Dinair Santana recieved a charter and will be the President of the Brazil Chapter of the So Shim Sa Buddhist Fellowship. Andrea Prados will be the treasurer for this first international chapter. Dinair has been studying Buddhism under Ven. Myong Ahn Sunim for 7 years and has completed the Chapter President Course. We look forward to supporting her in this expansion and watching our Sangha grow.
Many people work in different ways towards resolving issues surrounding civil rights, racism, LGBTQ+ issues, violence, pollution, etc.. How does the Zen Center address these issues? It happens that there are many, many lakes which are polluted. Many are poisoned, making them either unsuitable or impossible for life to continue to exist in them. Many inhabitants of the lakes are sick and struggling because the waters are polluted or poisoned. The task of providing a healthy environment for the life of these lakes seems nearly impossible. We cannot seem to remedy the situation quickly enough. These polluted waters further flow into the one great ocean and it, too, becomes polluted. The way we, at the Zen Center, approach the hardships and suffering of the lakes—and ultimately the one great ocean—is by making sure the sources of water are pure. We address pollution by addressing the source. The source waters of the problems facing the LGBTQ+ community, social justice, women’s rights, raci