True Buddha Foundation May Conference Held in Seattle. Directors Discuss Upcoming Plans for True Buddha School.
2 New Translated Books to be Published


【Seattle True Buddha Foundation Core Committee Report, Translated by Lynn Ang, Edited by DJ Chang and Henry Wolf 】
On May 11-12, 2017 a periodical meeting of the True Buddha Foundation (TBF) Core Committee was held in Seattle. Core Committee members present were:

Master Lianjie (蓮潔上師), Meeting Chair and Director of Secretarial Department; Master Lianzai (蓮栽上師), Director of Dharma Activities Department; Master Lianyue (蓮悅上師),Director of Public Relations Department; Master Lianwang (蓮旺上師), Director of Supervisory Commission Member Department; Master Lianyin, (蓮印上師) Director of Finance Department; Master Lianja (蓮者上師), Director of General Affairs Department; and Master Lianhe(蓮訶上師), Director of Promotional Literature Department. The atmosphere of the two-day conference was friendly and harmonious with everyone working hard to promote the continued growth of TBS.

Per the meeting agenda, the directors reviewed the minutes of the February 2017 Core Committee conference and assessed the implementation of numerous resolutions. Each director then reported on the progress of projects undertaken during the last two months.

Master Lianjie reported that, as representatives of TBF, she and Master Dehui visited Master Liangao who is currently in poor health. To convey the best regards and concern of everyone they presented Master Liangao with a get-well card signed by all seven departmental directors. Upon receiving the card Master, Liangao kissed it and expressed his gratitude to all the directors for their thoughtfulness.

Master Lianzai then reported that he has assembled the sadhanas for practices Grandmaster recently transmitted in Taiwan. These sadhanas include Cakrasamvara Practice, Humsvaranadinitara Practice, Nine Phoenix Eradicating Defilements Practice, White Tara Practice, etc. For the benefit of sentient beings these sadhanas will be made public as soon as Grandmaster has given his final approval.

Master Lianzhe reported that two more books from Grandmaster's book collection, Vol. 246 Chatting with Oneself and Vol. 226 Open Your Mind, have been translated into English.

Master Lianhe reported that Grandmaster will be in Malaysia this December to spread the dharma. The Promotional Literature Department has identified 14 areas of interest in relation to this upcoming dharma event. Furthermore, the Promotional Literature Department is asking everyone to put even more effort into writing articles supporting and protecting Grandmaster and TBS.

The Core Committee then passed several motions as follows:
As all documentation is complete, the Core Committee approved the application of Indonesia Yuanhong Chapter to open a Lei Tsang temple.
The Core Committee approved an application by Grandmaster's book collection promotion team to foster affinity with the buddhadharma by printing bookmarks for free distribution.
Regarding Malaysia Chuanlu Cultivation Association's application for temple construction fundraising, the Core Committee required further submission of relevant documents.

In the ''cases needing special discussion'' session the directors focused on the upcoming 5th TBF Core Committee elections in September and thoroughly discussed details of the election rules. Issues concerning election procedures and processes, such as flow, candidate list, ballot design, reading of votes, counting of votes, etc. were carefully studied by the directors.This will ensure that the election process is rigorous, fair and well thought out. TBF will notify all TBS masters in writing of the upcoming 5th TBF General Assembly.

TBF announces the following:
The General Assembly will be held on Monday, September 18, 2017 at 1:30pm (transportation will depart at 11am sharp from Seattle LSCTT). Rainbow Temple will be the venue for the general election of directors and members of the 5th TBF Committee. Elections for Chairman of the Lotus Light Charity Society, Team Leader of the Senior Home, Team Leader of Hospice Care, Team Leader of the True Buddha Columbarium, Team Leader of the Marketing and Promotional Team for Grandmaster's book collection, and Team Leader of the Dharma Propagation Personnel Care Group will also be held during the general election.

Please kindly note the following:
In the event a member is unable to vote in person, voting by mail is acceptable. Faxed or proxy votes, however, will be not accepted.
If a member has voted by mail and later casts their vote in person, the mailed-in vote will be deemed invalid.
In electing the TBF Committee members, the top 21 candidates with the most votes will be deemed Committee members. The top 7 of these 21 candidates shall be deemed Core Committee departmental directors. Regarding election of Chairman of the Lotus Light Charity Society and the team leaders of aforementioned teams, those candidates with the most votes will be deemed Chairman and Team Leader respectively.

Regarding the outcome of the Committee members election, in the event there is an equal number of votes for candidates in the 1st to the 7th position resulting in the election of more than 7 candidates, a second vote for those candidates in the 7th position will be held. Likewise, In the event there are equal numbers of votes for candidates in the 1st to the 21st position resulting in the election of more than 21 candidates, a second vote will be held for those candidates in the 21st position. This process will ensure that the 7 departmental director positions and the 21 Core Committee member positions are filled by 7 or 21 candidates respectively. Similarly, in the event there are equal numbers of votes for the position of Chairman of the Lotus Light Charity Foundation and team leaders, voting shall be held until only one candidate with the majority of votes remains. Furthermore, in the event repeated voting is required to fill positions, only members present in person will be entitled to cast votes.

Voting by mail: Select and circle ''postal vote'' (attached) and then sign the ballots. There are a total of four ballots. A signature is required on each ballot. Unsigned ballots will be deemed invalid. Next, place the ballots in an envelope with the words ''Postal votes'' clearly written on the envelope. The deadline for TBF to receive the mailed-in ballots is September 10. Mailed-in votes received after this date will be deemed null and void. All mailed-in votes received by TBF on or before September 10 will be safeguarded and counted on the general election day of September 18. For those voting in person, secret ballots will be used. Mailed-in votes, however, are not anonymous.

The maximum number of candidates members can vote for at the 5th Worldwide TBS True Buddha Foundation Committee General Election is 21. Members are allowed to select only one candidate for the positions of Chairman of the Lotus Light Charity Society, Team Leader of the Senior Home, Team Leader of Hospice Care, Team Leader of the TBS Columbarium, Team Leader of the Marketing and Promotional Team for Grandmaster's book collection, and Team Leader of the Dharma Propagation Personnel Care Group.

During the conference, departmental directors also discussed proposed amendments to TBF by-laws. Following the conference, directors reported a summary of the Core Committee conference to Grandmaster and Shimu who then provided the Core Committee with invaluable advice and guidance. This perfectly concluded the conference.

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