New Year Ancestor Ceremony
Wednesday, January 3rd from 6:00 – 7:30 at the Mauthe Center in the Fireplace room. This is a sangha favorite. Each year at the New Year we share the New Year’s Ceremony to pay respect to our teachers and our ancestors. The ceremony is from Chanting from the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices and includes sitting meditation, touching the earth, sutra reading, and discussion time to share about our ancestors. Everyone is invited to bring items and/or pictures of familial or spiritual ancestors to place on the ancestral altar. This ceremony will take the place of our regular practice session. At the end of the ceremony some may wish to participate in hugging meditation as a form of “beginning anew” in order to close the ceremony and enter into the new year with open hearts and harmony between each other.
Ancestor Prayer
We your descendants who are practicing with Open Heart Mindfulness Community at the occasion of the New Year, come with sincere respect before your altar. We go back to our source and ask you, our ancestors, to be our witness.
Trees have their roots and water has its source. We know that you, our ancestors, are our roots and we are your continuation. We are determined to receive your cultural and spiritual heritage, to conserve and to develop what is good, beautiful, and true in it. We are also determined to realize the aspirations which you have handed on to us, transforming your suffering and opening up for future generations the way to a peaceful, unburdened and meaningful life. We are determined to help build a society in which people are not always busy, where little is consumed, and there is plenty of time to live with nature, look after nature, and bring happiness, to care for, and smile to each other.
This is the moment when the New Year begins. We promise to let go of all our anger, sadness, and resentment, and to forgive, love, and accept each other. We know that only by doing this do we really express our feelings of gratitude and loyalty towards you.
Please be witness to our sincerity as we offer incense, flowers, fruit, and tea. All these things are offered with our heartfelt sincerity and our loyalty. Please be our protectors and the protectors of our children and grandchildren so that we have enough health, faith, and joy to be able to continue your work.
Open Heart Mindfulness Community 