According to Master Ngoc Hong Thanh - General Manager of the Office of Master Ngoc Chanh and Supreme Patriarch of Lai Vien, every year, many people die but are not prayed for, or their ancestors, ancestors, and ancestors who passed away before the Cao Dai religion was established, so they have not been prayed for. Since the religion was born, the Cao Dai Holy See of Tay Ninh has organized a prayer ceremony for all those souls, called the prayer ceremony.
“The full moon of January is the Shang Yuan festival. This is the day when, at Ngoc Hu Palace - the sacred realm, the Supreme Being grants grace to the souls. We can imagine, like in the mortal world, the State has a day of amnesty for prisoners, then in the sacred realm, the Supreme Being also chooses the Shang Yuan day to grant grace to the souls” - Master Ngoc Hong Thanh said.
In order for relatives and grandparents to enjoy the "grace" of the Supreme Being, from the 10th of January, at the Ceremony Hall, people began to distribute petitions for everyone to record the information of relatives who needed prayers. Under the guidance of the Ceremony Hall, each family wrote a petition with the names of grandparents, ancestors, and parents who had passed away long ago to offer to the Supreme Being. On the night of the Shang Yuan Festival - at the hour of Ty on the 14th of January, at the Holy Temple, after the offering ceremony, thousands of petitions were burned and offered to the sacred realm.
“In addition to the petitions of individuals, the Church will offer a general prayer for “the souls of those who have contributed to the religion, the ancestors of the past and present, the loyal and brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country, and all the people who suffered and died in war” to be resurrected to the Pure Land” - Venerable Ngoc Hong Thanh added.
This year, January 16, which is February 14, at 2:00 p.m., many followers from near and far, inside and outside the province, came to the Tay Ninh Holy See to attend the memorial service (prayer service) for the souls of the deceased according to the rank of Saint (from the rank of Layman and above) at Bao An Temple and the souls of the deceased according to the rank of God at Khach Dinh (from the rank of Le Sanh to the rank of Fellow Believer). Since morning, many families have been present at Khach Dinh and Bao An Temple to deposit the spirit tablets of the deceased and write prayers for their loved ones.
In addition to families bringing their loved ones home for the ceremony, many followers from other places also came to attend the ceremony. Mr. Phan Truong Vu (43 years old) said that every year, his parish in Nha Be, Ho Chi Minh City, and his family come to Tay Ninh to attend the ceremony.
“I pray to God to bless the souls of the dead all over the world to be liberated. I pray not only for the souls of the deceased but also for the unfortunate children who have not yet been born to go to heaven. The more people pray, the easier it will be for the souls to be liberated,” Mr. Vu shared.
After the prayer ceremony, at 7:00 p.m., at Bao An Tu and Khach Dinh, two teams including Tong Lai, Tong Mui, Tong Thuong, Tong Khau and 12 boatmen practiced the rowing ceremony.
“The Bat Nha boat was rowed by Maitreya Buddha, following the order of the Buddha Mother, to this world to bring the souls back to Mother , to the eternal sacred realm. Because of this solemn ceremony, many people also want to bring their loved ones to ride the Bat Nha boat” - Master Ngoc Hong Thanh shared.
Ms. Vo Thi Thuy Trang (Hiep Ninh ward, Tay Ninh city) said that in previous years, she still attended the mass to pray for the people at Khach Dinh. This year, she attended the mass with her mother's spirit tablet.
“My mother passed away almost a month ago. Before, she was a parish priest. According to the rules of the religion, the boat rowing ceremony is reserved for people with the rank of Le Sanh or higher. So when there is a mass for the dead, the family also wants to bring the mother's spirit tablet to attend the ceremony, so that she can enjoy the grace of the Supreme Being, the Mother Buddha, to sail the Bat Nha boat,” said Ms. Thuy Trang.
Ms. Le Vu Thanh Thuy said that her family from Don Duong district, Lam Dong province, has been in Tay Ninh since January 14 to attend the Thuong Nguyen altar worshiping ceremony in the evening and the prayer ceremony on the afternoon of January 16.
“This is the first time I have attended a memorial service. I brought both my father and mother here to pray. My father was a professor, and when he passed away, according to the religious rituals, he had to row a boat to carry him to the altar. But when my father passed away, there was no such ceremony in the locality. I heard from some of my father’s fellow believers that on January 16, there was a memorial service and rowing of boats for all the dignitaries and fellow believers, so my family arranged to bring my father’s tablet down here for the ceremony.
I also wrote a prayer for my mother at Khach Dinh. My mother was a fellow Buddhist and passed away 3 years ago. We do all of this with the hope of bringing good things to our parents in the invisible world,” said Ms. Thanh Thuy.
The ceremony of praying for the dead has long become a unique cultural feature in the beliefs of Cao Dai followers. There, people, even though they are not relatives or have never met, join together to pray for everyone with the belief that through prayers and chants, they will help and support the souls to be light and liberated to the invisible world.
Ngoc Dieu
Source: https://baotayninh.vn/cau-sieu-hoi-net-van-hoa-tin-nguong-dao-cao-dai-a186198.html
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