The 8th Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony
for Lay Practitioners in DDRC, NY

From May 17 to May 20, 2018, Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center held its 8th Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony for lay practitioners in the Dharma Drum Retreat Center in New York. Abbott President Ven. Guo Dong (果東法師), Ven. Guo Yuan (果元法師) and Ven. Guo Xing (果醒法師) hosted the ceremony as the “Three Bodhisattva Dharma Masters.” (受戒三師) The Bodhisattva precepts ceremony lasted for four days and three nights and was attended by 76 lay practitioners who were seeking to receive bodhisattva precepts and supported by 14 monastics from the Eastern and Western coasts of the United States and 23 lay volunteers.

The day prior to the purification ritual, a severe storm hit Shawanggunk and caused the power failure and the communications breakdown. Trees were unable to withstand the ravaging gales and lay wasted across the streets and the broken power lines were hanging in the middle of the road. In all of the efforts to ensure the ceremony could take place as scheduled, all venerables and volunteers plunged in to reset the computer databases and re-establish the connections. The major technical challenge was connecting to the cloud-based tablets without internet. Furthermore, transportation into Shawanggunk was severely affected, delaying some participants’ arrival.

Constant drizzle and an overcast weather shrouded the imparting of the precepts. In his guidance video dharma talks, Master Sheng-Yen explained the reasons for the advocacy of taking the Bodhisattva precepts, emphasizing that its significance should derive from true comprehension of the precepts leading to whole-hearted embracement, and the importance of initiation of the Bodhi mind.

Heavy shower poured on the evening of taking the Precepts for the Deceased, while the practitioners solemnly carried out their repentance prostrations, taking their precepts on behalf of their deceased kins and sentient beings with affinities.

On the dawn of the Bodhisattva precepts official ceremony, the drrizzle accompanied the morning chanting, but sunshine burst through the clouds after the morning service. The warm rays of the radiant sun glittered on the fresh dews of the morning grass and the melodies of song birds that could only be found in Shawanggunk were like the reflecting image of verses from the Amitabha Sutra, where all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and dharma-protecting deities gathered with their blessings for these practitioners whom were about to initiate the Bodhi-mind

In Master Sheng-Yen's ardent sermons before the official ceremony, he cautioned that it is not possible to uphold all of the precepts all the time. People who have precepts to break are called bodhisattvas and people without precepts to break are called outer-path followers. Bodhisattvas practitioners should often feel a sense of remorse and repent but should not demand themselves to be saints. Just making one’s best effort to uphold the precepts is good enough.

During the official ceremony, while welcoming the presence of the Buddhas and deities with a devout song of "fragrant flowers", showers of pink petals floated down on the gentle breeze from a row of cherry trees outside the meditation hall, like heavenly gods descending lightly upon sentient grounds; under the guidance of the three dharma masters, the practitioners took the Three Cumulative Pure Precepts, the Ten Good deeds , and the Ten Inexhaustible Precepts, the essential steps on the path towards attaining Buddhahood.

In the concluding Dharma talk by the Abbott President, he exhorted all to change themselves for the better and to touch others through their practices of Buddhism, not to repeat past bad conducts, to nurture good will in our hearts, and to keep this new light of Bodhi-mind shinning for ever more.

Texts/ Photos: DDM Chan Meditation Center, New York
Translation: Chang, Cheng-Yu (張振郁)
Editors: Shi, Min (史敏) (New York) , DDM Editorial Team