Abbot President Visited Seattle to Impart the Way to Attain Peace of Mind

On July 16^th, 2024, at 7:00pm, the Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain, Venerable Guo Huei (果暉法師), gave the Dharma talk "A World of Blessing" at Dharma Drum Seattle Center. This was the first time for the Seattle Center to hold a Dharma talk conducted in both Mandarin and English with simultaneous interpretation. Thanks to the meticulous preparation of the translation team, the monastic members, and volunteers, the non-Mandarin speaking people in the vicinity were able to join and learn the wisdom of the Buddhadharma.

Since "A World of Blessing" is Dharma Drum Mountain's annual theme for 2024, the Abbot President quoted its subtitle – "With a calm body and mind, we have peace in every moment. In harmony with ourselves and others, we have blessings everywhere" – to elaborate on the method for calming the body and mind. His talk led everyone to reflect on what is true peace and blessings. He indicated that while it is better for most of us to live a more physically active lifestyle, we need to settle down our mind in the fast-paced and stressful modern life. If we can relax our body and mind, live a contented life with few desires, and do our best in our daily lives, we will not only be able to calm our own mind, but also the minds of others.

The Abbot President pointed out that the Buddha taught us to contemplate impermanence as well as causes and conditions. Although most people can intellectually understand that everything is impermanent, it is difficult for them to accept it when things they are used to have changed. Practicing the contemplation of impermanence can help us have a better understanding of emptiness (śūnyatā) and no-self (anātman). While learning and practicing the Buddha's teachings, we should first correct ourselves. Only through genuinely recognizing the reality of impermanence can we attain true peace of mind. The Abbot President expounded that "Buddhadharma is teachings to calm our mind. With peace of mind, we'll have peace in life. So we should be mindful and live in the present moment rather than worry about the future." As he emphasized, by recognizing impermanence, we can calmly accept adversity, and spontaneously cherish and be grateful for what we have. In this way, we can not only seize the causes and conditions to benefit others and ourselves, but also keep our inner peace and joy, and moreover, bring the same peace and joy to people around us.

During the Q&A session, a participant asked, "How do we apply Chan practice in our daily lives?" The Abbot President suggested that we can first practice sitting meditation regularly and make it into a habit, as it is the basics of Chan practice. It means to practice relaxing our mind by settling down our wandering thoughts

which means being aware of their coming and going, yet not paying attention to them. It is important to establish a correct concept of Chan practice and to practice it constantly.

The followers in Seattle were especially delighted that the Abbot President has visited Seattle for two consecutive years to impart the Dharma. The Abbot President encouraged everyone to come and learn Chan practice at the Seattle Center as we can take advantage of the center's beautiful natural surroundings to heal our body and mind, and thereby maintain the peace and joy in our mind at all times.




Photos and original Chinese text / Dharma Drum Seattle Center
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL