Devotees in Vancouver Participated in Lunar New Year Events to Pray Blessings for All Sentient Beings

From January 25^th to January 30^th, 2025, Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre (DDVC) held a series of Lunar New Year events, inviting the public to the Centre to spend a warm and peaceful Lunar New Year together at the Centre. The events, which were held on three days, attracted more than 600 participants. The end-of-year Great Compassion Repentance Ceremony on January 25^th marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year event series, followed by the Lunar New Year universal prostration Dharma service on January 29^th (the first day of the first month of the Lunar New Year in 2025), and the Medicine Buddha Dharma service on January 30^th. Throughout the Dharma service events spanning the three day period, the participants were able to familiarize themselves with the concepts and practices of Buddhist teachings through the liturgy, as well as to develop the great aspiration to pray for the well-being of all sentient beings.

In her Dharma talk at the universal prostration Dharma service, Ven. Chang Wu (常悟法師), Director of DDVC, emphasized that true peace is inner peace. With inner peace, no matter how the external circumstances change, one can stay in equanimity and bring calmness to others at the same time. Ven. Chang Wu encouraged everyone to cultivate wisdom and compassion through learning and practicing Buddhist teachings.

Ven. Chang Wu then expounded the meaning of the universal prostration Dharma service. The universal prostration Dharma service is composed of two parts. The first part is the practice of repentance, featuring prostrating to 88 buddhas and chanting the verses of repentance. With pure mind, the practitioners devoutly made prostrations to repent their past evil karma and allow the teachings in the scriptures to penetrate into their minds. The second part of the Dharma service is devoted to praising the Buddha's merits, reciting the Buddha's name, and making prostrations with vows, in an attempt to help ourselves return to the original intention of the Buddha.

Ven. Chang Wu pointed out that we have learned a lot about Buddhist teachings. However, if we leave what we learned at a knowledge level, it is difficult to truly transform our body and mind. Reciting the name of the Buddha to invoke the Buddha from the depths of our hearts helps us to establish a closer connection with the Buddha. Making prostrations to the Buddha is an excellent practice to make our stubborn ego humble, soft, and grateful. It is also a process of taming and dissolving the ego. When we align our physical and verbal actions with our knowledge and views, our mind will begin to transform. This is how we genuinely learn from the Buddha.

During the Medicine Buddha Dharma Service on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Ven. Chang Xun (常勳法師), the time keeper of the Dharma assembly, brought up the tragic collision of two planes in the United States on the evening of January 29^th as well as the ongoing wildfires in the mountains of Los Angeles. This reminded everyone that nothing is permanent in this world and that our environment is vulnerable and fragile. Therefore, every breath we take is a precious gift. Thanks to DDM founder Master Sheng Yen's great aspiration, DDM centers were established for everyone to cultivate our spirituality in this sahā world. All of us should thus practice the Buddha's teachings diligently. Under the guidance of the Venerables, the participants prostrated to the buddhas, repented of their karmic hindrances, made offerings to the Three Jewels, took refuge, and dedicated the merit. In doing so, they not only prayed for all sentient beings to leave suffering behind, but also aspired to practice diligently to bring more peace and light to the world.



Original Chinese text and photos / Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL