Ritual for Blessings and Protection through Buddha Vajrabhairava Puja on the occasion of the Hungry Ghost Festival, 13 August 2016

Background

According to various East Asian traditions of Buddhism, as well as Daoism, the gates of hell remain is believed to remain open for one month whereupon hell denizens and hungry ghosts scavenge the human world for search of food and to clear unsettled scores. Both Buddhist and Daoist followers consider the 15th day of the 7th lunar month of Chinese calendar as the peak day for these paranormal activities and hence observe it as the Hungry Ghost Festival Day. According to Western calendar, the day corresponds to 17th of August 2016.

For centuries, people have resorted to different rituals to appease hungry ghosts of the deceased by laying food, drinks, and provisions. This is done with the hope that it will satisfy the forlorn spirits and prevent them from intruding on people’s lives or causing harms and misfortunes.

7 Month Prayer – Vajrabhairava puja

Maha Tare Buddhist Centre is pleased to organise Buddha Vajrabhairava Tantric Puja for this Hungry Ghost Festival. Considered an emanation of Lord Manjushri, Vajrabhairava, in its various wrathful manifestations, symbolizes compassion through forceful action. The ritual of Vajrabhairava, one of the most powerful deities in the Mahayana Tantric Buddhism, not only seeks to provide protection to humans but also help ghosts and spirits find deliverance and be reborn in better states than the one overcome by evils and negativities. This powerful ritual requires both officiating Lamas and participants to develop pure compassion towards this less fortunate beings. The Vajrabhairava puja is performed in three phases: Self-generational Vajrabhairava meditation (Jig-je dag-kye), self-initiatory ritual (Jig-je dak-jug), and ritual for dredging up the lower Samsaric realms (Jig-je ngan-song jung-wa).

Event Details

Date: 13 August 2016 (Saturday)

Venue: Open area in front of Sri Krishnan Temple (Waterloo Street)

Time table

Tentative time table for the three essential phases of Vajrabhairava puja:

• 8 am – 10 am Jig-je dag-kye
  Self-generational meditation involving visualization and invocation of the wrathful Buddha Vajrabhairava
• 12 noon – 2 pm Jig-je dak-jug
  Self-initiation and empowerment to observe the powerful Vajrabhairava meditation, ritual and incantations
• 3 pm – 5 pm Jig-je ngan-song jung-wa
  Tantric ritual for dredging up the lower Samsaric realms by freeing hell-beings and hungry-ghosts from the suffering realms and delivering them for higher rebirths

Registration

To register names of living and deceased person for prayer, please contact the following person/register at the following locations:

• Kelvin @ 9681 1326 (Dzambhala @ My Place #01-26 Fortune Centre, Singapore 188979)
• Sharon @ 9662 7883 / Katherine @ 9766 9088 (Maha Tare Buddhist Centre @ 658A Geylang Road, Singapore 389588)