Chinese New Year & Bodhisattva Maitreya’s Birthday Dharma Assembly

We welcome all to join us in-person or online celebrating the Spring Festival, which is the Chinese New Year. A Dharma assembly will be held on the first day of the first lunar month (January 22nd, 2023) at 10AM EST followed by community events, such as dumpling making and calligraphy writing.

On this day, the Dharma service will also serve to celebrate the birthday of Maitreya, a bodhisattva who is prophesied to appear on Earth, achieve complete Enlightenment, and teach the Dharma at a time when the teachings of Gautama Buddha have been forgotten by most in the human realm. Therefore, he is being regarded and worshiped as the Buddha of the future. According to Mahayana teachings, a Buddha is first born as a bodhisattva and progresses on to Buddhahood after many lifetimes’ cultivation. The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was himself referred to as a bodhisattva before becoming the Buddha.