Kalyanamitta

Buddhist Fellowship Proposal

December 1, 2007 [Working Draft]

 Venerable Ananda: “Venerable Sir, this is half of the holy life, that is, good friendship,
good companionship, good comradeship [Kalyanamitta in Pali].

Buddha: “Not so, Ananda! This is the entire holy life, Ananda, that is good friendship,
good companionship, good comradeship. When a disciple has a good friend, a good
companion, a good comrade, it is to be expected that he will develop and cultivate the
Noble Path.”

[Upaddha Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya 45.2, trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi]

Table of Content
2
Section Page
Section 1: Proposal Overview
Summary 5
Vision 6
Audience 6
Background 7
Mission 8
Structure of Fellowship 9
Description 9
Accountability 9
Budget 10
Section 2: Three Main Components of Fellowship
Practice 12
Guiding Principles for Daily Living 12
Daily Schedule 13
Study 14
Organizing 15
Potential Organizing Projects 15
Section 3: The Future: Long-Term Vision for Engaged Buddhism
Overview 17
Stages of Long-Term Vision Chart 18
Intergenerational Sustainability Chart 19
Section 4: Appendix
Part 1: Biography of Fellow 21
Part 2: Sample Handouts & Articles
“Basic Guidelines for Buddhist Practice” Handout 22
“Basic Tips for Sitting Meditation” Handout 23
“A Love Beyond Supreme” Article on Metta 24
“Introduction to Buddhism Reading” List 25
“Five-Tier Buddhist Organizational Model” Chart 26
Part 3: DBRA Reactivation Plan 2008 27

3
Section 1:
Proposal Overview

Summary
The Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship is an independent project not officially affiliated with any

4
particular organization. Initiated by Thien Huu Nguyen (the Fellow), its purpose is to create a structured
and paid full-time position that will support the Fellow’s Buddhist practice, study and community
organizing work for the duration of one year and potentially longer depending on the availability of
funding and resources in the future.

The overall vision of the Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship is to support the development of strong
Buddhist leadership and institutions dedicated to promoting the Buddhist Teachings, particularly among
young adults, communities of color, and social justice activists and organizers. There is a compelling
vision and strong need for this type of work to be done in order to help strengthen and build the
capacity of Buddhist communities in the West and worldwide. The geographic scope will initially be
centered on the San Francisco Bay Area and expand outward from there.

The audience that the Fellowship seeks to benefit is: (1) Young Adults: Young people ages 18-35 years
old, (2) Communities of color, including Asian American, African American, Native American, and
Latino/as, (3) Activists and organizers involved in social justice and social change work. The idea behind
the name for the Fellowship, “Kalyanamitta (roughly translated as “Spiritual Friend”) is to promote
spiritual friendship among people interested and/or committed to the Buddha’s Path of liberation. In the
Buddhist tradition, spiritual friendship plays an essential and respected role in realizing the spiritual
path.

Currently, the Fellowship is in its initial stages and is focused on setting up infrastructure and raising
funds in order to launch the Fellowship.

Vision
“Go forth to teach the Dharma for the welfare of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of
5
compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare and happiness of the people. Let not two of you go
the same way. Spread the Dharma which is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle and
excellent in the end.”
-the Buddha

As Buddhism and particularly Engaged Buddhism emerges in the West and in the San Francisco Bay
Area, there is a growing and strong need to develop effective leadership and to build sustainable
infrastructure to preserve its traditions, promote its transmission and application, and ensure that
people and society continue to benefit deeply from it. It is with the deep wish to promote Buddhism in
order to benefit people and society that the idea for the Kalyanamitta Fellowship Program was born.

The short-term vision of the Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship is to create a full-time paid “Fellowship
position” and therefore provide the financial, institutional, and practical platform for the Fellow to fully
and systematically engage in Buddhist practice, study, and community organizing, for the duration of at
least one year and possibly longer depending on the availability of funding and resources in the future.

In the next several years, the overall vision of the Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship is to support the
development of strong Buddhist leadership and institutions dedicated to promoting the Buddhist
Teachings in the Bay Area, particularly among young adults, communities of color, and social justice
activists and organizers. The culmination of the Fellowship program is to establish within the next
several years an enduring and strong Engaged Buddhist network that would link up and empower the
various Buddhist groups, organizations, and institutions in the Bay Area and deepen their connection to
social and political activism and the social justice movement.

The idea behind the name for the Fellowship, “Kalynanamitta (roughly translated as “Spiritual Friend”) is
to promote spiritual friendship among people interested and/or committed to the Buddha’s Path of
liberation. In the Buddhist tradition, spiritual friendship plays an essential and respected role in realizing
the spiritual path.

There is a compelling vision and strong need for this type of work to be done in order to help strengthen
and build the capacity of Buddhist community institutions and leadership in the Bay Area

Audience
During his 45 years of teaching, the Buddha taught many people according to their personalities,
temperaments, and faculties. With extraordinary skillfulness, he used different methods to teach
different people, based on their needs and conditions, in order to guide them towards the realization of
their own liberation. He taught the Dharma to men and women, the rich and the poor, kings, peasants,
outcastes, murderers and criminals, merchants and ascetics, and he did so with the recognition of the
diversity and complexity of the human condition. After more than 2,600 years, the importance of
“skillful means” in teaching the Dharma continues to be central to the transmission and growth of the
Buddhist tradition.

The audiences that the Kalynanamitta Fellowship program seeks to reach out to and work with are
populations and communities that have distinct needs and issues and therefore require different ways
of approaching the Dharma. A large part of the work of the Kalyanamitta Fellow is to present and share
the Dharma in skillful, accessible, and engaging ways to people of different backgrounds and
experiences. In many powerful ways and on many different levels, the needs, issues, and conditions of
young adults, people of color, and activists and organizers are often radically different from those of the
mainstream White Westerner adult audience. Also, these communities often lack the same level of
resources, privilege, and access that mainstream audiences typically might have, including resources,
information, and access to the Dharma. At the same time, there is an immense potential for these same
communities to realize enduring happiness and freedom from suffering through the practice and
understanding of the Buddhist Teachings. Therefore it is critical that the Dharma remain accessible to
these communities.

In the context of sharing and promoting the Dharma, the Fellow will focus on supporting and working
6
with the following groups and communities:

(1) Young Adults: Young people ages 18-35 years old.

(2) Communities of color, including Asian American, African American, Native American, and
Latino/as
(3) Activists and organizers involved in social justice and social change work.

Background
Buddhism’s rapid growth and rising popularity across the world is certain to have a tremendous and
immeasurable impact on the lives of many people. Nowhere is this probably more obvious than in the
West, and in particular the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is a rich and diverse presence of
established and emerging Buddhist spaces, groups, and organizations. The reason for Buddhism’s
growing appeal is deceptively simple: The Teachings of the Buddha, known as the Dharma, and the
practices connected to these Teachings, provide people with a powerful way to recognize, understand,
and alleviate suffering and to cultivate human happiness and freedom. Through the development of
moral discipline, compassion, generosity, mindfulness, and the wisdom that leads to deep insight into
the nature of reality, Buddhism offers a direct and potent path of liberation from the suffering and
sorrow of the world. In doing so, the Dharma offers the promise of and possibility for genuine and
enduring peace, on a personal as well as interpersonal and social level. For over 2,600 years, Buddhist
teachings and practice has and is benefiting countless people and promises to benefit more and more
people. In short, the Dharma is a profound universal message of human happiness, well-being, and
liberation that is needed now more than ever.

At the same time, there is growing need for spiritual leadership within the social justice movement with
the capacity to develop a more effective and sustainable model for advancing social justice, one that is
more deeply grounded in spirituality, moral principles, and the practice of personal transformation as a
basis for collective liberation. Not surprisingly, many activists and organizers are drawn to the message,
practices, and social action of Engaged Buddhism. What we are witnessing across the world and
particularly in the Bay Area can be described on one hand as a movement to nurture a more spiritual
dimension to social justice activism, and on the other hand, a movement within Buddhism towards a
deeper social and political engagement. These two movements are coalescing together in ways that
have significant implications for how we do social change work and how we engage in spiritual practice.
Thus there are many exciting opportunities for the convergence of social justice activism and Buddhist
spiritual practice, and many ways for them to benefit and reinforce one another. Given this, the
important need to build strong bridges between the social justice communities and the Buddhist secular
and monastic communities in the Bay Area is becoming more evident.

Mission
7
The mission of the Kalyanamitta Fellowship program is to plant the seeds for supporting Buddhist
practice, study, organizing and leadership, and to help build the Bay Area’s human and institutional
capacity to promote Buddhist teachings (Dharma), with a an emphasis on the following areas of focus:

1.Self-Directed Practice
a. Moral Training: Observing moral precepts and cultivating loving-kindness, generosity and joy
b. Concentration and Meditation Training: mindfulness practice and devotional
chanting/recitation
c. Training in Wisdom: Intensive study and contemplation

2.Self-Directed Study
a. Study of the Canonical and Scriptural texts: the Suttas, Sutras, and commentaries to them
b. Explore the intersection of Buddhism and social justice
c. Study and learn Pali, the canonical language of the Theravada Buddhist tradition.

3.Sharing the Dharma

a. Produce and distribute publications, handouts, visuals, articles, and essays that promote a
deeper understanding and practice of Buddhism.
b. Present and share the Dharma in accessible and engaging forms to target communities while
still remaining true and faithful to the Teachings.
c. Organize and facilitate Buddhist study groups and discussions to promote collective learning,
reflection, and knowledge of the Dharma.
d. Develop and conduct trainings to introduce people to the basics meditation practice and the
content and creative application of the Buddha’s Teachings.

4.Leadership Development & Institution-Building

a. Mentoring and supporting potential new young Buddhist leaders and developing their
teaching, organizing, and leadership capacities.
b. Document, develop and provide models and processes for long-term Buddhist organizing.
c. Provide support and assistance to emerging Buddhist groups such as informal meditation
groups using a long-term and sustainable institution-building approach.
d. Organizing Buddhist practice and study retreats.

5.Collaboration & Mutual Support

a. Organize social and community events that build community between the various Bay Area
Buddhist groups and organizations (for example, inter-group potlucks and sits).
b. Pool and share resources and information between various diverse Bay Area Buddhist groups
(Theravada, Mayahana, secular) and monastic and lay communities.

Structure of Fellowship
8
Description
The Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship program is broad in its scope and unconventional in its approach
to the Fellow’s division of responsibilities and allocation of time. This is because the program not only
encompasses and supports the Fellow’s structured organizing and work time, but also the time
dedicated to formal practice and study of the Buddha’s Teachings. However, rather than relying on the
typical division of “full-time work” into a 40-hour work week, the Fellowship structure is based on a 7-
day week with a total of 50 hours allocated between practice, study, and organizing work. Although the
program is structured to provide feedback and support and ensure accountability, for the most part, the
Fellow is asked to practice, study, and work independently and without active supervision. Thus it is
important that the Fellow is self-motivated, self-directed, and fully committed to the vision and goals of
the Kalyanamitta Buddhist Fellowship program.

Responsibilities and Weekly Time Allocation of Fellow

Task/Responsibility Hours/Week
Structured Sitting Meditation Practice 10
Structured Walking Meditation Practice 5
Dharma Study 5
Writing, planning, and strategy 10
Meetings and presentations (event planning, outreach, projects) 5
Conducting study groups, discussions and trainings 5
Administrative Work (email, phone, photocopying, mailing, documentation) 5
Attend and participate in events (Dharma talks, ceremonies, workshops, etc.) 5
Total Hours/Week 50

Accountability
At the start of the program, the Fellow is required to form an Advisory Board made up of 3-5 members
who will be responsible for providing regular advice, feedback, and support, as well as keeping the
Fellow accountable to the mission and vision of the program. The Fellow should meet with the Advisory
Board at least once a month to provide updates on practice, studies, organizing, and finances, and to
submit proposals. The members of the Advisory Board must approve of all major proposals and decision
using a consensus model of decision-making. The Fellow is expected to have this advisory board up and
running by the end of the second month of the program.

Examples of major proposals and decisions include:

 Major changes to Fellow’s schedule and time commitments

 Major changes to the vision, mission, and structure of the Fellowship program as articulated in
the Fellowship Proposal
 Hiring of contractors
 Major expenditures (over $500)
 Acceptance of major funding (over $500)

2008-2009 Fellowship Budget*

9
Category Item Total $

10
 Fellow Stipend
Food $3,000
Bills & Payments $2,000
Health, Hygiene, and Medicine $1,000
Personal expenses $3,000
Housing $8000
Subtotal $18,000
Materials &
Supplies
Office supplies (paper, printer ink, etc.) $1000
Photo documentation (film, scans, CDs, etc.) $150
Practice instruments (cushions, mats, etc.) $250
Subtotal $1,400
Operating Expenses
Publishing costs (booklets, brochures, etc.) $2,000
Contracting (graphic design, admin support, etc.) $1000
Misc. operating expenses $200
Subtotal $3,300
Community Library
Purchase of new library books $600
Protection of books $50
Tracking of books (labels and stamps) $50
Subtotal $700
Travel Expenses
Gas subsidy $500
Public Transportation subsidy $300
Travel expenses for meetings, retreats, etc. $1000
Subtotal $1,800

Grand Total $25,000

*Covering February 1, 2008 to February 1, 2008

11
Section 2:
3 Main Components of Fellowship

1. Practice
The first component of the Fellowship, Buddhist practice, is the most important component, since it
forms the very foundation and basis for the entire Fellowship. It is centered on the practice of the
Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path, the detailed and comprehensive path of practice and training as taught
by the Buddha. This Path is comprised of the eight components of Skillful View, Skillful Intention, Skillful
Action, Skillful Speech, Skillful Livelihood, Skillful Effort, Skillful Mindfulness, and Skill Concentration.
12
This Path is often divided into the threefold training in Moral Conduct, Concentration, and Wisdom.

Specifically for the purposes of the Fellowship program, the focus will be on the practice of the Five
Precepts and structured sitting and walking meditation, as well as some devotional chanting and
recitation. The Fellow is expected to adopt a simple, peaceful and semi-monastic lifestyle that would be
conducive to serious and sustained Dharma practice, study, and organizing (see daily schedules below).

The Five Precepts are the core moral guidelines or “training rules” developed by the Buddha to promote
personal happiness and social harmony and to minimize suffering. They consist of:

 The First Precept: To abstain from taking life

 The Second Precept: To abstain from taking what is not given (“stealing ” and “exploitation”)
 The Third Precept: To abstain from sexual misconduct (adultery, abuse, assault, rape)
 The Fourth Precept: To abstain from false speech (“lying”)
 The Fifth Precept: To abstain from intoxicating drinks and drugs that causes heedlessness

The meditation practice facet of the Fellowship will center on traditional Theravada Buddhist meditation
methods and techniques, including awareness of breathing (Anapanasati) and on a set of four practices
traditionally referred to in Buddhist countries as the Four Protective Meditations, which consist of:

1. The recollection of the Buddha

2. The contemplation of the parts of the body
3. The meditation on loving-kindness (Metta Bhavana)
4. The recollection of death

Guiding Principles for Daily Living

The following principles will serve as guidelines for the Fellow’s day-to-day schedule and time
commitments:

1. Observe and practice the Five Precepts for Buddhist laypeople.

2. Maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle, eat well, and get plenty of rest and exercise.
3. Wake up by 6 every morning and go to bed by midnight every night.
4. Sit at least twice a day, for a total of at least 1 hour a day
5. Make time for walking meditation at least once a day for at least 20 minutes
6. Practice everyday mindfulness and relaxation at every available opportunity
7. Continue to study and learn the Buddha’s teachings for at least half an hour each day
8. Do yoga and qigong stretches at least once a day, ideally before sits.
9. Spend more time at home than out – go out at night no more than twice each week.
10. Do chores and gardening mindfully at home.
11. Cook consistently and eat in more often than eat out each week.
12. No Internet after 9pm and no TV at all.
13. Have a quiet day of mindfulness every other Sunday, following the 8 training precepts and
with no shows, entertainment, meetings, movies, Internet and going out after noon.

Daily Schedule
As mentioned earlier, the Fellow is expected to make a commitment to living a simple, peaceful, and
semi-monastic lifestyle that is conducive to serious and sustained Dharma practice, study, and
organizing. The Fellow’s basic daily schedule reflects this commitment to the Buddhist Path, both in it’s
simplicity and rigorousness.

13
Fellow’s Daily Schedule (Weekday)
Time Activity
5:30am Wake up
6-7am Yoga and qigong stretches, chanting, and sitting
7-8am Shower, personal hygiene, and breakfast
9-10am Internet, email, bills, journal writing
10am-12pm Work/chores/errands
12-1:30pm Lunch and rest/free time
1:30-5:30 Work/study/chores/gardening/errands
5:30-7:00pm Dinner and rest/free time
7:00-7:30pm Walking meditation
7:30-9pm Study or go out (or Internet only if done studying for the day)
9-10pm Yoga and qigong stretches, chanting, and sitting
10pm-11pm Study/work/chores/meeting at home, or movie/free time
11pm-12am Journal writing & personal hygiene
12am Lights out

Fellow’s Daily Schedule (Weekend)

Time Activity
6:30am Wake up
7-8am Yoga and qigong stretches, chanting, and sitting
8-9am Shower, personal hygiene, and breakfast
9am-10:30am Walking meditation
10:30am-12pm Work/chores/errands
12-1:30pm Lunch and rest/free time
1:30-5:30 Work/study/chores/gardening/errands
5:30-7:00pm Dinner and rest/free time
7:00-7:30pm Walking meditation
7:30-9pm Study or go out
9-10pm Yoga and qigong stretches, chanting, and sitting
10pm-11pm Study, work, chores or free time
11pm-12am Journal writing & personal hygiene
12am Lights out

2. Study
The second component of the Fellowship is the deep and systematic study of the Buddhist Teachings.
The systematic study of the Dharma is essential to the full realization of the Buddha’s Path, in that
study not only deepens one’s understanding and knowledge but will also serve to reinforce and inspire
one’s practice. It is important here to note that the Fellowship program supports the study of Buddhist
Teachings in the context of lived personal and social experience, as a practical and engaged way to
better understand, practice, teach, and apply the Dharma in order to concretely benefit other people
and society, rather than as a purely academic or scholastic endeavor. In the long-term, the study
component of the Fellowship seeks to develop comprehensive Buddhist curriculum in order to aid in the

14
teaching, learning, and practicing of the Dharma.

The self-directed study component is divided into three major areas of focus: (1) an in-depth study of
the canonical and scriptural texts as handed down to us in the discourses of the Theravada and
Mahayana traditions and the classical commentaries to these discourses, with a strong emphasis on the
Theravada tradition practices, (2) the study of the contributions and creative application of Buddhism to
social justice and positive social change (“Engaged Buddhism”), (3) the study of basic Pali, the language
of the Theravada canon, for the purposes of better understanding the meaning and significance of the
Theravada Teachings in its original language and doing quality translation work. Two other important but
less emphasized areas of study are: (1) the reading and studying of introductory texts on Buddhism,
which will improve and enhance the Fellow’s skillfulness in teaching and sharing the Dharma, especially
to those new to Buddhism or with little or no experience of it, and (2) the intersection of Buddhist
meditation, Western psychology, and neuroscience.

Tentative Self-Directed Study Curriculum (One Year)

Title Author Category
“Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha” Bhikkhu Nanamoli & Canonical
Bhikkhu Bodhi (Trans.)
“Long Discourses of the Buddha” (Selected Discourses) Maurice Washe (Trans.) Canonical

“Connected Discourses of the Buddha” (Selected Discourses) Bhikkhu Nanamoli & Canonical
Bhikkhu Bodhi (Trans.)
“The Buddhist Monastic Code” (The Vinaya) Thanissaro Bhikkhu Canonical

“Sutta Nipata” H. Saddhatissa Canonical

“Bhavana Vandana” (Book of Devotion) H. Gunaratana Canonical/

Mahathera (Compiler) Pali Study
“Buddhist Meditation in Theory and Practice: A General Paravahera Vajiranana Commentarial
Exposition According to the Pali Canon of the Theravada Mahathera
School”
“Buddhist Meditation: An Anthology of Texts from the Pali Sarah Shaw Commentarial
Canon”

“Radical Conservatism: Buddhism in the Contemporary World”, Various Engaged

“Dhammic Socialism”, “Handbook for Mankind, and other works Buddhism
by and about Bhikkhu Buddhadasa
“Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements is Asia” Christopher S. Queen & Engaged
Sallie B. King (Ed.) Buddhism
“Engaged Buddhism in the West “ Christopher Queen (Ed.) Engaged
Buddhism
“Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Marketplace” Venerable P. A. Payutto Engaged
Buddhism
“The Art of Power”, and other books on Engaged Buddhism Thich Nhat Hanh Engaged
Buddhism
“Introduction to Pali” A.K. Warder Pali Study

Introduction to Buddhism texts Various Intro to

Buddhism
“The Brain that Transforms Itself” Norman Doidge Neuro-plasticity

3. Organizing
The organizing component of the Fellowship program is the socially engaged and community-oriented
aspect of the Fellowship. Centered on the practice compassion and loving-kindness, this component
seeks to share with the community the practical knowledge, skills, and benefits resulting from the
Fellow’s practice and study of the Buddhist Path. The Organizing component is structured around 3
major areas of work: (1) promoting and sharing the Dharma, (2) developing Leadership and Building
Community Institutions, and (3) nurturing collaboration and mutual support.

15
Potential Organizing Projects*

a. Sharing the Dharma:

Write articles and essays on Buddhist Teachings and practice (ex. Basic Guidelines for
Buddhist Practice), the intersection of Buddhism and social justice, and other relevant
topics.
Share and distribute Buddhist literature, articles, and teachings
Establish and maintain the Dharma Community Library
Organize study groups on the Core Teachings of Buddhism
Develop and share Buddhist reading lists
Organize talks and panels for Buddhist monastic and lay teachers to share the Dharma
Create and maintain Buddhist blog/website
Develop Glossary of Buddhist Terms and Dharma Teaching Guide for Activists
Develop Glossary of Buddhist Terms and Dharma Teaching Guide for Young People

b. Leadership Development & Institution-Building:

Actively coordinate the reactivation of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Young Adults (DRBY)
organization and help recruitment and train new young Buddhist leadership through DRBY.
Do trainings and one-on-one instruction on meditation practice and basic core teachings
Actively mentor young Buddhist leaders committed to the Dharma and social justice
Provide technical/moral support to people interested in starting meditation/study groups
Lay the foundation for the creation of a Buddhist network that can serve as a central hub for Buddhist
groups and organizations in the Bay Area and beyond.

c. Nurturing collaboration and mutual support:

Create a Bay Area Buddhist Contact List & Resource Guide
Organize Inter-organizational social/practice events
Create and maintain Buddhist blog/website
Bay Area Buddhist List-serve
Organize Bay Area Buddhist Summit

*Projects in bold are definite projects that the Fellow is committed to working on for the duration of the
Fellowship program.

16
Section 3:
The Future:
Long-Term Vision for Engaged Buddhism

The Future:
The Long-Term Vision for Engaged Buddhism

1. Strong sustainable institutions and leadership

2. A stronger sense of Buddhist community and support

3. Diverse intergenerational communities

17
4. Deeper understanding and practice

5. Clearly defined and well-articulated collective vision

6. Model for other Buddhist communities

7. Meaningful dialogue with mainstream society: politics, education,

social service, and arts.

8. Creative translation and application of the Dharma through art,

literature, media, culture

9. Clear and positive benefit to target groups: young people, activists &
organizers, and communities of color

10.Clear and positive benefit on culture of social justice movement

(shift towards more principled, healthy, sustainable, compassionate,
and effective) and to larger society, other living beings, and the natural
environment

18
Buddhist Intergenerational Sustainability
(v1.0)
Role of Elders
*Wisdom, knowledge & Role of Children & Youth
experience of Buddhism *Curiosity, energy, & joyfulness
*Teaching Dharma: "Skillful *Learning & embodying
means" (& teaching) the Dharma
*Modeling *Motivation and inspiration for
*Transmission of culture and older Buddhists
values Elders *Living source & reminder of
accountability & responsibility
*Motivation & inspiration for
younger Buddhists
(55+)
*Social networks
*Political power
*Financial resources

Children
Adults & Youth
(25-55) (0-18)

Role of Adults Role of Young Adults

*Commitment & vigor *Time, faith, energy &
*Teaching and learning enthusiasm
Dharma *People power & labor
*Modeling *Community work & activism
*Transmission of culture and *Creative application to modern
values Young world
*Motivation & inspiration for Adults *Creative translation
*Teaching, modeling,
younger Buddhists
*Community work and (18-35) inspiration, & transmission
activism to children & youth
*Social networks
*Political power
*Financial resources

19
Section 4:
Appendix: Supporting Documents

20
Biography of Fellow
Biography
Thien Huu Nguyen is an educator, artist, and devoted Buddhist lay disciple. He was born in 1978 in Qui
Nhon, Viet Nam. At the age of four, he and his family fled their country by boat and stayed at a refugee
camp in Taiwan before coming to the United States and settling in Orange County, CA.

In 1994, while he was in high school, he and his mother attended a weekend retreat during the Guan Yin
Session at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, where he formally took refuge under the Venerable
Master and received the Dharma name Guo Nguyen.

From 1996 to 2000, Thien attended college at the University of California at Irvine, where he majored in
Social Sciences with an emphasis on Social Studies. It was in college where he discovered and began
nurturing his commitment to social service and community work.

During the summer of 2006, he had the opportunity to live and volunteer for several weeks at the City
of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The experience benefited him greatly, and he decided to return the following
summer (2007) for a four-month intensive retreat. After his first stay at CTTB, he and a friend also
started a weekly meditation group in Oakland to support people interested in Buddhist practice.

After this retreat, Thien has made a long-term commitment to learning, practicing, and spreading the
Buddha’s teachings. In addition to his own personal Dharma study and practice, he is committed to
supporting other people in their study and practice, as well as building Buddhist leadership and
community.

Based on his conviction that his life experiences as a serious practitioner will ultimately benefit all living
beings, he is planning on spending a few years devoted to intensive Buddhist practice in a monastic
setting.

In terms of his work experience, Thien has worked at numerous community-based nonprofit
organizations, including Asian American LEAD, the Oakland Asian Students Educational Services
(OASES), the Movement Strategy Center (MSC), and the East Meets West Foundation. His nonprofit work
experience is primarily in the areas of administrative support as well as in development, event planning,
outreach, strategic planning, research, and writing.

Thien also has extensive experience in community service. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area,
he began to help build and organize grassroots volunteer-based groups dedicated to benefiting their
communities through arts and social service. In addition, he has dedicated himself to supporting and
empowering young people, especially in Oakland. For three years, he was an academic tutor and
photography instructor for the Westlake Middle School After School program, and has also volunteered
to do private tutoring for several youth in Oakland’s Chinatown.

His long-term career goal is to dedicate himself to benefiting society through a Buddhist approach to
teaching, counseling and community service.

21
Getting Started on the Buddha’s Path of
Liberation
If you already have a basic understanding of the Buddha’s path of mindfulness and liberation, and are ready to
deepen your practicing and understanding of it, here are 7 concrete guidelines to help you get started.

♦ Make a commitment to the practice. First and foremost, consider making a genuine commitment to the
process of self-transformation and liberation, and to changing your patterns of thought, speech, and actions in
ways that will support and create the conditions for your liberation. It might seem obvious, but the stronger
your commitment and sincerity, the greater the fruits and benefits of your practice will be.

♦ Follow the 5 basic moral precepts or mindfulness trainings. The precepts are the necessary foundation
for your mindfulness practice and are meant to be guidelines for how to live a principled life, minimize
suffering, and promote happiness for yourself and others. Occasionally and for a specific period of time it might
be helpful for you to commit to the 8 training precepts, which are the 5 basic precepts with one modification
(no sexual misconduct becomes no sexual activity) and 3 additional precepts (no eating after midday; no
dancing, singing, music, watching shows, perfumes, cosmetics, or jewelry; and no using luxurious beds and
seats). The 5 precepts are listed below:

1st precept No killing or harming (Reverence for life)

2nd precept No stealing or cheating (Generosity)
3rd precept No sexual misconduct (Sexual responsibility)
4th precept No lying (Truthful speech)
5th precept No using intoxicants (Mindful consumption)

♦ Live a simpler, healthier, and more peaceful lifestyle. After making a commitment to the practice and to
the precepts, the next important step towards nourishing and building your practice is to live a simpler,
healthier, and more peaceful lifestyle. Some helpful lifestyle changes to consider include adopting a moderate
healthy diet, getting regular physical exercise (for example, yoga or qigong), getting enough rest and sleep,
and living a quieter and more peaceful life by minimizing distractions, stress, and noise.

♦ Start meditating regularly and consistently. For many people, this means starting with serenity (Samatha)
meditation practice that stills and concentrates the mind and then developing your practice of insight
(Vipassana) meditation. The best way to build your practice is to set aside specific times to sit and/or walk and
do the best you can to stick to your schedule. This of course is easier said than done, but meditating regularly
and consistently is vital and essential for your practice of liberation. Even sitting for 15 minutes a day can be
very helpful. Below are suggestions for a meditation schedule based on how much time you have available and
your level of commitment and experience:

1st option Twice each and every day for an hour each session
2nd option Twice each and every day for a half hour each session
3rd option Every other day for a half hour each session
4th option 2-3 times a week for a half hour each session
5th option Once each day for15 minutes

♦ Outside of structured meditation time, practice everyday mindfulness. There are many basic practices
that can develop your mindfulness, including mindfulness of your daily activities, your body’s postures and
movements, your breath, your mental states and moods, as well as the loving-kindness meditation. Commit
yourself to a few practices that work well for you and stick with those for now. There are also many other
practices such as chanting, bowing, and sutra recitation that can complement your structured meditation.

♦ Find a qualified teacher and/or a practice community. The benefits of having a good teacher are many
and immeasurable. Because experienced skillful teachers can be hard to come by, another good option is to
join a community of fellow practitioners for support, motivation, and advice, either at a temple or meditation
center or through an informal meditation group. It’s even better if you can find a teacher and join a community
of practitioners.

♦ Learn, discuss, and reflect on the Buddha’s teachings regularly and consistently. Learn in a deeply
practical and engaged way the basic core teachings of Buddhism, and discuss and share what you learn with

22
 other practitioners. This will not only deepen your understanding of the Buddha’s teachings but also will
reinforce and inspire your practice. The Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, kamma, the Law of
Dependent Origination, the Four Divine Abodes, and the Three Universal Characteristics are all considered
among the core of the Buddha’s teachings.

Basic Tips for Sitting Meditation

Preparation:

♦ If possible, wait at least an hour after eating as meal before sitting, and make sure you are well rested
beforehand.

♦ It is strongly recommended that you stretch before you begin your sit, even if only for a few minutes and
especially your lower body. This helps prepares your body for sitting, which is especially important since
meditation is as much about the body as it is about the mind.

♦ For many people, it is helpful to chant or recite a Buddhist text or chant before the start of a sit. Some
suggestions for chants and recitations are:

 The Three Refuges

 Karaniya Metta Sutta
 Maha Mangala Sutta

♦ Choose a length of time to sit before you actually begin your sit. Try to sit for at least 15 minutes. Half an hour
to an hour is typically a good amount of time for one sitting session for most people.

♦ Along the same lines, choose a meditation subject or subjects before beginning your sit. Try not to practice
more than 2 subjects in during any one sitting session. Here are some suggestions for a meditation subject or
combination of subjects:

 Anapanasati, or awareness of breathing

 Metta Bhavana, or the meditation on loving-kindness
 Bare Attention
 Contemplation on the parts of the body
 Metta Bhavana followed by Anapanasati
 Anapanasati followed by contemplation on the parts of the body
 Anapanasati followed by Vipassana

During the Sit:

♦ For those of us who tend to be a little restless during meditation, give yourself an extra few minutes before you
begin timing your sit. During this time you can freely adjust your position, posture and cushion (if any) until
you feel comfortable, take a few deep breathes to clear your breathing passageways, and so on. After this
initial period, try your best not to change your position and posture and minimize physical movement as much
as possible.

♦ If you have to move or change your position, especially due to extreme physical pain or discomfort, try doing
so slowly and mindfully, while still focused on your meditation subject.

♦ To help you get in a frame of mind and attitude conducive to meditation practice, begin your sit by doing a
quick mental checklist in order to cultivate the following helpful qualities of mind:

 Contentment & Relaxation

 Confidence & Enthusiasm
 Kindness

♦ If you find that your mind is very distracted and scattered, try switching temporarily to practicing awareness of
breathing and noting your in-breaths and out-breaths either by counting or by repeating “in” during your in-
breath and “out” during your out-breaths. Once your mind becomes more noticeably concentrated, return to
your meditation subject.

23
At the end of the sit:

♦ When you sit is over, maintain your awareness as much as possible and move slowly and mindfully.

♦ Before you get off the cushion, make the commitment to yourself to try to sustain and carry your mindfulness
throughout your entire day to the best of your ability, starting with the moment you leave the cushion.

24
A Love Beyond Supreme: A Tribute to Metta
October 22, 2007

Since I started walking the Theravada Buddhist path, the practice of metta (loving-kindness) has
become more and more an important part of my life. If there were one practice that I would say is the
most far-reaching practice for me, it would have to be the meditation on loving-kindness. The benefits
of this practice become clearer the more you deepen your understanding and practice of it. Metta has
become a small but powerful revolution for me. Metta gives me another option, another way to respond,
to people, situations, events, myself. It is something practical that I can develop and mobilize for the
war within my mind. Too often our minds are flooded by impatience, frustration, and judgment, or even
worse, sadness, anger, ill will, hatred, rage. Metta is often the only protection against these roots of
suffering, and it is so much more: A haven of hope, good medicine, a reminder to be lovingly mindful,
and a blessing.

But to alleviate suffering and nourish happiness is not only a blessing, it is the actual lived experience of
liberation. Because metta gives us another way of think, it therefore gives us another way to act and
live, both individually and collectively. This way is immensely positive, loving, and hopeful. Metta then
can be a source of joy and a contribution to personal and social justice. It is such a contrast to a way of
life and a human world that is often dominated by the negative, hateful, and hopeless, not to mention
the brutal. In the midst of this situation, metta is the concrete act of training our minds to be more
loving and expressing this loving-kindness. The positive benefits of this simple act I believe are
boundless and immeasurable.

So what exactly is metta? Metta is defined as is the strong wish for the happiness, welfare, and
liberation of all living beings, starting first and foremost with yourself, and the capacity to act on this
wish. The wish for your own happiness and welfare is not only the foundation for the practice of metta,
and the Buddha’s path, it is the basis for your happiness and all positive actions you do for the world. At
the heart of the practice is the strong wish for the happiness and welfare of others AND the concrete act
of promoting their happiness and welfare. Metta is thus very different from our conventional Hollywood
understanding of love, which is typically bound up in lust, desire, possessiveness, conditionality, and
self-interest. And unlike “respect”, which is so conditional and relative, it is both unconditional and
constant. Metta is in fact radically different from anything most of us are used to. It is a love that is
boundless and not based on relationships, identity, or conditions. You don’t radiate metta only to people
of a particular gender, race, class, personality, or life situation; you radiate it to ALL living beings
without distinction. It can be described as a universal unconditional love since it seeks the happiness of
literally all living beings throughout the universe without seeking anything in return and without limit.

Just ask yourself when was the last time you even considered the happiness and welfare of not just your
family, friends, partner, but ALL living beings? Metta is this all-encompassing loving thought cultivated
and repeated over and over again; it is the continuous training of our minds and the expansion of its
capacity to be more loving and kind. Consider just how powerful of an act this can be. More and more,
the importance of deeply expressing a positive and loving attitude in all that we do and all times and at
all places, is becoming clearer to me. The practice of metta meditation must be a continuous expression
and force if you really want to benefit all living beings, or at least the ones around you. At the most
fundamental level, sometimes the most positive thing you can do is to cultivate an attitude of warmth,
friendliness, and loving-kindness and radiate this all around you, and to practice metta at every
available opportunity. And during those times when it is most challenging and most difficult to practice
it, for example, when we are in the midst of anger, frustration, fear, these are the times in which we
need to practice it the most.

In our lives moment-by-moment, we have a choice to either be a living expression of our negativity and
suffering, or an expression of our positivity, joy, and loving-kindness. I wish I could begin to describe just
how liberating this practice can be, and why I have so much faith and confidence in it as a means to
transform our lives. I strongly believe that by flooding our minds with loving-kindness, we can flood the
world with loving-kindness, for the benefit of ourselves, our loved ones, and all living beings.

May you and all beings everywhere know happiness, freedom and peace.

25
26