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What is Bodhi

MEDITATION?

Derived from ancient Buddhist theory, Bodhi Meditation offers

unique methodology that stimulates physical renewal and promotes general health. Acclaimed as a natural stress relief system, it further revitalizes the mind and frees the spirit, facilitating improvements in both mental clarity and physical well-being.

Bodhi Meditation applies traditional practices to the challenges of modern living. The result is a uniquely effective meditation system that holistically enhances immunity, stamina and state of mind. The techniques are accessible and practical, yielding results quickly. As such, they are particularly well-suited to the pressures of urban life – and the health issues that result from them. In its mere 20 years of availability to the public, Bodhi Meditation has already benefited millions sentient beings, all of whom are welcome, irrespective of age, ethnicity or cultural background.

Under the auspices of Meditation Master JinBodhi, Bodhi Meditation has been offering meditation materials, retreats and drop-in sessions to students from all corners of the globe since its 2004 global inauguration.

Master JinBodhi developed Bodhi methodology after eighteen years studying traditional philosophy and meditation on the QingHai-Tibetan Plateau of China. In 1991, he emerged from this period of intensive training to great acclaim as a meditation master. From then on, he has taught and inspired vast multitudes of people throughout Asia. Master JinBodhi’s methodology is based on the ancient Eastern philosophy of “compassion,” an understanding of humanity’s interconnectivity and its inseparability from the natural world.

Mind-body awareness is an essential component of the Bodhi Meditation approach. According to meditative tradition, the mind has the ability to broaden and to heal, correcting physical and mental illness.

Motivated by his beliefs and experience, the Master continues to teach meditation, author written works and release multimedia material. Due to his efforts, Bodhi Meditation has spread to over twenty different countries and regions worldwide. As a result, courses are offered in various languages, including Cantonese, Mandarin, English,, Japanese and Korean.

Bodhi Meditation relies on this fundamental objective

in the teaching of select and effective meditation

techniques.

The organization pursues these educational goals in order to promote greater

mental and physical health within individuals and society

at large.

What I would like to tell you is this: we need to love this world with a compassionate heart. We must begin with the clothes we wear, t he utensils we use, and the pets we live with. If we treat everything with compassionate love, we will benefit tremendously.

Zen Wisdom

Meditation Master JinBodhi From Our Students:

ALANA, San DiegoBefore, I couldn’t hold my arms up for very long. Yesterday was so powerful for me because I stood up doing everything, and that was the first time. I was so incredibly grateful.

FRO, WhittierIt is very hard for me I never see miracles, it’s not I am unwilling to believe it. along the way, things started to happen to me. as well as to my friends.

(Continued on Page 2)

BodhieditationM

for health, for life

www.puti.caBodhi Meditation JournalOct 20132

Hello my name is Alana and I’m from San Diego.

This is my first big retreat. The first couple of days were challenging. I felt weak, my back hurts, and legs were weak. They have some type of muscle weakness and no doctor is able to help. I started to practice Meditation of Greater Illumination two months ago, doing it everyday.

Yesterday I was in the back of the room. It was hard to keep my eyes closed and stand up without falling over. So I kept eyes open a little bit, the room was dark, and all I could see was the beautiful candles and the Buddha, which was just so exquisite and I opened my eyes a little more and I saw master JinBodhi standing blended with the Buddha and he was walking toward me and my mind went crazy. I could feel his energy coming toward me and my mind said, ”Oh, it’s coming to your Crown Chakra, then I heard his voice and he said, “Stop thinking! I am coming to your heart…” That is the most beautiful thing I ever experienced.

Also, when I was dong the meditation, my body was full of Buddha light. I did not feel like myself at all. I felt like I could hold my arms forever. Before, I couldn’t hold my arms up for very long. Yesterday was so powerful for me because I stood up doing everything, and that was the first time. My legs were very strong I felt strong I was so incredibly grateful. Most importantly, since yesterday, I had a strong and powerful feeling. I am grateful for everything,

just anything. If my back hurts, that means the Master is working on it, I don’t have to worry. I love you all, each of you!

Good afternoon! I was talking to Carol yesterday, and she was mentioning how I seemed to be very sincere when I was doing the chanting. I guess for me it has been a journey.

When I came here the second person I met was Jenny outside. The reason I thought about doing meditation is because I work lots of hours and under lots of stress. I heard meditation helps. I asked Jenny about the Chinese clinic next door. Jenny said, “come here and have some tea, and you won’t need anything like that.” I did not know what she was talking about—it’s completely over my head. So when I came here I started to do Level One in June. I got everything I expected, such as to get rid of my stress. But what I didn’t expect is that I got more than that. What I found here is the spiritualism, which in the past I have never found.

I grew up catholic and I have had friends with other religions that took

me to the churches I never really found anything. Nothing really hit me. The closest I ever felt of spirituality is in the past I was involved in doing the human rights work, and I always organize in the community and I loved working around people who are struggling for their dignity or humanity, which is great. I love being around people. That’s the closest I have had for spirituality.

Once I started coming here, I started hearing stories about all these miracles that are happening; people who know me like he is a very rational person, he is very skeptical. It’s not I don’t want to believe things, but I rather observe and make a rational decision. I have always been open to it. When I told some body you know when I first started coming here “you got to come here, because I have been to many places and the thing is miracles do happen here.” it’s very hard for me to believe that they happen.

It is very hard for me I never see miracles, it’s not I am unwilling to believe it. Along the way, things started to happen to me as well as to my friends. I have been working around the human rights issues with different groups, and I am well respected because I was very sincere with them, trying to be as truthful as possible. I become friends with them and at first it’s hard for me to talk to them, if I found out something is wrong--I have this credibility. If I tell them something, they are going to think I am crazy.

I guess along the way, its

being truthful and sincere. I have had friends, the most recent one, she had a baby this year. For the last month she has been bleeding everyday, I guess from uterus. The doctor told her it is either she has cancer or problem with uterus. Since she is so young, it is probably not cancer. She is someone I work with for human rights. I gave her a napkin blessed by Master GuanHai, I told her to put it under her back. It was on a Sunday night. The next evening as I driving home from work I got a call from her. She was all excited, “you know what, I don’t know how to say this, my bleeding stopped…” “Of course I know”, I said, “because that’s how I was, so I know how you feel. You don’t have to say anything; you don’t have to tell me. It works!” She became a believer. I dropped her some more napkins and water blessed by Master GuanHai last night. Its very hard to me with certain people I don’t know well to have such respect. Even I only saw Master JinBodhi once, I never had such kind of admiration. I have invited my friends to come to the healing event on Oct. 27th…

Where my sincerity comes from? From everything I see and experience. There are other friends that have similar situations with the napkins. I have no choice but to offer my sincerity not only to Master GuanHai, but to all the volunteers who are here whether I talked to them or not. I really admire what they have done and everything to me is special here. Thank you!

Live Report from Bodhi Meditation’s Healing Event

Real People Real Story

Froilan Mercado

Alana McFarlance

Transcribed by Jenny Chen, Edited by Ying Lee


Once we learn how to connect with Nature, we will be empowered with energy and wisdom.

And our intuitive abilities will be enhanced and expanded. If you like stones, pick one up and take it home. It can tell you many things, such as what sort of weather changes are approaching, if you listen to it with your heart.

Please pay attention to the phrase, “listening with your heart.”

We must learn to listen, to feel, and to use this world with a compas-sionate heart. Learn to use Nature as it is. Now that you’ve heard this, be inspired. As you start to change you become able to sense many things that you couldn’t sense before. During this human experience, we remain connected to our spirit. We receive inspiration from our spiri-tuality, which makes many ordinary things, even troubling things, better. Once your heart is open, and you use it to listen to and feel the world,

your personality will change, your relationships will improve, and your career will become successful.

Where does wisdom come from? It comes from a compassion-ate heart. Loving-kindness makes one’s family more harmonious, chil-dren healthier and business more successful. It makes everyone happi-er. No matter who you are and what you’re doing, follow this basic princi-ple. The principle of compassion de-cides our quality of life as well as our

destiny. Regardless of what brought you to this Retreat – perhaps it is your physical health, perhaps it is your need for spiritual exploration – I would like you to understand how important it is to expand your com-passionate heart. Learn to listen, and handle everything, with compassion.With a compassionate heart, the small self of yesterday starts to change, open, and dissolve into the world. Through your open heart you will receive unlimited knowledge, infinite energy and copious assis-tance from Nature. Compassion fa-cilitates profound comprehension. Only if we open ourselves will the knot in our heart – the knot of suf-fering – be untied and resolved, and thereby illness cured and ultimate health and happiness obtained.


Monica Han

Hello! My name is Monica. At the first blessing ceremony I attended which was held at the Hilton hotel, I smelled a citrus aroma. When I followed the smell, it disappeared. Master Guan Hai was, apparently, giving people Kumquats. I did not manage to detect the smell when Master Guan Hai began his talk, but after a few moments I smelled a hint of the aroma. After a few hours, Master Guan Hai said that he spoke too long and everyone must be hungry. So, he gave us some energy. I did not know what method he used, but I experienced a force pushing my abdomen outwards. This gave me a bloated feeling. I was quite curious about these two incidents.

On my first visit to the Bodhi Meditation Center, I believed in Bodhi as well as the stories I heard about the classes. Last year, my father gave me a card with Master Jin Bodhi’s picture. On the back of the card were Master’s wise sayings such as, “I am the most compassionate; I

am the most beautiful”, etc. I looked at it earnestly and the words touched me deeply.

I wanted to experience everything first hand. After attending, a lot of incredible things happened to me. I am now a firm believer in Bodhi Meditation. I feel that my body is now completely relaxed. Due to the pressure from work, I have neck and spinal problems. I injured my spine last year and let an inexperienced person try to correct it, which exacerbated the injury.

I later participated in the Meditation and Fitness class and quite a few unbelievable things happened to me. First is about the blessed paper. Master Guan Hai gave each person two pieces of blessed paper yesterday and I tore one sheet into two smaller pieces before I slept. I placed one piece under my spine, as I have spinal problems, and the other piece on my shoulder, as it was aching. I covered the area with a towel and slept. I usually cover myself with a blanket when I sleep, as I am afraid my spine would become chilly and become painful with the

cold. However, my body seemed to burn even though I only covered a small area of my spine. I told myself that I had the energy from Master Guan Hai’s blessed paper and I would not freeze during the night. With this belief, I managed to sleep until 6 AM today. I was not able to move my neck for two months, but it returned to normal after I attended the Meditation and Fitness class. Hence, you should come to the Center whether you want to benefit spiritually or physically. Those who come will have to listen to their hearts to discover their own benefits.

In addition, I am very fortunate to have bought a sheet of paper specially blessed by Master Guan Hai for a bid of 3000 dollars. At that time, when Master Guan Hai asked who wanted to buy the paper, I raised my hand without thinking twice. The first time when I followed Master Jin Bodhi’s directions on meditation, I could not sit still and had to lie on my side. However, an unknown force suddenly pushed me to a sitting position that I once had trouble with.

I was unable to achieve the

cross-legged sitting position during meditation, as I was not able to sit still on the third day of class. Then that day, a miracle happened, which lasted for almost fifteen minutes. It seemed like I was in heaven, out in the universe without anyone; there were stars and tears poured out.

Real People & Real StoryEditor’s Note: The following tesimonials are true stories told by participants of the Meditation and Fitness Class. We sincerely hope you will be inspired after reading these personal stories, and through which, you will have a better understanding of Bodhi Meditation and start to get on the path to a healthy mind and body, which leads to a happier life. During the eight and a half-day Meditation & Fitness Class, some people may experience spontaneous fasting, also known as, voluntary fasting. This kind of fasting happens naturally during the meditation while receiving blessing and healing energy. During the Meditation & Fitness Class, students will have the opportunity to learn and practice unique meditation techniques created by Medita-tion Master JinBodhi, including Meditation of Purity and The Meditation of Greater Illumination.

Transalted by Elaine, Corey, Jenny, Edited by Akie, Barbie, Carol

Should you have any question, please do not hesitate to email us at [email protected].


It is Master Jin Bodhi’s music and Master Guan Hai who have touched my heart. It is an extremely beautiful feeling. I sincerely wish to do chores for Master Jin Bodhi. Lastly, I have a wish: I wish Bodhi Meditation can spread to every corner of the Earth and have everyone experience Master Jin Bodhi’s compassion. Thank you Master Jin Bodhi, thank you Master Guan Hai, and a big thank you to everyone who helped to make this class a success. In the end, what astounded me the most was when Master Guan Hai said to me after the auction, “I will give you this piece of blessed paper free of charge”. I could not believe it then. I am very grateful to Master Guan Hai!

Barbie Chien

I bought three Buddhist prayer beads at the San Diego Puja. On that day, a fellow practitioner said the beads had a nice smell. I smelled the beads as well; however, I was un-able to smell anything. It might have been due to the crowd that day, since I only managed to smell people’s sweat and not the nice smell. Coin-cidentally, I caught a cold on that day and my nose felt stuffed. It worsened on the second day. Then I pondered over the words of the practitioner at the Puja. I could not understand how the beads smelled fragrant to her; they smelled pungent to me – like Japanese wasabi. Despite the differ-ent smell, I decided to inhale deeply, hoping to ease my stuffed nose. After a puff, my nose became unblocked! Even the mucus disappeared! I sniffed the beads again. Interestingly, the pungent smell seemed to spread

to my lungs and the air I exhaled out felt pungent as well. Thus, I recovered from the flu. After my recuperation, I sniffed the beads yet again and this time, I was able to smell the wonder-ful fragrance of the beads that my fel-low practitioner was referring to.

JingShan Li

I am 74 years old and this is my first time attending the Bodhi Meditation and Fitness class. I suf-fer mainly from poor sleep– I would wake up after a little while and have to go to the toilet once every hour. Upon my return to my bed, I would not be able to fall asleep. After Mas-ter Guan Hai’s healing session, my prostrate issue lessened. I go to the toilet less frequently at night and I only need to go to the toilet twice throughout the day, which is a sig-nificant improvement. My sleep has also improved remarkably with longer sleeping duration. I am very grateful to Bodhi Meditation.

ZhengFang Wu

I am 70 years old. I sprained my back several years ago. I went for physiotherapy and acupuncture reg-ularly but both treatments did not al-leviate my pain. Upon Master Guan Hai’s healing on Saturday, the trans-mission of such compassionate ener-gy allowed my previously protruded back to straighten and assuaged the pain. Coupled with Master Guan Hai’s healing on Sunday, I feel much better. Now, I need not get up at night every two hours to massage my back. The pain level has decreased and I feel much more relieved.

SuMei Zhang

This is my first time here with my husband. Previously, I was unable to stand, mostly due to the intense pain in both of my knees. After the

healing session by Master Guan Hai during these past few days, which extracted the moisture and wetness from my knees, I am able to stand for a while now. I also sleep significant-ly better now. I used to be unable to sleep after going to the toilet at night. Now I can fall asleep almost instant-ly afterwards. My condition is much better, and without so much pain, I feel very elated.

ShaoJuan Su

I am a tailor. Because of my heavy workload, my fingers, arms and left shoulder hurt a lot. It had been like this for years. I couldn’t even cover myself with blanket when i slept at night. I could barely do anything right with my sore body because it was really very painful. I went to get acupuncture treatments twice a week. It cost me 50 dollars for 1 session. But my arms and shoul-ders did not get better. My daughter took me to the Korean SPA. I tried hydrotherapy, sauna, steam bath, and almost every kind of treatments available there, but still not got any improvement. This june, my car brake failed. In that accident, I not only ruined my own car, but also hurt my right leg. I felt aches all over my body.

This July, my daughter brought me to this Bodhi Medita-tion Center. Before we came, i asked her,”where are you taking me to?”, and she said,”well, just come with me! I am not telling you now.” When we entered the center, I filled out a regis-tration form. My daughter said,”You just sit here for a while. Don’t ask too

much.” I followed her words, and just sat there for the day. Then I found my pains were eased a lot at the end of day. Later on, after taking a class for a couple of days, I felt dramatical dif-ferences in my arms and left shoul-ders.

So, from then on, you could find me in every class. Staring from July, I kept on attending fitness class-es every month. Everything turned better after receiving energy healings from Master Guan-Hai. Therefore, I really believe the benefits of joining Bodhi medication programs. Now, if I have time, i still sew. Although I still have some pains in my arms and shoulders, it has been much better than before. When I worked, I placed blessed napkins on my sore spot, and then the pains just van-ished away. Great thanks to Master JinBodhi! Great thanks to Master Guan-Hai! The blessed napkins and blessed water are so precious to me that I use them very carefully. One time, I suffered from sore throat. I only drank a little bit of blessed wa-ter with some hot water, and then the discomfort just went away.

Lien Ho

I delivered my two children via C-section. Now, one is 31 years old, the other is 27. I have 2 very dark scars circling around my belly. After receiving the healing power from Master Guan-Hai, the next morning, those bulged scars became smooth and flatten. The blessings and heal-ings from the Master is amazing! Every time I practice The-Meditation of Greater Illumination, I can feel the tension released from my waist till tailbone, especially the abdomen area. I feel very comfort-able. Besides, when I do the Infinnity Mudra, I can feel the join of my jaw relax too.


The winter months are rainy season in Vancouver, Canada, when the landscape and its

inhabitants experience constant damp. Even in such a season, there are occasionally sunny breaks. Conversely, in my memory, my childhood passed without any sunny days.

Born in a small, poor town in the Hebei province of China, my early years coincided with the Cultural Revolution, which was a period of immense social and political turmoil. When my mother was pregnant with me, my parents became the victims of political struggles and were sent to a “re-education camp” in the countryside. Due to poor living conditions and lack of food, she suffered from severe malnutrition and gave birth to a very sick child. From the time I came into this world, I suffered from all manner of illness that doctors said was a

Not only did I suffer from my own illnesses, but as I grew up I also had to witness the tragic deaths of my dear family members. My older brother died of starvation and then was followed by my younger brother, who suddenly passed away. I was haunted by my mother’s heartbroken crying, my father’s helplessness, the

coldness of relatives and mistreatment at school. All of these miseries were my first taste of what I later came to understand as the suffering of human beings. The grief of losing loved ones at a tender age, combined with the other attendant sorrows and struggles, left a deep scar on my young heart.

I watched other kids laughing and playing, but I was not able to join them. My poor health disabled me, and I could not lead a normal life. My entire childhood was full of suffering, hunger, hatred and hopelessness. Looking back, however, I’ve come to realize that traumatic early experiences provided me with an understanding of suffering, misery and hopelessness, and an ascertainment of the true nature of life.

When I was six years old, our family moved to Qinghai, a plateau region marked by oxygen

poor health further deteriorated. My parents sought any possible treatments to save my life, but there was little improvement in my physical condition. Finally, they found a former lama (at that particular time there was no religious practice allowedand monks were forced to return to secular life) and asked him to help me. As the wise maxim goes, misfortune may be a blessing in disguise—

Indeed it was for me. The lama found by my parents in a desperate bid to heal my body became my first master. He not only treated my illness, but also taught me Buddhist meditation practice. At the time, I did not quite appreciate hisunique healing methods. Only years later, after gaining deeper understanding, I realized that the methods my master used to heal my illness were far beyond the ordinary approach. Rather than, for example, using a painkiller to alleviate a headache, he utilized energy to achieve a systematic whole body adjustment and fundamental healing. That was my first encounter with Buddhist dharma, which led me to a lifelong journey of meditation practice. After a few years of study and practice, my master introduced me to his fellow apprentice,and after further study this apprentice sent me to another master. One by one,

great masters and traveled from one monastery to another throughout the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau. My practice progressed, and a whole new world opened before me.

After nearly twenty years of practice and numerous—sometimes life-threatening—challenges, my perseverance has been rewarded by an in-depth understanding of Buddhist meditation. Through the realm of

meditation, I realized that the self is tiny and limited, and my view of the Universe was transformed. I no longer desired revenge for the sufferings of my childhood. Meditation altered the fundamental principles of my perception, and the entire world became colorful and warm. The deeper my understanding of the Buddha’s teachings grew, the more my life expanded with brightness. I not only completely recovered my health, but also gained special healing power. When I saw other people suffering from disease, I felt pain in my heart as if their illness was happening in my own body. Helping others became essential to myexistence. As my meditation practice progressed—particularly when the four-faced golden Buddha appeared to me during deep contemplation—I felt an urgency and responsibility to help others free themselves from sufferingand regain happiness. My lifelong mission was born. To me, attaining personal liberation and happiness is not my true bliss. I wish to see all people relieved from worries and suffering—that is my ultimate happiness. It is my quest to teach others, share the depth of my understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and the meditation methods, and see all human beings liberated into health, joy and inner peace.

Words from Meditation Master JinBodhi

direct result of deficiency. As a result, my already I studied and practiced with various malnutrition. I spent every single

day in pain and misery.


Tax ID: 80-0024152 ABA#: 122000661

BANK: BANK OF AMERICA SAN GABRIEL BRANCH

A/C#: 04222-03314SWIFT#: BOFAUS3N

Greetings everyone!

Often, we receive questions from our blogs and e-mails: some are relat-ed to healthy living, some are related to meditation, some are related to relationships and marriage, and some are related to the education of children. These questions are all over the place. I will spend

some time to talk about it.

These answers are my personal opinion and ad-vice. They do not represent The Buddha or Bodhi Med-itation. I hope these answers provide helpful information.

--Master JinBodhi

**************************(Q&A session will be posted in the next issue of Bodhi Meditation Jour-nal. Questions such as what kind of prayer beads to wear are very use-ful for all of us. Stay tuned!)

Words from Meditation Master JinBodhi

Bodhi Meditation is an international non-profit chari-ty organization where wellness and fitness programs are of-fered on a weekly basis in over ten countries. Its ultimate goal is to help the general public to raise self-awareness and obtain a healthy lifestyle by practicing meditation created by Zen Mas-ter Jin Bodhi. He believes that through practicing meditation on a regular basis, everyone can embrace true happiness, con-nect with their spiritual inner self and have a fulfilling life.

Bodhi Meditation has grown rapidly around the world since 2005. Started in Vancou-ver, Canada, Zen Master Jin Bodhi hopes to plant the seed of happiness in everybody.

American Int’I Puti(Bodhi) Dhar-ma Society :


I have been coming here to meditate for a couple years, now, and while I

enjoy it, I am often dismayed when I hear a person make the claim during a testimo-nial that they did not at first believe in the power of Bud-dha’s light because they did not think it was scientific.

I have not yet heard any one of these people profess to have any scientif-ic credentials, so probably they are not properly un-derstanding the science that they claim held back their belief. As a trained scientist myself, I see no reason that my scientific training should stop me from coming here and deriving happiness from the practices taught here.I have a very different per-spective than most people, I am sure. Maybe my perspec-tive will be useful, though, to other people who strug-gle with the false conflict be-tween science and religion. I am the Universe, and the Universe is me. You are, too, so we might as well share what we have. It would be a sad universe that cannot be bothered to communicate with its many selves. As an intellectual egghead, what I have is thoughts, and I of-fer them to you in the hope that they might build some helpful understanding.

We are constant-

ly told of the great positive energies that come from following the dharma and the miracles they are capa-ble of. This is sometimes called Buddha’s Light, sometimes just positive en-ergy. Now I am no dhar-ma master. I cannot say what this is, or that I have seen it, or even that it exists.But there is a mantra of the scientific method that says that, “absence of ev-idence is not evidence of absence.” That is, just be-cause you do not see it does not mean it is not there. This is an aspect of science that most peo-ple do not understand, and that can give people a mis-taken impression of arro-gance. We cannot see grav-ity, but we are sure it is real. When we practice the Med-itation of Greater Illumina-tion, we are told to receive energy and inspiration from the universe. What I re-ceived was this inspiration: my mind reached out to find a plausible explanation for this force, this Buddha en-ergy, and something the as-tronomers have been saying for many years now came to mind. The people who study outer space say that at least ninety percent of it is invisible to us. They call it Dark Matter and Dark Ener-gy. Though in the West dark is often associated with evil,

the name was chosen simply to mean that it does not glow with light like the stars. We only know it is there because of how its gravity affects the stars and galaxies we can see.

Now whenever we discover something, we think it is one thing, then later as we learn more we often discover that it is ac-tually many things. Atoms were once thought to be the smallest things in the uni-verse, then it was discov-ered that atoms are made of smaller parts – protons, neutrons and electrons. Lat-er still it was discovered that these smaller parts are them-selves made of smaller parts, called ‘quarks’ after a word invented by a poet to mean a very small thing. No doubt this stuff they call Dark En-ergy is really many different things. One of those scien-tists writes science fiction stories on the side, and in one of his stories he spec-ulated about a place that is filled with a form of energy that responds to thought. He called it mimetic energy. Now this idea is just a wild speculation that no credible scientist would hang his hat on, but I thought that if such energy exists, how could it be discovered? Only a mind that is very quiet and very focused could perceive such a thing, and that brought to my mind the tale of Sakya-

muni under the Bodhi tree. Maybe he discovered some-thing real, something he could not understand in his age, that we may not be able to fully understand in our own age, but that one day will be known and knowable.

In the religious tra-dition I was taught as a child, compassion is not thought to be part of our na-ture. Compassion, love and all the feelings that we think of as positive are said to be divine gifts, while fierce-ness, cruelty and violence – all things we deem bad – are parts of our nature. All these bad things are the nature of animals, but we humans have been given the gift of goodness. Scientists have been finding, more and more, that com-passion is in fact an essen-tial part of human nature, and is even to be found in other parts of the animal world. Whales, apes, el-ephants and others have been found to show kind-ness to one another, and even to other species. Is this not what Buddha taught? Compassion is our nature, and we all have in-side of ourselves that thing which makes us good, compassionate beings. Sci-ence, here, is more and more on the side of reli-

gion, at least in this respect.When I am told about this great positive energy, the great light of Buddha, I can-not truly say I am certain what it is. Is it really the power of a man who died more than 2000 years ago, or is it just the power of metaphor? Is it some form of dark energy, an unknown force, as electricity was an unknown force a mere few centuries ago? I do not know.

Scientists have ex-amined the brains of peo-ple who have meditated for many years and they see that the meditation practices have had real effects on how energy flows within their brains. They have never seen energy coming from outside their brains, but then, may-be the energy is a kind we have no machines to detect yet. What are the forces truly at work? Compassion I can see and feel. But as a scientist I cannot even imag-ine how these hypotheses could be tested. What I can say for sure is – it is good.

For more information on Bodhi Meditation’s Meditation & Fitness

Class, please visit www.puti.ca or

call 909-612-9232

Forces at Work – A Reflection on Buddha’s Light.

by Paul Shen Brown

Self Reflection


Summer Fun: Bodhi’s Summer Camp

To welcome the fun summer, Los Angeles Puti Meditation hosted a youth summer camp

for nearly two hundred youths this year. Organized by Youth Leader-ship Group of Bodhi Meditation Los Angeles, the three days activity took place on August 2, 2013. With “Ap-preciation” as the theme of this year’s summer camp, the participants not only nurtured by meditation, they also learned how to be appreciative. Intertwined with lively activities, all the adorable little participants en-joyed the educational event and had lots of fun.

The third day, which was the highlight of the summer camp, was coincidentally the same day as Puti Meditation’s twenty second birthday anniversary. Los Angeles Puti Medi-tation broadened the celeration and hosted an outdoor meditation and BBQ. Disciples & participants gath-ered joyfully to celebrate the anni-versary.

On the first morning of the summer camp, parents brought their excited kids to the meditation center for a relaxed and magical journey.The summer camp was divided into five teams, each team leader waited for their members to check in. Lines of different color T-shirts were hung at the check-in station. Each mem-ber had to search for their own team color.

By selecting different puti patterns,the members painted their own T-shirts.The members fully ex-pressed their colorful imagination on the T-shirts. Some parents also joined in. Everyone had a great time.

Breanna and Edmund, the two hosts were conscientious yet with plenty of wits. Laughter filled in the room. After a short break, mem-bers started to hand make summer bug dessert by using vegetables and cookies. When the members saw the adorable caterpillars, butterflies,

monkey face, and lollipop mold, they started to scream excitedly. Every-one exerted their strength to knead the dough, and decorated the dessert with cute bug designs. When fin-ished, all the kids were proud of their work. The teachers passed through the thought of appreciation during each segment, to show appreciation to one’s own parents, the teachers, and everyone.

After an abundant meal, Teacher Ru Huai played a western mythical animation to encourage the kids to strive. The movie stated a white cloud angel created a lovely puppy, a lamb, and a baby. The Stork delivered the babies to each home. The touching story taught us that the stork was like the Bodhisattva. No matter how difficult the environment was, it would still protect it’s master, to fulfill it’s historic duty.

Intertwining in between the playful activities, the kids learned

how to practice Meditation of Puri-ty and the Meditation of Leap Mind during the meditation process.

During snack time, the judge selected the best candy making work. The kids enjoyed eating their own work and playing games.

Followed by a surprise activ-ity, Zoo to Me. Two animal trainers brought python, lizard, turtle, parrot, and rat to show and tell. The brave ones went up to touch these animals. How exciting! As long they have the guts, they can hold the python & liz-ard with both hands.

Soon, the day was going to end. Everyone did not want to de-part. The teachers gave everyone homework: Be appreciative of par-ents. The kids also made promise to give their parents a hug of love. They all look forward to the Summer Camp in 2013!

Written By Cindy, Translated by Barbie, Edited by Steve, Ying

www.puti.caBodhi Meditation JournalOct 201310 Self Reflection

The first Bodhi Meditation’s Meditation and Fitness Program started in July at CRDF. It is facilitated by Los Angeles Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) officer Laura L. Branch, Sgt.,

sponsored by Bodhi Meditation Los Angeles. This program was initiated by students of Bodhi Meditation, Ms. Ana Ruvalcaba and Ms. Tina Wang.

Bodhi Meditation’s outreach program not only provides meditation program to enhance their overall health, but also feeds the spiritual needs of the inmates incarcerated within the jail system.

On July 11th, we officially started the first meditation class at CRDF. This was

also the first time in my life when I approached the front of the class to teach. The Meditation Center sent three experienced Dharma sis-ters with me to help out. However, because they did not complete the background checks in time, they were not allowed to enter through the doors of the prison. In the end, it was only Ana and I. I was surprised. When I stood in front of the class, I did not feel nervous. I introduced some of the important points regarding teachings of Grand Master Jin Bodhi such as the notion of compassion and the benefits of meditation. I also shared my own experiences with meditation. After practicing the Meditation of Greater Illumina-tion for thirty minutes, there were many prisoners who were able to feel the depth and impact of this unique meditation method. Moddana is of Mexican de-scent. She said, “Before I attended the class, my right leg was in pain.” Latalla is a young African-Ameri-can, who had stomachache before practicing the meditation. Myra also had pain in her back. Miraculously, after prac-ticing the Meditation of Greater Il-lumination, all of their pain were disappeared. A large portion of the attendees said that this was the first meditation class they had attended in their life. There were also people who told me that after practicing that they were able to calm their violent inner-self and let go of their

anger. If all inmates could be able to calm down and behave peace-fully, the police officers and sheriffs would have a less stressful job and live a life free from prison riots. If all prisoners were able to walk down a new path toward greater goal, then all of society would benefit from this transformation. At the end of class, the rest of the class and I put our hands to-gether, palm to palm, and thanked our most beloved Meditation Master JinBodhi for his blessings and com-passion. After class, many of the stu-dents were so happy and came up to thank me. I told them, remembering what Master Guan Hai always says, “It is not neccessary to thank me, you should thank Master JinBodhi, I am only a student of him and am here to help complete his mission.” We finally finished the first round of classes at the zones. When we passed by some past students, they would always ask us to come back to teach another class so they could continue their meditation practice. They even sent a “petition” to the Sheriff ’s department, request-ing that we would come and conduct more classes. They also wrote testi-monials to the police officers to show their determination and passion for taking more classes. Once, I went to a different zone to teach. There was an inmate who attended the class for her first time. After the class, she told me emotionally, “I am really so very lucky. Right after I was sent here, I am able to attend this meditation class. When the sheriff sent me here for my sentence, I really felt hope-

less. My life was really chaotic and stressful. However, after practicing the Meditation of Greater Illumina-tion for the first time, I felt my body become so much lighter. Upon re-turning to my room, I tried to recall the instruction of the meditation so that I could practice it everyday. I told my lawyer that all I wanted to do now is to practice meditation, that only meditation could help me.”, she continued, “ you are the angels sent from heaven to help us!” After practicing Meditation of Purity, many of the prisoners ex-pressed that they felt a sense of free-dom, imagining that they truly were sitting on the green grass surrounded by nothing but clean air and blue sky. They could hear the sound of water and the sound of fresh air envelop-ing them. Many of the prisoners also told me that when they are released, they truly wish to become good peo-ple and vowed to never be sent back to (prison). Since July 11, there are (now) over 300 hundred prisoners who have learned meditation follow Bodhi’s method and learned a way to improve their mood. They have written many testimonials to us. Everyday, there are many criminals who enter and leave the jails. One day, my husband asked me, “When will you finish teach-ing these classes?” I replied, “I will spend my whole life doing this. I will keep teaching until the end of my life. I don’t plan on retiring or leaving soon.” I also told him that I might spend more time teaching, as we were approached by the Sheriff ’s department. Therefore, we will come up with a plan to teach meditation class for the police officers.

No matter how busy I am, there are always things left unfin-ished. I really wish that I could actu-ally split myself in half to finish these deeds, since time is truly short.

Perhaps the mission of our life is truly entrusted to us from the heavens. When someone asks me what some of my favorite songs are, I tell them they are “A Thankful Heart” and “Yu Fo Li Zan”. These two songs resonate with my heart. I am forever truly thankful to his ho-liness Medtation Master JinBodhi! I hope that no matter how many times I am reincarnated into this world, I will always follow your steps, bow-ing and sending my respects to you as my mentor. It was truly your wish so that I am able to keep living this lifetime. If someone asked me what I enjoying doing the most, it would be spreading the dharma teachings of Master JinBodhi. I would like to spread the compassion of our Grand Master, helping all helpless beings to live their own life happily! If some-one asked me, what do you wish for the most? I would answer that I only have one dream. One day, I wish I could have Master Guan Hai’s abil-ity to heal people, and obtain the wisdom of the Master that is beyond scientific research. It is only because we have foumd my mission for this lifetime, which motivates me to do greater kind deeds for others. Spreading the teachings of Meditation Master Jin Bodhi and getting more students involved in Bodhi Meditation and maintain a Zen lifestyle is my lifelong job!

Bodhi’s Outreach Programat Century Regional Detention Facility

Tina and Ana’s Experience at CRDFWritten By Tina Wang, Translated by Akie, Edited by Jacqualine , Steve, Ying Joy of Zen

Painted by Master JinBodhi

for health, for life

Upcoming Classes and Eventsat Bodhi Meditation Los Angeles

Email:[email protected]

TEL: (626)457-5336Add: 240 S. Garfield Ave. # 301 Alhambra, CA 91801

Alhambra, CA

TEL: (909)612-9232 / (626)457-5316Add: 20657 Golden Springs Dr. #111 Diamond Bar, CA 91789Email:[email protected]

Los Angeles, CA

Irvine, CATEL: (949)378-0718Email:[email protected]

TEL: (619)587-0288 San Diego, CA

Email:[email protected]

San Francisco, CA TEL: (415)665-5136Email: [email protected]

Milpitas, CATel: (408)956-8662Email: [email protected]

New York, NYTel: (718)886-1122Email: [email protected]

The 8.5-day retreat offers training in two unique methods of Bodhi Meditation prac-tices: Meditation of Greater Illumination and Meditation of Purity. It is designed to enhance overall physical and mental attri-butes.

Meditation & Fitness Program

*All Fees Waived & Lunch Provided*

Date: Time: 9:30 AM – 6:20 PM

Time: 2:30 PM – 6:20 PM*Free Admission *

The Blessing and Healing Events will help you find relief from stress, regain health and return to a natural state of tranquality.

Blessing & Healing Events

Dates:

Join us as we commemorate Meditation Master Jinbodhi’s 22 years of propagating Bodhi Meditation. Come receive healing and blessing to get rid of negative karma, elimi-nate ill fortune; and bring health, happiness, success and harmony in life.

Time: 10:00AM-1:00PMEvent Venue: San Gabriel Hilton Hotel225 W.Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, CA 91776

The 2-day retreat offers training in unique methods of Bodhi Meditation practices. It is designed to enhance overall physical and mental health.

*All Fees Waived & Lunch Provided*Time: 9:30 AM – 6:20 PM

Date: Nov 30, 2013 - Dec 1, 2013

Meditation Beginning Class (Healing Sessions)

Bodhi Meditation Centers in the U.S.

Special Blessing & Healing EventThe Blessing and Healing Event will help you find relief from stress, regain health, and return to a natural state of tranquility, to obtain happiness, success and harmony in life.

*Free Admission & Auspicious Gift*

Energy Healing & Blessing Event Celebrating the

Nov 16, 2013 - Nov 24, 2013

Nov 17 & 24, 2013 (Sun)

Date: Dec 07, 2013 - Dec 08, 2013

1960 South Anaheim Way, Anaheim, CA 92805

Date: Dec 07, 2013 (Sat) 10:00 AM - 1:00PM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BodhiMeditationMagazine

Website: www.puti.ca

https://www.facebook.com/BodhiMeditationLA

Date: Feb 16, 2014

Bodhi Meditation is holding a ceremony to celebrate the Chinese New Year, also known as “Spring Festival”. Come receive healing and blessing that will benefit you for the rest of the year.

*Free Admission & Auspicious Gift*

Lunar New Year Healing Event

This intermediate program offers progressive theories and techniques in Bodhi Meditation’s practices. Participants study its holistic appli-cations in depth and mental attributes. Addi-tionally, basic techniques healing self and others are demonstrated and instructed.

Progressive Level 2 Program


Time: 9:30 AM – 6:30 PMDate: Dec 22, 2013 - Jan 02, 2014

Event Venue: San Diego (TACC)7838 Wilkerson Court, San Diego, CA 92111

Date: Nov 30, 2013 (Sat)10:00 AM - 1:00PM Event Venue: San Diego (TACC)7838 Wilkerson Court, San Diego, CA 92111

Event Venue: Sheraton Fairplex Hotel601 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768

Event Venue: Business Expo Center

1960 South Anaheim Way, Anaheim, CA 92805Event Venue: Business Expo Center

This meditation program is based on unique techniques specifically developed to enhance the mind performance. Through refined prac-tice and connection with the univeral energy, this program is effective for mental health development, including help enhance concen-tration and boost memory. Not only children and teens will be benefited from the practice, but seniors can also practice to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and enhance phsical health.


Date: Jan 11, 2014 – Jan 12, 2014 Time: 9:30 AM – 6:20 PM

Meditation & Mind Leap Program

Please contact us in advance if you need assistance with hotel accommodations


Download - Bodhi Meditation LA Journal 2013 Vol 6

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