Venerable Guo Xing Leads Chan Practice in Ireland

Ven. Guo Xing leads sitting meditation group practice in Dublin, encouraging everyone to improve themselves so as to improve our world. (Photo courtesy of Irish Sangha Trust)

From July 16 to August 9, Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts Assistant Professor Ven. Guo Xing (果幸法師) accepted an invitation to return to Ireland to lead One-Day Chan Workshops, Seven-Day Chan retreats and host Family Chan Camps in Dublin, Galway and Westport.

The affinity between Dharma Drum Mountain and Ireland began with Venerable Chang Chun's many years of dedicated efforts in the region. In the spring of 2024, Emer from Ireland, whose Dharma name is Kuan Hui in Chinese, crossed paths with Ven. Guo Xing while volunteering at the Awakening Camp at Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education. She then invited the Venerable to provide online lessons for her fellow Irish Chan practitioners. Last May (2024), the Venerable gave a series of online lessons on the "Extensive Record of Chan Master Hongzhi" for the Irish Buddha Nature Chan Group, which fostered deep karmic affinities with the participants. During the last summer vacation period, Ven. Guo Xing went to Westport to lead a Five-Day Chan Retreat, whereby the Chan practitioners voiced their hopes that a Seven-Day Chan Retreat could be organized the following year. On this return visit, a wider range of propagation activities in Ireland was made possible to DDM, to continue spreading the seeds of Chinese Chan Buddhism.

On July 18, at the invitation of the Irish Sangha Trust, Ven. Guo Xing presented a Dharma Talk during a Chan meditation group practice. When asked by a Chan practitioner on how to adapt in the face of today's world chaos and the sufferings of sentient beings, the Venerable replied: "it is the existence of pain that prompts us to work on ending sufferings; witnessing the hardships of sentient beings helps us arouse our Bodhi-mind." Through law of cause and effect, causes and conditions, the Venerable reminded everyone that in order to improve our world, we have to first improve ourselves. She then went on to lead the Chan practitioners in transferring the merits of that day's group practice to all suffering sentient beings.

On August 3, after the successful completion of the Seven-Day Chan Retreat, Ven. Guo Xing went on to lead two Family Chan Camp groups. She pointed out that although Ireland is predominantly Catholic, with the changes in society and shifts in religious structures, Buddhism is gradually becoming an important path to finding inner peace and stability. It is hoped that through the Family Chan Camps, participants from different age groups could find ways to pacify their minds through Chan methods.



◎Original text in Chinese: Dharma Drum Monthly No. 428
◎Foto: Irish Sangha Trust
◎Translation: 張振郁 (Cheng-Yu Chang)
◎Editing: Keith Brown, YKL