Chan Meditation Center Holds Special Event “Bathing the Buddha, Purifying the Mind” to Share in the Buddha’s Blessings

On May 10 (Eastern Time), Dharma Drum Mountain Chan Meditation Center in New York held a special Buddha Bathing Festival event titled "Bathing the Buddha, Purifying the Mind" to celebrate the Buddha's Birthday. More than 170 participants from both Eastern and Western backgrounds gathered to take part in the occasion. During the Buddha Bathing Ceremony, the assembly respectfully and wholeheartedly chanted praises to the Three Jewels. Amid the recitation of "Namo ben shi shi jia mo ni fo (homage to our original teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha)," participants paid homage to the Buddha in turn and poured fragrant water over the statue of Prince Siddhartha. Through the ritual of bathing the Buddha, participants purified their bodies and minds, cleansed away afflictions and mental defilements, and made vows to "eliminate all evils, cultivate all virtues, and liberate all sentient beings," praying to attain the same purity of body and mind as the Buddha. Chan Meditation Center also extended blessings to mothers everywhere for peace and well-being, while praying for world peace, harmony, and the swift attainment of Buddhahood by all beings.

For this year's special Buddha Bathing Festival event, Venerable Guo Jieh (果界法師) from Dharma Drum Mountain Sangha was invited to offer a Dharma talk and blessings. During the lecture, Venerable Guo Jieh reviewed the life of Shakyamuni Buddha and explained the origins and meaning of the Buddha Bathing Festival. Venerable Guo Jieh described how Prince Siddhartha, after witnessing the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death during his journeys outside the palace, renounced worldly life to seek the ultimate path beyond suffering for all beings. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha shared his realization and teachings with all sentient beings. Through this, Venerable Guo Jieh encouraged everyone to practice and apply the Buddhadharma in daily life. We can do this by contemplating causes and conditions, as well as the law of cause and effect; "constantly wiping away the dust" and correcting the actions of body, speech, and mind; and, finally, eliminating the causes of suffering to prevent its results. In doing so, one may help oneself and others transform the mind, awaken wisdom, clear the mind and untangle one's thoughts, and ultimately leave suffering behind to attain happiness.


As the event coincided with Mother's Day in the United States, Venerable Guo Jieh also shared a teaching by Master Sheng Yen from The Direction of Dharma Drum Mountain: Dharma Propagation Efforts (法鼓山的方向：弘化): "Whether it is the Buddha Bathing Festival or Mother's Day, both are days of gratitude. We are grateful to our mothers for giving us this human life, as well as grateful to the Buddha for giving us the wisdom-life of the Dharma body. Both are the fundamental parents of Buddhists. Here, I pray for parents throughout the world, wishing each of them health, peace, happiness, and joy." Through this teaching, Venerable Guo Jieh encouraged everyone to learn from the Buddha's compassion and wisdom, to always maintain gratitude and wholesome intentions, and to form good affinities with others. She wished everyone good health, increased blessings, and wisdom, peace, and auspiciousness.


After the Buddha Bathing Ceremony concluded, the Dharma Drum Youth Drum Team presented an energetic drum performance titled "Firecrackers." The powerful and synchronized drumming resembled the sound of exploding firecrackers, stirring and inspiring the audience. Particularly impressive were the three young children in the drum team, whose poised and confident performance earned enthusiastic applause from the crowd. Following this, Chan Meditation Center Choir performed The Bodhisattva Path, written by Master Sheng Yen. Accompanied by solemn drumbeats, the performance awakened the audience's inner aspirations and bodhisattva spirit.


During the lunch gathering, Venerable Chang Hwa (常華法師), Director of Chan Meditation Center, invited the elderly mothers present to join in cutting a vegetarian celebration cake. In a warm and joyful atmosphere, participants sang a Buddha's Birthday version of the "Happy Birthday Song" in Mandarin, English, Taiwanese, Cantonese, and other languages. While celebrating the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha, they also offered heartfelt blessings to mothers that transcended national and cultural boundaries. This year's Buddha Bathing Festival drew a continuous stream of visitors. The vegetarian lunch prepared with care by the volunteers received widespread praise. Although extremely busy, every volunteer served joyfully, hoping that everyone could experience abundant blessings and Dharma joy on the Buddha's Birthday. Chan Meditation Center also prepared longevity peach buns symbolizing auspiciousness to share with attendees, wishing everyone peace, safety, and long life.

Every year during the Buddha Bathing Festival, lay practitioner Abby Tang invites her family to visit the center together. This year, her daughter Makayla was also one of the young performers in the drum team. Abby indicated that through rehearsals and performances, her daughter learned teamwork, initiative, concentration, and responsibility. She hopes that by participating in the center's activities, children can learn Buddhist values and methods, distinguish right from wrong, develop self-discipline, and respect others. She also expressed the hope that the center will continue organizing more activities suitable for children and teenagers, helping the younger generation cultivate concentration and inner stability. This is to ensure that, when they enter society in the future, they may spread peace and happiness to those around them.

Original text in Chinese: 楊恆
Photos: Henry Tseng
Translation: Patricia Yang 
Editing: Keith Brown