Six Month Paritta Blessing Ceremony

Beginning January 1, 2015, in support of the Temple Building and Meditation Center Project, the monks at American Buddhist Seminary Temple at Sacramento are chanting every day from 5:30 am, stopping only for a lunch offering, then resuming from 1:00 pm until 9:00 pm.  This is a very important act they are doing.  This is the first time in America that a Paritta (or Pirith) Blessing Ceremony has been done.

What I have learned and experienced while being present during the chanting, is a calm mind, a peaceful heart and there is a joyfulness in this community that can be felt by the members and the monks.

The Paritta Blessing is when the monks recite three suttas.  Paritta means "Protection".  From The Book of Protection by Piyadassi Thera, "In Buddhist lands, listening to the recital of the dhamma or the doctrine of the Buddha is in order to avert illness or danger, to ward off the influence of malignant beings, to obtain protection and deliverance from evil, and to promote health, prosperity, welfare and well-being."  During the Paritta Blessings the monks chant three specific suttas, known as 'Paritta suttas'.

.    Also from The Book of Protection, Thera states:  "It is believed that the vibratory sounds produced by the sonorous and mellifluous recital of the paritta suttas in their Pali verses are soothing to the nerves and induce peace and calm of mind; they also bring about harmony to the physical system....So great is the power of concentration that by adverting whole-heartedly to the truth contained in the paritta recitals one is able to develop a wholesome state of mind."