Sharing from the participants in the One Day Chanting
As the space of the Dharma hall of DDM Hong Kong branch is limited, we can only accommodate about 80 participants. For those who were not able to join this time, we look forward to the coming One Day chanting to be held in October at Po-Kwok Middle school.
Fortunately, there are a lot of new comers who were joining the activities of DDM for the first time. The event started at 8:30 am of 6 July 2008. After Chan Kwok-wah (Chairman of DDM Hong Kong branch) explained the rules of the activity, everyone started the chanting practice. On that day, we have practiced the following: citing the praise of Buddha, prostration, circumambulation, chanting in a seated position, meditation and watching Shifu’s VCD. Group discussion was held at the end of the whole day activity and the One Day Chanting came to an end at about 7:30 pm. We extract the gist of the sharing in our group discussion as follows:
※ “Today, we are deeply moved because we have a chance to take this opportunity to put aside our daily chores as well as the shackles of the conventional life to practice mindfulness and relaxation. Under the peaceful yet solemn atmosphere, we have practised diligently for the whole day in prostration, chanting and repentance. Although we were very tired, we felt the joy of dharma practice, especially in realizing the true meaning of Shifu’s saying that “I am tired but I feel the happiness of dharma practice!”
※ “At the beginning of reciting the name of Buddha, we have a lot of defiling thoughts. Thanks to the reminder of our monitor Chan Kwok-wah we chanted louder and tried our best to keep in rhythm with the chanting bell. The name of Buddha filled up the entire Dharma hall and we had a great experience of group chanting. We are so concentrated in our chanting that the name of Buddha was like going direct from our lips to our mind. No more vexation came! Then suddenly tranquility set in and the Pureland appeared right in front of us”.
※ “The whole day activities proceeded smoothly. Our organizers of the event worked hard on the advance planning with perfect combination of active and sedentary practices. We were under the excellent leadership of the chanting master and the bell-holder and we were grateful to their excellent performance after long period of practice and rehearsal. All of the practitioners were very happy with the successful program”.
※ “We enjoyed watching Shifu’s VCD. Shifu‘s dharma talk is full of wisdom and compassion and it guides our practice in daily life. If we can bring the teachings to our daily life I believe our personal quality and the social environment could have significant improvements”.
※ “We are impressed by the practitioners’ self-discipline and devotion on that day. Although some of the practitioners were not too familiar with the rituals and scriptures, they paid much effort to focus on their practice. All of the participants observed the noble silence and braced themselves up during the event. We believed that all practitioners had great joy and appreciated the great benefits of group practice in chanting”.
※ “We are grateful to the careful attention to details and great effort given by all the volunteers who were responsible for the preparation of our meals and the setting up of the Dharma hall”.
※ “We are grateful to DDM Hong Kong Branch to hold this One Day Chanting so that we have a chance to build our good karmic connection with the Bodhisattvas. We expected that there would be another chance in future to join DDM activities and to have a better understanding of Shifu’s teachings. As Shifu once said: “Everyone has their own DDM in their mind.” Thanks to DDM Hong Kong Branch we were given the causes and conditions so that we could dig out our DDM in our own mind. We hope that DDM Hong Kong Branch will arrange more group practice of similar nature in the near future”.
-- We thank all those practitioners’ encouragement and support to the One Day Chanting. It is because of all their participation that we are able to realize our Bodhicitta. Thank you ! --
(contributed by DDM Hong Kong)
