Repentance ceremony on August 30th, Year of the Cat

On Oct. 14th, 2023 (Aug. 30th, LC), good men and believing women inside and outside HCMC returned to Hoang Phap pagoda to attend the periodical penitential ceremony.

Before the rite, Junior Thich Tam Duoc, monks of the pagoda gave a dharma talk named “Property in life or Property of saints”.

Having conditions to go to the temple, the practitioner bows to the Buddha, listens to Dharma, practices ten good karma, cultivates Ten Paramita and practices 37 supporting teachings: fourfold stage of mindfulness, four right efforts; four steps to supernatural power, five roots; five powers, seven characteristics of bodhi, Noble eightfold path, etc, from the Buddha’s teaching.

Existence in life are all suffering because they is always changing, unstable, and uncertain, so all material things in the world such as houses, cars, money, spouses, children...temporarily called assets in life; When dying we have to leave it forever, we cannot take it with us. He reminds listeners to aim for the properties of saints. The properties of saints are Faith, Precepts, Shame towards oneself, shyness towards others, Listen, Giving and Wisdom. Following Buddhism, practitioners should try to abandon profane possessions towards saint possessions.

The Buddha taught the Bhikkhus, "Inherit the Dharma, do not inherit material things," so he shared the cause of the Buddha speaking two verses of the Dhammapada, numbers 155 and 156:

 “155: Who have not let the holy life

 nor riches won while young,

they linger on as aged cranes

 around a fished-out pond.

156: Who have not let the holy life

 nor riches won while young,

they languish on, worn-out bows,

sighing for the past.”

By listening and reflecting on the Dharma, then having the right view, Buddhists can see and know the truth and are cultivating the intellectual property of the Saints. Therefore, we try to take advantage of our health, youth, and clarity to study, keep the precepts, and actively do good deeds in spite of being young, middle-aged or elderly. This will support us even suffering in the cycle of birth and death of this life, and the next one. Life is short, Buddhists regularly reflect on aging, sickness and death to know fear and develop the mind to cultivate morality, concentration and wisdom; Because every moment that passes from good-bad body, speech and mind right now and here, those happy and sad thoughts are the causes - conditions - effects that bring us to the corresponding realm.

After the Dharma talk, the mass entered the penitential ritual as usual.

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