Why is it customary to worship the dead for 49 days?VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

 The ritual of worshiping or making weekly rituals in Vietnamese spirituality has existed for a long time. Why do we have the custom of week worship? What does the week offering mean to the deceased?

What is a week offering ? Within 7 days after the relative's death, the family member establishes the court, every day weep, sooner or later make sacrifices, every 7 days to recite the Buddha's prayers, make a shrine, turn the 7th week, which means 49 days. then stop. That is the ritual of the week.
 

1. Why is there the custom of week worshiping?

 

Offering is  a spiritual practice  that originated from China and then entered Vietnam. It is said that the person who dies, born natural means that when living with many great virtues, dying and then going to Heaven, when he dies, he does not need to sound down, no negative parts, no need to worship. 

 

But ordinary people, with deep and deep  karma  , will suffer from verbal karma, they can be reincarnated in the next life, but they are still ordinary people, they cannot be rich people. 

 

The average person on the inside has a syllable, which lasts for seven or four nine days after the person's death. Every 7 days, the negative part of the person has a change of samsara or in other words, every 7 days is the time of extremely suffering for the soul.

 

According to "Jizō Bodhisattva Prayer Sutra", at this time, family members chanting Buddhist chants or cultivating the Dharma towards the deceased can help alleviate their suffering. Therefore, people should not commit suicide, suicide is the most miserable, most painful death because the person who commits suicide, the negative part of the soul every 7 days wants to commit suicide, repeated continuously for 7 days. week. 

 

The process of suicide is cyclic reappeared, the person who loses the neck once every 7 days, the person who takes the poison is 7 days to experience the pain of drinking the poison once. Family members can only cultivate and pray for peace to help the deceased to alleviate their pain, through this life, do not have to suffer this severe punishment.

 

If there are no relatives who cultivate and pray, then the person who has died has suffered all 7 lives to be able to escape. Why 7 days? Why 7 weeks? Let's learn about  the meaning of the number 7 in Buddhism  to understand more. So the best thing to do for the deceased is to chant echoing sutras so that the soul is comforted, comfortable and super fast.

 

2. Benefits of week worship

Offering  is like having 7 parts merit, 6 parts for yourself, the dead enjoy 1 part. Family members have the heart but should still invite the magus to preside over the ritual and at the same time share the most merit to the deceased. While worshiping the week can direct the Buddha to do good deeds, the more benefits and better it is for the spirit.

 

Especially, when doing rituals, the mind must be calm and pure. Reading the penitential sutras and failing to do so is in vain. What is the failed mind? Mouth reciting the sutras but in the mind of delusion, distraction, thinking of benefits, enough greed, ignorance, then, is not successful.

 

Vong Linh has to suffer pain and attaches to the world, so if the chanting fails, it will find ways to stay disturbed, annoying, and unwilling to leave. Moreover, the soul is not able to transcend, restless, family members cannot be assured.

 

Everything has karmic cause and effect, Buddha's sign often reminds us Buddhists: all things are useless, cause and effect are not in vain. Cause and effect is the core of life, what causes it to reap, and this is clear and fair for everyone. The seeds planted to the ground grow into trees, the plants bear fruit, in contrast there are seeds, which is a constant cycle, there is always a change in motion.

 

Cyclic cause and effect, every human action brings our own future. The weekly ritual is a form of expression of the principle of cause and  effect in Buddhism . A person who lives a bad deed, even when he dies, must bear karma, this karma can be mitigated by the help, repentance, and spirituality of a loved one. 

 

Relatives worship the dead for the dead not only to comfort the fleeting spirit, but also create blessings for themselves and their family, which is the last greeting for the dead.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.10/10/2020.