Opening the 103rd Seven - Day Retreat

From Aug. 25th to Sep. 01st, 2024 Hoang Phap pagoda officially opened the 103rd Seven-day Retreat with nearly 1000 good men and believing women everywhere returning to attend.

At the lecture halls in the morning, the Organizers guided practitioners in places to listen to dharma, eating, and sleep, as well as the necessary rules of Buddhists when attending the retreat, such as clasping hands, greeting, bowing; rituals offering a meal in the lunch.

 Head of the Organizers, Junior Thich Tam Truong had some sharing words to the mass in the afternoon.

 When one has not yet attained sainthood, is a mortal body, one cannot avoid making mistakes whether one has practice or not. The Buddha taught there are two strongest types of people in life: those who do not have mistakes and those who make mistakes but know and correct them.

Showing and illuminating the path for sentient beings to go upward, the Buddha is not a god who bestows blessings or calamities then we pray for. The mistakes we have made, we must be the ones to transform because we will decide happiness or suffering. When sowing good seeds, we will enjoy the fruit of happiness and joy; when sowing bad seeds, we will reap bitter fruit.

In the Dhammapada, verse 50, Buddha taught:

“Not others' opposition

nor what they did or failed to do,

but in oneself should be sought

things done, things left undone...”

Should not judge others, but we should reflect on ourselves, or if we make mistakes, we should admit them, apologize and correct. If we want to give constructive advice to someone about a certain issue, we should do so with a spirit of joy, love and speaking the truth. He reminded the listeners to practice, transform imperfect things, reduce greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt; cultivate the virtues of compassion, joy, love, forgiveness, etc. Practice is cleaning up the trash, eliminating bad habits from the mind. Each person should be mindful in the present moment to avoid making mistakes, not being negligent, and reflecting on oneself. When receiving advice from others, we should listen and thank those who point out mistakes so that we can become more perfect.

Last, he popularized rules with the purpose to help the mass understand, and diligently practice to get benefits of peace and happiness right now, being steps forward for achievement on the path of finding enlightenment.

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