Monday, 04/20/2026
Repentance ceremony on the September 30th, Monkey year
Update: 31/10/2016
In this repentant dharma talk, Buddhists listened to the lecture of Venerable Thich Tam Phung, the monk of Hoang Phap pagoda. He showed the causes making cultivators not achieve enlightenment and liberation.
Although there were a lot of causes, there were six main causes why we’ve been keeping on whirling without escape. Those also were essential problems of cultivating. Deeply perceiving these problems will help us progress more firmly on the way towards our Buddhahood;otherwise,we would lag behind, even sink into vice without our ideal achievements.
1.Deeply involving in affair of fame and wealth
Fame and wealth are two cruel and intense blades often pursuing us in daily life in general, and on the process of acquiring religious knowledge in particular. Price to pay for fame and wealth greed is wasting whole human life, suffering ever. Cultivators should take precautions of fame and wealth, separate from them, always supervise and reflect our insights, absolutely not covet fame and wealth.
2. Deeply involving in affairs of eating, dressing, sleeping and working
Eating, dressing and sleeping are common desires we often see in this life. These stuffs make us passion
ate and waste much time. Therefore, cultivation will be affected. If we know and practice the lesson of content with few desires, that will be a panacea to help us overcome the trivial desires, direct towards liberation.
3. Being less blessed
Blessed rewards or blessed virtues are the specific Easterners’ concept. For the Westerners, they bequeath their descendants fortune, career and legacy but not blessed rewards or blessed virtues. Each of us is expecting blessed virtues by cultivating merits and is afraid of misfortune. Folk verses and proverbs mention this issue a lot to show the importance of blessed rewards in life as well as cultivation. Importantly, how will we create blessed rewards for ourselves? The Venerable instructed the mass the basic methods to create blessed rewards. That methods were nothing more than doing charity, saving and helping people according to compassion vow, bringing joy and happiness to all beings. Besides, they include the offerings to assist Buddhism prosperously and splendidly.
4. Deeply involving in affair of dharma for cultivation, doubtful of dharma sect for practice
This is the obstacles on cultivating progress. We illiterate our path, so it will be easy to go the wrong way leading us to chaos, the non-transparence, then, we will meet Demonic obstacles that regress our initial Bodhi Mind. Therefore, we need to relieve all doubt in order to practice diligently but not clinging to our dharma sects.
5. Not recognizing the essence of Buddhism
Those are the essence points of Buddhism dharma such as: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-ego. As Buddhists, we need to grasp these things through studying Sutra, listening to Dharma lectures….
6. Not detaching
Usually, we all know that people prefer keeping to detaching. Although, in principle, detaching is easier than holding and if we release, we will get more things than when we grasp, because when we try to grasp something, we can’t open our heart to others. If we grasp in correct way, it will be the endeavor in right viewpoint, right thought, right speech, right actions, right livelihood, right mindfulness, right meditation. If people can release afflictions in current life, release fame and wealth, release hatred and resentment, at the same time, let out pursuits and calculations for ourselves; flush away greed, hatred, ignorance in daily life, we will find by ourselves joy and peace in mind.
In short, we need to be aware of the issue clearly to avoid worldly banal persistence and to direct towards the ultimate goal. So, our career of practice towards enlightenment and liberation will quickly achieve the desired results, benefiting for ourselves, benefiting for everyone, successfully accomplished to reach the ultimate Bodhi stage of attainment.
After that, the mass enter time for repenting six senses and chant Buddhist sutra as usual.
Below are recorded pictures.
Translated by Nguyen Thi Thuy Oanh