IBMC held its annual Ullambana ceremony this year on Sunday, September 5, 2015. The ceremony is a time to help those who have died and are still suffering. It is based on the Ullambana Sutra in Mahayana Buddhism, where the Buddha teaches his disciple Maudgalyāyana how to obtain liberation for his mother who was reborn into a lower realm of existence. Names of the departed were read. A vegetarian lunch followed the ceremony. Ven. Nepale Dhammapala, a resident monk at Sambuddhaloka Buddhist Vihara in Moreno Valley, California, gave a talk on happiness at IBMC on August 23, 2015. On Sunday, May 2, 2015, on the first full-moon day of the month, IBMC held a refuge and five-precepts ceremony for four lay Buddhists who became Upasikas and Upasakas. On April 12, 2015, IBMC held its annual celebration of Vesak, or the Buddha's birthday, which is called Hanamatsuri in Japan. The event commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha. The exact date of Vesak varies according to different Buddhist traditions in different countries. IBMC held its annual celebration of the lunar new year on Sunday, March 1, 2015. There was a special blessing ceremony and a vegetarian lunch following the usual Sunday service. On Sunday, February 22, 2015, IBMC held a special Sunday service to remember the life of Ven. Karuna Dharma, the former Abbess of IBMC and a prominent American Buddhist nun, who passed away exactly one year ago on February 22, 2014. Venerable Sugatananda visited IBMC as part of his trip to the United States and gave a Dharma talk on February 15, 2015.
Click here to listen to the audio recording of his talk. Ven. Sugatananda underwent three years of intensive Buddhist training under one of the great Buddhist scholars of modern times, the late Most Ven. Dr. Acharya Buddharakkhita. He edited and published books written by the Ven. Acharya and became editor of monthly Buddhist magazine DHAMMA, which he continues to edit today. Later he became Chairman of Mahabodhi Center for Theravada Buddhist Studies, which is the only institution in India to offer B.A. and M.A. degree courses in Theravada Buddhism. He has given several public talks and conducted meditation programs both for people from India and the West. |
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January 2024
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