Saturday, January 24, 2009

Remembering the Departed in this New Year 2009

Buddhist temple grounds

inside one portion of the temple


a bucket of matches to light the incense


the incense which we light
to honor the departed spirits


beautiful placards for the departed spirits


the beautiful red pillars in front of the temple

a lovely little pond with lotus plants


wishing you all peace, serenity, love, joy, and hope
in this new year


Each culture has its own special traditions and rituals that they honor and continue.

In Hawaii, the Chinese Americans who are Buddhist visit temples such as this one in Nuuanu to bring flowers, food offerings--usually the departed person's favorite fruits or sweets, and say prayers while lighting incense to their dearly departed. In the temple, there are hundreds of wooden placards with each loved ones name written in Chinese. Many of these placards have both the husband and wife's names on them.

Jimmy and his famiy visit their mom at this temple...instead of going to her gravesite. Here we light incense, bow our heads, and speak to her.

This is a similar tradition that people do when they visit their loved ones gravesite.

I've always found this temple to be so beautiful and peaceful. Such a lovely place to visit and honor Jimmy's mom. We'll be visiting her there soon to celebrate Chinese New Year with her.

7 comments:

Tiffany Teske said...

Lovely photos, and it is nice to learn of this tradition. Did you get my email that I got your lovely package? Thanks so much!

Stacy's Designs 88 said...

Thanks for blogging about my Aloha package to you. I'm so glad that Quin enjoyed the chocolates. Those are some of my fav treats...a couple here and there won't hurt me I always say. :)

Tiffany Teske said...

They were delicious! Thanks so much! A little chocolate does everyone good...

joon said...

Stace, what a lovely blog post. Thank you for sharing this tradition and beautiful photos. ox joon

Grace said...

What beautiful photos! I've always passed by the Temple wanting to visit, but alas, never actually had the opportunity of doing so. Once we are back, I will certainly be visiting.

I really liked the story you shared. My mom did not incorporate many traditions into our celebration of Chinese New Year, although I wish she did!

Happy Chinese New Year to you Stacy!

Stacy's Designs 88 said...

Grace, I didn't know you were a local gal! Kung Hee Fat Choy! Wishing you Lots of Wealth! :)

VerĂ£o said...

I am not Chinese, but I do celebrate the Lunar New Year here in Singapore- especially getting rid of the clutter!

Over the new year though, I just slept in and watched a lot of TV :) Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Pinky

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