Grand Hall
It consists of Emperor Liang Repentance Service and Food Offering Ritual to Celestial Deities in the Grand Hall.
Emperor Liang Repentance Service
“Emperor Liang’s Repentance Service” (梁皇寶懺), originally named as
“Dharma Hall of Compassion Repentance Ritual” (慈悲道場懺法), is a ritual of repentance, eliminating calamities, and delivering the deceased.
According to legend, the Emperor Liang instituted the ritual for delivering his deceased wife, Empress Chi, who was reborn as a python after her death. He invited eminent monks to hold Dharma assemblies to practice repentance rituals for her. With the powerful merits of this ritual, she was then reborn as a heavenly being.
The repentance chants have been passed down through generations thereafter as the most voluminous repentance text.
It consists of the compilation of texts and also 1,275 Buddha’s names from Mahayana sutras and sastras.
In fact, the Emperor Liang’s Repentance Services teaches that all beings can attain perfect enlightenment through the practice of sincere repentance, taking the three refuges, making aspirations and transferring merits.
Food Offering Ritual to Celestial Deities
Food Offering Ritual to Celestial Deities is a ritual designed in particular for expressing gratitude to celestial guardians or beings for their protection during the Dharma assembly as well as making the aspiration to attain the ultimate Buddhahood together with all beings. This is done through the act of paying respect and making offerings to the Three Jewels.
In the very early morning of the sixth day of the Water and Land Dharma Assembly, the ceremony in the Grand Hall starts with the respectful Golden Light Repentance & Ritual of Offering (金光明懺齋天法儀) , followed by the chanting of the Emptiness Chapter of Golden Light Sutra (金光明經-空品), and making offerings of fragrant flowers and culinary delights to celestial beings.
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