On July 30, 2023 (Sunday) 9:00am, Ocean Sky will hold the Ullambana Filial Piety Ceremony. By reciting the Ullambana Sutra and making meal offerings to the Buddha and Sangha, we pray that through the compassion of the Three Jewels, our parents in past lives will be liberated and reborn in better realms, and our living parents will enjoy bountiful blessings and long lives. In this way, we truly repay their kindness and show our respect. It is written in the Ullambana Sutra that Maudgalyayana, using his supernatural Dharma eye, saw his deceased mother suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts as retribution for her evil deeds. He offered her a bowl of food, but it turned into ashes right away. The Buddha taught him how to save his mother: “On the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, the culmination of the Sangha summer retreat, make an offering of the finest food to the Three Jewels. The limitless merits obtained from such offerings can liberate our parents in the past seven or more lives from suffering. This is how we can repay their love and kindness in raising us.” Everyone is invited to take part in this auspicious ceremony to listen to and cultivate the Dharma. May all sentient beings be blessed with merits and wisdom as well as attain enlightenment together.

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April 2, 2023 (Sunday), 9:00 am, Ocean Sky Chan Monastery will hold the Qing Ming Memorial Ceremony, promoting Buddhist compassion in liberating all sentient beings as well as the virtues of filial piety and gratitude. During the ceremony, The Practices and Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva of the Avatamsaka Sutra will be chanted, followed by the Grand Meal Offering, Memorial Prayers, Dharma Talk, and Offering to the Sangha.

We will dedicate all merits from this ceremony towards world peace and prosperity for all people: may our deceased ancestors, loved ones, and foes get reborn in better realms; may our family, friends, and all others be filled with blessings and wisdom; may sentient beings across the ten Dharma realms be liberated from suffering and attain enlightenment. We therefore invite everyone to attend this ceremony to listen to the Dharma teachings and be replete with Dharma Joy.

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