Sharing of Seven Day Amitabha Recitation Retreat

-A A +A
By Jiang Li Ping (Translated from Chinese Ezine Issue 88, Date: 1-1-2007)

I am very grateful for the opportunity to observe eight precepts through mental cultivation and chanting of Amitabha for a seven-day duration. Though chanting with a calm mind is hard to achieve, we should grasp the precious moments of learning and living together. Everyone should let Sangha members carry forward their six principles of living in a group, which lead to sainthood. The most central teaching of the Dharma is to cultivate loving kindness (Metta) and compassion (Karuna).

Both the young and the old attended the Dharma talk. Some old people could still walk around the hall although their legs were not as strong as when they were young. Some middle-aged people had some kind of health problem although it was not that convenient for them to walk but they were able to kneel and pray.

We should compliment all participants for striving hard. We should encourage the youth to keep on learning the Dharma, continue the Amitabha chanting, inculcate gratitude, cultivate loving kindness and practice confession of misdeed. All will benefit from these meritorious practices. Lastly we must always show our gratitude to our parents, teachers, country, and all beings and avoid the three poisons of greed, anger, delusion which will lead us to be reborn in hell, hungry ghost, and animal realms.

Amituofo!