Culture & Tradition

Berkeley, CA (USA) -- Seeds of the future are planted in the present. The future is always arriving. In the dharma forest countless Buddhist traditions are alive today in Asia and the West, and I expect they will continue to evolve and flower long into the future. Like all conditioned things traditions change, but buddhadharma cannot be harmed or impeded. Buddhadharma is not going anywhere. But Buddhist traditions and institutions are always in motion, always changing. If we look closely we can glimpse their colors and outlines, their gifts and challenges.

Buddhistedu.org - It's an article was written by Dorothy Edwards from The College of William & Mary in Newsport New. We would like to introduce to all of you who are interested in Dong Hung's Temple history.

The Dong Hung Temple in Virginia Beach is known as the Buddhist Education Center of America, Inc. It is run by three Vietnamese monks who are 44^th generation Zen Masters and 4^th generation monks in their lineage of the newer branch of a Pure Land Zen tradition from Vietnam. The Temple/Center offers a balance of meditation and education to the Virginia Beach community. The Dong Hung congregation includes both Vietnamese and English speaking members. Dong Hung has served the Vietnamese community in their native tongue since 1998, and began offering meditation and dharma talks in the English language in 2009.

A Question of Skill
An Interview with Thanissaro Bhikkhu

by Insight Magazine Online

Thanissaro Bhikkhu, also known more informally to many as Ajaan Geoff, is an American-born Theravada monk who has been the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery near San Diego, CA, since 1993.   He teaches regularly at BCBS (Barre Center for Buddhist Studies) and throughout the US and has contributed significantly to the Dhamma Dana Publications project with his books Wings to Awakening, Mind Like Fire Unbound, and a new free-verse translation of the Dhammapada. His web-site is: www.accesstoinsight.org readings in Theravada Buddhism.

Thirty Years as a Western Buddhist Monk
An Interview With Ajahn Pasanno - by Fearless Mountain Magazine

***

Fearless Mountain: What was your early religious experience?

Ajahn Pasanno: I was raised in northern Manitoba, 600 miles north of the U.S. border. My religion was Anglican, which is Episcopalian in the U.S. I had a good experience growing up as a Christian. It was a small town and a small church. My family was reasonably devout. My father had grown up in the United Church, and we took religious classes together. But by the time I was 16 or 17, I found it difficult to maintain any kind of faith. I stopped going to church and taking communion. I started to look for alternatives.