Vajra is a ritual object that a Vajrayana practitioner uses during a ceremony. It is a powerful weapon that carries indestructible spiritual power and symbolizes skillful means. It is translated as both “diamond” and “thunderbolt”, which signify the quality of indestructibility. It is also a symbol for the nature of reality, or sunyata, indicating a sense of limitlessness of endless creativity, potency, and skillful actions. 

 

        Towards the end of the Pandemic Healing Service in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania offered by Jinyin Temple in June 2021, the Vajra Master, Jinke Xuanlei, of this Buddhist lineage, Sino Esoteric Buddhism, stood by the Medicine Buddha Altar at the Temple, held a vajra on his right hand and dipped the bottom of the ritual object in a basket of water to infuse the healing power realized by the Medicine Buddha and all enlightened beings through his practice. The disciples and guests then took turns pouring this blessed water on a burning Chinese bronze incense burner. As the steam arose in the air around the burner, it served to carry all trauma, pain, and suffering from all sentient beings of this community, land, nature and world, transforming all these hardships into our liberation. 

 

        This is our second in-person event since the Temple temporarily closed to the public since early 2019. The ritual began on the ground of the Medicine Buddha Altar, with the sangha member standing in two lines approaching and chanting the mantra of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva, who is associated with the great element of space, to open our hearts and expand our openness to receive. Everyone was then led by the head disciple to two other altars at the Temple to receive blessings and healing powers; first to the altar of Mahāvairocana, one of the Transcendent Buddhas worshipped by our lineage, and then to the altar of Mahāmāyūrī Vidyārājñī, a bodhisattva, female Wisdom King, and protector of the sangha and Dharma. The ceremony concluded at where it began, with the burning and water pouring purification ritual. 

 

        As we are now in the second year of the pandemic, the world has been difficult and complicated for people all over the globe. We are facing problems with the current political shift, racial violence, climate catastrophe, and economic disparity. Many of us did not ever anticipate any of these happening, and maybe it will take many years for us to access the lessons, the wisdom, and the insight that have been churned up from the bottom of our heart and deep consciousness of this time. After this long, difficult period for the world, we gathered together for this two-hour blessing ceremony to not only receive blessings but also acknowledge and strengthen the solidarity, courage, and compassion for all living beings in the post-pandemic world, which is greatly in need of healing. 

 

        Among the people who attended this auspicious event, there were disciples of the Master who flew from Asia and came from adjacent states, friends of the Temple who flew from the west coast, sangha members, and sincere local friends. The Vajra Master, on the other hand, helped each one of us during the ceremony with his invisible hands, transmitting his teachings, blessings, and power to us in different ways. Some felt being physically touched with a supportive force which transformed them into a hyper-concentrated state, while some experienced overwhelming self-acknowledging feelings of love, gratitude, guilt, and all other emotions that we tend to suppress or ignore but which actually bring us clarity and contain so much information about ourselves. 

 

        It is from the “poisons” where we transform our lessons with them into wisdom. Where there is resistance is where it needs work. This is the motto of Jinyin Temple and the lineage of Sino Esoteric Buddhism.  

 

Namo Mahāvairocana Buddha of the East!

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha!

Namo Amitābha Buddha! 

Namo Honored Dhama Body Jinyin Buddha of the East!

Namo Vajra Master Jinke Xuanlei, the Manifest Body of Buddha! 

 

Invoking Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara to spread the Bodhi amrita around the globe, 

Invoking the Guru and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to liberate all living beings,

To protect living beings from epidemic and diseases,

Protect living beings from natural disasters, 

Protect living beings from conflicts and wars, 

Protect living beings from all adversities. 

 

May all living beings have true faith in the Buddha-Dharma.

May all beings be happy and free from suffering. 

May we come together to promote the Great Love. 

May nations prosper and people live in peace. 

May world peace prevail forever!

Ankele! Yekesuo!

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