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Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự
Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple
雪山禅寺
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Dear Dharma Friends
This is the season when many cultures celebrate Vesak. For some cultures it is the celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death; for others it is simply the Buddha's birthday. Regardless of your cultural affiliation - let us all say HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDHA! Buddha literally means the awakened one or the blossoming one. It refers to the natural unfolding of all that one is. For all of us - the unfolding of our own lives is exactly that - the actualization of our true nature. Join us on Saturday May 12th - for Buddha Day, Vesak, Vesākha, Buddha Purnima, Vaishaka, Vesak, or the Buddha's Birthday. (The decision to hold this ceremony on this date was first established in 1950 by the world Fellowship of Buddhists). May we all be well, may we all be happy, may we all know love, and may we all know peace. In Loving Kindness, Thich Minh Tinh
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We are a small Thien (Zen) Buddhist Temple practicing "laughing farmer zen" - living our practice, sitting zazen, being here - right now!
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Calander
May 2012
5 Saturday Service
5 Buddha Day at CRCC
7 CRCC Prison Ministry
12 Saturday Service Celebrate Buddha's Birthday (see photo), Vesak, Phật Đản
13-18 Chi Gong retreat here
19 Saturday Service
25 - 27 Plum Mountain Board retreat here
26 Saturday Service
28 CRCC Prison Ministry
 Last year's Vesak - bathing the Baby Buddha - join us on Saturday May 12th to celebrate Buddha Birthday (Phật Đản). June 2 Saturday Service 9 Saturday Service 10 All Day intensive Meditation 16 Saturday Service 17 - 22 Youth Food & farming adventure (here) 18 CRCC Prison Ministry 23 Saturday Service 28 Workshop with Bodhi 30 Saturday Service |
Vietnamese Dharma
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself." - Thich Nhat Hanh "People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle." - Thich Nhat Hanh Because you are alive, everything is possible." - Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ "Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment." - Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
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| Dogan Zenji's Dharma
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
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In a mind clear as still water,
even the waves, breaking,
are reflecting its light.
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Through one word, or seven words, or three times five, even if you investigate thoroughly myriad forms, nothing can be depended upon. Night advances, the moon glows and falls into the ocean. The black dragon jewel you have been searching for, is everywhere.
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Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.
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Sites from the Abbey
 Our Propane tank now looks like a giant bee with a Lady Bug on top.
 Youth from a local church came to our temple to learn about Buddhism. Note the construction equipment in back.
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Meditation Huts - we're starting to build
We have donations to build our first hut. Only 7 more huts to go. We plan to start building in May. Our first hut will be built by Bob Jolley construction and we hope to have it completed by June. These huts will not have electricity or bathroom facilities - they are solely for meditation. They will be about 8'X8' with a 4'X8' porch. Our first one will face the Kisitigarbha statue (aka Jizo, Dja Tang Vuo'ng bo tat, 地藏). The use of meditation huts is a centuries old practice in Buddhism. We hope to have individuals who want the quiet solitude of sacred space to use the huts for personal retreats. May their building, use, and presence help us find peace. Below is the site for our first hut.
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Art by Ardiss
Our temple's wall and ceiling murals are nearing completion. Ardiss has created very beautiful murals - we'll have photos in our next newsletter. Please do stop by if you are in the area to see these works of art. Below is a photo of Ardiss on a scaffold painting the ceiling of the temple.
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Poetry Extracts by Thich Nguyen Kim
People suffer by clinging to the "I"
Here is my son, here is my property
My descendants, my ancestor's heritage.........
When Impermanence manifests,
the "I" no longer is.
The body is returned to the land.
The marvelous mind remains
a thousand autumns.
We come closer to the Departure Day
Every day, every minute, every second.
The end of Autumn, leaves are falling everywhere.
Clouds flying back to the mountains, looking for their native land.
This lonely body has been traveling rivers and oceans,
Wondering when it can rejoin its Father
Amitabha's Land.
The Realm of Return is still there...
where human love is built.
Allow me to give the gift of a happy and cheerful
smile in the foreign land.
Watching the autumns go by, the devastated forest, leaf-filled familiar and deserted roads.
But, I feel the warmth of human love in my soul.
People remain simple in this complex samsara.
Past gratitude and love fill the immense heaven and earth.
Love remains; it is not lost; it has been indestructible for thousands of years.
Walking in silence, surrounded by a bright Light -
Life is a Dream,
Life is Poetry...........
Seattle, Thanksgiving 2011.
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Walking on the sidewalk of life
The cycle of birth and death
is a normal, natural law.
Life still retains the image
and the remaining scent.
Escaping the extraordinary dream
I am leaving....
That's all, there is no attachment of any kind.....
A time for life's hardships,
rain and shine are trivial matters.
Hell exists in every place.
On earth, as well, prisons are everywhere.
After death there is also a prison
Created by the mind to compensate for one's sins.
A lifetime of business dealings,
interpersonal relations bring about Karma seeds.
Hell's punishment is well thought out, for each seed bears its own fruit,
fair and without error.
The good person enjoys long-lasting blessings,
But one who commits cruelties, his body is destroyed.
The law of Karma being so clear,
let's be vegetarian, chant Buddha's name
to overcome sufferings.
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A poet brings religion into his poems,
Expressing happy feelings in the four seasons,
Sending his love to all directions under the sky,
His Dharma scented poem dedicated to
his trusted friend.
Master Kim lives at Co Lam Pagoda in Seattle Washington. His wonderful loving approach to Pure Land Buddhism is a joy to share with others. Master Kim has visited our temple several times.
| Thay Kim during his last trip to Viet Nam.
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| MEDITATION SERVICES
+ Join us Monday - Friday at 6:30 AM for our usual daily service.
+ Thursday and Friday Evenings at 6:30pm
+ Saturday Morning at 9 AM
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Tuyết Sơn Thiền Tự + Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple + 雪山禅寺
PO Box 487, Trout Lake WA 98650 www.MtAdamsZen.org
509.395.2030 (e-mail -put in the @ sign) kozen1 at embarqmail.com
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