The war of Russian-Ukraine exposes the world to instability and fear and insecurity place mankind in conflicts and pain. Upholding the ideal that the world is one big family of a diversified symbiosis, Dharma Master Hsin Tao, Founding Abbot of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM), reminds the world that spirituality and ecology are two in one and all sentient beings are in fact interconnected. He urged that ‘Ecological harmony is a common benefit we all share. Such harmony substantiated

Before we came across Buddhadharma, we seemed to live from day to day. After we've encountered Dharma, we finally know how to live our lives. It is to find a breakthrough in life, to solve our fear of aging, illness, and death. Everything is impermanent as described in the Diamond Sutra, “All conditioned dharmas are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow. Like dew and lightning.

People nowadays are too stressed out. When they feel pressured, they vent out their anger randomly. A government official visited a while ago, he shared something with me that he doesn’t ever lash out his anger. I asked, “How do you manage?”

Before every annual Water, Land, Air Dharma Assembly, there are five preliminary pujas. The purpose is to gather everyone and encourage each other as we are companions on the way of the bodhisattva. Let’s advance fearlessly and steadily towards the enlightenment.

May is a month of appreciation and gratitude. Vesak and Mother's Day fall under the same month. During this time of appreciation, we are reminded to uphold gratefulness as the children of our fore-parents and the student of our teachers. In the dedication of prayers, we’d “reciprocate the fourfold grace and the relieve the suffering of the three lesser realms”. It is a reminder of gratefulness. Christians thank God and all in their prayers. They also begin from appreciating. In Buddhism, we talk

Why do we feel deprived? Because the mind is. When our minds feel deprived, we feel that we lack everything. With only one dollar left in the pocket, one man feels poor while another is delighted that he still has a dollar to help others. The latter would smile out of contentment. With one dollar, one man feels poor while another feels rich – why is that? We can conclude that the sense of deprivation has nothing to do with material goods or wealth but the mind. When the mind feels deprived, that

Here we are in this world, there would be no regrets if we take this opportunity to train in peaceful meditation. Faith and diligence are pivotal for one's practice. Look around us, death can be imminent in any form. Everyone is scared of death and cyclic existence. In fact, there's nothing intimidating about this illusory-like world. Chan practice helps one to realize that all the forms and conceptions are actually notionless. Do not respond to them as if they are real. Do not fixate on notions

With Chan practice, we can realize our mind or our original face. One of the Chinese characters for “realizing” is “參 (can)”. It is used to explore and discover the original face that is devoid of fabricated notions. It is the nature of the mind without any elaborations. In Chan, the mind is described as “naked”. The qualities of the mind are luminosity and emptiness. Hence, it is also called the “primordial awareness”.

Our lives are so occupied that we lose ourselves in the five poisons (greed, aversion, ignorance, doubt, and pride). At the same time, we are exhausting our merits. In the cyclic existence, we must be mindful of impermanence and suffering. Nothing in this world is substantial and everlasting. Everything is merely an illusory display. Experience and realize the impermanence of life through Dharma practice.

The idea of the University for Life and Peace first came into my mind due to my hard life as a war orphan. As I witnessed the ruthlessness of death and the frailty of life, my eagerness for peace was inspired and intensified. This educational institute serves as a platform of peace so we can build a mutual ground. Every being on this planet is part of the entity of interdependence. This global family constitutes interdependent diversity. We must learn and rely on one another. Likewise, different