Visit to Zen Center & Meeting with Master Shifu

 A Place of Tranquility and Peaceness
In my search for inner peace, hope and a place that offers Buddhism memorial services, I started to do visits or inquiries to a few of the bay area's Buddhism centers or temples. So, yesterday, I had my first visit to the Zen Center of Sunnyvale.  Since its inception in March 2004, the Zen Center "has been a refreshing spring for the spirit, welcoming people of all cultures and faiths or no faith. In a tranquil environment, people learn the ageless wisdom of Buddhism, discover the joy of meditation, and uncover the “Buddha Nature” within all of us."
I had lunch there and had a good one on one meeting with Master Minister Shifu, where I tearfully tell him of my great misfortune of having been recently diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and that I have three young kids to care for. As I try to regain composure and courage to be strong and unemotional, he listened kindly, calmingly and offered advice and services of what the Zen Center offers.  He tells me that there are certain formalities to do so first in order to achieve inner peace, to free the soul from a deceased body so that the spirit can move on peacefully to enlightment and or to its reincarnated place and that there are certain chantings to be done for eight hours the moment a person passes.  He says that he can't promise to a guarantee commitment that the Buddhist Ministers can perform a funeral or memorial service at the exact time of need due to pre planned commitments, but that they can work out some arrangement if needed so that this can be done.

We discussed a few other things as well such as some special ceremony that can be performed to welcome me into the Buddhism passage.  Most importantly, he tells me to not give up, to keep on fighting and to keep the will to live life to the fullest with as much normalcy and sense of peace as possible. He also gives me a gift; an electronic tape recording player of Buddhism's chantings to play as needed when I need to pray, meditate or have a need to refocus to regain inner peace. 
I thank him for his time and before I leave, I write down a wish for my full recovery, do a prayer as I light a candle to offer to the Buddhist God's, kneel and give thanks for all that I have.  He welcomes me to come back regularly for the classes or even next week to meet with the Acupuncturist to help relieve my back, hip and rib pain. What a great place this is, the Zen Center.