DDM Sangha Welcomes Its 10 Newly Ordained Monastic Members

On September 2^nd, 2024, – the lunar birthday of Earth Store Bodhisattva – Dharma Drum Sangha University (DDSU) held at 10:00 a.m. its annual Tonsure Ceremony in the Grand Buddha Hall of Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education. Amidst the congratulations and blessings of nearly 600 family members, friends, and devotees from all walks of life, 10 monastic students of DDSU received the tonsure from Ven. Guo Huei (果暉法師), the Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) – also taking the role of the Precept Master of the tonsure ceremony; Venerable Guo Dong (果東法師), the Teaching Acharya, as well as other senior monastic mentors.

Ven. Guo Huei encouraged the newly ordained monastics to emulate the spirit of Earth Store Bodhisattva who has vowed that "only when all sentient beings are delivered, will I attain Bodhi; if the hells are not empty yet, I will not attain Buddhahood." Furthermore, he exhorted them to dedicate the merit of learning, spreading, and upholding the Dharma to their parents and family members in present and past lives, as well as to all sentient beings. Meanwhile, Ven. Guo Huei commended the parents and family members of the newly ordained monastics for their immense merit in fulfilling the novice monastics' wish to devote themselves, as well as the presence of the novice monastics' relatives, friends, and various virtuous guests that graced this extraordinary and solemn ceremony. He likened the monastics to the incarnations of Earth Store Bodhisattva, and the laity who uphold the Dharma as the incarnations of various bodhisattvas who support Earth Store Bodhisattva in delivering all sentient beings.


Moreover, Ven. Guo Huei encouraged the newly ordained monastics to "arouse bodhicitta, take the precepts as mentors, follow the rhythm of communal living, and learn attentively." Everyday life is practice. By not losing the original aspiration and uplifting one's own physical, verbal, and mental actions, each day is a chance for training both the body and mind." Ven. Guo Huei likened precepts to a raft that can lead us through the sea of suffering. Powered by the six pāramitās and guided by prajñā-pāramitā, this raft will lead us towards the path of liberation from samsāra. After the ordination, the monastics have to not only navigate the raft themselves, but also bring along countless sentient beings with them to the other shore.

Ven. Guo Dong, the former Abbot President of DDM, encouraged the newly ordained monastics to maintain the compassionate aspiration to deliver all sentient beings. He explained that Buddhas of the past, present, and future all attain Buddhahood as monastics in the human world. Upholding the ten precepts for novice monks and nuns (śrāmaṇeras and śrāmaṇerīs) not only form the basic foundations of the monastic precepts, but also the path to nirvana—that is, liberation from samsāra.


Tzeng Yu-luen (曾毓倫), who arrived all the way from San Francisco to express his wish to his daughter, said that although his wife Hsiao Kuei-you (蕭貴有) is still undergoing a course of treatment for her cardiovascular disease, they beat the odds to attend the ceremony. This is because Ven. Kuan Hong (寬宏法師) is their most precious daughter in life, and, as such, they must express their wishes to her on the most important occasion of her life. Seeing her being meticulously nurtured in DDM Sangha, they felt relieved and were looking forward to seeing Ven. Kuan Hong continuing her learning and carrying forward the ethos of DDM for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Ven. Kuan Ji (寬濟法師)'s wish to be ordained at DDM is strongly supported by her parents and two younger brothers. Her father, Wang Jian-cheng (王健丞), rejoiced to see his daughter finally fulfill her wish. He wished her well in her endeavors to benefit sentient beings with the Dharma. Her mother, Chen Su-jen (陳素貞), also wished that her daughter would attain peace in life with a pure body and mind under the guidance of the Sangha mentors. Her youngest brother, Wang Yu-sheng (王毓昇), was glad that, after his sister became a nun, his family would be able to meet together more often and thereby have more opportunities to develop wisdom.


With her decision to seek renunciation at DDM supported by her family, Ven. Kuan You (寬佑法師)'s family and friends in Miaoli came to attend the ceremony. Her older brother, Wu Yue-ruei (吳岳叡), said that it was his sister's monastic renunciation that got him into contact with DDM. When he came to visit the Abbot President last week on behalf of his family, it was the first time he had set foot in the DDM World Center for Buddhist Education, and he found the environment here great. He rejoiced at his sister's affinity with the Buddha as well as her smooth monastic ordination.

"Since being pregnant with my daughter, I knew she would take this path," said the mother of Ven. Kuan Miao (寬妙法師), Wang Chiou-shu (王秋淑). She said Ven. Kuan Miao has been a vegetarian even before birth, and has enjoyed reading Buddhist scriptures since she was a child. Since all Ven. Kuan Miao's family members are Buddhists, they knew that it would be a great blessing to be ordained as a nun. As a result, they were not reluctant to see her renunciation. She expects Venerable Kuan Miao not only to seek liberation for herself, but to strive forward for the sake of all sentient beings to be free from suffering and to never have retrogression in such aspiration. Her father, Wang Chung-chiuan (王崇權), said that since a monastic ought to learn, practice, uphold, and propagate the Dharma, he wished her to emulate Master Sheng Yen, who introduced the benefits of Buddhadharma to everyone.


In accordance with the transmission of the Chan lineage, the 10 newly ordained DDM monastic members were given Dharma names and ordination names by Ven. Guo Huei as follows: Kuan Ji Hui Wen (寬吉慧文), Kuan Hong Hui Yi (寬宏慧毅), Kuan You Hui Tsz (寬佑慧慈), Kuan Ru Hui Shi (寬如慧實), Kuan Ming Hui Guang (寬明慧光), Kuan Mien Hui Li (寬勉慧勵), Kuan Shu Hui Pu (寬澍慧溥), Kuan Yi Hui Hsien (寬頤慧賢), Kuan Ji Hui Jin (寬濟慧津), Kuan Miao Hui Fa (寬妙慧法). The DDM Sangha expects the newly ordained members to follow the example of the Earth Store Bodhisattva who benefits all sentient beings. 



Original Chinese text / Chang Yao-chung (張曜鐘), Fu Li-xian (傅莉嫻)
Photo / Fan Lee (李東陽), Fu Li-xian (傅莉嫻), Hsu Chao-yi (許朝益)
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL