Practicing the Path to Buddhahood--New York Chan Meditation Center’s Emperor Liang Repentance Service

Updated December 17, 2021

The six-day Great Compassion Blessing Ceremony was held at Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center in New York from November 22nd to 27th. The content of the ceremony was the Emperor Liang Repentance Service and the Three-Session Mindfulness practice. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held mainly through video conferencing. Besides on-site volunteers who assisted with the ceremony, only a small number of seats were open to participants. Nevertheless, everyone was encouraged to participate in the repentance service via the internet, thereby transferring the resulting merits to all sentient beings. Through the blessing ceremony, it is hoped that the pandemic will come to an end very soon and all sentient beings can be free from pain and suffering and attain happiness.

This year, Chan Meditation Center invited Ven. Guo Guang to give live-streaming Dharma lectures online from Dharma Drum Mountain New Jersey Chapter every day. Ven. Guo Guang began with the Agama Sutra, collections of Early Buddhism, combining with the content of the Emperor Liang Repentance Service, to explain causes and conditions, karmic obstructions, cause and effect and other relevant Buddhist teachings. Ven. Guo Guang used salt as a metaphor to explain how the consequences of heavy misdeeds can be mitigated, resulting in a lighter karmic retribution. By doing so, Ven. Guo Guang wished to nurture and cultivate devotees’ faith in learning the Buddhadharma.

Ven. Guo Guang pointed out that facing one’s past negative karma is like swallowing a bowl of salt. Without practicing Buddhism, one is bound to suffer from karmic retribution. Nonetheless, suppose we practice repentance accordingly and vow to benefit all sentient beings, thereby cultivating wisdom and merits. In doing so, although one’s karmic retribution is inevitable, one’s Buddhist practice will reduce or even eliminate the perception of suffering. This is analogous to diluting a bowl of salt with a continuous flow of water; in doing so, its salinity could thus become very low. This is why Bodhisattvas fear causes while ordinary beings fear effects and retributions. What we can do is put effort into Dharma practice with diligence.

Min Shi, a Buddhist practitioner who accompanies her parents to participate in Chan Meditation Center's Emperor Liang Repentance Service, remarked that by listening to the Dharma talks and learning the proper form of repentance prostration, they gained a clear understanding of the central doctrines of Buddhist teachings and achieved a complete sense of relaxation. It was their first time participating in a Dharma assembly, and they found it to be of great benefit. They wished to keep practicing Buddhism with diligence, as well as to learn to engage in the practice of repentance to change karmic forces, diving deeply into the Dharma and integrating relevant knowledge and understanding into Chan practices.

By organizing the Great Compassion Blessing Ceremony, Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center hoped to transfer the merits for everyone to find mind-body peace, for an end to the pandemic, and for all sentient beings to be free from suffering and attain happiness.

Text: Min Shi (史敏)
Photos: Jill Liu 
Translation: Vicky Wei (韋徵儀)
Editing: Keith Brown