Merit: the Sturdy Robe Offering (video)

Maya, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Dhammakaya, Los Angeles (dimc.net)

Vision: "World peace through inner peace." (Image: Karl von Moller, 2015/flickr.com)

(Boonsong Sri Burin) As in Italy, so in LA: the Kathina Robe Offering, Wat Phra Dhammakaya.

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Thai woman makes a heartfelt offering.

On Sunday (Nov. 22) the ancient Theravada tradition set down by the Buddha called the kathina will be celebrated free in Los Angeles at the Dhammaykaya International Meditation Center.

The kathina is a special robe offered to a monastic, a nun or monk who has faultlessly maintained the Rains Retreat, when Buddhist monastics are enjoined to remain in one location in observance of vassa or the rainy season that annually drenches Asia, or in any case used to prior to the climate chaos we have created by our pollution and karma.

• Kathina: the end of Buddhist Lent
• What the Buddha taught about karma (action)
• The Monastics' Rules: A Guide for Laypeople
• The Buddhist Monk's Discipline: Some Points Explained for Laypeople (by Ven. Khantipalo, BPS, Wheel 130)

White-clad devotees (dayakas) gather to offer the monastic Sangha support (dimc.net).

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Temporary ordination at Dhammakaya

The extraordinary aspect of this celebration -- since every Theravada temple celebrates this offering as the culmination of the Buddhist "Lent" period for monastics -- is that the Thai Dhammakaya temples invites monastics from EVERY Buddhist country.
 
Hundreds of ordained bhikkhus (Buddhist ascetics) and bhikkhunis (nuns) from the

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  A shraman needs a robe and bowl.

  United States
• Thailand
• Sri Lanka
• Burma
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Vietnam
• Tibet
• Japan
• China
• Taiwan
• Malaysia
• Indonesia
• Bangladesh
• England
• Germany
• Australia
• Singapore
• Korea
• Russia
• Kalmykia
• Mongolia
• Nepal
• Bhutan and
• India

have been invited to attend. They will chant to white-clad lay Buddhists holding candles symbolic of world peace, who then circumambulate and participate in the most meritorious act of giving for lay devotees, the offering of the sturdy kathina robe.

 

Los Angeles, particularly the foothill area of the San Gabriel Valley near the watershed San Gabriel River next to the Dhammakaya Temple complex, is windy today with cool temperatures and a tiny chance of rain, reminding us of the original need of a sturdy and durable outer robe the Buddha called for.

The Buddha wrapped in golden robe, Chiang Mai, Thailand (WeGoTwo/flickr.com)

 
Why would there be more merit?

Burmese monk, Saffron Revolution (WQ)

The reason this is the most meritorious offering is because conscientious monastics have been practicing meditation and teaching Dharma for three straight months in a kind of cloistered retreat, and the intensive practice is likely to have resulted in the attainment of jhana and/or the first, second, third, or fourth stage of enlightenment for those who practice in accordance with the Dharma!

Gifts (dana) to these extraordinary persons, given their "change of lineage" (gotrabhu) becomes much more meritorious by a special impersonal law of karma and the universe.
 

• Dhammakaya Int'l Meditation Center (DIMC)
• Temple Robe Offering Ceremony (FREE)
• 865 E. Monrovia Place, Azusa, CA 91702 (MAP)
• (626) 334-2160; email: dimc_azusa@dimc.net
• Just east of Azusa Pacific University
• Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015, 9:00-4:00 PM

World Peace Through Inner Peace

About dimc.net

Seven resting points for the mind.

The Dhammmakaya International Meditation Center (D.I.M.C.) is a non-profit organization that has as its primary purpose teaching meditation.

DIMC's conviction is that individual peace of mind underlies our collective potential for harmony and peace in the world.

DIMC operates under the Dhammakaya Foundation, a non-governmental organization of the United Nations headquartered in Thailand.

It was founded in California in 1992 by a group of Theravada lay Buddhists interested in the practice of meditation without becoming monastics or retiring from the world. A Los Angeles meditation center is located in the beautiful city of Azusa, California (San Gabriel Valley) at the foothills of the Angeles National Forest, in northeastern L.A. County. The center is surrounded by nature, a settled atmosphere that creates a tranquil environment perfectly suited for meditation, serenity, and concentration so rare in our busy lives.

The special Dhammakaya Meditation technique (derived from a revival of the ancient Thai Forest Tradition) is effective and easy to learn. Everyone can benefit from it regardless of age, gender, race, or religion. More