Repentance ceremony on December 14, lunar year of the horse

Although their work on year-end days was so busy, thousands of Buddhists from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and from its neighbouring provinces gathered up at Hoang Phap pagoda on the evening of February 02, 2015 (Dec. 02, lunar year of the Horse) to take part in the last repentance ceremony of the lunar year.

 Accepting the invitation from the organising board,\r\nJunior Venerable Thich Minh Thanh, lecturer at the HCMC High-Middle Level of\r\nBuddhism School and Abbot of Phap An Small Pagoda (in Bao Loc, of Lam Dong province),\r\ncame to Hoang Phap pagoda to preach on the Dharma to Buddhists. In this talk,\r\nthe Senior Ven. did give the masses practical teachings from his own experience\r\nthrough the topic named “New Year’s Eve Reminder”. It is as follows.

Time elapses so quickly  -  after spring and\r\nsummer, it is already autumn and winter. Likewise, a human life also elapses so\r\nquickly  -  it ends in a fugitive moment. On the occasion of the end\r\nof this year, each of us should look back at his life so as to master the real\r\nmeaning of  it as well as its value. We should also check up our own\r\ncultivation so as to make a break with our wicked thoughts and to diligently\r\ndirect ourselves to good deeds for the cultivation aiming at enlightenment and\r\nliberation.

Buddhists should aware of the three great principles of the\r\nuniverse which the Buddha has mentioned. They are impermanence, great misery\r\nand nonego. All things and phenomena in life are impermanent. Likewise, human\r\nbeings are ultimately mortal although they may live as long as possible. We\r\nshould think of this so as to master the value as well as meaning of a human\r\nlife. Anyhow, it is thanks to impermamance that we may transform our\r\ninconveniences and great miseries to our peace and contentment, or from bad to\r\ngood. Only when we understand impermanence, can we release everything behind, cultivate\r\nourselves and direct ourselves to active and better directions. Egolessness\r\nmeans not homogeneous or immutable. Or, in other words, nothing can exist for\r\never -  everything is always on the move and changes its form. It is\r\nthanks to egolessness that we may cultivate ourselves so as to improve our bad\r\nhabits and bring them back to our good nature. And misery is nothing but\r\nunhopefulness or against our own wilingness or unsatisfactoriness or\r\nunacceptability to reality. Accordingly, he who masters the true nature of\r\nmisery will no longer feel it, for the fact that such a person has nothing else\r\nto expect, neither shiftiness nor wildly dreaming of anything. As a result, he\r\nwill get peace and contentment.

Therefore, new year’s eve is the occasion on which it\r\nreminds everybody of checking of their past activities and from these they can\r\nmake better efforts in giving up their bad mentalities such as greed, anger,\r\ndelusion, egotism, false views, etc. so as to improve their actions, thoughts,\r\nand speech to get peace and contentment for themselves as well as good fruits\r\nin their present and future life.

After the preaching, the masses together performed the Great\r\nFame repentance as usual.

Following are some recorded pictures.