As a sequel to America`s Thanksgiving holiday which brought forth joyfulness and the ambiance of warm togetherness, a regular weekend group cultivation has taken place at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple on November 28 of year 2009. Respectfully, we invited Grand Master, the Living Buddha Lian-Sheng and Acharya Master Shimu to jointly bless the assembly. Afar have come fellow devotees from Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and so on, to have a weekend Thanksgiving pastime together.

The group cultivation was led by Acharya Master Shi Lian-Deng(釋蓮嶝金剛上師)featuring Lapis Lazuli Light Medicine Buddha Principal Deity Yoga Practice. After the group cultivation lapsed, Dharma Instructor Shi Lian-Yu (釋蓮伃法師) presented a Dharma exposition on the subject that Grand Master has taught us to hold a noble outlook on life as a practitioner and to enter on a spiritual endeavor progressively from the fundamental onward. In addition, the practitioner ought to take one step at a time in the endeavor truthfully and interfuse the Tantric Dharmas in one`s daily life. Next, Acharya Master Shi Lian-Deng gave a Dharma exposition on ``interpenetrating the boundary between life and death``: ``let not life bind you while being alive; let not death bind you while being dead.`` Also, ``One has to break loose of the shackle of the mind and body in order to gain self-control over death and life.``

Afterwards, the King of Dharma Lian-Sheng, Grand Master continued on with his discourse on ``The Altar Sutra as Spoken by the Sixth Patriarch``: ``On the other hand, those who enlightened themselves need no extraneous help. It is wrong to insist upon the idea that without the advice of the pious and learned we can not attain liberation. Why? Because it is by our innate wisdom that we enlightened ourselves, and even the extraneous help and instructions of the pious and learned would be of no use if we were deluded by false doctrines and erroneous views.`` Grand Master went the distance to expound on the above passage: All sentient beings are pre-endowed with Buddha-Nature and can become enlightened through one`s own effort. The practitioner should learn to self-enlighten, self-save, self-liberate and not to rely on extraneous help. The true Bardo-Deliverance consists in wakening the disembodied souls to their own innate Buddha-Nature. Normally when we recite Buddhist sutras and listen to Grand Master`s Dharma discourses, all these actions are geared to waken our own Buddha-Nature per se. As a practitioner, one should not be attached to and relying on extraneous sources for spiritual attainment or for deliverance to the Pure Land. Grand Master also made mention of the three kinds of karmic fruition: (1) Vipuka-Phala「異熟果」 , heterogeneous karmic effect produced by heterogeneous cause; karmic retribution according to the severity of good or bad deeds committed. (2) Nisyanda-Phala 「等流果」,uniformly continuous effect of the same order; strengthening of one’s seeds of good or bad habits. (3) Adhipati-Phala「增上果」, aggregate effect produced by the karma-cause. For instance, if someone was to steal temple property out of greed, or play off one monk or nun against the other by equivocation or backbiting whereby led to a discord among all monks and nuns at the temple: this kind of karma is the most severe. As a practitioner, always remember to refrain oneself from greed and all the bad deeds. Finally, Grand Master showed gratitude towards Sakyamuni Buddha for the Buddha-Dharmas that he had passed along to this day. The wisdom of the Buddha is incredible, unequal, perfect and indiscriminate.

All sentient beings are equal and were endowed with Buddha-Nature.

After Grand Master`s Dharma discourse ended, He compassionately imparted refuge empowerment to all new initiates, sanctified Buddha statues and effigies, and bless the Great Compassion Dharani water. Grand Master also bless-empowered the kneeling devotees along two sides of the human aisle by palming their heads. Everybody was joyful and departed satisfactory. The Thanksgiving weekend holiday concluded with a perfect punctuation-period mark.

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