Pictures

讀書會成員參與第十屆Sakyadhita國際佛教婦女會

(2008年7月1-7日‧蒙古烏蘭巴托)

更多照片請參考以下連結：

2008年第十屆Sakyadhita佛教婦女會

http://picasaweb.google.com/alice.chang1222/PhotosForTaiChiTeacher?authkey=7C48EzwwOr0&feat=directlink

2008年世界佛教友誼會，日本東京淺草寺
http://picasaweb.google.com/s1981chang/Christie?authkey=zCC__twx404&feat=directlink#

2008年全球在家居士會論壇，韓國首爾

http://picasaweb.google.com/bongcl/Forum?authkey=VJyXIhAp3DY#

http://picasaweb.google.com/bongcl/MtOdaeWeoljongsaSaonsa?authkey=dZFOQPIloUM#

http://picasaweb.google.com/bongcl/KoreaCulturalVillage?authkey=66dUzilH78o#

Welcome Tracy to join our discussion last week. ^^

Iris comes back from the USA, and she's going to join us soon. Yeah...

Jack, do you feel better now? Hope you can recover from the cold and rejoin us as soon as possible. Take care.

New Vocabularies & Phrases

1. nirvana (or nivarna) 涅槃 - e.g. Nirvana is beyond concepts.
2. maroon 暗紅色(喇嘛顏色)
- e.g. Seeing my shaved head and maroon skirt, he gathered that I was a Buddhist.
3. saffron 橙黃色
- e.g. Saffron or maroon robes and a peaceful smile are all it takes to be a Buddhist.
4. edict 教律 -e.g. But the seals are not edicts or commandments.
5. commandment 戒律 - e.g. But the seals are not edicts or commandments.
6. moralistic 教條的 - e.g. One sees that there is nothing moralistic or ritualistic about them.
7. ritualistic 儀軌的 - e.g. One sees that there is nothing moralistic or ritualistic about them.
8. secular (=worldly) 世俗的 - e.g. They are secular truths based on wisdom.
9. be meant to be (=should) 原本就是
- e.g. The message of the four seals is meant to be understood literally.
10. fooling around 玩耍、鬼混
- e.g. A few puffs of a cigarette and a little fooling around don't prevent someone from
becoming a Buddhist.

Four Truths/ Four (Dharma) Seals

Last two weeks, we read and discussed the introduction of "What makes you not a Buddhist".
The author expresses the "Four Dharma Seals" in sentences, which you could find below for
reference.
1. All compounded things are impermanent. (諸行無常)
2. All emotions are pain. (諸受皆苦)
3. All things have no inherent existence. (諸法無我)
4. Nirvana is beyond concepts. (涅槃寂靜)

1. If you cannot accept that all compounded or fabricated things are impermanent, if you believe
that there is some essential substance or concept that is permanent, then you are not a
Buddhist. (諸行無常)
2. If you cannot accept that all emotions are pain, if you believe that actually some emotions are
purely pleasurable, then you are not a Buddhist. (諸受皆苦)
3. If you cannot accept that all phenomena are illusory and empty, if you believe that certain
things do exist inherently, then you are not a Buddhist. (諸法無我)
4. And if you think that enlightenment exists within the spheres of time, space, and power, then
you are not a Buddhist. (涅槃寂靜)

Amitofo...

New members

Whew...there's more than one week without any update on the blog.
Glad that Frank came to join us last Tuesday.
It's our pleasure that venerable Weijing and her assistant will come next Tuesday...
Looking forward to seeing them and getting Buddhism doctrine...^^

Cancelled

Yesterday's (11/18th) study was cancelled because most of the members can't join.
Hope next week we could start reading and discussing the book "What makes
you not a Buddhist". See you~

Performance

Hello~
Is there anyone interested in the dance performance "Zen in the Dream"?
Mimi, Sandy and I am going to attend the performance this Sunday afternoon.
Would you like to come with us? Maybe we could have lunch together before
the start of performance.^^

Articles

Last Tuesday and yesterday, we've finished editing the articles by Jack and Sandy.
The following reading we're going to discuss is "What makes you not a Buddhist"
which is written by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse and translated by Yao Ren-Xi (姚仁喜).
Christie and Elsa will be absent next Tuesday, so maybe we'll need one new leader to lead
all of us...

Dinner-Indian curry

After discussion yesterday, some of us didn't eat

dinner, so we went to an Indian restaurant near

library to enjoy our dinner. Honestly, the food

tastes good although it's not the traditional

Indian curry. Except curry, the lemon juice is

good as well. ^^

As to the pancake, I'm not sure how it is.

But Jessica told us she has such pancake

at home. Really?!

"Little Buddha"

Last Tuesday we watched the DVD "Little Buddha" at library and KFG.
Ha ha...Some of you must have a question why we watched the DVD at KFG.
It's because the length of the film is about 140 minutes and library closed
at 9:00 p.m. We really appreciate the shifus provide such a comfortable
and convenient place for us to discuss Zen and further understand the
Buddha's compassion and wisdom...

Go Hiking

Yesterday (10/25) is a beautiful sunny day for hiking although it's raining cats and dogs the Friday night. We started from National Chengchi University at 9:30 a.m. To avoid slip and fall, we gave up going along the butterfly river.

Along the way, except beautiful scenery, we saw some historical remains of the Japanses ruled period. We drank some tea and ate some cookies when reaching the Zhinan Temple. Fortunately, because of the artist Mr. Hong, we enjoyed a vegetarine meal and each of us got a new poem made based on our Chinese name.

For me, go hiking this time is not only an exercise but also a nice art and religious trip.

Hope we could go hiking again together in the near future!^^

(photo: Ken, Sandy, Mr. Hong, Christie, Emily and Kathy)

International Academic Conference on the Linguistics of Chinese Buddhist Scripture

Dear all,

Here is an International Academic Conference on the linguistics of Chinese Buddhist scripture
for your reference. If you are interested in the conference, please link to the website below
to sign up.
http://www.nccu.edu.tw/ann/bulletin.php?bul_key=1223950875&partid=19

The conference will be held in National Chengchi University and Dharma Drum Buddhist College
during Oct. 31~Nov. 2. You could also find more details on the website.

Amitofo,
Alice ^^

Resumption

Zen Study restarts on Sep. 30th!

At the first meeting, except regular members, we're glad there's a new recruit Jack join us.
Christie leads all of us to read one of the chapters of selected translation from Miao Yun Ji (by
Ven. Yin-Shun). The selected translation is bilingual, so we could not only study Buddhism
but also learn translation by comparing the original with the translated text.

There'll be more recruits attend the following study group, including some venerables, Jessica,
Mimi...etc. Hope the zen study could keep going and all of us could get wisdom from the Buddhism!
See you~

Alice ^^

Photos - Sakyadhita Conference in Mongolia

Hello,

I've uploaded the photos of Sakyadhita Conference in Mongolia to my web albums. Welcome your visit. ^^

http://picasaweb.google.com/s1981chang/SakyadhitaConferenceInMongolia?authkey=C248jyf8Iz4#

Greeting

Dear all,

How have you been?
I hope everything is going well there!

Recently, most of us are busy and don't have much time to continue our Zen Study.
But I believe we'll get together to have the discussion and share the treasurable
experiences in or lifes as soon as possible after these busy periods.
Hope everything is going smoothly and the Conference in Mongolia is great successfully!
Looking forward to meeting all of you soon!^^

Best Regards,
Alice

20080602寫在見面之前_Cancelled

We're meeting tonight! This could be our second last meeting with Ken because he's going to be busy with the final exam and some other activities... Cherish the time we spend together and I look forward to having you in the study group in the future, Ken!
p.s. I haven't had time to organize and post on the notes from our last week's meeting~ i'll do it after this meeting :) see you tonight Alice Sandy and Ken~
--
Tonight's meeting's cancelled~ see you next week!

Welcome

It's been what, more than two months since we had the first meeting of the our Zen Study Group. Due to various reasons there has been a delay in my presumed schedule, but now with regular meetings and members I guess we'll improve in our pace. As one of the initiator of this English Zen Study Group I would like to welcome you all to take your first step into the world of Zen and hopefully we'll "immense" in it and find happiness~^^~ This blog enables us to have online discussion and you're all invited to post whatever you'd want to share with the other members!! Here's also a sharing space of our memo and ideas during the meeting. Please enjoy the browse!