Blessings of the Buddha and Melodic Chanting to Bring in the New Year

After our epic new year's eve dinner, I went with my family and some family friends to a Buddhist chanting ceremony at 11:30 P.M., whereby everyone gains the blessings of the Buddhist chief and starts off the new year with good tidings.  It was my first foray into this type of ritual and I really did not know what to do, or understand much of what was going on, but none of that managed to diminish my enjoyment.  It lasted for two hours.  We did not get home until nearly 2 A.M.!

While there, the chief led us in songs about contentment, peace, love and enlightenment.  I loved the chanting, the candle lighting ceremony, the rhythmic drumming, the meditative chanting, and the wish-making ceremony.  I loved the soft spoken tone of the monks and their gentle faces as they spoke about living a kind and meaningful life.   I love the smell of incense.

During the wish-making ceremony, the chief rubbed everyone's head and bestowed blessings upon them in the new year.  The Chinese have a lot of sayings, many of them particularly for the new year.

At the end, when we said goodbye, the chief said that in my smile one can understand 慧根 (the root of wisdom / the path of enlightenment)!  That made me feel very special.  Guess she really liked my smile...