Due to the nature of the month whereby spirits are allowed to roam freely, there are always a few things to keep in mind as passed down by the elders.
I would like to share on some of the precautions/advices I have heard of or read about on this month:
Don'ts:
1. Stay out late at night. It is best to be home by sunset.
(The elders used to say that this is the time where the yin energy is at the strongest and most powerful, and that bad things could happen if you are not careful. Also, it is also another belief that the spirits could roam the streets freely to their content without being obstructed by human beings which is also another reason why some Chinese shops close down early during this month)
2. Travel on the road, by flight or by ship
It is advisable to postpone any major travel or vacation during this time to avoid any mishap or accident.
Of course, if you happen to be driving to work, you can't avoid that, but do be extra careful when you're driving as well.
3. Step on the praying paraphernalia or burning paper/food.
These are food and offerings to the spirits, and avoid stepping onto or kicking them away as this could offend the spirits.
After all, if it were you, would you like to have your food/gifts being stepped or kicked off? (reverse the situation)
4. Moving into new house or change new furniture/mattress (No housewarming or house parties as well)
This could inadvertently 'invite' some wandering spirits into your house as you are moving items and into a new unoccupied space which the spirits could deem as their own as well. Furthermore, they could hide from the guards to escape going back to their realm.
5. Curse and swear everywhere
You could incur a spirit's wrath if you happened to be in his path as it could be perceived as being disrespectful.
6. Getting married
Weddings during this month may not have a good ending, as believed, as there may be bad curses or hex placed by spirits on them. Furthermore, you would not want to have additional 'uninvited guests' crashing your party which you obviously did not plan for, do you?
7. Place your child on the offering altar when you are visiting the temples or the sites where the Guardian of Hungry Ghosts/Hell is located.
I have shared a story which my aunts have told me before on how a mother used to place her child on the offering altar while preparing her offerings and when she turned to check on her child, the child was already breathless.
Anything placed on the offering altar may be considered as an offering to the spirits and they will take it.
8. Paint your nails black
Much as you think it is funky to do so, refrain from doing so particularly during this month as only the dead have nails which turned black due to the halt in blood flow.
Black nails may lead the spirits to think that you are one of them and may lead you back to hell as well.
9. Whistle/Sing at night
For obvious reasons, you could be attracting the attention of the roaming spirits.
10. Swim or play in the sea/river
There are spirits who have drowned and there is a belief they may be out to take revenge or to find a substitute to take their place in death to allow for their reincarnation or to leave the place where their souls linger.
11. Sitting on the front rows or seats which are left vacant while the others are all occupied
This is especially when you watch the street performances such as opera or ko-tai, as some still follow the old tradition to reserve the first row of seats for the spirits as a form of respect.
In the older days, they do the same in the cinema; there is always a row of vacant seats which they reserve specially for the unseen.
If you are running late and you notice that there are empty seats in the front row, just stand by the side. It's better to stand than to offend any of the spirit.
12. Look underneath the altar table/offerings table when there is a prayer session
If you are unlucky, you may spot some unseen having their feast underneath the table and they don't like being disturbed.
Do's:
1. Show respect to the praying and burning procedures taking place by the side of the streets or junctions. Do not mock or laugh at the people doing so or you could risk offending the unseen.
2. Pray for the spirits and also to God should you feel afraid
3. Refer to the spirits as the 'Good brothers' as the local folks do instead of ghosts to avoid hostility.
4. Listen to the advice of the elders. If they tell you what to do and not to do during this month, do not argue, just follow. The supernatural is not something to be messed with.
As long as you are careful and be mindful, this month will not be such a bad month for anyone as we just need to be respectful of the spiritual beings among us.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
What are Hungry Ghosts?
The Hungry Ghost festival may trigger the question, "Why are they called Hungry Ghosts? Are they in hunger?"
Well, according to this source of Wikipedia:
Hungry ghosts are not the same as ghosts in Chinese tradition. The traditional belief is that people become ghosts when they die,[1] however, it was originally thought that ghosts did not have eternal life, but would slowly weaken and eventually die a second time.[2][3] Hungry ghosts in traditional thought would only be an issue in exceptional cases, such as if a whole family were killed or when a family no longer venerated their ancestors.[3] With the rise in popularity of Buddhism the idea that souls would live in space until reincarnation became popular.[3] In the Taoist tradition it is believed that hungry ghosts can arise from people whose deaths have been violent or unhappy. Both Buddhism[3] and Taoism[4] share the idea that hungry ghosts can emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors. According to the Hua-yen Sutra evil deeds will cause a soul to be reborn in one of six different realms.[5] The highest degree of evil deed will cause a soul to be reborn as a denizen of hell, a lower degree of evil will cause a soul to be reborn as an animal, and the lowest degree will cause a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost.[6] According to the tradition, evil deeds that lead to becoming a hungry ghost are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Desire, greed, anger and ignorance are all factors in causing a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost because they are motives for people to perform evil deeds.[1]
The hungry ghosts are also classified as those whose families have forgotten about them or not tend to their graves. They are also believed to have thin long necks as they have not/never been fed by their families since their passing.
It is based on this notion that most practices and rituals during the Hungry Ghost Festival/Month to offer food and prayers to appease their spirits.
At the same time, the need to appease is to avoid any misfortune or haunting by the wandering souls among their household; or in short, unlikely mishaps.
Of course, despite being allowed to roam freely among the living during the whole month, my grandma also used to tell me that they have the guards from hell patrolling the Earth and watching over the ghosts to maintain security and peace among the living.
In fact, during the Yu Lan festival which falls on the 15th day of the month (or sometimes celebrated on the 14th in some places), you can see huge statues of the King of Hell/Great Guardian of Hell everywhere.
They are also like the law enforcers from hell to maintain discipline and to ensure that the spirits do not create chaos and will stick to their rules to go back to hell at the end of the month.
It is also a belief that we will observe rain throughout the month due to the yin energy and the dark clouds create the strong yin atmosphere to protect the spirits.
Heavy rain may be observed on the last day of the month due to the mourning and the reluctance of the spirits to go back or to bid farewell to their loved ones.
Well, I don't see any reason to doubt this as it has truly been raining for almost every day recently.
Well, according to this source of Wikipedia:
Hungry ghosts are not the same as ghosts in Chinese tradition. The traditional belief is that people become ghosts when they die,[1] however, it was originally thought that ghosts did not have eternal life, but would slowly weaken and eventually die a second time.[2][3] Hungry ghosts in traditional thought would only be an issue in exceptional cases, such as if a whole family were killed or when a family no longer venerated their ancestors.[3] With the rise in popularity of Buddhism the idea that souls would live in space until reincarnation became popular.[3] In the Taoist tradition it is believed that hungry ghosts can arise from people whose deaths have been violent or unhappy. Both Buddhism[3] and Taoism[4] share the idea that hungry ghosts can emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors. According to the Hua-yen Sutra evil deeds will cause a soul to be reborn in one of six different realms.[5] The highest degree of evil deed will cause a soul to be reborn as a denizen of hell, a lower degree of evil will cause a soul to be reborn as an animal, and the lowest degree will cause a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost.[6] According to the tradition, evil deeds that lead to becoming a hungry ghost are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Desire, greed, anger and ignorance are all factors in causing a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost because they are motives for people to perform evil deeds.[1]
The hungry ghosts are also classified as those whose families have forgotten about them or not tend to their graves. They are also believed to have thin long necks as they have not/never been fed by their families since their passing.
It is based on this notion that most practices and rituals during the Hungry Ghost Festival/Month to offer food and prayers to appease their spirits.
At the same time, the need to appease is to avoid any misfortune or haunting by the wandering souls among their household; or in short, unlikely mishaps.
Of course, despite being allowed to roam freely among the living during the whole month, my grandma also used to tell me that they have the guards from hell patrolling the Earth and watching over the ghosts to maintain security and peace among the living.
In fact, during the Yu Lan festival which falls on the 15th day of the month (or sometimes celebrated on the 14th in some places), you can see huge statues of the King of Hell/Great Guardian of Hell everywhere.
They are also like the law enforcers from hell to maintain discipline and to ensure that the spirits do not create chaos and will stick to their rules to go back to hell at the end of the month.
It is also a belief that we will observe rain throughout the month due to the yin energy and the dark clouds create the strong yin atmosphere to protect the spirits.
Heavy rain may be observed on the last day of the month due to the mourning and the reluctance of the spirits to go back or to bid farewell to their loved ones.
Well, I don't see any reason to doubt this as it has truly been raining for almost every day recently.
Ghost Festival Vs Ching Ming
There have been many questions raised regarding the difference of this two festivals and what makes them so distinctive from each other to have two different events to commemorate the dead that I have decided to do a bit more of research and to write about it in my own context.
As most of us know, Ching Ming was celebrated in the 2nd month whereas Ghost Festival/Yu Lan is in the 7th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.
Ching Ming is when families would gather annually and make pilgrimages to the cemeteries of their dead ancestors.
They would clean their graves and offer incense/joss sticks, food (usually the favorite food of the dead), flowers and paper money.
They would burn the paper money and also other paper paraphernalia resembling items used by the living such as car, house, maid, clothes, or even tv and cell phones as the vendors get creative these days.
They are there to pay homage and respect to their dead ancestors and to fulfill their duties to clean the graves of their dead ancestors.
During this month which is after the Chinese New Year/New Spring, you will see most of the Chinese cemeteries/crematoriums crowded with people as all the families gather to pay their respects to their ancestors.
This is a tradition observed for centuries and I believe it originated from the teachings of Confucius on the importance of filial piety and remembering our ancestors and thus, all family members from near and far would travel back to reunite with their families and travel in huge groups to the graves.
The Hungry Ghost festival on the other hand, is when the dead comes back from Hell to visit their loved ones.
I remember one of my aunts used to tell me that during Ching Ming, the spirits are only allowed to roam the vicinities of their grave whereas during the Ghost month, they are allowed to go anywhere.
The rituals performed during this month is not only for your own loved ones/deceased ancestors, but also for the younger ones and even wandering spirits who may not be related to you.
Ching Ming, on the other hand focuses more on the ancestors, but Hungry Ghost festival is offered to all the spirits around; including your younger loved ones who have passed on.
During the Ghost month, there are also offerings to the King of Hell and the other guardians of Hell to ensure peace on the living earth, and also food and prayer offerings are made to the lost and wandering souls who had no one to tend to their graves, etc.
So, the main difference lies in the above reasons; and if that's not enough, during Ching Ming, the festival only lasts for 2-3 weeks compared to a whole month of the Ghost Festival.
As most of us know, Ching Ming was celebrated in the 2nd month whereas Ghost Festival/Yu Lan is in the 7th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar.
Ching Ming is when families would gather annually and make pilgrimages to the cemeteries of their dead ancestors.
They would clean their graves and offer incense/joss sticks, food (usually the favorite food of the dead), flowers and paper money.
They would burn the paper money and also other paper paraphernalia resembling items used by the living such as car, house, maid, clothes, or even tv and cell phones as the vendors get creative these days.
They are there to pay homage and respect to their dead ancestors and to fulfill their duties to clean the graves of their dead ancestors.
During this month which is after the Chinese New Year/New Spring, you will see most of the Chinese cemeteries/crematoriums crowded with people as all the families gather to pay their respects to their ancestors.
This is a tradition observed for centuries and I believe it originated from the teachings of Confucius on the importance of filial piety and remembering our ancestors and thus, all family members from near and far would travel back to reunite with their families and travel in huge groups to the graves.
The Hungry Ghost festival on the other hand, is when the dead comes back from Hell to visit their loved ones.
I remember one of my aunts used to tell me that during Ching Ming, the spirits are only allowed to roam the vicinities of their grave whereas during the Ghost month, they are allowed to go anywhere.
The rituals performed during this month is not only for your own loved ones/deceased ancestors, but also for the younger ones and even wandering spirits who may not be related to you.
Ching Ming, on the other hand focuses more on the ancestors, but Hungry Ghost festival is offered to all the spirits around; including your younger loved ones who have passed on.
During the Ghost month, there are also offerings to the King of Hell and the other guardians of Hell to ensure peace on the living earth, and also food and prayer offerings are made to the lost and wandering souls who had no one to tend to their graves, etc.
So, the main difference lies in the above reasons; and if that's not enough, during Ching Ming, the festival only lasts for 2-3 weeks compared to a whole month of the Ghost Festival.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)