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Tudong Pilgrimage in Thailand

  • 6) Rev.Heng Sure
    In January of 2006, six Buddhist monks walked up to the waterfall on the Long Stony River in Khao Yai National Forest, Thailand for a ten day pilgrimage.

Taiwan Visit

  • Dharma-friends
    Photos From My Recent Visit to Taiwan in June, 2005
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May 05, 2008

Essay #3 Historical Witness

Please enjoy the next installment of my essays written during Jon Carrol's writing workshop eight years back. This exercise was called: "Historical Witness. Pick a time and place and write as if you were there."

So of course I chose:

At the Buddha’s Side Beneath the Bodhi Tree

Continue reading "Essay #3 Historical Witness" »

April 30, 2008

Design a Fantasy Auto (Writing Assignment #2)

Contmplation_in_the_city_poster Writing Assignment #2 from my class with Jon Carroll: "Design a Fantasy Auto." In this essay I imagined the what would the marketplace look like if advertising and design targeted religions directly. Salesman Peter Noster of Holy Spirit Motors tries to snow Fr. O'Neill with the Pontiff model and then works his way down the model line to the Eremite. Not everybody will get the humor and it certainly is aimed at Roman Catholics with affection, not with malice or sarcasm.

Enjoy!

Continue reading "Design a Fantasy Auto (Writing Assignment #2)" »

April 29, 2008

A New Series: Heng Sure's Writing!

050 Since I began my writing retreat I dug around in my writing folder and found some short essays from years past. These pieces were assignments in my Jon Carroll writing class. Jon is the beloved Personal Essay columnist from the SF Chronicle.

I plan to periodically post some of the better pieces for your reading enjoyment. Do enjoy!

The first one is called "Dragon Racing In Alberta." (a true story, mostly).

Continue reading "A New Series: Heng Sure's Writing!" »

April 20, 2008

Writing Retreat Happening!

It's actually happening, words on paper. Appreciate the support from friends and well-wishers. Visited my mom and sister for three days and came back with some family pictures. Romantic Canadian war hero father and glamorous intrepid aircraft communicator mother. Sister Liz in New York and Clowery siblings in Maryland.
Mom
First, my mom. More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "Writing Retreat Happening!" »

March 26, 2008

Buddhist Youth Spring Conference #10!

Drby_conf_poster Dharma Realm Buddhist Young Adults, formerly known as DRBY, is holding its tenth annual spring conference "Insight and Happiness on the Buddhist Path" here at the Monastery this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, March 28-29th, 2008. These events are tremendously inspiring, as the energy and enthusiasm of young minds meets the principles of Master Hsuan Hua's Dharma teachings in the West. It's a time for making friends, hanging out with the Sangha, and getting inspired by people who enjoy sharing their experiences on the Buddhist Path.

You need to regster to attend, and now is the time. Go to the website of DRBY and follow the links to register.

March 02, 2008

VegFest in Ukiah!

Vegfest2008_revised Vegetarian/Vegan Activism Comes to Ukiah, California on Sunday, March 16th, 2008, from 11:00 to 4:00 PM.
Following the slogan, "Stop Global Warming One Bite at a Time," the event convenes at Ukiah's Saturday Afternoon Club, 107 South Oak St.

Featured speakers include myself, singing vegetarian inspired songs accompanied by a 12-string guitar, and also Howard Lyman, the well-known "Mad Cowboy." Howard is a passionate, committed advocate for plant-based eating and environmental activism. He calls himself "a former cattle rancher who won't eat meat."

Howard Lyman's website

February 18, 2008

***Writing Retreat In Progress***

Hsfrancis Stop all the busy-ness, I'm concentrating! That is to say, I've begun a three month writing retreat, to write a book I'm supposed to write. I plan to take three months off from my daily rounds as pastor of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery and focus on one activity: saying in words what I want to say about Buddhist practice. I'm going to forgo meetings, lectures and consultations in order to give birth to a book about Buddhist practice. People I meet when I travel to Buddhist countries East and West ask me all the time, "What is the best practice for me? What should I do to move forward in my spiritual practice?"

Continue reading "***Writing Retreat In Progress***" »

December 31, 2007

A New Year Coming On: Same Old or Renewal?

Guitarattyt Looking back on a travelin' year, today, at the change of the calendar. New music CD, and new story-telling CD, (type Heng Sure into the Apple iTunes store search window) travels to nine countries and nearly 200 Dharma talks or Sutra lectures, classes or music performances. This is of course, what monks do, especially if you're a disciple of the late Master Hsuan Hua. You do that as long as possible without burning out and then you balance it with stillness. So I'm heading for a period of stillness, I plan a reteat to write a book, from February til April, if I can. More on that later.

Until then, Happy New Year, may 2008 bring you all the happiness you seek. Together let's wish that all beings quickly realize the fruition of all their good karma and all their negativity vanish like ice melting in the warm Spring breeze.

November 30, 2007

Meeting with Imee Ooi

Group For the last five years wherever I go around the Buddhist world I've been hearing certain contemporary Buddhist music that catches my attention. In almost every case the music comes from Imee Ooi, a Malaysian Buddhist composer from Kuala Lumpur. Her name in Chinese is Huang Huiyin (黃慧音)which means "Wisdom Sound." This trip to Malaysia I asked my hosts in KL if

(Photo Caption: Choi Yu, Rev. Heng Sure, Imee Ooi, Yvette Kang) there was any chance to meet with Imee and it happened. I spoke with her for three hours on Sunday evening, before my return to the US and I learned more about her music.

Imee takes chants, sutras, mantras and sacred names and sets them into melodies that she composes. The composing, arranging and performing are all done by her, including multi-track vocals. The result sounds ethereal and tranquil, but not syrupy or boring. Her melodies are fresh and moving.

Continue reading "Meeting with Imee Ooi" »

5th Global Conference on Buddhism

Audience2 Just back from Kuala Lumpur and the 5th Global Conference on Buddhism. The panel of speakers was inspiring, including Ajahn Brahm from Australia, Thubten Jinpa, (translator for HH the Dalai Lama) from Montreal, Roshi Jan Chozen Bays, from Oregon, among others. I gave two talks and gave a mini-concert (four songs) after lunch on Saturday. Judging by the number of voices singing along, the response was satisfying. 900 Malaysian Buddhists attended, the majority being English-speaking Chinese Malaysians.

Continue reading "5th Global Conference on Buddhism" »

November 27, 2007

Paramita CD now available on iTunes!

Paramitabridge1 As of today, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2006, my Paramita: American Buddhist Folk Songs CD is available for download on iTunes! Should you want to surf on over, first download and install iTunes on your computer, it's a free download from Apple.com, then click on the iTunes store. Once it opens, type "Heng Sure" into the search window and up will come the songs. Here is a link that will take you there directly, if you have the software on your machine.

If you want to buy the actual CD package, you can find it at CDBaby, by clicking on this link.

October 27, 2007

Meeting with Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne

Drariyaratne1 On Friday, thanks to Nipun Mehta, I had a chance to speak with Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, a Gandhi International Peace Prize winner who has dedicated his life to the non-violent transformation of societies, starting with his war-torn nation of Sri Lanka. Dr. Ariyaratne is truly a heroic man, cut from the same cloth as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Dr. M.L. King Jr.

A Buddhist, and humble to the core, he is a living legend, and the stories and statistics about his life stagger the imagination. For example, through his efforts, 15, 000 villages in Sri Lanka became economically self-sufficient, 11 million (that's correct) people, nearly half the population of Sri Lanka, have recevied benefits from Sarvodaya, his organization, either through education, through elimination of poverty, or through participating in his meditation programs, that have brought up to 850,000 people into meditation at the same time. Please find out more about Sarvodaya here.

Continue reading "Meeting with Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne" »

October 23, 2007

Visit to Harbin

Our China Delegation traveled to Harbin's Ji Le Si (Utmost Happiness Monastery) to pay a visit to Master Jing Bo and to pay our respects to the closest large city to Master Hsuan Hua's birthplace. Please see photos of our visit below. Without any advertising, 2,000 people came out to have a look at Master Hsuan Hua's American disciples. Master Hua is known far and wide as "the Noble Monk Who Went to America, (Lu Mei Gao Seng).
Jilesi2

Continue reading "Visit to Harbin" »

October 19, 2007

Visit with Uncle Earl

Group2 One of America's finest Bluegrass/Old Time/Traditional music bands, Uncle Earl, visited the Berkeley Monastery on Wednesday. I've known of Abigail Washburn's Chinese language and banjo playin' skills for years and when her all-girl (all g'earl) bluegrass group played Freight & Salvage this week we finally met face to face. Abbey's bandmates are happy souls and gracious women who brought happy energy in abundance. Please check out the Uncle Earl website.

October 16, 2007

Beginnings of Western Buddhist Culture

Buddhistprog08 Buddhism has been in the US for 100 years now and the first glimmers of authentically Western Buddhist culture have emerged, first in California ('natch) but elsewhere as well. I will be speaking at the Fremont, Ca central library in three weeks about four aspects of Western Buddhist culture that we can already identify. I predict that 1) equal access to the Dharma (democracy), 2) psychological understanding of the Dharma, 3) scientific approach to cultivation, and 4) animating of the interface between humanity and the natural world will result from Buddhism's impact on Western culture.

Basics of Buddhism: Buddhism 102

Smallposter The Basics of the Buddha's Teachings: Buddhism 102!  Coming up for the next four Saturday evenings! Following the responses to our Spring course Buddhism 101, starting this Saturday evening at 7:30 we are continuing with Buddhism 102, four courses titled: "Where To Now? Buddhism's Roadmap to Awakening!"
We will focus on the end of the Buddhist spiritual path: 1) the Bodhi Resolve and the Dao; 2) Arhats; 3) Bodhisattvas; and 4) Buddhas.

The course is free of charge, and will also be webcast. Follow this link to www.berkeleymonastery.org for details.

Please register - - it's easy and it helps us keep track of students; further we can get materials to you and notify you of any changes. Registration is done at the same website: www.berkeleymonastery.org. Thanks!
 

October 09, 2007

Enthusiastic Welcome at Da Pu Ti Monastery

Windywelcome When the delegation arrived at Great Bodhi Monastery (Da Puti Si), out in the cornfields of Jixian County, in far northeastern Heilongjiang, Manchuria, we were greeted with an enthusiastic welcome that included flower bouquets, a red carpet, and a brass band playing "Amitabha." Abbot Master Zhengxiu traveled last year to meet us in Beijing and invite our delegation to visit his monastery and this year the conditions came together. The experience was truly heart-warming, as the Manchurian Buddhist community went all out to make us feel welcome and appreciated. More photos to follow.

Continue reading "Enthusiastic Welcome at Da Pu Ti Monastery" »

Article in the Kuala Lumpur Star Online

Thestar_138x35 Today's online edition of The Star, from Kuala Lumpur, features a story on me written by Catherin Siow. I will attend a Global Sangha Conference in November in KL, and this article serves as a preview for the conference.

Read the story here.

October 06, 2007

Tea City Parking Pot!

Teacityparkingpot Visited "Tea City" in Beijing - - a four story shopping center dedicated to Chinese tea and the experience of tea drinking. In the Xuanwu District of Beijing there are perhaps three thousand tea merchants, all gathered around a few streets, and some in the multi-story malls like Tea City.

The shop we visited included a landscaped tea pot and cup made of shrubs, located in the parking lot, which every two minutes, emitted a stream of boiling tea! (Water, actually). It was a downtown parking pot!

We had come for a taste of Da Hong Pao "Big Red Robe" tea, a variety of Wulong (Black Dragon) tea. Delicious! Click through for a picture of the real stuff!

Continue reading "Tea City Parking Pot!" »

Ming Emperor's Buddhist Songs

Yuanchi Visited Master Yuanchi at Fayuan Monastery. Master Yuanchi is a respected monk in Bejing, and serves as the librarian for the Buddhist Association of China. He has discovered the one and only set of Buddhist songs written by Ming Emperor Yong Le. Apparently the Yong Le Emperor penned thousands of lyrics, perhaps numbering 5 - 6,000 in all, to be sung to the ancient tunes of Chinese Tsz, (Ci) the sonnnet-like poetry form. For  millenia, poets and literary people have sung poems to these melodies. The  Emperor set  the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to Tsz melodies.

Continue reading "Ming Emperor's Buddhist Songs" »

October 05, 2007

1,000 Year-old Sharira Pagoda

Madelenawang_2 We traveled to Xi'an, China at the invitation of Mr. Shi Yuan-peng of the Cultural and Religious Publishers of the Central Government. Our destination was to inspect cultural marvel; a late Tang, early Song (11th century) sharira (relics) pagoda. The existence of this marvelous item is known to very few; news of its discovery will be released next month. The pagoda has five layers, an outer stone shell, then successive pagodas of iron, bronze, silver and gold. Arrayed in layers like Russian dolls, the layers lead to the walnut sized gold pagoda which houses an unknown treasure, predicted by the world’s experts to be multiple sharira, or relics of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Continue reading "1,000 Year-old Sharira Pagoda " »

Delegation to China

Monks I'm in Beijing, China, heading for Harbin, Manchuria with a delegation of Dharma-friends. Our purpose in coming is to speak Dharma for a group of young monks in Manchuria. Because both Bhikshu Heng Lai and I have been ordained for 31 years we're considered  "Elders" in the Chinese Buddhist world. The Cultural Revolution nearly wiped out two generations of Chinese monks. Currently across China there are approximately twenty surviving monks who are 80+ years old; everybody else in the Sangha is under 40 years of age, and ten years in robes, at the most. When Heng Lai and I show up with three decades as a Sangha member, we are called "zhanglao" or "Elder," which title I find unfamilliar.

Continue reading "Delegation to China" »

September 26, 2007

Interreligious Music & Art Festival

Festival The IWR (Institute For World Religions) convened our first annual Interreligious Music and Arts Festival at the Monastery two Saturdays ago and by all accounts from the 200 or so attendees, it was a hit. I'll post more later, and I recommend clicking on this link for some outstanding photos of the event taken by Ching images. Musicians from eight religions and sixteen graphic artists from a variety of religions showed their creativity and a good time was had by all. Teance Fine Teas brewed and poured the refreshments.

Chinese TV Interview with Jay Stone Shih

Stoneinterview Mr. Jay Stone Shih, host of Dialogue 360, a Bay Area Chinese language talk show, cable channel 32, (KMPT) invited me on two weeks ago and the show has been posted on line. It aired in two 30-minute segments and if you enjoy Chinese language interviews, check it out. I've appeared on Jay Stone's show twice before, when he hosted China Crosstalk, on Channel 26 (KTSF.) Everybody in the Bay Area knew Stone's show - - his 11:00 PM program earned him the title, the "Chinese Larry King Live." Issues of creativity lead him to go independent, and now he produces and publishes his own show on cable and online. We talked about the Paramita music CD and how Buddhism is coming to the West.

You can watch the shows online at this link. Scroll down to 9/13 and 9/17 listing and click the "Watch Video" link.

My Interview in "Kungfu Magazine"

Shaolinkungfucover Mr. Gene Ching, Associate Publisher of Kungfu Magazine called up last June and asked whether I knew anything about the Late Master Hai Deng's visit to the USA in the 1980s. I answered that both I and Dr. Martin Verhoeven were there for Master Hai Deng's entire visit to the Bay Area. Gene came up and drank tea and listened to our account of Hai Deng's meeting with Master Hsuan Hua, his trip to CTTB, his movie screening, and the  lessons in shaolin exercise, and in being a Buddhist monastic we got from from the elder martial artist Bhikshu. Gene published the interview in the latest issue (Nov.- Dec. 2007) of the magazine. His report is accurate and well-written. The story runs from pp 16-20 and continues on p. 58. You can find more information online.

My Article in Donald Mitchell's "Introducing the Buddhist Experience" (2nd Edition

Mitchellbookcover Autumn has come and with it, I'm teaching another GTU class on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue. Our text book is the new edition of Donald Mitchell's Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience. This is the second edition and Don invited me to write about my experience as an American monk in the Chinese Mahayana tradition. My article appears on pages 392-398. Donald Mitchell is a professor at Purdue University, and a life-long Catholic, but his interest in Buddhist practice runs deep.
You'll find the book online.

September 01, 2007

Vietnamese Dharma-Friends in Europe

Precepts_2 From Germany, to Poland, from France to Italy, from Finland to the USA our Dharma tour met Vietnamese Buddhist friends all over Europe. Our Assembly in Paris at the Chinagora Hotel gathered in over 600 people to bow, recite, take Refuge and Precepts, listen to lectures, and enjoy vegetarian meals. Because we brought our most experienced Vietnamese translator, Mr. Ha Guo - hong,  so my words and the talks given by the nuns in our delegation, were available via headphones to all Vietnamese speakers who required them.

Continue reading "Vietnamese Dharma-Friends in Europe" »

August 20, 2007

Traveling to Poland

Riding a thirty-year old Russian train, covered in Cyrillic writing; it felt as though we had stepped back into the third world. It was midnight in Hannover; we were nineteen people, and our thirty bags. Crashed onto the train while the whistle blowed three times, impatiently.

Hamburg_train

Continue reading "Traveling to Poland" »

August 07, 2007

More Thoughts From The Conference

Seniornuns Millions of Buddhist women have full ordination denied them by Buddhist men. This is not what the Buddha taught, rather it is half of the population discriminating against the other half. It is in the interest of Buddhist men to reinstate full human and religious rights to women. This is not only justice it is common sense.

The nature of consciousness is not gendered.

Suppose women woke up and took it into their own hands to educate themselves to the conditioning of the entertainment, cosmetic and fashion industries? Suppose women woke up and rejected the images that make them objects of men's desires?  How quickly would bulimia and anorexia eating disorders be forgotten?

Suppose women woke up and rejected the complicity that makes them passive victims of men's lust for warfare? How quickly could wars stop?

Continue reading "More Thoughts From The Conference" »

July 30, 2007

Thoughts From Hamburg Conference

From the road today heading Southeast to Milan and Verona. A turning point in the Hamburg Conference discussion was the evening  Q & A when the young Tibetan nuns were invited to share their opinions about the topics of the conference. One young person, Ani Choying Drolma, who is also known as "the Singing Nun", spoke first. She speaks English like a Californian and is both muscially gifted and courageous in singing sacred songs to support her monastery back in Nepal. Following her lead, half a dozen young TIbetan women spoke. Two themes emerged: 1) they were unaware of the issues surrounding being a Bhikshuni. Tibet has lost the lineage for centuries and the Buddhist men had never explained its advantages.

2) The young nuns resonated with the Mahayana's Bodhisattva vision. They said, "We want to rescue all living beings and benefit them with the Dharma." The Mahayana's Bodhisattva Path lies at the heart of these nuns resolve to cultivate.

"This is not a gender issue for us; we're Buddhists!" they emphasized.

July 28, 2007

Spent the Day At the Louvre with 18 Teenagers

And lived to tell the story What a fun day in Paris!
Group1





Group2

July 27, 2007

Report to the International Buddhist Women's Congress in Hamburg

Report1 I traveled with a delegation from DRBA of ten nuns and one other monk to Hamburg, Germany, for the First International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, Bhikshuni Vinaya and Ordination Lineages.

The following is close to what I said to begin our report on, July 19th, 2007.

"The late Chan Master Hsuan Hua's legacy includes 31 centers around the world, 21 of which are staffed by women. Among the several hundred monastics ordained by Master Hua through the years in the USA, women outnumber men four to one. This Buddhist pioneer in the West has an extraordinary resonance with women religious worldwide.

Continue reading "Report to the International Buddhist Women's Congress in Hamburg" »

July 26, 2007

On the Road In the Air

Mitracrowd Guo Ji, Guo Cuc and Master Jin Rou, from Gold Coast, left Sydney heading for Hamburg, and that means 22 and 3/4 hours in the air to London, and then an hour and a half to Hamburg after meeting a flight in London's Heathrow airport. Our Qantas jet refueled in Singapore but had to wait on the tarmac for two hours and then pick a new route. It seems that if you miss a slot in the highways in the air another scheduled flight will bump you and the airline has to find another slot to book. We had to take on more fuel because we had to fly farther in another sky-route.

So with the two hour delay in Singapore, the layover in Heathrow and such we were in transit for 26 hours before arriving in Hamburg.

Continue reading "On the Road In the Air" »

Connections with Buddhist Youth in Sydney

Nsw Immodest to post praises, I know, but I wanted to share some of the heart-felt comments and responses from my talk and songs in Sydney at the Mitra Conference:

"...I just wanted to express my sincere thanks for the dhamma and wisdom that you shared at the council and the conference.  I was moved to tears more than once, and it feels like my faith in the three jewels has grown, which has given me a lot of energy to make a greater effort with my practice and work for the dhamma." KW - Sydney

Continue reading "Connections with Buddhist Youth in Sydney" »

July 12, 2007

Dharma Events in Sydney

Sml_col_poster In Sydney for the weekend, with two events coming up. The first is a talk to the Buddhist Council of New South Wales, tonight (Friday, July 13th!) and then tomorrow and for the weekend, I'm speaking at the Mitra Buddhist Youth gathering: "Change Your Mind, Change the World," a sentiment I heartily endorse.

Australian Rainforest Critters

3koalas Kuranda Rainforest Jaunt! High up in Northern Queensland. Some of the faces, fur and feathers, not to mention a crocodile.
More pictures after the jump. Who doesn't love sleeping koalas, especially the last guy. (click the link).

Continue reading "Australian Rainforest Critters" »

July 05, 2007

Travel Journal: Stories Around the Globe

Going to keep a journal for my journey from San Francisco to Australia, to Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Finland. On the road, personal stories, with all the gripes and inspirations intact.

Started out with Tru Chung and Cuc Chung, in Dr. Mike Chung's big SUV. Left my jacket at the monastery; Sandy called as we reached Ashby Avenue. We had to circle back through Saturday traffic to pick it up. Good thing, too, Australia is cold in the winter!

Evening flight to Sydney. Australia immigration lost my visa. Then they found TWO visas for me. Retrograde Mercury?

"Thank you for helping to keep our airport secure. We are currently at security threat level one (orange?). Keep in contact with your bags at all times. Unaccompanied baggage will be destroyed." Why don't other nation's airports terrorize their citizens this way?

At baggage inspection my robe was flagged by a nervous, new inspector. The inspector apologized for giving me the pat down. 

Continue reading "Travel Journal: Stories Around the Globe" »

July 04, 2007

United Religions Meeting in Antwerp

Been to Antwerp, Belgium for the URI Global Council (Board Meeting)

Uri_gc
PK McCary, (A Lutheran from Texas,) Steven Fuqua (a Bahai from Minnesota, typing,) Tru Chung, (a Buddhist from Vietnam, standing), Rev. Heng Sure, Kathy Sandoval, a Native American from Orange County, Sheikh Bashir Dultz, and Raschid Bochmeuhl, two Muslims from Germany. The faces of URI.



City Square, Antwerp. Can you find the monk? (picture of Global Council after the jump!)
Antwerpsquare1

Continue reading "United Religions Meeting in Antwerp" »

May 23, 2007

The Lion's Roar of Truth

Sev01 Although this speech was given fifteen years ago, Canadian Severn Cullis-Suzuki's address to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992 still makes your heart skip a beat. Watch her speech here.

The daughter of environmentalist and scientist David Suzuki, she makes her case for responsible behavior poignantly and directly. Read the text of her talk below.

Continue reading "The Lion's Roar of Truth" »

May 15, 2007

Buddhism 101 Part 2 Tonight!

Logochop Last week I began "Buddhism 101" a class in the basics of Buddhist practice and learning. We had sixty people in the Buddha hall and another 17 online, listening in from places as far afield as Sweden, Portugal, Brazil and LA. I told the Buddha's story, and pointed out some of the important themes to learn from the life of a man set aside wealth, power and comfort as the priorities in his life so that he could challenge old age, sickness and death.

Tonight's class: more below

Continue reading "Buddhism 101 Part 2 Tonight!" »

May 07, 2007

Photos From Gwhyneth Chen's Concert

Bows1 Kind friends sent along a page of photos from Gwhyneth Chen's outstanding concert in Berkeley yesterday. Click here to visit the photo page. More to come!

May 06, 2007

Gwhyneth Chen Concert Interviews

Stoneinterview Pianist Gwhyneth Chen is in the Bay Area for a benefit concert on behalf of the Fountain Project. I traveled with her and host Erlene Chiang to three radio and TV interviews. The Bay Area hosts three Chinese radio and TV stations, and the interview hosts are celebrities all over the area. Gwhyneth gave interviews to Jay Stone Shih, host of Channel 32's "Dialogue 360", Ms. Shih Cheng-hsi (Orlando Shih), host of Channel 26's Talk Tonight program, and Ms Diana Ding of US Chinese Radio.
(photo caption: Erlene Chiang, Jay Stone Shih, Gwhyneth Chen, Rev. Heng Sure)

Continue reading "Gwhyneth Chen Concert Interviews" »

May 03, 2007

HH the Dalai Lama in San Francisco

Hhdalailama053 Last weekend I had the blessing of attending the Dharma-teachings of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in San Francisco. John Hall took some marvelous photos that because of the ban on flashbulbs, had to be taken in available light. The resulting movement of the red, orange, black, and yellow robed monastics created some memorable impressionistic photographs. Truly "drawing in light" (photo-graphy).

Sharp eyes can spot me in the group shots sitting third from the left in the third row of Theras and Lamas.

(All photos courtesy of John Hall.)

Click here to view the photos.

May 01, 2007

Announcing Buddhism 101

Flyer2 Buddhism 101
A four-week introduction to the teachings and practice of Buddhism
Note: class is available online! (link)

Tuesdays 7:30 pm-9:30 pm
May 8, 15, 22, 29
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery
2304 McKinley Ave
Berkeley, CA 94703
The class is free but in-person attendees should register. Click here for registration.

When you see words like Dharma, Zen, Nirvana, Karma or Enlightenment plastered on billboards pitching the latest products, you know that Buddhism is hip in town. With commercials, television shows, nightspots, drinks, and food products, references to Buddhism are everywhere, as if some mystical power or wisdom comes bottled with the product. But looking beyond the marketing veneer, how much do we really know Buddhism?

Continue reading "Announcing Buddhism 101" »

April 23, 2007

Ordination At Abhayagiri

Ordination3 On Sunday at Abhayagiri Forest Monastery in Redwood Valley, 20 miles north of the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas, two new monks went forth into the homeless life. Venerable Titapo became a Bhikkhu and Venerable Chunda (formerly Anagarika Lee) became a Shramanera. The ceremony was held outdoors in the forest, on a hillside platform above the monastery. The rain came and went, the wind blew and stopped, and 80 monks, family and well-wishers gave the new monks their blessings. The photograph shows Venerable  Pasanno Bhikkhu, the Co-Abbot of the Monastery, who served as the Upadhyaya, or Preceptor, and Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, who was the senior monastic present. Between myself and the two elders, we three had 100 years in robes!

Continue reading "Ordination At Abhayagiri" »

April 13, 2007

Monastic Sangha Gathering 2007

Monasticsangha1 Forty Western Buddhist Monastics met for our thirteenth annual gathering this week at the City of the Dharma Realm in Sacramento, California. Just looking at the robes and traditions meeting in harmony gives one a lift, yes?


More photos, after the jump, including the life-like bronze image of Master Hsuan Hua in the center of the monastics.

Continue reading "Monastic Sangha Gathering 2007" »

March 28, 2007

Piedmont Middle School Visits

Piedmont1 Oakland's Piedmont Middle School every Spring takes the sixth-graders on a local religious community field trip. Three hundred sixth-graders visit Temple Sinai, the Greek Orthodox Church of Oakland and the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. I get to talk with three
hundred sixth graders, in three groups of one hundred each.


(Learning to meditate)

Continue reading "Piedmont Middle School Visits" »

March 26, 2007

DRBY Spring Conference Photo

Drbygroup2007 130 attendees made the ninth Dharma Realm Buddhist Youth weekend the biggest so far. More details later. Check out these faces.

March 23, 2007

Celebration Honoring Huston Smith

0330_invite Prof. Huston Smith, considered a "living treasure of world religions," will be feted at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on Friday, March 30, 2007. I have been invited to take part, and will join representatives from many of the world's religions, including Native American Indigenous spirituality, to express our appreciation of the insight and knowledge that Prof. Smith has offered to readers worldwide over the years.

In 1969 when I studied Zen at Antaiji, in the northern corner of Kyoto, Japan, on the day that I left to return to the USA, the Zen Master of the temple, Uchiyama Roshi, called me over and asked me to greet a group of students and their teacher, who had come all the way from MIT in Cambridge, Mass to learn about Zen.

Continue reading "Celebration Honoring Huston Smith" »

DRBY Spring Conference

Drby_cover Dharma Realm Buddhist Youth (DRBY) will hold its annual Spring Conference here at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery starting tomorrow, Saturday, March 23, 2007 and we expect 130 college students for lunch! This is the most ambitious gathering since the conferences began nine years ago. The program is titled, "Wisdom in Action: Spirituality and Social Action." You can find out more information here.

Speakers include the Tibetan Bhikshuni Ven. Karma Lekshe Tsomo, from San Diego,  who will talk on the topic: "Out From the Shadows: Socially Engaged Buddhist Women In the Global Community."

Rev. Kusala, is driving up from Los Angeles to talk on the topic, "Trials and Tribulations of Public Service: The Reluctant Bodhisattva." Ven. Suhitadharma will discuss his experiences in Prison Outreach, "Working With Inmates During Their Post-Release Process Back Into The Community."  Bhikshuni Heng Yun, my colleague from San Jose, will talk about Buddhist Prison Ministry in Taiwan.

Continue reading "DRBY Spring Conference" »

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  • Drby_conf_poster
  • Vegfest2008_revised
  • Hsfrancis