Young Buddhists prayed for world peace in the hope of ending the pandemic and wars

Updated April 7, 2022
On March 26, at 7 pm, over a hundred young Buddhists gathered in the Grand Hall of Dharma Drum Degui Academy in Ximending to participate in a group practice devoted to Guanyin Bodhisattva’s method. There, they offered their blessings to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the victims of the recent war and airline disaster. In addition, they prayed for peace of mind for everyone, an end to the global pandemic, and a world free of wars.

Venerable Yan Zhu, Director of Dharma Drum Young People Development Department, explained that the prayer for blessings was conducted in the form of the Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony. During the ceremony, participants recite the great vows of Bodhisattva Guanyin, generate the great Bodhi mind to deliver all sentient beings from suffering, and concentrate on chanting the Mantra of Great Compassion with an attitude of devotion. The participating young Buddhists sincerely repented of their past intentional or unintentional wrongdoings caused by craving, anger and ignorance, and prayed that their minds could be in accord with the mind of Bodhisattva Guanyin, thereby helping all sentient beings attain peace and happiness.

"Seek not for one's own wellbeing, but wish that all sentient beings can be free from suffering". Venerable Yan Wu, timekeeper of the ceremony, explained that to have the "Bodhi-mind" is to spontaneously generate loving kindness---a heart of compassionate vows that is willing to sacrifice one's own interests for the sake of others, when seeing the sufferings of sentient beings. Ordinary people don’t understand the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, nor do they know how to use it to eliminate their mental afflictions. Hence, they need others who have given rise to  the Bodhi-mind to help them find peace, guiding them to break away from the whirlwind of vexations caused by lust, desire, resentment, anger, fear and anguish etc.

Dharma Drum Young People Development Department indicated that approximately a quarter of the hundred and more youths in this blessings ceremony were first-time participants. Among them, Rui-zhong Liu expressed his gratitude for being able to join this extraordinary youth activity that provided him with the opportunity to learn to cultivate blessings and develop in wisdom after listening to the Venerable's talk on the study and cultivation of the Dharma in daily life. Bo-rui Wei, who assisted in set-up activities, also shared that even before enrolling in college he was a regular participant of Dharma assemblies in Baoyun Monastery in his hometown in Taichung, where he had learned to apply "indiscriminate compassion" of Bodhisattva Guanyin towards every suffering sentient being. He sincerely wishes that everyone could follow Master Sheng Yen in his teaching of reciting Guanyin's name, supplicating to Guanyin, learning from Guanyin, and behaving like Guanyin. Doing so would create a Pure Land on earth.

Text: Chang Yao-chuang (張曜鐘)
Photos: Chang Yao-chuang (張曜鐘)
Translation: Cheng-yu Chang (張振郁)
Editing: YKL, Keith Brown