Overview of the pilgrimage to Texas

I am writing this while riding on a charter bus, returning from a three day pilgrimage to the Houston Zen Center and to the new Chung Tai International Retreat Center in Shepard Texas. The Grand Master of Chung Tai Monastery, the venerable Wei Chueh, came to Texas to perform the opening purification and consecration ceremony for the dedication of the new pagoda at the retreat center. The pagoda was the first construction project to be completed at the retreat center.

The trip stated early Friday morning when we departed from Buddha Mind in Oklahoma City. After a ten hour bus ride, Friday evening was spent at the Houston Zen Center. We had dinner with Grand Master, followed by a three refuge and five precept ceremony.

Saturday started with an early wake up call then a bus ride to the International Retreat center for the ceremony. After the ceremony we had a tour of the pagoda and grounds, helped with the tear-down and cleanup, then another bus ride back to Houston. There we had dinner and entertainment. It was past my bedtime when we finally made it back to the motel.

That brings us to today. Check out from the motel the a bus ride to the Houston Zen Center. Breakfast was followed by a martial arts demonstration performed by the monk who was head of the Chung Tai martial arts. Now we are on the bus, heading north back to Oklahoma. The bus has wi-fi which is allowing me to make this blog post. The bumpy road makes it hard to type though. I have enough trouble typing at a stationary desk.