The 4th Nikāya Retreat

Junior Ven. Thich Minh Thanh, Abbot Linh Quy Phap An instructed the 4th Nikāya Retreat at the 5th floor of Dharma-Wheel Building of Hoang Phap Pagoda for all practitioners on Jan. 13th, 2021.

Practitioners performed the rituals: paying homage to the Three Jewels, announcing rules, meditation with a compassionate mind before preaching dharma.

The Ven. guided the participants to practice meditation on recognizing the five aggregates in order to know the true nature of attachment, anger, and delusion, its harms, reflecting on arising and how to control them. After that, the practitioners talked about their own realization during the cultivation process.

In fact, the Buddhists have no progress on the spiritual path, still have problems, afflictions due to praying to the Buddha for help, without looking deeply inside to know well sufferings which are led by greed, anger and delusion. From this, the Venerable shared its causes of arising, growth in feelings of liking, attachment to beautiful, clean images (pure form), we always see them in a sweet taste, but never notice the danger hides behind. To deal with the attractive forms is the impure contemplation (32 forms) to get rid of craving.

Through here, Junior Ven. message to participants to make an effort to practice earnestly, sincerely. Let observe about suffering, boring then get rid of worldly sweetness; from the world of phenomena to look deeply into the true nature within is suffering, impermanence, no-self of all things; Since then, we have wisdom to escape this temptation to live a peaceful and free life.

After the period of metta meditation in the afternoon, it is instruction about cultivation and explanations of practice problems.

At the end of the day, the mass together paid homage to the virtue Sariputra Saint and dedicated merit.

Some images recorded: