This year, Huayan Dharma Assembly during the Vassa, also known as the three-month Monastic Summer Retreat, or Rains Retreat, traditionally observed by Buddhist monks during the monsoon rains, commenced on May 29 at the Hall of the Medicine Buddha of Lingyin Temple and came to a successful close on August 22. According to the Buddhist tradition, the Lingyin Sangha and the Buddhist believers, all filled with Dharma bliss, recited and chanted the mahā-vaipulya-buddhâvataṃsaka-sūtra (Chinese pinyin: Huayan Jing) every day during the Vassa. Today at the closing ceremony, the Lingyin Sangha chanted the sutras to return the merits to beings of the ten directions and pray for world peace, national prosperity, well-being for the general public, and a flourishing development of Buddhism.