Compassion is the Way

Creating a Peaceful, Harmonious and Prosperous Society through Compassion to all beings.

3 Day Retreat of Meditation, Chanting, Workshops, Cultural Exchange and developing ways forward to bring compassion and peace in our communities.


The Venerable Master Zheng Rong and Retreat Facilitator Malcolm Hunt invite you to come together to join us at Guang Jue Monastery China.


April 16th, 17th and 18th 2011


I believe the key to peace and both personal and regional happiness is through compassion. We can all achieve this. We do not need to be religious people. We just need to develop goodness. It is that easy.


Buddhism and its message of peace and compassion spread form India through to China then to all corners of South East Asia and beyond. Together we hold the key to building a better world and regional peace, harmony and prosperity.


Guang Jue Monastery suffered almost complete destruction as a result of war. It was through the faith and compassion of one nun and the Venerable Zheng Rong that the temple rises from the ashes to be a powerful parable of peace, good-will, social inclusion and humanity.


For further Information contact: Malcolm Hunt, Retreat Facilitator at: admin@taishendo.com

Please Listen to Me. That’s All I Need

Because of my all embracing hearing my name Kuan Yin is known everywhere.  Since I myself do not meditate on sound but on the meditator.  I cause all suffering beings to look into the sound of their voices to obtain liberation. Surangama Sutra

Two of the greatest tragedies which face us on a global proportion as we turn into this next millennium are poverty and human mass slaughter.

The poverty of which I speak is not the material poverty which we are so used to hearing about. It is another kind of poverty, far, far worse and more destructive to the fabric of society than economic poverty. This is the poverty of isolation and loneliness.

It is a kind of poverty which is extremely insidious and continues to increase and underscore our family life and social order. The symptoms of this social sickness are many - broken relationships and divorce, crime, emotional and physical violence, war between communities, mental illness, and addictions; it is a poverty which strips millions of self-esteem. A person is left dry of any value or worth and is rendered powerless.

The tragedy is that although we live in densely populated cities and chat over countless cups of tea and coffee, the sense of isolation is ever increasing within our communities, within our work places, within our schools and even within our churches.

The second great tragedy is that we have witnessed more human carnage this last century in war and murder than in any other time of world history. This is due in part to the greater destructive potential of modern weapons. In early days of world history one spear may have killed one person in war. Now one missile has the capability of destroying a whole nation.

It thoroughly astounds me that with all our sophisticated technology the world has not advanced very far at all in terms of peace and the sanctity of human life. We are able to send a space probe to the outermost limits of our universe, but we are thoroughly unable (or unwilling) to work toward a peaceful society.

I would boldly suggest that the reason for this is that we are building societies with the predisposition to instant self-gratification. We seek personal power and material possessions and we want it right now. War is a multi million-dollar business and it grants personal empowerment - for the winners that is. Peace on the other hand requires community effort and its fruits though plentiful, even financially, are not seen immediately. You can't make a quick buck on peace.

Our love affair with technology has enhanced our need for instant self-gratification. The Internet enables us to connect instantly with others at the opposite end of the globe. We can have cyber-relationships, even cyber-sex. The iPod has fast become the ‘mePod’ as millions of people absorb themselves within their invisible cone of silence. Here is the real danger. We are drawn into the illusion of being part of a 'global community'. This is nothing more than a fraud. Hugh Mackay, Australian Psychologist and social commentator observes in his book Why Don't People Listen? :"When the emphasis is on information transfer rather than relationships, the life of the (global) village becomes meaningless: shared data is no substitute for the sense of shared identity and mutual obligation which come from shared experience." People are beginning now to isolate themselves from real community. The result will be an ever-increasing sense of isolation.

Listening is a communication experience which has within it the power to break the grip of isolation and to plant and nurture a new community. Listening shared from the level of the human heart. No other communication technology is able to do this.

Several years ago I began to remark how deep listening can affect individuals and be the catalyst for positive change both personally and as a community. As a society we have forgotten how to listen. This has been gravely injurious to our corporate journey as a society as well as to our personal growth and well-being. We have lost our prophetic foundations, as when we don't listen we miss vital information. Listening and vision go hand in hand. When we don't listen we don't see the problem ahead - we fail to see the big picture. We move blindly into the future.

I have observed what 'real' Listening can do. I have seen it heal people, I have seen it change people - dramatically, and I have seen it close sales deals worth millions of dollars where no other 'strategy' had worked. It is powerful beyond all measure.

In speaking to many people about their recovery from difficult circumstances or emotional illness, I have heard people talk about that thing which really made the difference to them - the turning point, if you like - was that some one took the time to really listen to them. This intrigued me as this phrase kept coming up time and time again: "really listened". What was it in this act of "really listening' which was able to turn a person's life around?

But we don’t have time any more. We have systems to attend to, reports to write, deadlines to meet, meetings to go to. Furthermore, the things we listen to is mainly information shuffling as this is what our technology has taught us to do. Emails are quick and precise. Text messaging is even briefer couched in texting language for rapid application. We are fast becoming shallow beings forgetting how to plummet the depth of our souls. Information has become our God.

I will never forget the lonely woman patient in ward 3B of a psychiatric hospital I was working in, when she turned to me at the end of our conversation: “I don’t care what you know. I just want to know that you care. You listened to me. That is enough and that is all.”

Live In Mindfulness

“Do not pursue the past.

Do not lose yourself in the future.

The past no longer is.

The future has not yet come.

Looking deeply at life as it is

in the very here and now,

the practitioner dwells

in stability and freedom.

We must be diligent today.

To wait till tomorrow is too late.

Death comes unexpectedly.

How can we bargain with it?

The sage calls a person who

dwells in mindfulness

night and day ‘the one who knows

the better way to live alone."  The Buddha

Hit the Reset Button on Your Mind

It is in mindfulness training that we come to an understanding that the mind is neither your enemy nor your friend. It thinks, creates, makes decisions, warns us, chastises us, and calculates doing all manner of things both to our advantage and to our detriment.

So often, however, we become enmeshed in our mind that it begins to rule our life creating so much emotional pain. It is when we get pulled into its ‘story’ that we begin to get caught in a vicious cycle of despair. We become like someone caught in quicksand struggling to get out. The more we struggle the deeper in we go.

According to the World Health Organization depression is fast becoming the most predominant illness in Western society above heart disease and cancer. Depression is in its basic form none other than an extreme unhappiness. Yet we live in societies overweight with material possessions and the discarded paraphernalia of our happiness pursuits. Never before has humanity searched happiness with such intensity and desperation. The advertising media has taken advantage of this despair leading us to believe that our life will be better if we just buy this or that product. As most of us are only to painfully aware this only creates momentary relief. We have become addicted to momentary relief over long term satisfaction.

Mindfulness is a process that trains us to be aware of both the happiness illusion and the short term relief addiction. Mindfulness training teaches us to recognize our thoughts and feelings for what they really are. Thoughts are none other than words strung together. Words in turn are but shapes and strokes, curls and dashes. Thoughts as feelings and memories are none other than pictures no more than the colours pixels on the flat screen on the living room TV. None of these things can harm us. Yet we spend an inordinate amount of time avoiding or trying to get rid of unpleasant thoughts and feelings. We do this in many ways: watch TV, surf the net, drink alcohol, have sex, take pills all in an attempt to squash or avoid unpleasant thoughts and feeling. While some of these coping mechanisms in themselves are not harmful, in the long term they can be or in the least just preventing us from living the valued life we want to live.

In mindfulness training we understand that we cannot remove thoughts from our mind. They will always return. What we can do, however, is hit the reset button and observe the thoughts and feelings from a distance – a bit like watching a boxing match on TV rather than being in the fight itself. Inner happiness is attained by accepting the dissatisfaction and living a valued life in spite of painful or depressive thoughts and feelings, not trying to avoid them. Therein lays the secret of mindfulness and inner happiness.

It only takes a few seconds to hit the reset button on the mind. Here’s how:

1. Stop
2. Observe the thoughts or feelings. Say to yourself: “I notice that I am having the thought that (then whatever the thought or feeling is).
3. Breathe into the painful feelings giving them space and softening them while not trying to get rid of them.
4. Become connected to the present moment.

Hitting the reset button helps us to get out of our minds and back into life. Mindfulness is a starting point and entry level to inner happiness. There is even more to come.

Chanting and the Rain Drops

Once a young monk fell asleep in the Meditation Hall while the monks were chanting the Buddha Name. The monks had been there in the hall since the early hours of the morning with the chant of the word “Amitofuo” resounding through the temple. Unceasing, the chant continued into the late afternoon.

When the Master noticed a young monk asleep he asked him: “Why are you sleeping during the chanting, my son?” “Master, I do not see the purpose. I have chanted and chanted and nothing has changed. Maybe I am not suited to this practice.” “Then come with me replied the Master.” The kindly Master led the young novice to his room. “Bring me your water glass”, demanded the Master. The novice went inside his room and returned with his glass full of water. The Master took the glass and went to his office. Taking a calligraphy brush he rolled it with some water into the ink stone then dipped the brush into the young monk’s glass of water. Suddenly there were swirls of black in the clear water. The young monk stood transfixed as the clear water turned completely black.
“Now, my son, remove the ink without tipping out or refilling the glass. If you can do this then you will have wisdom of the dharma.”

The young monk seemed to fumble for words now wishing he had not fallen asleep during the chanting and wondering what punishment the Master was going to mete out. “But Venerable Master I cannot do this.” “Good reply”, came the Master. Then the old Venerable took the novice back outside to a place just under the eaves of the tiled roof of the monks’ quarters. The old Venerable look up then down as if to be positioning the glass. Then with deliberate precision he placed the glass full of inky black water on walk way. “There, my son. Sit here and contemplate and meditate on the glass until I tell you to move.” The young monk did just as the Venerable had asked him.

One hour passed . . . then two. . . then three. The young monk focused with concentration on the glass of inky water contemplating how he could remove the dark water without tipping it out. While doing so large dark rain clouds began to amass overhead. There were distant rumblings of thunder. Soon small droplets of rain began to fall then a deluge broke loose. Rain began to fall in torrents upon the tiled roof sending streams into the spouting. Before long droplets of rain water began to fall into the glass precisely where the Master had positioned it. Droplet after droplet after droplet the drops fell into the glass. Soon the glass was full to the brim and began to over flow with the inky water gradually being displaced. Each raindrop sounded like the “tock” of the ‘muyu’ – the wooden fish the monks strike in time with the chanting. The young monk watched with glee as gradually the inky water was displaced by the droplets of cool clear rain water.

Eventually the rain stopped. The young monk sensed the presence of the Master and looked up at him with a glowing smile. The Venerable smiled in turn knowing that enlightenment had come upon the novice. “The rain removed the inky water, Master” came the novice. “And removed the ignorance from your mind as well” returned the Master.

Saddha: The Pillar of Confidence

Pure Land Buddhism is often termed the “Buddhism of faith” referring to faith in the compassionate power radiating from the heart of Amitabha Buddha. As Pure Land practitioners we have faith in the vows and compassion of Amitabha Buddha to transform our Karmic residue so as we may be able to enter the Pure Land and thus escape the cycle of birth and death. Synonymous to the word “faith” is the word confidence. This is Saddha in the Pali language.

In facilitating retreats and in counselling people I come across a very large number of folk who are terribly lacking in confidence in life. This is a very sad condition. It is sad as without confidence we are unable to attain meditative concentration enabling us to be free from suffering. It is sad because there are so many people wandering about in our societies without direction or if they do have direction soon give up on the quest due to a lack of confidence in their ability.

Faith in Buddhism is not a blind faith. It is not the faith of believing because a guru has told us so. It is not a faith gained from reading sutras or scripture. It is an experiential faith evolving from discipline and practice.

Many people do not like the word “discipline”. However, in Buddhism it has nothing to do with punishment or austerities but rather the concentrated effort we put into our practice like that of an athlete practicing for the High Jump event. It is through discipline that confidence is gained and from confidence we are able to meet with success in our endeavours.

Pure Land Buddhism is a Life Skills education that leads to an abiding happiness in this lifetime. It is achievable for every person. When Master Zheng Rong first gazed upon the devastation and destruction of Guang Jue Monastery he could have felt great despair. However his confidence brought about by his monastic training gave him the courage to rebuild.

In our own lives we can often feel despair. The antidote to despair is Saddha – Confidence. As we continue our practice our confidence will increase and nothing can hold us back from achieving our goal.

Article from the T’ai Shen Pure Land Centre Newsletter November 2010