Fo Guang Shan North Carolina Hosts Mindfulness Retreat: Reflecting Inward to Awaken Wisdom

[Reported by Yu Chuan, North Carolina, USA] 

On May 24, 2025, Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple in North Carolina welcomed 12 participants for a one-day mindfulness retreat. Designed to help attendees explore inner peace and clarity, the retreat featured a range of contemplative practices, including sutra transcription, meditation, Dharma talks, Chantangle art, walking meditation, small group discussions, and evening chanting. The program aimed to guide participants in quieting the mind, turning inward, and awakening their innate wisdom.

After lunch, participants take part in walking meditation in the outdoor meditation area. (Photo by Yu-Fei Fu)

Venerable Miao Jou, the temple’s superintendent, opened the retreat with a Dharma talk at the main shrine, encouraging participants to set aside distractions, past experiences, and personal assumptions in order to fully engage in this rare opportunity for spiritual practice. She emphasized that maintaining noble silence not only reduces external disturbances but also calms internal mental chatter, allowing the body and mind to return to stillness.

Venerable Miao Jou opens the retreat with a Dharma talk, encouraging participants to release distractions and embrace the opportunity for spiritual cultivation. (Photo by Mira Lin)

During the Dharma session, she shared a passage from Ten Paths to Happiness by Fo Guang Shan’s founding master, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, to illustrate how practitioners can overcome inner obstacles and cultivate a pure mind. She encouraged participants to not only take refuge in the Triple Gems and uphold the Five Precepts but also to balance study and practice, stay grounded in their original intention, and nurture wholesome connections with others. Through scriptural reflection, she invited participants to apply the Dharma to their everyday lives.

Venerable Miao Jou explains the significance of transcribing The Difficulty of Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra. (Photo by Mira Lin)

In the sutra transcription session, participants transcribed The Difficulty of Repaying the Profound Kindness of Parents Sutra, one stroke at a time. Venerable Miao Jou explained the choice of this sutra in connection with the upcoming Filial Piety Month, encouraging everyone to dedicate the merit of their practice to both current and past parents, as an act of gratitude and blessing.

Meditation was led by Venerable Zhi San, who guided participants through walking, standing, and sitting meditation practices to help gradually quiet the body and mind and enter a state of insight. She introduced the Seven-Point Posture of Vairocana and offered teachings on the five aggregates (skandhas), helping participants understand the constructed nature of the self and the conditional composition of body and mind. Through this awareness, they were invited to loosen attachments and discover a deeper sense of inner freedom.

Venerable Zhi San leads a small group discussion. (Photo by Tong-Hua Li)

For many participants, this was their first experience with Chantangle art. Venerable Zhi San began with the basics—dots, lines, and circles—and encouraged everyone to explore freely. She urged participants to let go of limiting thoughts like “I can’t draw,” sharing her own first Chantangle piece as an example. In the end, each participant created their own unique drawing and was surprised to discover that even those who believed they had no artistic ability could produce something beautiful. Participant Shimin Liu reflected that the Chantangle session made her aware of areas needing adjustment, offering insight into how spiritual practice—like drawing—requires constant observation and refinement.

Venerable Zhi San facilitates the Chantangle art session. Participants complete their own unique pieces and are surprised at their hidden creative potential. (Photo by Yu-Fei Fu)

Participant Pingping Chen shared that the Dharma talk deepened her understanding of what it means to serve as a volunteer in the temple, strengthening her motivation and confidence in serving others. BLIA North Carolina Chapter Vice President Gee Chia said her biggest takeaway was overcoming her fear of drawing through Chantangle, and discovering how this simple, creative process could also serve as a method of calming the body and mind. Longtime devotee Lilin Yeh expressed her joy at participating in a retreat after a six- or seven-year hiatus, saying the entire day was filled with Dharma joy and a sense of ease. Yi-Wen Wang, a member of BLIA North Carolina Chapter’s Subchapter 2, added that being guided by monastics during meditation in the main shrine made it easier to settle into a calm and centered state. She appreciated the program’s balance of stillness and movement and said she would gladly recommend it to friends and family.