There are 11 of us who participated the whole event...Betty, Stanley,
Michell, Ching, Rebecca, Tammy, Frenda, Patti, Ada, Foon, and Olivia.

Others who have participated are:
Grace, Simon, Mel, Peter, Alice, Tommy, Stephen and Poon. Sorry if I have missed your name.

I saw so much improvement in many of you, well done...

Below are some of the comments that I received:

早就想写点自己的经历，可一直没有充分的理由战胜自己的惰性与借口，今天忙里偷闲在另一网站看到关于算命的文章，引发了我的兴趣就一口气写了下来。

Dr. Tony Prince wrote:

Dear Friends,

“以大悲水饶益众生，则能成就诸佛菩萨智慧花果。”简单的讲就是大悲心饶益众生菩提心才能显现。大悲是关键，为什么？怎样才能产生大悲心？

Special Thanks to all of you who inform us that you are joining in:

Boston: Hai ShiFu

和上在底特律的開示標題是：「認真生活就是一部華嚴經」。他提到「華嚴經」的其中一個意義為人類生命文明結精的所在。華嚴象徵人類文明的精華，萬華莊嚴。

能修: 禪七心得報告 

當我靜坐時，意守風門，數息。

Reflection on what I have learned from the Chan Retreat 

By Rosanne Andersen 

A Wonderful Weekend

By Scarlette Chan

As I was travelling and waiting at the airport yesterday... there was someone sitting across from me
to be exact...there was a person sitting across from me on the floor
a person that caught my attention earlier during the security checkpoint
from the look of him...he is a bright young college age person
but looking closely...he suffers from Polio...
both his legs are barely usable...
being very friendly, he was describing how all of his flights during this trip were delayed

From: Dr. Tony Prince

Dear Friends,

Living in the moment... a seemingly easy term...
actually a very difficult thing to master...
of course... there are people who natually are gift to live in the "here and now"
as for me... I don't ^^"
I slowly start to realize...
I'm a person who can't leave the past behind... even though I might seem capable...
but deep down... I think about the past a lot...
needless to say... the strong front that I put before others...does not solve the heart of the problem...

Circumscribed Activity (結 jieˊ 界 jieˋ) is a 53 day "contract" you form with yourself. The purpose of this training is to build up one's determination of doing certain things (i.e. quite smoking, practice Ch'an, etc.). Regardless of what you set your circumscribed activity to be, you will need to carry it out for 53 days. For me personally, I think it can be a form of prayer. Therefore, since it's time for our annual Ch'an Retreat, my circumscribed activity is to be vegetarian as a "good luck" for our Ch'an retreat.

看了大师的书,有些感触,也有同感,希望做成家庭华藏工程.

During work today... some co-workers and I were talking about a rising problem...

This is the first New Year for this forum!! Happy New Year to everyone!!!

In the few days into 2007... I heard many tragic stories

First of all, there is an island that sank near India...no survivors...

Secondly, there are news regarding young children who lost their family and are not able to support themselves...

Thirdly... a friend of mine lost her child two months before the child was supposed to be born...

Moreover...the supposedly cold Michigan is abnormally warm...

As I hear these stories... I hope people are not discouraged because of the negative incidents

以前總能聽到「和時間賽跑」，感覺那是誇張的修辭。沒想到自己簡簡單單的生活中現在也不時的面臨著這樣的問題。

近讀印光法師《佛教以孝為本論》，師雲：

“孝之為道，其大無外。經天緯地，範聖型賢。先王修之以成至德，如來乘之以證覺道……是世出世間，莫不以孝為本也。奈何世俗凡情，只知行孝之顯跡，不知盡孝之極致。每見出家釋子，輒隨己臆見，肆其謗讟，謂為不孝父母，與蕩子逆徒無異。不知世法重孝，出世間法亦無不重孝。蓋世之所謂孝者，有跡可循者也。釋氏之所謂孝者，略於跡而專致力於本也。”

Recently, I’ve been taking a multicultural class…
As an international student, I thought I didn’t have to take classes like this…
However, I still learnt a lot… and gained very valuable knowledge…which made me to think… we as human beings… sometimes are pretty pathetic…
There is a lot of inequality in the world, especially towards minority group members who don’t live in their native countries…
Sadly, most of the inequality comes from politics…
Some… come from power struggle…

“If only I’d known…” is something that many people say on daily bases…
However, there is really no such thing as “If only I’d known…”
To say that… it’s just that the results of the situation is not the outcome that oneself expects…
Nevertheless… what’s happened has already happened… and what’s done is done…
To some extend… “If only I’d known…” is an excuse for not wanting to take the responsibility of the decision.
Needless to say… it’d be impossible for a person to make right choices throughout one’s life…

From Dr Tony Prince of Australia:

Even in the age of the internet, a printed magazine can be an effective means of spreading and sharing knowledge of the teachings, and I hope that the Huayen Quarterly will continue to grow and develop, so that one day it will be able to speak for the entire international Huayen Community and will be of benefit to students and practitioners everywhere.

Love is a very interesting thing
Love is magic that connects people from two extreme opposites
Love is something that guys won't quit understand
Love is a trap that people blindly jump in
Love is never "Happily Ever After" like in fairy tales
Love is a castle built on top of communication, trust, and reality
Love is a very dangerous weapon
Love is a balance between being real and being romantic
Love is not going to escape being tested by uncertainty
Love is what everyone goes through
Love is a tangled yarn
Love is a cat that will sneak up to you

On October 9, the Canadian Thanksgiving Monday (Columbus Day in the U.S.), we held a 9-hour chanting retreat in Toronto. This is the second year we have held this event. Last year it was a 7-hour retreat. We chanted the Six-Syllable Mantra –“OM MA NI PAD ME HUM” also known as the Heart Mantra of Avalokitesvara. If there is enough interest and enthusiasm, we will hold it for 10 hours next year.