On January 28, 2018 Phuoc Hue Temple hosted its first bi-monthly 8 Precepts half-day retreat from 6:00AM to 6:00PM.
8 guests attended the half-day retreat. The retreat began with with 8 Precepts Opening Ceremony where the attendees chanted and vowed the 8 precepts temporarily.
After the opening ceremony, a light breakfast was served before we continued with meditation and chanting of the Surangama Sutra.
The Surangama sutra is a very important sutra in a lot of Mahayana traditions, especially in China and Vietnam. The Surangama sutra, like many other Mahayana texts, teaches us about our Buddha Nature and the importance of moral precepts in Buddhist practice. Monastics chant this sutra everyday as part of their morning service.
During the retreat, only a small portion of the beginning of the sutra was chanted. The first part of the sutra tells the story of the Buddha’s attendant, Ananda, going on alms round on his own. A beautiful prostitute seduced him into her bed using a powerful “spell” given by the gods. Buddha saw what was happening with his Buddha Eye and sent Manjushri to go to Ananda and give him the “Surangama Mantra.” When Ananda heard this mantra, he and the prostitute immediately awoke and wept sorrowfully. They both returned with Manjushri to the Buddha and the Buddha proclaimed and taught the Surangama Sutra.
After chanting, attendees continued with sitting and walking meditation before helping outside with some chores cleaning and tidying up the garden. After chores, attendees sat down for a silent vegetarian lunch while performing a short traditional meal prayer blessing.
After lunch and the lunch break, attendees continued the retreat with a Dharma talk, sitting and walking meditation, and chanting of the Amitabha Sutra, before finishing up chores and cleaning.
The retreat ended with the 8 Precepts Closing Ceremony and a light soup meal to end the day.
Please join us next time for our next 8 Precepts Retreat in March!