On Sunday, November 27 from 9:30 am to noon, Buddha Gate Monastery invites you to participate in our monthly ceremony and chant the Diamond of Perfect Wisdom Sutra. Chanting the sutra and prostrating to the Buddha allow us to repent our misdeeds, purify our karma, receive Buddha’s blessings, and be in touch with our Buddha nature. Join us for a free vegetarian lunch immediately following the ceremony.

Please join us for the Liang Huang Jeweled Repentance Ceremony taking place every day from December 25 to January 1. This is an opportunity for repentance, reflection, and forgiveness. Cleanse the improper karma of our past and welcome 2017 with a pure mind. The repentance liturgy will be recited each day in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Meditation can help you focus your mind, calm down, become more aware, and see things as they truly are. If you have completed the beginning meditation classes, we invite you to participate in the two-day meditation retreat on December 3 and 4 to further advance your meditation practice.  Registration required; please contact the monastery to sign up.

One Stick of Incense Buddhist Service consists of chanting the sutras in English, meditating, and Dharma talk. This process helps us purify our minds and develop our inner wisdom and compassion. We finish by dedicating merits to all sentient beings in hope that they will awaken to their pure nature, and obtain inner peace and joy. Buddist Service is open to everyone and ideal for first-time visitors. The upcoming dates are December 11, and December 18.

Making a Lamp Offering to the Buddha is a way to honor the Buddha while awakening our own intrinsic wisdom. According to the scriptures, when making a Buddha lamp offering, we gain good health, purity of the mind, freedom from worries, and extinction of ignorance. We can also dedicate the merits to our loved ones and all humanity. You can now sign up to make a Lamp Offering for the year 2017 (January 1 to December 31).

This holiday season, Buddha Gate Monastery is conducting a Vegetarian Food Drive to benefit our local Food Bank. In these difficult economic times, please consider giving generously to those less fortunate. Food donations must be non-perishable (i.e., rice, pasta, canned goods) and not expired. Ingredients such as alcohol, meat, seafood, eggs, gelatin, rennet, garlic, onions, scallions, leeks, chives, Chinese chives, and cilantro are not recommended. Thank you for your support!

Volunteers form an important part of the Buddha Gate community. You can help the monastery by maintaining the buildings and grounds, working in the kitchen, and preparing for ceremonial events. By generously offering your time to support the monastery you not only accumulate blessings, but also practice patience, compassion, tolerance and working harmoniously with others, thereby developing the Chan state of mind and applying it toward everyday life. The monastery invites everyone to participate in the meritorious volunteering every Sunday afternoon.