CMC Participated in Rubin Museum of Art's Celebration for Vesak and Saga Dawa

On May 18^th from 1-3pm EST, the Buddhist Council of New York hosted a Vesak and Saga Dawa celebration at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. This event commemorated the birth, enlightenment, and nirvana of Sakyamuni Buddha. Local Buddhist organizations were invited to participate. In response to the invitation, Venerable Yan Rui (演瑞法師) of Dharma Drum Mountain's Chan Meditation Center (CMC) led eight volunteers of Dharma Drum for Young People (DDYP) in New York to assist in the event set-up and participate in the celebration.

Featuring the theme "Peace in Action: Living the Teachings of the Buddha" for this year (2024), the celebration brought together monastics and laity of different nationalities, races, and Buddhist schools. Participants reverently paid homage to the Buddha with joined palms, and bathed the statue of Prince Siddhartha with pure water. Through the ritual of bathing the Buddha, everyone aimed to purify their body and mind, wishing for the purification of people's minds and the deliverance of all sentient beings from suffering.

Afterwards, to pray for the world and all sentient beings, Buddhist Venerables of Southern, Chinese, and Tibetan traditions recited Buddhist scriptures and prostrated to the Three Jewels respectively. Representing the Chinese Buddhist tradition, Ven. Yan Rui of CMC, led the participants in reciting the Heart Sutra, wishing everyone to grow in wisdom and attain Buddhahood soon.

The Venerables of different Buddhist traditions were invited to deliver Dharma talks for the participants. Venerable Bhante Kondanna, the representative of the Southern tradition, led everyone in reviewing the life of Sakyamuni Buddha. He expressed his gratitude for the Buddha's teachings, which have liberated all sentient beings from the suffering and afflictions of birth and death. He also pointed out that we must integrate the practice of Buddhadharma into our daily life with unrelenting dedication. Venerable Chimyo Simone Atkinson, representative of Northern tradition, elucidated that the "self" also arises from the union of causes and conditions. She encouraged everyone to practice wholesome Dharma as well as to navigate our lives with Buddhadharma. Venerable Lopen Nidup Dorji, representative of the Tibetan tradition, led the participants in a meditation breathing exercise. He used the analogies of "three meals a day" and "medicine taking" to illustrate the importance of spiritual cultivation, encouraging everyone to apply the method anytime, anywhere to realize "Peace in Action."

At the end of the event, Venerable Ruifa (瑞法法師), Abbot of Buddhist Peaceful Enlightenment Inc. and former President of the Buddhist Council of New York, led the attendees in transferring the merit, wishing for world peace, the end of wars, and the deliverance of all sentient beings from suffering to happiness.

For more photos, please visit the following link: https://www.facebook.com/DharmaDrumforYoungPeople



Photo / Gao Ming-lu (高銘璐), Billy Chen, Roger Ngo
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, 麗萍