The Ullambana Festival falls on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month each year. It is a special and significant day with profound meaning and impact. In Buddhism, it is known as the “Buddha’s Joyful Day,” while in popular culture, it is referred to as the Ghost Festival. What exactly is the significance of the Ullambana Festival? What are the benefits and impacts of performing good deeds on this day? This article will provide an introduction to the Ullambana Festival, explain how to help your loved ones find relief from suffering, and share the benefits and testimonials of doing good deeds during the Ullambana Festival.
The Significance of the Ullambana Festival and the Importance of Performing Good Deeds
The Ullambana Festival originates from the Buddhist story, The Ullambana Sutra, which tells the story of the Venerable Maudgalyāyana sincerely seeking the Buddha’s guidance to save his mother, who had fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts. For this reason, it is also known as the “Month of Filial Piety” or “Auspicious Month.” On this day, Earth Store Bodhisattva opens a great door in hell, giving the beings who have the right karma a chance to gain liberation.
Grandmaster JinBodhi teaches that on the day of the Ullambana Festival, anyone who is seeking something, repenting, or making a heartfelt vow has the chance to receive the protection of Earth Store Bodhisattva and may even be guided by Amitābha Buddha of the Western Pure Land or the Medicine Buddha of the Eastern Pure Land, thereby being reborn into the pure lands. Therefore, performing good deeds and accumulating merit on the day of the Ullambana Festival is particularly important.
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Seize the Opportunity to Resolve Calamities and Actively Participate in Ullambana Festival Activities
Why is it so important to perform good deeds during the Ullambana Festival? Because, whether in past lives or in this life, we may have offended others for various reasons or engaged in deceitful behavior for survival, causing serious harm to others.
The Buddha said, “If you want to know the cause of your past lives, look at what you receive in this life; if you want to know the result of your future lives, look at what you do in this life.” The quality of a person’s fate in this life is the result of their actions in past lives, and the good or bad deeds they perform in this life will determine the wealth or misfortune in their future lives. Therefore, Grandmaster JinBodhi reminds us that the Ullambana Festival can be seen as a “season of repayment” and the best time to perform good deeds and accumulate merit. If you can sincerely offer before the Buddha, chant Buddha’s name, recite mantras, and read Buddhist scriptures during the Ullambana Festival, and actively participate in festival activities, not only can you help yourself resolve calamities and difficulties, but you can also dissolve the negative karma and resentment from past lives. Additionally, you can help beings who are connected to you, your karmic creditors, spirits of aborted babies, and ancestors receive liberation and peace.
The Purpose of Ullambana Festival Customs: Expressing Filial Piety and Repentance
The purpose of Ullambana Festival customs is to express filial piety and a heart of repentance. The human body lasts less than a hundred years and will eventually decay, but the soul does not perish. Grandmaster JinBodhi says that because the soul is immortal, if it carries past obsessions and resentment, these will continue to accumulate and perpetuate across lifetimes.
Furthermore, if our relatives are suffering in hell, we may also experience various misfortunes, even accidents. These are the results of karmic torment, which prevents us from having enough wisdom and energy to face life’s difficulties. Therefore, on this day, as descendants, we should express our filial piety and reverence toward our ancestors and karmic creditors from past lives. This filial piety and reverence are not only gratitude and remembrance for the bond of flesh and blood but also a heart of repentance and repayment toward the debts of hatred. By performing good deeds, we hope they will be illuminated by the Buddha’s light and receive the compassionate guidance and salvation of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, freeing them from suffering in hell.
The Meritorious Effects of the Ullambana Festival: An Opportunity to Change Your Fate
During the Ullambana Festival, performing good deeds has a profound effect, potentially even changing one’s destiny! Why do we say this? Grandmaster JinBodhi uses a simple analogy to explain: destiny is like a movie, and the fate of the characters has already been determined by the director and scriptwriter. Although we do not know the story, everything has already been predestined. This sense of predestination is like our fate.
For example, some people constantly try to make money but always make mistakes when investing; some young men and women live peacefully while single, but once they marry, they suffer greatly. These are actually karmic issues. Therefore, the Grandmaster teaches that we must understand repentance, eliminate karmic obstacles, and avoid creating new bad karma. If we are free from these karmic issues and have accumulated merit, we can receive the blessings and protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, meet the right person at the right time, choose the correct job, make friends who benefit us, and make the right decisions at critical moments, becoming a person of auspiciousness.
True Testimonials: What are the Benefits of Doing Good Deeds During the Ullambana Festival?
Bodhi Meditation | 2024 Ullambana “Auspicious Liberation Chanting Class” | Sincerely Chanting for Parents and Ancestors
The Ullambana Festival, as an important Buddhist festival, is a significant opportunity for beings to express gratitude, repent, eliminate karma, and perform good deeds. Grandmaster JinBodhi’s teachings help us understand that doing good deeds on this day can not only help ancestors and karmic creditors receive liberation but also change our own destiny and eliminate past evil karma.
On this auspicious day, Grandmaster JinBodhi is offering a special 7-day “Auspicious Liberation Chanting Class,” giving everyone the opportunity to chant for their ancestors, sending them merit and light. At the same time, this also brings blessings and peace to oneself and living family members. Moreover, you can participate in the Ullambana Blessing Ceremony organized by Bodhi Meditation or offer lights for blessings at Bodhi Meditation College. With the blessings and protection of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, offer light for the blessings of your parents, karmic creditors, and yourself in this life and past lives, allowing the living to enjoy long-lasting health and peace, and the deceased to be guided by light to be reborn in the Pure Land.
To learn more about Buddhist festivals and their origins, subscribe to Grandmaster JinBodhi’s YouTube channel or follow Grandmaster JinBodhi’s Facebook page.
★ 2024 Ullambana “Auspicious Liberation Chanting Class”
Asia Taipei Time: August 12-18, 2024, 9 AM
North America Vancouver Time: August 11-17, 2024, 6 PM
Further Reading:
The Origin of Ullambana Festival
The Story of the Ullambana Festival. How do People Celebrate the Event?
