Ceremony of Taking Refuge and Flower Larntern for Amitabha at Trung Khanh Pagoda, Nam Dinh province.

As the plan of the Buddhism schedule on the birthday event of The Amitabha Buddha in the North, 2014. In January 12th, 2015 (Lunar November 22nd, Horse Year), as being invited by The Oldest Abbot Thich Thanh Phuc, Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh visited Trung Khanh Pagoda, Nam Dinh city not only to do the Taking Refuge for the Buddhists, but also to witness the Flower Lantern Festival,

In the evening, The Venerable with the monks came to the\r\nlecture hall to teach Dharma and transfer the Triratna and The Five Cardinal\r\nVirtues. The Buddha’s Dharma is unlimited. Buddhists who are floating on the\r\nSea of Karma should be based on the ship of Buddha’s kindness to be lead to the\r\nland. The Refuge Taking plays an important role in the journey of the\r\nenlightenment. The basic concepts about the Triratna – The Five Precepts were\r\nexplained clearly by the Venerable in order to ensure that everyone could\r\nunderstand and be concentric in the main rules of behavior to become truly\r\nBuddhists.

In the evening, at 7:00 P.M. the ritual group invited The\r\nVenerable to the stage to witness the Night among the prayers to Amitabha\r\nBuddha from the attendants. In the beginning, everyone listened to the sounding\r\nof verses along with the bells. After that, The Bhadanta Thich Thanh Phuc, who\r\nis the Abbot of the pagoda, announced the opening the ceremony. During the\r\nNight, the special part was transmitting the lights. The candles which were lighted\r\nby the Monks from the stage were transmitted to the Buddhists. Candles to\r\ncandles, hearts to hearts, and the candles were brought to everyone,\r\neverywhere, lighted up the sky above Trung Khanh. From now on, the world would\r\nbe enlightened with the lights of wisdom, kindness, non-ego and tolerance.\r\nThere would be less pain and tears, vice versa there would be more happiness.

In the Night, The Venerable Thich Chan Tinh appreciated the\r\nspirit of the Bhadanta who celebrated the Flower Lights Night, which brought\r\nthe chances for the Buddhists to learn about the theory of the Pure Land. The\r\nVenerable, through the Amitabha’s forty-eight vows, helped us to understand the\r\nheart of the Buddha. We should learn from the Buddha, think of others. Through\r\nthe name of The Kind Father, Infinite Light, Infinite Life, The Venerable\r\nshowed us that our needing Infinite Life must have Infinite Light; our needing\r\nInfinite Light must have Infinite Blessing. We need to practice diligently,\r\naccumulate blessing, and develop true merits. Besides, the people on the Pure\r\nLand sects need to study the Three Sources of Felicity in the Sutra of\r\nContemplation of Infinite Life to achieve our ideal purpose.

In the end, with the atmosphere filled with the music and\r\nthe applause, the ceremony ended in everyone’s joy.

In this event, The Venerable sent to the Buddhists in the\r\nceremony the DVDs “Dawn in the foggy land”.

Here are the photos taken from the event.

The Refuge Taking Ceremony