Jason Tseng

Aspring do-gooder in the realm of technology and wisdom. Worked in startups in machine-intelligence, transportation, bio-tech, and dotcoms. Childhood dream was to be an inventor/astronaut to help people by developing and discovering technologies to aid human progress. Background was in A.I. and Cognitive Science. Still think the studies in Buddhism is a continuation of those studies. Currently working as a Web Developer in DRBU.

Dispatch from a Chan Session

The Mind   |   Jason Tseng  |   March 14, 2013, 10:00 pm

I went to the City of Ten Thousand Buddha in January and most of the residents were in the midst of the final week of a three-week Chan meditation retreat. I dropped by the DRBU building and only a few staff were there. The entire building and the surrounding campus were completely silent. It was a wonderfully quiet feeling. The atmosphere was alert, clear, and crisp, yet quiet and pleasant. The spirit of shared collected effort across the campus gave it a sense of not solitude, not loneliness.  I was trying to reflect on why that is. [...]

On Decisions: Monastic Life, Focus, and Obama

The Monastery  |  The Scene   |   Jason Tseng  |   September 20, 2012, 4:00 pm

Jason Kottke had a short informative post about Michael Lewis’ profile on President Obama, titled Obama’s Way, in the upcoming issue of Vanity Fair. (Lewis shadowed the President for 6 months, observing how he lives and works.) Kottke had two interesting excerpts. [...]
Hi, DRBU and DRBA community.  Buddhist Global Relief has announced its 2012 “Walk to Feed the Hungry” fundraising events. [...]

Valuing Education

The Scene  |  The University   |   Jason Tseng  |   June 18, 2012, 5:15 pm

Recently, the issue of student debt has once again come back to the forefront of public discourse.  The New York Times did a fairly lengthy cover story on it.  A chorus of commentators, including notable critic Mark Cuban, a media and tech mogul, has been even more vocal in comparing higher education to the last housing bubble. In some ways, this debate has been smoldering for the past 3 years about the true value of higher education. [...]

Boredom, Creativity, and Nothingness

The Mind  |  The Scene   |   Jason Tseng  |   August 25, 2011, 4:00 pm

In a recent article (which alternated between funny and cheekily serious, definitely worth a read), Scott Adams (the creator of the comic strip, Dilbert), asserts that boredom is good for us. The moments in our lives when we are not stimulated are ever dwindling–this has a huge detrimental effect on our creativity, and by extension, [...]

Walk to Feed the Hungry

The Monastery  |  The Scene   |   Jason Tseng  |   August 18, 2011, 5:20 pm

The Walk to Feed the Hungry charity event, organized by Buddhist Global Relief, will be held on September 10 and 11. BGR is an interdenominational organization comprising various Buddhist groups. With an overarching vision to alleviate and ultimately banish poverty, BGR is involved in projects that build capacity and provide food aid to countries like [...]

On Interfaith Dialogue [video]

The Mind   |   Jason Tseng  |   July 11, 2011, 5:38 pm

We added another video on the Zen Chan Buddhist Catholic Dialogue, which took place at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. It is a short video conversation, featuring Sister Mary Ann Donovan and Professor Ronald Epstein. For further info and full listing of videos on the dialogue, please visit this page. [...]

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

The Mind  |  The Tribe   |   Jason Tseng  |   June 29, 2011, 9:17 am

… it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head. Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal-arts cliché about “teaching you how to think” is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: “Learning [...]