2025 Chan Meditation Center “Unity” Family Chan Camp Concludes Successfully

From August 6 to August 10, Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in New York held its annual "2025 Family Chan Camp" at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center. This year's theme, "Unity," integrated Chan meditation and Buddhist teachings into a variety of lively and engaging programs. Both children and parents who participated in the camp were left with deep impressions and full hearts.

The camp was divided into three groups: adults, teens, and children, with a total of 70 participants this year. For the adult group, Venerable Chang Hwa, CMC's director, guided participants to practice mind-body unification through mindful observation of the six senses, including seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and focused awareness.

Venerable Chang Zhai, who led the teen group, used interactive games to guide students to discover commonalities among themselves, fostering the theme of unity. For the children's group, Venerable Yan She and Teacher Chao-Hui Yang designed diverse and fun activities such as yoga, drumming, kung fu, crafts, and games to cultivate concentration and teamwork.

Before the camp began, teachers Lester Andrist and Julie Chang conducted a team leader training session which also centered on the theme of "Unity." This year, many camp activities were led by these trained youth leaders, including the morning Eight-Form Moving Meditation, walking meditation, breakfast offering, camp orientation, team-building games, a showcase performance, a highlight video, and a closing campfire. Parents were especially impressed by the thoughtful design and smooth execution of the activities. They were especially amazed that these team leaders were still in high school, yet displayed such maturity and leadership. Venerable Chang Zhai also praised this year's youth leaders for being especially outstanding, responsible, and capable in both participant care and activity planning.

A special feature of this year's camp was the tea meditation program, made possible with the support of Mr. Darjun Hou (侯達俊) and the tea meditation team from DDM New Jersey Center. They trained the youth leaders to serve as tea hosts, carefully guiding every aspect of the tea meditation experience, from tea table setup, to brewing, and finally, to tasting. In so doing, they offered participants a unique and refined experience of tea meditation. The final "Gratitude Tea Offering" during the closing ceremony was especially moving. As children knelt and respectfully offered tea to their parents, everyone was filled with warmth and emotion.

Teachers Andy Liaw and Hsiong-Ching Chang (張翔晴), who organized the event, shared that although the preparation process was tough—including coordinating administrative tasks and training—it was all worth it when seeing the joy of the participants and witnessing the children's growth year after year. This year's "Unity" Family Chan Camp concluded joyfully and warmly. The children are already looking forward to reuniting again next year.





◎ Original text in Chinese: Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center (法鼓山東初禪寺) 
◎ Photos: Andy Liaw, Lester Andrist, Chiao Wang, Annie Yang
◎ Translation: Patricia Yang
◎ Editing: Keith Brown