The Education of a Speaker Master By Henry Chu

Introduction As we have finished our Dharma Meeting, some members may wonder, what’s next? Immediately after the Dharma Meeting, we are all a part of the Divine Mission of Maitreya and we are all volunteers in the temple For those members who wish to excel in the practice of Tao, the next level in the community is to be the Speaker Master

Introduction Since Tao is not a religion, and there is not a governing body, each temple is responsible for training its own Speaker Masters The performance of the Speaker Master is approved by the Transmission Master and a formal ritual is done to validate the Speaker Master Never the less, throughout the years, there have been curriculums established by temple communities in Taiwan for Speaker Masters and this discussion is aimed to share that curriculum

Speaker Master Curriculum—First Year The first year of Speaker Master training involves basic temple texts and entry level classics. These include: – Heart Sutra – Tranquility Sutra – Confucius Classics (Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean) – “Ten Precepts from Ancient Mother” – “Questions and Answers of Soul and Truth” – Etc.

Speaker Master Curriculum—First Year Besides the study of the texts, the Speaker Master candidate will also learn temple etiquette and memorize ritual texts The Speaker Master candidate will also learn the details of all temple ceremonies including Morning/Evening prayers, New Moon/Full Moon services, and Three Treasures Ritual At the same time, Transmission Master will get to know the personal character of the Speaker Master candidate

Speaker Master Curriculum— Second Year The second year of Speaker Master’s training include more advanced classics such as: – The Tao-Te Ching – The Platform Sutra – The Diamond Sutra – Confucius Class (The Analects and Mencius) – The Holy Bible – The Holy Quran

Speaker Master Curriculum— Second Year During the second year, the Speaker Master candidate is given more responsibilities in the temple community The Transmission Master is looking for leadership skills and qualities of the Speaker Master candidate By this time, the Speaker Master candidate would have passed many personal trials and tests and have good understanding of the Tao

Speaker Master Curriculum— Third Year The Third (and final year) of the Speaker Master training involves the learning of I- Ching – Understand the history of I-Ching – Study the text of I-Ching – Understand the applications of I-Ching

Speaker Master Curriculum— Third Year By the third year, the Speaker Master candidate would have had a good grasp of all aspects of temple operations This is also the time that the Speaker Master candidate demonstrated good leadership skills and began to lead small groups (such as the youth group) or take on a particular responsibility of the temple

Speaker Master Education After three years of training, the Transmission Master would have a validation interview with the Speaker Master candidate to ensure the candidate is ready to fully take on the responsibility of a Speaker Master Once validated, the Speaker Master would work with other leaders of the community to sustain and promote the mission of the temple community

Conclusion The information provided are the model used in Taiwan’s temple community It is by no means the absolute path that each Speaker Master must take to be validated Pu-Lin Temple is a pioneer community and we are guided by the spirits in various aspects of our development Never the less, it’s still good to have reference (or begin the discussion of such a reference)

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