Fo Guang Shan North Carolina Concludes Final Chinese One-Day Retreat of 2025

At the beginning of the retreat, participants checked in at the Jade Buddha Shrine as Venerable Miao Jou reminded them of the proper mindset for practice. (Photo by Zhang Yin)

[Reported by Yu Chuan, North Carolina, USA] Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple of North Carolina successfully concluded its fourth and final Chinese-language One-Day Retreat of 2025 on November 22. The temple’s monthly rotation of Chinese and English practice sessions continues to attract many first-time visitors to the center.

Venerable Miao Jou lectured on “The Pure Land Teaching: Amitabha’s Pure Land and the Humanistic Pure Land,” summarizing six key points for practicing the Humanistic Pure Land. (Photo by Zhang Yin)

This retreat offered a rich and diverse program, including meditation, Dharma classes, tea meditation discussions, and evening chanting, with a total of eleven participants. Venerable Miao Jou, the superintendent of the temple, delivered a lecture on “The Pure Land Teaching: Amitabha’s Pure Land and the Humanistic Pure Land,” providing an in-depth exploration of Pure Land concepts. The lecture concluded with six essential guidelines for actualizing a Humanistic Pure Land in daily life: cultivating purity through the eyes, ears, nose, and tongue; cultivating purity in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down; cultivating harmony between self and others; cultivating purity in the home environment; cultivating refined thoughts and views; and cultivating purity in the mind and consciousness. These principles encouraged participants to apply Pure Land practices concretely in everyday life.

In the serene Jade Buddha Shrine, Venerable Zhi San led standing incense meditation, guiding participants to observe the body and notice areas of tension and ease to attain physical and mental lightness. (Photo by Haikuo)

Venerable Zhi San guided the group through sitting meditation and walking meditation, using the “Vairocana Seven-Point Sitting Method” and breath counting to help participants steady their bodies and minds and return to the present moment. Both Venerable Miao Jou and Venerable Zhi San led the tea meditation discussions, during which participants enthusiastically raised questions, clarified doubts about their practice, and shared reflections from the day.

During outdoor walking meditation, participants harmonized body and mind, cultivating focus and awareness through rhythmic movement. (Photo by Zhang Yin)

Participant Suyi Niu shared that she had previously been unable to join retreats because she could not let go of worries about her children. This time, she experienced a significant inner shift—from initial attachment and concern to fully immersing herself in the practice, learning to relax, and training her mind to return to the here and now.

During the tea meditation discussion, Venerable Miao Jou and Venerable Zhi San encouraged open dialogue, helping participants clarify doubts and share insights. (Photo by Zhang Yin)

Participant Jiaxi Chen, attending for the second time, said the retreat helped her appreciate the importance of maintaining a meditative mind throughout daily life and reinforced her resolve to continue practicing daily sitting meditation.

During the meal at the Five Contemplations Hall, participants observed noble silence, savoring each bite mindfully and experiencing Chan in daily actions. (Photo by Zhang Yin)

Another participant, Min Cui, reflected that the retreat deepened her understanding of the true meaning of “Pure Land”—meeting daily life with a calm mind, turning inward, and gradually reducing the afflictions of greed, anger, and ignorance.

The group concluded the day by chanting the Amitabha Sutra and reciting A Prayer for Self-Confidence written by the founding master of Fo Guang Shan, bringing the retreat to a meaningful close. (Photo by Zhang Yin)