The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly: Receiving the Precept for the Deceased to Establish the Cause of Liberation

September 15, 2025, marks the most important moment of the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly—the conferral of the Precepts for the Deceased. We express our gratitude to all who have aspired to participate in this vast offering that bridges sentient beings across space and earth and encompasses the entire dharmadhatu. Beings of the six realms endure endless suffering, ever awaiting liberation. Guided by the compassionate aspirations of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we convene this Dharma Assembly each year to open a swift path for beings to purify their karmic obstacles, accumulate vast merit, and attain liberation. Through the powerful blessings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they are endowed with the supreme conditions to receive the Dharma, enter the path, be freed from suffering and attain ultimate happiness.

With a history spanning over a millennium, the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly holds inconceivable liberative power. It is the very compassionate vow and skillful manifestation of Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) for the benefit of beings, as well as the collection of the wisdom of the great predecessors who gathered together the Three Vehicles and harmonized the Sutrayana and Vajrayana traditions. Therefore, one must give rise to the unshakable faith, follow the guidance of the presiding preceptor and the liturgical procedures, receive and uphold the practices with integrity, so that all beings throughout the ten directions may embark upon this “direct train” leading swiftly to the Pure Land of Amitabha (Sukhavati).

Every aspect of the Dharma Assembly is a Dharma gateway. At the Sutra Shrines, we establish right view; at the Emperor Liang Shrine, we make contrition for the misdeeds committed and contemplate emptiness; at the Flaming-mouth Food Offering, we universally make offerings and reconcile karmic grievances. Having performed rituals at the Outer Shrine, we return to our true nature and, upon entering the Inner Shrine, give rise to firm aspiration and conduct. Like the Bodhisattvas across the ten bhumis, with irreversible joy and equanimity, we offer vast, boundless, pure, and selfless acts of offerings to all Buddhas and sentient beings.

Tonight we perform the most crucial ritual of the Dharma Assembly—the conferral of the Precepts for the Deceased. We will take the Bodhisattva Vow on behalf of past ancestors, karmic creditors, and all sentient beings—whether karmically connected or not—enabling them to gather at the ritual ground, receive the authentic Dharma, and give rise to great bodhicitta.

The Bodhisattva Vow is the very source of all Buddhas and the foundation of the Bodhisattva path. It transforms the “defiled karmic memory” of our mindstream into the pure “DNA” of a bodhisattva. As the Surangama Sutra teaches: “The control of mind, called ethical discipline which leads to meditative concentration and thence to wisdom.”  Through the guidance and protection of the precepts, our coarse habitual tendencies are transformed, and our body, speech, and mind abide in the purity of brahmacarya. Our thoughts are freed from attachment, delusion, and notions, becoming utterly clear and stable. Through this, we directly realize emptiness, enter into the luminous nature of mind, and unite compassion and wisdom. In resonance with all beings of the dharmadhatu, we give rise to vast, all-pervasive, and irreversible bodhicitta.

The preliminary practices for receiving the Precepts for the Deceased are: “giving rise to faith, taking refuge, making contrition for misdeeds, and engendering bodhicitta.” The Avatamsaka Sutra teaches, “Faith is the source of the path and the mother of all qualities.” Faith is the essential condition for entering the Buddhadharma. We place our trust in the Buddha’s words, in the merit of the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly, and in our own innate Bodhisattva DNA. With this pure and genuine faith, we request the transmission of the precepts. Next, we take refuge in the Three Jewels, vowing to follow the teachings of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, awaken the Three Jewels within our own nature, realize the reality that is beyond notions, and proceed along the Bodhisattva path without being disturbed by the five poisons and the four maras. Then comes contrition: we examine and repent all unwholesome habits and karma, transforming consciousness into wisdom. From the arising of boundless compassion and wisdom, we engender bodhicitta and make the Four Universal Vows: “Sentient beings are limitless; I vow to liberate them. Afflictions are endless; I vow to eradicate them. Dharma teachings are infinite; I vow to learn them. Buddhahood is supreme; I vow to attain it.” 

Subsequently, we receive the Mahayana Bodhisattva Vow, which consists primarily of the “Three Collections of Pure Precepts”:
1. The precept of observing ethical discipline: vowing to abandon all non-virtues.
2. The precept of cultivating virtuous deeds: vowing to cultivate all virtues.
3. The precept of benefiting sentient beings: vowing to liberate all beings.
The essence of the Three Collections of Pure Precepts is none other than to abandon non-virtue, cultivate virtue, and benefit sentient beings—this is the fundamental vow of all Buddhas and the essence of the Bodhisattva Vow. Thereafter, we uphold the Ten Grave Precepts  as delineated from the Brahmajala Sutra, where one should refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, intoxicants, speaking of the faults of others, praising oneself and disparaging others, being stingy or reviling others, harboring anger or refusing apologies, and denigrating the Three Jewels.
Once the Bodhisattva Vow is received, we obtain the pure “precept substance,” which, once gained, remains intact unless opposites occur. It serves as a protection and commitment across countless lifetimes, enduring until perfect Buddhahood is attained.

Every Dharma Assembly is a rare and precious opportunity for liberation. We must apply ourselves diligently. Under the blessings of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and dharmapalas, we visualize that our relatives of the six kinships and all beings of the dharmadhatu assemble here to receive the pure precepts. May the luminosity of the primordial awareness pervade everywhere, realizing the illusory-like world, transcending the samsaric ocean, and attaining the great perfection of ultimate liberation.