On July 21, 2024 (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.

May 12, 2024 (Sunday) 9:00am, Ocean Sky Chan Monastery will hold a triple-event ceremony—the Buddha Bathing Ceremony to commemorate the birth of the Buddha; the commencement of the 3-month Summer Retreat Medicine Buddha Gratitude Ceremony; and the celebration of Mother’s Day by chanting The Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents. The Buddha Bathing activity will last for the whole week until May 19 (Sunday). Everyone is invited to come and bathe the Buddha statue.

Shakyamuni Buddha was born 3051 years ago on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month and his life story transpired in eight stages. He helped sentient beings return to their inherent pure nature by using Dharma water to cleanse their mind. A sutra states: “By bathing the Buddha’s statue as if he were still present in the world, one obtains blessings so limitless they cannot be counted.” By outwardly bathing the Buddha statue, we inwardly wash away our mind’s impurities; that is the true meaning of bathing the Buddha statue.

We welcome you and your loved ones to join this auspicious event and be replete with Dharma Joy. During the 3-month Summer Retreat, everyone is encouraged to recite the Medicine Buddha Sutra daily. Ocean Sky will also be open for the Medicine Buddha Sutra chanting every Monday and Wednesday, 7:00-8:00pm. With a mind of gratitude, we dedicate all the blessings and merits towards the peace and prosperity of the world and the enlightenment of all sentient beings.