Upon the successful completion of its Ling Jiou Mountain (LJM) Great Compassion Meditative Retreat in May each year, the Founding Abbot Dharma Master Hsin Tao would take no break and go straight to Germany and Austria to give personal hands-on for practice of the Peace Meditation. From May 3 to May 19 for a total of 17 days, the busy schedule saw the Venerable Master conduct teachings for the Peace Meditation at 3 retreats in the two said countries, and bring in person the joy of the Dharma that the practitioners awaited for long.

The LJM delegation experienced its first snow in mid-May in Germany when arriving in Berghof for a 3-day meditative retreat. The participants were rather devoted and focused on practicing and re-practicing the way of Peace Meditation. When the retreat came to a successful closing and someone asked what impact stillness had on us, to which Dharma Master Hsin Tao responded that ‘with our heart in stillness our runaway train of thoughts will become fewer and fewer, as the heart would begin to behold and to sense not out- but inwardly. The reason why our practice is called Peace Chan/Meditation is exactly that we go the route of stillness for our heart to achieve inner stability and harmony, and once we attain stability and harmony, we become increasingly cleared for the awakening of our true identity.’ The participants seized the opportunity to seek advice from Dharma Master Hsin Tao, who in return interacted with each one in details to nurture and enrich their respective life with the Dharma of Chan/Peace Meditation.

It was the fourth year running for the Peace Meditation to be featured as a main event at the Benediktushof, with numerous repeat participants returning every year in expectation of the return of Dharma Master Hsin Tao. The fact that there are always new entrants to the program points to the growing popularity of the Peace Meditation in Germany. The founder of the meditation center at Benediktushof, Father Jacob, always displays great personal pleassure in welcoming the arrival of Venerable Master Hsin Tao every year. On the occasion of a chance meeting one day, Father Jacob pulled out a rosary and said to Dharma Master Hsin Tao that ‘we are practically the same’. They looked into each other’s eyes and smiled in implicit agreement. Indeed, there is no religious differentiation when it comes to wisdom in Chan meditation.

At the monastery in Reichersberg, Austria, local teacher Christopher and his class were waiting for the arrival of Master Hsin Tao and his entourage. The reunion was obviously a blissful occasion. Christopher is a meditation instructor himself. His first retreat experience with the Peace Meditation presented by Master Hsin Tao many years back was so impressive that he went for one-on-one sessions with Master Hsin Tao for even greater successes. His sincere practice has become a solid part of his daily routine and he has taken a vow to promote and spread the Peace Meditation to benefit more individuals. 

Upon the completion of the 7-day meditative retreat, there was a group sharing initiated by Christopher. A young man who had taken part in last May’s retreat in Europe as well as the LJM’s Spring Abode retreat earlier this year happily shared his experience in terms of progress. In his other earlier meditative practice he would experience ‘spirited motions’ whereby an autonomous body just took over. But Master Hsin Tao said that such ‘spirited motions’ can be controlled, so he tried to will himself away from such experiences and indeed he managed to.

Dharma Master Hsin Tao also reminded everyone to first truly understand the objective of learning the meditative practice, then it will be understood how best to achieve that defined objective. The 4-step Peace Meditation affords us to understand what the heart is actually all about, with an undivided focus to observe and reflect inwardly the look and appearance of the heart. The true understanding will then peacefully reside in the clear acknowledgment of the heart’s look and appearance.

Once we will have understood our heart, it equals mega merit, a purity of non-arising nor ceasing, a core that is naturally self-sufficient, and an unwavering self. Should we have not learned the method of stopping all delusional thoughts and observing all truths, with an undivided focus and a crystal-clear awareness, a perfect heart would not show itself. We learn the method of stopping and observing to retrieve the heart with the undivided focus. In that instance, stopping means focus and observing translates clarity, and it follows that the method of stopping and observing is both focus and clarity.

The compact 17-day itinerary of meditative practice afforded participants ample opportunities to benefit from a very responsive Dharma Master Hsin Tao, besides enjoying an optimal curriculum that transcends motion and stillness alternately to reach further into everyone’s innermost to elevate their spirituality. It is earnestly wished that these seeds of Peace Chan/Meditation in Europe all succeed in retrieving their original identity and help with the teachings of Buddha to permeate all places.