Interview by Kathleen Gregory

The Yun Yang Temple (Australia) Inc. is situated in Narre Warren North on 32 acres of old farmland. On a dirt road off Heatherton Road, it is peacefully positioned close to one of the new housing estates that continue to spread out around Melbourne. The Most Venerable Abbot Ru-Sun (Master Ru-Sun) was a guest at the official opening of Maitripa Contemplative Centre late last year and it was a pleasure to meet with him at his Temple. Although he does not speak English, his demeanour and deep resonant voice instils respect. The Yun Yang Temple is in the Ch'an (Zen) Tradition and Master Ru-Sun is himself from Taiwan.

I had communicated with Master Ru-Sun's secretary, Katy Tai, in making my arrangements. I was invited to attend a special event on a Thursday morning and arrived a little early to find that this special event was a visit from the local Mayor, Ron Mantel. There had been money raised from the recent Food Festival at the Temple and each year half of the proceeds of this function are donated to the local council for cultural and charitable needs within the community. It was a great honour to be present for this occasion. Also present was a representative of the Chinese community, Martin Louey, the Director of the Chinese Cultural Centre, Australia; a member of the Yun Yang Temple, Mary Fong, who acted as interpreter; Katy Tai, who took photos and assisted with serving lunch and two other women who acted as attendants. As an E-Vam Institute member, who has also had the privilege of being an attendant to visiting teachers, it was very familiar to see the women working together under the quiet (sometimes non-verbal) direction of their teacher.

During lunch, Master Ru-Sun took the time to demonstrate to the Mayor - who had received a gift of Chinese tea - how to prepare, serve and drink the tea in the traditional way. We all learnt to appreciate the two-cup system. The small round cup sits on top of the long cup, which has been first filled with tea. They are then turned over together (thumbs keeping the small cup in place) causing the tea to empty into the small round cup. This cup is then used for drinking, the tall cup for discerning the aroma of the tea. From the lunch, it was apparent that the Yun Yang Temple has a strong commitment to contributing to and being part of the local community. We then took a guided tour of the property. Established in 1995, the property has an 'official' entrance that remains gated except for special occasions. It is a long paved driveway translated roughly as 'Dharma Street'. The second entrance takes you through a treed driveway to the front of the buildings. Looking up from the carpark, a gentle sloping rise takes you first to a Chinese dragon-painted rotunda under some pine trees and behind and to the left are low-level buildings, while to the right is an established garden area. The Temple itself has grown up around the original buildings, as Katy pointed out - no buildings had been destroyed - but there have been beautiful renovations and additions. The same principle has applied in relation to the trees and gardens - nothing has been taken out, and recently many fruit trees have been planted.

The building to the left, looking up from the carpark, was the original farmhouse which is now the kitchen and dining hall, and what is called the Exhibition Hall. This large room contains a sizeable gold statue of Chi Kwang; and various arts and historical items are on display also. Photographs of events at the Temple line these walls. There are some interesting photos from the Bowing in Respect to the Parents Ceremony - showing a young man bowing at the feet of his parents in the middle of a crowd of people - everyone is laughing and seeming to enjoy the moment. Other photos displayed show Master Ru-Sun visiting the sick and elderly in hospital, and sitting and laughing with the Buddhist Youth Group. There are also photos of Master Ru-Sun's own Master who resides in Taiwan. At least once a year, Master Ru-Sun shows his respect by returning to visit his Teacher. Master Ru-Sun has a busy travel schedule, which includes visiting Temples in Malaysia and Taiwan.

The main building, which stretches right across the front of the property, was once the old stable. It has a veranda all the way along and is cream in colour with red trim. It houses the Main Shrine Room - simply arranged with ornate Buddha statues, lotus lamps and vases, with two large free-standing 'protector' figures on either side of the shrine. Gentle chanting music is on continuous play here. From the main shrine room, to the right, can be found the offices and residence of Master Ru-Sun. To the left is the library and Meditation Hall. The Meditation Hall seats 108 people on raised platforms with simple white cushions. The room is lined in pine and is free from adornments other than the small Buddha statue seated in front of an ornate chair, which I assumed is for the teacher. Master Ru-Sun told us that he has further plans to build a Meditation Hall that will seat 300 people. Behind the main building there are four meditation huts that people may utilise for solitary retreat. They are simple in design - a single room with a veranda. Cooking can be done in the nearby kitchen. At the moment they have two resident nuns living there who use two of the huts. There are plans to build more in the near future.

The Temple has a full and varied program. Weekly recitations of the Medicine Sutra and Amitabha Buddha Name are conducted, and Sundays include an evening timeslot devoted to what is called Family Practice. Weekly teachings in the Dharma occur and the Yun Yang School is responsible for teaching Chinese culture, art and craft as a means of propagating the Dharma and Chinese culture. A large focus of the Temple is meditation practice. There are regular seven-day and three-day Ch'an meditation retreats and there is a short-term ordination retreat held once a year. Taking Refuge ceremonies occur regularly and there are numerous special ceremonies and functions, including the Buddha Day and Food Fair in May, which attract many people. The meditation retreats have begun to attract around eighty people. There are also many regular visitors who just drop into the Friendship Centre for tea and coffee. Most of the members are originally Chinese, from Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. However, there are also regular Western students attend the Temple - one of the volunteers working in the gardens on the day I visited was a Western woman. Overall the impression is of a warm and welcoming place.

After our walk around the property, we said goodbye to the Mayor. Master Ru-Sun, Katy and I returned to the visitor's area for more tea and delicious fresh lynches. There was a little time for me to ask some questions with Katy as interpreter. Master Ru-Sun preferred not to be recorded and any errors or omissions in the following are the result of my note taking. I started by asking Master Ru-Sun about his vision for the Temple. Master Ru-Sun replied that his emphasis was on building a meditation hall, because he sees the importance of propagating meditation - not simply within the bounds of 'religion' but for everyone - for students and workers, for young and for old people. He said that it was like 'meditation without Buddhism'. I asked if he saw this as particularly important in this modern age. He replied that Buddhism can adapt easily to modern times and that this is no different to how Buddhism has always been. Since the Buddha's teachings develop our minds, we can cultivate our idle minds and develop wisdom to promote our daily life.

I asked about the Temple's obvious commitment to contributing to the local community. Master Ru-Sun replied that in the first place, things are changing so fast and that we have to think about how people are living now. From this, he has some ideas to give to the community. In this local area, many community members - including the elderly, the poor and especially the young - often have lots of problems. If we can, he says, we should try to help. He felt that, especially now, people are living longer and when people retire, it is important to teach them to use meditation to attain health and happiness in their lives. Master Ru-Sun said that after attaining peace and happiness, people could develop concern for other people. If someone has a big concern of their own, we should help them with this, and then we can help them to be concerned for other people. This is the basis of a good and compassionate society.

I asked about the sort of commitment members can make in terms of their practices at the Temple. Every week, replied Master Ru-Sun, there are meditation courses and people can commit to these in a group setting. If an individual person thinks that they need more, they could talk directly to Master Ru-Sun and if he can organise this, then it will happen. I asked if Master Ru-Sun could speak a little about Buddhism from the Ch'an tradition. He asked if I meant a Dharma talk and laughingly I replied, 'just a little one'. Buddhism, he replied, is both on a very high level, which may not be very suitable for all human beings and on a basic level, which can be presented not as a religion. This sort of teaching can be fitted into daily life and is very useful for all human beings.

Actually, the Dharma teachings are very simple, very clear. These teachings help us to purify our mind of all the old and unnecessary things that usually occupy us. People always have two kinds of trouble in their mind - attachment to past things and thinking about the future. These cause people 'worryness', which sometimes results in greed and therefore life becomes painful. We cannot change the past or the future, therefore we must keep to the present time. Keeping to the present time, Master Ru-Sun went on to say, is doing whatever is it that is 'correct', whatever it is that does not harm others. We are living in this universe, just trying to be human beings. It looks very simple, he said, but it is hard to do. In Buddhism, the way is very simple - if hungry just eat, if tired just sleep, if the weather is cold wear warm clothes. As ordinary human beings, we have to obey the five precepts. If you can concentrate on these, then as a human being, you are doing well. However, Master Ru-Sun was quick to point out that talk is easy, but doing these practices is not so easy.

Continuing with his discourse, Master Ru-Sun went on to say that Buddhism is always talking about compassion, which people think means firstly concern for others. However, firstly you have to protect yourself because if you yourself are hampered, you can do nothing to help or protect others. Learning the teachings of the Buddha results in not being selfish, but learning to protect yourself is the main issue. The proper path includes more practice, more learning, then more experience. Through this we can help each other. This is a good thing, it brings benefit for others and we create good affinity and sow good seeds. If we let other people be happy, then we are also happy and peaceful.

The Buddha's teaching is that if we benefit others and we benefit ourselves both sides will benefit. If right now this society can learn the teachings of the Buddha, then all of society will be one pure land; it will be in harmony. This will be true not only for human beings, but for all living and non-living beings, all seen and unseen beings - everyone can be happy and peaceful. We finished our discussion here. I expressed my thanks to Master Ru-Sun for his generous invitation to today's lunch and for his time. He extended an invitation to come by at any time to use the Meditation Hall or to just visit. I am sure that if anyone were to visit the Yun Yang Temple they would find themselves warmly welcomed.