Publish Date:2020-11-19
November 15, 2020 or the first day of the tenth lunar month in Gengzi Year is a traditional festival of our country--the Winter Clothing Festival, also called the “Ancestor Worship Festival”. Several hundred people including Shaolin monks, some lay Buddhists, teachers and students from Shaolin Friendship school and so on, gathered at the Mahaviro Hall, under the leadership of Venerable Master Yongxin, jointly did the morning recitation, chanting and blessing, and then went to the Pagoda Forest to worship ancestors.
According to the tradition and ritual procedure of Buddhism, Shaolin Temple hosted the solemn ancestor worship dharma assembly presided over by abbot Yongxin in front of the Pagoda Forest. Abbot Yongxin, together with Shaolin monks, chanted sutra, offered sacrifices and burned five-color paper in front of ancestors’ pagodas, to express the gratitude and cherish memory of generations of ancestors.
During the period, abbot Yongxin gave a dharma teaching: “China is a state of ceremonies, with special attention to the worship tradition for ancestors and sages from ancient times. People’s gratitude and feeling of missing for the deceased and ancestors are very strong. In northern China, it has entered the cold winter since the first day of the tenth lunar month and people have already worn winter clothes for a long time. Delivering warmth to the deceased and sages at this time is a very inheritance of the traditional culture. A s Shaolin monks, we specially pay attention to the tradition to express our gratitude and commemorate ancestors and sages.”
Abbot Yongxin, together with monks, lay Buddhists, teachers, students and so on, took group photos in front of the Pagoda Forest after the ceremony. (Edited by Ma Ang and photographed by Li Fangjie)
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