BTTS NEWSLETTER.

Transcription

1 BTTS NEWSLETTER

2 3 1.0 History of Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS) Ongoing Translation Projects 2.1 Avatamsaka Sutra 華嚴經 Dharma Flower Sutra (Lotus Sutra) 法華經 Reflections in Water-Mirrors: To Reverse the Tide of Destiny 水鏡回天錄白話解 Emperor Liang Repentance 梁皇寶懺 11 hat appens n this ssue Biography of Ven. Master Hsuan Hua 宣公上人傳記 The Three-Character Classics of Buddhism (with Yang Renshan s Commentary) 佛教三字經 -- 楊仁山居士註 Patriarch s Seal of Bodhi 佛祖道影 Volume Spanish Translation Team: Amitabha Sutra 阿彌陀經 & Earth Treasury Sutra 地藏經 Filial Respect: A Buddhist Anthology 釋門真孝錄 Days Chan Talk 百日禪選輯 Wandering in a Dream: The Complete Works of Great Master Han Shan- Reply to Officer Zheng Kūn Yán 憨山大師夢遊集 - 答鄭崐巖中丞 BTTS reaches out to people San Francisco Street Fair (Lunar New Year Celebration) Introducing BTTS Outreach Meet the MDR Outreach Team Stories from DharmaTech and Beyond The beginnings of Midwest Minnesota Buddhist Association News & Announcements The Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra: A New Translation 六祖壇經 The Development History of the Chinese Study Group Pure Land Dedication a new composition Volunteers reflections click on the page number to go to that page

3 In 1969, the first five American disciples became Bhiksus (Buddhist monks) and Bhiksunis (Buddhist nuns). 1/ History of Buddhist Text Translation Society (BTTS) by Dharma Master Heng Chih Adapted from: [Minutes 20:10 to 28:54] How did BTTS start? BTTS started at the Buddhist Lecture Hall. It was roughly 1970 when we started officially after the five of us [the first five Americans to become monastics under Venerable Master Hsuan Hua] came back from taking precepts in Taiwan. Venerable Master Hua [hereafter the Master ] had us set up as if we were going to work. Every day we would come into the monastery and spend the day doing monastic things like a few ceremonies but mostly translating. And it was the Master s wish that we translate together at the beginning. He also composed the Eight Rules for Translators. He probably wrote out other policies pertaining to BTTS at that time as well. So we had guidance as we began to work, There were just the five of us - all Caucasian Americans BTTS Newsletter 3

4 We started with the Sixth Patriarch Sutra. But it was not easy because we all had our own opinions. We all had our own reasons why this word was better than that word to translate some Chinese phrase or character. So, there was discontent at the table. The Master would do all kinds of things to encourage us during that time - he d tell us stories about the Great Master Kumarajiva and his thousands of monks and how they would sit down together to translate - and even with so many people there would be no disagreements. Decisions were made final Working hard under the Master s watchful eye. when everyone agreed three times. Still we had difficulty. So I remember one day we came in and we got more and more rowdy with each of us having our own ideas. Suddenly a portrait of Master Hsu Yun on the wall came crashing down in the middle of our argument and the glass broke. The Master came out to talk to us because he could hear us arguing, and he cried - or at least there were tears running down his face. He said Okay, we can t do it as a group, we ll do it separately. We ll each have our own Sutra. So translations became sequential instead of simultaneous. He set up the four Committees, which exist to this day in BTTS. After that, the Master would assign us or approve our choice of which Sutra we were to translate - and we would do the initial translation: the first of the four BTTS committees. After I finished my translation, I d give it to someone (or the Master 2014 BTTS Newsletter 4

5 would assign someone) to review the English translation with the original Chinese: the second of the four BTTS committees. After that person finished the review, my translation would then go on to an English editor: the third of the four BTTS committees. Finally, the translation would go to the certifier who at that time was always the Master: the fourth of the four BTTS committees. So we began to have a process by which figured out how we would work together without sitting in the same room trying to make immediate decisions. There have been lots of changes in BTTS since the mid s. Up to that time, for almost 20 years we whose first language was English had been translating and developing our ears, using a process by which we would listen to the audio tapes of spoken Chinese of the classical text and modern commentary. We would listen to the Master s reading of the Chinese text and his modern Chinese commentary and just type what we heard him say. One day, the Master said Now we have a lot of Chinese people coming. Let them first listen to the tapes and transcribe, edit, and certify my lectures in Chinese. Then the English department can then begin translating that. And then another change came over the years, which is a return to what the Master tried to teach us in the beginning to work together simultaneously. Now, translation committees have formed and translators are sitting down together to do simultaneous translation - as the Master had first suggested we do. They seem to be able to work so they can make their decisions together. That began about 15 years ago with the Shurangama Sutra, happened again with the new edition of Shurangama, and there are now several on-going translation committees working on the Avatamsaka and other Sutra texts. These groups of people are sitting down and working out translations together. I think the Master would be happy to know that the system he introduced early on is now working. What are some of the unique qualities about BTTS? In the last 150 years in the West here, Buddhism has come in, but most of what s published are primarily books about Buddhism. The books people write, and the talks they give are modern interpretations of Buddhism. Very little that is published 2014 BTTS Newsletter 5

6 is Buddhism, meaning books that feature classical Buddhist texts and commentaries that follow the oral tradition such as the Master s commentary or other commentaries from a high Sanghans that have stood the test of time. BTTS does that. But as yet these classical texts are not as popular as the books about Buddhism. But I m not worried about that because I think that it s a gradual process. For the last 40 years, a lot of people had become interested in Buddhism or read about it and they are starting to wonder what it is in other words, let s get back to the basics. What did the Buddha say? And at that point, people will begin to see how valuable the content of BTTS publications is. BTTS can be trusted in terms of accuracy. Of course none of us are perfect, but because we have four Committees - I believe that when something is published by BTTS, we can at least say, and people can know, that several qualified individuals have worked on the translations, and that the changes and suggestions for improvement offered by people on the four committee were heeded and incorporated when appropriate in order to improve the translations. Ongoing Translation Projects It was just a decade ago when BTTS translators would translate Buddhist texts in circumstances limited by geography through face-to-face meetings. Now, we have ten independent translation teams with volunteers from all over the world connections made possible through innovative online collaboration tools such as Skype, FaceTime, JoinMe, Google and Dolby Axon. Our volunteers come from various countries in North and South America, Asia Pacific, Oceania, the United Kingdom and Europe. The one thing that stood the passage of time is that all our volunteers, be they from the past, present, as would be in the future too we all share the same goal which is to 2/bring the Buddha Dharma to the West through translation. All teams welcome more volunteers! If you re interested please contact bttsvolunteers@gmail.com. Click here to see which of our ongoing translation projects you can join BTTS Newsletter 6

7 The Avatamsaka Sutra is the sutra of the Dharma-realm and the sutra of empty space. Throughout the Dharma Realm and empty space, there is no place where the Avatamsaka Sutra is not present. Wherever the Avatamsaka Sutra is found, the Buddha is to be found, and also the Dharma and the Sangha of Worthy Sages. - Venerable Master Hsuan Hua Translation session in progress. Avatamsaka Sutra 華嚴經 Chapter 1 The Wondrous Adornment of World-rulers 世主妙嚴品 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Heng Sure We meet: Mondays, 8:30am-10:15am CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit Over three years running, the Avatamsaka Plenary group meets every Monday for a two-hour session of translation and investigation on one of the longest sutras in the Buddhist canon. Usually, we have up to 15 participants joining us online from across the US and around the world, such as Australia, UK, Taiwan, and Canada. Reverend Heng Sure leads our lively and engaging discussions. Also in the team, we have a person responsible for the glossary, and two secretaries who prepare the text and log the changes BTTS Newsletter 7

8 We tap into our collective wisdom to investigate and translate the text together into contemporary English. All are welcome to join us, from beginners to professional translators everyone s suggestions are equally important and valid Chapter 25 Ten Dedications 十迴向品 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Heng Yi We meet: 6th Dedication - Mondays, 8:30am-10:15am CA time* 8th Dedication - Sundays, 3:30pm-5:15pm CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit We have been translating the Ten Dedications chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra since Dharma Master Heng Yi leads this project, working alongside volunteers comprising of other Dharma Masters and laities from the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, Canada, and the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. We completed review of the 7th Dedication on Feb and started working on the 8th Dedication on the same day. Translation of the 6th Dedication is still ongoing - once this is completed, we will commence work on the 9th Dedication. We welcome anyone who is interested to delve deep into the translation of this Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra with us Chapter 27 The Ten Samadhis 十定品 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan We meet: Mondays-Fridays, 5:30am-6:45am CA time* Current Project Phase: Proofreading There are four rolls (long pages) of this Chapter in the original Chinese text namely Rolls 40 to 43. The primary translations of rolls 41 to 42 were completed in year We completed review and edit of this primary translation between January to July BTTS Newsletter 8

9 We have also reviewed and edited Roll 43 (originally translated in 2008). Our current focus (since mid-feb 2014) is on proofreading and polishing these reviews and edits for the final certification stage Chapter 39 Entering the Dharma Realm 入法界品 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yong & Mr David Rounds We meet: Thursdays, 2:15pm to 4:00pm* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit of commentaries Mr. David Rounds and Dharma Master Jin Yong jointly lead this team, and meet in the Avatamsaka Translation Room in CTTB and also via Skype. 2.2 Dharma Flower Sutra (Lotus Sutra) 法華經 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Heng Yi No online meetings volunteers work at own pace Current Project Phase: Review & Edit of sutra text and commentaries The Dharma Flower Sutra is one of the important Sutras spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha. All other Sutras were provisional teachings spoken for the sake of the wonderful doctrines of the Perfect Teaching that is the Dharma Flower Sutra. To-date, we have completed revision of all 28 chapters of the Sutra text proper. We have also put together a glossary to ensure consistent translation of terminologies and verses in the Lotus Sutra. Currently, we are reviewing Venerable Master Hsuan Hua s commentary of this sutra with the help of about 15 volunteers. Two sub-teams from Malaysia volunteered to form a team to support this project too BTTS Newsletter 9

10 2.3 Reflections in Water-Mirrors: To Reverse the Tide of Destiny 水鏡回天錄白話解 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan We meet: Mondays-Saturdays, 5:30am-7:00am CA time* Mondays-Fridays, 12:30pm-2:00pm CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit Reflections in Water-Mirrors: To Reverse the Tide of Destiny was composed by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua in the formal literary language of China. Master Hua described this book as: Like the moon in water, or a flower in a mirror; both of them are mere reflections, but have no substance. With the writing of this book, I am hoping for what cannot be hoped for, attempting to accomplish what cannot be accomplished. Therefore, it is called Reflections in Water-Mirrors: To Reverse the Tide of Destiny. A moon in the water is but one of myriad moons, lovely to look at but dispersing like a phantom when a pebble is tossed in the pool. A flower in the mirror has no scent, but is shattered when the glass is dropped. Sentient beings, with all their propensities for evil and dislike for good, with all their afflictions and various karmas, are no more real than a moon in water, or a flower in the mirror. I am fully aware of this dharma and the futility of my undertaking of this task, the impossibility of bringing this task to accomplishment; I still endeavor to teach and transform them.this is my hoping for what cannot be hoped for, or attempting to accomplish what is un-accomplishable. This is the purpose of my writing this book BTTS Newsletter 10

11 Venerable Master wrote 273 articles on this theme which he also lectured on, and those were eventually compiled into this book in the 1980s. So far 80 of these articles have been published in the Vajra Bodhi Sea magazine in no particular order. We began our project in May 2013, translating those that have not yet been translated, and reviewing and editing some of those early translations that we consider good that have not yet been published. By January 2014, we have completed the primary translation of these articles, and to-date have completed reviewing and editing of 60 pieces of the Water Mirror translation. It is relatively easier to translate as it does not have as many difficult Buddhist terminologies, and Venerable Master Hua s vivid story-telling style makes it an appealing read too. We welcome and look forward to working with more talents in this project to expedite our work. 2.4 Emperor Liang Repentance 梁皇寶懺 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan We meet: Sundays, 5:30am-6:45am CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit The Jewel Repentance of Liang Emperor is a significantly influential repentance sutra practice in Chinese Buddhism. This repentance sutra was established in the Nan Dynasty as a result of Emperor Liang attempting to save his wife, Empress Chi from her karmic retribution of being reborn as a python. Today, over a thousand years later, people still recite this sutra in repentance and have received responses to quell disasters and benefit deceased ancestors. Over the past years, intermittent efforts by various BTTS volunteers have been put into producing the English version of this Sutra. We are now working on standardizing these translations BTTS Newsletter 11

12 2.5 Biography of Ven. Master Hsuan Hua 宣公上人傳記 Book I: Manchuria -- A Sage from the Land of White Mountains and Black River 白山黑水育奇英 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan / Mr. Tashan Yen We meet: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:00am-10:00am CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit There are six parts in Book I and we are almost done with reviewing the last part, Part 6 側記. We aim to publish this book in time for Ven. Master Hua s 20th Nirvana anniversary in Book II: Hong Kong -- A Decade of Timely Teachings 隨緣度化在香江 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan Current Project Phase: Primary Translation We meet: n/a - volunteers work offline at their own pace. We have assigned some sections of this book to our current volunteers, who are at the moment mostly Chinese speakers. We sincerely welcome more volunteers to help us, especially those who are conversant in English. 2.6 The Three-Character Classics of Buddhism (with Yang Renshan s Commentary) 佛教三字經 -- 楊仁山居士註 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan We meet: Wednesdays & Thursdays, 5:00pm-6:00pm CA time* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit This is a special project undertaken by students of our Developing Virtue and Instilling Goodness Schools. Some of the students parents contribute their skills too. Anyone who is interested is certainly welcome BTTS Newsletter 12

13 2.7 Patriarch s Seal of Bodhi 佛祖道影 Volume 4 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Yan Current Project Phase: On Hold Primary translation of 85 Patriarchs stories have been completed to-date. 10 of these have been reviewed and edited. This project will resume after completion of Biography of Venerable Master Book Spanish Translation Team: Amitabha Sutra 阿彌陀經 & Earth Treasury Sutra 地藏經 Facilitated by: Dharma Master Jin Deng We meet: Amitabha Sutra: Thursday, 4:30-6:15 PM* Earth Treasury Sutra: Friday, 4:30-6:15 PM* and Saturday, 3:00-5:00 PM* Current Project Phase: Review & Edit First established in April 2013, our Spanish translation team s first project was to revise the Amitabha Sutra in Spanish that was previously published by BTTS in Our team started off meeting only once a week; later on, we increased of online meetings to twice a week with almost two hours per meeting. By the request of some laities, we started the revision of the Earth Store Sutra (Sutra Ksitigarbha) from July Now, the Spanish team meets 3 times a week for the revision of these two sutras: Amitabha Sutra and Earth Store Sutra. The number of participants is increasing slowly but we still need more people to join us for this hard task. A lot of projects are awaiting translation, editing, polishing, etc. As long as we work with sincere minds, our work will not be in vain; for it will benefit the Hispanic population directly and indirectly. Among all kinds of giving, the giving of dharma is the foremost BTTS Newsletter 13

14 2.9 Filial Respect: A Buddhist Anthology 釋門真孝錄 Dharma Master Advisor: Dharma Master Heng Sure Facilitated by: YC Liang We meet: Fridays, 1:00pm-2:30pm CA time* Current Project Phase: Primary Translation, Review & Edit In North America, filial respect is rarely thought of as having any connection to Buddhist meditation. Revisiting the biographies of Buddhist teachers in India and China, however, reveals the paradigm of repaying parents kindness as a pattern of filial regard running from the Buddha s time to the present. 1 Adapted from Vajra Bodhi Sea - April 2008 Issue #487, pages (written by Dharma Master Heng Sure) Filial respect in itself presents a compelling challenge to our understanding of the foundation of a spiritual path and the deep relatedness implied in Great Compassion. In Chinese Buddhist monasteries, aspiring meditators are told that if they want to savor the fruits of dhyana, Chan concentration, they must repair their broken relationships with their parents. This book we are translating contains stories of meditation masters throughout history who, upon reaching a state of enlightened wisdom, immediately set off to look for their parents in order to repay their kindness in raising them to maturity. 1 As of mid-february 2014, we have translated & revised 1.5 rolls (total 5 rolls) of this book and we will continue the project until we complete the 5th roll. Usually we have 3-4 people join the online meetings, though our progress has slowed down over the last couple of months due to the online team members limited availability arising from personal events and schedules. We definitely need more volunteers for this project to facilitate our progress. Our volunteers are filled with Dharma joy after the translation meetings! 2014 BTTS Newsletter 14

15 Days Chan Talk 百日禪選輯 Dharma Master Advisor: Dharma Master Heng Chih Facilitated by: Ai-Ling Yong / Luke Wu We meet: Mondays & Wednesdays 9:00pm-10:30pm** Saturdays 9:00am-10:30am** **Melbourne, Australia time zone Current Project Phase: Primary Translation, Review, Edit & Proofread 100 Days Chan Talk is a series of lectures on Chan (or Zen) meditation given by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in the early 1970s, during the first ever Chan meditation session lasting 98 days straight to be held in the USA. The Asia Pacific Translation team (AP team) started this project in September 2012, and we have since completed our review of almost 25% of the 98 lectures as of February We meet via Skype 3 days in a week, where we have had many interesting discussions on all things Chan and much more that Venerable Master explains in seemingly simple terms and yet are so profound and rich in meaning. We also have a Glossary team doing exciting work researching on key terms and phrases, and also using our collective wisdom to describe these terms as footnotes in the most clear and succinct way. We welcome anyone who is interested in translating these Chan meditation talks - whether you are a Chan practitioner, aspiring to be one, or just curious about what Chan meditation is all about. Most help is needed in the Glossary team for research work and we invite more Dharma Masters to help review our final work too BTTS Newsletter 15

16 2.11 Wandering in a Dream: The Complete Works of Great Master Han Shan - Reply to Officer Zheng Kūn Yán 憨山大師夢遊集 - 答鄭崐巖中丞 Dharma Master Advisor: Dharma Master Heng Sure Facilitated by: Dr Martin Verhoeven We meet: Every other Thursday in Institute for World Religion at 7:30PM in Berkeley, CA Current Project Phase: Primary Translation, Review & Edit Dr Verhoeven has been leading a group meeting in Berkeley since Fall 2011 to translate a letter by Great Master Han Shan ( ) of Ming Dynasty (not the Cold Mountain of Tang Dynasty, 9th century), entitled Reply to Officer Zheng Kūn Yán. This letter is found in the shastra called Wandering in a Dream: The Complete Works of Great Master Han Shan. Within it, Master Han Shan gives invaluable instructions on the essentials of cultivation. The translation group currently comprises 7 lay-people including native English speakers and native Chinese speakers. The volunteers produce draft translations which are then improved and verified by Dr Verhoeven. The text has been used in the Friday class at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. The first phase of translation is expected to complete by May 2014, after which work will begin towards publishing the text. *All meeting times published above may change please check this link for updates BTTS Newsletter 16

17 Our very own BTTS booth at San Francisco Street Fair! 3/ BTTS reaches out to people 3.1 San Francisco Street Fair (Lunar New Year Celebration) by Eileen Hu San Francisco welcomed the Lunar New Year 2014 with loud bursts of red firecrackers, magnificent dragon and lion dances to vigorous beats of drums, loud cymbals and gongs. The Buddhist Text Translation Society volunteers joined in the celebrations by distributing thousands of books from a 10x10 booth set-up across the street from Gold Mountain Monastery. We had a wide variety of BTTS publications available for the diverse audience of local Cantonese speakers, tourists from all over speaking many different languages and thousands of parade performers in the Saturday evening parade the largest Chinese New Year parade outside of Asia. Young and old, male and female, monastic and laity all worked together with a common goal of helping to fulfil Venerable Master Hua s vow of spreading the Dharma to the West BTTS Newsletter 17

18 3.2 Introducing BTTS Outreach by Lan Huang Our Vision and Mission BTTS Outreach was established with the goal of promoting Buddhism by propagating and distributing sutras and Dharma. Our mission is to help and support anyone who wishes to make Buddhist teachings available for others. Our Activities Thus far, we have been actively connecting people with volunteers all over the world with their need for Dharma as well as helping to create local distribution points, establish sutra study groups and organizing events to promote the Dharma. We have also distributed books to academic and local libraries, religious institutions, restaurants, co-ops, hospitals, fairs, and to a prison too. We had our first group meeting in September Starting from March 2013, we try to meet monthly on-line to share experiences and ideas to make the Buddhist teachings widely available. We are growing! Overall, the Outreach group has been very active and the member count is growing. There are currently 134 members (including DRBA Sangha and lay people). We have volunteers from all parts of the globe, including the US, Canada, Europe, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, and Australia. About 14 of us regularly participate in meetings located in California, Minnesota, and Canada. This year, we meet regularly on the 4th Wednesday of every month, 6:30pm- 8:00pm CA time, via Skype and at CTTB. Some projects we are currently working on include establishing an Outreach center at Toronto, Canada, and working with the publicity team on the branding and promotion of BTTS publications. We welcome more volunteers to join us on this meaningful journey! If you are interested in helping to propagate proper Dharma, please contact outreach@drba.org BTTS Newsletter 18

19 3.3 Meet the MDR Outreach Team by Say Yen Teoh Peaceful and spiritually fulfilling Saturday afternoons are offered by Melbourne Dharma Realm (MDR) to anyone wishing to join us in our weekly group meditation and Shurangama Sutra reading sessions (based on Venerable Master Hsuan Hua s commentaries). Weekly meditation in progress. We spend approximately 30 minutes in group meditation and at the end of the session, we share some inspiring experiences and stories to encourage each other to overcome different types of meditation challenges. After that, we get to spoil ourselves with some nice desserts before starting the Shurangama Sutra reading. Learning the Dharma is no longer limited by geography thanks to the advancement of technology in communications. After nine months in operation, we have now extended our Shurangama Sutra reading group internationally to participants from USA, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. It is also encouraging to see our enthusiastic study group discussions continue through lively group s, even after the online meetings have ended BTTS Newsletter 19

20 Leveraging the benefits from community of practice (knowledge management and sharing concept), we now share meaningful articles and wise verses from the Shurangama Sutra reading via s and MDR Facebook. Active discussions during the reading and experience-sharing after meditation inspire us to progress better in our cultivation. We welcome anyone interested to join us in this exciting journey in search of our Buddha nature! Details of our weekly events: 1. Group meditation (30-40 minutes of sitting meditation and 15min experience sharing + Q&A after sitting) When: 4pm-5pm (Melbourne, VIC Australia time) Where: Eastern Suburb, VIC, Australia 2. Shurangama Sutra reading When: 5pm-6pm (Melbourne, VIC Australia time) Where: Eastern Suburb, VIC, Australia or Overseas participants are welcome to Skype us (add Skype ID: seiyen or syente@gmail.com) 3.4 Stories from Dharma Tech and Beyond by Hsu, Chin-Chieh (I d like to dedicate this article to the DRBA Sangha and the volunteer hackers around the world who fearlessly and vigorously help to make changes in people and the world in the effort to make everything better.) It was October 2012 when the Avatamsaka Sutra lectures delivered at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery was first launched on YouTube BTTS Newsletter 20

21 Real-time meditation classes and Avatamsaka lectures. Yuen-Lin, who helped produced the webcast shared my excitement about this momentous event in his to me: It s interesting that myriad conditions (people, technology...) seem to be coming together for the propagation of Dharma via modern methods. Since then, I have seen both the DRBA Sangha and volunteers collaborating using various technologies in projects that benefit people around the world. Brought to you live from Dharma Realm On Fridays and Saturdays, through the Dharma Realm Live YouTube channel, dozens of people around the world join Berkeley Buddhist Monastery in realtime to attend meditation classes and Avatamsaka lectures. At the end of the lectures we join in the Dedication of the Merit together. After the lectures conclude, hundreds more cultivators around the world watch the recorded lectures online at the times and locations convenient to them. Live-streaming on YouTube for our very first time! 2014 BTTS Newsletter 21

22 Have website, will travel! In April 2013, using the easy-to-use Weebly web hosting service, Gold Coast Dharma Realm volunteer Sam together with Yuen-Lin, created the new GCDR website in two weeks. The website is now populated with beautiful pictures, up-todate information and recordings of Dharma talks. After knowing that the recent Singapore Dharma talk recordings are now available on the GCDR website, a fellow DRBA member wrote in an Now listening to Dharma is no longer limited by geography! =) The GCDR website now displays over 200 page views every day to the Gold Coast community and people around the world. In the summer of 2013, volunteers Katherine from the UK and Kent from Canada worked together to set up the BTTS website. The site is now populated with information about the translation guidelines, projects information, volunteering opportunities and Dharma ebooks for downloading. In less than a year since the BTTS website was launched, people around the world have downloaded Dharma ebooks over 4,500 times. In March 2014, by also using the Weebly service, Jack from Calgary worked with the Sangha at CTTB to bring up the Blessings Prosperity and Longevity Monastery website in only two weeks. They were all new to the Weebly tool, but Weebly is user-friendly enough for them to learn quickly. Within a month, the website was filled with beautiful images and videos and three in-progress Vietnamese Sutra translations, thus benefiting cultivators in the Los Angeles area and around the world. What is also exciting is to see how the various technologies have helped spread the Dharma farther and wider. But there is something even more fascinating that I see in all of these. DharmaTech Hackathons going beyond our limits In the that I referred to at the beginning that Yuen-Lin had responded to, he continued to write: 2014 BTTS Newsletter 22

23 DharmaTech Hackathon in progress Real-time translation live broadcast. On that note, what do you think of having periodic DharmaTech hackathons at BBM [Berkeley Buddhist Monastery]? It would be a space to work together on current as well as future projects / ideas. It may also be a way to draw in tech-savvy cultivators; we live in Silicon Valley after all. With the intention of propagating the Dharma and benefiting people, I discovered that the Sangha and volunteers are not afraid of learning new things. They fearlessly researched the available tools and choose tools that work well, modify (hack) tools that need to be improved and create new tools if none exists BTTS Newsletter 23

24 Challenge #1: Real-time Video & Audio in multiple languages Together with the real-time translation volunteers in the CTTB Buddha hall, DRBA members around the world were able to joined the event live from anywhere, and listen to it via real-time translation in the language of their choice. Challenge #2: Dharma ebooks In the spring of 2013, when the BTTS team planned to make Dharma ebooks available for download on the website, one challenge was measuring how well the program was doing. To accomplish that, the team needed to know what, and how many ebooks had been downloaded. Hacker in singleminded concentration. However, the built-in statistic tool that comes with Weebly does not have download counters. So Ken and a few volunteers took on the challenge. The team searched the web for solutions, and wrote a code to use Google Analytics to count the number of downloads. Thus, that is how today we can report that Dharma ebooks has been downloaded for over 4,500 times in the past 12 months. Challenge #3: Website design conundrums In the summer of 2013, when the team worked on launching the DRBU website, the caption for the photo sliding banner did not work the way that we wanted. In came Jason, who modified the website code. Today we have a beautiful sliding banner on the web page with the caption properly working. Challenge #4: Building Fort Knox our way. In the CTTB safety system project that is currently in progress, because there s no commercial solution fit the budget, Spike dived into the all-new frontier of building customized devices 2014 BTTS Newsletter 24

25 using open-source embedded system Raspberry PI. He ventured beyond the traditional PC and web platforms that the tech team is familiar with. All these stories are examples of how the Sangha and volunteers learn something new and change the existing solution if it doesn t work well enough, with the ultimate goal of benefiting others. Indeed, I do feel that the spirit of experimentation, of finding new and Made in CTTB. The Translator, Composer and Editor of DRBU. better ways to do things, is in the DNA of DRBA. And this spirit is driven by a wish that does not change: Propagating Dharma to benefit everyone. As I get to meet more Sangha and volunteers, I am seeing more and more examples of people pioneering into brand new domains, using approaches that have not been tried before. And these examples are not limited to technology projects. Challenge #5: More Innovations for the Dharma On the 50th anniversary celebration at CTTB, my jaw dropped when I saw the team used woodblocks to build a flexible arm hanging from the roof to hold camcorders that captured the piano performance, so that audiences would be able to see the performance clearly. I would have only expected that would be something to be purchased from professional lighting shops. The option of building something from scratch never occurred to me BTTS Newsletter 25

26 On my first trip to the Buddha Root Farm retreat, I was amazed to see a solar powered water heater designed and built by the volunteers. Again, I thought everything could only come from shops. I did not realize that was even an option to build something by ourselves. Strumming the Dedication of Merit. And many other DRBA innovators! I see Sutra translation teams around the word translating Sutras into several languages. I see DRBU students creating non-traditional melodies for mantra, chants and writing Dharma songs so that people from the West can feel and identify more with the Dharma when they recite it. DharmaTech team in action. I see volunteers nervously but courageously playing guitar in the Buddha hall to accompany the Dedication of Merit, another way to have the Dharma resonate more with the western society. All these examples of changing for the better to benefit others really inspire me. In the TED Talks that I watched recently, a 13 year-old boy who wants to be happy and healthy discussed how hacking his education is helping him. This quote from his talk be&t=5m21s struck me: Hackers are those who challenge and change the system, to make them work differently, to make them work better BTTS Newsletter 26

27 As I write this quote here to share, the image of Venerable Master s smiling face comes to mind. I laughed and said: Venerable Master, you are a hacker, too! May we never lose the courage to make changes in ourselves and the world for better. 3.5 The beginnings of Midwest-Minnesota Buddhist Association Family Program 美國中西部明州佛教會兒童班 by Eugene Kelly Visit us at: In 2003, my wife and I, both non-chinese, adopted the first of our two Chinese daughters. We soon decided it seemed best to raise her in a Chinese religious tradition. The Midwest Buddhist Association (MBA), a Chinese Pure Land Buddhist group, mostly comprised of immigrant families, was very welcoming to us. However, they had no religious education program for children. So, two members, Jenny Su and Ling-Ya Wang, worked with me to start the MBA Family Program. Four children and their parents came to our first meeting, which was held on July 11, 2004 and two of those children still attend almost every meeting. At the present time, eleven children and their parents attend on a regular basis. While all other Midwest Buddhist Association activities are conducted in Chinese, the activities at the MBA Family Program are conducted in English. At first, we met twice a month, which turned out to be more often than most families were willing to come. Now, we meet ten times a year, which is not too often for busy families, and it gives the leaders time to prepare high quality Buddhism lessons BTTS Newsletter 27

28 The Midwest-Minnesota families. For a while I promoted the program to other families with adopted children, and most of the participants were adoptive families. In the past few years there has been a shift so that now the parents who bring their children (who range in age from 2 to 12) are mostly Chinese. It is a challenge teaching lessons that interest such a wide range of ages, but so far we ve done that successfully. My role is planning the overall agenda for each meeting, sending out the announcements, maintaining the website and selecting the Buddhist stories that are read as part of each meeting. The actual Buddhism lessons are taught by three other MBA members, Lan Huang, Wei Zhang and Chun-Yin Chong. Throughout each year we try to associate the meetings with some Buddhist or Chinese holiday. The holidays we focus on are: Chinese New Year, Guan Yin s Birthday, Qing Ming Festival, Buddha s Birthday, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid Autumn Moon Festival, Patriarch Bodhidharma s Birthday and the Birthday of Amitabha Buddha. In addition to associating our meetings on the aforementioned holidays, we also have a Chinese New Year banquet at a restaurant. Over the years, I ve collected a number of really good children s stories about Buddhism. A number of them are published by BTTS. Many of the stories focus on the importance of not harming living beings and being vegetarian. Now, three of the older children do all of the story reading to the younger ones and we repeat most of the stories every 2014 BTTS Newsletter 28

29 few years. Our regular meetings follow pretty much the same format: a welcome song, the lighting of candles and incense, bowing, nine minutes of chanting Amitabha s name while we walk in a big circle, a short period of silent meditation, a ten to twelve minute lesson about Buddhism, several Buddhist stories read aloud, reciting a Tang Dynasty poem, singing Master Heng Sure s Dedication of Merit and reciting the meal blessing followed by a vegetarian potluck lunch and time for the kids to play together. The meetings go from 10:30 AM until about 1:30 PM. In my daughters, I can see that the program has taught them a lot about Buddhism and Buddhist values and they really do feel strongly that they are Buddhist. I think most of the other children are getting the same benefits. 4/News & Announcements 4.1 The Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra: A New Translation 六祖壇經 by Allen Huang The Sixth Patriarch Sutra was first translated into English in the late 1970s. Over 30 years later, Dharma Master Heng Sure and Prof. Martin Verhoeven started this new translation project in 2012 and completed the work in early Several volunteers from the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery helped out in the research of the Chinese Sutra texts. The new translated text was prepared for the World Forum to be held in June 2014 in Beijing. One primary text from each tradition were selected to be presented at the forum as noted below: The new translation of the Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra. Analects tradition Confucianism text; Tao De Jing tradition Taoism text; and Platform Sutra tradition Buddhism text BTTS Newsletter 29

30 BTTS has started the preparation of the bilingual version publication and it would be published in China in The official release date of the new publication is August 27, The Development History of the Chinese Study Group by Dharma Master Jin Fan The Chinese Study Group of Avatamsaka Sutra ( 華嚴經 ) was established in July 2011 with approximately 10 members. The primary goal of the group was to assist BTTS in the translation of Avatamsaka Sutra from Chinese into English. If, during the translation process, the meaning of the Chinese text was not clear, the translators would be required to spend a lot of time in discussion, which would not only affect the pace of translation, but also introduce controversy into the final outcome. To address this issue this group would study, every Saturday, the sutra text and the Venerable Master Hua s commentaries, discuss when questions arose and eventually provide a best explanation to the translation team. The Chinese Study Group was originally a subset of BTTS. After one year, more and more people heard about the group and joined us. Many of those did not participate in the translation, but only wanted to learn about Avatamsaka Sutra and the Venerable Master s teachings. The number of members grew to nearly 50 and, as a result, Skype was no longer capable of accommodating all participants and so, we added Dolby Axon for communications purposes. A few months later, as more people introduced their relatives and friends to participate, the number of members increased to over 70. For the convenience of the residents of mainland China, the communication software YY was also introduced. Due to the ease of use of Dolby and YY, which do not require a specific host, we no longer use Skype BTTS Newsletter 30

31 In early June 2013 some people expressed their wish to learn about Dharma Flower Sutra ( 法華經 ) and so we started the study group of Dharma Flower Sutra, which takes place every Wednesday. We started with The Comprehensive Discourse on Lotus Sutra ( 法華綸貫 ), written by Dharma Master Ouyi, and we have recently begun to study Flower Dharma Sutra with Commentary by the VM ( 法華經淺釋 ) by the Venerable Master. However, if we want to really understand the meaning of Avatamasaka Sutra, we must refer to National Master Qingliang s Commentary on the Avatamsaka Sutra ( 華嚴經疏鈔 ). It should be noted though, that the commentary is very profound and difficult to understand. Fortunately, in 1971, the Venerable Master spent more than a year lecturing on The Prologue of the Avatamsaka Sutra Commentary ( 華嚴經疏玄談 ), which is undoubtedly an excellent guide for beginners to studying this Sutra. At the same time, to help with the publication of Venerable Master s commentary on The Prologue of the Avatamsaka Sutra Commentary ( 華嚴經疏玄談淺釋 ), we worked with the Dharma Masters in charge of the editing and started another group to study these commentaries twice a week in order to speed up the proofreading process. Currently, the number of members that participate online has remained stable; we have approximately 70 people online for each session. Members are enthusiastic in learning and many of them are participating with a serious learning attitude. Some people are unable to participate online so they study using the audio recordings and meeting minutes that are sent after meetings. The total number of members is around 260, including people from North America (United States and Canada), Asia (mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), Europe (Switzerland and France) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, etc.). Members include people of all ages, from teenage students to elders in their seventies or eighties. Their occupations also vary, including monastics, teachers, students, office workers, housewives, etc BTTS Newsletter 31

32 Currently we have four online meetings every week which are held 5:30-7:00 AM, California time with the subject matter for each day as noted below: Mondays: Leaving the World Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra with commentary by the Venerable Master Hua ( 華嚴經離世間品淺釋 ) Wednesdays: Dharma Flower Sutra with commentary by the Venerable Master Hua ( 法華經淺釋 ); and Fridays & Saturdays: The Prologue of the Avatamsaka Sutra Commentary with Commentary by the Venerable Master Hua ( 華嚴經疏玄談淺釋 ) Our discussions are based fully on the Venerable Master s commentaries. These teachings that the Venerable Master has left us are precious Dharma treasures. By cultivating accordingly, we not only can become a virtuous person and do things appropriately, but can also end birth and death. Therefore, we welcome everyone who is interested in propagating the Venerable Master s teachings. This will establish one s proper thoughts and views and enable one to both benefit and enlighten oneself, and others. Then, one can further propagate these Dharma treasures and attract more people to learn Buddha dharma. As the host for the past two years I have studied with the group and benefited from it a lot. Therefore, I hope more and more people can immerse themselves in the Venerable Master s sweet dew like Dharma BTTS Newsletter 32

33 It is the Venerable Master s vow to translate the Chinese Buddhist sutras to many different languages, which is crucial for propagation of Buddha dharma. Among our members, many are helping with BTTS translation projects. By attending the group sessions, they can improve their understanding of sutra texts and make their translation more accurate and reliable. Some young members, who are still studying in graduate school, college, or high school, are fluent in both Chinese and English. They will become the major force of DRBA s translation team in the future. Thus our study group is indeed training talents for DRBA. In addition, there are many people who are far away from CTTB and cannot pay a visit and attending the online discussion group gives them the feeling as if they were at CTTB. Thanks to modern technology this is a wonderful way to bring living beings to Buddhadharma! 4.3 Pure Land Dedication a new composition by James Roberts Music and ritual serve many purposes in Buddhist practice. They call forth wholesome states of mind: from the joyful celebration of the virtues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to the humble self-reflection of repentance, the spirit of the music and the act participating in community ritual infuses us with these qualities; and gradually with practice, these virtues become the roots of who we are. At the same time, the rhythm and vibrations of liturgy bring the texts closer to our hearts, and the words ring in our minds, helping us to keep their intentions in our thoughts BTTS Newsletter 33

34 For these reasons, many DRBA volunteers continue to work on developing Buddhist liturgy in English, in accordance with BTTS guidelines and the Venerable Master s vows. Because the spirit of ritual and its literal meaning are equally important to this effort, all aspects of translation must be carefully considered: The accuracy, the meaning, and the style. When the liturgy is inspired in this way, it calls forth the same spirit and meaning of the Dharma, regardless of the language. The following song is an example of a traditional Chinese dedication that is translated accurately, includes the fundamental meaning, and maintains the style of chanted verse. In so doing, it calls forth the spirit of dedication to the Pure Land, in a joyful melody set to western music. May we continue to create rituals that maintain this spirit of the Dharma, and may it bring benefit to all beings. Dedication of Merit Bud res hear meets May dhas' Lands, cue of this its the those end, mer re be in it re solve up on born from pay paths to A the be low. ge this wa ther prac kind ken ing, in tice ness May a from all and the Land dorn who when this bo of a all bove see Bliss. the and or dy 2014 BTTS Newsletter 34

35 5.1 Volunteers Reflections James Yap - Melbourne, VIC Australia It has been fun joining the translation sessions. I have learned new terminology and gained more knowledge and understanding in Buddhism than I had hoped for. It was also a great learning experience working with enthusiastic people from around the world. While it is inevitable to have differing opinions from the participants, the discussion was made smooth and enjoyable with talented leaders managing the sessions. Keep up the good work! David Ho - Melbourne, VIC Australia It is my honour and privilege to join such a good knowing and highly educated group, to translate one of the most renowned and highly regarded Venerable Master s teaching with my minimal education. I was so humbled when I was first invited to join the translation group by Wen-Ni. But, having seen a group of young English-educated Buddhists that were so keen on learning the Buddha Dharma, I felt ashamed if I declined the invitation and therefore this is the reason why I was brave enough to join the group. I was so happy before and after each session of translation that I did not even realize it until my family members told me so. 5/ I have always learnt something while contributing my shallow understanding of the Dharma in Chinese. It also was a good opportunity for me to put it into practice, especially to conquer my ego in front of the group and I have found that I ve succeeded in a small way BTTS Newsletter 35