Hungry Ghosts Begging for Food

Yutang Lin

Blessed Nectar from Buddhas is in turn given to ghosts;
Nightly practiced this Dharma service for twenty years.
Tormented by hunger and chills they begged for foods;
Without exception, allow them to eat and to join Powa.

Comments:

A nightly fixed session of mine is to gather rice offered to Buddhas on the altar into a plate, and with the understanding that these rice had been blessed by the Buddhas into nectar they are in turn given to ghosts. Thus I have continued this practice and service for twenty years now. Recently an Upasika that can communicate with beings in the spiritual realm informed me that there are some ghosts tormented constantly by hunger and chills. Since they are still incapable of understanding the benefits of receiving blessing through Powa, they simply asked her to request me to allow them to receive my nightly nectar offerings. Based on the Buddhist teaching of universal compassion I always agreed to such requests immediately without paying attention to their propensities. Furthermore, after they had taken the nectar and were no longer hungry or cold, I also included them in the Powa service to help them gain better rebirths.

Written in Chinese on July 3, 2003
Translated on July 6, 2003
El Cerrito, California

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