DDM Global News
Dharma Drum Mountain Celebrated the Buddha’s Birthday on Mother’s Day
On May 9th, 2021, Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) held a "Family Day – Protecting the Spiritual Environment" event at Nung Chan Monastery to celebrate the Buddha's Birthday and Mother's Day. To commemorate the birth of the Buddha, Buddhists bathe an infant Buddha statue with scented water. Thus, at 10 am, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), President of DDM Association of Dharma Supporters Chang Chang-Pang (張昌邦) and his wife, as well as Taiwanese celebrities, namely, Chao Tzu Chiang (趙自強), Yang Yueh-e (楊月娥), and Allen Ko (柯有倫) were led by the Abbot President of DDM, Venerable Guo Huei, to bathe the statue of Prince Siddhartha as an expression of gratitude for his teachings. Thereafter, Venerable Guo Huei led the prayer to pray for world peace and safety.
"Today is both Mother's Day and the Buddha's Birthday. Let us express gratitude to our parents for giving birth to us and to the Buddha for his teachings that enable us to learn and practice the Dharma", said Venerable Guo Huei. "Be grateful and repay kindness; benefit others and you can benefit yourself." With this quote Master Sheng Yen, the founder of DDM, Venerable Guo Huie urged everyone to cultivate the mind of appreciation, repaying kindness, and to say "I love you" to mothers. 
"The Earth is our mother. We should also appreciate her generosity." Venerable Guo Huei mentioned that we should actively promote Four Kinds of Environmentalism to protect our mental health from the negative effect of the environment. He encouraged us to treat everyone as if they are our family members or Bodhisattvas; to live a simple life and to conserve natural resources for our future generations.The Mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), shared Master Sheng Yen's Four-Step Approach to Problem Solving, that is, "Face it, Accept it, Deal with it, and Let it go". He indicated that this Four-Step Approach could be applied to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he hopes that the pandemic will end soon and we can return to pre-pandemic normal. He also expressed his appreciation to all mothers for their effort of keeping their families safe in this trying times.
One of the highlights of the "Family Day – Protecting the Spiritual Environment" event was the tea serving ceremony. Attendees served teas to their mothers, senior family members, and those that they wished to show their appreciation to, making this event especially meaningful. In accordance with the government's epidemic prevention regulations, attendees were socially distanced and only a limited number of people were allowed in the venue. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is raging worldwide, Dharma Drum Mountain still aims to share easy methods of Chan practice so that people and the society as a whole can be at peace.
Text: Lin Ya-Ying (林雅櫻)
Photo: Lee Fan (李東陽)、Lee, Jia-Chun (李佳純)、Chang Tian-Pei (張田沛), Lin Ya-Ying (林雅櫻)
Translation: Hsiao Chen-an
Editing: DDM Editorial Team, Leefah Thong