社評1122 國際區的精神文化園地

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國際區的精神文化園地

週日參加了中台禪寺普德精捨二十週年慶祈福法會, 在莊嚴明亮之道場中聆聽了住持上見下曇法師主法觀音祈福大法會。 行菩薩道承繼臨濟祖師暨惟覺安公老和尚無上心法， 向在塲數百位信眾弘掦禪宗心法 ，大家都無比動容， 尤其尤是美南新聞之工作伙伴，我們曾在此度過十七年之寒冬艱辛歲月 ，此時此刻更是令我頓生感激之情 ，心中掀起無限之激盪。

早在八0年代 德州經濟一片蕭條 ，銀行倒閉百業不振， 油價掉至每桶十三元， 當時我們參加了由前駐休斯敦外交代表郭明德學長創建之第一家華資銀行德州第一銀行在休斯敦百利大道上開張了， 當時之大環境十方惡劣， 有天我們去了郭學長家探望， 郭大嫂精緻之台菜加上美酒使我們流連忘返， 同時向他請教今後業務之發展 ，郭學長毫不猶豫地鼓勵我們要堅持下去 ，並且他認為媒體是社會公器， 領引社區之重要指標， 決不可退縮， 誠然這番言談 ，改變了我們對未來之信心。

八零年代初 ，我們在萬難中尋得一塊半畝土地即是目前精舍之地址開始了另一塲事業之攻艱戰， 我和妻子領導之團隊全力投入 ，印報廠開始日夜滾動， 我們就如一支沒有退路的軍隊 ，必須勇敢前進。

二十年後的今天， 我們再度回到這塊充滿回憶刻苦銘心之戰塲， 變為處學佛、 靜坐、 參禪淨化、心靈安身立命之道塲， 我們也見證了國際區今日車水馬龍之盛況。

歷史之巨輪不斷往前挺進， 我們在美洲大陸創立了文化媒體的傳奇 ，是共同之光榮。

                                    International District’s Spiritual Landmark

In 1987, the founder, Wei June An, an old monk, in response to the prayers of the public, located the Chung Tai Temple in Houston’s International District. Pude Jingshe is the first branch of the Zhongtai Zen Temple in the southern United States.

In 2002, the Zhangtai Zen Temple was completed and opened. This is not only the continuation of the lineage of Zen Buddhism, but also an important center of Buddhism in the United States.

When we were celebrating the ITC 20th-year anniversary last Sunday, Master Jiantan gave us a spiritual blessing of Buddhism. Everyone was extremely moved, especially for me as the old worker of the Southern Chinese News. We spent 17 years of hard winters here to fight for our survival in the media business.

In the early 1980’s, the Texas economy was depressed. Banks had closed down and hundreds of industries were sluggish. Oil prices went down to $13.00 dollars per barrel. At that time we participated in the first Chinese bank founded by Mr. M. T. Kuo. He was a retired diplomat and happens to be one of my alumni from the Taiwan Ching Hi University. We had dinner at his house and I asked him about our newspaper business. Mr. Kuo didn’t hesitate to encourage us to expand our business. He thought the media was a very important indicator of our community. Finally, we found a half acre of land on Bellaire Blvd. near Cook Road. It took us almost two years, but we finally built a two- story building with a printing press and the press began to roll day and night. We were like in an army with no way out. We were there until 2001 when we sold the building to the temple and it became the spiritual center of our community. Today, twenty years later, we are back to this press room full of memories.

The giant wheel of history keeps moving forward. We are so proud of our decision to create a legacy of culture and media in the community.