End of Ghost Month

Today is the last day of Hungry Ghost month. On the last day of the seventh lunar month, before the next new moon, the gates of hell close up again. Asians celebrate this day in a variety of ways - they might burn paper money and clothing again, and taoist monks might chant to drive the ghosts away or release them; and the Toucheng Ghost Grappling Competition is held in Yilan's Toucheng Township in Taiwan(!)

 

Today:

1. Release my hungry ghosts

2. Read about China's hungry ghosts

3. Read Testament of Devotion

4. Make a floating lantern

1. Release my hungry ghosts

As I said at the last new moon, Hungry Ghosts have two manifestations: They appear as the spirits of unhappy, homeless souls, and we also have our inner hungry ghosts.

Early this morning I had a little ceremony to release some of my hungry ghosts. I wrote them down on slips of paper, took them outside in a bowl, and burned them as I said a prayer of release.

I'm sure some of these cravings and greeds will hang around to haunt me, but noticing them is the first step to giving them peace and liberation.

2. Read about China's hungry ghosts:

I stumbled onto this fascinating post about the Hungry Ghosts in China, from a fascinating blog called Thoughts of a Taoist Babe, written by "a modern Vietnamese-American woman." It's a discourse on Buddhism and Taoism in China, after "thousands and thousands of Taoist and Buddhist temples have been boarded up, condemned, or razed to the ground". 

She asks the poignant question: "So what happens to a society when all their spiritual leaders have been wiped out?"  She concludes that their hungry ghosts have moved to Vietnam.

3. Read "Testament of Devotion":

I've been reading Thomas R. Kelly's book "Testament of Devotion" (1941). I'm into the middle of Chapter 3, The Blessed Community. I've taken a couple week's break, but now I'm plowing onward.

He disses our church social functions as "man to man" rather than "Man to man in God." (I'm left out of the equation here in any case.)

Okay, even with the 1940's sexist jargon, I do understand what he's saying: I'm also seeking a deeper connection to a community of Friends who are "God-enthralled", bonded in love, a blessed community - what he calls "a little church within the church." (It does sometimes feel like an exclusive club, but we long for more to join us - to gain membership you only need to study and worship deeply to expand your soul, release your need for self-fulfillment and comfort, and open up in worship or conversation, so we can recognize you!)

During the pandemic year, I've been able to gather in a rich circle of friends to love and grow together, in blessed community. And I'm sure there are many overlapping circles of blessed community in any meeting or church - I can't be a part of each. Kelly says, "But the membership of such special groups is different and overlapping. From each individual the bonds of special fellowship radiate near and far. The total effect, in a Living Church, would be sufficient intersection of these bonds to form a supporting, carrying network of love for the whole of (human)kind". And, I would add, for all of Creation. 

He goes on to describe the experience of this network of love, lifting each other continuously to God, enlarging our boundaries, sharing our strength and our joy. I experience what he describes, and concur that words are not adequate or necessary. 

"All friendships short of this are incomplete. All personal relations which lie only in time are open-ended and unfinished, to the soul who walks in holy obedience. ... Yet we ... can send out the Eternal Love in silent, searching hope, and meet each person with a background of eternal expectation and a silent, wordless prayer of love".

4. Make a floating lantern:

The most common way to mark the end of ghost month is to float a paper lantern down a river. People make colorful lanterns out of wood and paper, and families write their ancestor's names on the lanterns. The ghosts will follow the lanterns away. For a great tutorial see this Lotus Lantern tutorial at Chinese American Family. I haven't had time to try it yet, but it looks fantastic!

I've made a simpler version with kids - instructions here - but please substitute a paper plate for the foam base if you plan to float it down a river!