“HOW TO TAKE THE RIGHT PRAYING IN BUDDHISM” Dharma Talk in the 89th Seven-Day Retreat

On the morning of Sep. 5th, 2018, Ven. Thich Dao Quang visited the lecture hall for a Dharma giving on the title of “How to take the Right Praying in Buddhism”. This is a very practical talk in the Ullambana season when most of the people came to the temple and pray for their relatives in both the living and passed people.

Worship our ancestors is a pretty custom of the Vietnamese, derived from the reverence of the offspring to their bloodline. This causes the main reason for people to ask the monks chanting and recite their parent's names at the end of the chanting rite. They all think this is the best way to transfer their merit to the passed relatives, the best way to send them to sooner taking birth. This is nothing wrong, just the means to sow the boddhicitta to both the living and passed people. But how to do it effectively, not many people know.

To show the right way to people, he took them to the Kṣitigarbhasūtra, the sūtra about the   Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva and His Pūrvapraṇidhāna. The sūtra mentioned about the way that a maid from brāhmaṇa class want to save her mother from the miserable state because she had done many bad deeds during the living time. Having asked the admonishment from the Buddha, she put the most effort to do giving and bring happiness to others by material things and spiritual words.

By quoting the sūtra, he wants to say to all people that the right way to help our ancestors is doing good deeds and practicing what can bring happiness to other people. When we become a virtuous one, our good karma will automatically effect to ancestors. Don’t waste money and time into what related to superstition, this is not what the Buddha’s teaching.

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