CMC Hosted Lunar New Year Special Events to Wish Everyone Peace and Health in Body and Mind

From January 29^th to February 2^nd, 2025, 

Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) Chan Meditation Center (CMC) in New York held special events to celebrate the Lunar New Year from the first to the fifth day of the first month of the Lunar New Year. After the "Lunar New Year Medicine Buddha Sutra Chanting Service" held for three consecutive days from January 29^th to January 31^st, 2025, and the "Passing on the Lamp 1-Day Retreat" on February 1^st, the "Lunar New Year Chanting Service" was held on February 2^nd at 10:00 a.m. EST. In the midst of the solemn chanting, the devotees respectfully joined their palms and practiced repentance prostration following the liturgy of the "Eighty-eight Buddha Great Repentance." After reverently repenting their negative karma and praising the virtues of the buddhas to purify their body and mind, the congregation prayed for everyone's physical and mental peace and well-being, as well as for the development of merits and wisdom. 

In her Lunar New Year Chinese-English Dharma talk on February 2^nd, Ven. Chang Hwa (常華法師), Director of CMC, pointed out that among the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, people don't have a positive impression of the snake, which even appears to be scary. However, the snake's flexibility and adaptability to the environment are the qualities from which we should learn. Ven. Chang Hwa further recounted the biblical story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, who were tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and were then expelled from the Garden of Eden. Ven. Chang Hwa incorporated the story with the gong'an in the Platform Sutra, "When one does not think of either good or evil, what is at that particular moment one's original face?," guiding everyone to contemplate how our attachment to discriminations and duality distorts our judgment and leads to the bitter fruits of samsara.

Ven. Chang Hwa pointed out that to "not think of either good or evil" may seem to contradict the Buddhist teachings of "eradicating harmful deeds and cultivating virtues;" but in fact they are compatible. For ourselves, it is important to have a strong belief in the law of cause and effect and to observe precepts strictly. Precepts serve to restrain our own actions, rather than as a measure to judge others. When we again try to "label" others by thinking of them in terms of the duality of good and evil, we should remind ourselves that there is also a "snake" in our mind, thereby being vigilant about avoiding the vexation that discrimination and illusory thoughts can bring. It is only when we let our turbulent mind rest by not thinking of good or evil that we can see the "original face" of everything.

In the Lunar New Year performance series, Cecilia Valdes played a violin solo piece of Méditation from the opera Thaïs by Jules Massenets; Wang Shin-yuan (王馨苑), a volunteer of CMC, sang the classic Peking Opera piece The Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers (天女散花); Sofia, Makayla, and Jacob, all aged eight, impressed everyone by reciting the Heart Sutra together. The "Lunar New Year Chan Art Activity" was composed of two workshops: crafts and calligraphy. While assembling the snake lanterns in the craft workshop, everyone was practicing concentrating and calming their mind. In the calligraphy workshop, the participants respectfully and attentively transcribed the Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. By transcribing the scripture, they were learning the great vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva at the same time.

According to CMC volunteer Shih Min (史敏), every year during the Spring Festival, she invites her family members to CMC to participate in the activities. She shared that the Lunar New Year special event not only fulfills everyone's wish to reunite and spend joyous time together during Lunar New Year, but also provides a space for everyone to learn and practice Buddhist teachings and interact with one another.



Original Chinese text / Yang Heng (楊恆)
Photo / Gao Ming-lu (高銘璐)
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL