The Ceremony of Enshrining the Crystal Wheel

The Ceremony of Enshrining the Crystal Wheel
In order to pay homage to Phramonkolthepmuni
and the New Year Celebration

Translated from Phra Ratpavanavisudh’s sermon
on Sunday 20^th December 2003

/> /> /> /> />

It is not many days left to New Year retreat. This time of the year we have to meet a weather change and winter wind; so we have to take good care of our health during participation this retreat. To gain the most benefits from the retreat, please clear all the worries and fetters of life. Do not let them become our obstacles to prevent us from participating the New Year retreat.

If you have to celebrate a New Year greeting or to go out far for asking a blessing from your patriarchs or to visit someone, please do so before the starting date of the retreat and also do it with the correct and virtuous path of noble men. For example, do not buy alcoholic beverages as a present like other people did. Giving alcohol as a present to them is to give the damnation to our beloved ones; it is to give them dumbness and mental retardation. Doing this deed means you do not genuinely love them. If you genuinely love them, you have to be a Kalyanamitra, virtuous friend, who only give them the righteous things – things that will bring physical and spiritual (mental) happiness to them. If you can do as I told, merits and virtues which have not been raised in them will be rising. The ones who have already arisen will progress. This is the correct and virtuous path of noble men that we should follow.

The reason we have to take care of our body, keep our mind cleared and release all burdens because we are going to participate the New Year retreat to create clearness and send the message of happiness to other people. Also, we will be holding a great meritorious ceremony of enshrining the first crystal wheel in the world which will be placed in front of The Memorial Hall of Phramonkolthepmuni, the hall where we all have established together, in order to represent our worship and veneration.Why crystal wheel? Because, the crystal wheel is the president of the 7 gems which belongs the world emperor who has accumulated a lot of merits in past lives. We will enshrine it on 31^st December. For those whose holiday starts from the 30^th, you can register for the retreat on the 29^th.

Please come early, since we have a very limited time to gain the most benefits in order to get rid of desires or defilements and diluting other mental pollutions. These are the things we have to do on that day. Therefore, keep your mind crystal cleared enough to accumulate merits and pursue perfections in all time – generosity, observing precepts and meditation. Especially meditation, it is the fastest short cut to make our mind cleared and pure. Meditation is easy to practice, so I would like to advise you to use this method for purifying your mind. There is a way to observe if you are meditating the right way – when you sit in meditation posture, do not get bored and every time should be able to feel blissfulness - feeling blissful for one minute, two minutes, then go longer. If you feel this way, it means you are doing it right according to the correct path. If you get bored, you will have to reconsider the reason of boring because it is impossible to feel bored when you do it right. You should only experience blissfulness that you do not want to quit but stay still. If you cannot keep your mind still, what else can you do?

According to the cultivation of merits in the nearest future, we had better endeavor the 300 pillars of the grand meditation stadium. If we cultivate merit, we will gain merit. If this work is done, this cultivation will lead us to the other meritorious events; after completing the Grand Meditation Stadium, we would then have a brilliant plan to invite monks whose come from all Buddhist sects worldwide to meditate together and to be our source of merit too. The sight of numerous monks is extremely auspicious and it is a chance for us to cultivate a lot of merit at one time which is very difficult for anyone to do in this era. We have only heard of this kind of cultivation was in the lifetime of the Lord Buddha or the previous Buddhas but yet in the present. This is where we will be able to witness such meritorious event. Therefore, many big merits will endlessly rise after constructing the 300 pillars for the grand meditation stadium has been completed.

There are many ways to cultivate this special merit, both by doing it yourself and inviting others. Inviting the others to do good deeds is not difficult. Doing so will result us to have many retinues and friends who can help us to have convenience in the next lives. These retinues and friends are resulted from the merit of invitation others to cultivate merits together. Thus, we will meet only pundits and scholars to have both happiness and success in our lives; they will not bring us troubles. It is unlike friends whom gained when we associate with the fools; those did not cultivate merit but only bring troubles for us.

Right now we are still alive, so the chance is right now. To cultivate merit and pursue perfections every day and in every fraction of a second is what we have to do. Pundits must consistently accumulate merit and know how to do it because every fraction of a second is the chance for use to cultivate merit and we can do it every day throughout the year and throughout our lives. The more merit we want, the more good deed have to be acted; it can be done by ourselves and inviting other people. The choice is yours.

Our purpose is the utmost Dhamma but to reach that point is not easy. We have to have an intense merit and perfections; we must accumulate as much as we can. If we can accumulate a lot, we will have tools- good physical features, wealth, good qualities, having good companies and retinues- for pursuing perfections in the future. We will have never-dwindling and infinite properties which belong to the world emperor to support our lives in the next world. If we could do that the path to utmost Dhamma will become real and closer. This is very important.

Therefore, you should cultivate merit consistently in everyday. Do not be reckless in living your life because we have limited time in this human body. This is something I have to tell you when we meet every Sunday and through the DMC Channel.

Do not forget to still your mind at the center of the body all the time. By keeping your mind still is to preserve and increase the amount of merit insight us. To ‘preserve’ is when the mind is still; your thinking will be purified. The merit insight us will not be spilled with the purified mind. It is also a way to bond our mind with the merit stream. Especially, when the mind is still and pure enough to attain the Dhammakaya, we will be able to see our merit and the merit stream. Therefore, never skip meditation.

/> /> /> /> /> /> /> /> /> />