Group Reading Golden Light Sutra

A sutra is a holy scripture -- the very words of the Buddha, written down so that all can receive the teachings. The practice of doing group readings of sutras began in the monasteries, where it continues today. The pages of the sutra are divided evenly among all participants, so that each person has a different set of pages than the others. Then all begin reading aloud at the same time, so that the room is filled with the joyful sound of precious teachings. It creates a wonderful current of energy, and everyone in the room hears the entire sutra and gets it on their mindstreams, although of ocurse they are not consciously taking in the words spoken by the others.

From FPMT:  At the beginning of the Sutra of Golden Light, Buddha Shakyamuni, the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Fully Enlightened, calls to anyone experiencing misery and affliction, bad health, poverty, loss, abuse, ill will, fear, nightmares, or other harms. He says to make the mind virtuous and to come and listen.

This “King of Glorious Sutras,” contains everything needed, from daily happiness to complete enlightenment. It contains a heart-rending practice of confession and rejoicing, profound teachings on dependent arising, reliable assurances of protection, guidelines for ideal government, and awe-inspiring stories of the Buddha’s previous lives, in which the Buddha shows how, even before he had completely eliminated the delusions, he liberated countless beings from the ocean of suffering through compassion and personal courage.