Local karma

In Cambridge, an Asian restaurant becomes a worship center

Urban Eye by Jason Gay

These days, when someone claims to have found religion after looking through a storefront window, you can safely assume that a big-screen TV or a $400 pair of shoes is at issue.

But at 950 Mass Ave, in Cambridge -- in a space formerly occupied by the popular restaurant Mimi's Oriental Grill -- the proprietors are dispensing real faith. This is the home of the International Buddhist Progress Society, a new establishment where sutras and mantras have replaced lo mein and fried rice on the menu.

For more than a month, passersby on Mass Ave have paused to peer in the long first-floor windows, which provide a view of the Progress Society's meditation room. Three gold Buddha statues sit prominently at an altar, encircled by bouquets of fresh fruit and flowers. A donation box lies before one statue. Decoratively carved tiles abound.

It is a unique sight, even for Cambridge.

The International Buddhist Progress Society is operated by the Fo Kuang Shan monastery, a Taiwan-based order founded 32 years ago in a mountaintop forest. Today, there are more than 300 branches worldwide; the order's American headquarters is in Los Angeles.

The Cambridge branch, which opened in January, is the first Progress Society in New England. Staffed strictly by volunteers, the branch is managed by the Venerable Yung Dong, a Buddhist nun from Taiwan. Yung Dong has a shaved head, wears a gold-colored robe, and maintains an effusively polite demeanor. When she responds affirmatively to a visitor's question, instead of saying "Yes," she says, "Yes, yes, yes, yes" in rapid staccato.

Over a pot of peach tea, Yung Dong explains that the Progress Society is just starting to settle in at its Cambridge home. To date, she says, many Taiwanese and Chinese people have visited the society, as well as a number of Americans who are studying Buddhism. The curious, too, have stopped in to see what's happened to the old home of Mimi's, Yung Dong says.

Occasionally, a visitor will come inside simply looking for a place to relax or meditate. It is not necessary for these visitors to be practicing Buddhists, Yung Dong says, though she will sometimes offer advice on meditation.

The Progress Society has been a surprising hit with local teenagers, according to Yung Dong. Apparently, adolescent hipsters migrating between Harvard and Central Squares are known to kick back in the meditation room from time to time.

Yung Dong, who is new to New England but not to America (she last lived in LA), says she understands the need for a sanctuary in an urban area. "Present life is a hustle-and-bustle life," she says. "There's so much tension, it's easy to anger."

Indeed, Yung Dong says that one of Fo Kuang Shan Buddhism's principal goals is making the lives of its practitioners more peaceful. "All human beings can be liberated," she says.

The Progress Society's new arrangement in Cambridge is quite tranquil itself. The space is substantial; in addition to the meditation room with the gold Buddhas, there is a dining area, a kitchen, and a library. Much of the interior is draped with plants and artwork; a stone fountain rests in the center of an eating area. When the front door closes, it is nearly impossible to hear the rumble of trucks passing outside.

The center is open all day for meditation, and Yung Dong says the facility also hosts occasional evening lectures. A recent talk was titled "The Perfection of Patience: Buddhist Teachings on Forbearance, Compassion, and Wisdom."

The front of the building features a small shop. Visitors can purchase Buddhist jewelry and artwork, as well as books. There are several hundred books on Buddhism stacked on shelves, and while there is no copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to be found, there are copies of Zen and the Art of Fatherhood, Zen and the Art of Leadership, and Zen and the Art of Abundance and Managing Money.

The last title concerns a subject that has brought the International Buddhist Progress Society a wee bit of scandal, American-style. It was monks and nuns from the society who were among those involved in a Democratic campaign-fundraising controversy that embarrassed Vice President Al Gore. (The society has denied any wrongdoing.)

Inside the quiet, contemplative confines of 950 Mass Ave, however, those troubles seem distant. And besides, a little political intrigue is always welcome in Cambridge.