Departed spirits appeased for one day

(KPL) Laymen nationwide have been busy preparing food and traditional sweet offerings this week, to give as alms to the monks on Saturday, to be passed on, according to traditional belief, to relatives who have died and gone to hell for bad deeds.
The Buddhist people call this important festival Boun Horkhaophadapdin, which falls each year on the waning moon of the lunar calendar, in the middle of Buddhist lent, a time for quiet reflection and making merit through offerings. Traditionally this time of year is free of celebration like weddings.
Before the Boun Horkhaophadapdin on Friday, people over the country will prepare similar offerings that consist of small portions of rice, dried fish and meats and various fruits, wrapped in banana leaves.
On Saturday of festival, people will get up early, gather their offerings together, still before dawn at this time of year, bead to their local temples to offer alms to the monks nearby.
During Buddhist lent many laypeople offer alms to the monks at their local temple every day. But on Saturday Boun Hokhaophadapdin, people will lay out foods on the ground of the temples, or hang it on villagers’ fences to encourage hungry spirits to eat them.
The offerings that are hung on fences and tree are to help release the spirits of departed relatives from hell, and those that are on the ground are for local animals.
This is an important aspect of the festival. By leaving some of the offerings on the ground for the local animals to eat, people can show their compassion for all living things, a belief held by all followers of Buddhism.
Many animals have no owners and their lives are hard. Some days they eat and others they don’t. They are hungry all year and on this one day, many people make a point of giving them food so that they can have a full stomach.
It is also believed that animals also have spirits, and so must be treated well in this life.
After the offerings of alms, the laypeople will listen to a sermon from senior monks and will pour water from small bottles on the ground, which they have prepared from at home in the belief that relatives will receive merits. This will encourage the spirit guardians to release the spirits so that they may come and access the food.
In the evening, people return to the temple and hold a candlelight procession, circling the main sanctuary three times, a ceremony which is especially popular among teenagers young adults.After Boun Horkhaophadapdin is over, the spirits will go back to hell, where they have been banished for bad deeds during their life, and where they will continue to suffer and wait for this occasion to come next tear.
These days, people run after material rather than spiritual awareness. This event will teach people to become passionate, with a concern for each other, to love one another and do good things, so that when they die, they will not be consigned to hell, where they will suffer every day (but one) of the year.
This festival is one traditional Buddhist event that should be preserved and
taught to younger generations.
There is always the risk of many Buddhist traditions dying out, because the most of the younger generations don’t want to go to temples, and prefer to go to nightclubs instead.
Many families believe that their relatives in hell will receive food if they visit the temple that day, out of respect for Buddhist tradition.

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