There are many reasons that make people learn about Chan meditation. In the beginning we don’t really know what Chan meditation is. Then we engage in the practice.

"I" is the shortest word, but the largest object in the world. We usually expand ourselves to wherever we can reach. Everything/Everyone we will like to relate to “I” and make it to “mine”.

Wrap yourself in awareness; continuously and perseveringly ask, “What is wu?” Venerable Guo Xing Fashi’s opening remarks go on….

My brother suffered from depression. His concern was centred on himself, and his mind was filled with cynicism, anxiety, and despair.

─The universe may one day perish, yet my vows are eternal

Chan Master Sheng Yen, born in China's Jiangsu Province in 1930, of the Dharma Drum Mountain in Taiwan and the Chan Meditation Center of New York passed into Nirvanic bliss in Taipei on February 3, 2009.

It is said: The Master can lead you to the door, but you cultivate on your own. The Venerable Master Sheng Yen had brought forth the Bodhi-mind to cultivate the Bodhisattva Way and had wasted no time to benefit all living beings in his lifetime.

One must seek progress in the ordinary and display luster amidst adversity; One must seek advancement in a state of harmony and see hope amid hard work; One must seek abundance in the midst of stability and demonstrate serenity in training; One must seek wisdom amidst silence and show compassion in action.

On Novemeber 22nd, the International Meditation Group took a field trip to Dharma Drum Mountain to see the preparations and decor for the upcoming Great Compassion Liberation Rite of Water and Land. The rite itself took place from November 29th to Decemeber 5th.

On behalf of myself, my wife, Ling, and her mother, I am writing to express our deepest joy, gratitude and honor to Venerable Shifu Sheng Yen, Venerable Guo Dong, the monks and nuns of Dharma Drum Mountain, and all the laity and supporters making possible the Refuge ceremony on November 2, 2008, at the Nung Chan Monastery in Beitou, Taiwan. We are particularly thankful and appreciative for their great compassion in sharing this event with us.

Don’t ask me why I came to this Awakening Camp, and don’t ask me if I will become a monastic in the future. There are just too many answers, and also because there’s really no answer, and especially because even if there were an answer, it would not matter.