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March 2024
Welcome Back !
Welcome back can be applied so many ways this time of year. Welcome back to birds, flowers, sun, spring. Welcome back to those who travel to escape the dark and cold of winter. Welcome back to Thầy Kozen & Thầy Minh and their fellow travellers from southeast Asia. Welcome back to the Temple as the snows recede and activity picks up. Welcome back to your practice each time you go away for a moment or a day or a decade. We welcome you back to our newsletter.
Listen, Listen, this wonderful sound brings me back to my true home. -- Invitation to the Mindfulness Bell and the last line of our Starting Meditation Chant (Chant Book p. 36)
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This newsletter is a little early so you can still sign up for Rev. Scott's Bhuddism 101 that starts Feb 28th in Portland (See Below "Sharing the Dharma")
This is a long Newsletter. Please click "View Entire Message" and read to the "Bonus Click" at the end!
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MORNING SERVICE (Monday to Friday) ** Note Change **
6 AM
Robe Verse, Light incense and candle, Incense chant
Danh Le - with the 3 bows, Sutra, Dharma talk
6:30 AM
Chant of Compassion, Check-in
7:00 AM
Meditation, Well wishing prayer, Dedication of Merit
EVENING SERVICE (Monday, Wednesday,Friday)
5:30 PM
3 bows, Chant of Compassion, Check-in
6:00 PM
Meditation, Well wishing prayer, Dedication of Merit
SATURDAY SERVICE
8:30 AM
Check in
9:00 AM
Danh Le - with the 3 bows, Chant of Compassion
9:30 AM
Meditation, Well wishing prayer, Dedication of Merit
all above at 46 Stoller Rd., Trout Lake WA and at Zoom link below
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TUESDAY Sanga + Meditaion 12 noon IN PERSON ONLY
1412 13th Street, Suite 200. Hood River, OR 97031
2nd & 4th WEDNESDAY Thích Nhất Hạnh Study Group 6:30 p.m.
(For information about the study group, contact Bonnie at bon2626wit@att.net)
LAST SUNDAY OF MONTH Meditation + Dharma Talk 2:00 p.m. IN PERSON ONLY
Buu Hung Buddhist Temple 17808 NE 18th St, Vancouver WA
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Dear Ones,
Please read the list of retreats below. This year at our temple promises to be an exciting one. We are also having a 10 day PUJA this summer. A Puja is a worship ritual performed by Buddhists to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more Buddhas, to host and honor a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. It may honor or celebrate the presence of special guests, or their memories after they die. This will be our longest retreat this year.
We have great gratitude for a beautiful Buddha statue donated to our temple from the Tibetan Community in San Francisco via our dear friend Khenpo Karten Rinpoche.
The surrounding border is from a forest bathing class last year. We're offering just 2 classes this year - do try to join us if you are able.
Our meditation hall building is ready to start as soon as the snow clears. We hope to complete it this year.
Buddha teaches us that Attachment along with the 3 Poisons: Anger, Desire, and Ignorance,
are the cause of suffering.
May you be filled with Kindness, Joy, Health, and Peace.
in metta, Thay Kozen
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Thầy Minh is back at the Temple as a permanent resident. He is a Vietnamese monk who got his degree in religious studies in Thailand and spent summers in the Mt Adams Temple. He has been in Texas for the last few years. We are glad to have him back for his great smile, compassionate heart, and willingness to take on just about any task Thầy Kozen comes up with. | |
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We also welcome back Mark, who has taken the nickname MT, Empty, or Empty Mind. He has had a life full of adventures and suffering, including military trauma, physical pain and deep hurt, and many miles on a motorcycle. Mark has never met a machine he wouldn't try to fix (and usually does) and takes on physical projects with the enthusiasm of a flame to tinder. He will be living at the Abbey full time while cultivating his practice.
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We recently received the donation of a magnificent Chinese Buddha from a Tibetan Temple in San Francisco. It is old and ornate, and it rode shotgun with Thay Minh on its journey to Trout Lake. It now lives on the main altar of our Temple. Buddha statues symbolize Buddha's teachings, inner peace, and compassion for every human being. While reminding us that our historical teacher was a real person, Buddha statues represent how one can fully understand life in the most profound way possible.
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We are in need of a trailer or RV that will be used to house those in need.
Two Vietnamese Buddhist nuns will arrive in March from Texas, where their Temple was firebombed. We will provide refuge for them while they determine their future path. We ask women to stop by and speak with them to help them improve their English.
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2024 TEMPLE RETREATS & SPECIAL SERVICES
No one will be turned away for lack of funds
. SUGGESTED
DATE CLASS TIME DONATION
10 March Forest Bathing Shin Rin Yoku 1 day 8 AM – 1 PM $50
12-14 Apr Yoga Retreat with Lori VanCott 3 day See Below
14 April Metta Retreat - 1 day 8:30 AM -1 PM $50
11 May VESAK - Buddha's Awakening Service 9 AM
19 May Forest Bathing Shin Rin Yoku 1 day 8 AM – 1 PM $50
1-2 June Buddhist Precepts Retreat contact Sư Cô Huệ Hương (360) 718-6158 huehuong7@yahoo.com
12-14 July Meditation & Metta Retreat 5 PM Friday to 3 PM Sunday $125 + lodging
10 Aug ULLAMBANA honoring parents & ancestors Service 9 AM
6-16 Aug PUJA Retreat (reverence, honor, homage, and practice) in Vietnamese and English. Contact Thầy Vinh Minh giaithoat@gmail.com
6-8 Sep Fall Buddhist Retreat 5 PM Friday to 3 PM Sunday $125 + lodging
13-15 Sep Yoga Retreat with Lori VanCott 3 day See Below
Dec 8 Historical Buddha's Birth - MEDITATION and RING BELL Midnight
Dec 31 Midnight Western New Year RING BELL 11:30PM to 12:30 AM
I encourage everyone to do a minimum of a 1 week retreat and 2 additional 1-2 day retreats every every year. Recommended retreat centers are Deer Park in Escondido, CA, Great Vow in Clatskanie, OR, Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock WA.
...Thầy Kozen
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Cloud Mountain Retreat Crt
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Impressions of the Vietnam Pilgrimage
by Emily Martin
There is a beautiful bell invitation written by Thích Nhất Hạnh that we often use before sitting: Body, speech and mind in perfect oneness, I send my heart along with the sound of the bell. May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness and transcend the path of anxiety and sorrow. I’ve always loved these phrases as they bring peace and calm to my spirit even before I settle into my meditation.
In Vietnam, I met a Buddhist University student and young monk named Thầy Thanh Hien. He was gentle, kind, and without pretense. His voice was soothing with a tender cadence. Together, we walked through Chùa Từ Hiếu, Thích Nhất Hạnh’s root temple. We paused at the large bell. As we gently rang the bell, Thầy shared that this sound would wash away his anxiety and bring him peace. If he ever felt anxiety he would return to the bell and ring it. There were some days where he rang the bell almost every hour, but each time the magic would work.
Thầy Thanh Hien told me he wanted everyone in the world to know of this man, the Buddha. Every day, he prayed for people to be happier in their life and learn how to love each other through the teachings of the Buddha.
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Thầy Thanh Hien and Thầy Kozen with Bodhisattva Quan Âm (Avalokiteshvara) | |
The group at Thích Nhất Hạnh's "root temple," Chùa Từ Hiếu | |
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Thich Minh Thien, (Thay Z) Abbot of Budding Dharma
Arlington, Texas thayzzen@gmail.com
God and Buddhist Belief
The concept of God in Buddhism is complex and multifaceted, as Buddhism is a diverse and varied tradition with different interpretations and practices. Unlike many other major world religions, Buddhism does not focus on a personal creator God. Instead, the concept of God in Buddhism is often understood in a nuanced manner that varies across different Buddhist traditions. It's important to note that the concept of God in Buddhism is not uniform across all Buddhist traditions and can vary based on cultural influences and historical developments. Additionally, individual interpretations of the concept of God in Buddhism can differ among practitioners.
In some forms of Buddhism, particularly in Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, there are celestial beings known as bodhisattvas and buddhas who are revered and worshipped. These enlightened beings are not considered omnipotent creators but rather exemplars of wisdom and compassion who guide and inspire practitioners on the path to enlightenment. They are not worshipped in the same way as a monotheistic God but are seen as sources of inspiration and guidance.
In Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced mainly in Southeast Asia, the concept of God is largely absent. Instead, the focus is on the individual's quest for enlightenment through the Noble Eightfold Path, without reliance on a divine being for salvation. The emphasis is on self-reliance, personal responsibility, and the understanding of the nature of suffering and the means to transcend it.
The absence of a personal creator God in Buddhism does not mean that the tradition lacks spiritual depth or a sense of the sacred. On the contrary, Buddhism places great emphasis on cultivating qualities such as loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. These qualities are central to the practice of Buddhism and are considered essential for spiritual development. We can also find similar qualities in other spiritual traditions where the focus is more on the deity requiring these qualities in individual followers for salvation. It is clear that the human condition in general craves the pursuit of kinder and more inclusive actions towards others and ourselves. We see however, our progress over thousands of generations, creeping towards this betterment in human qualities at less than a snail’s pace.
In some forms of Buddhist practice, there are rituals and offerings made to deities or celestial beings as a way to cultivate positive qualities within oneself and to seek their guidance and blessings. However, these practices are often viewed as skillful means to develop one's own virtues rather than as acts of devotion to an external deity.
Overall, while Buddhism does not adhere to a traditional notion of a personal creator god, it offers profound teachings on wisdom, compassion, and the nature of reality that continue to inspire millions of people around the world. The diversity within Buddhism allows for a wide range of perspectives on spirituality, ethics, and the ultimate nature of reality. Who we are and who we purport to be, ultimately relies on the actions of each and every one of us towards others and ourselves regardless of how we relate to the concept of deities in our own spiritual practice.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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Mea Culpa!
While the cat's away.... This mouse made a big omission in last month's newsletter! Thầy Kozen, the big cat, returned just in tme to point our that the widely-researched article on the Precepts, in all their variations, did not include the 10 Precepts we use at Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple! Thanks for his compassion and forgiveness.
This is a photo of the Precepts hanging prominently in the Temple. They are also easy to find in our Chant Book (see below for more about that). The allure of the Intenet led me away from basic understanding of our practice at the local level.
Each Temple chooses the Precepts which guide it based on their tradition. Precepts are set up as "stuff to break", unlike commandments or rules. As humans we are bound to break them but we resolve to keep trying to improve.
Our precepts come from the Zen (Soto) tradition and are the same 10 that Thích Nhất Hạnh based his "Enlightened Buddism" precepts upon.They include the traditional 5 plus 5 for lay people serious about their practice, tools to help us as we look within to become the best "us" we can be..
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Ways to Offer Dana Donations to theTemple
A button on our website is easy to overlook. It is modestly titled "The Art of Giving", but is not a nice story about how a lay person filled a monk's begging bowl. It is the powerful link to donating to Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple. Offerings are called Dana in the Buddhist tradition, and they include anything that is freely given without expecting a reward. Our Temple depends on Dana to operate. We get a small income from selling our organic eggs and dried fruit at local stores, but the bulk of our operating expenses are funded by Temple members. To become a member, just make a donation. We have several options set up on the page linked below, or you can set up recurring monthly or weekly donations with your bank.
If you are moved to make a gift from your estate, donate a used but nice RV for worker housing, or support the Temple in other material ways, please use the contact button at the end of this newsletter.
Gifts of time through volunteering are also welcome, and opportunities will be featured in future newsletters as Trout Lake thaws out!
Donate Online on our website - click button below
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The Four Noble Truths
If you've studied any Buddhism at all, you've seen these. But you've never heard them explained as Sister Minh Bao, a Buddhist nun and member of our Sangha, explains them in this Temple video. 1.Cick on the link button, 2.choose the "Back to the Basics" tab, then 3.scroll down to this video: Buddhist Basics November 2022 Ven. Minh Bao
While you're there, you might also look around at the other videos available on our website. From Buddhist basics to insightful (and often funny) Dharma talks to instruction in meditiation to the chants we use in services, there is a wealth of information especially for those who like to see and listen to your teachings in addition to or instead of reading them.
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Chant Book
Our chant book, the Chant Book of the Mount Adams and Budding Dharma Buddhist Temples, collects a large amount of information, teachings, liturgy, and history into one thin volume. It guides our Temple services with the chants we use daily. It includes many sutras, or words of the historical Buddha. It includes Mahayana Buddhist and Thien Buddhist basics. It includes the lineage of our Temple, illustrating what teachers came before Thay Kozen. If in doubt about a Buddhist concept, come here first.
You can view the Chant Book online, print a pdf of it, or order your own bound copy from Lulu.com at the link below.
Some highlights: Chant of Compassion, p31; "Heart Sutra", p12; Metta Mantra, p45; Buddhist Flag, p69
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Sharing the Dharma
Scott See is sharing the Dharma in Vancouver and Porland!
"I will be teaching a class called Buddhism 101 at Clark College in Vancouver and Portland Community College. The class meets once a week for three weeks. This is a class with a beginning and no end. My goal with the class is to whet people's appetite so they may embrace a practice in using some of the Buddha's teachings. This could be as simple as just remembering to take three deep breaths when a heavy or uncomfortable feeling arises. I try to make this class as experiential as possible with many class exercises and sharing what we have experienced. For example, we practice mindful cookie eating. It's not uncommon for people to say they've never experienced a cookie so intensely. And imagine what life would be like if we embraced the whole day with such mindfulness. We practice meditation; we practice being part of a Sangha (group of like minded practitioners) with our sharing; we practice contemplating the idea of emptiness, impermanence, and interdependence, and we practice Metta, or loving kindness. I try to make this class a launching pad for continued practice. The official course description is as follows:
"We all have the same basic wish to be happy and avoid suffering, but very few understand the causes of happiness and suffering. Come learn about the "four noble truths" and begin a path to reduce suffering/dissatisfaction. We will meditate, practice loving kindness and gratitude, explore the value of letting go."
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The next class at Portland Community College begins on February 28 and then again on April 16 and again on July 3.
https://www.pcc.edu/community/schedule/
Rev. Scott See is a Buddhist Lay Minister ordained at Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple. He lives in Vancouver, after many years of living at 2500' north of Snowden, WA. He builds websites for a living, and is very easy to talk to. He began his lifelong curiousity about Buddhism when he visited the community of Ladakh, India, where he saw thousands of people living in poverty and smiling. In 2015 he discovered Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple and began to understand why.
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Females & Buddhism
Female Poets Express Buddhist Ideas
I was recently enchanted by an interview with Buddhist/Chicana/Femalist Sandra Cisneros, who recommended "rinse face with wind" as a remedy to social overexposure. Here is a small selection of sacred poems by women through history.
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A Woman Well Set Free
Sumangalamata (600 BC?)
At last free,
at last I am a woman free!
No more tied to the kitchen,
stained amid the stained pots,
no more bound to the husband
who thought me less
than the shade he wove with his hands.
No more anger, no more hunger,
I sit now in the shade of my own tree.
Meditating thus, I am happy, serene.
“Sumangala’s Mother," the wife of a maker of hats and shade-umbrellas, was a member of the earliest community of women followers of (Shakyamuni) Buddha. Many of these Pali-speaking women left accounts of their practice in poems, which were then collected in a volume known as the Therigatha.
Appalachian Elegy 1-6 (#3)
bell hooks (1952-2021)
night moves
through the thick dark
a heavy silence outside
near the front window
a black bear
stamps down plants
pushing back brush
fleeing manmade
confinement
roaming unfettered
confident
any place can become home
strutting down
a steep hill
as though freedom
is all
in the now
no past
no present
One of bell hooks’s eulogizers described her thus: Daughter of Kentucky, Scholar-Poet, Lover of Black people, poor people, country people, and all people. Anarchist, Womanist and Youthful Student of the Sacred
She studied with Thích Nhất Hạnh, who, when she told him how angry she was, advised “Well, you know, hold on to your anger, and use it as compost for your garden.”
Throughout her life, hooks explored the relationship between sexism, racism, and economic disparity.
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Untitled
Hadewijch II (13th century)
You who want
knowledge,
see the Oneness
within.
There you
will find
the clear mirror
already waiting.
Hadewijch II was a Middle Dutch visionary and poet. Many scholars believe she lived in Antwerp, and her fluency in Dutch, Latin, and French can be taken as evidence that she received an education typically limited to the wealthy. She joined a group of beguines, evangelical women who, outside the monastic system, took vows of poverty, chastity, and service while remaining in the world.
Wasps in the Buddha Bell
Sandra Cisneros (1954- )
Must be deaf
or devout on
this A. A.
Milne-blustery day.
On this wind-like-a-
bugle Emily* day. *Dickinson
Deaf or devout,
they neither
desert
their monastery
nor appear
enraged.
Bell gongs.
And they
pray.
Ommmmmm.
Ommmmmm.
Ommmmmm.
Sandra Cisneros is a writer, poet, feminist, and supporter of other writers. She is recognized as the first Chicana writer to have her work published by a main-stream publisher, in 1989 with The House on Mango Street, which is a staple in many middle school and high school literature classes. She received a MacArthur Genius Grant as well as many other literary and cultural recognitions. She was born in Chicago and now lives in Mexico.
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BUDDHIST HOLIDAYS IN VIETNAM 2024
In honor of our Vietnamese lineage, here are the important Buddhist memorial and celebration days. Looking at the frequency and variety of these holidays, you can get a sense of how Buddhism is a part of culture and everyday life.
NOTE: AL (âm lịch) is the calendar used in Vietnam. The first date (8/2 AL) is the date on the Lunar Calendar. The last date is on the western traditional calendar.
Tết Nguyên Đán TẾT New Year 02/10/2024 (7-9 day celebration)
Vía Đức Di Lặc Maitreya Buddha 02/10/2024
Vía Phật Thích ca xuất gia (8/2 AL) Sakyamuni Buddha Leaving Home 03/17/2024
Vía Phật Thích Ca Nhập Niết Bàn (15/2 AL) Sakyamuni Buddha Entering Nirvana 03/24/2024
Vía Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát Đản Sanh (19/2 AL) Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's Birth 03/28/2024
Vía Đức Phổ Hiền Bồ Tát (21/2 AL) Samantabhadra Bodhisattva 03/30/2024
Vía Đức Chuẩn Đề Bồ Tát (19/3 AL) Sahasra-bhuja Sahasra-netra Avalokiteśvara
(Thousand Armed Thousand Eyed Avalokiteshvara) 04/27/2024
Vía Đức Văn Thù Bồ Tát (4/4 AL) Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva 05/11/2024
Phật Đản (15/4 AL) Vesak (Sakyamuni Buddha's Birth) 05/22/2024
Vía Bồ Tát Thích Quảng Đức Vị Pháp Thiêu Thân Thích Quảng Đức Bodhisattva Self-Immolation 06/11/1963 06/11/2024
Vía Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát Thành Đạo (19/6 AL) Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Enlightenment 07/24/2024
Vía Đức Đại Thế Chí Bồ Tát (13/7 AL) Mahasthanapràta Bodhisattva 08/16/2024
Vu Lan (15/7 AL) Ullambana (Ancestors Alive and Dead) 08/18/2024
Vía Đức Địa Tạng Bồ Tát (30/7 AL) Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva (Địa Tạng Bồ Tát) 09/02/2024
Vía Quán Thế Âm Bồ Tát Xuất Gia (19/9 AL) Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva Leaving Home 10/21/2024
Vía Đức Phật Dược Sư (30/9 AL) Medicine Buddha 10/31/2024
Lễ Vía Phật A Di Đà (17/11 AL) Amitabha Buddha 12/17/2024
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Join us for a revitalizing and immersive experience in nature each month. No experience necessary. Easy grade trails with about 2-3 miles of hiking during our time together. Forest Bathing is a type of mindful walking through the woods where we open our senses to what’s all around us. Enjoy Forest Immersion, Mindful Connection, Guided Experience, and Community.
Sunday, March 17th 1-3 pm. Meet at the Catherine Creek Trailhead in Washington.
Your guide, Emily Goodwin Martin, is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, having trained with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Emily is training to be a lay Buddhist minister and is certified to teach Forest Bathing, Shinrin Yoku, through the Mt. Adams Buddhist Temple.
Kids hike for free. Furry friends on a leash welcome!
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Using Buddhist Practices and Principles to Recover from Addiction
Recovery Dharma is a peer led movement and a community that is unified by the potential in each of us to recover and find freedom from the suffering of addiction. This book uses the Buddhist practices of meditation, self inquiry, wisdom, compassion, and community as tools for recovery and healing. We welcome anyone who is looking to find freedom from suffering, whether it’s caused by substance use or process addictions like codependency, sex, gambling, eating disorders, shopping, work, technology, or any obsessive or habitual pattern. We approach recovery from a place of individual and collective empowerment and we support each other as we walk this path of recovery
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THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY
DATE LINE: Mid January 2024, Huế, Vietnam, Hương River (Perfume River)
Our ever exuberant guide Su Co Tinh Nghiem herded 12 of us early evening onto an old, tipsy, narrow tour boat with an able local captain and his wife .We had the boat to ourselves. Not tipping our little craft became a group effort.
Just before we left the dock, at least 10 heavy soaking styrofoam coolers and 5 wet gunny sacks were brought aboard and spread out in the uncovered bow of our boat. We pushed off, diesel chugging, into a warm twilight. Su Co began uncovering all the coolers, which -surprise- contained many varieties of rambunctious, excited, lively fish and eels! The native fish and Sea snails were purchased earlier in the day from local fisher persons.
We motored perhaps 45 minutes into the dark .The front deck of the boat offered much to see as fish and eels would fling themselves from one cooler to another or just onto the wooden plank deck. We had lots of practice gettin' em back in their water filled boxes. A VERY slippery task.
Finally, the engine stopped, and we were led in a prayer, then chanting, as we took turns blessing our Brother and Sister fish. Cooler by cooler and sack by sack we plopped the fish and snails back into the river where they had come from. And so we participated in the compassionate act of phóng sinh, releasing animals that were destined to be slaughtered.
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Donald is a regular attendee at our morning service. He is a retired chef and still blesses friends with his excellent meals. He was raised in Michigan, has done transformational studies including Landmark, and studies a mixture of spiritual and mystical tradition in Eugene at the Center for Sacred Science. He set off on a "vision quest" last fall, beginning at Mt Adams Temple, and ended up spending his entire 5 weeks there. He lives in South Eugene, OR.
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Laurie Van Cott will offer two of her popular Yoga Retreats at Trout Lake abbey.
The April 12-14 retreat is almonst full, but there are still a few slots available.
The Fall Retreat will be help September 13-15. Put it on your calendar now so you don't miss it!
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Lectures, Acupuncture, South Bath & More
Native Provisions Catering
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Science & Buddhism
Live to a Healthy, Happy 100
You have probably heard about "blue zones", areas of the world where a larger than expected percent of residents are healthy, happy, and productive at 100 years old. Sounds nice, right?
Several high-profile studies of these populations have identified 7-10 habits that they have in common. These habits fit nicely with a Buddhist practice.
Please note that a receint Netflix documentary series about blue zones has gotten very mixed reviews, and we can't recommend it. The link below is from a very cautious scientific group that sticks to facts and doesn't draw unsupported conclusions.
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Repeated from last month: Photos of Thầy Vinh Minh's and Thầy Kozen's recent journey to Taiwan and Vietnam
If you want to view any of these photos in more detail, and they are worth it, right click on it and select open image in new tab (for Chrome)
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Meeting Buddhist teachers and making new friends | |
Beautiful Buddhist art abounds throughout Taiwan and Vietnam | |
A planned temple of many architectural wonders | |
This beautiful temple is on an island in the middle of a lake | |
The dear nun to Kozen's left was very kind and helpful. She guided us to many temples and hosted us to a great lunch. she attended our welcoming ceremony for our tall statue here last fall. | |
The oldest temple in Vietnam | |
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Friends joined us from the US and Vietnam as we traveled.
Our US contingent L to R, Donald Emily, and Mark
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Beautiful temples everywhere with monks and nuns educating and supporting the population. | |
The many arms and heads of Avalokiteśvara tells the story of unlimited compassion and caring | |
We met "little monks" (children) who were on their way to school | |
Traveling to different temples was a great joy. | |
Emily chose a Vietnamese dress and made friends everywhere | |
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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
If you've read this far, thank you! What are you curious about that relates to Buddhist practice, our Temple, the members of our Sangha, ....? Simple or complicated, we'll try to find out.
If you have ANY comments, complaints, or suggestions, please email the newsletter editor at gvljohnsons4@gmail.com. We also especially enjoy including poetry and other art from our community, so if you've got something Buddhist-themed to share, send it! You may see it featured in a future newsletter!
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May the Infinite Light of Wisdom and Compassion so shine within us
that the errors and vanities of self may be dispelled;
so shall we understand the changing nature of existence and awaken into spiritual peace.
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