Repentance ceremony on May 30th, Year of the Dragon

On July 05th, 2024 (May 30th, Year of the Dragon), good men and believing women inside and outside HCMC returned to Hoang Phap pagoda to attend a periodical penitential ritual.

Before the rite, Junior Thich Khong Tu, Lecturer at Vietnam Buddhist University in Ho Chi Minh City, Monks of Buu Da pagoda in District, HCM had a dharma talk named “Happiness is within reach” to share with Buddhists.

The Venerable helped the listeners understand what happiness is. Can we experience happiness in this life even though we have failed in our career, reputation, and family? How many types of happiness are there and how can we apply happiness according to the Buddha's teachings in life?

1. Happiness of dependence is when we achieve what we desire. The advantage of this happiness is that it helps us live with a goal and strive to achieve that goal; however, it also has disadvantages that make people always feel lacking. In order to achieve our desires, we sometimes put all our energy into it and forget all the people we love around us, forgetting the happiness right in the present.

2. Self-happiness, we must mindfully return to the present moment, feeling the happiness that is present all around us.

Applying the Middle Way teachings of Buddhism to our living, we will have complete peace and happiness. This teaching is an attitude of living away from two extremes: Not being attached to luxury and pleasure; nor asceticism and self-mortification. Just like on the path to conquering happiness, we should not set too big a goal and then spend all our energy on it and accidentally abandon the happiness that is next to us. Let us practice the Middle Way lifestyle, knowing balance and harmony between the two extremes. The Middle Way is not only the path to enlightenment but also the map of true happiness.

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

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