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Chan Academy Australia is a registered trading name
of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.
33 Brooking Street, Upwey 3158 Victoria. Australia
A.C.N. 005 701 806 A.B.N. 42 611 496 488
e-mail: chanacademy@bdcu.org.au
website: www.bdcu.org.au
Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists
Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University
Member of the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria (Aust)
NAMO TASSA BHAGAVATO ARAHATO SAMMASAMBUDDHASSA
JOHN D. HUGHES DHAMMA CETIYA
MEDITATION HALL & LIBRARY
Official Opening - Sunday 9th September 2007
PRESS RELEASE
HOME GROWN AUSTRALIAN BUDDHIST CENTRE CELEBRATES OPENING
THEIR NEW MEDITATION HALL AND LIBRARY AT UPWEY IN THEIR
30TH YEAR SINCE BEING FOUNDED IN 1978 BY JOHN 'SPIKE' HUGHES.
JOHN HUGHES PASSED AWAY IN NOVEMBER 2003.
THERE WERE NUMEROUS ARTICLES WRITTEN ABOUT HIM IN THE
LOCAL PAPERS DURING 1970 TO 2003. HE WAS WELL KNOWN INTERNATIONALLY, THROUGHOUT THE BUDDHIST WORLD.
HIS DEDICATED WIFE AND STUDENTS HAVE CONTINUED JOHN'S
VISION OF BRINGING THE BUDDHA'S TEACHINGS INTO THE
LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE, AND COMPLETED BUILDING THE NEW MEDITATION HALL THIS YEAR.
The Meditation hall and library Opening Ceremony is being held at 2.00pm on
the 9th September 2007 at 33 Brooking St, Upwey, Victoria.
Please find following some information about our organisation and
background to our hall opening.
Local Members of parliament The Honorable Mr. James Merlino MP
and The Honorable Mr. Jason Wood MP will be attending the opening
ceremony along with many Buddhist Monks from various Melbourne Buddhist Temples.
The Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd was founded in 1978 by Buddhist Teacher
Mr. John D. Hughes and was incorporated as an Australian Company in 1980.
At that time there was only one other Buddhist Temple in Victoria whilst today there are
over 100 Buddhist Temples located in Victoria so in that sense our centre has been one
of the pioneers of Buddhism in Australia. We are not related to any other Buddhist lineage from overseas.
John David Hughes was a 5th generation Australian with blond
hair and blue eyes. John Hughes became interested in the Buddha's teachings in
about 1955, when he was 25 years old. He made it his life's goal to set up
a Buddhist centre, so the Buddha's teachings could be accessed by
ordinary persons.
Through research at the Victorian State Library and writing to
Buddhist Scholars and Teachers overseas, he recollected many of
the Buddha's Teachings and started to collect Buddhist texts,
which has resulted in our current Library with over 4,000 books.
He encouraged overseas Buddhist scholars to visit Australia to
teach and to set up Buddhist Centres here.
As John D. Hughes was Australian, he developed our centre within the Australian
culture as a "home grown" Buddhist organisation operating within five
key styles of professionalism, practicality, friendliness, cultural adaptability
and scholarship. He used a lot of Australianisms in his teachings such
as "it gets easier after the first 100 years" which were very
warming and made the students feel at home.
John Hughes and his Centre became well known in the Buddhist International
world as the “Upwey Centre”. Many Buddhist Scholars and leaders supported
and acclaimed his teachings methods and skills that they
were made aware of through receiving his international journal,
the Buddha Dhyana Dana Review.
John brought the Buddha's teachings in to Australian culture and
made them accessible to the lay Australian persons. His humour
and joy in teaching infected all his students, making it easy for them to learn.
In 1994, our Centre became a member of the World Fellowship of Buddhists
that consists of 140 Buddhist Organisations. He [John D Hughes] was elected a
Vice-President of the World Fellowship Buddhists and a
Council Advisor of the World Buddhist University in 1998
and drafted the first resolution to form the World Buddhist University.
Our centre is now an associated Institution of the World Buddhist University.
John Hughes passed away in 2003 at the age of 73. Since then
his wife Anita, and some of his senior students have continued to manage
and run the centre in accordance with his plans.
We operate as a not for profit, charitable self-help organization and over
the years have funded our own activities and development through a
combination of fundraising and the kind support and generosity
of our past and present Members and friends. Since 1978
we have offered classes and courses in Buddhist teachings
(Buddha Dhamma) and practice at no charge to the participants.
We are a non-sectarian Buddhist Temple and teach
from the main schools of Buddhism. (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana and Chan or Zen).
Being non-sectarian has enhanced our capacity to develop
long lasting friendships with Buddhist Temples from most
of the traditional Buddhist countries such as Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Taiwan.
Members practice the Ten Perfections in accordance with the Teachings of the Buddha. These Perfections cover the principle areas a person needs to cultivate to develop themselves on the Buddhist path. Examples of these are the practices leading to the perfections of generosity, morality, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom.
Our Centre's key objectives are:
· To introduce a philosophy of life based on Buddha's Teachings.
· To encourage the study, practice and realisation of Buddhist Teachings.
· To preserve the Buddha teachings, and;
· To promote activities associated with Buddha Dhamma and Buddhist Culture
in Australia and overseas.
We are one of over 140 Regional Centres of the World
Fellowship of Buddhists (one of five such centres located in Australia), an
Associated Institution of the World Buddhist University and a
Founding Member of the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria.
Background to the Construction of the New Meditation Hall and Library
Plans to provide a meditation hall and library were
first formulated in the 1980's and the foundation stone was
laid in place on 29th October 1989 at a special
ceremony. Formal plans were not drawn up until
2002 when John Hughes stated it was our most needed addition
for the effective running of our Temple. A
planning permit was sought by Mrs Anita Carter
(Abbot of the Centre and landowner) in 2005
and was granted in December 2005 by the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
Construction commenced in January 2006 with all
the building works being done voluntarily by members and
friends of the centre. The plumber and electrician were
the only paid contractors involved in the project. For many
years prior our Members had learned the building skills
needed to complete this project by working at the centre
constructing several extensions, additional buildings and modifications
as they were required for the running of the Temple.
Our focus has always been on building the needed skills within
our own membership and this applied not only to building works
but also to such things as creating our own websites, publishing and
printing onsite an international Buddhist journal which was
distributed free of charge to Buddhists in over 40 countries,
producing our own weekly Buddhist radio program on FM radio,
creating and running our own internet radio station called World
Buddhist Radio, developing and managing an extensive onsite multilingual
Buddhist library and providing secretarial services to bi-annual conferences
of the World Fellowship of Buddhists.
Earlier this year the hall, named the John D.
Hughes Dhamma Cetiya, was finally completed. Cetiya is
a word from the ancient Indian Pali language
which means monument, and the Dhamma refers
to the teachings of the Buddha. So it is
our wish that the learning and practice of Buddha's
teachings done by practitioners in our
new hall to be exemplary and a monument to the Dhamma.
The Opening Ceremony will be attended by our present
students and some past students who helped and contributed
to the centre over the years as well as many Buddhist monks who
we have developed close friendships with and will be
a celebration of the milestone of our new hall
and library as well as a commemoration of the
life and great compassionate works of our Founder Master John D. Hughes.
Should you require any further information please contact me by email.
Yours faithfully,
Frank Carter B.Ec.
Vice-President
Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd
A.B.N. 42 611 496 488
33 Brooking Street,
Upwey, 3158, Victoria
Telephone / Facsimile: (613) 9754 3334
May You Be Well and Happy
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