Returning to the Pagoda for the Seven - Day Buddha Recitation Retreat

The Seven - Day Buddha Recitation Retreat at Hoang Phap Pagoda was first organized in 1999 with 68 participants. During more than 23 years, now in 2022, this retreat continues to flourish, with more than one thousand Buddhists returning to the Pagoda for each session.

 

The retreat, known as “Seven Days of Buddha Recitation” was pioneered by the Venerable Abbot. After his Dharma mission to Taiwan, The Abbot sought to introduce and replicate this model of cultivation for Vietnamese Buddhists at that time. The Seven Days of Buddha Recitation is about forms of Taiwanese Buddhism, but its content and organization remain deeply rooted in Vietnamese Buddhist tradition.

Why is it a Seven-Day Buddha Recitation Retreat, rather than another form of retreat? According to our humble understanding, there are four main reasons:

 

1.  Based on the Amitabha Sutra:

“Sariputra! If there is a good man or good woman who hears of Amitabha Buddha and recitation His name for one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, seven days, with one pointed and undisturbed mind”

“Sariputra! Do you see how rare and precious this is?

If there are those with sincere faith, 

Be the good men or good women, without distinction,

Who hear the name of Amitabha Buddha 

And wholeheartedly uphold and recite it

From one day up to seven days,

With an undistracted and single minded heart, 

Then, when the mind is not confused, they shall truly accomplish the Way”

(From the Daily Recitation Sutra - The Amitabha Sutra, Hoang Phap Pagoda)

 

According to this passage of the Amitabha Sutra, when a person hears the name of Amitabha Buddha and upholds recitation it single mindedly from one day up to seven days that person will attain a state of undistracted, single minded concentration (one pointed mind).

Regarding the term “to uphold”, Most Venerable Thich Tri Tinh explains as follows:

“I once spoke to my Dharma brothers about the phrase “uphold the Buddha’s name”. The phrase “uphold” means to hold firmly and keep or maintain. It is like holding a book in your hand without letting it go - if you put it down, you are no longer upholding it.

When we recite the Name “Namo Amitabha Buddha”, our mind should contain only “Namo Amitabha Buddha”, and nothing else.

Do not let any other thoughts arise; allow no other notions to mix in.

If, while reciting the Buddha’s name, your mind is still thinking of other things, then that is not true recitation.

If one can truly uphold the Name as the Buddha Sakyamuni has taught, one will certainly be reborn in the Pure Land.

If it is not practiced correctly, the result will not appear. The Buddha’s words are never mistaken - it is only that we may have misunderstood or not practiced them properly, even after understanding them.”

 

2.  In the Anguttara Nikaya I, in the Discourse on Mindfulness of the Buddha, the Buddha taught:

“Monks, there is one Dharma, when developed and cultivated, leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment and to Nibbana.

And what is that one Dharma?

It is the recitation of the Buddha.

This one Dharma, monks, when developed and cultivated, leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, and to Nibbana.”

(Angattara Nikaya, Book I - The Book of the Ones, Chapter One, 1-10, recitation of the Buddha Sutra)

Regarding this passage, the Most Venerable Abbot of Hoang Phap Monastery gave the following teaching:

“ Buddha Recitation does not mean only to recite His name by speech. It also means to contemplate His noble appearance, pure conduct, tranquil mind, supreme wisdom and constant mindfulness. When we continually remember and contemplate the Buddha, our minds become pure and gradually enter meditative concentration.”

So, the purpose of practicing Buddha Recitation is so clear!

 

3.     The Dhammapada, Verse 2

“Mind precedes all mental states,

Mind is their chief; they are all mind made,

If with a pure mind,

One speaks or acts.

Happiness follows him

Like a shadow that never departs.”

This story tells of the young Brahmin Matthakundali who was dying, but just by hearing the name of the Buddha with faith, was immediately reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty - Three after passing the Way.

“With the Buddha's eyes, the Blessed One surveyed the world in all ten directions and saw Matthakundali lying on the veranda, breathing his last.

The Enlightened One immediately knew that the young man had just been carried out from the house and placed there. He also knew that Matthakundali possessed a karmic connection with the Buddha, that faith would arise in him at the final moment, and that he would soon pass away and be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty - three, dwelling in a golden mansion attended by a thousand celestial maidens.”

(Dhammapada Commentary, Story No. 2 - “Crying for Heavenly Matters”, translated by Vien Chieu Zen Monastery)

 

 4.     Vietnamese Buddhists have been familiar with the Pure Land method

For many decades, Vietnamese Buddhism has been deeply imbued with the spirit and teachings of the Pure Land tradition, both in its method and in actual practice. The Pure Land path serves as a skillful means for calming the mind and cultivating wisdom.

Vietnamese Buddhists who have long been familiar with the Pure Land practice, maintaining faith and diligently continuing the practice is a natural part of their spiritual cultivation. The Pure Land teaching expounds that the Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhavati) was established through the great vows and compassionate power of the Buddha Amitabha, from the time He was still the Bodhisattva Dhammakara.

 

 In the original Sanskrit text of the Karunapundarika Sutra (The Compassionate Lotus Sutra), Chapter III - Dana - visargas trtiyah, King Aranemin made his great vows and was confirmed by the Buddha Ratnagarbha that he would one day attain Buddhahood as Amitabha, the Enlightened One presiding over the Western Pure Land.

 

In our humble understanding (the author), based on the great vows of the Buddha Amitabha as described in the scriptures, practitioners of the Pure Land path also make aspirations to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhavati). Through these shared vows and collective purity of mind, they generate a vast resonance of wholesome karma. forming both the supportive conditions and the primary conditions for future existence. As according to the story of Sakka and the celestial beings dwelling in the Heaven of the Thirty - three (Tavatimsa). Why is it called “the Heaven of the Thirty - three”? In brief, because in their previous lives, thirty - three individuals made vows and performed virtuous deeds together; upon passing away, through the power of their shared wholesome karma, they were all reborn in the same heavenly realm.

 

Though the reasons presented above may not be entirely complete or precisely convey the intended meaning, through a modest effort of personal reflection, we sincerely hope that Buddhists may gain some understanding from it, thereby strengthening their faith and diligence in practice. May all virtuous friends and fellow practitioners continue steadfastly on the path of peace and happiness in the Dharma. We would like to conclude this writing with a short verse of reflection:

“Those who share the same path of practice with me,

May we be reborn together in the same Pure Lands.

In body, speech, mind, and deed, may we be in harmony,

Cultivating together all wondrous virtues of the Dharma”

(Most Venerable Thích Trí Quảng – The Fourth Supreme Patriarch of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha)

 

Tâm Cung

Translated into English by To Le Van