one woman

One woman I talked to at Dharma Drum is a coffee roaster with a husband and a son who enjoys traveling the world. She converted from Taoism to Buddhism two years ago. Taoism she refers to as "more fake." I asked her why she made the change, and she searched for the word for a while until Google Translate spit out "rational" - because Buddhism is rational. She liked, she said, that it made sense. I asked what made sense to her, and she responded "Master Sheng Yen says to clean your mind and the environment and I like that." The woman was not vegetarian but ate with me in the dining hall which of course is vegetarian and has no onions/garlic/leeks/scallions/chives (the five pungent spices). I asked her if she liked the food, and she shook her head no and said not really. Too bland!, she said.

fruit offerings at Dharma Drum

Spent the day volunteering at Dharma Drum with the fruit offerings. Volunteers make towers of oranges, dragonfruit, pears, and guava in a big warehouse to offer to Buddha. They are very careful, removing the ones with spots; they want them to be beautiful. Sun Far says that lunch offerings are made every day to the Buddha, but special fruit offerings are made on the 1st and 15th of the month as well as on birthdays and deaths of Bodhisattvas. Offerings are a show of respect and appreciation but not thought to be eaten by bodhisattvas or providing nourishment - two people said, "of course, they do not need to eat."

dog head mountain photos

Beautiful sunrise at dog head mountain.