- 210 Sessions of Fire Pujas
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As the saying goes, extraordinary times call for extraordinary
measures. Soon after the commencement of the Lunar New Year, Vajra
Master Samantha Chou of True Buddha School announced a plan to conduct
200 sessions of fire pujas at the Purple Lotus Society. The task
of conducting two hundred fire pujas in less than 2 months' time
is a daunting one and a true testament of Master Samantha's infinite
compassion and indefatigable spirit.
The official commencement date for the 200 fire pujas was February
21st, 2001. Between two to seven fire pujas will be conducted daily
at the temple until April 14th, 2001. To ensure that the procedures
concerning the fire pujas will run smoothly and auspiciously, Master
Samantha also conducted a preliminary series of ten fire pujas dedicated
to the Tara Who Averts Disasters and an additional fire puja to
the Four Deva Kings.
The fire pujas aim to achieve three major goals:
1) mitigation of natural and man-made disasters in the world;
2) successful dissemination of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma;
3) successful fund-raising for the construction of the Purple
Lotus Lei Zang Temple
Soon after the new millennium began, El Salvador was struck by
a strong temblor, causing great damage and killing hundreds of people.
In less than two weeks, another strong earthquake of 7.9 magnitude
hit India, leveling a large region of western India and killing
11,000 people. At around the same time, earthquakes were recorded
in Japan, Mexico, and Greece, though no casualties were reported
in these cases. Near the end of February, an earthquake with a magnitude
of 7 hit the Seattle area of Washington State, and, miraculously,
no mortalities, linked directly to the quake, occurred. Then, Californians
found themselves in the midst of a man-made energy crisis resulting
in rolling blackouts through parts of the state. Shortly after,
Inner Mongolia and Xin Jiang in China experienced a fierce snowstorm
affecting the lives of more than one million people and ten million
animals. These series of calamitous events have enshrouded the new
third millennium in a dark cloud. So the first goal of the Purple
Lotus Society's 210 fire pujas is to supplicate the Personal Deities
for mitigation of worldly disasters.
In December 2000, the spiritual leader of True Buddha School, Living
Buddha Lian-sheng, was maliciously slandered by a purported legal
complaint, alleging sexual harassment on the part of the Living
Buddha. Although the allegation was completely unfounded, several
reports in Chinese tabloids and newspapers have misled many people
into believing the rumors. Prior to this attempt to damage the reputation
of our root guru, Master Samantha had been forewarned by Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas that the True Buddha Tantric Dharma would be facing
a crisis. They urged Master to conduct 200 fire pujas to help strengthen
and continue the widespread dissemination of the True Buddha Tantric
Dharma, a dharma that can lead one to supreme wisdom and realization
of the ultimate truth.
Another urgent task Purple Lotus Society will be undertaking is
the construction of the Purple Lotus Temple. Our root guru, Living
Buddha Lian-sheng, has visited the site of the future temple and
affirmed that it has excellent and powerful feng-shui. The temple
built there will be effective in bringing more sentient beings to
study and cultivate the path to Enlightenment. Contributions to
construction of temples generate great merits for donors. A major
temple aids dissemination of the Dharma for generations to come.
Time between now and the next few years will quickly pass, and one
should seize this present moment and opportunity to accumulate good
merits.
The fire pujas are open to the public. Students may send their
names in to be blessed by Master Samantha and the invoked Personal
Deities. They may also sponsor fire pujas for personal dedications.
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