The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly: Cleansing Defilements with Nectar, Dispelling Afflictive Suffering, and Transforming Calamities into Bliss and Ease

On 22 July 2026, the purification ritual for the Outer Shrine of the annual Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly was conducted. This year marks the thirty-third consecutive year that the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly has been convened at Ling Jiou Mountain. Each year, practitioners return from around the world to assist with maintaining the mandala and engage diligently in Dharma practice. Such enduring and unwavering aspiration over so many years is truly rare and worthy of the highest praise.

The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly embodies the compassionate aspirations of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who would never forsake sentient beings to suffering. Endowed with inconceivable magnetizing power, it constitutes one of the most direct and efficacious Dharma methods for leading beings away from affliction, transforming karmic conditions, and transcending the entanglements of samsaric existence.

Countless deceased beings long to be freed from suffering, including our ancestors throughout successive generations, our parents from previous lives, and those bound to us through karmic debts and enmity. Entangled by karmic force, they are often unable to liberate themselves. It is not that they lack the wish for liberation; rather, they lack the proper causes, conditions, and opportunities. Thus, they rely upon their living descendants and relatives to guide and assist them by registering their names, installing the dedicating tablet on their behalf, and enabling them, within a purified and peaceful ritual environment, to hear the Dharma, perform contrition for wrongdoing, receive precepts, accumulate merit and wisdom, and thereby progress toward liberation.

The value of the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly lies not only in benefiting deceased beings but also in dispelling calamities and increasing merit and blessings for those living in the present world. Many people recognize suffering yet do not understand its causes; they seek transformation but do not know the path by which it may be realized. The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is precisely one of the most powerful methods of removing obstacles bequeathed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to sentient beings, opening a gateway to transformation and breakthrough.

Our ancestors and deceased relatives are profoundly connected to us through karmic relationships. Unresolved karmic debts may also manifest as obstacles in our present lives. When we generate the aspiration to resolve grievances and karmic entanglements on behalf of our ancestors and relatives, our own obstacles may likewise diminish. As their karmic conditions reach fulfillment, our own virtuous affinities and meritorious circumstances naturally arise.

The theme of this year’s Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is “Universal Offering and Peace for the World”. “Universal offering” signifies impartially benefiting all sentient beings, while “peace for the world” expresses the aspiration for global harmony and stability. Nowadays, disasters occur ever more frequently and warfare has yet to cease. Particularly during this year and the next, corresponding to the consecutive years of the Fire Horse and Fire Sheep in the traditional calendrical system, destructive energies are believed to intensify and human minds to become increasingly agitated. Global turmoil gravely affects the lives of all individuals. When sentient beings suffer, genuine peace and happiness are difficult to attain. The Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly therefore offers an opportunity to transform collective karma and cultivate peace for oneself and others. Through wholehearted and sincere collective practice within a purified mandala, participants not only purify themselves but also unite their aspirations to bring peace and stability to the world.

In times of upheaval, the opportunity to encounter the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly is an exceptionally precious and rare karmic circumstance that should not be taken lightly or allowed to pass by. “Without action, there is no transformation; only through action can transformation occur.” Everyone is therefore encouraged to participate actively and support the assembly wholeheartedly, so that the Dharma lineage of the Water, Land, and Air tradition may continue unbroken across generations, guiding ever more sentient beings toward liberation and ultimate awakening.

Tonight’s purification marks the first ritual of the Water, Land, and Air Dharma Assembly and the beginning of the process of transformation. As stated in the Chapter of Pure Conduct of the Avatamsaka Sutra: “When washing away impurities with water, may all sentient beings perfect the purity of patience and ultimately be undefiled.” At this moment, with utmost sincerity, we receive the compassionate nectar of Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) and employ willow-branch purified water to sanctify the ritual space.

May the water of the compassionate Dharma spread throughout the ten directions, cleansing all afflictive passions and attachments of sentient beings across the dharmadhatu. May it purify body, speech, and mind, bring clarity to the mind, and foster the growth of virtuous roots. May this nectar also pacify worldly conflicts, avert disasters and calamities, and bring peace, harmony, joy, and freedom to all sentient beings.

Finally, may beings throughout the six realms equally partake of the benefits of the Dharma, and may all sentient beings throughout the dharmadhatu together reach the shore of awakening. Amitabha!