Duration | 2:23
Volunteers Advocate the Right Belief on the Seventh Lunar Month
The arrival of the seventh lunar month is frightening to many and there are many creepy taboos associated with the Ghost Month. In Buddhism, the seventh lunar month is contrarily an auspicious and joyful month that celebrates filial piety. Due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions, the annual Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Ceremony was held online for the second year with the theme "Repent the Obstruction of Retribution" extracted from the 2013 Tzu Chi Singapore "Dharma as Water" sutra adaptation. The broadcasted online programme conveyed the concept of right thoughts and right belief about the seventh lunar month and advocated protection and liberation of life. Besides guiding the public to pray for blessings at home, the programme was also designed to eradicate the fear of the seventh lunar month.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tay Lee Gek: The arrival of the seventh lunar month sends chill down my spine
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tan Moi Siu: We must reach home before 6pm during this month
Tzu Chi volunteer, Soh Siew Kheng: It felt like the more joss paper you burn, the more pious you are
Is the seventh lunar month really that scary?
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tay Lee Gek: People are burning joss paper downstairs. On the first week of the seventh lunar month, we will go to the ancestral hall to do offerings, and that is to burn a lot of joss paper.
Tay Lee Gek never missed a single traditional custom such as worshipping ancestors and burning joss paper during the seventh lunar month in the past. After understanding the origin of the auspicious seventh lunar month, she not only donates the money for buying joss paper but also gained a new insight about worshipping ancestors.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tay Lee Gek: We will offer vegetarian food and I said I would cook. Being filial to ancestors isn’t about buying a lot of food to offer them after they are dead. It’s about how we treat our parents when they are alive, and not buying a lot of prayer items after they are gone.
Dad, I just asked grandma what is “ghost month”. Yue Yue, actually the seventh lunar month is not a ghost month but an auspicious month that celebrates filial piety and gratitude.
Due to pandemic restrictions, Tzu Chi Singapore held the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month ceremony online for the second year. A programme themed “Repent the Obstruction of Retribution” from the “Dharma as Water“ sutra adaptation was broadcasted to convey the concept of protecting lives.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Soh Siew Kheng: The Water Repentance Sutra mentioned about karmic retribution of killing. (The pandemic) is a great lesson, we should all repent because this is mankind’s collective karma.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tan Moi Siu: We should cut down on killing, as a way to be filial to parents and create blessings for our elderly.
Put your palms together and sing piously. Let the words in the sutra cleanse your heart, and spend the auspicious month with right thoughts and belief.
