VIETNAM BUDDHIST CENTER
CHÙA
VIỆT NAM
ANNOUNCEMENT
- Quan Âm
Festival – A Day of Pilgrimage and Prayer - 2010
- Venerating the
Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
- Grand Requiem for Unjust Suffering and
the Hungry Ghosts
Namo Sakya Muni
Buddha
Quan Âm Festival – A Day of Pilgrimage
and Prayer,
organized by the Vietnam Buddhist Center (VNBC) each year at the end of March,
has become an annual traditional religious, cultural, and spiritual activity of
Buddhists far and near. It is an opportunity for us to be thankful to the Loving
Mother Quan Âm for Her blessings which protect us from dangers. May we take
refuge in Her when we are faced with unforeseen dangers, adversities, and
disasters.
In the cultural and spiritual environment of
this year’s Festival, we will have the auspicious opportunity to admire and venerate
the Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace. This jeweled sculpture is
presently the largest and most serene Buddha statue in the world which is
carved from a rare boulder of translucent jade. In 2009, more than four
millions people have had the good fortune to come and revere the jeweled
statue, to pray for World Peace, for the well being of all sentient beings in
this world of suffering.
The Quan Âm Festival in 2010 will be a
historical milestone. It marks the 20 years (1990 – 2010) of the establishment
and the development of the VNBC in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. In memory of many who
have departed; of beings which were destroyed during this development, of
Vietnamese compatriots as well as the many others who lost their lives in the
mountains, in the jungles, in the rivers, at sea, or in the air during the war
or while seeking freedom, of people who met a sudden or wrongful death
including unborn babies, VNBC will organize a Grand Requiem for Liberation
of Unjust Suffering and the Hungry Ghosts.
All of the above
three events will take place continuously from Friday, 03/26/2010 to Sunday,
04/04/2010 (please see attached general program).
VNBC
respectfully invites the Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, and Buddhist lay
practitioners from all over the world to come and join us in this Festival.
We will admire and revere the Jeweled Jade Buddha Statue for Universal
Peace. We will pray together for the success of the Grand Requiem so
that all beings, deceased or alive, may derive great benefit from it.
Houston, December 12, 2009
Respectfully,
VIETNAM
BUDHIST CENTER
10002 Synott Road
Sugar Land, TX 77498
Tel: (281) 575-0910
Fax: (281) 498-4540
www.vnbc.org.
VIETNAM BUDDHIST CENTER
CHÙA VIỆT NAM
GENERAL PROGRAM
QUAN ÂM FESTIVAL
– 2010
v
Friday 03/26/2010:
Ø 6:00 pm :
OPENING CEREMONY
Ø Quan Âm Festival
– A Day of Pilgrimage and Prayer – 2010
Ø Ceremony
Venerating the Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
Ø
Flowers
and Candle Lights Prayer – One Prayer One Prostration
v
Saturday 03/27/2010
Ø
07:00
am : The Thousand Eyes and Thousand Hands Supreme Assembly
Ø
12:00
noon: Cultural Folklore Activities
Ø
05:00
pm : 2010 Quan Âm Festival Main Ceremony
Ø
08:30
pm : Entertainment Theme “The Loving Mother, The Enchanted Moon”
v
Sunday 03/28/2010
o Venerating the
Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
Ø
09:00
am : Raising The Dharma Flag
Ø
11:00
am : Opening Prayer Service
v
From Monday 03/29/2010 to Friday Morning 04/02/2010
o
Venerating
the Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
Ø
09:00
am : Chanting the Repentance Prayer of Emperor Liang
Ø
03:00
pm : Chanting the Repentance Prayer of Emperor Liang
v
Friday 04/02/2010
o
Venerating
the Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
Ø
05:00
pm : Grand Requiem For Liberation of Unjust Suffering.
v
Saturday 04/03/2010
o Venerating the
Jade Buddha Statue for Universal Peace
Ø
05:00
pm : Grand Requiem For The Hungry Ghosts.
v
Sunday 04/04/2010
Ø
11:30
am : THE CLOSING CEREMONY
o Venerating the
Jade Buddha for Universal Peace
o Transferring
Merits
NOTES:
1) VNBC will be
open to the public to come and pay respects to the Jade Buddha Statue for
Universal Peace from Friday evening 03/26 through Sunday 04/04/2010, every day
from 5:30 AM to 10:00 PM. Congregations or delegations which wish to have a
private prayer service, please contact the Organizing Committee in advance to
facilitate accommodations.
2) The Repentance Prayer of Emperor Liang is a
special prayer, so as to repent all the transgressions, to eliminate bad karma,
to salvage beings in the three evil realms (hell, hungry ghosts, animals). The
Repentance Prayer Service will be held twice a day, from Monday 03/29 through
Friday 04/02/2010.
3) Details for the registration for the Grand
Requiem for Liberation of Unjust Suffering will be announced later.
10002 Synott Road.
Sugar Land, TX 77498
Tel: (281) 575-0910
Fax: (281) 498-4540
www.vnbc.org.
trungtamphatgiao@yahoo.com