New Year blessings for 2023, from Dharma Drum Mountain Abbot President Ven. Guo Huei

Hello, everyone. May you have an auspicious new year. I'm Dharma Drum Mountain's abbot president Guo Huei. For a brand new year, I'd like to wish everyone good health, happiness, peace, and wellbeing.
 
This year, Dharma Drum Mountain would like to bless all people and members in society with our annual theme:
 
Blessings and Wisdom—The Way to Freedom.
By cultivating blessings and wisdom, everyone can be healthy and at peace.
By practicing the six perfections and myriad deeds, everyone can have freedom of body and mind.
 
Although the pandemic continues, we can say people all hope to enjoy peace and good health for themselves and also wish others to have peace and good health. The Buddhist teaching tells us that in fact all viruses in the environment originate from the disease and poison in humanity. By disease and poison in humanity I mean the disease and poison generated by our bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Therefore, cultivating blessings and wisdom can help us attain peace and health.
 
Cultivating merit and wisdom, eliminating three poisons
 
How do we attain peace and health? That is, as Dharma Drum Mountain founder Master Sheng Yen told us: "Have peace of mind, and you will have peace in your life." There is also a saying: Let afflictions resolve itself in our mind. By reducing the diseases and poisons created through our body, speech, and mind, we are then able to attain peace and health. And, we can advise others to cultivate merit and wisdom to reduce the diseases and poisons generated by their actions, words, and thoughts. That is to cultivate merit. So, cultivating meritorious blessing and wisdom helps us attain freedom of body and mind. To practice the six perfections and myriad deeds is to keep a mind of giving, and a mind of benefiting others, helping others grow and develop, helping others become healthy and peaceful. This way, we will have freedom of body and mind, and so will others have freedom of body and mind.
 
Relaxing our body and mind, calm and freedom
 
Especially in today's world, the convenience brought by technology and civilization has on the other hand created for us more competition and stress in life, as well as confrontation and conflict, causing us to suffer troubles and afflictions. We can practice "Kindness and compassion have no enemies, and wisdom engenders no afflictions." This way, we will be able to enjoy freedom of body and mind ourselves, and also help others have freedom of body and mind. And, what's more, it is important to relax our body and mind. At any time and place, keep a relaxed body and mind, and we'll be able to remain calm and stable, and our body will less likely suffer illness. That is how we remain healthy and at peace, and also help others remain healthy and at peace. So, as we move into 2023, with our annual theme of Blessings and Wisdom—The Way to Freedom, let us all cultivate meritorious and wisdom, so everyone can be healthy and at peace. Practice the six perfections and myriad deeds, and everyone can have freedom of body and mind. Let us all pray and wish each other well. More importantly is to put it into practice. May everyone can enjoy peace, health, and freedom of body and mind.
 
Amituofo.
 
Ven. Guo Huei
Abad Presidente, Dharma Drum Mountain