[Los Angeles News] On June 15, at the Glendale Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles County, the World Buddhist Headquarters hosted a ceremony to celebrate the birthday of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha. Representatives from Buddhist temples, centers, and organizations around the world formed a "108 Offerings" team. The offering masters, rinpoches, dharma teachers, and lay practitioners each held various exquisite ritual implements or precious treasures, sincerely presenting them before the image of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha, expressing their infinite reverence and gratitude towards the Buddha.
After the offering ceremony, the attendees collectively recited the "Dharma Meaning Sutra of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha" and the "Great Offering Before the Buddha." The Vice Chairman of the World Buddhist Headquarters, Master Jin Gao Erduan Shengde Shizheng Da, read the prayer for blessings on Buddha's birthday. The participants engaged in a series of meritorious activities such as praises, offerings, sutra recitation, chanting, and mantra holding, collectively praying for the Buddha to remain in the world forever, to bestow the rain of dharma, and for the right dharma to endure.
Reciting the sutra
Reciting the sutra
After the ceremony concluded, the holy masters from the World Buddhist Headquarters descended from the Dharma platform to sprinkle blessed water on the attendees. An American mainstream white resident, who was invited by a friend to attend the ceremony, happily shared after the event: "I was very fortunate to be sprinkled with the blessed water and felt the coolness it conveyed. I thank my friend for the invitation, which allowed me to experience the uniqueness and tranquility brought by the Buddha's right dharma. May all Buddhists find their inner pure land and attain eternal peace. The dharma is boundless; may all beings be liberated from the sea of suffering."
Holy masters sprinkling blessed water on the attendees
Mainstream American attendees being interviewed
On this auspicious Buddha's birthday, Buddhist organizations around the world also held charitable activities such as releasing life, protecting life, assisting education, and helping the poor to commemorate the birthday of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha. They prayed for world peace, the cessation of conflicts, and for people to live in safety and prosperity, with longevity and health.
The Third Dorje Chang Buddha Cultural and Art Museum held a large-scale life release event on June 19 at the Marina del Rey in Los Angeles, with nearly a thousand Buddhists participating from various states in the U.S. and around the world.
Life release ceremony
Life release ceremony
On June 20 (the 15th day of the fifth lunar month), the birthday of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha, disciples in New York expressed their gratitude and respect for the great Third Dorje Chang Buddha by displaying images of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha holding the scepter of the World Buddhist Pope on two giant electronic screens located in Times Square, Manhattan, between 46th and 47th Streets, praying together to celebrate the birthday of the Buddha.
The image of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha on the Times Square big screen
The image of the Third Dorje Chang Buddha on the Times Square big screen