Sunday, July 20, 2014

Meet Ann Tjhung

 

Greetings to everyone!

For those of you who already know me and for those of you I have yet to meet, I would like to share a little about myself:

My name is Ann Tjhung (pronounced like Chung).

I live in University Place, Washington and I am Austrian, German, Hungarian, and Irish, my husband, of 24 years, is Indonesian, Chinese, and Dutch. We have three children ages 18, 21, (and 23 deceased), one girl and two boys.  Jasmine, my daughter, is a regular participating member of our Sangha at Open Gate, my mother Lorraine, is also a regular member.
Currently I am a full time mother and as for a potential future career, I continue to take classes for web-design, programming and database management; I have and continue to created and maintain websites and databases. I also volunteer, as a parent volunteer at our High School, helping to teach NJROTC students web programming for our Unit website: http://www.curtisnjrotc.org.

I hold the level of orange sash in Shaolin Kung Fu (four years of conditioning, forms, and weapons), I am a musician (flute and Irish whistle).

As for my Buddhist practice; I have been a Buddhist for about 7 years, and little over a year ago, I was appointed by my departing teacher to lead the Buddhist Community at Joint Base Lewis McChord. It was at that time that I began regular attendance at Open Gate Zendo and formerly became student of Koro-san  Miles (Koro Kaisan).

It may seem strange for me to have so much responsibility in such a short time, but you see, it is a long story of study and hard practice.
A story that includes persevering through 10 years of the slow recovery of brain function as a victim of an “splash” lightning strike (a grueling ordeal which required that I meditate for survival), and on a completely separate occasion, the sudden death of my 19 year old son, a United States Marine. The loss of Andrew, marked the beginning of my attendance as a member of the Joint Base Lewis McChord Buddhist Community Sangha, which then lead to the leadership position that I currently hold as the leader of the same.

My official government Facebook page: JBLM Buddhist Community https://www.facebook.com/jblmbuddhistcom?ref_type=bookmark
I am also currently helping a man that was homeless create a new life, and I am thinking of starting a non-profit organization to benefit the homeless.

Thank you so much for all of you; the Sangha at Open Gate!
I have made so many friends, friends that I hope to have for a very long time!

Thank you,
Namaste and Peace,
Ann Tjhung

 

 

 

 

 

1 comment:

  1. Where do I start? I met Ann at a Starbucks and instantly felt a presence of peace with her. I introduced myself and we started talking. I asked for her web-site so I could learn more about what she does and she included her number as well. Little did I know that I would call her later in the day regarding the challenges I had staying focused when I was meditating. I also shared that I was to have a BIG interview the following morning and asked for any suggestions. She then offered to join me in meditation at 6:00am the following morning to guide me with my meditation. She then promptly came to my home and spent time with me showing me how to focus, as well as shared true insight that carried me through not only the high pressured interview, but throughout the day. When I asked her how I could re-pay her, she replied “I do it for humanity” What a kind generous human.
    Namaste,
    Jerry

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