Setting Boundaries

Venerable Sayadaws, Masters, Rinpoches, and all,

Greetings and Namo Amitabha!
I’d very much like to thank all of you to be here today. To attend such an auspicious Water Earth Repentance Ceremony together, we must have accumulated great merits and made positive connections in past lives.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Ling Jiou Mountain’s Water Earth Repentance Ceremony. This Pure Land of Water Earth Repentance is the cultivation of three mindsets and the merit of three contacts. A Pure Land is where the Three Jewels and the Three Provisions (faith, aspiration, and practice) are present. Three mindsets include:
1.    Homage to the Buddha,
2.    Faith in Dharma,
3.    Enlightened-mind (bodhicitta) for sentient beings.
Whereas three contacts are:
1.    Feeling moved when serving with aspiration,
2.    Exceptional experiences that affirm the fulfillment of proper wishes,
3.    Inviting the sublime beings from ten directions and the magnetizing worldwide participants.

The Water Earth Repentance Ceremony is also named “The Grand Giving (transliteration: 大dà 普pǔ 施shī)” with the essence of “compassionate aspiration, conscientiousness, and impartiality”. “大dà” implies unlimited vastness; “普pǔ” indicates the unprejudiced regard towards enemies and loved ones; “施shī” refers to the offering of Dharma to all. Hence, sentient beings inhabited in water, land, and space are the subjects of our offering and liberation.  

This ceremony is a grand project of “decoding life” – to transform an ordinary life into a sublime being. There are several shrines established to perform different rituals or recitations. In the “Ten Sub-Shrines”, monastic sanghas recite selected sutras with the purpose of teaching right views, breaking habitual thinking, and transforming perception. Seeing how our acts are influenced by the Five Poisons (greed, aversion, ignorance, pride, and doubt), one realizes the factoring delusions.

In the “Emperor Liang Shrine” where the Emperor Liang Jeweled Repentance is conducted, attendees disclose their non-virtuous deeds by following the recitation of the sutra. In the contrition, they also repent on behalves of their ancestors and karmic creditors. May all be free from the obscuration of the Five Poisons and be apart from the clinging of habitual tendency. Furthermore, by the compassionate power of the Three Jewels, the forces of alleviating sufferings and liberating beings are in effect.

After a sincere contrition and purification, one enters the “Inner Shrine”, a place where an altruistic intention is engendered. Throughout six times of the day, participants practice offerings and generosity with their body, speech, and mind at their utmost purity. By turning the cycle of virtues, streaming the undefiled intentions, and resonating aspiration collectively – the Pure Land of Water Earth Repentance beyond space-time is therefore accomplished.

Tonight, we are going to set the boundaries around the Inner Shrine. “Setting boundaries” at the ritual venue is to prevent the disturbance of demonic forces so the ceremony runs smoothly. Within the pure vision, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and sublime beings of the ten directions are supplicated. With their blessing, our body and mind become serene with lessened afflictions. Observe precepts to set the boundaries away from non-virtuous connections.

The Water Earth Repentance Ceremony bears the yearning of sentient beings – to be free from suffering. Recognizing such importance, we should put mundane concerns aside to stay focus. With the proper intention, supplicate to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma protectors for their blessing. Prostrate with our “body”, recite sutras and mantras with our “speech”, and visualize with our “mind”. The power of gorinto and the Casket Seal Dharani purify our three doors (body, speech, and mind) and harmonize the four primary elements. With the blessing of Guan Yin’s (Avalokiteshvara) nectar and dharani, all directions of the venue were purified into an immaculate mandala. May the light of wisdom pervade the ten directions; may the chant of compassion rattle our body and mind. Lastly, shake up our trance-like consciousness and dawn upon our long-time ignorance.

All dharmas are the fabrication of mind and the projection of consciousness. When the mind is purified, wherever you are present becomes a pure land. Through this ceremony, we are going to set up boundaries for planet Earth with our purified three doors in hope to transform the crisis of environmental degradation.

In recent years, climate change, air pollution, water depletion, etc. are the result of insatiable human greed. The ecosystem is severely damaged. “Setting boundaries for planet Earth” begins from an overall reflection of mankind. By changing our attitude towards environmentalism, the Earth gets to recover.

Now, how do we set up boundaries for planet Earth with our body, speech, and mind?
1.    Physical virtues:
-    Preserving the natural environment;
-    Advocating for a plant-based diet;
-    Reducing carbon footprint so to mitigate ozone depletion and more.
2.    Verbal virtues:
-    Speaking positively without division and harms;
-    Propagating the right mindfulness and avoid distraction from the media.
3.    Mental virtues:
-    Practicing Chan, reciting sutras and mantras, and prostrating for right mindfulness;
-    Taming one’s mind to refrain from inflicting harms on Earth and others. “When the mind is at peace, the world is at peace.”
By officiating the Water Earth Repentance Ceremony today, let’s be reminded and grateful for Guan Yin’s “loving kindness to those connected or disconnected alike; compassionate to all as one”. I’d like to ask you all to join and support this compassionate initiative. Let the Pure Land of Water Earth Repentance manifests in this samsara and to bring beneficence to future generations. Thank you!

By the blessing of the Three Jewels, may this ceremony be perfected without obstacles. Best wishes to you all and be overwhelmed by the bliss of Dharma!