'You need to train yourself so that at any time and any moment you choose, you can free yourself inwardly from your world, from others, from the past, from the future, from the previous thought and the next thought. This is to find freedom. Yet if you then think you are free and have some wisdom, this is not so.'
~ Master Sheng Yen ~
Retreat Experience at DDM Taiwan April 2008
Retreat participant shares his experiences during a retreat at DDM Taiwan April 2008 ...
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Participants share their experience at a retreat led by Guo Yih Fashi in March 2008
Retreat participants share their experiences during the retreat led by Guo Yih Fashi in March 2008 ...
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A DDM 7-day Chan Retreat in Sydney (November/December 2006)
Sydney DDM held its first 7-Day Chan Retreat at Grose Vale from 29 November to 6 December 2006 under the superb guidance of Guo Yuan Fashi and Chang Wen Fashi.
The retreat was attended by eighteen people including three youth volunteers.
Throughout the entire retreat, we had to maintain noble silence and refrain from talking to other people and even to ourselves. Despite the excruciating pains in the legs, the rushing torrents of wandering thoughts and extreme tiredness and drowsiness, all participants expressed gratitude for the teaching and had benefited tremendously from the Dharma talks, sitting mediations, walking meditations, repentance prostrations, gratitude prostrations and interviews.
Into the fourth day of the retreat, life became more bearable as we followed fashi's teaching of "give your body to the cushion and give your mind to the method". Guo Yuan Fashi reiterated that regardless of a good or bad sitting, "the process is the goal". Fashi also explained that when we watch our breath, we should look at every breath as a new breath and live in the present moment.
During the outdoor walking meditation, we had to practise mindfulness and not let ourselves be distracted by the external environment. With much difficulty we eventually learned to offer ourselves as dana to the mosquitoes and to co-exist with the flies that are notoriously infamous in the hot summer in Australia. They were buzzing around and landing on our faces, noses, ears, mouths, and eyes. One participant described the experience as, "Whilst the flies are enjoying their morning and afternoon tea on my face, I take it as a free facial massage, so it's not a bad deal!"
On the last day of the retreat, participants shared their journey of self-discovery. Some found the retreat to be a truly transformative experience. Others expressed that they have come to understand themselves better, become more humble and more at peace with themselves. In a nutshell, we learned to bring our mind to be with the body, swim against the downward stream and that with a Chan mind, anything is possible.
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Retreat participants share their experiences during the "Practicing Buddhism through Spiritual Environmentalism" retreat led by Venerable Guo Jun in February 2006 ...
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'Disneyland, but where are the puppets? (February 2006)
One perspective on the visit to DDM Taiwan at the Fifth Chung-Hwa International Conference on Buddhism
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Youth Retreat 2005
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