Final Day of FGS South Island NZ Emperor Liang Repentance Service

Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island entered its 4th (final) day Emperor Liang Repentance Dharma Service on 11th June 2018. Though it fell on a Monday, a working day, the number of participating devotees from Australia and New Zealand swelled to more than 100. Today’s chanting covered chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Repentance Sutra. Led by FGS NZ Abbess Venerable Manshin and Venerables from FGS Oceania, the devotees carried out their chanting and with utmost sincerity, repentance and respect, offered pearls, ornaments and clothes to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

In her speech after the Dharma Service, Venerable Abbess Manshin pointed out that Emperor Liang Repentance Sutra is the most distinguished of all Repentance Sutras and is considered to be the ‘King of all Repentance Sutras’. Emperor Liang Repentance Sutra starts by teaching that one should first repent on one’s own afflictions starting with repenting on the ‘causes’ of these afflictions. At the same time, by chanting the Repentance Sutra, one can help one’s deceased ancestors by transferring merits to them. Chanting the Repentance Sutra will keep a person from falling into the animal, hungry ghost, and hell realms. Venerable Abbess praised Cha’n Master Bao Zhi Gong for being an enlightened Cha’n Master, and a Master of Chinese literary works. Venerable Abbess emphasized that a Buddhist Practitioner should possess, in addition to high IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and high EQ (Emotional Quotient), the ability to repent on self-mistakes, and the willingness to cultivate and grow his Dharma wisdom. We are all very lucky to have Buddha, the great enlightened Teacher who left us with all his teachings in the forms of Dharma. We are doubly lucky to have with us Venerable Master Hsing Yun who takes the trouble to interpret and explain the Dharma to us so that we can better understand the contents and meanings of Buddha’s teachings.

Six devotees then took turn to share their joys and experiences in participating in the Repentance Dharma Service. The first to share her experience was Deputy President of Sydney BLIA, Karen Cheung. After taking part in the four days Function, Karen has a better understanding of the procedure and ritual steps involved in the Emperor Liang Repentance Service. She now has more confidence in Buddhism and vowed to help in its propagation. Zhen, a experience member of South Sydney BLIA, claimed that through the Repentance Service, she managed to repent and lessen her past negative Karma. She promised to continue to further develop her Dharma wisdom and work to uncover her own Buddha Nature.

Sophia He, President of South Sydney BLIA Joyous Subchapter, described how, after learning how rare and auspicious the Waterland Dharma Function at Nan Tian Temple will be, within 3 hours she signed up for the FGS NZ South Island Emperor Liang Repentance Service. Sophia recalled that when performing the repentance prayers for the past 4 days, she felt like a Celestial Being enjoying the blissfulness of the Heavenly Realm. She would like to thank Venerable Miao Rao for making this trip possible. Having participated in this Repentance Dharma Function, she has now put to rest all her doubts   and can now proceed diligently with her pursue of Dharma cultivation.

BLIA Australia Guang ming subchapter secretary Ms. You said that she was able to pay full concentration during the chanting of the Repentance Sutra. Her heart was calm and peaceful, and she was able to let go of her past. Repentance had shown her the way to rid herself of arrogance. She sincerely thanked the people of New Zealand for their hospitality which had enabled her to concentrate on her pursue of Dharma wisdom diligently.

BLIA South Island New Zealand Dharma Lecturer Rona Ku felt lucky that she was able to participate in this Emperor Liang Repentance Dharma Function. The exceptional Sutra, true self-repentance, and fabulous talks by Venerables, all prompted her to vow to become a Lead Grand Ceremony Devotee. Rona was glad that FGS South Island can provide nice venue for Dharma functions. She hoped that the public can visit FGS Temple South Island more often, and render support to the Venerables. BLIA South Island New Zealand Director Tracy Chen expressed her gratitude to Buddha, Bodhisattvas and her family for making it possible for her to fulfil her vow to be a Lead Grand Ceremony Devotee. Tracy also thanked Venerable Abbess Manshin and Venerable Jue Xi for their guidance throughout the years.

This time around, the Waterland Dharma Function’s first External Altar at FGS South Island New Zealand – Emperor Liang Repentance Dharma Function was successfully carried out with 8 devotees registering themselves as Lead Grand Ceremony Devotees: 2 from FGS North Island New Zealand, 2 from FGS South Island New Zealand, 1 from FGS Melbourne Australia and 3 from FGS Sydney Australia.

The Dharma Function ended with Venerable Abbess Manshin wishing all the devotees success in all their future undertakings. Venerable Abbess pointed out that all the participants have been blessed with good Karma for being able to attend this Repentance Service. The Bodhi seeds for attending this Dharma Function could have been planted in their past lives. Venerable Abbess encouraged all to attend the main Internal Altar Waterland Dharma Function to be held at Nan Tian Temple Sydney next year as part of their Dharma cultivation.