Q: Master Lu, I am moving soon. Is there anything I should do before I move into my new home?
A:
- It is best to move on a Saturday and ensure that there will be someone in your home the following day. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays are also suitable.
- You should invite your friends to come to your new home and have a housewarming gathering to bring in positive energy. The livelier the better, the more the merrier.
- If you are a Buddhist, you can play the Great Compassion Mantra softly for 24 hours in your new home.
The sound from the television or radio has the audio frequencies of human voices, which contain human energy. You can have them switched on whenever the house is vacant. - At the same time, you can perform more recitations of the Great Compassion Mantra yourself.
- If you have a Buddhist altar in your home, you should first invite the statues and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to your new home.
In your old home, make an incense offering and wait until the incense has finished burning, then you can invite the statues and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to come down from the Buddhist altar and wrap them carefully with red coloured materials (e.g. red paper or red fabric).
When you arrive at your new house, it is important that you place the statues and images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on the Buddhist altar first, and then make incense offerings with three incense sticks. Recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 times and the Heart Sutra7 times, make prostrations[1], and say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva come to our new home, please continue to protect and bless me, <full name>, and my family. We will cultivate our minds diligently and sincerely.”
It is best to relocate your altar and set it up first before you move the rest of your belongings. - When you relocate your altar to a new home, the statues or images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not require another blessing ceremony. This is because Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have already visited the statues and images. When you move into a new home, you are just not making incense offerings temporarily. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not present in the statues or images while you are moving.
After you have moved into your new home, and as soon as you make incense offerings (known as a “continuation of making incense offerings”), Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will be invited to come and visit again. Therefore, these statues or images do not require another blessing ceremony. - Once the Buddhist altar has been established, you should move the beds into place before moving the rest of the furniture.
- Prior to moving into your new home, you will need to recite and burn 21 Little Houses addressed to the karmic creditor of the house of <full name of the occupant>. The occupant of the house does not necessarily have to be the landlord appearing on the certificate of title (title deed).
- If you need to renovate before moving in, you will need to recite and burn 29 Little Houses addressed to the karmic creditor of the house of <full name of occupant>, prior to commencing the renovations. Once the renovations are complete, you will need to offer another 7 Little Houses (addressed to the same) before moving in.