Buddha Gate Monastery

In class today, we learned about the sage, Subuti. The abbess told us a story about how Subuti realized the truth of "Empty Nature." The Buddha was returning from his recent trip to heaven, where he had been giving dharma talks to his mother and other heavenly beings. After three months, the Buddha decided it was time to go back. All the Buddha's followers wanted to welcome the Buddha back to Earth. So they arranged a party. At that time, the wise sage, Subuti, was meditating in a cave on Ling Mountain. When he heard the news of the Buddha returning, he also wanted to welcome the Buddha. However, he suddenly realized that Buddha's dharma body is everywhere and that all the followers were only welcoming Buddha's physical body. Because of that, Subuti stayed on the mountain. When Buddha set foot on Earth, a nun ran up to him and exclaimed that she was the first one to welcome the World Honored One back to Earth. However, the Buddha told her that she was just the first one to welcome his physical body. The one who really welcomed him was Subuti because he realized the truth of empty nature.

During class time, we all practiced meditation. For the activity, we made sculptures out of play-dough. Our topic was meditation. We had a great time in class today!