The Qingming Festival (also known as the Tom-sweeping Day) falls on April 5 (the 25th day of the leap February in Chinese lunar calendar), 2023. Lingyin Temple in Hanghzou held Dharma services to commemorate past venerable masters and beloved ancestors with due sacrifices. At 9:00 am, the Lingyin Sangha gathered at the Mahavira Hall and bestowed flowers and fruit to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to pray for good weather and good luck for the people at home and abroad. They also wished that the Dharma Wheel turns perpetually and the Buddha enlightens brightly. In the evening, the Yogacara Ulka-mukha Dharma Service (also known as Releasing the Flaming-Mouths Ritual) was performed to feed the fire-spitting ghosts and brought the ceremony to a successful close.
After the offering ceremony at the Mahavira Hall, the Lingyin Sangha headed for the Skanda Hall, Qielan Hall, Shifang Vegetarian Restaurant, Elder Li’s Pagoda, Yueheng Hall (the Hall of Patriarchs), Patriarchs’ Pagodas and other sites in the temple for remembrance, offering and prayer. They then worshiped the ancestors of all family names at Hanlian Hall.
By offering flowers and fruit and chanting Buddhist sutras respectfully, the Lingyin Sangha commemorated and expressed gratitude to the past abbots of Lingyin Temple, who contributed to building the temple and housing the Sangha as well as transmitting the Dharma Lamp. The transference of merits was dedicated to all sentient beings in the Dharma Realm. The Dharma services were performed in solemnity and reverence.
At around 6:00 pm, the Lingyin Sangha performed the Yogacara Ulka-mukha ritual at the Hall of Medicine Buddha. The host of the ceremony concentrated on meditation and chanted mantras to liberate all hungry ghosts in the ten directions of the Dharma Realm from the hell of suffering and help with their rebirth in the Pure Land. After the Yogacara Ulka-mukha Dharma Service, the seven-day Dharma services for the Qingming Festival were successfully completed.
