ADJUSTMENT TO THE RECITATION OF BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES DURING THE ULLAMBANA FESTIVAL
Question: How should we adjust our recitation of the Buddhist scriptures before and after the Ullambana Festival? In this regard, how many days before and after would the adjustment apply to? And, do we need to avoid reciting the Heart Sutra and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra (Wang Sheng Zhou) during this period?
Master Jun Hong Lu: You should still recite the Heart Sutra and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra. I did not mean that you should adjust your daily homework, rather I was referring to making adjustments to the recitation of Little Houses.
Take for example, for someone, who is not keeping pace with the recitation of Little Houses on normal days, as the festival approaches, he must substantially step up his recitation.
To illustrate, assuming this person has been reciting three Little Houses per week. Leading up to the Ullambana Festival, he may need to increase his recitation to six Little Houses per day. Most likely by then, he will be overwhelmed by what is required.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Discourse (Question 8), 6 October 2011