Tu Viện Quảng Đức105 Lynch Rd, Fawkner, Vic 3060. Australia. Tel: 9357 3544. quangduc@quangduc.com* Viện Chủ: HT Tâm Phương, Trụ Trì: TT Nguyên Tạng   

Ullamabana Celebration

11/03/201420:24(Xem: 2285)
Ullamabana Celebration
Ullamabana Celebration

Festival of Hungry Ghosts?

---o0o---

Translated into Chinese from Sanskrit by Tripitaka Master Dharmaraksha. Retranslate into English by Upsaka Neoh Shin Yung.

As distributed by PBHP on the Ullambana occasion.

They burn giant-sized joss sticks and paper money. They slaughter animals. They stage street operas. They say this is Buddhism. How misleading they are!

Putting aside all the malpractices, the Ullambana celebration has its origin in Buddhism. Ullambana Sutra is a discourse given by the Buddha principally to the Venerable Mogallana on the practice of filial piety.

Here is a brief extraction of the Ullambana Sutra:

In the sutra, Ven. Mogallana out of his filial piety used his deva vision to look for his deceased parent. He saw that his mother had fallen into the realm of the hungry ghost (Peta). He immediately went forth to his mother with rice in an almsbowl. When his mother saw Mogallana, she was very pleased. But the first thing she did after receiving the bowl from Mogallana was to use her left hand to hide the bowl so that all the other hungry ghosts could not share with her with the food! This represented the attitude of greed and meanness which had been the cause of her falling down to the peta world. When she tried to eat the food with her right hand, the food had turned into charcoal.

In grief, Mogallana went back to seek the Buddha's help. The Buddha explained to Mogallana that his mother's offences were very great and that he himself alone could not save his mother. Mogallana would need the help of other Sangha members. The Buddha advised Mogallana to make offering in a bowl containing rice, fruits and other delicacies as well as offering to the monks' requisites to all the Sangha members in ten directions. Since all the Sangha members hold pure and complete precepts on that day, their meritorious power can deliver the donor's parents of 7 births out of great sufferings in the lower realms.

In this way, Mogallana's mother was delivered of the hungry ghost world. Mogallana then asked the Buddha if future followers of His could also practise the Ullamabana offerings. The Buddha replied very gladly that all followers should follow the practice. This practice to express filial piety would bring similar benefits to the practitioner's parents of the seven births.

One factor contribution to this degeneration of Ullamabana practices is the businessmen making this an opportunity to make money. The celebration are made more and more elaborate and less and less meaningful. Another important factor is the twisted attitude of Buddhist tolerance. As a result, we find that in different countries where Buddhism is being followed a lot of un-Buddhistic elements have been accepted before "purification". This is what I called "twisted tolereance".

Proper Buddhist education plays an important part to enable the people to recognize these un-Buddhistic elements. However, there is no need for violent opposition. If one is skillful enough, all these elements can be made less and less complicated and more and more meaningful. This is Buddhist tolerance.
Gửi ý kiến của bạn
Tắt
Telex
VNI
Tên của bạn
Email của bạn
20/08/2019(Xem: 10623)
In this video, I share my reflections (ALERT: SOME RAW EMOTIONS) on Ullambana Festival, a brief recount of my family's journey to Australia, and expressing my appreciation to Phuoc Hue Temple for giving my sister and me the chance to co-host an important ceremony. For more information on Ullambana Festival, visit: https://quangduc.com/a52430/1-ullambana https://www.nantien.org.au/en/events/... CREDITS Music Credits: Fresh Fallen Snow A Quiet Thought - Free YouTube Music Library Lòng Mẹ 2 - Sáo Trúc Demo (Bamboo Flute) (Track: Mother's Love 2 | Composer: Ngoc Son) - Đinh Hồng Sơn YouTube channel Photo Credits: [1:05] Picture of Vietnamese Refugee Boat: https://reporter.anu.edu.au/word-watc... [1:16] Palm Trees: http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-f... [1:30] Picture of Vietnamese Refugee Boat: https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-momen... [1:34] Picture of Australia: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/w... [3:18] Bus: https://www.liverpoolcha
15/06/2018(Xem: 11118)
Cha chúng tôi (Our Fathers) Cha chúng tôi rất nhọc nhằn Tay luôn làm lụng, tâm hằng lo toan Tạo cho cuộc sống chu toàn Chúng tôi được hưởng bình an vô cùng. Dù Đông buốt giá lạnh lùng, Dù Hè nóng nực oi nồng cháy da Cha làm việc, chẳng nói ra Âm thầm chịu đựng để mà nuôi con.
22/05/2018(Xem: 40799)
The Buddhist community is extremely upset by the inappropriate and disrespectful use of the image of Buddha, The Buddhist community is extremely upset by the inappropriate and disrespectful use of the image of Buddha, in a display at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) entitled the 'Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana, the Dying Gaul, Farnese Hercules, Night, Day, Sartyr and Bacchante, Funerary Genius, Achilles, Persian Soldier Fighting, Dancing Faun, Crouching Aphrodite, Narcisse Couché, Othryades the Spartan Dying, the Fall of Icarus, A River, Milo of Croton'. It can also be seen at: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/131149/ Although this display has been in place for some months, we have only just been made aware of its' existence. We are not usually outspoken, but this display desecrates the image of Buddha by placing images of these mythical images on him and in doing so, showing no apparent regard or respect for Him.
27/03/2017(Xem: 36553)
The Seeker's Glossary of Buddhism By Sutra Translation Committee of USA/Canada This is a revised and expanded edition of The Seeker's Glossary of Buddhism. The text is a compendium of excerpts and quotations from some 350 works by monks, nuns, professors, scholars and other laypersons from nine different countries, in their own words or in translation. The editors have merely organized the material, adding a few connecting thoughts of their own for ease in reading.
11/03/2014(Xem: 2456)
The Chinese celebrate two festivals of the dead: The first takes place in the spring and is called Ching Ming - a day for reflection and rememberance of the recent and still-remembered but ancestrally departed. The second - and darker of the two festivals - is called Da Jui by the Chinese and Urabon or Obon by the Japanese.
11/03/2014(Xem: 3357)
Ullambana is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word meaning "deliverance from suffering," and specifically refers to the salvation of anguished souls in Hell. This concept originates from the story of "Mulien Saving His Mother from Hades."
facebook youtube google-plus linkedin twitter blog
Nguyện đem công đức này, trang nghiêm Phật Tịnh Độ, trên đền bốn ơn nặng, dưới cứu khổ ba đường,
nếu có người thấy nghe, đều phát lòng Bồ Đề, hết một báo thân này, sinh qua cõi Cực Lạc.

May the Merit and virtue,accrued from this work, adorn the Buddhas pureland,
Repay the four great kindnesses above, andrelieve the suffering of those on the three paths below,
may those who see or hear of these efforts generates Bodhi Mind, spend their lives devoted to the Buddha Dharma,
the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Quang Duc Buddhist Welfare Association of Victoria
Tu Viện Quảng Đức | Quang Duc Monastery
Most Venerable Thich Tam Phuong | Senior Venerable Thich Nguyen Tang
Address: Quang Duc Monastery, 105 Lynch Road, Fawkner, Vic.3060 Australia
Tel: 61.03.9357 3544 ; Fax: 61.03.9357 3600
Website: http://www.quangduc.com
http://www.tuvienquangduc.com.au (old)
Xin gửi Xin gửi bài mới và ý kiến đóng góp đến Ban Biên Tập qua địa chỉ:
quangduc@quangduc.com