Adherents in New York Joined Water Repentance to Purify Body, Speech and Mind

On the occasion of the Tomb-Sweeping Festival observed by Chinese communities, DDM Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in New York held the "Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance Dharma Assembly" on April 7^th from 9:30 a.m. to late afternoon, EST. Venerable Chang Yih (常懿法師) was invited to be the host and timekeeper of the ritual. With collected thoughts and demeanors, 83 participants performed the ritual according to the liturgy, making offerings to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with incense, flowers, and lamps in sequence to complete the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance. While reverently prostrating and chanting, the participants sincerely repented of their karmic hindrances created since boundless kalpas ago. Meanwhile, they dedicated the merits of the group practice to their ancestors, relatives, friends and karmic creditors, praying for all sentient beings in worlds of the ten directions to be free from suffering and to achieve joy as well as world peace.


At the end of the Dharma assembly, Ven. Chang Yih recounted the story of King Ajatashatru, who was suffering from a serious illness and redeemed himself by sincere repentance under the Buddha's guidance. The Venerable pointed out that practicing repentance serves not only as an aid to mend our ways but also as a support to our spiritual cultivation, since repentance can cure both our physical ailments and our karmic hindrances. By sharing a true story of an adherent who practiced repentance while ill, the Venerable encouraged everyone to utilize the "Four Steps for Handling a Problem" to positively face all kinds of life difficulties. "Leave your illness to the doctor, and your life to Buddha and Bodhisattvas." Ven. Chang Yih exhorted everyone to cherish the precious human body, practice the Dharma approach of repentance; and to keep our own body, speech and mind pure, rather than associate ourselves to greed, aversion, and delusion. She also encouraged everyone to choose a Dharma approach of repentance that we can associate with and practice it diligently. 


Venerable Chang Hwa (常華法師), Director of CMC, explained that "grudges" often exist between ourselves and our family members, with whom we interact frequently in our lives. Everyone tends to insist on their own opinions. In doing so, we might inadvertently act against those with whom we used to have amicable interactions. Ven. Chang Hwa reminded us that only through mutual tolerance and understanding can we solve the problems and challenges in our families and group of people. She also reminded us that we should be aware of our own body, speech and mind and that we should not neglect the feelings of our beloved family members.

Kenny Lin, a volunteer of CMC, shared how he was delighted to join the repentance assembly with everyone at the Dharma center, and that in his daily life, he would reflect on himself with Bodhisattva Precepts and Ten Precepts (daśa-kuśala-karmāni) as his guidelines. Cyu Jhih-yuan (曲致遠), an upholder of Bodhisattva precepts for laity, said that he was grateful for the Venerables' guidance, and that he hoped to earnestly contemplate and adjust his body, speech and mind in order to stay away from greed, aversion, and delusion, aligning himself with precepts, concentration, and wisdom instead. 


As mentioned by CMC, while purifying our own body and mind, and eliminating our karmic hindrance through practicing repentance, we should also offer our utmost blessings to our ancestors as well as all beings of the ten directions and transfer the merits to them. CMC also exhorted the adherents to pray for the victims of the April 3rd earthquake in Hualien, Taiwan, as well as to wish a favorable rebirth for the deceased, in addition to safety and swift recovery for the injured.






Original text written in Chinese by Lin Ding (林鼎)
Photos provided by Zhou Shi-chian (周詩倩)
Translation: Siang-ling Li
Editing: Keith Brown, YKL