first person
Master Jiecheng, 38, leads the Macau Buddhist temple, Kong Tak Lam, locally known for its vegetarian cuisine and affordable medical services. Master Jiecheng has invited nearly 100 Buddhist masters to Macau to hold an eight-day ceremony starting on Saturday. They will pray for souls in Macau suffering from gambling-related problems.
I grew up in Fujian province and never imagined I would end up in Macau. When I was 17, I entered the Minnan Institute of Buddhist Studies. In Buddhist terms, that was when I renounced my family and became a monk. In 1991, I came to Hong Kong to lead its Society for Buddhist Studies, mainly teaching Buddhism. Last year, by what we Buddhists call fate, I was invited to Macau and have liked it since.
Macau revolves around gambling. This inflicts a lot of trouble on people's souls. Gambling is also inseparable from prostitution, drugs and other crimes. Despite Macau's apparent prosperity, a cloud of resentment is building up because lost souls and injured souls are not given the proper attention. This cloud of resentment could potentially cause a lot of social problems for Macau in the future.
That's why we are holding Macau's first Universal Nourishment Ceremony for All Creatures to be held for a week from Saturday. We will say prayers to eliminate disaster and resolve suffering, providing spiritual nourishment to souls in need. Whether the souls of Macau people are Chinese or Portuguese, Buddhist or Catholic, or whether they have become gods, humans, creatures or ghosts in their reincarnation process, our prayers go out to them.
Nearly 100 monks from Xiamen, Fujian ; Changzhou, Jiangsu ; Hong Kong and Macau will gather at our temple. The eight-day event is a Chinese tradition deeply rooted in history.
Comprised mainly of prayer and ceremonial washing, the ritual was supposedly started in the South-North dynasty (386-589 AD) by an emperor. His jealous, sinful queen died and turned into a cobra. The cobra came to the emperor in a dream one night, begging him to help her get to heaven. The next day, the emperor summoned the top monks, who invented the ceremony.
Such ceremonies have already become regular happenings in Hong Kong, on the mainland and even in Buddhist temples in the United States. But in Macau, no one has attempted to organise it, either because our fellow Buddhist organisations did not have the resources or did not find the need.
I have always been a believer in charity. In Macau, Kong Tak Lam has a clinic that offers affordable treatment to the sick. The upcoming Universal Nourishment Ceremony for All Creatures is also a kind of charity as we will comfort souls who otherwise may not receive any attention.
Recent calamities in the form of widespread disease, pandemics, the tsunami and earthquakes have also disturbed Macau to a degree. On the one hand, these can be seen as all part of the cycle of karma.
On the other hand, I believe we as Buddhist masters can do something to soothe the hearts and minds of those affected.
There are no official statistics about how many Buddhists there are in Macau. I would guess more than half of the population. But they hesitate to admit they are Buddhists, because Buddhist organisations in Macau are stereotyped.
The general perception is that we are reserved, we live in our own world, and we don't contribute anything to the general public. If we could do more for society, then those who are Buddhist at heart would be proud to admit it. Our upcoming ceremony, I hope,
will be a first step.
Kong Tak Lam's address is 13 Rua de Sao Jose, Macau.
