Minutes of Buddhist Council Meeting, 2009-01-12
A Jesse Jiryu Davis
association in chinatown
attending: judy chen, rev ming tung and meng lin of china buddhist
assocation, rev. wongyoung of bodhi mind in NJ, rev tk nakagaki, jiryu
davis, jolie gorchov, louise brooks of rubin museum of art, rev ben
kong of grace gratitude buddhist temple / new york zen center for
contemplative care, forrest mars, chin mei ma of china buddhist
association, pin-pin su of korean zen center, nick gershberg of chogye
int'l zen center
chin mei ma introduced china buddhist association, found in 1963 by
master mew fung. most followers are chinese, a few non-chinese. it's
mahayana school, strong chanting practice. purpose of temple is
buddhist mission to chinese in NYC. like many temples in chinatown,
there are some deities represented around the altar that are not
buddhist; it reflects the practice of native chinese. the temple has
lectures, regular services on sundays, and on 1st & 15th of each
month, and special rituals for buddhist holidays.
2008-12-08 minutes reviewed and approved with two corrections:
CORRECTION 2009-01-12: SWAMINI SRI LALITAMBIKA DEVI WAS THERE, i
omitted her from the attendance last month.
CORRECTION 2009-01-12: FULL MOON IS 5/9/09, not 4/9/09 as I wrote
=== buddhist council forum ===
judy chen presents jeff thompson's mind map, diagramming all ideas and
tasks of the forum. it'll be 3/28/09 at still mind temple.
invitations will go to temples to participate by the end of january.
we seek teachers or representatives from all centers. the topic is
"what is engaged buddhism?", and we will share best practices in the
field.
we suggest speakers: bhikkhu bodhi, alan senauke, clark strand,
representatives from the order of interbeing & the buddhist peace
fellowship, representatives from zen center for contemplative care
(possibly rande brown, or rev ben kong, who is practicing engaged
buddhism in hospice chaplaincy & other areas).
judy chen says the forum committee will meet to discuss the format &
organization of the event, judy welcome suggestions. jeff thompson,
judy chen, leslie wagner, & chris raines are on the forum committee --
they welcome anyone else who'd like to join.
=== VESAK DAY ===
nick gershberg says vesak committee is finalizing venue & deciding
which saturday to hold the event: 5/2, 5/16, or 5/23. they're
looking for a venue that holds 250-500 people. nick, leslie, chris,
judy are on the committee. we may combine our vesak w/ the american
buddhist confederation (abc), a chinese umbrella group, in which case
it'd prolly happen 5/9 in chinatown, with a street parade & an indoor
event at their regular venue.
=== INTERFAITH RETREAT ON SOCIAL JUSTICE ===
january 28 is the 20th annual rabbi marchall myer interfaith retreat
on social justice. they provide transportation for about $30, it's
otherwise free (incl. food, lodging). topic: confronting hate
crimes.
it's wed jan 28 4pm - thurs jan 29 4pm.
rev tk nakagaki, who's on the board of the interfaith center, says
he's gone to the retreat about 10 times & it's a great program. at
the very least, it's 3 free meals! rev tk is probably going this
year.
contact judy chen if interested: sisc...@yahoo.com
=== MAYOR'S ANNUAL INTERFAITH BREAKFAST ===
judy chen & ming tung went, on 12/31, president of american buddhist
confederation (abc) represented buddhism there.
=== OTHER MATTERS ===
this dec in new zealand there will be a parliament of world religions,
says rev tk.
on 1/31 at village zendo, there's an all-day workshop on the dharma of
martin luther king w/ alan senauke
louise brooks & pin-pin su say the rubin museum of art starts (in
february) a 4-month program on meditation, art, & the brain called
"Brain Wave". contact louise if an event is relevant to your sangha &
she can organize a visit for you. lbr...@rmanyc.org
=== MNYC ===
the next meditate nyc will be saturday 10/24/09. some big events are
coming up soon where we can publicize mnyc, so we want a certain date.
everything else is to-be-determined
=== NEXT MEETING ===
next buddhist council meeting is monday, february 9, 7pm at 48 east
broadway, grace gratitude buddhist temple, near F train stop.