Rose Ceremony

Dear Friends,

In the Buddhist tradition, in lieu of celebrating our parents respectively on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, we choose the full moon day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, called Ullambana, to show love and respect to both of our parents who gave us the precious gift of life.

“A Rose for your Pocket,” is an elegant and moving prose poem written in 1962 by our teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Below is an excerpt:

             Mother is a boundless source of love, an inexhaustible treasure. But unfortunately, we sometimes forget. A mother is the most beautiful gift life offers us. Those of you who still have your mother near, please don’t wait for her death to say, “My God, I have lived beside my mother all these years without ever looking closely at her.” Just brief glances, a few words exchanged – asking for a little pocket money or one thing or another. You cuddle up to her to get warm, you sulk, you get angry with her. You only complicate her life, causing her to worry, undermining her health, making her go to sleep late and get up early. Many mothers die young because of their children. Throughout her life we expect her to cook, wash, and clean up after us, while we think only about our grades and our careers. Our mothers no longer have time to look deeply at us, and we are too busy to look closely at her. Only when she is no longer there do we realize that we have never been conscious of having a mother.

                In Vietnam, on the holiday of Ullambana, we listen to stories and legends about the bodhisattva Maudgalyayana, and about filial love, the work of the father, the devotion of the mother, and the duty of the child. Everyone prays for the longevity of his or her parents, or if they are dead, for their rebirth in the heavenly Pure Land. We believe that a child without filial devotion is just artificial. But filial devotion also arises from love itself. Without love, filial devotion is just artificial. When love is present, that is enough, and there is no need to talk of obligation. To love your mother is enough. It is not a duty, it is completely natural, like drinking when you are thirsty.

                                                                                                                                                                    –Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

We cordially invite you to join us in our Rose Ceremony on August 18, 2024 to honor our parents.

The program for our Rose Ceremony is as follows:

8.30 am Walking meditation

9.45 am  Dharma Talk

11.30 am Rose ceremony

1.00 pm Picnic Lunch

Please pre-register here.

We look forward to seeing you!