Experience sharing
Chinese New Year Celebration Special Chanting Ceremony and Dharma Talk
On Sunday, January 29, 2022, Chan Meditation Center hosted online a special chanting ceremony and Dharma talk in celebration of Chinese New Year. Before the ceremony, Ven. Chang Hwa, Director of CMC, greeted the audience with wishes for a happy and healthy new year and explained the significance of the chanting ceremony. According to Venerable, at Chinese Buddhist monasteries, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, there is a ceremony for general repentance through the recitati...
Connecting Heart to Heart: Deep Listening and Communication - Speech by David Listen
I have always wanted to find a way to contribute to our DDM community and to people around me. When Covid hit us and the centre was closed, I was feeling down because all in-person volunteering events got paused; however, Dharma Drum Vancouver has been really dedicated to provide its members support and care during this difficult time by continuing their events online. Therefore, I was provided with this great opportunity to interpret for David Listen's speech on Dec 04, 2021. &n...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - Reflecting the Diamond Sutra -3 Talk By Gilbert Gutierrez
The material presented here is deep and potentially confounding. However, Gilbert presents it in a way that is clear and deeply human. His presentation encourages us to delve into the mystery and investigate it for ourselves, becoming inspired by the complexity as opposed to intimidated by it. He begins the lecture by discussing and clarifying Emptiness as a foundation for the Diamond Sutra. He describes how we should approach studying Emptiness and how we can understa...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - Reflecting the Diamond Sutra -1 Talk By Gilbert Gutierrez
This lecture is an introduction to the Diamond Sutra, and is the first of 4 lectures in the Reflecting the Diamond Sutra series. The Sanskrit name for the Diamond Sutra is Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra. Vajra is a weapon, but can also be translated as diamond or thunderbolt. The sutra is so named because diamond can cut through illusions to get to the ultimate reality. The Diamond Sutra is one of the most powerful Buddhist sutras that is also one of the most difficult to talk about. This...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - The Heart of Chan: Exploring Mind via Mahaprajna Paramita -3 Talk By Gilbert Gutierrez
On October 4, 2020, Gilbert presented an omnibus view on Buddha dharma. Gilbert did not just give us a little flavor of different things. He explicated many extremely important and esoteric concepts of Mahayana in one and a half hours. He showed us the key to the door of realization(s). After a thorough study of this lecture, I feel as though I have been awarded the three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. I learned that proper contemplation leads one’s mind to ...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - The Heart of Chan: Exploring Mind via Mahaprajna Paramita -2 Talk By Gilbert Gutierrez
What I am attracted to in the lecture is the sincere and clear style. I feel the spirit and wisdom coupled with the compassion that shows the power of the teacher who can see through things and phenomena. It is the esoteric experience of the heart. We all have buddha nature inside us. From the lecture, I am learning to harmonize with the environment. see things as they are, what is real. Turn the mind's eye inward, look inside. Try to allow all notion...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - The Heart of Chan: Exploring Mind via Mahaprajna Paramita -1 Talk By Gilbert Gutierrez
On September 20, 2020, at the Chan Meditation Center via Zoom, Master Gilbert delivered his first Dharma talk from a series of “The Heart of Chan.” This lecture is about the early development, theory, and history about Mahayana. It serves as an overture of what Gilbert is going to cover for the next few weeks: historically, doctrinally, and practice. Gilbert opened his lecture by telling...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - Chan 101-2 by Gilbert Gutierrez
This is the 2nd lecture by Gilbert Gutierrez on Chan 101, hosted by Chan Meditation Center (CMC). In this 50 minutes’ presentation, Gilbert presented us both historically and doctrinally, what is Chan in relationship to knowing what is mind and the unique nature of mind, and the exoteric and the esoteric ways of Chan practice. Although the word “Chan” originated from China, it could be traced back to the very beginning, when the Buddha twirled the fl...
Chan Meditation Center English Sunday Dharma Talk - Chan 101-1 by Gilbert Gutierrez
This lecture by Gilbert Gutierrez is the first in a series of five, which provides a synopsis on meditation suitable for both beginners and more advanced Chan practitioners. Gilbert stresses how Right View in practice--Pratītyasamutpāda (causes and conditions never fail)--is absolutely critical. He explains that appearances in meditation are there precisely because we put them there. In meditation, we should thus focus on contemplating the method to “stop mind that desi...
My heartfelt experience participating in an ordination ceremony
I could feel the wild thumping of my heart the moment I made my `first’ formal step on the red carpet of the Main Hall. The simplicity of the Main Hall with an ambiance of reverence took my breath away even though I had rehearsed numerous times for this ceremony. I was overcame with feelings that I have never experienced before; this was even more daunting than giving a piano recital given the fact that the number of people indoor was limited. After days of training with additional r...