The Zen of Field Tripping ($10 tour)

Roshi Jeff Albrizze, Wisdom Quarterly; The Buddhist Progress Society (hsilai.org)

Hsi Lai Temple ("Going West" Monastery), Hacienda Heights, suburban Los Angeles, CA

Hillside parking lot, main entrance, Hsi Lai (Jesse Kaplan/TheGuibordCenter.org)

  

Courtyard with dining hall behind

PasaDharma provides a place to practice Zen. With an idea of having no ideas but "just sitting," the trip often remains on the mat. However, on Saturday (March 29) the local sangha will take up mats and walk around the grounds of the largest Buddhist temple complex in the western hemisphere: Hsi Lai ("Going West") on a hill that separates the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles from Orange County. This is a field trip.

Carpooling provided from Pasadena at 10:30 am. Those driving themselves are invited to meet at the temple at 11:00 am or join the carpool caravan going east to the temple. Chinese vegetarian lunch at 11:30 am. Tour starts at 1:30 and concludes at 3:00 pm.

• Saturday March 29th, 2014
• 3456 S. Glenmark Drive
• Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

What is Hsi Lai?

WQ at Hsi Lai full moon observance

This massive Taiwanese Mahayana Buddhist temple encompasses 15 acres and a floor area of 102,430 square feet. The temple's dynastic Ming (1268-1644 CE) and Ching (1644-1911 CE) architecture is reflected in its buildings, gardens, fountains, and statuary. Chinese speakers may regard Hsi Lai as "Coming to the West," signifying the dedication of the Buddha's Light Mountain (Fo Guang Shan) Buddhist Order to spread the teachings of the Buddha to the Western world. It is incluseve and provides Theravada as well as Mahayana teachings, having established the first Buddhist universities (University of the West) in the US. The founder, Ven. Master Hsing Yun, had previously established Fo Guang Shan, the largest monastery in Taiwan, which encompasses over 600 acres.

Going West under a full moon (WQ)

The temple was built to serve as a spiritual and cultural center for those interested in learning more about Buddhism and Taiwanese/Chinese cultural practices. This form of Mahayana came to be called "Humanistic Buddhism" aimed at creating a "Pure Land" on Earth. Built to fulfill these goals in the USA, the temple's objectives are to benefit society through charitable programs, nurture missionary activity through education, spread Dharma through rich cultural observances, and to edify people through traditional Buddhist practices.

RSVP (Roshi Jeff Albrizze at 626.529.4074 or jeffalbrizze@hotmail.com) so an advanced count can be provided to the temple.

CARPOOL: Meet at the Pasadena School District parking lot, 351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, cross street East Del Mar Blvd.

MEET: Main entrance outside first Buddha Hall at 11:00 am; the group will then proceed together to dining hall for lunch, followed by tour starting at the Information Center at 1:30 pm.

DRESS: Out of respect dress comfortably but appropriately: avoid tank tops, shorts, or mini-skirts, smoking, and please avoid bringing meats of any kind or outside foods and beverages.

DONATION: $9 (cash only) per person covers delicious all-you-care-to-eat buffet Chinese vegetarian lunch. Museum admission is an additional $1. There is also a temple gift shop with prayer beads (malas), Dharma books, statuettes, souvenirs, and art.

Humanistic Buddhism & Leadership Online Certificate Program (uwest.edu)

KOAN: Beiko's No Enlightenment

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly with Roshi Jeff Albrizze (PasaDharma.org), Book of Equanimity, Case 62; ZCLA (ZenCenter.com); Alan Watts(KPFK.org/Pacifica Radio)

Zen is a Mahayana school that developed in China during the 6th century as Chán (jhana). Zen spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea, and east to Japan (desktopc.com).

Kipp Ryodo Hawley (left), Lorraine Gesho Kumpf, John Heart Mirror Trotter, Mark Shogen Bloodgood, George Mukei Horner, ZCLA at special open house service (Wisdom Quarterly)

  

PREFACE TO THE ASSEMBLY

(photographybydavidmcmeekin/flickr.com)

The primary meaning of Bodhidharma's principle muddled Emperor Wu's head.

The non-dual [Mahayana Buddhism adopted the Brahminical, Vedic, Hindu concept of Advaita rather than keeping to what the historical Buddha taught] Dharma gate of Vimalakirti made Manjushri's speech go wrong.

Is there anything here of enlightenment to enter and use?

MAIN CASE

Attention!

Master Beiko sent a monk to ask Kyozan, "Do people these days have to attain enlightenment?"

Kyozan replied, "It's not that there's no enlightenment,

But how can one not fall down into the second level?"*

The monk related this to Beiko, who wholeheartedly approved it.

• *How can one not remain stuck in "the second level," that is, in one's foundational serenity (zen) practice rather than ascending to final liberating-insight (vipassana)?
• AUDIO: Alan Watts explains Zen, koans, "Haiku" (Pacifica)

APPRECIATORY VERSE

Kwannon in the garden (WQ)

The second level divides enlightenment and rends delusion.

Better to promptly let go and discard traps and snares.

Merit, if not yet extinguished, becomes an extra appendage.

It is as difficult to know wisdom as to bite one's navel.

The waning moon's icy disk; autumn dew weeps.

Benumbed birds, jeweled trees, dawn's breeze chills.

Bringing it out, great Kyozan discerns true and false.

Completely without flaw, the splendid jewel is priceless.

 

Outside the "Gateless Gate" of the uber urban Zen Center, Los Angeles (WQ)