【Description】
Ancestors and descendants are bound by blood. People can only be well when their ancestors are free of all hardships and enjoying ample food and clothing in the afterlife. Therefore, it is essential to pay respect to ancestors.
But for various reasons, it is not always possible to visit your ancestors’ graves. So, what can you do to pay respect?
In this video, Grandmaster JinBodhi provides a way to commemorate ancestors for those who are unable to visit their family graveyard.
【You will learn】
- A way of honoring your ancestors when you’re unable to visit their graves.
【Content】
(Hi, Master. Because I moved house, I can no longer visit the graves of my family. What should I do if I want to honor my ancestors?)
Honoring Ancestors Without Visiting Grave
There are many reasons that can cause this problem. Moving away is one reason, but there are others. Political policies vary through the years. When I was growing up, I heard cases where graves were changed to farmland at least 3 times. The family graves were all knocked down and turned into land for growing crops.
Then when the rules softened, because the land was still a family graveyard where parents, grandparents and ancestors were buried, there was a feeling of kinship with it, so everyone secretly formed the grave mounds again. If there is an old tree beside a grave, then it is easier to find. But if there is no tree or other identifiable markers, and it is just flat ground, then many people won’t remember where their family grave was. This really caused a lot of mess.
So we have another option, which is to establish an ancestral tablet. It is actually just a wooden tablet that is put on an offering table. I searched online for some ancestral tablets. These are the styles I found. They are beautifully made. During Chinese New Year and important holidays, offer incense and other offerings. When important dates arrive, burn some paper clothing, lotuses, gold ingots, and other things, so the ancestors have ample food and clothing in the other world. Free from any sufferings.
You can use this method to pay respect to them. It is a good way. Even if you can’t find the physical grave, don’t be too upset. The cremation process turns a body into ashes. You could take the wrong urn, right? When funeral services become busy, like during the pandemic, there is no way of telling whose it is. How can you tell from just ashes? Yet it is still put there to offer to.
Therefore, we have to respectfully honor ancestors, but sometimes learn to let go as well. As ordinary people, there are some things that are difficult for us to always maintain well. So the method provided for everyone is to put up ancestral tablets at home. It is a way to commemorate ancestors.