*********************************************************************** BSPG News and Meeting (No. 200) ***********************************************************************
Edited by Stony Brook Buddhism Study and Practice Group News
1. Mr. Bob Festa, a very experienced practitioner of Zen Meditation and a representative of the Buddhist faith in Long Island Multi Faith Forum, will be giving a talk entitled "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" on Thursday, Novermber 7. He will talk about the similarities and differences of "Zen Mind" and "Beginner’s Mind", as well as the practice of zen in everyday life. He will also share techniques to improve meditation with the audience. The talk is open to the public. Everyone is welcome!
2. Master Sheng-yen will be given a talk entitled "Pure Mind, Pure Land" at Rutgers University on Saturday, November 2. Here's an excerpt about the talk from the Chan Meditation Center website: "...as long as our minds are pure, we will discover that the land on which we live is indeed a pure land. At this juncture of worldwide political and economical instability and uncertainty, do you also long for a pure land of peace and tranquility? Please join us for a meaningful afternoon in contemplating this topic with Master Sheng-yen. Refuge transmission and reception will be held after the talk." For more information, please visit: http://www.chan1.org/activities.html#rutgers
3. Last Saturday, we conducted a group tour to the Dharma Drum Retreat Center and the Chuang Yen Monastery in upstate New York. We ahad a wonderful time at these two beautiful places of practice. If you are interested in participating in a retreat at these places, please check out http://www.chan1.org/activities.html#silent and http://www.baus.org/baus/programs/index.html (Click Event Calendar)
Meeting
Thursday, 10/31/2002, 7pm to 8:30pm
Room 305, Student Activities Center
Please be on time!Words from the Suttas/Sutras
"These four things, O monks, are conducive to the growth of wisdom. What four? Association with superior persons, hearing the good Dhamma, proper attention and practice in accordance with the Dhamma. These four things are conducive to the growth of wisdom. ... These four things are also a great help to a human being." -- Anguttara Nikaya, IV, 246
Quote of the Week
"All the path is included in the six transcendences (paramita). When you realize the correct meaning of voidness -- and lose your blind lust for things, material and spiritual -- your life becomes one flowing act of transcendent giving. In the absense of attachment, you are no longer defiled by non-virtuous deeds, and you enter the ever-flowing harmony of transcendent moral practice. In this freedom from defilement, you also liberate yourself from the passionate domination of 'I' and 'mine' and attain the ever-flowing transcendent patience. As you take great pleasure in the realization of voidness, your life becomes one ever-flowing transcendent effort. Through this, you lose all attraction to objects and enter the ever-flowing transcendent meditation. And finally, when your mind is freed from the habit of seeing everything through the prism of three aspects (the giver, the recipient, and the act of giving), you will attain the ever-flowing transcendent wisdom." -- Atisha (982-1054)
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