- Zen Master Wu Jue Miao Tian, translated by Frank, 2-20-2006 Top

12. Let's have a peaceful mind for the finals!

Taking final exams is a challenge. In our life journey, we often have challenges from the environment, challenges from relationships, and challenges from problems. If you overcome those challenges, you gain strength, experience, and vitality. Therefore, we must have the will of overcoming.

The essence of Zen is balance. For the world is about peace. For human being is about calmness. Maintaining a calm and peaceful mind state enhances your ability in learning. When your mind is in a peaceful state, it will easily identify and pick up the knowledge and significance in concepts and readings. Finding the answers for questions will be a piece of cake. Therefore, if you want to have good results in your final exams, practicing a peaceful mind state would be the key, since calmness and peacefulness will lead to an awakened and focused mind that will definitely help you in preparing the exams.

Maintaining a calm and peaceful mind indicates that your mind is free of worries and stress. Without worries, your mind is at its best state. On the other hand, having a restless and anxious mind creates stress. Stress creates disruption. Disruption occupies the space in your mind that could have been used for studying. How can you be well prepared for the finals then?

Consequently, we must remember to maintain a calm and peaceful mind state, even in a busy time. The busier you are, the calmer your mind must be. In any situations, you must remain calm when you are anxious. Unlike the ordinary calmness, this ultimate calmness is gained from the practice of Zen. Gradually, along the way, you will develop this calmness into your habit through Zen practice.

- Zen Master Wu Jue Miao Tian, translated by Adam, 2-22-2006 Top

13. The Heaven and the hell

In our life, we should always try to find happiness from sufferings, and find the Heaven from the Hell. This is called the wisdom of life.

What does that mean exactly? In fact, the Heaven and the Hell are all about our state of mind. For instance, we all have ups and downs in our everyday life. During tough times, we should try to prevent ourselves from falling deeper in the rabbit hole. We should also look on the bright side and try to search ways to liberate ourselves from misery and grief. In other words, we should try to search for the Heaven in the Hell. The key to the success of such endeavor is to maintain a stable, calm and peaceful mind. Do not blame the external factors. Do not blame the unfortunate fate and anything that does not go in your way. Instead, be appreciative of what you already have. Besides, the most important step is try to start to practice Heart Zen, and do it diligently, as it is an effective way to unleash ourselves from misery, grief and suffering, and can eventually lead us to the realm of Heaven.

The other way around, the Hell exists in the Heaven, too. For instance, for someone who lives a happy and wealthy life, if he takes everything for granted and never learns to be grateful and content and cherish what he owns, his mind is in Hell even though his materialistic environment is in Heaven. In other words, even though the person is currently living in a heavenly environment, his state of mind is not parallel to that blessing and thus the good fortune will not last long. This is a real pity.

As a result, no matter what the surrounding environments are, as good as Heaven or as bad as Hell, what really matters is our heart and mind. Therefore, we should examine our mind state from time to time, and try to keep it in the Heaven all the time. This is the key to the true happiness.

- Zen Master Wu Jue Miao Tian, translated by Adam, 3-13-2006 Top

14. "Everything under the sun"

All life forms on earth rely heavily on the sun and its heat and energy to live a life. If there were no sun, there would be no life at all on earth.

In other words, the sun is the vital source of energy that all life forms need to sustain their lives. For example, plants live and grow upon air, water, and light. Likewise, herbivorous animals such as cows, sheep and horses, live on grass, which again grows upon air, water and light. Human being is no exception. No matter what we eat, vegetables or meat, the food and the nutrition we take in are really a mixture and transformation of the nature's air, water, and sunlight. In other words, all living things in the food chain, if traced back to its origin, rely on the sun. What makes the food we eat look so different from its original source is simply countless times of chemical transformation processes.

Since all the energy and nutrition of any kind of food come from the sun, we might be able to do better than eating in absorbing the energy we need. That is, if we can absorb and utilize the energy from sun directly, and use it to nurture and strengthen our body, we will be very energetic and healthy. This will be a completely natural and potentially fast and first-handed way in acquiring energy that we live on.

The question is: How do we develop such ability? We can develop it gradually by practicing Zen meditation. Meditation helps to calm down, tranquilize, and purify our body and mind, and thus enables us to synchronize with the purist and most natural energy, including sunlight. With the right methodologies and practices, everyone has the potential to use the vital source of energy such as sunlight to massage his or her brain, eyes and neural systems.

While our body needs nutrition, we shall also emphasize that our spirit, or Inner Self, needs nutrition and energy as well. Just like our body needs light, our Inner Self needs light too, but a different type of light, which is so-called Buddha's light or God's light. These two forms of light (sunlight and Buddha's light), one visible and sensible while the other invisible and often overlooked, are exactly what our body and spirit need. And meditation turns out to be a viable method in gaining these two types of energy at once.

- adapted and translated by Ronald based on a talk by Zen Master Wu Jue Miao Tian, 3-25-2006 Top

15. Simple practices, powerful benefits

I would like to share with you an amazing and cheerful story about my friend Bob (pseudonym). Bob used to rely on drugs for more than ten years. After that, and after numerous mental struggling and unsuccessful endeavors, he finally quitted it, and has never used it since, until quite recently. Stress was the culprit. Bob got so stressed out that although at first he resisted, he eventually yielded to the inner devil and went down that path again. Bob struggled significantly with such result that turned out on him, because he knew he cannot afford going back to those dark days. He also knew perhaps better than anyone else how miserable and hopeless it was to rely on drugs, and how difficult it could be to quit the addiction. But he lost. He knew he lost to the devil, the incontrollable impulse inside, which dragged him down the path he was least willing to take.

Bob turned to me for help with his situation. After consulted our Master for his experiences on teaching people to quit smoking and other kinds of addiction, I decided to try our Master's method on him. I told Bob, you should try your best to do each of the following Zen Exercises, each for half an hour, until you sweat profusely, and take a shower and meditate afterwards. Do so for at least a month and see what happens. These practices include arm-dropping, leg-kicking, and body-earthquake exercises. As a desperate person, Bob was very willing to try everything out, everything that might help. He was very cooperative and diligent in the endeavor. After a month or so, the hard working pays off --- one day Bob realized that he did not want to touch the drugs anymore. It was not that he found other alternatives to drugs for stress reduction, and thus did not depend on drugs anymore. Instead, it was the full detachment from the impulse and desire that has given him a new life. As we Zen people often say, "Zen helps you to be the master of your body instead of enslaved by your desire." You can imagine how happy and grateful he was, when he shared about his change with me, in tears. I was extremely happy for him and grateful as well.

The way I told him, based on our Master's teachings, was so simple yet powerful. Only a number of practices of arm-dropping and leg-kicking would work so powerful? You wondered. I would say, since these are Zen teachings originally taught by Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of the Chinese Zen, and passed down for generations, you got to try it yourself before making any early judgments. This is exactly what the Chinese old saying goes, "You drink and you know what it tastes like. No descriptive words given by anyone could have been more personal."

This is the essence of Heart Zen --- You practice, you witness, and you gain, and you help others gain as well.

- dictator's name undisclosed, translated by Ronald, 4-5-2006 Top

16. Positive thinking

In his book "The Hidden Messages in Water" Dr. Emoto wrote about the importance of positive thinking and good intentions. Dr. Emoto conducted an experiment in which water placed in separate containers was given contradictory messages --- one group positive and benevolent, and the other negative and malicious. The result was that the crystallization of the water was completely different --- the group that received positive and benevolent messages formed beautiful hexagon crystallization while the group that received negative and malicious messages crystallized into ugly, irregular shapes.

I never thought that this book would have an impact on my life. I am a middle school teacher in a school where students are required to clean their own classrooms in the morning. Some of my students were bratty. They did the minimal cleaning job they could get away with. As a result, my class usually received the lowest scores in terms of cleaning. As time passed I grew accustomed to seeing them negatively. On my way to work the thoughts on my mind were usually something like "I bet the students are not going to clean today --- as usual!" When I arrived, for sure I was right --- they did not clean. Later on I learned to change my thoughts. I began to think positively: "My students are making progress, and they are paying more attention in cleaning." "I bet today they will do a great job in cleaning." Consequently, I found that my positive thinking invoked positive behaviors and my positive expectations came true. Such effects may not come in one or two days, but gradually, my students did make great progress in cleaning, and I became very proud of them.

Science has proven that the thoughts in an athlete's mind --- "I am confident that I will win" vs. "I am facing strong opponents; my chance to win is small." --- determine the outcome of his game. Athletes, the aforementioned book and my personal experience all lead me to realize that whatever we do, we should replace the negative with the positive, replace reactive with proactive, and replace timidity with confidence. By doing so, we will be able to accomplish our goals with more integrity and victory.

- Ching-Wen (Jennifer), translated by Joy, 4-24-2006 Top

17. Zen is the best life insurance

The thought of my childhood and my growing up is unbearable. I went through more than ten years of hardships. Thanks to Zen and our Master, now I am able to share with you my breakthrough in life due to Zen. I hope this could be a testimony for those who have been suffering just like me and hesitant in looking for ways that can transform their life.

I grew up in a family where my parents were always fighting for bread-and-butter issues. We were poor; we were always unsure about how to pay off next month's rent and bills. Due to the pressure and worries, I seldom saw my parents smile.

My father was a butcher, who started his own business by getting loans from banks and friends. The business did not run as smoothly as expected, and what made the situation worse was the breakout of the foot-and-mouth disease, a pandemic among livestock. The pandemic struck my father's business badly, sending our family from bad to worse, and leaving millions of debts on our shoulders.

Years later, I can recall when I was in high school, my family was still in no better situation financially. What's more frightening was, yet at that time I was not aware, that the constant financial hardship affected my mental health. Too many negative thoughts and experiences overwhelmed me mentally. I was so vulnerable to any further difficulties that I became extremely fearful of everything. The situation lasted and finally I was forced to resort to the psychologists.

Seeing a doctor itself was quite an expense for me, and unfortunately, the situation did not seem to improve either. My school life had been affected remarkably---I called in sick frequently, I did not act normally in school, I refused to take exams. All these facts had convinced everyone around me that I should go see a psychiatrist and take medication.

I did not, eventually. Someone introduced Zen to me. I tried it, and who knows this would turn out to be the turning point of my life?

Ever since I started practicing Zen, I gradually understand the karma and its formidable effects on us. Karma gave me the rough life; karma led me to one wrong decision after another. Knowing this, I was very diligent in Zen, and very active in participating in "formless" charitable deeds---those that benefit our Buddha Nature instead of mortal body. I gradually realized that by giving, I gained more; by giving, my own desire reduced. As soon as my mindset changed, the situation around me changed as well. I noticed that my relationship with my parents improved, and I became more thankful and thoughtful for them. There are many more subtle improvements on me that are beyond words. I attribute all of them, with gratefulness and repentance, to the resolving of karma by the merits accumulated through self cultivating and giving.

I believe that the best life insurance is Zen. Zen is the best in that it "insures" us in the most fundamentally effective way: purifying our bad karma, and recovering the True, the Good and the Beauty of our Buddha Nature. Thereby the misfortune and hardship leave, and happiness and all good things come.

- Ching-Yu, translated by Ronald, 5-15-2006Top

18. A letter

Richard,

Thank you for sharing this article about "karma" with me. It is wonderful to hear from you.

As you know, I have been studying Zen and meditation for a while and it intrigues me both physically and mentally. And I have benefited from it tremendously. The following is what I like to share with you about karma.

Karma is a mental imprint to our mind. That is all. If we watch slim young girls too often, we'll think we are too fat or too old. That is karma.

As you may agree, this universe is managed and powered by a single intellect. That is why it always is uniform and harmonious. All dualities, good and bad, moral or immoral, pretty or ugly are irrelevant to the universe. It always continues on its course without making judgment. Therefore there is no "good karma" nor "bad karma". All karma disturb our mind and cause our heart to have spikes disrupting our ability to be enlightened.

Enlightenment is defined when our spirit syncs with the life force and wisdom of the universe. The only way to sync with it is to fine tune our body so that our little universe is in sync with the workings of the big one---we called this life force and wisdom "Zen".

In human terms, a calm, undisturbed "mind" provided us, at a minimum, objectivity enabling us to observe and think clearly. When this monkey no longer makes noise, then our "heart", or "instinct", or "Buddha nature" can sync with the life force and wisdom of the universe. It is a very simple process.

The long list that Dalai Lama's followers wrote are too long and too detailed to remember. Just keep your mind calm. I know from all these years that you definitely have that ability.

Have a peace and wonderful period. Namaste,

Donald, 6-3-2006Top

19. Good Morning Neighbor!

At 7am, this morning while I was transporting our garbage cans in front of our house. Emily walked out the front door for her usual morning walk. She said, "Hi. Good morning, Neighbor. I felt that you were just like our neighbors who were transporting garbage cans. How are you?"

At that moment, I realized that I was not "her man who may have forgotten to perform some of his duties", nor "her man who she usually focuses on to make sure that he is alright." I was just a neighbor. There was absolutely no expectation whatsoever. I could be a bird or just a dog. I congratulated her at that moment, because she was in that moment, which is completely disconnected from the previous moment. There was absolutely no preconceived notion whatsoever.

To me, Emily is my companion, my daughter, my mother, sometime my grandma, and often just another Zen practicing partner. She can be any of that at any moment, or some of that at some moment, or none of that at all. As long as she is what she is at that moment.

Every day is a new day and every person is a new person. Isn't that wonderful?

Treasure our moment. It is the most precious of our lives. No moment needs to be a continuation of our last moment.

Namaste,
Donald, 6-19-2006Top

20. Zen is One

Zen is one. Everything that is happening in this universe is part of this one. All subsets are incomplete.

If we are part of this one, we can accept all arguments, all methods, all ideology, all and everything that is being manifested, because now "we" are the "one" who is the creator, provider, and the undertaker. (Do not be attached to the exact definition of these descriptors.)

If we stand on, agree to, can not live with just a part of it, then we are abandoning the others. Then we are not in sync with Zen. We are what we are and not complete as "it".

All studies and definitions of Zen, Buddhism, Dao, Donald, Dharma, etc. are just names and not the real things itself (repeatedly so stated in Diamond Sutra), because sutras are for our convenience, for wakening up our Inner Self, so that we can begin to practice to allow our Inner Self to shine to be in sync with or connected to or resonate with the power of Zen (or the life force, or the wisdom, or the Way, or the Path; these are just words).

If we look at 2,500 Zen or Buddhism as a whole, the evolvement of every sect is affected by cause and effect. In searching for true Dharma, we often are lost among the branches. To get to the trunk does require merits cultivated from past lives.

If our body is flesh, our mind is logic, and our spirit is an energy form---however you prefer to define it, how do we integrate or connect these three parts into one?

What is true Dharma? What is the true purpose of "Zen Sitting"?

This post is to wake us up and understand our own limitations and not to take a position.

With palms together I remain,

Donald, 6-30-2006Top

21. Not seeking for enlightenment

"Seeking" or "searching" is no different than attachment, which imprints our consciousness with impurities hindering us from being connected to the life force and wisdom of Zen.

Yet, what is enlightenment? Following is what I have learnt and witnessed so far for your reference. The key word is "so far". Somehow not complete and always partial.

The First Step is Purification. Purifying the karma of our "body, mind and spirit." Rid of bad Chi (karma) we accumulated from everyday and every past days through relationships or just living. Body is the bridge. It needs to be clean in order to tune up to the right station.

Karma of our mind includes those from both the present lives as well as our past lives. Transcend the three realms --- desire, form and the formless. Purifying the mind means "no self", and "no mind" blocking the way. "Seeking and searching" is part of this type of karma.

Karma of our spirit are present due to the cause and effect of our present and past lives. These karma are present in the people we love as well we hate. Performing the Six Acts of Perfection helps to cleanse these karma.

The Second Step is Wisdom. Focusing on the present moment helps to rid of the ego and seeing the emptiness of manifestation. Or reaching Nirvana.

The trap for practitioners at this stage is the attachment to the "Terminal Emptiness." Many practitioners practice "Withered Zen." It is a lifeless form of meditation.

Yet, without reaching this stage, we can not witness "Exquisite Existence from True Vacancy."

At this stage, glimpses of "Real Forms" can be sensed connecting ourselves to the discomfort or notions of others. This is the beginning of Wisdom or Enlightenment. Or some called the connection as One.

The Third Stage is the Consummation. Now that we have no ego, no mind and some wisdom some of the time, we practice the Six Acts of Perfection --- Giving, Respect, Patience, Effort, Focus, Wisdom. This allows us to consummate ourselves with our surroundings --- relationships, tasks, duties --- to clean our spiritual karma. Furthermore, this practice enables us to be integrated more completely with Zen, in "body, mind and spirit."

The Last Stage is the stage of Enlightenment. This is when everything is purified. No karma anywhere in our everyday life. All our duties, relationships, tasks are consummated. Our body becomes a light. Our mind becomes a light and our spirit becomes a light. Thus "enlightenment."

These steps are not sequential or in stages or discrete by all means. All Dharma are for living it as a tour guide only.

Again, these are just words trying to describe the path to enlightenment, while for 3,700 years, it has been described by many masters already.

Look inward, open ourselves completely, let the universal Chi come to us. It is there. Always there for us to resonate with. Don't "seek or search" for it. Any ripple from ourselves disrupts our "sensitivity to it."

Namaste. Buddha blesses all. Be Joyous,

Donald, 7-12-2006Top

22. How my prudence preludes an inspiring story

It has been eight years since I started to practice Zen. It's not a short time, and friends of mine often asked about what has kept me so dedicated. So here I will share with you my story.

I was first introduced to Zen by a schoolmate in college in Taiwan. My curiosity and open-mindedness always let me embrace new things, including Zen and Zen School this time. Yet at the same time, the awareness of falling victim to a possible religious scam (which was quite notorious back then in Taiwan) also kept me alert and prudent. I observed carefully the people, the atmosphere, the teachings, everything in the group, and decided if anything did not feel right I shall leave immediately.

I noticed first that participants are encouraged, but not forced, to give a membership fee to help cover the utility bills of the place where we held Zen sessions. Students like me enjoyed a 50% off of the suggested amount which I believe was very reasonable and affordable. In fact, what's more important than the money itself is the willingness from a grateful heart to co-maintain a place that can benefit many more people to come.

I always believe that any religious teachings should not contradict or compromise the morality and ethics. And my worries were quickly dispersed by many evident examples. For instance, we were taught to learn to consummate our relationship, tasks, environments, etc., rather than leaving responsibilities behind whenever challenges confronted us. We also learned to be grateful for our parents, friends and all sentient beings. In fact, the so-called "The First Zen" teaches nothing but gratefulness and repentance, as they constitute the power of our heart and mind.

Speaking of heart and mind, soon enough I also realized that our Master's teachings are very direct, centering on cultivation of our heart, mind and spirit, instead of rituals, regulations, and formalities. We are not expected to engage in routines such as chanting, reciting sutras, lighting incenses, but doing so would not be regarded harmful either. In other words, the heart and mind are the essence, as they determine our deeds and behaviors. As long as we are purified physically and mentally those regulations and precepts become really secondary.

Health improvement was probably one of the most noticeable improvements that I observed from the surrounding practitioners. Their cases showed that our practice has energy, life-transforming power, to turn dark into light, wither into vitality. I myself did not have health problem; however, the improvements on me came in different dimensions. I witnessed myself, along the process, that Zen gave me wisdom and new perspective on defining the meaning of life. As soon as I understood that we are not just here in this world to fulfill our daily routines, relatives' expectations,... and then gone, I found myself entering into a new paradigm with much broader view and mindset. That was a very joyful experience at heart.

Lastly, I shall share about my impression on our Master. Kindness, humbleness, and compassion were my first impression. He was not an eloquent master, frankly speaking, but I was moved by the sincerity, serenity and power when he talked. Our Master's teaching is probably the simplest (given in plain modern language without difficult and sometimes confusing Buddhist terms), the most direct (how to attain enlightenment in this life), and concise (no circumlocution whatsoever), which reminded me that Zen or Buddha's teachings are not to be said or read, but for us to resonate with, practice and witness in our daily life.

- Yi-ping, 7-28-2006 Top

23. Traps to avoid

A deep bow to all on the discussion list,

You all meant well for the enlightenment of everyone. I can sense your good intentions. The following are traps that I laid out for myself to watch for. I am sharing it here with you.

Trap Number One. Sutras are for most of the time a recording of the conversation between two people. It is pertinent to that particular moment only. Depending on the "body language", "intent observed", answers could be miles apart. Sutras are for waking us up so that we can meditate diligently and therefore we don't hold our teachings as absolute as other religious practices. Diamond Sutra said it at the end, "All describable paths are like the dream and the bubble."

Trap Number Two. It is our intent that guides our words and actions. Intent however can not be communicated through this discussion list. If we hold a preconceived notion of the intent of others, then our words actually reflected our intent instead of the ones of others. Buddha said it at the end of his teaching, "I have not uttered a single word."

Trap Number Three. I often fail to keep my words and actions without taking a position. When two or more people communicate, if one takes a position, the communication itself becomes dualistic. The other is easily tempted into either agree or not agreed. Since no paragraph can completely present the entire thought process of anyone, misunderstanding occurs. That is why Rinzai and Soto "yell" or "stick" their disciples.

I honestly believe, that everyone is here with the same intent. Due to our karmic influences and causation, we see different parts of the "elephant" and walk on different path.

- Donald, 8-18-2006 Top

24. True Monet

While in San Francisco last weekend, I visited Legend of Honor Museum and saw about 30-40 Monet's master pieces from 1876-1925. I came away with the following absorption.

He painted with his eyes at the beginning --- as is with detail.

Then he painted with his mind --- each one had a message.

Then he painted with his spirit --- each one a precious moment without any detail.

Those most precious and popular are the ones from the last stage of his "moments". They are so because they are the only ones from the true Monet.

Do treasure our true selves in similar fashion.

We are much more precious than we "think" we are.

- Donald, 9-10-2006 Top

25. Apples and oranges

Often, we met people who told us, that I will commit to Zen practice after I retire. Somehow to these people, being a Buddhist seems to mean trading in a luxurious life style for spirituality. Somehow to them, sacrifices need to be made in order to be a Zen practitioner. This is just not true. Practicing Buddhism actually develops a clearer mindset noticing wider choices in life. More options and a calmer mind set enables better decision making.

Geshe Michael Roach grew a business from fifteen thousand to 100 million. Li-Bai Chen grew a business from one million to 100 million. Both are devoted Buddhists and manage their businesses based on Buddhist principles.

A simpler example will be, while one wanted apple and focus on apple only and nothing else, a buddhist will also see the availability of oranges and strawberries and their values.

Though as we continue to practice, we eventually will be content of having nothing in particular. But in due course, we are almost certain that we will make better choices and live a happier life.

After all, Donald Trump may also agree, that the best bargaining position is not wanting anything. This principle is applicable to both business and relationship.

- Donald, 9-20-2006 Top

26. Something about socks

Ever since I came to US, I never found any socks sold here that are comfortable enough to wear. So I always asked my mother to buy and mail socks to me from China. I told her over and over again that I prefer socks with the same shape/color, but she never listened and she preferred diversity.

As a result, many times I did my laundry, I ended up with a single sock that could not be paired. I put them somewhere in my closet, hoping that one day two single socks can be paired together. But It never happened.

So this morning when I ran out of socks, I looked into a huge pile of single socks and felt miserable.

Then suddenly, I asked myself: Why can't I wear two socks with different shapes/colors? As I think about it, there is really no reason not to. As long as I feel comfortable, why not?

So comes a solution to my sock problem. I am happy with my fearlessness, and a step forward toward detachment from all forms, rules and recognitions.

- Zhenyao, 10-2-2006 Top

27. A letter from a Christian

PDF Top

28. Saint Augustine

For the last two months, I was pulling out St. Augustine from my yard almost everyday. I don't know why. St. Augustine, a weed like grass has been crawling and gaining ground for over 20 years on my Bermuda lawn. I was not bothered by it. But these two types of grass don't look good together. Suddenly since about two months ago, I decided to pull it out about one square foot at a time and daily if possible. I had no idea why I only wanted to pull a little a day. My neighbor told me that I could hire some help and get rid of them all in one afternoon. My standard answer was, "it was calming and I needed the exercise." Yet deep down inside me, I know there is another reason which I am not yet aware of.

St. Augustine is a type of grass which grows by crawling under any other type of grass and in every which way. It is strong and stubborn, and it is an ugly large blade grass looking like crab grass, while my lawn is the type with beautiful Bermuda, a small blade of about one tenth the size. Bermuda is clean, neat and carpet-like. Now, about 200 square feet of my Bermuda lawn is crawled with St. Augustine after a neglect of twenty years. I was told by the garden center, that the best solution to rid of St. Augustine is to pull it by hand. If I sprayed it, the chemicals needed are so strong that it will kill the Bermuda as well.

Though, I do have a gardener helping us, I decided without thinking, that I should pull at least a square feet of it every time when I visited my mail box. And that went on for about 6 weeks now without thinking, judgment or analysis. I was happy when I was doing it.

During this time, the comments from my neighbors were the same. And so was my standard answer: "It was calming and I needed the exercise."

Today is the Festival of August Moon. Chinese celebrate August 15 on the lunar calendar as the Mid-Autumn Festival. This is day we eat Moon Cake, drink tea and watch the full moon. We usually make a special effort to meditate on this day to absorb the good energy from the Moon.

At about 11am, as I walked to put my mail into my mailbox as usual, I began to pull out the St. Augustine again. Why? Because it was there.

All of a sudden, I realized the cause. My lawn now is like our "tangled mind."

Yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before the day before yesterday, I was encountering many tangled minds. Wow, just like my lawn. St. Augustine tangled with Bermuda. Beauty tangled with ugliness. Neatness is intertwined with mess. Pure heart is webbed with dirty.

Wow, I see now why it is so hard to rid off of karmic influences. Like St. Augustine, karma is not a separate force which occasionally influences us, but an entanglement of similar disarray from within. Our mind is totally interwoven with random ignorance. Not neatly shelves or stacked, but ferociously intertwined. Much like this Bermuda lawn crawled with St. Augustine without choice or regulation, we were hopelessly bound, handcuffed, jailed with karma, while we thought we were right, we were real, we were everything.

I said to myself, "calming our mind is not enough then." I realize now that my "hand-like brute force" is needed to pull them away. What is that brute force then? What does my "pulling hands" equal to? What does it mean?

Buddha has not told me yet.

Hopefully soon.

- Donald, 10-17-2006 Top

29. Merry Buddha! Music!

Our best wishes to all the readers for a happy and peaceful holiday season! (Play Music)

Lyrics:

We wish you a speedy enlightenment

We wish you a speedy enlightenment

We wish you a speedy enlightenment

Be a happy Buddha

- Ronald and Yi-ping, 10-25-2006 Top

30. Cause and effect

Two weeks ago, our practitioner, Viki shared with us the following:

Her new job at the office is to help out two other colleagues. She was not as welcomed as she had hoped. Everyday is an emotional challenge.

One day after her meditation session, she realized that no matter who was at that position at the office would encounter a similar fate, because that is the nature of these two colleagues.

Immediately she realized that these events were not due to her personality, nor due to her doing. It was just cause and effect. She smiled and accepted it with peace.

Five days later, her supervisor realized the situation and made adjustment.

No matter where, when and how, our lives are driven by cause and effect. As long as we understand and accept that, there is nothing we need to take it personally.

Absolute detachment is based on seeing the true nature of phenomena and not attitude adjustment.

Be joyous, the world rotates on.

- Donald and Viki, 11-08-2006 Top

31. Domain knowledge

I always envied the era of Da Vinci, when our knowledge is a small tree. Concept of art, human anatomy, geometry, bird wings, airplane are somewhat related to each other and can be referenced with each other.

In one life time of ours during those days, we can have a rough grasp of the entire tree. At least we can have a glimpse of the entire tree.

Nowadays, all the knowledge in the world had grown into a giant forest. In one life time, we can conquer at most just one branch and its leaves, if we were lucky. We no longer can have a grasp of entire scope. New trees, new branches and new leaves keep on growing, each of us has become an expert of a particular domain of knowledge, though still quite partial to the whole.

With this partial expertise of one particular domain, we judge, react, grow up into a jungle of infinite complexity, interdependency and relativity. In a way, fundamental simple truth of life is lost among all the branches and leaves of knowledge.

What Zen is trying to tell us is, "I am the one who harmonizes the world. I am the one who makes sure that sun rises, rains and trees grow. Every element in this universe, which lives harmoniously with the rest, behaves under my governess of existence. If you were connected to me, you shall have a joyous life, just like the birds and bees. How? Use your native instinct to receive my message. I broadcast it 24/7."

Due to our specific domain knowledge, we would ask, "At what frequency? What coding? What is protocol? What is the signal strength?" We yelled, analyzed, synthesized, but Zen does not understand our human words, nor do we understand Zen's, because we are really in two different domains.

The only way to receive the message of Zen is to sync up to our native frequency. Like a frequency, which we were borne with, disturbed among all the human knowledge we were bombarded with during our upbringing.

Calm down, don't analyze with our logical mind, because it is in another domain. We need to focus ourselves into our native domain, which is the domain of native energy and utilize its sensitivities. We must understand and realize that the domain of knowledge and the domain of universal life force and wisdom don't communicate to each other.

That is why Zen is taught without words nor formalities, because if so, it would not work.

We were simply asked to quiet our mind and receive the messages from the universal life force and wisdom. Is it that hard to do?

After all, we said way at the beginning, "You practice and witness yourself."

- Donald, 11-21-2006 Top

32. My take on a TIME story

After reading the cover story of Nov. 13, 2006 TIME magazine, "God vs. Science," it seems to me that to many people science and religion are always at odds; they are impossible to coexist as equally valid. However, from a Zen or Buddhist point of view, it is not so. Zen Master Wu Jue Miao Tian clarifies it in answering a Christian's question by commenting, "Both Creation and Evolution evolve at the domain of human knowledge, or logic, and therefore only perspectives." I hope I can elucidate this more and respond to TIME's story in the following.

If God is not viewed as a separate being but a universal life force with no specific forms that is related to us through every breath and heart beat, and is the source of all our biological and mental capabilities, then the scientific evidence in biology that seems to suggest evolution does not necessarily deny the existence of God. In other words, the God, or the Way as called by Lao-tzu, or the Buddha as called in Buddhism, or whatever name we may call "It", is the divine fountain that springs all our scientific ideas, which are used by some to challenge the existence of the divine. We are living "It" at every moment, yet in the meantime so unaware of it.

- Ronald, 12-04-2006 Top

33. The analogy of a cold

Some friends I talked to, when hear about the health benefit of meditation, such as improvement of the immune system and protection from getting colds, laughed as it is something unnecessary. "The cold is no big deal," they shrugged, "it comes and goes."

I pondered on this, and I realized the cold can be analogous to our human life. If it is accepted that cold is rather transitory compared to human life, then it should also be understood that so is our human life -- transitory and ephemeral when compared to the eternal true self of us.

The cold is a transitory bad time during a human life course, just like the human life is also a transitory roller coaster ride during the course of the eternal no-high-no-low, no-gain-no-loss real self of us.

The analogy goes on. Nobody would be fool enough to dedicate their time on the illness rather than on their good times. Then it seems straightforward to conclude that we should also dedicate more time and energy on realizing the everlasting real self of us than on decorating the short-living human body.

Maybe next time I will share with my friend, "Even though a cold comes and goes, you still suffer during the process." With my analogy, human life is like that too. Besides, the next cold could be a worse one. You never know.

- Ronald, 12-08-2006 Top

34. Magic word

I have learned a simple word to help me rid of dualistic views, assumptions and judgments. The magic word is "we".

If I minimize the usage of "you and me", or "yours and mines", just use "we and our", I can quickly harmonize my views and my perspective holistically and viewing the world with greater understanding of its causation and effects. We differ just in the various versions of "our" manifestation.

By using this magic word, "we", in my writing and thinking, I manage to quickly abandon my point of view and the position that I am defending or even taking. Thus, I can quickly reunite with others instead of being separated from the "Whole".

Through sitting meditation, we can even experience the "we", cherish it and sort of in love with it. This wonderful quiet practice enables us to be connected not just within ourselves but also with others as well as the universe, including even the animals and plants.

- Donald, 12-15-2006 Top

35. Back to innocence

This morning while I was reading my gift, "Golf for Enlightenment" by Deepak, I found the following phrases, "Life has the total innocence that comes to young children... Frustration and suffering are the results of innocence lost."

This reminded me how children were and how I am supposed to be forever -- innocent, exploring, curious, fun. Somehow along the way when I started to compare and judge, I became lost in relativity. I became better looking, smarter, having more money, etc. I distance myself from those who disagree with me, or even sometimes get angry at those who expressed strong opinions different from mine. I was hurt, offended and lost my innocence.

At our USC Zen Club, YP and ZY shared their witness, "Most of the time, we know we were not perfectly right and others are not perfectly wrong. Most of the time, we know what we need to do. We just cannot do it... However, after Sitting Zen for a while, we discover that we can actually do the things we could not before..."

Be a child again. Regain our innocence.

- Donald, 12-15-2006 Top

36. New Year message from Zen Master

Time flies. It's this time of year again -- the New Year is coming. At this time of year, frogs and reptiles in the wild are hibernating. No one ever teaches them meditation, but they certainly know how to do it. Because hibernation is a natural meditation.

All! Some of you live in Taiwan. Some live in other parts of the world. Wherever it might be -- Taiwan, Japan, United States, France, Argentina, or Australia, we all live on the same Earth. Although we have different jobs, colors and lifestyles, we all share the same heart -- a determined heart on the way to enlightenment. During the past year, I have received numerous letters from around the world. Some were greetings. Some were questions about meditation. Some were stories of their lives, jobs and studies. Although I did not reply to you individually, my heart has been always with you, wishing you a fulfilling and successful career, study and life. Truly, your diligence has paid off in both career and meditation practice. In this brand new year, you may set a goal of making more friends, teaching them simple Zen meditation techniques. Share with them the importance of practicing Zen. Share with them your own witness. Share with them the value of a peaceful heart and mind, and a liberated spirit. These are more important than material wealth. One is finite and transitory; the other is infinite and eternal. Many people have valued them in the wrong order -- wealth first and spirit second. In fact, if we cultivate our spirit first the wealth will come naturally. This is the preciousness of Zen.

In the past year, whether we had successes or failures, ups and downs, just let them go. Do not let them bother you. In the life journey, there is neither gains nor losses. We are all actors on the stage of Earth. Whichever character we play, we play our best. After we take off the costume at the end of the show, it does not matter whether we were playing a king, an entrepreneur, or an ordinary mother. We are all equal, equally ordinary. The same ordinariness -- above all forms, differences and relativity -- is Zen.

In the new year, we should be focused and determined. We should not be deluded by our five senses -- eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. We should open our minds to the wisdom of Zen. With wisdom we can find the balance in our life and relationship. Once we find this balancing point, we will suddenly realize that we were enslaved by our ego and attached to our limited knowledge for a long time which caused a lot of unbalances. This balancing point is Zen. We must also learn the art of giving, because giving is more rewarding than receiving. We shall also learn to forgive people and their faults. To forgive others is to forgive ourselves indeed. Be receptive and considerate. This is a virtue, and is Zen also. We should also open our heart to encompass and accept everything. Narrow heart and mind is human, broad and infinite is divine. This is the wisdom