Dispelling the Taboos Surrounding the Ghost Month at the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Event

The entertaining sign language performance, skits, nutrition information sharing, and exhibitions helped to promote the concept that the seventh lunar month is an “auspicious and joyous” month of faith, gratitude and filial piety. (Photo by Lim Swan Chow)

The seventh lunar month, commonly known as the “ghost month” among the Chinese community, comes with its customs and taboos. However, from the perspective of Buddhism, the seventh lunar month is a month of Buddha’s joy, auspiciousness and filial piety. On 12 Aug 2023, Tzu Chi Merit Organization (Singapore) held the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month event and arranged for a sign language performance, skits, nutrition information sharing, exhibitions and a guided tour of the Glow On Gallery at Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre. On this day, 310 members of the public attended the event with their families to learn more about the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month from the perspective of faith, filial piety and environmental protection.

At the start of the event, 19 children of Tzu Chi Great Love Preschool took to the stage to express their message in sign language, appealing to everyone to protect the environment and dispose of trash responsibly.

The emcee, Xin Yi Jian, pointed out solemnly that global warming is becoming increasingly severe, and countries are facing irreparable environmental problems, including extreme weather, food shortage, transmission of diseases, loss of diversity in species, and rising sea levels. The key solution lies in how we integrate the concept of sustainability into our daily lives.

310 members of the public attended the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month prayer ceremony with their families. (Photo by Tan Sam Ba)

Protect earth with the right faith

The messages of the right faith, filial piety, environmental sustainability and vegetarianism for good health were conveyed through an interesting short play. On the stage, a family was observing many of the traditional customs of the seventh lunar month at the beginning, spending their hard-earned money on joss paper for burning. They paid much attention to buying many livestock and other offerings and believed that apples could not be used for prayers because the word “apple” (pronounced as ‘ping’ in Mandarin) is pronounced the same way as “poor” in Mandarin. Indirectly means that the more apples one uses as offerings, the poorer one will become.

However, under the influence of a devoted Buddhist family, their attitude softened, and they gradually believed in “offering merit instead of cash”. Therefore, instead of spending money on worshipping ancestors, they used the money to make donations and do charity work. Not only do they conduct good deeds in a down-to-earth manner in this way, but they also avoid polluting the air.

Compared to slaughtering livestock for sacrifice, vegetarianism is the best way to cherish the living. Doing so can rescue the animals that are “hung upside down” waiting to be slaughtered. By liberating these livestock from panic and fear, we are nurturing compassion in us. This not only helps us stay healthy but it is also a way to thank our parents. The lively short play depicted real scenes in life and resonated with many of the audience at the site.

Dr Ho Xin Qin shared about the whole-food plant-based "Healthier Me 21-Day Challenge" to promote vegetarianism and end animal cruelty. With a healthy body, one can give back to society with the right view and right mindfulness and avoid creating karma from killing and polluting the environment.

"Love is in every bite of a whole-food plant-based meal", said Dr Xu Zheng Yuan. He shared that after participating in the “Healthier Me 21-Day Challenge” three times, he has shed 15kg and regained health. He encouraged everyone to try out this whole food plant-based diet together.

Dr Xu Zheng Yuan sharing with the audience that after participating in the “Healthier Me 21-Day Challenge” three times, he has successfully shed 15kg weight and regained his health. (Photo by Chong Mong Zhuang)

Burning less joss paper is an act of kindness

Member of the public Chen Bao Lan attended the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month event last year and agreed with what she learned there. On this day, she came to the event with her husband, mother-in-law and two children to understand the meaning of the auspicious month. Chen Bao Lan shared, "Since I came to know Tzu Chi and participated in the auspicious lunar month activities, I no longer burn joss paper but use the money to do good deeds. I also bring my children to Tzu Chi eco points to participate in the recycling activities to do our part for mother earth".

She shared that when her mother passed away last year, each of her nine brothers and sisters brought a bag of joss paper as an offering. Chen Bao Lan took the opportunity to share with her family that burning joss paper pollutes the environment and air. Everyone eventually agreed to only burn a bag of joss paper for peace of mind. This made her feel very gratified.

Chen Bao Lan (second from left in the back row) brings her family to the auspicious seventh lunar month event this year after attending the same event last year and agreed with what she saw and heard. (Photo by Lee Lang Cheng)

A member of the public, Ma Xiu Rong, is a regular attendee of Tzu Chi activities. He said, "I like it very much. Every time I come, I gain peace of mind”. Today, he invited two old friends he has known for over 20 years to the event with him. They also inquired about how to become a Tzu Chi volunteer. Ma Xiu Rong sincerely agreed with the idea of not burning joss paper but using the money to gain merit for his parents, for example, by donating to charity. Although he cannot refrain from burning joss paper altogether, he and his family will try to cut down on the quantity.

Also visiting the Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre on this day was Wu Quan Wu, a Christian. His past impression of the seventh lunar month was that people would have a feast after offering roast chicken, roast duck or roast pork during prayers, or burn joss paper in large quantities, and sometimes even throw joss paper money in the air. Whenever it got windy, the joss paper money or wrappers on the ground would be blown all over the place, polluting the environment and creating a mess in the neighbourhood. Wu Quan Wu said that the short play had changed his understanding of the seventh Lunar month, and he was deeply moved by the character ‘Ah Huat’, who was transformed from a superstitious person to an enlightened man in the play.

Thomas Cole, a British student studying for his PhD in Singapore, was strolling in Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre and walked into the event venue out of curiosity. Cole heard of the "Healthier Me 21-Day Challenge" shared on stage. Being a vegan, he totally agreed with a plant-based diet, saying that vegetables bring many benefits to the body. The volunteer explained to Cole that a vegan diet is even friendlier to the environment and that surprised him, thus, strengthening his determination to continue being a vegan.

Ma Xiu Rong (second from right) invited his friends to the event. Although he cannot totally refrain from burning joss paper, he and his family will try to cut it down. (Photo by Lee Lang Cheng)

Practising sustainability and doing good deeds together can be interesting

Besides advocating the right faith, the volunteers also invited members of the public to visit Tzu Chi's Glow On Gallery, which was launched on 30 July.

"We must protect the environment, or the earth will burn."

An eight-year-old child declared loudly when asked what he had learned from visiting the Glow On Gallery. He and his six-year-old brother were curious about stepping onto the bicycle that demonstrated how electricity can be generated. Still, unfortunately, they fell short of the minimum height required. Eventually, the brothers asked their mother, Chen Yu Ling, for help and cheered when the bulb lighted up. Environmental protection can be interesting indeed!

There are two things in life that cannot wait: fulfilling filial piety and doing good deeds. Tzu Chi held a prayer ceremony during the joyful and auspicious seventh month of filial piety to promote the right view and right mindfulness and advocate a plant-based diet to avoid killing. The event also encouraged the public to save their money from buying offerings and spend it on charity instead. This is also in line with the current awareness of environmental protection and sustainability concept, which bears the true meaning of "liberating all living beings".

On the event day, volunteers invited members of the public to tour the newly opened Glow On Gallery. (Photo by Lim Swan Chow)

“We have to protect the environment, or the earth will burn”, said the eight-year-old child who visited the Glow On Gallery with his younger brother. (Photo by Lee Lang Cheng)

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