The Exhibition - First Day (Journey to
the West)
The
photo exhibition of Journey to the West opened to the public
on Dec. 2nd in Millbrae, California. Starting Dec. 3rd, there
will be seminars on every weekend, inviting scholars and religious
leaders in the Bay Area to share their researches and interests
along Central Asia.
On
Saturday morning, many groups of high school students, friends,
and family members came to the exhibition hall. There were
seven glazed Buddha statues and a large painting of Dharma
Master Hsuan Tsang and his journey to the west near the front
entrance. The exhibition was divided into 4 areas with both
English and Chinese tour guides in each section.
While people were looking at the picture
of the Bamiyan Canyon Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban,
Brother Chen Yoe said, "People destroy because they fear
difference - they do not understand that we, as human beings,
share certain common values. Unfortunately, some people choose
to live without "self-awareness." The audience was
deeply moved by his words. Sister Sing Sien was the tour guide
for the India exhibition; she introduced the religions of
Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism that coexisted in this ancient
land to emphasize the importance of mutual respect.
There
was an area dedicated to a 'Google Earth and Map Game' that
allowed students to utilize the computerized tool to figure
out the location and cultural information in the areas along
Hsuan Tsang's journey.
The
speaker for the first seminar was Rev. Heng Sure, from Berkeley
Buddhist Monastery, and started at 10:30AM. Rev. Heng Sure
was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1949. He received his M.S. and
Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. Later, he became a monk at the City
of Ten Thousand Buddhas, under the guidance of Rev. Hsuan
Hua.
Rev. Heng Sure praised Tzu Chi for this
great effort. The content of the exhibition covered art, culture,
and religion. According to his own research, Master Hsuan
Tsang spent 19 years on his journey and brought back valuable
authentic materials of Buddha's education. He pointed out
that many people did not know how to pronounce Hsuan Tsang's
name, and thus, it was difficult for people to remember him.
In Asia, because of the famous "Monkey King Journey to
the West" fiction, people have mistaken impressions about
the real Hsuan Tsang.
Rev. Heng Sure summarized how Hsuan Tsang
was able to walk 10,000 miles in extremely difficult conditions
without even thinking of giving up. There were many reasons
for Hsuan Tsang's conviction: first was the dharma, second
was selflessness, third was calmness, and fourth was being
a vegetarian. He encouraged the audience to become vegetarian
and suggested that children who were already vegetarian study
well compared to other kids.
The second seminar started from 1:00PM
and was conducted by Mr. Chi Hong Wang, Editor-in-Chief of
Rhythms Magazine. Mr. Wang traveled through Central Asia including
Bamiyan and Afghanistan during 1998 and 2003. Upon his visit
in 1998, Afghanistan was already going through 19 years of
civil war. At that time, the great statue of Buddha was still
in Bamiyan Canyon, but later was destroyed by the Taliban
in 2001. Mr. Wang described a great wish from a child in the
region to have a dictionary. With a lack of basic necessities,
no postman could deliver the dictionary from Mr. Wang to the
child.
Mr. Wang applauded the achievements from
Dharma Master Hsuan Tsang. He not only brought back sutras
from India to China, but also made Buddhism a religion for
millions of Chinese for 1500 years.
The
last seminar was presented by Dr. Qi Zhu who spoke about the
2,500 year history of western China. He described while traveling
through rural areas, many refugees would come to grab bread
and food from people on the train. Life was very difficult
and unthinkable. After 1500 AD, long-range transportation
vessels were invented. Merchants did not need to travel through
high mountains and jungles anymore. The Silk Road gradually
lost its value as a path to connect the East and West. Dr.
Zhu suggested that a very famous Chinese poet, Bai Li, could
be from Kyrgyzstan, as suggested by the president of Kyrgyzstan.
That was quite interesting and unheard of.
In
these three seminars, the lecture hall was completely full.
At the end of the lecture, Tzu Chi sisters performed 'Love
Brightens the World' to entertain the audience.
