Pravraj Celebration on March 15th

The Pravraj (home-leaving to become a monk/nun) is a precious event, which gains virtue eternally. Since the old days, this ritual has been applied the monastery complex. The action showed the kindness, the spirit of willing to take care of the next generations, the gratefulness to the Buddha, which are all taught by the masters.

On the April 21st, 2016 (Lunar March 15th, Monkey Year), a Pravraj Celebration was celebrated for six good men at Hoang Phap Pagoda. The procession was witnessed by the Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh, who is abbot   Hoang Phap Pagoda, along with the other monks.

 

In order to be a monk and practice at the Pagoda, they had to spend at least six months without breaking 32 rules of the Pravraj. Besides, they had to learn by heart the chanting time of evening, night labor, noon offering, rite of the bowl offering, and know how to use dharma instruments. Before being accepted to have Pravraj, they had to do the test about Sutra and their manners.

 

At the celebration, after the monks offered the incense to the Buddha, their representative invited the Venerables, the monks to have the witness words. Responding to their request, Senior Venerable Thich Chan Tinh had some instruction to them before the celebration. In his teachings, he explained the meaning of home-leaving monks. In this sense, each home-leaving monks had to be aware and  practice the three studies (Discipline-Meditation-Wisdom), the preceptsof which is the first. By this, the Venerable indicated the value of precepts, ethics in the monk’s life. Especially, he noticed that the future monks were the middle - honoured one, “The sons of Buddha”, “The principle to the Dharma”. Those words showed the important roles of the home-leaving monks in the mission of spreading the Drama of the Tathagata.

At last, on behalf of all the honoured ones, the Venerable did the Pravraj Celebration.

 

Here are the photos from the event: