tian Temple participated in White Ribbon QLD Chinese Community Forum

Recently due to the frequent domestic violence in Chinese families, Queensland Police Service and White Ribbon Queensland Committee jointly hosted a Chinese Community Forum to discuss about promotion of family relations. It was held at Landmark Chinese Restaurant, inviting Chung Tian Temple Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan representing Buddhism and Pastor Brian Shek representing Christianity to give talks on how to prevent domestic violence. The Police Service hoped that through the platform of spiritual activity, family relations could be enhanced to assist victims to get out of pain and to face the future. 33 people attended including representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Catholicism, Yiguandao, Baptist, Presbyterian, Salvation Army and other Chinese religious groups.

First, Senior Police Liaison Officer Purdy Huang explained the flow of activities and played the police propaganda clips on prevention of domestic violence. Police Officer Lisa also shared her nine years experience in dealing with domestic violence. Chiu-Hing Chan on behalf of White Ribbon Queensland talked about the ways to prevent domestic violence and called for people to care about the prevention of the problem.

Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan quoted from Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ‘How to build a happy and harmonious family?’ to explain that “a family with domestic violence is unfortunate but it is also the root cause of social problems. Buddhism emphasizes on the importance of family. In the Sutras such as ‘Long Agama’, ‘Great Maharatnakuta’ and ‘Upasaka Precepts’, there are Buddha’s teachings on family ethics. When facing difficulties, one must know a proper way to relieve negative emotions. The best is to have religious faith. A proper religion guides people to be good and to calm down the mind. A couple with common faith, common topics and interests is better to promote warm feelings and harmony. “

Venerable Chueh Shan also encouraged people to learn the compassionate spirit of Kuan Yin (Avalokitesvara) Bodhisattva to take the initiative to care for these people, to provide them ways of protection and help them to get out of the nightmare of domestic violence. However, prevention is better than cure. Any countermeasures or legal actions are not ultimate solutions, rather one should start from psychological and emotional management. What Humanistic Buddhism advocates is the Buddha’s spirit of humanity in building a happy family.

Finally, in the Q & A session, participants interacted with each other and shared cases of handling domestic violence, how different religious groups educated the faithful to have right family values and how to promote good relations in a family. Participants were very much concerned about the social issue of domestic violence and hoped that they could coordinate with the Police Service to advocate good family relations, and by means of community force to prevent domestic violence in order to bring about social harmony. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Chung Tian Temple participated in Western Front Commemorative Service

On 23rd

July at 10.00 a.m., Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan invited by the Queensland Government went to the Shrine of Remembrance at ANZAC Square with BLIAQ Director Meng Yoke Hong to attend the Australian War Memorial, commemorating the Centenary of the First World War. More than 200 people attended including Mr. Mark Ryan MP on behalf of the Premier of Queensland, representatives of Armed Forces from Department of Defense, politicians at all levels of government, religious representatives, Australian and New Zealand Armies and families of the deceased soldiers.

First, Mr. Paul Lineham, Regional Manager of Defense Public Affairs, South Queensland explained the background of Australian troops joining the Western Front during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front first by invading Luxembourg and Belgium. Between 1915 and 1917, there were several major offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, these caused severe casualties. Until 1918, the German government was forced to sign an armistice agreement, ending the First World War. It was in 1916, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps joined the British troops, resulting in heavy casualties. Thus the Queensland Government held the Memorial Service to commemorate and salute all those who sacrificed in the war.

Next, representatives of the Armed Forces entered and formed a catafalque party at the Shrine of Remembrance. Chaplain John Dansie gave a memorial prayer. Mr. Mark Ryan MP on behalf of Queensland Premier in his speech expressed his gratitude to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who sacrificed themselves in the Western Front battle in WWI, contributing to the security of the country and world peace.

Mr. David Toohey, the son of James Toohey who served as a gunner and linesman on the Western Front, read an extract from his father’s dairy describing the battle. Representatives from all walks of life lay wreaths and Brigadier Chris Hamilton on behalf delivered a eulogy. Sergeant Paul McBurney sounded the Last Post and the public held a minute of silence. Finally, there was a blessing and the Centennial Memorial Service was completed when everyone went to pay tribute at the Shrine of Remembrance. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

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‘Importance of Causes and Conditions’ by Dharma Lecturers Collin Liu & Christine Liu

On 23rd

July at 1.30 p.m., BLIA Dharma Lecturers Collin Liu and Christine Liu invited by BLIAQ President Kim Wu conducted the ‘Future & Hope Lecture Series – The Importance of Causes and Conditions’. 220 people attended including Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan, Venerables, Director General of Taipei Economic & Cultural Office (Brisbane) Lai Wei-Chung, representatives of Feng Chia University Alumni Association of Queensland, BLIAQ Elder Advisors, Directors, Supervisors and members.

Director Lai Wei-Chung on behalf of the guests said that he was happy to listen to the lecture to know about the Buddhist view on causes and conditions. The rich experience of the speakers in Buddhist study could be used as guidelines for his learning.

Dharma Lecturer Collin Liu quoted Dharma words from Venerable Master Hsing Yun and explained the meaning of cause and condition in simple terms: the formation of the world and life existence cannot happen without causes and conditions. Causes and conditions are not personal but are shared by all. As we live among others, we live within causes and conditions. He used the story of National Master Wu Da to explain Causality throughout the past, present and future – “Even after hundreds and thousands of kalpas, karma will not perish. When causes and conditions mature, you still have to bear the effect.” Everything in the universe has its own cause and condition. If we can see through into the truth of Dependent Origination that things arise and become extinct due to causes and conditions, then naturally everything we encounter in life is also the result of causes and conditions. “When causes and conditions are right, the effect will be perfect.”

Dharma Lecturer Christine Liu said, “If we want to enjoy wealth in the next life, we must diligently practice goodness and make good affinity in this life. Causes and conditions in life are very important.” When we have important causes and conditions, how are we going to face them? They proposed: 1. Going accord with causes & conditions, you will enjoy peace & happiness. 2. Grasping causes and conditions, you will be blessed by deities. 3. Making good use of adverse conditions helps you to transform life. 4. Create causes and conditions to benefit self and others. 5. With concurrence of right conditions, everything can be achieved. 6. Be able to contemplate causes & conditions leads to liberation & ease of mind.

Collin Liu shared his experience in starting his business. At first, he felt happy when he received support from his customers but sad when losing them. His mood fluctuated between gains and losses until after studying Buddhism, he learnt ‘shifting of the mind’. In addition to enhance the company’s product quality and expand the types of products, he shifted his mind to concentrate on making good affinities. He used an ordinary mind to face everything and looked for the cause in himself. In this way, his business became more prosperous. Venerable Master Hsing Yun said, “Once when you generate the right mindset, many right causes and conditions will come together.”

Collin Liu’s family is a family of three goodness and his three generations are all BLIAQ members. He encouraged his children to be volunteers to make affinity, established harmonious relationship with his spouse with similar interests and faith, enabled his parents to live in peace by taking them to pay homage to Buddha, created his happy family by guiding them to do good, say good words and think good thoughts, led his relatives and friends to participate in Sutra copying, pilgrimage and joint cultivation, and followed the Venerable Master to propagate Humanistic Buddhism to create causes and conditions for the happiness of all. Possessing causes and conditions is to have the truth; with the truth, you have everything in the world. In the talk, Chung Tian Choir was also invited to sing ‘You are my brothers’ and ‘Struggling leads to victory’ to explain the importance of creating and grasping causes and conditions. The audience was also led to sing ‘Praise the Sangha’ and ‘Bag full of singing’. The venue was filled with warm atmosphere and everyone thanked their wonderful speech with applause.

Finally, Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan in her speech thanked Collin Liu and Christine Liu for using their rich experience of studying Buddhism in Foguangshan and BLIA to explain the importance of causes and conditions in simple terms. They were able to make use of various opportunities of activities to allow relatives, friends and social groups to make affinities with local and overseas Foguangshan temples. They integrated Buddhism and living together and had long-term dedication in promoting Humanistic Buddhism. In the talk, they were really able to display the good causes and conditions for harmonious family. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

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BLIA Members talk about FoGuangShan in Chung Tian Temple

To celebrate the 50th

anniversary of Foguangshan, Chung Tian Temple conducted the ‘BLIA members Talking about Foguangshan’ in Conference Room at 1.30 p.m. on 16

th July. First, Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s discourse

on Talking about Foguangshan on 14th May was played. He said, “All of you

here, benefactors and devotees, are our boss. Without you, there is no Foguangshan today.” “Do not just look at today’s magnificence of carved beams and painted pillars, but rather recollect the obstacles and difficulties overcome throughout the past 50 years.” The Venerable Master stressed that many unsung heroes or ‘little people’ have been important contributors to Foguangshan from its founding to the present, e.g. Foguangshan’s wooden construction has always been borne by a family team of father and son for 50 years without changing which is rare; another one is a deaf person cooking in Foguangshan for 50 years and is able to cook for a thousand people within 10 minutes. They are worthy of thanks and recognized as distinctive ‘benefactors’. In the singing of the ‘Ten Cultivation Song’, everyone reviewed the historical images of Foguangshan in the past 50 years. The function was jointly hosted by Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan and BLIAQ President Kim Wu. They invited Honorary Benefactors Lu Shu-Yuan, Even Chang, Andy Hsueh, Melody Chen, Arthur Liu and 90 faithful devotees to share their experience with Foguangshan and Chung Tian Temple, and their happy spiritual growth in participating Foguangshan activities. Benefactor Zhan Shu-Mei said that at the age of 5 when she participated in the Children’s Summer Class in Lei Yin Temple at Ilan, she was glad to meet Venerable Master Hsing Yun who personally guided them to read, thus leaving a very deep impression in her. After migrating to Queensland, she was invited by devotee Henry Chen on 15

th November 1989 to attend the Venerable

Master’s Buddhist talk. Seeing the Master, she vowed to follow the Master to study Buddhism and ever since then, she supported Foguangshan. The study of Buddhism has changed the life view of her whole family. Westpac Bank Public Relations Manager Tina Wang with her sisters Wang Guo-Cai, Wang Guo-Mei, a total of seven sisters were Vietnamese Chinese. When she was a student, she read the book ‘National Master Yu Lin’ and admired the author Venerable Master Hsing Yun, so she vowed to take refuge in Venerable Master Hsing Yun and not other Buddhist masters. After migration to Australia, she wanted to go to a temple to have vegetarian meal and so went to Chung Tian Vihara. She discovered that the Venerable Master was going to build a temple there, thus she immediately went to attend the Master’s first talk at Chung Tian Vihara and her whole family took refuge under the Venerable Master. In 1992, in order to investigate music schools in Brisbane, Director Melody Chen met Abbess Venerable Yong Chuan at the airport and this brought her to Chung Tian Vihara. At the Opening Ceremony of Chung Tian Temple on 31

st

October 1993, she was captivated by the mighty virtue of Venerable Master Hsing Yun. From then on, she supported Foguangshan, hoping that Humanistic Buddhism could flourish and the Master could always stay healthy and strong. Honorary benefactor Lu Shu-Yuan said that she was moved in paying homage to Buddha when attending the farewell service for Xu Jing-He’s deceased daughter in Chung Tian Temple. She was impressed by the solemnity of the temple and felt that this was the place for her spiritual reliance, the home of Dharma body and wisdom life. So she vowed to support Foguangshan. Foguangshan started from scratch to the establishment of temples around the world to enable Dharma to flow through five continents. She hoped that everybody could continue to work hard to cultivate this piece of Buddhist pure land. Elder Advisor Even Chang recalled his experience of learning Buddhist etiquette from Venerables in Chung Tian Vihara in 1990. He was grateful for the support of successive Brisbane Mayors and Logan City Mayors to Chung Tian Temple, and the leadership of Chung Tian Temple’s Abbesses. Today’s Chung Tian Temple is due to the long-term support of faithful devotees, following One Master One Way. By reviewing the 26 years of experience with Chung Tian Temple, everyone could write a book. Many people learnt Buddhism after migrating overseas. South II Branch Elder Advisor Wang Guang-Han, Dharma Lecturer Lee Jin-Lian and Wen Ding-Xiu began studying Buddhism after listening to the Venerable Master’s talk in

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Humanistic Buddhism Talk on ‘The Art of Living a Happy Life’

On 14th

July, Dharma Lecturer Dr. Kwong-Djee Chan was invited by Gold Coast Branch BLIAQ to Gold Coast Foguang Yuan to deliver a Humanistic Buddhism talk on ‘The Art of Living a Happy Life’. 45 people attended including BLIAQ President Kim Wu, Elder Advisor Andy Hsueh and Gold Coast Branch President Yang Zhi-Kai.

Dr. Kwong-Djee Chan got a PhD at Griffith University under the School of Psychology and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at Griffith University. He explained the reason why we were often unhappy and annoyed by petty things was because we had no awareness of our body and thus unable to break through the inertia of life.

To have a happy living, the answer is that we must be aware of the present moment, break the inertia of life, take care of every thought, train the acuity of mind and involve ourselves completely in participating activities.

Dr. Chan told everyone that Buddhists were happy people. Even though they encounter many difficulties in life, Dharma can help them to have positive thoughts and self reflection to let go of greed, anger and ignorance, thus achieving a lasting happy life.

Finally, Dr. Chan sang a Buddhist song to wish all Buddha’s Light members to enjoy stable mind and inner joy on the Buddhist path. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Chung Tian Vihara. Benefactors Andy Hsueh, Chong Qi-Zong and Du Su-Chen also talked about their affinities with Foguangshan. Some people developed closer relationship with the temple because of doing voluntary work. Devotee Cai Shu-Man said that due to the establishment of Foguang Yuan in Gold Coast, her family had a place to learn Buddhism. Benefactor Arthur Liu interviewed by Ralph Smith, BLTV reporter, narrated that in early days as her mother Christine Liu was teaching in Chung Tian School, the whole family often came to Chung Tian Vihara and thus took refuge under the Venerable Master. Later he joined Chung Tian Temple’s youth group. His father Collin Liu since joining BLIA had the Master’s spiritual inspiration and led the whole family to support local and overseas Foguangshan temples to attract more people to learn Buddhism. Finally, Abbess Venerable Chueh Shan concluded by saying: Foguangshan started from scratch, step by step from Buddhist College, Great Compassion Shrine, Pilgrims Lodge, Vulture Peak, Main Shrine, Tathagata Building……which were completed successively. Chung Tian Temple also developed gradually. A temple’s development is similar to a person’s mind, the broader the mind, the greater the achievement. Because of Foguangshan, there is Chung Tian Temple. Because of the Venerable Master going to Sydney to accept the land donated by Wollongong government to build Nan Tien Temple, we have Chung Tian Temple. We should remember and be grateful for all the blessings. Everybody should be the witness of the history of Foguangshan. The function of the temple is to propagate Dharma. The Venerable Master said, “The future of Foguangshan should pay more attention to the development of education, culture, arts, sports, music, academic and information development, wider participation by Buddhists, and emphasis on localization, internationalization, public welfare, arts and culture of Buddhism. Foguangshan’s future effort will be on the combination of tradition and modernity, sharing of monastics and lay Buddhists, equal emphasis of practice and right understanding, and unity of Buddhism and arts." Being the followers of the Venerable Master, we should understand Foguangshan’s history of going through lots of toil and hardship in establishment. We should follow the Master’s spirit in Dharma propagation and dedicate ourselves in the implementation of localization of Humanistic Buddhism.

. Chung Tian Admin Translated by Elaine Pun

Page 19

How to Change Fate

In life, what everyone care most for is one’s “self”, and the most important part of “self” is none other than fate. In one’s lifetime, fate is changed frequently because of different circumstances. Some may change their entire life because of different circumstances. Some may change their entire life because of a person, an incident, a word, a dollar or even a thought. Similarly, the development of a country maybe changed and even the history of humankind may be rewritten. Britain’s Duke of Windsor abdicated his throne in order to be with his beloved, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. In giving up his kingdom for a beauty, he changed his life because of a woman and also rewrote the history of his country. Former President Richard Nixon lost the most important job in the world over the Watergate scandal, and got himself into litigation at the same time. So an incident may bring us high esteem, but sometimes it may lead us to shameful humiliation. Ch’an Master D’an Shah of the Tang Dynasty meant to travel to the capital for the national examinations, but he met a monastic on his way who told him, “It is better to be tested for Buddhahood than for a imperial official.” He was awakened from his dream of fame and fortune, opening up a whole new way of life. Henry Ford’s father gave him a dollar when he left home in his attempt to establish a business. He used the dollar as capital and strived to build the Ford Company, making his name in history and benefiting the whole of humankind with his enterprise. The Tang Dynasty’s Venerable Master Hsuan Zhang studied the Buddhist scriptures when he was young and felt that the translations of sutras were inadequate at the time. He took the initiative to go to India to bring back more sutras. Because of his ingle thought he spent 18 years in India and brought back thousands of volumes of scriptures. He became known historically as the Master of the Buddhist Canon. His intention changed his life, and turned to a new page in the development of Chinese Buddhism and culture. Everyone’s life is different from the next person’s. When we see others flying high while we are down in life, we inevitably sigh and complain that it is not the best time of our life, or we even blame the heavens for such ill fate. Therefore, regardless of whether it concerns people, money or business, one only needs to cultivate the right view, establish faith in religion, make good connections with people and strictly observe the precepts; then one will not be controlled by fate but can improve fate instead. Venerable Master Hsing Yun

# Venerable Master Hsing Yun # 366 Days with Wisdom

Our conduct in life should be like the flow of water, when meeting a mountain water turns; when meeting the shore water turns; when meeting a stone water turns. In meeting obstacles, I turn. All mountain climbers have experiences in climbing. On a steep mountain it is extremely difficult to climb straight up to the peak, they should go around the mountain, making abrupt turns to reach the summit. It is generally said, “If a mountain does not turn, the road turns; if a road does not turn, people turn; if people do not turn, circumstances turn; if circumstances do not turn, the mind turns.” Once the mind turns, not only mountains and roads, but even realms, will all follow and turn. Life in the universe, our fate and fortune, will all follow the mind and turn. The mind controls the body. The mind can turn a confused life into one of wisdom; defiled thoughts into right understanding; ignorant behaviour into sensible demeanour; persistent delusions into an open and clear world. It is said, “The mind can turn the realm.” This certainly is very true! The world around us is like a big piece of dyed cloth. As long as the heart is filled with pure water, it will purify the pollutants in the world. The fairness in your heart can remove differences in the world; the loving kindness and compassion in your heart can make all things in the world your disciples. If you have wisdom, you will have insights into the ins and outs of the world. If you have meditative concentration, you can settle unrest in the world. If you have the strength of bodhi, you can handle the worldly anxiety of gain and loss. In general, to enable all things in the world to be of use by you, you should not follow all things and turn, just use your mind to turn. What other joy or suffering, gain or loss cannot be turned? Make good use the Buddha Dharma in order to solve problems. Follow the teaching of the Buddha Dharma to lead a carefree life. Some people are overwhelmed by stress. Their bodies and minds are exhausted. They become demoralised, suicidal. Some may even lose their mind. How do you overcome stress in your life? The following are some suggestions: 1. Enhance your knowledge and wisdom in all matters. With the increase in knowledge and understanding, stress can be

eliminated.

2. Relax your mind. Open you heart wide like an ocean to embrace the universe. To alleviate stress be tolerant and do not overburden yourself.

3. Cultivate detachment. Like your bag, carry it when you need it; put it down when you have no need for it. Do not compare; do not be calculating and you will be stress free.

4. Be a friend to stress. Accept stress willingly as a part of life.

5. Use every opportunity to be carefree and at rest. With no desire and no rejection stress naturally disappears.

6. Nurture the skill of cultivation to enhance your endurance, compassion and wisdom. Use your own internal strength to take on stress. Why be concerned about stress?

Those who cultivate the Dharma have concentration, wisdom, right thoughts and good reasoning to cope with life by following the natural flow of things. A common Chinese saying goes, “When enemy troops attack, generals resist; when floods come, earth covers.” So, why feel stressful? Venerable Master Hsing Yun

Page 20

2016 Term 3 - Meditation, Buddhist & Tai Chi Classes held at Chung Tian Temple

Basic Buddhist & Meditation Class Level: Level 1 Day: Every Sunday Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016 Time: 9:00am - 10:00am (Meditation) 10:10am - 11:00am (Buddhist talk) Cost: $20 per term - Booking is required

Intermediate Buddhist & Meditation Class Level: Level 2 Day: Every Sunday Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016 Time: 10:00am - 11:00am(Buddhist talk) 11:10am - 12:00pm (Meditation) Cost: $20 per term - Booking is required

Buddhist Book Study & Meditation Class

Level: Level 3 Day: Every Sunday Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016 Time: 10:00am - 11:00am (Meditation) 11:10am - 12:00pm (Buddhist talk)

Cost: $20 per term-Booking is required

Advanced Buddhist Study & Meditation Class

Level: Level 4(Free for BLIAQ members) Day: Every Sunday Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016 Time: 10:00am -11:00am (Meditation)

11:10am - 12:00pm(Buddhist talk) Cost: $20 per term – booking is required

Tai Chi Class

Day: Every Wednesday Time: 9.30am – 11.00am Where: Chung Tian Temple Cost: Free donation

Discussion Classes

Day: Every Sunday Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016Time: 11.00am – 12.00pm Where: Chung Tian Temple Cost: Free

To book for the Buddhist classes, an application form must be

completed and returned to the Chung Tian Temple’s reception

together with full payment at least a week prior to the course

commence date.

For all enquiry please contact 3841 3511 on Tuesday to Sunday, or email: ibaq@chungtian.org.auor

www.chungtian.org.au Thank you.

Tai Chi Class

Day: Every Saturday Time: 9.00am – 10.30am Where: Chung Tian Temple Cost: Free donation

Tai Chi Class

Day: Every Sunday Time: 8.30am – 10.00am Where: Chung Tian Temple Cost: Free donation

Bodhi Class For Children

Ages: 3 - 12 years

Sunday: 10.00am - 11.00am

Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016

Cost: $20 per term

Every 2nd & 4th child from the same family will be free.

Children are taught Buddhist morals and ethics in a nurturing environment. Lessons are backed by fun activities which include: simple meditation, children’s tai chi, Buddhist stories and virtues, craft activities and team-building games.

Teenager’s Buddhist Class

Ages: 13 - 19 years

Sunday: 10.00am - 11.00am

Date: 21 Aug 2016 to 25 Sept 2016

Cost: $20 per term Every 2nd & 4th child from the same family will be free.

The intermediate Dharma class builds on and expands the basic foundations of Buddhist learning, aiming for a practical approach and solutions to challenges issues faced by young people today.

Date Day Time Program

3 Aug 2016 Wednesday 11.00am Bright Light Dharma Service (1st of Lunar Calendar) (In Mandarin)

6 ~ 13 Aug 2016 9.00am Ullambana Festival Filial Piety Buddhist Chanting Service (In Mandarin)

13 Aug 2016 Saturday 11.30am Sangha Offering Service

14 Aug 2016 Sunday 10.00am Grand Offering

1.00pm ~ 6.00pm Thrice Yearning Dharma Service & General Merit Transference

17 Aug 2016 Wednesday 11.00am Sangha Day Service & Grand Offering

24 Aug 2016 Wednesday 10.30am Longevity Dharma Service & Grand Offering

(Birthday of Ven. Master Hsing Yun)

31 Aug 2016 Wednesday 9.00am Celebrating Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Birthday

(Reciting Ksitigarbha Sutra)

1 Sept 2016 Thursday 11.00am Bright Light Dharma Service (1st of Lunar Calendar) (In Mandarin)

3 Sept 2016 Saturday 10.30am Buddhist Service Chanting Filial Piety Sutra (in Mandarin)

10 Sept 2016 Saturday 10.30am Buddhist Service Chanting Diamond Sutra (in Mandarin)

11 Sept 2016 Sunday 10.30am BLIAQ Moon Festival

11 Sept 2016 Sunday 2.00pm Baby Blessing Ceremony

Every Sunday 9.00am ~ 9.40am English Buddhist Chanting

Every Saturday 10.30am ~ 12.00noon Buddhist Service (in Mandarin)

Buddha Quotes

“Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one — himself. Better to conquer yourself than others. When you've trained yourself, living in constant self-control, neither a deva nor gandhabba, nor a Mara banded with Brahmas, could turn that triumph back into defeat.”

“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend wi ll wound your mind.”

“Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.”

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.”