 THE SAGELY CITY OF TEN THOUSAND BUDDHAS |
| THE SAGELY CITY OF TEN THOUSAND BUDDHAS |
Ten Thousand Buddhas Jeweled Repentance
April 15, 2008, evening: Purifying the Boundaries for 10,000 Buddhas Jeweled Repentance.
April 16 - May 8, 2008:
The 10,000 Buddhas Jeweled Repentance.
May 11: The Celebration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s Birthday.
Participants in the 10,000 Buddhas Jeweled Repentance will recite and bow to the entire Sutra of the Buddha Speaks the Buddhas’ Names. These Buddhas represent the countless Buddhas throughout the Dharmarealm and universe.
The alternate bowing and chanting of the Buddhas’ names last throughout the day with a break after each bowing session. Transferences are performed in the Life-Lengthening Hall and the Rebirth Hall. At the end of a day’s bowing, the great Assembly transfers the merit and virtue from their practice universally to all living beings.
The following are extracts from the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’s lecture on the Avatamsaka Sutra:
“The merit and virtue derived from bowing in repentance before the Ten Thousand Buddhas can never be fully expressed. Bowing in repentance can nurture people’s roots in the Dharma. Bowing in repentance can help people who have never done any spiritual practice learn how to practice, and it can help people without good roots to develop them. When our good roots are fully developed, we will become enlightened. Therefore, the merit and virtue of bowing in the Repentance Ceremony before the Ten Thousand Buddhas is inconceivable…
…The power of this Repentance is inconceivable, because the ten thousand Buddhas all come to support you…
The Buddhas of the past bowed the Repentance before Ten Thousand Buddhas, the Buddhas of the present bow it, and the Buddhas of the future will be brought to accomplishment through bowing this Repentance. The Venerable Master Hsu Yun himself bowed this repentance in the past…
Offenses large enough to fill the skies
Are eradicated with a single thought of repentance.
If you can repent and reform, your offenses will be dispelled and your good roots will increase.”
Bathing the Buddha Day (Celebration of Shakyamuni Buddha's Birthday)
After the Ten Thousand Buddhas Repentance every year, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas celebrates Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday. It is also known as “Bathing the Buddha Day.” The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua explained,
“The Buddha is a greatly enlightened individual, someone who has truly understood. There’s no need for us to wash his body, which is clean and pure. Yet, why do we bathe the Buddha? To do so symbolizes the bathing of our mind and its return to purity. It is also a form of commemoration, in memory of our teacher who passed away long ago; it is one way to be filial to the Buddha. Buddhists have this tradition of bathing the baby Buddha because on the day the Buddha was born, nine dragons spouted water. This is how this ceremony came down through the ages.”
* Sharing Experiences about the 2006 Bowing Session *
* Photographs and videos on the 2008 Ten Thousand Buddhas Jeweled Repentance *
