November the 14th is the auspicious occasion of Medicine Buddha’s Birthday and the New York Center held a long-awaited group practice after so many months. In accordance with the attendance restriction, less than 30 practitioners gathered for this group practice with sincere and pure hearts.
At 9 am, Teacher Guan Shan led everyone to offer incense and pay our respect to the Buddha. Practice followed. With our body, speech and mind, we sincerely prostrated to the Buddha, offering all of the best we can to the Buddha, and bathed in Buddha’s light.
In addition to prostration, we also practiced the Meditation of Greater Illumination, followed Grandmaster JinBodhi in chanting the Medicine Buddha Heart Mantra, and received great energy blessings from Grandmaster JinBodhi. The hall was filled with quiet energy and everyone felt very at ease.
At the completion of the event, everyone took turns to share their feelings and thoughts about being able to return to the Center for group practice.
“I am grateful to Grandmaster for creating such a good practice center for us. Today, I returned to the New York Bodhi family to participate in the One-Day Cultivation! Because of the pandemic, it has been a long time since I have been in the Meditation Center for a whole day. It is wonderful to have the long-lost feeling of familiarity and energy that I associate with the Center. Today’s practice started with prostration, and continued with the Meditation of Greater Illumination, chanting for blessings and receiving Grandmaster’s energy blessing. I was surrounded by warm energy, and felt very comfortable, very peaceful and very free. Although I also practice at home, the energy is different. Sometimes it is difficult to calm down. But when you let go of things for the day, let go of your worries, and when you practice in this way, the effect is different. In this stressful time, we really feel that it is a very happy thing for us to have such a wonderful place and opportunity. I am grateful to the All-Compassionate Grandmaster for teaching us to be compassionate and to be someone who can control our emotions. I am grateful for the teaching that, if we haven’t controlled our emotions well, we must practice diligently. I also want to be a compassionate person and one who can control my emotions. Although the path of cultivation is not easy, with the guidance of Grandmaster, I will continue to cultivate steadfastly! Thank you, Grandmaster!” – Shou Ji
“It feels so good to be back in the Meditation Center. Compared to before we began prostration, I feel that my body is much lighter than before. I don’t feel tired at all. Every time I bowed down, I let go of the arrogance in me, and I felt so small. I am grateful for Grandmaster’s teaching, guiding me to be a compassionate and kind person. When practicing the Meditation of Greater Illumination, I felt a lot of energy surrounding me, making my whole body hot. This kind of great energy can only be experienced in Grandmaster’s Meditation Center. Thank you, Grandmaster, for having such a good Meditation Center where we can cultivate. When Grandmaster gave us energy blessings, my hands seemed to have two small fireballs in them. They were warm and comfortable. It’s been a long time since I let go of everything around me to practice in the Meditation Center like today. I feel particularly at ease. Office workers like us should take some time to return to the Center and adjust our emotions to face the workday every day. I am grateful to Grandmaster for caring and loving us like a father. I will follow Grandmaster closely. I won’t fall behind and I will be a good disciple.” – Shou Jiu
“I feel full of energy as a result of today’s One-Day Cultivation. From when we began practice with prostration, the whole process was not tiring at all. My body is relaxed and I don’t feel old! During the Meditation of Greater Illumination, continuous light entered my body, as if a ball of red fire was emitting heat in my body. It is not the same as practicing at home. I feel full of energy. When Grandmaster was giving the energy blessing, my lumbar and cervical vertebrae made cracking noises. )I have bone spurs on the lumbar vertebrae and cervical vertebrae 4 and 5.) After Grandmaster’s blessing, I started to feel relaxed. I am grateful for the care and blessing given to us by Grandmaster and for the New York Center, for giving me a quiet, comfortable and elegant Meditation Center to be happy and free. We will continue to practice and volunteer with the Center to serve the public!” – Chi Bai
“On this auspicious day, I am very happy to be able to return to the Meditation Center to participate in the One-Day Cultivation, remembering and respectfully offering to the Medicine Buddha together with the Dharma brothers and sisters. Under the guidance of the teacher, we adjusted our thoughts to be sincere and respectful, slowly kneeling down and giving our all. When I slowly got up, I felt that my body was so light and there were no distracting thoughts in my heart. The bright candle light in front of the Buddha radiated compassionate warmth. The light of the Buddha and the candle light became one, illuminating me and fellow practitioners around me. I felt infinite gratitude, gratitude to the compassionate Buddha, gratitude to have met Grandmaster in this life. When practicing the Meditation of Greater Illumination, it is easy to enter the realm of visualization of the unity of body and mind. I also practice daily at home but there is such a big difference when I practice at the Meditation Center. Really, it’s been a long time since I was so comfortable. When I came in the morning, my mind was still full of messy thoughts. After a whole day of bathing in the compassionate light of Buddha, Bodhisattvas and Grandmaster, my heart settled down and became more pure and bright! Gratitude to Grandmaster!” – Chi Wen
Many also expressed that they missed being able to practice together in the Center, and the day passed too quickly. They wished they could stay longer. Some also felt that they have finally returned home, and expressed their love for the Center. With everyone looking forward to the next session, the event came to a successful completion with the singing of “A Heart of Gratitude”.