The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly: A Mandala for Purifying Body and Mind, Awakening Spirituality

Once again, it is the time of the annual Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly, a sacred occasion for us to lay aside worldly concerns and enter into spiritual communion with the myriad beings of the entire world. The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly purifies the mind, transforming our defiled consciousness and restoring it to its innate purity, thereby allowing our primordial and spiritual state of mind to manifest. In this way, we form connections with all beings across the universe, bringing about “spiritual awakening and ecological resonance.”

The ritual mandala of the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly itself constitutes a vast spiritual ecology. Here, we purify body and mind, awaken our innate spirituality, and connect with one another’s bodhisattva DNA, resonating together to generate the supreme beneficent force that brings benefit to both the living and the deceased, dispels misfortune, and alleviates calamities. I am very delighted to see everyone return year after year to participate, allowing this energy of goodness to sustain without interruption.

Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly possesses inconceivable power and resonance. It is the “easy path to Buddhahood” revealed to us by Bodhisattva Guan Yin. Perceiving that beings, driven by attachment to the five poisons—greed, aversion, ignorance, pride, and doubt—wander endlessly in samsaric suffering. Through the Dharma Assembly, many beings may hear the Dharma and turn toward the Buddha way. Through generosity, contrition, ethical discipline, and the engendering of bodhicitta, karma is purified, enmities are resolved, and one’s innate nature is restored to purity, leading ultimately to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amitabha (Sukhavati). As long as one aspires sincerely, the very moment becomes the auspicious arising for entering the buddha-field.

Today’s rite of sprinkling purification water employs the willow branch and pure water of Guan Yin to sanctify the shrine, respectfully inviting the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharmapalas, including nagas and so to descend, ensuring the smooth unfolding of the Dharma Assembly. Under the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we give rise to reverence and sincerity, washing away ignorance and afflictions, step by step purifying body, speech, and mind in preparation for the Dharma rituals to come.

After the purification, we gather at the Outer Shrines to receive Dharma, cultivating the compassion and wisdom of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In letting go of our attachment to worldly phenomena, we return to our original nature and abide in the Dharma. At the Emperor Liang Shrine, we engage in sincere contrition: “All the evil karma I have committed in the past arises from beginningless greed, aversion, and ignorance.” By thoroughly purifying all attachments, afflictions, and desires through contrition, we realize the emptiness of all phenomena, transforming the seeds of karmic misdeeds into the seeds of bodhi. We then engender the bodhicitta of “aspiring upward to awakening and extending downward to liberate sentient beings,” and universally benefiting all beings, cultivating a mind of selfless joy in giving, generosity, and offering. With the spirit of “compassion toward all by regarding all beings with the compassion that extends to all beings because of our shared essence,” we enter the Inner Shrine, engaging in a great reconciliation of life through spiritual communion.

In addition, each evening’s Flaming-mouth Food Offering sustains the beings of the three lower realms, relieving them from their torments of hanging upside down (analogy to the gravity of suffering of the hungry ghosts) and enabling them to take the nectar-like sustenance. The sufferings of the three lower realms are boundless and inexpressible. Transforming our compassion into the joyous act of offering, we may sponsor additional tables of food for the offering, ensuring that they may be satisfied. In this way, they too may hear the Dharma teachings, make wholesome aspirations, and attain liberation. For us, it also accumulates merit, resolves enmities, and creates favorable conditions for the Buddha way.

In recent years, we have been promoting “spiritual awakening” as a means to heal our fragile ecology. Ecological crises have become urgent as earthquakes, wildfires, heatwaves, torrential rains, and floods occur with alarming frequency, bringing severe disasters to humankind. Wars, conflicts, and trade disputes further exacerbate hostility, division, and even the peril of nuclear confrontation.

The key to resolving these crises lies in awakening our spirituality and recognizing that all beings have the spiritual state of mind in common. We exist as an interdependent entity characterized by interconnectedness and mutual support for thriving, where we give and share rather than of opposition and conflict. Through spirituality, we perceive ecology anew, freeing ourselves from anthropocentrism, and returning to a worldview centered on all beings. Only then can we respect the intrinsic value of all beings, embrace the space for coexistence, and together build a world of shared fulfillment.

Spiritual awakening is not a mere slogan; it requires the unity of mind and action. Years ago, when we established the Museum of World Religions, we sought to foster interreligious dialogue and cooperation through the common thread of spirituality, guided by the principles of respect, tolerance, and love, thereby realizing a mission of peace through love. Today, our planned University for Life and Peace in Myanmar carries on this work. With land development and construction already underway, and curricula prepared by a professional team, we are giving concrete form to this vision, linking together and resonating with ever more sources of virtuous support. May all of us share this aspiration: to awaken spirituality, restore ecology, and establish peace.

This year, the gift I offer you is “Fucheng, City of Merit.” Its completion, after ten years of effort and myriads of contributions, now manifests as a city that awakens awareness and spirituality, shared with all of you. Through its exhibitions on the Four-stage Training and spiritual ecology, it reveals that the Four-stage Training us to dismantle the dualistic attachment to self and dharmas, enter into emptiness, and give rise to wisdom and compassion, thereby unveiling the innate bodhicitta that benefits all beings.

Like the parable of the impoverished son in the Lotus Sutra, who, under the guidance of a spiritual teacher, awakens to his true heritage as heir to great wealth, we too, through the Four-stage Training, awaken the bodhicitta within us. By caring for beings, benefiting life, and protecting the ecology, we enact the practice of spiritual awakening. Thus, the Four-stage Training is also a spiritual education. I encourage you all to visit Fucheng when possible, and experience wholeheartedly with this gift from me.

The successful completion of each Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is an exceedingly rare and precious occasion, and it is uncertain how long such opportunities may sustain. Therefore, we must cherish them with gratitude. In the coming eight days and seven nights, let us make full use of this opportunity, abiding our minds within the ritual ground, and conducting each Dharma ritual with proper reverence and precision, to dissolve karmic debts and bring benefit to all beings.