Sharing and Testimonials

I began going to the Torrance Zen Center over a year ago. I had always thought of Zen as something found in books, or from the past, or something a few other unusual people did in far-away places. Enlightenment seemed like an esoteric, out- of-reach goal, and not one I was necessarily interested in pursuing. Not understanding, it had always struck me as an ironically self-focused pursuit. A Zen state of mind, with balance and equanimity -- that seemed interesting. But through the people at the Torrance Zen Center, I found that the Zen path is not about the mind, but very much of the heart, and all the compassion the heart is capable of. Instantly it became clear to me that they were engaged in a precious, even extraordinary undertaking I want to support. 

The practitioners follow the Greater Path, with the intention of helping anyone and everyone through Zen to manifest a better version of themselves. And Enlightenment? It's about helping other people. Becoming in sync with the Greatest Good, however the name may be given by one’s language culture. The foundational practitioners lead by sincere and authentic example, regularly sharing windows into their own spiritual journeys. While they natively speak Mandarin or Cantonese, they all make a dedicated and successful effort to speak English in teaching, sharing, and casual interactions, for which I am deeply and profoundly grateful. They have graciously and continuously extended warmth, including welcome. I have occasionally felt "odd man out," but: my doing. Their generosity of heart always surges back, and I relax a bit more. 

Shortly after beginning meditation practice, I noticed, to my surprise, that many people - some I knew and some I didn't - suddenly seemed more comfortable around me, eager to talk and share whatever was on their minds. Positive feelings and experiences began to dominate my life, all while retaining and improving family relations, growing friendships, and more easily establishing new connections with people.

Life is short. Five Stars!

我是在一年多以前开始去 Torrance 禅修中心的。以前我总以为“禅”只是书本 里的概念，或者是过去时代的遗迹，抑或是一些与众不同的人在遥远地方才 会做的事。开悟在我眼中似乎是个深奥又遥不可及的目标，也不是我特别感 兴趣要追求的。不了解时，我甚至觉得这是一种带着讽刺意味的自我执著。 然而，“禅的心境”——平衡与安住——这倒是我觉得有趣的。但通过 Torrance 禅修中心的众人，我逐渐体会到:禅的修行并非只关乎头脑，而是深深扎根于内心——那颗富有慈悲的心。很快我就明白，他们从事的是一项珍贵甚至非凡的事业，我也愿意支持这条道路。修行者们走的是 “大乘之道”，希望通过禅法帮助每一个人活出更美好的自己。

至于“开悟”?其实就是帮助他人。是与“至善”相契合——无论不同语言文化 中如何称呼它。禅中心的资深修行者们以真诚和真实的榜样来引导，时常敞 开心扉，分享他们的心路历程。他们大多以中文(普通话或粤语)为母语， 但始终努力并成功地以英语进行教学、交流与日常互动——我对此心怀深深 的感激。他们始终慷慨、温暖地接纳与欢迎我。虽然我有时会感到自己像个“格格不入的人”，但这多半是我自己内心造成的。而他们那份宽厚与包容，总能将 我重新拉回，于是我也慢慢放松了下来。

开始禅修不久，我惊喜地发现，不论是熟识的人还是不认识的人，突然都变得更容易亲近我，更愿意开口说话、倾诉内心所思所感。生活中开始充满正面的情绪和体验，家庭关系也在维持中进一步改善，友谊加深，新的人际连

结也更容易建立。

人生苦短。五星推荐!

This Zen annual retreat was a transformative journey, cleansing my spirit and lifting my heart. The instructors’ dedication and experienced guidance led me to profound meditative experiences. Each time I closed my eyes, a boundless white light enveloped me, guiding me into deep meditation several times. These moments filled me with an exquisite sense of peace and joy, marking not only a milestone in my practice but also a shift in my perspective.

As an international student in the U.S., I navigate a life of uncertainty. Far from family and close friends, I watch people come and go due to visa constraints. Next month, my roommate’s departure will leave me uncertain about whom to name as an emergency contact. My income, tied to departmental or advisor decisions, fluctuates unpredictably. Yet, Zen meditation has become my steadfast anchor. When I still my mind and connect with Shifu’s teachings, my heart finds calm, unshaken by life’s endless uncertainties. Even more touching is the boundless warmth from fellow practitioners in the U.S., a beacon of support during my PhD journey in a foreign land. When I was interning in Irvine during the pandemic, the practitioners there enveloped me with care that warmed my heart. Now, at the Torrance center, I am cherished like the youngest kid in the family. Throughout the retreat, practitioners from various centers approached me for conversations, forging connections I treasure deeply.

While the vision of Buddhaland on Earth took root in Taiwan years ago, here in the U.S., I see practitioners as pioneers, driven by an even stronger sense of mission. Though far from home, I am allowed to bathe in Shifu’s light and the love of my spiritual family. This grace has shattered my once self-focused mindset, inspiring me to share Shifu’s Zen teachings to guide others toward liberation from suffering.

My deepest gratitude goes to the instructors and volunteers whose tireless efforts made this retreat unforgettable. I am eager to join you in spreading this love and wisdom across the U.S., illuminating more hearts with the transformative power of Zen.

參加這次的禪修營，對我而言是一場心靈的洗滌與昇華。師資們的用心與精進力深深感染到我心，跟隨他們的引導讓我體驗到殊勝的禪定。當我閉上雙眼，無盡的白光充滿全身，幾次順利入定，讓我感受到內在的平靜與歡喜。這份寧靜不僅是修行上的突破，更在心境上為我開啟了一扇新的窗。

作為一名在美國的國際生，我的生活充滿了不確定性。身邊沒有親友，朋友因身份關係來來去去，下個月室友又將搬離，我甚至不知道緊急聯絡人該填寫誰。收入也隨著系上和指導教授的安排而起伏不定。然而，禪修卻成為我內心的錨。每當我靜下心來，感受師父的傳法，我的內心便能穩定如山，忘去這些無盡的煩惱。更讓我動容的，是來自美國師兄姐們無微不至的關愛。他們的溫暖如同一盞明燈，照亮了我孤身在異鄉的求學之旅。回想疫情期間在Irvine實習時，當地師姐們的細心照顧讓我倍感溫暖；如今在Torrance的共修中，大家把我當作孩子般疼愛；禪訓營期間，各個會館的師兄姐主動找我聊天，互相認識，這份真情讓我萬分珍惜。

雖在台灣地球佛國的理念幾年前已開始推行，在美國，我感受到這裡的師兄姐們像是拓荒者，懷抱著更強烈的使命感。身處異地的我，依然能沐浴在師父的光與師兄姐的愛中，這份恩典讓我突破了過去僅專注於自我的封閉心，現在的我想要將師父的法傳遞給更多人，幫助他們離苦得樂。

感謝這次禪修營的師資與義工們，你們的付出讓我收穫滿滿。未來，我希望能與你們努力，將這份愛與智慧在美國傳播，讓更多人感受到佛法的美好與力量。 

I grew up very involved in the Lutheran Church (Christian school, Sunday school, communion, confirmation…the whole routine), and yet I never had what I would call a “spiritual experience.” For the longest time I assumed those stories about religious experiences were just metaphors people used, not actual events that actually happened to people in real life. When I eventually became interested in meditation I looked at it like a lot of Westerners do: a tool to relax, unwind, and de-stress. I didn’t enjoy the practice itself (it was very uncomfortable to sit on the ground like I had never done before), but I liked how I was more relaxed and less irritable in the days after, so I stuck with a six-week class taught by someone at work (Guangming, a person whom I would later consider a mentor and good friend) and kept going even as the group thinned out week after week.

A few months after the class ended I asked the instructor if he’d meditate with me one-on-one since there were no more classes offered. He agreed and, during one particular session, he invited me to focus on “resonating with the sun” (or something like that), so I did what he said — quiet, bored, skeptical but still willing. At first I simply noticed a faint warmth in the center of my chest. Then the warmth intensified very quickly into something impossible to ignore: not pain, but an overwhelming, growing heat that turned into pure joy. It wasn’t intellectual or confusing but it was a physical, unmistakable and overwhelming sensation of happiness and love like I’d never felt before.

That experience changed everything. I laughed uncontrollably, feeling more joy than I ever had (even more than big childhood moments like Christmas morning) and it was the first time I genuinely believed that spiritual experiences were real. After decades of ritual without that feeling, meditation produced something undeniable: a direct, emotional encounter with something larger than the stories I had dismissed. I’m not saying this to dismiss Christianity, in fact, the opposite. What struck me was that there really is something to these religious “things,” whether you’re Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or anything else. The language and traditions differ, but the ideas point to something very similar.

For me, it was Zen meditation that unlocked that reality. It made a lifetime of churchgoing and learning suddenly make sense in a way that wasn’t just intellectual but deeply experiential. It didn’t make religion obsolete for me, but it opened a door I hadn’t believed existed and made me take both meditation and the possibility of a deeper spiritual life seriously.

儘管我從小就在信義宗（路德教派）的教會環境裡耳濡目染，對教會學校、主日學、聖餐、堅信禮等所有儀式瞭若指掌，卻從未有過一次稱得上「靈性」的體驗。長久以來，我總認為那些所謂的宗教奇蹟不過是人們口中的比喻，而非真實發生在生活中的事件。直到後來，當我開始接觸禪修時，心態也和多數西方人無異：純粹將其當作一個放鬆身心、舒緩壓力的工具。說實話，我並不喜歡練習禪坐——盤坐的姿勢讓我渾身不適，但我確實喜歡禪坐後那份持續數日的平靜與不易動怒的感覺。為此，我報名了同事廣明（他後來成為我的人生導師與摯友）開設的六週課程，即使學員們逐週退出，我也堅持到了最後。

課程結束數月後，由於沒有進階班，我便詢問廣明能否與我進行一對一的禪坐指導。他欣然同意。在一次練習中，他叫我試著「和太陽相應」。我半信半疑地照做了，內心雖感枯燥，卻仍保持著開放的意願。起初，我只感覺到胸口浮現一絲微弱的暖意。很快地，這股暖流急劇增強，變得令人無法忽視。那並非痛楚，而是一種澎湃擴張的灼熱感，最終全然化作純粹的狂喜。這不是一種需要思考或理解的感受，而是一種源自身體的、真切無比的體驗——一股我從未感受過的、沛然莫之能禦的幸福與愛。

那次的經歷，徹底改變了我的人生。我情不自禁地放聲大笑，那份喜悅超越了過往的一切，甚至勝過童年時在聖誕節清晨拆開禮物的興奮。就在那一刻，我才第一次發自內心地相信，靈性體驗是真實不虛的。在數十年枯燥的宗教儀式中遍尋不獲的感受，卻在一次禪坐中得到了無可辯駁的印證：那是一次直接而深刻的情感連結，讓我觸碰到一個遠比我過去所輕視的宗教故事更為宏大的存在。我並非想藉此否定基督教，恰恰相反，我所震撼的是，所有宗教的核心——無論是基督信仰、伊斯蘭教、猶太教或其他信仰——其背後都蘊含著某種真實。儘管各自的語言與傳統千差萬別，但它們最終都指向了極為相似的歸宿。

對我而言，禪修便是那把打開真實之門的鑰匙。它讓我過去數十年的教會生活與神學知識，從純粹理智層面的理解，昇華為刻骨銘心的親身體證，一切因而豁然開朗。禪修並未讓宗教對我失去意義，而是為我開啟了一扇我從不相信其存在的門，使我開始嚴肅地對待修行，並認真地去探索一個更深邃的靈性世界。