(Earth Image Credit: NASA)
All of humankind’s vexations and sufferings are caused by their self-referential delusive views. The Sutra of Complete Enlightenment says, “Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have had all sorts of delusions, like a disoriented person who has lost his sense of direction. They mistake the gathering and dispersing of the four great elements, (namely, earth, water, fire, and wind) for the forms of their physiological selves, and the conditioned images of the six sense objects, (namely, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought) for the forms of their psychological selves. They are like a man with an illness of the eyes who sees an illusory flower in the sky, or a second moon.” Hence, sentient beings vex themselves and others. Nevertheless, the Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Dharma can indeed be applied to guide humankind’s life, and to help human beings become purely aware of their weaknesses, so that they will be able to achieve everlasting inner peace. Once they manifest great wisdom, they can transform the corruptible into something wonderful, turn discarded junk into treasure; they can also change few into many, make ugly things beautiful, turn disappointment into hopefulness, and transform hell into paradise.
Therefore, we would like to invite with utmost sincerity all people in the global village to engage with us in the following roles, in order to penetrate all the mind barriers and to see into their own self-nature:
- A volunteer in Global Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Community to help popularize the Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Dharma to the four corners of the earth to benefit all human beings.
- A practitioner in Global Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Community to manifest the great wisdom and great compassion deeply-rooted in the mind ground for compassionate caring to all sentient beings.
- An “ambassador of peace” in Global Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Community to help distribute the worldwide “Building the Pure Land on Earth Movement” to benefit our contemporaries.
In his keynote speech at The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders convened by the United Nations in the year 2000, Patriarch Sheng Yen said, “When speaking of the problem of humankind’s poverty on earth, I wish to point out a fact: Poverty of material things threatens the lives of people, whereas poverty of the spirit and mind deprives people’s living environment of security and happiness. Therefore, we are promoting a movement called ‘Spiritual Environmentalism’, where individuals start by purifying their mind, filling it with gratitude, kindness and compassion for life. In this way, they will devote the fruit of their efforts to others. As long as one continuously works hard to improve one’s living conditions, one will be able to overcome material poverty; as long as one feels grateful and compassionate, one will be able to enrich oneself spiritually and mentally.” Since the Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Dharma of Chinese Chan Buddhism is characterized by a way of life of simplicity, directness and inclusiveness, Chan practitioners can awaken to inner peace and freedom of mind because they have little desire for material things in their lives. When their mind is in true peace and harmony, they will not be stimulated and tempted by the external material environment, and neither will they harm others and damage the natural environment. In other words, while Chan practitioners have succeeded in “Spiritual Environmentalism”, they are definitely able to carry out Social Etiquette Environmentalism, Lifestyle Environmentalism, and Natural and Ecological Environmentalism with outstanding achievement.
Therefore, we sincerely welcome those who are indeed interested in or have profound causes and conditions with the Patriarch/Matriarch Chan Dharma, to join us in investigating Chan together amidst all activities of daily life and manifesting the wisdom and compassion inherent in the pure Mind Ground. People from every corner of the world are all welcomed to become our “fellow practitioners” holding the following different roles with Cosmos Chan Community (“the Community”):
- Current Chan/Zen practitioners or those who are new to Chan, who are willing to become our “Global Affiliate”, will receive the support from the Community to establish a local Patriarch/Matriarch Chan community.
- Current Chan/Zen practitioners associated with an existing Chan/Zen Center, who need some profound guidance of their Chan/Zen Investigation and Realization, will receive the friendly support of the Community to hold intensive retreats, and will still remain in the same fellowship.
- Current Chan/Zen practitioners associated with an existing Chan/Zen Center, who want to share the Chan/Zen investigation and realization, will receive the friendly support of the Community to hold activities such as Chan Lectures, Chan Dialogues, Chan Conferences, etc.
An altruistic mind is a pure mind that does not ask for any result or reward. Chan Patriarch Sheng Yen
