Every year, worldwide Buddhist friends celebrate Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s Enlightenment Day on the 19^th day of the sixth Lunar Month. This year, when the magnificent day falls on July 31, 2018, Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door Buddhist Association of Italy, Milan branch put on a successful vegetarian event and organized the “Offering the First Incense” to commemorate Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s dignified virtues and contributions to the world. They also used this opportunity to celebrate Buddhist Master Jun Hong Lu’s birthday in August, wishing him remain longer in this world and widely spread Buddha’s teachings.   

The “Offering the First Incense” was held at the start of July 31th from 0:00am to 2:00am. More than 200 Buddhist friends from all over Italy and other regions attended this sacred ceremony. They extended their greetings and sincere gratitude to the Guan Yin Bodhisattva for her great compassion and great mercy to alleviate all sentient beings from suffering. Especially in the Dharma Ending Age, without the help and blessings from Guan Yin Bodhisattva, many people would have been manipulated by fate, sank in adversity and slacked in prosperity. The wisdom of Buddhism saved millions of people lost in darkness and lights up their ways to liberation and bliss. After offering the incense, many Buddhist friends stayed at the Guan Yin Hall and performed recitations till the noon. Volunteers from Guan Yin Citta Milan Chapter meticulously prepared various kinds of delicious vegetarian food to treat the Buddhist friends staying at Guan Yin Hall, and express thanks for their commitment to the practice and dedication to the Dharma protection.  

In the evening, Guan Yin Citta Milan hosted a free vegetarian feast at the restaurant of Ristorante Junyue from 19:00pm to 21:00pm. Over 500 Buddhists friends, both new and old, attended this gathering. Started with the video clip from Master Jun Hong Lu’s Dharma Talk, all the attendees learned together the importance of gratitude in Buddhist practice. Master Jun Hong Lu said, “As a Buddhist practitioner, it’s essential for us to practice gratitude. Everyone should be grateful for everything that happens in life. If we can reside in gratitude, our souls will be pure, and then our state of consciousness will be getting closer to the ones of Buddha and Bodhisattva. In this case, even we are now in the human realm, we can be freed from the cycle of reincarnation and ascend into higher realms. Thus, we need to be more grateful to life, know more about this world, and then gain the true understanding about the purpose of being a human in this world. When we celebrate Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s Enlightenment Day, we can also practice gratitude, expressing the extraordinary veneration for Guan Yin Bodhisattva from the depths of our hearts.”

During the event, two Buddhist friends told their heartfelt stories about how their lives changed by practicing Buddhism. Brother Du shared that he successfully obtained the long-term residence permit in Italy through the practice of the “Three Golden Gems” in Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door. In the meantime, he got rid of lawsuit which had bothered him for a long time. And his symptoms of Parkinson were gone, which indicated he is fully recovered from Parkinson’s disease. Brother Hu shared how Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door benefits her whole family during her three years of practice. Not only her father recovered from cancer, but also she herself gained significant health improvement. Some of her chronic diseases disappeared without any treatment. She said, “Practicing Buddhism is the ultimate way to alleviate from suffering. Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door is really effective and beneficial in changing people’s lives.”

While attendees enjoyed their food and drinks, amazing performances were presented by local Buddhist friends and youngsters. Dozens of kids performed the recitation of Great Compassion Mantra in front all the audience. Their beautiful sound was like the melody from the sky, sweet and lively, touched everyone’s heart. At the end, all the Buddhist friends extended their best wishes to Master Jun Hong Lu, wishing him happy birthday and good health.