Shinzen Young’s Best 80th Birthday Present

AN INVITATION TO SUPPORT SHINZEN'S TRIP TO CHINA:

Hello Dharma friends,

This letter is to anyone who has benefitted from Shinzen’s teachings over the years and would like to express their gratitude on the occasion of Shinzen's 80th birthday.

When talking with Shinzen recently, he mentioned his deep longing to return to China for “at least a few months.” Shinzen shared that he feels most relaxed and at home there, which he experienced again in 2019 when he taught a retreat there (see photos).

Shinzen studied Mandarin Chinese in 1959 in L.A. when he was a teenager. At UCLA in 1967 he did intensive reading of Chinese Buddhist texts, particularly from the Tiantai and Huayan schools. In 1974-1975, he spent one year in Taiwan studying Chinese Buddhism with Master Wuguang.

“I feel Chinese,” he continued. Shinzen said he would love to be there and have one or more tutors to learn different speaking styles and get familiar with the Chinese social and cultural context. “The people! Chinese art and opera! And the food! I want to share and discuss Zen stories there.”

As Shinzen will turn 80 on August 7th, I thought, “After all Shinzen has freely given for so many years, it would be an awesome gift if we could surprise him with the best 80th birthday present: a trip to China.” Well, I wrecked that surprise by emailing a few people and inadvertently including Shinzen in my planning. Yikes! The good news is that since Shinzen is now in the loop, he is thrilled and humbled that the trip to China might happen. We managed to carve out two months this summer that Shinzen’s schedule can accommodate, starting in July and returning in September.

And then Shinzen’s global impact plan began manifesting. Beyond his personal happiness goals, and because of China’s population and rising power, he sees it as a major player on the world stage. Shinzen said that because much of the wisdom he shares has been influenced by reading the Chinese classical teachings, he wanted to go to China to "give back" and influence China for the better in whatever way he could. Once his Chinese speaking is sufficiently polished, he’ll show up as a mindfulness teacher, public intellectual, and researcher. He’ll make connections, attend meetings, give public talks on how science and contemplative practice can benefit the future of humanity, and join conversations with people working in science, technology, education, government, and leadership roles. Shinzen will do variations of this in at least four cities: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing.

Shinzen has been teaching meditation and making himself available since 1972, in retreats and through one-on-one coaching over the phone. As he often said, “Call me 24-7. If I pick up the phone, the dharma shop is open.” Many students, retreats, audio cassettes, books, YouTube videos, interviews, and manuals later, Shinzen has mostly retired from in-person, on-site teaching. “Do the math,” as Shinzen might say. That is over 50 years of teaching and serving our community.

If you have benefitted from Shinzen’s teachings, and out of generosity and gratitude, you would like to help make Shinzen’s China trip happen, please join us.

We have set up this page so that all your donations, collected in U.S. dollars, go directly to Shinzen as an individual and, as such, are not tax deductible.

Note: A Chinese speaker will support Shinzen during this trip for safety and logistics. Various Chinese speakers will accompany him depending on where in China he is traveling.

Funding Goals

1. Get Shinzen to China with a Chinese-speaking person accompanying him there and back.

Status - It’s a go!

Shinzen will teach a ten-day retreat in China, and funds from the retreat have been used to purchase a flight ticket for him on the auspicious Chinese New Year's Day, the first day of the Year of the Dragon. Shinzen's Chinese-speaking student will accompany him during his departure and return flight to ensure everything goes smoothly, including the flight transfer to Seoul and immigration in China.

2. Keep Shinzen in China with basic living conditions for the full two months = $10,000 US

Status - Ongoing

Now that our first goal of getting Shinzen to China is accomplished, your contributions will go towards keeping him there for the full two months and determining what is possible for him. Shinzen will be staying at the retreat center he is teaching at for ten days, leaving 50 days of expenses. We aim to fundraise $20,000 US in two $10,000 segments: Basic living conditions and upgrading conditions.

$200 US per day x 50 days = $10,000 US for basic living conditions

• $200 US will support Shinzen to stay one day in China (hotel room and food for 2 people)

3. Upgrade Shinzen’s living conditions = $10,000 US

Status - Ongoing

• An extra $100 to $200 US per day will support Shinzen living in upgraded conditions, including better accommodations, meals, domestic flights, more fun (Chinese opera!), and one or two Chinese tutors who can teach Shinzen various speaking styles.

NOTE 1: When making a donation, GoFundMe encourages donors to leave a tip to support the GoFundMe platform. By default, the tip rate is set at 17%. Please be aware that this money does not go to Shinzen, and you do not need to leave a tip at all. You can change the tip amount to 0%.

NOTE 2: Any donations that exceed the $20,000 US goal will go towards supporting Shinzen’s subsequent trips to China.

Any contribution is appreciated. Many thanks for helping Shinzen have his best 80th birthday present!

A deep bow, 鞠躬,

Har-Prakash Khalsa and Avery Argenna