DDM Held "Transmitting the Light of Dharma Assembly" to Commemorate Master Sheng Yen' Kindness

On the 16^th anniversary of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) founder Master Sheng Yen's passing, both the monastic and lay people of DDM participated in the "DDM Transmitting the Light of Dharma Assembly" at 2:00 p.m. on February 8^th, 2025 at all branches throughout Taiwan to commemorate the Master's kindness. At all the sites for the Dharma assembly all over Taiwan, thousands of people followed the Master's previous sound recording to recite the Buddha's name together. Everyone then aspired to practice Buddhist teachings to express their sincere gratitude and respect to Master Sheng Yen. Afterwards, the monastic passed the lamp to the lay participants one by one.

To commemorate Master Sheng Yen's infinite compassion, nearly 700 devotees gathered at DDM World Center for Buddhist Education, the main venue of the DDM Transmitting the Light of Dharma Assembly. During the Dharma assembly, Ven. Guo Huei (果暉法師), the Abbot President of DDM, indicated that through this yearly Dharma assembly, the Buddhist followers express their gratitude to Master Sheng Yen, all the patriarchs, and Shakyamuni Buddha for their kindness in transmitting the Dharma. Meanwhile, we can examine if we have taken actions to benefit ourselves and others, while bringing joy, peace, and happiness to ourselves and others. Ven. Guo Huei reminded us that, in addition to using the Dharma to transform ourselves and inspire others, we should also learn how to make our own physical, verbal, and mental actions more pure, compassionate, and wise.

As quoted in the video "Remembering the Master's Kindness: Apply a mind of gratitude to benefit our lives" played at the Dharma assembly, Master Sheng Yen emphasized that Buddhism places great importance on the concept of repaying kindness. We can repay the kindness of the Three Jewels, our nation, our parents, and all beings by helping others, cultivating good relationships with them, and further sharing the benefits of the Dharma under the right conditions. In doing so, we are doing what Master Sheng Yen referred to as recognizing and repaying others' kindness.

Huang Li-kai (黃莉凱), a first-time participant in the Transmitting the Light of Dharma assembly, expressed her gratitude to the volunteers who introduced her to Buddhist teachings. She finds that Master Sheng Yen's teachings are quite approachable. As encouraged by the Master, as long as we recite the Buddha's name more often, we can alleviate our vexation and untangle our mind from worries. She believes that Buddhist teachings should be further introduced to more young people so that the next generation can also learn the goodness of Buddhadharma.

According to DDM, in addition to commemorating Master Sheng Yen's kindness of teaching, the Transmitting the Light of Dharma assembly also aims to inspire everyone to promote the vision of "uplift the character of humanity and build a pure land on earth."



Original Chinese text / Fu Li-xian (傅莉嫻)
Photos / Fan Lee (李東陽), Wang Yu-fa (王育發), Li Jia-Chun (李佳純), Fu Li-xian (傅莉嫻)
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL