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BSPG News and Meeting (No. 157)
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Edited by Stony Brook Buddhism Study and Practice Group

News
1. This is a reminder that Chan Master Sheng-yen will be speaking at Stony Brook on Thursday from 7pm to 9:30pm. To learn more abouthim and his organization, please visit http://www.chancenter.org/
2. There is blood drive on 12/3 and 12/5. Volunteers are needed. If you can help, please contact Maria R. Terrana
mterrana@notes.cc.sunysb.edu. The schedule is as follow: a) Monday - 12/3, Indoor Sports Complex: 9:30 a.m.- 5:45 p.m.; b) Wednesday - 12/5, Student Union: 12:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. If you can't volunteer, please be a donor. There has been a serious shortage of blood and your donation save lives!
3. There will be no meeting this week as well as in the Thanksgiving recess.

Meeting
No meeting this week
Please attend the lecture by Chan Master Sheng-yen!

Words from the Suttas/Sutras
"Subhuti, a bodhisattva who still depends on notions to practice generosity is like someone walking in the dark. He will not see anything. But when a bodhisattva does not depend on notions to practice generosity, he is like someone with good eyesight walking under the bright light of the sun. He can see all shapes and colors."--Diamond Sutra

Quote of the Week
Naturally, from a standpoint of mutual respect and appreciation, religions must seek greater understanding of one another, yet there is no need to distort each other's beliefs in our search for common ground. That would not only cause great pain and trouble, but also lead to three possible outcomes: 1) twisting other religions to make them like one's own, 2) denying the position of one's own religion to comply with other religions, or 3) blending different religions together to establish a new one. None of these scenarios are healthy. Thus someone once asked His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, "If you believe that all religions are good, should we establish a syncretic religion?" He replied, "No, there are already enough religions in the world." What he meant was that, since ancient times, humanity's religions have always been diverse. Each has its own beauty. Each has its own virtue. Each has its own truth. There is no need to blend them. It might be good to seek common ground while preserving differences. For instance: Buddhism advocates the theory of conditioned arising and is non-theistic. It can respect and understand theistic religions and does not need to deny its own position in order to be on friendly terms with other faiths.
--Chan Master Sheng-yen
 

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