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Kuan Yin Compassion Ceremony

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In a special online gathering on November 8, 2020, Thanissara and Kittisaro led the One Earth Sangha community in the Kuan Yin Compassion Ceremony, with sacred musical score by Mel Zeki. The recording is now posted for anyone who was not able to attend the gathering, or who wishes to revisit the ceremony. Immersed as we are in overlapping political, environmental, and public health crises, we hope this ceremony will be an enduring source of healing and courage.

The recording begins with a brief introduction and the preparation of personal aspirations. The ceremony itself starts at the 10:23 mark.

To view videos in full screen, click the expand button on the lower right.

Thanissara describes the inspiration for the practice:

This transformative process is based on the principle of the Lonaphala Sutta (A.3.99), The Salt Crystal. The premise being is it is possible to lessen and dissolve bitter karmic results in the stream of cultivated wholesome energy. If there is no cultivation of wholesome mental, heart faculties, then resultant karma—kamma-vipaka—is like “a lump of salt in a glass.” It is bitter to drink. If dissolved in the larger stream of blessing and samadhi energy, unwholesome kamma-vipaka is like “a lump of salt in the Ganges,” and therefore easier to dissolve.

When we make an offering toward the end of the ceremony—besides making an offering for your own personal focus, we offer on behalf of the freeing of human consciousness from fear, oppression, and violence.

Preparing for the Ceremony

Before participating in the ceremony, you may wish to download the ceremony text and review this background material, which will help you orient to the ceremony, understand the important principles, lineage and transmission. You will also learn how to prepare your personal aspirations that can be included.

This practice was and remains open to all at no cost. In addition, Thanissara and Kittisaro offered their gifts freely in this spirit of dana or generosity.

If you value what is offered here, we invite you to support these leaders and you may also wish to support One Earth Sangha. Dana, or generosity, is considered an essential part of practice and situates us in the unbroken line that seeks to bring the gifts of Buddhadharma, wisdom and compassion, to our world.

Any amount you offer, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.

Thanissara

Thanissara

Thanissara embodies the integration of the contemplative with the activist. Trained in the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition, she was a monastic for 12 years. She and husband Kittisaro founded Dharmagiri in South Africa where they integrated activism on AIDS with hosting Theravadan retreats. As senior teachers at Spirit Rock, Thanissara and Kittisaro later co-founded Sacred Mountain Sangha based in California. She has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy from the UK, and is author of several books, including Time to Stand Up: An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth — The Buddha’s Life and Message through Feminine Eyes.
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