On Step 1st, the yearly Refuge-Taking and Blessing Ceremony was successfully completed at the Grand Hall in Dharma Drum World Center for Buddhist Education. In a delightful atmosphere, 600 followers, from both local and abroad, aged 6 to 100, vowed to take refuge in the Three Jewels and the Five Precepts, turning themselves into Buddhists who put the faith of benefiting others into actual practice.

[Notice]

Nung Chan Monastery will not be open from Oct. 5 to Oct. 12 due to 7-day Foundation Chan Retreat

As Nung Chan Monastery will hold a 7-Day Foundation Chan Retreat from Oct. 5 to Oct. 12, 2019, the campus will NOT be open to the general public during the above mentioned period.

During this period of time, the whole area of Nung Chan Monastery will be reserved for Chan practice only; sightseeing or photographing will be declined.

The campus will be open once the retreat is over on Oct. 12. Your kind attention is highly appreciated.


Nung Chan Monastery
With Joined Palms

QUESTION:

At the end of every retreat we take the five precepts. Would Shih-fu explain in more detail what these precepts encompass? To what level should practitioners embrace the precepts? During one's practice, does the depth to which one accepts the precepts change? Also, your explanation of the five precepts has differed from retreat to retreat. Why is this so?

2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the Humanity Magazine. Looking back on 1949 when it was founded, what we face right now is yet another dramatically changing world. After the publication of "Awaken in the Global Buddhist Community," the 70th anniversary issue, Humanity went on to publish "Global Buddhist Awakening," an English special edition covering four major topics, including Coping with Tumultuous Change, Buddhist Culture on Sharing Wisdom, Chan Comes West and Global Buddhist Community. It is hoped that the development and opportunities of Buddhism in modern world could be well documented.

In the bright moonlight, Wishing you calm serenity.

On August 31st, DDM International Meditation Group held an one-day retreat in English at AiQun Building (愛群大廈) in downtown Taipei.

Dharma Drum Mountain is a practice center for Buddhist where the spirit of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guanyin) is highly prominent. To learn the Guanyin method, one has to recollect, pray, learn, and model oneself after Guanyin.

Hundred schoolchildren brainstormed to safeguard the world

On July 11th – 14th, at DDM World Center for Buddhist Education, 106 schoolchildren joined DDM Children's Camp where they explored new possible solutions for global waste. Through role-playing as national leaders, prime ministers or opinion leaders, they learned to use compassion and wisdom to safeguard the world.

Late Master Sheng Yen once said, “Without sufficient and profound practice, the assistance one could offer is limited; however hard one may try, it would hardly bring about the ultimate and perfect result. This past June, DDM Sangha held the Vassa, monastic rain retreat, in the Grand Buddha Hall of Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education. More than two hundred monastics from DDM branches from local and aboard gathered together for the one-month retreat. It was not only to abide by the practice established by the Buddha, but to follow the admonition from late Master Sheng Yen to his disciples that one has to constantly deepen his understanding and realization of the Dharma.

On the morning of July 17th, 27 youths, aged 16 to 25, from 17 countries including Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, etc., started their one-day meditation camp at DDM Zhai Ming Monastery (齋明寺), a Chinese Buddhist monastery built with a fine blend of both old and new. “Welcome Welcome Haere Mai,” 12 volunteer group leaders from Dharma Drum for Young People sang loudly upon their arrival, giving them a warm welcome to start the day.