On October 8-9, 2010 Chan Master Gilbert Gutierrez , the dharma heir of the late great Chan Master Shengyen, will give a public talk in Ann Arbor and lead a one-day meditation retreat near Lansing. The public is cordially invited. Both events are free. Donations are welcome.
Dharma talk “Ch’an (Zen) Practice”
Time: Friday October 8, 2010, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Location: Boulevard Room, Pierpont Common, North Campus, University of Michigan.
Address: 2101 Bonisteel, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (734) 764-7544
Web Link for Pierpont Common: http://uunions.umich.edu/pierpont/
Daylong Meditation Retreat
Saturday October 9, 2010
Check-in: 9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
Meditation & Instructions: 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m (w/ vegetarian lunch )
Location: Amitabha Village, 14796 Beardslee Rd, Perry, MI 48872
(50 min west of Ann Arbor; 20 min east of Lansing)
Please register online at http://www.LansingBuddhist.org
For more information contact: (517) 293-3110 or lansingbuddhist@gmail.com
Sponsored by Ann Arbor Buddhist Society, Lansing Buddhist Association, and Dharma Drum Mountain (Michigan Chapter)
Short Biography – Gilbert M. Gutierrez, Chan Master
Gilbert Gutierrez is a lay Chan master in the Chinese tradition.
His parents were from Mexico, and he grew up and was raised a Catholic in the United States. Gilbert obtained a BA and also a law degree at UCLA.
In 1974 he was admitted to the California bar and has practiced law for over thirty years in Riverside California.
Growing up Catholic Gilbert felt a strong tie with the Virgin Mary and the concept of universal compassion for all beings. But he also had religious doubts and felt a longing for a great truth which he knew existed but hadn’t found. His religious search took him to many corners, and he also practiced for years in the marital arts.
Being drawn to the meditative dimension of the martial arts, Gilbert began studying Chi Gong with different masters. He was invited to become a Chi Gong master himself but declined feeling his deeper questions had not been answered.
Gilbert began formal training in Buddhism under a Buddhist Chi Gong Master. Chance events led him to read the Diamond Sutra, and he had a profound experience of illumination.
Later Gilbert met and undertook years of training as a disciple of the Great Chan Master Venerable Sheng-yen. After devoted effort, he became one of five lay persons and the only American to receive transmission as a Master Sheng-yen’s dharma heir as a Chan Buddhist master.
Today Gilbert teaches dharma and practices law in Riverside California.
He is married to Ai-Lun Wei, also a discipline of Master Sheng-yen, and has a son, Ananda who often accompanies his father around the country when Gilbert teaches.
Gilbert’s web page from The Riverside Chan Meditation Group is http://www.riversidechan.org/. His dharma talks can be downloaded at http://dharmatalks.riversidechan.org.
This October Gilbert is returning by popular request to teach for the seventh time to Michigan, where he has a growing group of dharma students.
