Talking to the Mind
UN-hosted Buddhism forum boosts cultural exchanges among China, the U.S. and Canada By Zhao Wei
Buddhist monk musicians play traditional Chinese instruments at Lincoln Center, New York City, on October 12
In his past life Heng Sure was an Irish-Scottish actor doing Broadway musicals and going through a period of indecision about what to do in life. It was in the 1970s and the Viet Nam War was still raging and he was wondering if he should leave the United States for Canada. Then a visiting friend took him to a converted mattress factory to meet a man from northeastern China and as he described in a later interview, “The doubts and fears just drained out through my toes. And I distinctly heard a quiet voice say, ‘You’re back. Go to work. You’re home’.”
1.2 方法A、B组患者均在静脉全身麻醉下行手术治疗,根据患者骨折的部位选择侧卧位或仰卧位,充分暴露术区,剥离两侧骨膜,将断端对位。A组患者根据肋骨横径选择合适大小的TiNi环抱式接骨器,先将接骨器置于无菌冰水中5 min,取出后立即将环抱臂迅速置于两侧断端,随即用45℃盐水纱布热敷固定处;B组患者暴露断端髓腔,钻孔扩髓,应用合适型号的可吸收髓内钉将两侧断端解剖复位;C组患者应用胸带加厚棉垫固定加压包扎患处。此外,所有患者均进行止痛、化痰、抗感染治疗。
That is how he met Hsuan Hua, the founder of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a monastery in Talmage, California, and became a Buddhist, leaving his old life behind him. Heng Sure means “constantly real,” which, he believes, is a reminder to him to go back to the truth, to what is genuine and real.
2.5 m时的过流能力分别为0.442 m3/s、1.070 m3/s。 按式(1)计算得出鱼道池室的容积功率耗散约为19.92 W/m3、19.29 W/m3，紊动不剧烈，适合鱼类上溯。
On October 12, 12 days before the 72nd United Nations Day, the 69-year-old, who is now the managing director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in California, came to the headquarters of the UN in New York to share his thoughts and the lessons he had learned from his teacher Hsuan Hua at the 2019 China-U.S.-Canada Buddhist Forum. Over 500 Buddhists, experts and scholars from the three countries came to promote exchanges and mutual learning.
“这把伞是在一小借来的吗？可能应该是我丢失的伞。你看这串字，不会错的。”我向袁缺出示了伞柄的英文，“流转到你手上真是运气不错。谢谢啦。”
Heng Sure called Buddhism a very contemporary religion because “the issues that Buddhism addresses are the issues of the human mind and in our lives.” He also called it a global religion because “it talks to the mind and the mind doesn’t know east or west, male or female, young or old.”
Tradition and modernity
Holding the Buddhism forum at a time when the world is facing unprecedented changes is significant for furthering religious and cultural exchange and enhancing understanding, mutual trust and friendship between the people of the three countries, he added. It would also promote cultural exchange and mutual learning between the East and West and establish a community of common destiny.
With a history of over 2,500 years, Buddhism advocates compassion, equality and tolerance. It calls for following a balanced middle way and the path of peace.
Yanjue, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, noted in his opening speech the UN’s role in global governance and its upholding of all religions. “The purpose of the UN tallies with the common value and principle of all major world religions. Kofi Annan, former UN secretary general, once said that when major religious and spiritual leaders in the world join hands to call for world peace, it will bring about a vision for peace in the new millennium,” he said.
Participants at the 2019 China-U.S.-Canada Buddhist Forum in New York City
A kungfu and tea ceremony performance
Shi Dayi, Abbot of the Cham Shan Temple in Toronto, Canada, initiated the forum in 2017. “We can easily find obvious examples in both Buddhism doctrine and practice that illustrate the concepts advocated by modern civilized society, such as equality, fraternity, democracy and others,” he said in a paper.
“产业扶贫，政府的作用不单纯是‘扶持’，更重要体现在‘引导’。如果将扶贫资金直接发送到贫困户的手中，是能够解决他们的燃眉之急，但却不能从根本上解决问题；但如果将扶贫资金换一种形式发放给百姓，将扶贫资金变为股金，投入到当地产业发展之中，这样就能避免扶贫资金的低效利用，让扶贫资金‘钱生钱’，真正提高贫困户的‘造血功能’”。石柱县财政局副局长谭文会介绍说，“我们的股权收益扶贫是依托家庭农场、农民合作社、农业企业等新型农业经营主体带动贫困户，以财政扶贫资金作为贫困户股金，对贫困户实行按股分红的扶贫模式。”
Chan as bond
When Japanese and Korean Buddhism masters launched dialogues between Chan and Western philosophies in the last century, Chan came into vogue among Americans. There are currently 3 million Buddhists in the United States, 1 percent of the total population.
Mingyu, President of the American Buddhist Confederation and the Buddhist community of the U.S., said Han Chinese Chan Buddhism is “people-oriented, mind-focused,” and its concepts are in line with the free and egalitarian American culture. This is why Han Chinese Chan Buddhism is spreading so rapidly among Americans, he said.
“Exchange and mutual learning between civilizations serve as the driving force for promoting progress of human society and peaceful development of the world,” he said. “Distinctive and different as they are in forms, these cultures display equal and blended spiritual values that deserve respect and are embodied in the exchange between different civilizations.”
The theme of the forum this year was the Spirit and Practice of Chan (meditation). Shi Dayi said Chan is not just for Buddhists, it transcends time, religions, races and nationalities.
The teachings of the Southern School of Chan, propagated by many eminent monks in history, form the unique characteristics of the Chan School of Han Chinese Buddhism. The school, founded by the Sixth Patriarch of the Chinese Chan Buddhism Master Huineng (638-713), later spread to Japan, the Korean Peninsula and Viet Nam.
英拉简要介绍了泰国灾后恢复重建情况，表示泰国将学习借鉴中国在防洪抗旱减灾方面的经验和做法，制定符合泰国具体国情的灾后重建和灾害治理长期规划，开展防汛抗旱工程体系和非工程体系建设。希望双方有关部门进一步进行沟通协调，加强在防灾减灾和水资源开发利用领域的交流与合作，落实相关合作谅解备忘录。同时，她希望中国水利部选派专家组，在今年汛前赴泰国实地考察调研，帮助泰国评估前一阶段防洪应急处置成效，指导做好今年安全度汛工作，并对泰方的长期规划和设想提供咨询和建议。
From Buddhism to culture
Following the forum, the Chinese Buddhist Chanting Music Ensemble together with Shaolin Kungfu Monk Corps, the Lama Temple of Beijing (Yonghegong) and three other Buddhist temples in China staged two concerts themed Peace and Wellbeing at Lincoln Center, New York, on October 12-13. The concerts also included demonstrations of Shaolin kungfu, a renowned school of Chinese martial arts.
With a history of 1,500 years, Shaolin kungfu combines Chan philosophy and martial arts that developed in the Shaolin Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Henan, central China. According to legend, Indian monk Bodhidharma (called Damo in Chinese) came to the Shaolin Temple in 527 and founded the school of Chan Buddhism.
Shaolin kungfu became an important name card of China after the 1982 martial arts film Shaolin Temple , based on the legend of the Shaolin kungfu monk and starring martial art champion Jet Li. The fi lm not only launched Jet Li’s illustrious fi lm career but also generated global publicity for the Shaolin Temple and Shaolin kungfu. Since then, the Shaolin Kungfu Monk Corps has been invited to perform authentic Shaolin kungfu in over 60 regions and countries.
Kate Valk, a New Yorker who came to the concert with her friend, said it was an amazing performance. “This was my fi rst Buddhist chant event,” she said. “The vocals and martial arts were fantastic. I’ve seen a lot of Chinese martial arts used in the Chinese Opera, but never anything like that. When people share their culture, music and dance and theater, there’s no problem.”
(Reporting from New York City, the U.S. )
Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar
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