📖 Beginning January 2026: Join us for a new weekly Dharma discussion group led by Fran Berry, Assistant Teacher to GuoGu, focused on the Lotus Sutra. It will meet online via Zoom with breakout discussions. More information to be released soon!

From Fran:

We have been so fortunate to have Ashley Messenger teaching the Nikaya class on Thursday evenings for 18 months by December 2025, when that class will end. After discussions with our teacher GuoGu on next steps, we will begin a weekly dharma discussion group, using the Lotus Sutra, and I will be leading the group.

GuoGu chose the Burton Watson translation of the Lotus Sutra for our study so that we can collectively refer to the same text, but if you wish to investigate other translations, he suggested that of Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama, sponsored by the Numata Center [on the web as “The Lotus Sutra_2007 BDK version”] or Leon Hurvitz’s, Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma—both of these are excellent. The PDF for Burton Watson’s translation is also on the web, but the chapter titles differ and the text contains many typos. A resource I use frequently to buy books at low prices is Amazon.com, then checking the price of the used book offerings and conditions of the book.

As we get into fall, we will send more information on the class, signups, homework, etc. We do plan to use Zoom and break out groups so each of us will be in a small group discussion for most of the class period.

Fran Berry

Fran took refuge as a Buddhist in 1980 in Lexington, KY at a meditation center affiliated with Tibetan Rinpoche Choyam Trungpa, founder of Shambala Meditation. She began studying with Guo Gu in January 2010, after attending English meditation instructions and retreats at Dharma Drum Mountain Monastery in Taiwan. Fran took Bodhisattva Precepts in 2010.  Fran is currently the President of the Board of Directors of the Tallahassee Chan Center, and has been teaching Beginning Meditation Workshops and other meditation classes since 2015. She has also taught Taiqi (Tai Chi) for 25 years. Fran has been married for over 40 years and is a retired Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University.