Re: Obon (盂蘭盆), an Important Event for Welcoming Our Ancestors Back

I think that a similar event is held for welcoming their ancestors’ soul back everywhere in the world, but we (Buddhists in Japan) have a custom to do it, too in the middle of scorching summer, on the 13th of Aug.
We went to our family tomb in the afternoon today, bringing a set of offering flowers, candles, incense sticks, small foods for the ancestors such as rice dumpling and seasonal vegetables, together with a lantern and a sutra book. Here, (my late mom used to say that) the smell of incense sticks is a “feast” for the God, and the lantern is for bringing the God’s soul back to our home, since the soul resides in the candle flame. After coming back to our home, we have to chant the sutra in front of our family alter. We believe that the ancestors will stay at our home from today to 15th. So, the family members, including our sons, daughters, grandkids gather together for Obon days in usual years, chatting and eating among the re-united members. (But, it’s a pity that our children and grandkids cannot come back in the last couple of years due to COVID-19’s spread. (😑) )

Our family tomb.
According to our family register of deaths, the oldest ancestors dates back to 1655, 367 years ago
All of our family’s ancestors have just come back to our family’s Buddhist Alter
  • Comment: 0

Related posts

  1. Re: The ruin and the road that makes me feel nostalgia (郷愁を誘う廃墟と道)

  2. Re: One Day in My “Latter Half of Golden Week Holidays”, Biking around Kohoku area (湖北を自転車で周る黄金週間後半の一日)

  3. Re: A tour guide has to study continuously in order to explain wherever and whatever we visit in his / her own words (通訳ガイドはいつまでたっても勉強をし続ける必要があります)

  4. Re: The Latest iphone13 (128GB) for an Aged Bad Man Like Me (大悪オヤジの最新スマホ)

  5. Re: Stocking Experience of Lake Fish by Local Elementary School Pupils (小学生達の湖魚放流体験)

  6. Re: An Electric Toothbrush (電動歯ブラシ)

  1. No comments yet.

  1. No trackbacks yet.