Four Day Setrap Puja for the Ones Who have passed…(7th Month puja)
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This pujas is done every year in Kechara House in accordance with the Chinese belief of the 7th month prayer for those who have died and passed away. It is to remember those who are gone. This year the puja will last four days and it attracts quite alot of people. Everyone would like to remember those who are gone and do something truly constructive and beneficial for them. Hence a Setrap puja with prayers, offerings of candles, meditations and dedications are very helpful for both living and passed. I am very happy my committee of Kechara has done this from their compassionate and caring hearts. It is a great service for the public. It is great way to remember and do something with that sacred memory.
Tsem Rinpoche
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In the Chinese culture, once a year people will pay respects to their loved ones who have passed away. During this time they remember and pay respects by going to the graves and temples where their ashes are put. In the old days the dead are usually buried. And loved ones will go and clean the graves and make offerings. But in the present day most dead are cremated and their bodies are thrown into the sea or put in a jar or urn and place in the temple for prayers to be done. But we in Kechara House do Setrap prayers and pujas for the people to dedicate their merits to love ones for their good rebirth. Kechara House is the place for people to do something for their loved ones who do not have a grave or place to pay respects to their loved ones by dedicating merits.
Congratulations to the hardworking KH Com and Puja com team for organising another successful event for the benefit of so many and especially those in the Sunwaymas area.
We should not only remember the kindness of our deceased loved ones during such an occasion once a year, but always maintain a heart of gratitude to all those who had been kind to us past and present.
It is also an opportunity for us to develop compassion for beings in the spirit or ghost realms as their suffering is very great. According to the Lamrim they had all been our past life’s mothers before and generating kind taughts, doing pujas and dedicating merits to them is one way we can help them.
The setup for the 7th month puja is very serene and elegant with a marquee outside KH2 with beautiful holy images of Tsongkapa and Shakyamuni and our Lord Protector Setrap. I was very pleased to have welcomed Mr. Ng our Gompa contractor to the Puja, which was his first time and he enjoyed the prayers very much. I hope that Mr. Ng and all participants of these 4 days puja will be blessed and have happiness in their lives.
Also thank you to the KH committee team for their hard work to make this puja beneficial to many people.
I participate in this puja every year. This year I’m part of the core puja team. This is a group of people who help the lead chanter in the rituals. We pray that the hungry ghosts will be free from suffering and the causes of their suffering. I’m very fortunate to be able to do this and dedicate my merits to my deceased parents, family members and friends.
The Setrap puja is very popular in Kechara House. Every week we have more than 70 people attending. As a KH volunteer, I’m very happy to serve them and dedicate my merits that all their prayers and aspirations may come true. Many have come to share with me that their prayers to Lord Setrap have been answered or at least some obstacles cleared. They always express their happiness and satisfaction and some of them become regular volunteers, coming every week to help with the setting up of the altar and the purchase and setting up of the offerings.
It was said how this practice started was Moggallana who was one of the two main disciples of Buddha Shakyamuni requested a way from Buddha to rescue his mum who had been born as a hungry ghost due to avarice. Buddha advised Moggallana to make a offerings to a thousand monks as a result his mum was freed from being a hungry ghost.
The 4 days Setrap Puja now on going in Kechara House has attracted a lot of people.This is a better way of transferring merits to our dearly departed ones rather than the chinese culture like going to the graveyard to pay respect. This Setrap Puja is not only for the departed ones but for the ones that are still with us that we care for.
This 4 day Setrap puja is for the ghost month. And is also a good way to promote Kechara House as lots of Chinese people will believe in contributing. The ghost month which is the 7th month in the Lunar calendar will be very popular with people with Chinese culture. There are two classes of paying respect to the dead. One is in paying respect to your ancestors who have passed away. It is called CHENG BENG when you go to the grave to clean up and do prayers and bring back memories of your loved ones who have died. The ghost month which is the 7th month of the lunar calendar is when you pray and pay respects to all spirits and ghosts to transfer merits to them so that they can be liberated and take good rebirth again.
We’re two days into the 4-day Setrap puja and response has been tremendous. From the outdoor offerings tent set up in front of Kechara House 2 (complete with large Tsongkhapa altar, and a multitude of flower and candle offerings of all sizes) to the large bowl of pearl offerings directly in front of the blessed Setrap chapel, the conditions are conducive and ready to welcome propitiations and prayers to Setrap from people both old and new to his practice. Just check out this link to read some real-life stories from those who have been helped by Setrap at one time or another!
http://www.kechara.com/support/your-say/amazing-miracles/
I hope everyone who reads this post does come to Kechara House to join in this series of pujas specially held in dedication to your loved ones, both living and departed. And if you’re not able to come physically, you can still make your offerings online at here: http://vajrasecrets.com/setrap-7th-month-puja-offerings.html
Thank you for this great blog, so I am joining you in spirit for this event beginning today for the next 4 days. With much much gratitude for all of you to make this event happening!