BUDDHIST CHURCHES OF AMERICA 1710  Octavia  Street San Francisco, CA 94190 (415) 776-5600 Sagaponack  Zendo,  Sagaponack,  NY Wat Promkunaram, Waddell, AZ San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, CA Wider Shin Buddhist Fellowship, Morganton, NC Santa Barbara Buddhist Priory, Santa Barbara, CA Santa  Clara  Dhama  Group,  Santa  Clara,  CA Zen Buddhist Mission, Miami, FL Santa  Cruz  Zen  Center,  Santa  Cruz,  CA Zen  Center  of  Los  Angeles,  CA Seattle Dharma Center, Seattle, WAS Zen  Center  of  Los  Angeles,  Angeles  -  Affiliate, Shasta Abbey - HQ of the Order of Buddhist Tucson, AZ Contemplative, Mt. Shasta, CA Bakersfield,  CA Sonoma Mountain Zen Center, Santa Rosa, CA Santa  Barbara  Ca Stone  Mountain  Zendo,  Roanoke,  VA Coral Gables, FL Sunday Sangha, San Antonio, TX Atlanta, GA Baltimore,  MD Tendai Lotus, Boyes Hot Springs, CA Zen  Center  of  Philadelphia,  Philadelphia,  PA Texas Buddhist Association, Inc, Houston, TX Zen Center Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ The Buddhist Temple, Nashville, TN Zen  Group  (Gay  and  Lesbian),  Los  Angeles,  CA The  Buddhist  Theosophical  Society,  Lafayette,  LA Zen Institute of San Diego, CA The Foundation of Peace, Clearwater, FL Zen  Lunatics  Planetary  Service The  Meditation  Place,  Providence,  RI Zen  Mountain  Center The Metta Foundation, Garrison, NY Corte  Madera,  CA The   Metta   Foundation   California   Center, Mountain Center, CA Santa Rosa, CA Desert Hot Springs, CA Turtle Hill Sangha, Summertown, TN Idyllwild,  CA Zen Sitting Group, San Francisco, CA Vajrapani Institute, Boulder Creek CA Zenshjui  Soto  Mission,  Los  Angeles,  CA Figure  1-4.—Buddhist  centers  in  the  United  States—Continued PHILOSOPHY, LAWS, AND PRACTICES Like  all  great  religions,  Buddhism  teaches  the importance  of  godly  or  holy  values.  Buddhism  teaches that if a person has a pure mind, everything he or she does will be pure and decent; and that if a person has a pure heart, all happiness will come to him or her. Truths and Virtues The highest virtue is universal charity-giving all you  can  to  anybody  who  needs  help.  The  Buddhist philosophy  of  charity  is  evident  in  the  following  excerpt from the 10 blessings asked of Buddha: ‘To serve wise men, and not to serve fools, to give honor to whom honor is due, this is the greatest blessing. To dwell in a pleasant land, to have done good deeds in a former birth, to have the right desires for one’s self, this the greatest blessing. To succor father and mother, to cherish wife and child, to follow a peaceful calling, this is the greatest blessing. To give alms and live righteously, to help one’s relatives and do blameless deeds, this is the greatest blessing. They who act like this are invincible on every side, on every side they walk in safety, and theirs is the greatest blessings.” For arriving at the truths of religion, Buddhism teaches an eightfold path consisting of these virtues: (1) right views, (2) intention, (3) speech, (4) action, (5) livelihood,  (6)  effort,  (7)  mindfulness,  and  (8)  right concentration.  Movement  toward  these  truths  will assist the devotee toward abolishment of all desire, hatred,  and  ignorance. In  his  teachings,  Buddha acknowledged  that  this  goal  was  a  long  process. Therefore, he taught that each person could have an unknown  number  of  lives  in  which  to  attain  supreme reality. Reincarnation Buddhism teaches reincarnation, a religious belief common in the east. Reincarnation proposes that a person is born many times. In each new life, the person is better than in the life before. Buddha taught that the 1-11