​Celebrating CMC's 45^th Anniversary, the Abbot President Encourages Both Monastics and Laity to Embody the Virtues of a Bodhisattva

Warmly welcomed by local followers in the U. S., Venerable Guo Huei (果暉法師), the Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), participated in a myriad of events on the East Coast from August 9^th to 11^th, 2024. These events included the "Tea Party of the Honorary Board of Directors

at Chan Meditation Center," the "Praying for Blessings and Refuge Taking Ceremony" at the New Jersey Center, and the "Gathering of the Core Volunteers in Celebration of the 45^th Anniversary of Chan Meditation Center" at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York. More than 140 delegates from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Connecticut, Washington DC, and Texas attended the gatherings, where they reminisced about the legacy of Master Sheng Yen, who paved the way with his vows and commitments to pass on the mission of spreading the Dharma to the future generations.

On the evening of August 9^th, the Abbot President and over 60 honorary board of directors and their families gathered at the Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in New York to build solidarity and consolidate everyone's aspirations through meaningful exchanges. During the event, the Abbot President presented certificates of appointment to new honorary board of directors and led all participants in making vows to learn, uphold, and propagate the Dharma. Venerable Chang Hwa (常華法師), the Director of CMC and the Guiding Venerable of Buddhist Association in North America, also shared words of encouragement from Master Sheng Yen, reiterating on the importance of self-improvements and stepping out of one's comfort zone. Venerable Chang Hwa also emphasized that undertaking unfamiliar tasks is a form of spiritual practice and that spiritual practice is the best investment because the merit accrued will never depreciate. 

On August 10^th, the Abbot President visited the New Jersey Center to transmit the Three Refuges and Five Precepts to the followers. Under the theme of "A World of Blessings," he shared with the participants the concepts and practices of Buddhist teachings in everyday life. He also exhorted refuge takers to continue to improve and progress on the path of learning Buddhism by regularly participating in Buddha name chanting, Chan meditation practices, lectures on Buddhist scriptures, and volunteer services. During his speech on DDM's annual theme "A World of Blessing," the Abbot President explained that the attainment of peace in mind, body, family, and actions. He then elucidated that the Dharma approach to attaining inner peace stems from within, as we must learn to transform our mindsets through principles of Buddhadharma. He explained that one of the key mindsets is to recognize that impermanence is inherent in all things. Since everything is changing incessantly, our attachments and clinging will only lead to suffering and vexation. Therefore, only by truly understanding how all phenomena in the world are impermanent can we attain genuine inner peace.

On August 11^th, the gathering of the core volunteers, conducted in both English and Mandarin, commenced at 10:30 AM. The event began with a retrospective on the history of CMC's establishment in 1979. Venerable Guo Yuan (果元法師), the Abbot of Dharma Drum Retreat Center (象岡道場), shared that despite having experienced many ups and downs over the past 45 years, CMC has also guided countless Westerners and overseas Chinese onto the path of learning Buddhism. He expressed his hopes that while we all benefit from the teachings of Buddhadharma, we could also leverage what we learned to contribute to a more harmonious and peaceful society.

Venerable Chang Hwa then shared that after the passing of Master Sheng Yen in 2009, CMC continues to carry on his legacy of promoting Chan practice and Dharma learning in both English and Mandarin, while also playing an active role in the establishment of Dharma Centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, New Jersey, and Toronto. Through these efforts, CMC continues to foster confidence and aspirations among its followers. Under the guidance of the Abbot President, CMC has devoted increasingly more time and efforts on empowering religious dialogues and charitable initiatives. Following this,the Dharma Drum for Young People (DDYP) presented their organizational structure and youth programs, highlighting their recent involvement in promoting spiritual environmentalism and world citizenship.

The Abbot President praised the monastics and laity of CMC for their dedicated efforts, offering his blessings for a smooth progress for CMC's expansion project. He encouraged everyone by suggesting that "with a calm body and mind, we have peace in every moment; in harmony with ourselves and others, we have blessings everywhere." The Abbot President emphasized that both the monastics and the laity share the same responsibility in upholding and propagating the Dharma, and urged both parties to work closely in safeguarding and spreading the teachings to the world. Through the transmission and propagation of Chinese Buddhism in the West, the Abbot President expressed his hopes for more tolerance and respect in our society, ultimately contributing to the attainment of inner peace in everyone, family harmony in our societies, and peace throughout the world.



Original Chinese text / Chan Meditation Center, Weng Huei-shiun (翁蕙洵), Jeng Huai-zhi (鄭淮芝)
Photos / Chan Meditation Center, Yin Ting, Gao Ming-lu (高銘璐)
Translation / Claire Wang
Editing / Keith Brown