4. CHINESE CEREMONIES AND MAHAYANA BUDDHISM
4.3 Ceremonies in the Cycle of Life
4.3.3 Merit-Transferring Ceremony ( 功德 , Kong Tek, กงเตก )
Members of the Chinese society, as in other East Asian societies, have a long tradition in performing acts of gratitude and a sense of obligation to their elders. This attitude is strongly expressed in the Kong Tek, which is usually held as part of the funeral ceremony. The oldest son of the deceased takes the initiative to act as the representative of the family in the Kong Tek ceremony. The next main responsibility goes to the oldest son of the next generation (oldest grandson). It is widely accepted in Chinese society that a girl or woman should not take these positions.
Traditionally, the Kong Tek ceremony is held for seven consecutive days during the funeral. Then it is held again each seventh day, a total of seven times. The entire period of the ceremony, then, will take a total of 49 days (Anumanrachathon 1983:19).
Today, depending on the decision of the family members, the ceremony will take place only once. In this case, however, on the 50th and 100th day after the original ceremony a great ceremony will take place with the aim to transfer as much merit to the deceased as possible (Anumanrachathon 1964:80).
In Thailand the Kong Tek ceremony is held according to two traditions - according to Chinese nikaya or Annam nikaya. In addition, Kong Tek ceremonial procedures vary by folk tradition. Figure 18 traces these two traditions of the Kong Tek ceremony. In each section are included the texts used for the ceremony.
Order Sub-Ceremony in Annam Nikaya
Order Sub-Ceremony in Chinese Nikaya
Liturgy
1 Worship the Three Gems
1 Worship the Three Gems
The liturgy in the kind of worship or chang followed by Mantra. In the case Iang Chue Chang is used, then continues with Chap Siao Chio
2 Inviting the deities
2 Inviting the deities
3 Inviting the spirit
3 Inviting the spirit The scripture of Hok Guang including the liturgy of worship and Mantra
4 Holy water39 4 Holy water
5 Chanting the prayer
5 Chanting the prayer 6 Bringing the
spirit to pay respect for the Three Gems
6 Bringing the spirit to pay respect for the Three Gems 7 Offering food
to Three Gems
7 Chanting prayer The scripture of Hok Guang including the liturgy of worship and Mantra 8 Have a break
time
8 Offerings of food to the ancestor
39 This is the time for washing. This activity is called “water is the source of life” and is a prayer to ensure that the water for cleaning the body and mind is pure in the Buddhist sense.
9 Chanting prayer
9 Reciting the Guan Im’s text
The Sutra of Guan Im that is “Guan Im Geng”
Order Sub-Ceremony in Annam Nikaya
Order Sub-Ceremony in Chinese Nikaya
Liturgy
10 Offerings of food to the ancestors
Reciting the
“Thousand Deities’
Text”
The scripture of Choi Huk or the
“Thousand Buddhas and Bodhisattvas”
11 Offerings of food to the spirit of the passed away
11 Have a break time -
12 Have a break time
12 Chanting Mahayana’s prayer
The scripture of Oo Ni Tho Keng 13 Opening hell’s
door with Mudra
13 Crossing the bridge
14 Opening hell’s door
14 Inviting Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and deities return to heaven
The Sutra of “Sim Geng Sutra” and followed by the scripture of Ang Tua
15 Crossing the bridge
15 Farewell for the spirit
16 Thingkrachat ceremony or Leaving the Basket for Charity
17 Burning joss papers
17 Burning joss papers
Order Sub-Ceremony in Annam Nikaya
Order Sub-Ceremony in Chinese Nikaya
Liturgy
18 The ceremonies of yellow robe dedicated to a deceased person, Farewell and transfer the merit to everybody
18 Prayer and transfer the merit to
everybody
The Sutra of “Sim Geng” followed by the scripture of Ang Tua
Fig. 18. Rituals of the Kong Tek ceremony for the Chinese nikaya and Annam nikaya40
Explanations of each ceremony in Kong Tek41
The worship of the Three Gems is the first procedure in both variants of the ceremony.
The purpose of this ceremony is to remind people about having respect for the teachings of Buddha, the kindness of Buddha, and the obligations of the monks in taking the “Three Gems” (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha).
¾ Inviting sacred objects and the gathering of the deities:
40 The data on Annam nikaya is based on Sotsai, Surachai (Personal interview. 8 January 2007). The data of Chinese nikaya refers basically to Pratyaprueang Khuekrit (Personal interview. 21 September 2006)
41 The data refers basically to Pratyaprueang Khuekrit (Personal interview. 28 September 2006) and Sotsai, Surachai (Personal interview. 9 January 2007).
It is an opening part to invite virtuous and holy power into the ceremony.
¾ Inviting the spirit:
An effigy of the deceased is used during this ceremony. The spirit of the deceased can employ this effigy as his body throughout the ceremony as if he were still alive.
¾ Holy water:
Washing can be interpreted as acting to clean both body and mind immaculately and as tendering a formal apology (to repent and confess) before being in audience with Buddha’s teaching and so also to respect the Three Gems.
¾ Chanting prayer:
The main idea of this ceremony is to narrate the Dharma for the deceased person’s spirit and also for the ceremony’s participants. . Another purpose is to transfer merit to the spirit by burning the deceased person’s effigy, bird and horse effigies (representing heaven’s informants), and joss paper.
¾ Bringing the spirit to pay respect to the Three Gems:
In this ceremony the head of the family brings the spirit’s effigy to the altar representing the Three Gems. At the same time, the participants also pay their own respects to the Three Gems.
¾ Offering food to the Three Gems:
This is the traditional Buddhist ceremony. The Buddhist should offer food to the Three Gems as a symbol of their faith. This includes the offering of food to the monks who realize the ceremony.
¾ Offering food to the ancestor:
This is an influence from Confucianism to teach gratefulness. The Chinese always remind to be grateful of the ancestors and not to forget to worship and to provide them with offerings at any opportunity. They believe that if the ancestors’ spirits are happy, luck will be brought down on their descendants.
¾ Reciting Guan Im’s and the thousand deities’ text:
This is to worship Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and the other deities by praying, chanting, and reciting their mantras. It is additionally used to narrate the Dharma to spirits and the living participants.
¾ Offering Food to the spirit of the deceased one:
This ceremony is separated from the ceremony to offer food to the ancestors so that the spirit of the deceasd person may receive direct transference.
¾ Opening hell’s door:
The meaning of this ceremony is to ask permission of the Supreme Being of the underworld to allow the spirit to join in the ceremony.
¾ Crossing the bridge:
Today, this ceremony has become symbolic of the Kong Tek ceremony. Many people misunderstand the “Crossing the bridge” ceremony, since the
“Vegetarian Festival” also incorporates a similar action. But “Crossing the bridge” in the Kong Tek ceremony has the aim to empower the spirit to redeem its debts. The Chinese believe that everybody since birth is indebted to the treasurer.42 If people do not redeem that debt, they cannot go to heaven after their death. For this reason, the relatives of the deceased person bring the spirit across the bridge to the treasurer’s world to redeem all debts. Thus, the bridge is the symbol of the connection between the human world and the treasurer’s world.
¾ Thingkrachat ceremony (Leaving the basket for charity):
This sub-ceremony is a condensed version of the great thingkrachat ceremony.
It needs to be conducted by monks and takes place only with the Kong Tek ceremony in the Annam variant. This sub-ceremony may or may not be included depending on the family’s decision.
42 The treasurer in this case is referred to as Lord Treasurer of Hell
¾ Inviting Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and deities to go back to heaven:
This ceremony is to invite all the deities to leave the earthly Kong Tek ceremony to return to heaven.
¾ Burning joss papers:
The joss paper models symbolize the spirit’s accommodations on earth. By burning them, these accommodations are sent to the spirit in the spirit world.
¾ The ceremonies of the yellow robe dedicated to a deceased person, farewell and transfer of merit to everybody:
At the end of the Kong Tek ceremony, there is again more praying and additional Buddhist procedures for the monks (yellow robe dedication or bangsakul) to transfer merit not only to the spirit of the deceased but also to all the others, which is the main purpose of the Kong Tek ceremony.
5 THETSAKAN KIN CHE (เทศกาลกินเจ) : THE VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL