On March 16, under the order of the state government, the 8-million population San Francisco Bay Area became the first region of compulsory home sequester in North American during the COVID-19 pandemic. To the residents, this may have been the most significant change to their daily lives since World War II, whereas this is a required course of Buddhist practices for the followers of the DDM San Francisco Bay Area Center.

Themed as late Master Sheng Yen’s admonition “Hold the stone of the calm mind; Have peaceful soup”, a series of online sessions was held at Dharma Drum Mountain San Francisco Bay Area Center. LIVE streaming dharma assemblies, online meditation group practices, as well as Buddhists classes related to the twin-track practice of Chan and Pure Land were all enclosed.

Learning Buddhist teachings through puppetry performance?

In the evening of February 27, right after the online meditation sessions, DDM Hong Kong had its puppetry debut “Take Dharma Drum Mountain Home”, an online reel shows especially made for the general public during the period of pandemic prevention. Two episodes were presented every week, and replayed on the following Sundays. The story revolves around a family of three generations. Each member of the family holds different values of their own age groups, and has disparate Buddhist concepts as well as all kinds of doubt emerging from the practice. Learning from their pursuit of the answers, the audience started to attain a better understanding of orthodox Buddhism, Right View for their practice, and the methods that can be used at home.

Twenty students from Rhodes Wellness College visited Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre (DDVC) on the afternoon of February 26. The field trip provided a glimpse of the benefits of meditation on holistic health and the possibility of incorporating Buddhist teachings into their counselling practice to help people walk through challenges in life.

In memory of our late Master Sheng Yen, the Chan Meditation Center in New York held a 7-Day Passing on the Lamp Chan Retreat from February 1 through 7, 2020. The retreat was led by the Director of CMC, Venerable Chang Hwa (常華法師), with audio lectures by
Master Sheng Yen. The schedule included sitting, walking and sleeping meditations, yoga exercises, vegetarian lunch, and summaries, instructions, talks and Q & A sessions led by Venerable Chang Hwa. 110 participants attended this a week-long retreat.

From Solitary Sitting to Social Engagement—Gender, Buddhism, and The Making of Modern Female Chan Teachers at Dharma Drum Mountain ,the first English monograph of DDM female Buddhists practitioners will be published in the U.S. this year 2020.

Co-organized by Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association, the Global Peace Initiative for Women, and the Earth Charter, the Inner Dimensions of Climate Change (IDCC) conference took place at the headquarters of United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 11-16. Launched in 2016, IDCC is a series of global dialogues particularly for young ecologists. After five previous regional gatherings in different nations, the final gathering invited some 50 emerging leaders and spiritual mentors in the fields of ecology, education, environmental protection, and social movement to join the meeting, with a participation of around 300 local prominent professionals in different fields of expertise. Venerables Chang Ji (常濟法師) and Guo Chan (果禪法師) attended the conference on behalf of the DDM Sangha.

Hosted by Professor Yang Pei (楊蓓教授), Director of Master Degree Program of Life Education in Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts, the symposium of “Inheriting the Past and Ushering in the Future, vows and practices never end : Chinese Chan practices in the contemporary era ” 承先啟後．願行相續―漢傳禪法之當代實踐” was held at the new building of Dharma Drum Malaysia Center on Nov. 17. DDM Abbot President Venerable Guo Huei (果暉法師) and Venerable Chi-Chern (繼程法師) were both invited to be the panelists. Nearly 300 participants joined the symposium to explore how Chinese Chan practices can be applied more broadly in modern society.

On Nov. 10, after five years of construction, the new building of Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Centre Malaysia was inaugurated. Themed as “20th anniversary: Repaying kindness, Action, and Vow”, the inauguration ceremony and refuge-taking ceremony were held at the same time.

In a time of chaos, as a Buddhist, can we better compose ourselves than others? Can we create peace for those around us? On Sep. 14th and 15th, Venerable Guo Kai (果慨法師), Convener of DDM Dharma Service Program, visited DDM Hong Kong Center again to give a two-day lecture.