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285 Not Entering Hell

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    The monks do the "May 7th", and the most important ceremonies are carried out in the afternoon.  So after lunch the monk and we all got really busy.

    I don't remember the specific names of these two ceremonies very clearly.  Anyway, during these two ceremonies, my wife and I both wore sackcloth and filial piety.  It is precisely because it is quite formal that I think these are the two most important links in the practice of monks.

    In the first ceremony, after we finished dressing (filial piety clothes, filial piety hats), the monk asked us to kneel down in front of the square table where the practice is performed.  While the monk was chanting, someone had already used three benches to build a bridge shape at the gate of our house.  The so-called shape of the bridge is to first place a bench on the threshold, it is best to ensure that the length of the benches on both sides of the threshold is basically equal, and then ride a bench on each side of the bench,  Try to keep the two leaning benches close together.  In this way, a triangular "arch bridge" is formed.  Through the two leaning benches next to each other, it is possible to enter and exit the gate without touching the threshold.  I don't know if it was because the monk had ordered in advance, or because these people were well-informed, anyway, the bench they built seemed to satisfy the monk.

    I don't know which passage the monk recited this time.  After the recitation was finished, the monk folded his hands in front of his chest and bowed deeply to the paper on which our father and our birthdays were written.  Then the monk asked us to get up.  Under the command of the monk, I walked to the paper being offered, and then took it off the ritual table.  Under the entrustment of the monk, I hold the hat-shaped paper in my arms like holding a treasure.

    The monk picked up the small bowl prepared early in the morning, poured a little water into it, and then placed the small bowl on the threshold directly below the bench.  After the monk gave me an order, he continued to read the scriptures.

    In the sound of the monk's chanting, I carefully held the paper with both hands and let it slowly climb up a sloping bench from the inside to the outside.  Slowly descend on the sloping board of the bench.  After getting off the board, I stood outside the door holding the paper.

    Later, I thought about it carefully, and this should be the imitation of the legendary underworld.  The bench erected is like a bridge of Naihe, and the clear water in the small bowl under the bench is like Mengpo soup.  Of course, this is not really Naihe Bridge and Meng Po Tang.  The paper I just held is actually equivalent to my father's soul.  The reason for putting a bench above the threshold, in my opinion, should be because of the door god.  With the guard of the door god, the father who has become a dead soul cannot enter or leave no matter what.  Therefore, people thought of building bridges for the souls of the dead who went home to visit, so that they could come and go freely without touching the door god.  From the inside to the outside, in fact, he sent his father out.  Of course, for the deceased father, this time of "May 7th" should be the last time.  Therefore, people will prepare a bowl of clear water similar to Mengpo soup halfway.  After drinking this bowl of clear water, I actually made a complete settlement with everything I had in the yang world, and I will never come back from now on, and I will try my best to forget everything in the world from now on.

    Under the tide of the market economy, even real monks are hard to avoid. Therefore, after such an important procedure is completed, monks will routinely ask for money.  However, a monk is a monk after all, and he will never do something out of the ordinary like a military band.  The monk just told us that as a filial son, we need to pay "the money at the bottom of the bowl".  The so-called "money at the bottom of the bowl" means that after the ceremony is completed, the filial sons put the coins under the bottom of the bowl that just filled the water.  Those who pay out the "money at the bottom of the bowl" are naturally the people closest to the deceased.  For example, this time, those who need to pay are me, my wife, sister, and brother-in-law.  I asked, how much should each person pay?  The monk was honest. He said, "I won't ask for an introduction from an acquaintance (uncle). You can figure it out on your own, and just make sense." If it was a stranger, he would probably say that  : "If you are sincere, you will be sincere. If you give too little, it depends on your sincerity."

    In the end, after discussion, we each paid five yuan.  In other words, when the monk collected the bowl, he only earned twenty yuan.  If he succeeds in fooling around, it is estimated that it is entirely possible to charge several hundred.

    Next, the monk led us to the drying field in front of the door.  I saw the monk holding rice chaff in his hand, and then sketched it on the ground by sprinkling the chaff.  He first wrote a large traditional Chinese character for "prison", then drew a semi-arc in each of the four directions of the southeast, northwest, and then wrote the position on the inside of each semi-arc.

    After the outline is completed, the monk puts on his cassock and picks up his staff very solemnly.  However, his staff is temporary, so the handle is just made of blackened reeds.  Although it looks a bit nondescript, but from his serious attention.??I can also judge that what is going to be done next should be the first part of the entire ceremony.

    The monk first asked me to kneel down facing the traditional character "Dong" while holding the paper, while my wife knelt beside me.  In this process, the sister and brother-in-law do not need to kneel.  Perhaps, in feudal thinking, a married daughter should be regarded as a member of another family.  From this, it is not difficult to see the seriousness of the "patriarchal" thought in traditional culture.

    Then, while muttering words, the monk swept away the half-fox and the traditional Chinese character "Dong" bit by bit.  After the recitation was finished, my wife and I were asked to stand up.

    Under the guidance of the monk, my wife and I came to the south direction again, and then knelt facing the traditional Chinese character "South" as before.  The monk was still chanting, but I didn't pay attention to what he was chanting at the time.  As before, the monk once again swept away the half fox and the traditional Chinese character "South".

    Next is "West", and finally "North".  This cumbersome ceremony came to an end when all the traditional characters were removed.  In my opinion, what the monks cleared should be the gates in the four directions of "east, west, north, south" to enter hell.  Breaking the gate means that the deceased father will not enter hell again.  If you don't enter hell, it means that you will enter heaven to enjoy blessings.  Such a ceremony carries a beautiful blessing to the deceased relatives.  For our closest person, even if he (she) is no longer alive, we also hope that he (she) can always be happy.

    The "May 7th" ceremony is finally over, and my wife and I also took this opportunity to complete the "off filial piety".  After that, my father gradually faded out of our sight.  It's just that I may be a little different, I don't want my father to disappear completely from my life, so I squeeze toothpaste every day to remember, and I don't want to put together a nearly sixty-year-old story after nearly a year of persistence.  A memoir of 4,000 words.  In the future, when the image of my father gradually fades from my memory, I will definitely go back and read this article again.  In short, I will never allow my father to fade away from my memory.  (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com
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