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Venerable Guo Huei explains how contemplating impermanence can arouse this questioning in the huatou method. He emphasizes sustained effort and patient practice without attachment to results, as a way of opening to awakening.

Guo Goang Fashi and Žarko Andričević, both Dharma heirs of Master Sheng Yen, met again at the Chan Meditation Center in Queens, New York, for a discussion focused on Bodhidharma’s Two Entries and Four Practices.

Venerable Hui Min gave a Dharma talk during the morning meal on December 24, 2025. He explored training of the body and mind through the parable of the four types of horses.

Venerable Chang Hwa and Venerable Chang Zhai participated on behalf of the Dharma Drum tradition first Metta Convention held in the United States, "Peacing It Together." Co-organized by the Metta Centre and Empty Cloud Monastery on July 18–19, 2026.

At a half-day morning meditation led by Venerable Guo Goang at the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association New Jersey Center in Edison, New Jersey, on July 26, 2026, she offered a summary of her Dharma teachings.

Elliot Friedmann reflected from a one-day huatou meditation retreat

This abridged selection presents a clear and practical teaching on the relationship between samadhi and wisdom in the Chan tradition. Drawing on the Platform Sutra and the Diamond Sutra, it moves from doctrinal understanding to direct practice.

This article is adapted from a Dharma talk given during a seven-day Volunteer Chan Retreat at the Dharma Drum Retreat Center on December 12, 2012. In it, Venerable Guo Huei presents the four progressive stages of Silent Illumination as taught by Master Sheng Yen, guiding practitioners from contemplating the whole body to the absolute relinquishment of self-centeredness in the state of no-mind.

The article emphasizes the importance of steady daily practice, encouraging practitioners to cultivate regular meditation, balanced effort, and firm faith on the Chan path.