A CHINESE-AMERICAN COOPERATIVE EFFORT

The Shanghai Dragon Flower Monastery’s Dharma Delegation, comprised of eight members led by Dharma Master Yinyuan, the Chief Secretary of the Shanghai Buddhist Association, returned to Shanghai after their visit to the United States. They had come to attend the Great Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly for Protecting the Nation and Quelling Disasters held at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

The Great Water-Land-Air Assembly commenced on the first day of the intercalary lunar eighth month. The Dharma Assembly was held in order to pray for world peace and favorable weather as well as to cross over sentient beings who had been killed in water, on land, and in the air. More than seven hundred people came from all parts of Europe, Asia, and America to attend. In addition to the recitations performed in the Inner Platform and the seven Outer Platforms (the Pure Land Platform, the All Sutras Platform, the Avatamsaka Platform, the Dharma Flower Platform, the Shurangama Platform, and the Great Platform, in which the Jeweled Repentance of the Emperor of Liang is held), there was a ceremony for making offerings to the gods, and special ceremonies for making offerings to hungry ghosts held on four evenings. The transmission of precepts to beings in the lower realms was conducted on three occasions. More than seven hundred people requested these precepts on behalf of their deceased relatives and friends. The Dharma Masters from Dragon Flower Monastery chanted the praises elegantly and in precise rhythm, and were very energetic. Their excellent coordination with the well-trained cantors of the City enhanced the inspiring atmosphere of the Dharma Assembly.

This Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly was held immediately after the Eighth Complete Precept Ordination Transmission in the City. Sixty-nine newly ordained bhikshus and bhikshunis, as well as a hundred and sixty-five lay people who received the Bodhisattva Precepts, generated a fresh atmosphere in the City. Although the Venerable Master Hua, the Founding Patriarch of the City, entered the stillness at the beginning of the 108-day Threefold Platform Complete Precept Transmission period, his lifelong spirit of promoting ascetic practices and emphasizing the precepts continues in the City to this day. This spirit deeply impressed the eight visiting Dharma Masters from Dragon Flower Monastery of Shanghai.

Shanghai’s Dragon Flower Monastery is one of the most famous ancient temples in China. A transmission of precepts will be held there in December this year, and three hundred preceptees have already signed up. Dragon Flower Monastery has formally invited the Venerable Master’s left-home disciples, both American and Chinese, to go to Shanghai and conduct precept classes for the preceptees over a one-month period.

AUSPICIOUS CLOUDS APPEAR AS EVERYONE IS FILLED WITH THE JOY OF DHARMA.

The Eighth Transmission of the Threefold Platform of Precepts was held at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas from September 19 to 23 this year. Ten Precept Masters from both southern and northern transmissions of Buddhism were invited to conduct the precept transmission. The 108-day precept period started on June 3 and ended on September 18. On June 7, the Venerable Master Hua passed into stillness. During the forty-nine days of the Nirvana Dharma Assembly, the preceptees strived hard to memorize and study the precepts. They showed firm and unwavering determination.

After the Nirvana Dharma Assembly and the Ceremony for Repaying Kindness and Commemoration were over, the Venerable Daohai, the Abbot of Proper Enlightenment Vihara in Puli, Taiwan, and the Vihara’s Disciplinary Master, Dharma Master Tianyin, were invited to lecture on the Vinaya (precepts and moral rules) at the City. They lectured four hours a day from August 23 till September 11, a total of twenty days. The lecture hours were from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. and from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The topics were “Vinaya for Laypeople” and “Essentials of the Shramanera’s Rules and Deportment.”

Venerable Master Daohai left home at the age of thirteen under Dharma Master Zuyin of Shanxi Province, China, and has been a monk for fifty-eight years. Venerable Master Daohai has promoted the precepts and strictly upheld them all his life. Many years ago, he stayed at Cixing Monastery, founded by the Venerable Master Hua on Lanto Island (Hong Kong), thereby creating a Dharma affinity with the Venerable Master.

Dharma Master Tianyin left home under the Venerable Master Chanyun in Taiwan. He lectured at Pure Vinaya Buddhist Academy prior to accepting an appointment as Disciplinary Master at the Proper Enlightment Temple earlier this year.

The actual transmission of precepts took place one week after the precept classes ended. The Precept Masters for the Eighth Threefold Precept Transmission included Dharma Master Mingyang, Vice-President of the Buddhist Association of China; Venerable Dharmawara Bhante, a 107 year-old monk of Burmese descent residing in the eastern United States; Dharma Masters Amaro and Thanavaro from England; and Dharma Master Mingzhao, President of Vietnamese Buddhist Association in the United States, who lives in the state of Washington.

Repentances for the three platforms were held on the September 18, 20 and 22. For each platform, the actual transmission was held the day after the repentance: The Shramanera/Shramanerika Precepts were transmitted on September 19, the Bhikshu/Bhikshuni Precepts were transmitted on September 21, and the Ten Major and Forty-eight Minor Bodhisattva Precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra were transmitted on September 23.

At 4:00 p.m. on September 21, after the Second Platform Precept Transmission, sixteen newly ordained Bhikshus and fifty-three newly ordained Bhikshunis lined up and walked from the Ordination Hall to the Mountain Gate to have a group photograph taken with the Precept Masters. At that time, two large clusters of vermillion clouds appeared in the sky; in no time, they transformed into multicolored auspicious clouds that covered the whole sky. These auspicious clouds brought much joy to the newly ordained Bhikshus and Bhikshunis. They seemed to be a token of the spreading of the Proper Dharma from the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to all parts of the world.