Dharma Lecture by Master Wei Chueh

This is a narration done by me of Dharma Lecture by the Chan Master Wei Chueh

Unordinary in the Ordinary

Unordinary in the Ordinary
I n a meeting to prepare for setting up a meditation
center, a monk was sitting next to the Grand Master
and started to examine the Grand Master’s face carefully.
He thought in his mind, “The face of the Grand Master is
full of wrinkles, and from that he is no different from any
ordinary old man. Then why are these prestigious people
so respectful of him?”
After the meeting, when all the lay disciples had left, the
Grand Master talked to the monks and nuns, “No
conceptual thought in the awareness; awareness is
without attachment. When, through practice, one has
attained a very high level, in outward appearance he or
she will look just like any other ordinary person, but his
or her mind will be totally different. This is what we call
covering the illumination and being in harmony with the
ordinary.”

Korean Buddhist Art

I'm not familiar with Korean Buddhism, but this video is very fascinating!

Master Sheng Yen

Master Sheng Yen

Master Sheng Yen is the founder of Dharma Drum Mountain. He was born on 1930 - 2009. A very wonderful and most respected Chan Master.

Watch him talked on 2007 here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqsjGVqzEM&feature=channel_page

Master Sheng Yen and Jet Li

Dedication of Merit Song by Rev. Heng Sure

Rev. Heng Sure, a student of Ven. Master Hsuan Hua, extremely wise and wonderful. This song is by him.

Chung Tai Koans - Upon Reflection

Upon Reflection

Acertain monk had the habit of wearing a sweater over
his shoulders with the sleeves tied in front. One day
the Grand Master was observed walking around the
monastery with a sweater wrapped around his shoulders in
exactly the same manner. Upon seeing the Grand Master’s
unusual appearance, the monks began discussing his
behavior with each other and wondered, “Why is the
Grand Master dressed like this? That is so strange!”
In the middle of this chattering, the monk walked in and
saw the Grand Master. Smiling to himself, the monk never
wore a sweater this way again.

Chung Tai Monastery

This is a video showing the Chung Tai Monastery of Grand Master Wei Chueh, Taiwan

Avalokitesvara Chant

This is a Chant of Avalokitesvara by Plum Village of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
To listen to this chant on here, go the the side bar on the right and turn off the background music

Guan Yin Bodhisattva

Guan Yin Bodhisattva

One of the probably most well known ,popular, and had the greatest affinity to sentient beings in saha world is Bodhisattva Guan Yin. In most Chinese or Vietnamese temple, he was seen standing tall in front of temple.

Most Buddhists seem to build connection with him very easily. He is a Bodhisattva representing great compassion. His compassion and kindness is expressed in many ways therefore I believe it is easier for Buddhists to have faith in him. He is also one of the two assistant Bodhisattvas for Amitabha Buddha in the Western Pure Land. The other Bodhisattva is called Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva.

From Sanskrit his name is Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, meaning "One who listens to the cries of the world". He was originally male. Soon he was drawn and shown as a female due to many legends around him in a woman form and also that female form can express his Compassion more fully like a mother to children.

Because of his great vows, miracles attained by people that diligently reciting his name through complete faith, or out of suffering and miseries. As his name said it, he helped those who are suffering if they evoke his name.

In the Lotus Sutra, there is a whole chapter over Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The Buddha talked about who he is, his incredible vows, his great deeds, and in which way does he helps sentient beings.

Please read the sutra by clicking on the link below to understand and know more about this incredible Bodhisattva. It is also very beneficial and attain great merit just from reading sutra.

http://www.buddhistdoor.com/oldweb/resources/sutras/lotus/sources/lotus25.htm

Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

My Buddha and Bodhisattva Drawings

Namo Amitabha Buddha
The followings are some of the drawings I did. I will continue drawing and will upload more.

Amitayus Buddha

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva

This is Kannon Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva)
Japanese Style.

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

This is Guan Yin Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva) I drew him in complete female form to express his compassion for all sentient beings like a mother for her own children.

May any merits I attained from drawing and concentrating from drawing Buddha and Bodhisattva be dedicated to all beings of the 6 realms and of this world and other worlds as well. That all sentient beings are free from suffering, attain bliss and peace, safe and well. May all beings realize their wisdom and compassion, attaining Buddhahood. For sentient beings who wish to take rebirth in Pure Land, May they let go of all worldly attachment to take rebirth in the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha.

Namo Amitabha Buddha

Chung Tai Koans - What It Means to Serve

What It Means to Serve
Because of his low blood pressure, one of the monks was unable to join the morning and evening services, and this made him feel uncomfortable. He came to the Grand Master’s office and asked, “Grand Master, since I am not able to join the morning and evening services, what should I do?” The Grand Master said indifferently, “Unable to attend the morning and evening services, that’s fine.” Questioning this information, the monk interjected, “But it is the duty of a monk to attend the morning and evening services.” The Grand Master responded, “Working earnestly is equivalent to attending services, and working with a mind undisturbed is the same as attending the services.” Upon hearing this, the monk was greatly inspired.

Chung Tai Koans - Don't Wait Next Life

Don’t Wait Until Next life
A monk who had encountered an obstacle in his
practice became doubtful as to whether or not he
could complete the path in this lifetime. He then asked the
Grand Master, “Grand Master, in my next life…”
Before he could finish his question, the Grand Master
immediately chided him, “Next life? Practice is that one
thought extends to be an eon and an eon is in one
thought. In this very lifetime, liberate yourself from the
cycle of life and death.”

Four Tenets of Chung Tai

The Four Tenets of Chung Tai—Concrete Guidelines to Practice the Dharma

The Chan teachings, although profound, are intimately tied to daily living. The four tenets of Chung Tai are concrete guidelines for practicing mindfulness in daily life:

To our elders be respectful:
Respect subdues arrogance
To our juniors be kind:
Kindness dispels anger
With all humanity be harmonious:
Harmony overcomes rudeness and violence
In all endeavors be true:
Truthfulness eradicates deceit.

http://www.ctworld.org.tw/english-96/html/a4TRADITION2.htm#

Grand Master Wei Chueh

Grand Master Wei Chueh

Venerable Wei Chueh was born in Ying Shan, Sichuan Province of China. In his youth he was educated in the Confucian classics and delved deeply into the study of Buddhism.

In 1963, he was ordained under Master Lin Yuan at the Shi Fan Da Jue ("Great Enlightenment") Chan Monastery in Keelung, Taiwan. There he got up before dawn each day to clean the monastery hall and courtyard. While others were resting after lunch, he would remain in the Buddha Hall and prostrate mindfully. In all his daily duties and interactions, he was always devoted, caring, and diligent.

To further his practice, Venerable Wei Chueh went into solitary seclusion for over ten years in the mountains near Wan Li, a suburb of Taipei.

Over time, as the area became more accessible, more and more people discovered the wisdom of this eloquent Buddhist master. His followers asked him to emerge from his mountain retreat to spread the Dharma teachings.

The Master responded by building the Lin Quan Chan Monastery at the very place of his retreat, expanding later to Chung Tai Chan Monastery in the town of Puli in central Taiwan. (And we refer to the founding abbot as the Grand Master to show our respect.)

The Grand Master, in adhering to the Buddha's aim to teach the Dharma, to show the way to lasting joy, and to promote peace, established meditation centers all over Taiwan as well as internationally.

He is frequently invited to lecture at universities and numerous organizations. He conducts seven-day meditation retreats every year to help participants realize their intrinsic perfect nature.

In order to preserve the teaching for future generations, he emphasizes education for Buddhist monks and nuns and established the Chung Tai Buddhist Institute to nurture knowledgeable and qualified teachers of the Dharma. He also founded the Pu Tai Schools (from elementary through high school) which place value in respect, compassion, and moral integrity in the education of youth.

Beginning from Lin Quan and now at Chung Tai Chan Monastery, Grand Master Wei Chueh has provided vision, inspiration and guidance to tens of thousands of followers, monastic teachers and lay people alike. Because of his leadership, the essence of Chan teachings has been deeply and widely planted and will bring fruits of serenity and wisdom to the world.

Chung Tai Chan Monastery

http://www.ctworld.org/english-96/html/index.htm

God Is a Lesbian

Thich Nhat Hanh : "God is a lesbian..."
Excerpt from Dharma Talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh on July 20, 1998 in Plum Village, France.

Question : "Dear Thay, I feel very well and safe here in Plum Village, but there were times in my life when I experienced discrimination, so there is one question which really interests me. What does Buddhism say about homosexuality?"

Reply: "Discrimination is something that many of us know, and there were times when we wanted to cry out for justice. You might be tempted by violent means in order for injustice to be removed. There are very many of us who are seeking non-violent means in order to remove injustice and discrimination imposed on us. Sometimes those discriminating against us act in the name of God, of the truth. We may belong to the third world, or we may belong to a particular race, we may be people of color, we may be gay or lesbian, and we have been discriminated against for thousands of years. So how to work on it, how to liberate ourselves from the suffering of being a victim of discrimination and oppression? In Christianity it is said that God created everything, including man, and there is a distinction made between the creator and the creature. The creature is something created by God. When I look at a rose, a tulip, or a chrysanthemum, I know, I see, I think, that this flower is a creation of God. Because I have been practicing as a Buddhist, I know that between the creator and the created there must be some kind of link, otherwise creation would not be possible. So the chrysanthemum can say that God is a flower, and I agree, because there must be the element "flower" in God so that the flower could become a reality. So the flower has the right to say that God is a flower.

"The white person has the right to say that God is white, and the black person also has the right to say that God is black. In fact, if you go to Africa, you’ll see that the Virgin Mary is black. If you don’t make the statue of the Virgin Mary black, it does not inspire people. Because to us the black people, "black is beautiful," so a black person has the right to say that God is black, and in fact I also believe that God is black, but God is not only black, God is also white, God is also a flower. So when a lesbian thinks of her relationship with God, if she practices deeply, she can find out that God is also a lesbian. Otherwise how could you be there? God is a lesbian, that is what I think, and God is gay also. God is no less. God is a lesbian, but also a gay, a black a white, a chrysanthemum. It is because you don’t understand that, that you discriminate.

"When you discriminate against the black or the white, or the flower, or the lesbian, you discriminate against God, which is the basic goodness in you. You create suffering all around you, and you create suffering within yourself, and it is delusion, ignorance, that is the basis of your action, your attitude of discrimination. If the people who are victims of discrimination practice looking deeply, they will say that I share the same wonderful relationship with God, I have no complex. Those who discriminate against me, do so because of their ignorance. "God, please forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing." If you reach that kind of insight, you will no longer get angry at that person who discriminates against you, and you might have compassion toward him or her. You will say: "He does not know what he is doing. He is creating a lot of suffering around him and within him. I will try to help him." So your heart opens like a flower and suffering is no longer there, you have no complex at all, and you turn to be a bodhisattva in helping the people who have been discriminating against you. That is the way I see it, out of my practice of looking deeply, so one day I made the statement that God is a lesbian, and this is my insight."

From http://www.plumvillage.org/

Metta Sutta Video

May All beings of all realms and worlds be at ease and happy.
Metta

Namo Amitabha Buddha

Metta Sutta

Credit: (http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/buddhist-practice/)

Metta: Loving Kindness.

This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful,
not proud and demanding in nature.

Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove.
They should wish:

In gladness and in safety
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any state,
Let none through anger or ill-will wish harm upon another.

Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings,
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upwards to the skies, and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded, freed from hatred and ill-will.

Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down,
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.

Metta is one of the four mental state that a Buddhist must Cultivate, Metta is "Loving Kindness" the other 3 is "Compassion" "Sympathetic Joy" and "Equanimity" . Each of the 4 mental states corresponds to the "Four Immeasurables"

The four immeasurables

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings rejoice in the well-being of others.
May all beings live in peace, free from greed and hatred.

Mental state	Definition	Far enemy	Near enemy	Comments
Loving kindness	Wanting others to be happy	Hatred, anger	Conditional love	State to avoid: attachment
Compassion	Wanting others to be free from suffering	Cruelty	Pity	State to avoid: sentimentality
Sympathetic joy	Rejoicing in the good fortune of others	Envy	Hypocritical admiration	Good against depression
Equanimity	Regarding every sentient being as equal	Anxiety, doubt, worry	Indifference	State to avoid: apathy

Effects of Thoughts

Why is it important to have compassion and loving kindness, and how can it affect others??

A word of kindness can save a life.
An act of compassion can bring peace and bliss to someone
A feeling of caring can reduce the suffering of one


What about non living?

Many had heard of Masaru Emoto

He had conducted experiments on water freezing. It is about how words and noises can affect it.

This is water formation when it was exposed recitation to Tibet Sutra.









Fujiwara Dam, before offering a prayer










Fujiwara Dam, after offering a prayer

You Make Me Sick, I Will Kill You

Love and Appreciation

Thank You

This is not because of water understood human language, but this is from the energy of positive thoughts and negative thoughts. Every things , existence are connected and related to one another, therefore the energy of positive and negative can also affect non living material.

Think about it and see how one word of kindness, one act of compassion, one thought of bliss and peace can affect you and others. Oppositely think about how negative words, actions, and thoughts can harms others, and importantly how it could harms you.

"We all have a common responsibility for our world, and are connected with everything in it"
The Dalai Lama

Namo Amitabha Buddha