Fostering the merit field:
Propagate the Dharma teachings in Europe
After ending the 49-day Chan Retreat in Poland on Sept. 2nd, Venerable Guo Yuan (果元法師), Abbot of the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York with Venerable Chang Hu (常護法師) travelled from Luxembourg to London in order to propagate Dharma teachings. It is hoped that their efforts would help foster the merit of Chinese Buddhism in Europe. Venerable Guo Yuan thus led a one-day retreat and made a lecture in the Congregation Des Franciscaines, Luxembourg.
In his lecture on the theme “One-day Retreat - Gain and Lost”, Venerable Guo Yuan remarked that ordinary people often struggle for gain or have a fear of loss. Their bodies and minds as a whole can become quite volatile from this, and not able to settle their bodies and minds. On the other hand, the methods of Chan practice can teach a person to let go of their worries of gain or loss, in order to maintain a balance within the body and the mind.
After the lecture, Venerable Guo Yuan and Venerable Chang Hu continued on their journey to the UK from Sept 11 to Sept 16, where Venerable Guo Yuan led a 5-day Chan Retreat in Cold Ash, about two hours away from London. The atmosphere in the retreat then was getting aggregated, and most practitioners found their practices gradually improved as the days went by.
During the Dharma talks sessions, the participants vigorously asked questions; in the hopes of clarifying their confusion of Chan practices, providing them with a chance to have deeper understanding and to move forward with this insight.
In Europe, it is very tough to be able to learn about Chinese Chan Buddhism and its practices. However, even with a few practitioners and a basic understanding of Buddhism and its methods, their enthusiastic search for dharma is corresponsive to the Venerables’ compassionate aspirations. As long as Chinese Buddhism remains strongly rooted and cultivated, it can be expected to flourish in Europe.