长年灯/报恩灯 Perpetual Lamp / Gratitude Lamp
佛教点灯,是燃灯供佛的功德行,象征光明、智慧与福德。经典记载,以一盏明灯至诚供佛,能获得无量福报,照破内心无明,带来光明平安的力量。
长年灯:为在世亲友点灯,祈求身心安乐、事业顺利、家庭和乐、福慧增长。
报恩灯:为往生亲人点灯,超荐冥阳两利,愿亡者离苦得乐,得生善道。
佛经中记载:过去有一位盗贼,夜过寺庙,见佛前灯快熄,用箭扶正灯芯,顿见光明耀眼,心生惭愧,放下盗心。因这一善行,生生世世得善报,最终值遇释迦牟尼佛,出家修行,证得阿罗汉果,便是佛陀十大弟子之一的阿那律尊者。
扶一盏佛灯尚有如此果报,亲自发心供灯,福德更是不可思议。
愿以灯光破除黑暗,愿众生智慧圆明,福慧双增,所求如愿。
In Buddhism, lighting a lamp before the Buddha is a meritorious practice symbolizing brightness, wisdom, and merits. According to Buddhist sutras, offering even a single lamp to the Buddha with utmost sincerity can bring boundless merit, dispel the darkness of ignorance within, and bring forth the power of light, peace, and harmony.
Perpetual Lamp: Offered for living relatives and friends, praying for physical and mental well-being, success in endeavors, harmony in the family, and the increase of both merit and wisdom.
Gratitude Lamp: Offered for departed loved ones, dedicating merits for the benefit of both the living and the deceased, wishing the departed to be free from suffering, attain happiness, and being reborn in wholesome paths.
As recorded in the Buddhist sutras: In the past, there was a thief who, while passing by a monastery at night, saw a lamp before the Buddha about to go out. He straightened the wick with an arrow, and instantly the light shone brightly. At that moment, a deep sense of shame arose in his heart, and he abandoned his intent to steal. Because of this single wholesome act, he received favorable rebirths for many lifetimes. Eventually, he encountered Sakyamuni Buddha, renounced the household life, cultivated the path, and attained the fruit of Arhatship. This person was none other than the Venerable Aniruddha—one of the Buddha’s ten great disciples.
If even the act of adjusting a single Buddha lamp brings such karmic fruit, then personally offering a lamp from one’s own resolve yields inconceivable merits.
May the light of the lamp dispel all darkness;
May the wisdom of all sentient beings shine in fullness;
May merits and wisdom be enhanced;
And may all aspirations be fulfilled.