My Life at the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: September 2005

Not much this week...

No pics sorry, nothing new really. Time goes by pretty quick and I am always busy with work here. Actually there a couple of pics i could post but i'll wait untill I have more and then post them. Until next week!

Time flys while learning.

I wanted to announce I am coming home in december for about a month to visit. Thats already in 2 months. Which means Ive been here for a month, wow, time flys, soon I'll have finished school. Maybe shouldnt jump that far ahead. Anyway, I am glad I will see all of you for the holidays. How about a Zen lesson to end the post---
from Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership (Thomas Cleary)-
#81-Correcting Faults
Yuanwu said:
Who has no faults? To err and yet be able to correct it is the best of all. Since time immemorial, all have lauded the ability to correct faults as being wise, rather than considering having no faults to be beautiful. Thus human actions have many faults and errors--this is something that neither the wise nor the foolish can avoid--yet it is only the wise who can correct their faults and change to the good, whereas the foolish mostly conceal their faults and cover up their wrongs.
When one changes to what is good, virtue is new every day. This is characteristic of what is called the ideal person. When one covers up one's faults, the evil is more and more manifest. This is characteristic of what is called the lesser person.
So it is that the ability to follow what is right when hearing of it is considered difficult from the standpoint of ordinary feelings. To gladly follow good when seeing it is what is esteemed by the wise and virtuous.
I hope you will forget about the outer expression of the words.
~~Letter to Wen Wangbu~~

I think its important to recognize your faults, and never discuss the faults of others. Not easy though.

Untill next time.

me and my Chinese teacher Laoshi Sarah, Chinese is awesome, learn it!

another picture from our class, he is explaining the basics of practice. First we must start with guidelines (called precepts), after skill in precepts (to cure greed) comes strong concentration (to cure anger) , and finally true wisdom (to cure ignorance).

This is our teacher, Mr. Verhoeven (formerly Heng Chau) he bowed every three steps with Dharma Master Heng Sure (check out his blog) in the 70's from LA to CTTB about 700 miles (i think). He is a huge help in understanding the principals of meditation and sutra study, really funny too.

This is my 6th Patriarch Sutra class, we have 45 min meditation first in this Chan hall. I am crying on the inside from pain, and everybody else is real happy smiling, not me- my knee hurts! Im such a whiner.

meditation class, see how bad my posture is! Chan meditation is really hard, im sore every day from sitting. Reminds me of when i first started training gung-fu.

he sat there for a while, so i took his picture. There are probably around 500 of these things running around.

i dont know why i keep posting pictures of peacocks, if someone tells me to stop i will.

Not much Time...

I have been really busy with my schedule so I will always update and check e- mail on thursdays. My classes are amazing and I will post pictures and stuff next week of them.

A quote from Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership-

#47 Will-Huanglong said to the layman Ying Shaowu: The will should be made singleminded, unregressing, for a long time. Then someday you will surley know the ultimate goal of ineffable enlightenment. If, on the other hand, the mind retains likes and dislikes, and your feelings engage in prejudice, then even if you have a determined spirit like that of the ancients, I fear you will never see the way. - recorded on a wall

I can try cant I?

This is a picture from the deportment class the monk on the left held for us. We are the example for new people coming in and he wants to make sure we know how to carry ourselves properly.

I had a chance to go to a presentation in Willits California with Dharma Master Shun, they were giving a presentation on Buddhism to college students.

Yes I am fixing a toilet. I couldnt even do it, we had to get someone else to come in and get these old rusty bolts out...

my good friend David Yin power washing the paint off the stalls. We are re-furbishing our dorms.

Planting the seeds, I am involved in the entire process from planting to harvesting. A couple of us are the first vlounteers to do this so we are learning to teach any newcomers. My main project is also the handbook for the farm.

I like landscapes.

This is a white peacock, not albino, i guess they are rare?

this peacock has two heads.

Courtyard in the morning, nice huh?

This is a picture from when I was giving a speech on who I am and why I came to CTTB. It was in front of the whole assembly! Read my speech below.

My speech at CTTB

A Mi To Fo, Hello everybody, let me start by introducing myself, my Dharma name is Hui Heng, but you can call me Kenny if you like.  I am a new student here at the Dharma Realm Buddhist University, and I was asked to tell you a little bit about my background and why I decided to come to the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and attend Dharma Realm Buddhist University this year.
     First a little biography, I am 20 years old, and come from a far away place called Buffalo, New York.  I grew up in an Italian roman-catholic family, in the suburbs and am the only child by my parents.  I first became interested in Buddhism when I was 17 because it was then that I met my first teacher, a gung-fu master who had a school close to where I lived.   The second I walked in the door I saw the Buddha, and the altar, and I knew that this was the place I had to be.  So I began to train martial arts, and this is where my foundation in cultivation comes from.  At the gung-fu school, besides being taught how to mold our physical selves, we were also taught how to mold our inner selves.  The main principles that were instilled in us were proper respect towards teachers, elders, and all people; discipline in our daily life through mantra recitation and bowing, and also how to change our faults and bad habits to become better people so that we may in turn help others, this was the very core of our training even though I may have not realized it at the time.  At the gung-fu school I also learned many other valuable things.  I learned how to cook, clean properly, assist an office, and I taught classes in boxing and kids-gung fu.  So I went from a 250 lb. football player, to a 200 lb vegetarian martial artist in just a short time.  Without this training, I would not have the foundation that I have today.  And I owe a great debt to my parents, and my teachers for instilling it in me.
My parents at first were very weary of everything; they thought it was just another one of my many phases.  But after training for some time, they began to see the change in me, they really accepted me and began to try and understand.  To give an example, my parents one weekend while I was away totally re-furbished one of our old rooms into a beautiful meditation room for me.  They have always spoiled me.  They also came here with me to see this wonderful place.  The rest of my family is also very accepting, I am lucky that they care for me unconditionally.  It is my hope that in time they will come to understand who I am, and what I am doing.
During the time I was training martial arts, every weekend our master would take us to the Ten Thousand Buddhas, World Peace Sarira Stupa, in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada, to go do volunteer work for her Master, Dharma Master Shan Kuang.  The same thing happened at the temple, I just felt like I had come home, and the master welcomed me with warm eyes and a bright smile.  At the temple, every week we would clean as much as we could all day, and then do the evening ceremony.  After about two years I decided to take refuge, and the five precepts, I was 19 years old.
     I found out about The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas about two years ago through my master in the temple.  In our library, we have all of the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s publications, and I began upon instruction of my master to read the Shurangama Sutra.  After studying the sutra and the commentary by the venerable Master, I knew I had to come here, but I didn’t know why, or when I would, as I had many responsibilities at home and at the Gung-fu school.  I then finished one year of community college after taking a year off to solely train martial arts.  I finally decided that I wanted to learn Chinese, and study Buddhism in a school.  It was then that my master told me I should go to Dharma Realm Buddhist University, because it was the best place to cultivate and go to college.  Conditions have now ripened and I am able to come here to the university to study Chinese culture and language, and further my study and practice of Buddhism.  After my education here, it is my hope to continue on to help people in any way that I can.
     In closing, I would like to thank all of you cultivators. Being here this first week has been a wonderful experience because everyone has been very helpful and very sincere.  You are all my good and wise knowing advisors, and a great inspiration to me.  I look forward to interacting with all of you and becoming an active member of The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.  A Mi To Fo

Me at the 2 acre organic farm. This farm is actually "true" organic. No pesticides, but also NO FERTILIZER. We use an ancient way of building the soil up so its so strong that it produces super strong plants that the bugs cannot eat! It is a very unknown way of farming, and very hard. I dont know much more, so when I do I'll post it.

The crew at the organic farm, the nun on the far right is the head of the kitchen staff, over 70, and can pick over 200 lbs of harvest in a couple of hours. I can do around 100-150. That just makes me feel bad...