Repentance Prostrations to Welcome the New Year and Purify Our Body and Mind

Updated January 13, 2022

On January 3, the New Year Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony was performed onsite at Dharma Drum Vancouver Center (DDVC), with simultaneous live broadcasts over the internet, kicking off the first of events for 2022 with this 2-hour ceremony. Apart from the 30 and more followers taking part at the Center, over 100 others participated online, altogether completing this remarkable New Year Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony to great satisfaction.

To perform the Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony at the beginning of the new year is, on the one hand, to repent of all the negative karma we have committed throughout the past year, thereby purifying our body and mind. On the other hand, it is to pray to Guanyin and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas for their blessings and protection, so that we may eliminate our karmic obstacles, transform our fearful mind into the Bodhi Mind, and aspire to do good deeds for the sake of sentient beings. Following the guidance of the Venerables, the participants made repentance prostrations accordingly, paid sincere homage to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, made vows, recited the Buddha's name, and sincerely repented of past wrongdoings. In the course of the ceremony, everyone vowed mentally to learn the great compassion of Guanyin, and committed themselves to never turning their backs on the path of the bodhisattva until they attain Buddhahood.

Participating in this ceremony were also the leaders and their assistants of the volunteer groups, as well as the handful of volunteers who continuously assisted in Dharma services and maintenance works throughout the pandemic period. At the end of the ceremony, the Director of the DDVC, Venerable Chang Wu, sincerely expressed that today's New Year Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony is not only to pray for peace in this world and to all sentient beings, but also to convey a very special gratitude to all the volunteers for their long-term complete and devoted dedication. In times like this, when human society is faced with unprecedented turmoil and challenges, the hope is that everyone may unite and strive together in welcoming a future filled with new expectations.

Text: Nan-en Ho (何念恩)
Photos: Dharma Drum Vancouver Center (DDVC)
Translation: Cheng-yu Chang (張振郁)
Editing: YKL, Keith Brown