Sorry, I didn’t report last week on the wonderful trip I had to the Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center in North Carolina, but there was much to report and not enough time to do it justice. I went to help my student Pannavati with her current class of students hear more about the true dharma. Now that we are starting to see discourses in English and I have more flexibility in reading the translations that I have, there is much reason to be optimistic about how we can reach more non-Chinese speakers. Pannavati has been working closely with her extensive sangha in North Carolina
and all over America to try and introduce the Buddha Master’s teachings to other Buddhist groups. Her students study AND practice the basic guidelines of “What Is Cultivation?” and were eager to hear more. It was a most receptive and curious audience. Their questions were insightful and helpful. I loved it!!
She is also very busy with her Dharma Troubadours composing new songs to take to music festivals to try and interest the kids in the dharma. I knew when I saw the rainbow above that it was a good sign and this would be a good trip, even if my body was not so good. I came back with a plan and strategy on how I wanted to do more community outreach. There are several things we need to know and share. We have or can have access to all of these, even if in imperfect form. Study and start with what you have and make every effort you can to hear what you don’t have. Some of you are already doing this. Please continue and share your dharma joy with others.
What Is Cultivation?
Learning from Buddha
The Supreme and Unsurpassable Mahamudra of Liberation
The Sutra on Definitive Truth
The Heart Sutra
Expounding the Absolute Truth Through the Heart Sutra.
All the discourses explain what’s in these texts and the translation group is working on translations that can be recorded. We now have two that are available at various Dharma Listening Centers . Hopefully there will be more and we will get the full SAUMOL, but this is certainly enough to get started. Go back and reread PaMU. She’s tough, but she gave us “the Dharma that Every Buddha Must Follow.”
CLICK for the details on what happened in North Carolina on this trip and earlier ones. May it inspire you to get dharma centers started again or for the first time in your communities. You do not need to have the sort of operation that Pannavati has to get started. Start where you are, but get started. I will do what I can to help (especially if you are near an Amtrak stop).
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