On Sunday, October 25, 2009, Dr. Peter Lin gave a talk in both English and Chinese on “Disaster and Psychological Responses” to address the increasing numbers of disasters around the world, and most recently the typhoon that affected Taiwan in August 2009.

Trick or treat! To celebrate Halloween, one of children’s favorite holidays, Dharma Drum Mountain in Vancouver (DDM Vancouver) hosted a party filled with fun games and great food.

First of all, I would like to thank Ms. Fei-Wen Shen and Mr. Chih-Lung Shih very much for letting me stay at their cozy home the night before the retreat. Without their generosity, I could not have had the opportunity to attend this inspiring event.

DDMBASF's Guitar Group was invited to participate in the annual Honoring Elders Day in Gold Mountain Monastery (GMM) on October 25, 2009. GMM is located right in the heart of the San Francisco Chinatown and it’s one of the oldest Buddhist Monasteries established by the Master Hsuan Hua in 60s’. When our Shifu, the Ven. Master Sheng Yen came to the U.S. in 70s’, he had visited the Ven. Master Hsuan Hua and stayed in GMM for some days.

A sense of enlightenment was found Sunday afternoon at Gaia House-Interfaith Center, as a special guest gave some insight into the peaceful world of Buddhist meditation.

The "Living Happy Workshop" is an active and useful workshop to remind all of us of the simple practices that bring peace and contentment to us and those around us in our daily lives. There are several topics ranging from our own inner peace to the extension of that to others in our communications and in our awareness of the spiritual environment.

On Sunday, October 11, 2009, at CMC, Venerable Chang Hwa gave a talk entitled, "Guan Yin Bodhisattva" in English and Chinese. During this talk, Venerable recounted legends and stories related to Guan Yin, explained the significance of the bodhisattva in Chinese Buddhism, Guan Yin is a popular figure in Chinese religions.

On Sunday, September 21, 2009, Venerable Chi Chern gave a talk at CMC entitled, “With the Coming of Chan, Problems are Gone,” which can be further translated as, "With Chan dharma, we can release ourselves from being trapped or bound."

Dharma Drum Mountain Malaysia (DDM Malaysia) entered the Fourth Bookfest 2009, the biggest book festival in Southeast Asia, from 22 to 31 August 2009, with hopes of further propagating compassionate ideals of Venerable Master Sheng Yen. They received strong support from DDM Cultural Centre in Taiwan for this event.

On the morning of 16 August 2009, a new Dharma Drum Mountain office was formally inaugurated in the city of Bangkok, Thailand.