Question asked by James
Dear Pastors,
I have been thinking about this for a long time and I hope you can shed some light. When we visit the cemetery (especially during 'Cheng Beng') and we wish to offer some prayers (blessings) to the deceased, how should we go about with it? As the place can be very crowded at times, is it alright to do a short or simple prayer, like just chanting mantras. Please give your advise, like how to begin and what do we say in the dedication part. Your clear explanation is much appreciated.
Thank you very much.
Dear James,
The best way to help the departed ones is to do meritorious deeds and dedicate the merits to them. The meritorious deeds include giving dana to the sangha, building temples, Buddhist centres, schools, orphanages, hospitals, libraries, printing Dharma books, etc. You can recite prayers and chant mantras in your Dharma centre, for example, and dedicate the merits to them but it is not necessary to do so at the cemetery.