Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly: Sending Off the Noble Beings—Universal Offering of Peace, Pure Dharmadhatu, Ecological Harmony, and Peace for Earth

July 29, 2026, marked the concluding ritual of the eight-day, seven-night Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly. We are deeply grateful for everyone's shared resolve and diligent practice. As the Assembly now draws to a successful completion, we have together fulfilled this rare and extraordinary occassion.

For thirty-three consecutive years, Ling Jiou Mountain has convened the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly without interruption. This continuity has been sustained by the collective compassion, faith, and aspiration of all participants, enabling innumerable sentient beings to encounter the Buddhadharma and find the conditions to transcend suffering and attain liberation. It is our aspiration that this virtuous affinity and accumulation of blessings continue to be passed on for generations to come.

Countless beings within the six realms have little merit or favorable karmic conditions, and live in destitute and without refuge. Their plight is deeply pitiable. Adrift in the vast samsaric ocean of birth and death, they ceaselessly long for even the slightest opportunity to attain liberation. The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is precisely the supremely skillful means established by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the preceding patriarchs of the past for the benefit of all beings, enabling them to swiftly transcend the suffering of cyclic existence and take up the path to liberation.

We should align ourselves with the compassionate vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Even beings burdened by grave karmic obscurations and seemingly intractable karma are never abandoned. With the utmost refined and inclusive compassion, we are willing to make every possible effort, however small the opportunity, leaving no suffering beings behind. Through the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly, all beings may plant the causes of awakening and accumulate immeasurable virtuous deeds. This profound aspiration to rescue all beings embodies the great compassion of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and constitutes the very foundation of the Assembly's inconceivable power to liberate sentient beings and resonate with the blessing.

Today we will perform the ritual of Sending Off the Noble Beings. This ritual not only sends away the afflictions and obscurations of sentient beings but also returns them to their own innate compassion and aspirations, reconnecting them with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Relying upon the profound vows of Buddha Amitabha, together with the compassionate guidance of Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) and Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta , sentient beings are led to the Pure Land of Sukhavati, illumined by Amitabha's boundless light and endowed with immeasurable life, where they continue to receive the Dharma, practice the path, and ultimately attain complete liberation.

As we proceed, everyone should gather body and mind into focused awareness, follow the recitation of the Buddha's name with wholehearted sincerity, and contemplate: “May the assembly of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and noble beings return along the celestial path. May our ancestors throughout successive generations, our parents from countless lifetimes, karmic creditors, and all beings throughout the six realms, protected and guided by the Buddhas, board the vessel bound for the Western Pure Land. May they be reborn there through the power of their vows and arrive directly in the Pure Land of Sukhavati.”

That we have been able to complete every ritual of these eight days and seven nights in accordance with the proper liturgical tradition is due not only to the compassionate safeguarding of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas but also to the Three Masters, all Dharma masters of both the Inner and Outer Shrines, every sponsor, volunteers, and the Water, Land, and Air Committee. Through their unwavering dedication and tireless efforts, the compassionate aspiration to liberate sentient beings has continued uninterrupted for thirty-three years, building a bridge by which beings may progress toward liberation and buddhahood.

The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is a great undertaking of universal reconciliation and profound interconnectedness, embodying the principle that “virtuous karma is inexhaustible, and virtuous conditions continue without end.” We encourage everyone to renew their participation year after year and return annually to the mandala, carrying forward the compassion of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas so that this unsurpassed path of liberation may continue to be transmitted. In doing so, we not only dedicate merit to our ancestors, parents, relatives, and karmic creditors but also weave together a vast network of compassionate aspiration for all sentient beings throughout the dharmadhatu, enabling ever more beings to attain liberation. As the law of cause and effect teaches, corresponding causes yield corresponding results. By giving rise to compassion today and creating the conditions for others to awaken and attain liberation, we are simultaneously advancing our own path to bodhi.

We are grateful for everyone's wholehearted participation year after year. May we continue to gather annually without fail, nourishing our wisdom with the nectar of the Buddhadharma, revealing our primordial awareness, planting the virtuous causes for future liberation and Buddhahood, and together fulfilling this great vow to benefit all sentient beings.

Finally, we sincerely dedicate all the merits generated through this Dharma Assembly:
May peace be universally bestowed;
May the pure dharmadhatu manifest, and all sentient beings dwell in happiness;
May there be peace throughout the world, harmony within the natural environment, and well-being on Earth.
Amitabha!