Looking back at Ancestor Worship For the week which passed (17/7/21-14) when I was alive on Planet Earth.
We have a lot of religions in the world, and everyone should have a right to his or her own. Mine is Ancestor Worship. I would like to say a little about it today, not much as it is a simple religion and I do not have much to say about it. As a group, maybe the Chinese subscribe to this way of thinking more than any other people on this planet. I do, too. A few days ago Roman Catholics celebrated All Souls Day which is one way to honour the dead. A lot of Roman Catholics on November 1 clean and decorate their graves. As a lapsed or liberated Roman Catholic (I prefer the second) over the years I have been to graveyards and seen all kinds of faces around the graves; holy faces, sad faces, and even angry faces. Occasionally, I see a happy face and I am so grateful. It is said people who live full lives embrace death even more passionately than Romeo embraced Juliet. That is, I believe, a great insight which teaches us to live fully. I am not much of a theory believer and ask you to observe for yourself if it is true or not. While the Chinese subscribe traditionally to ancestor worship, and though I doubt I was Chinese in my previous life - all the same I do it. For me, it is more of a personal experience. I live in an old ancestral house and I can feel the presence of my dead ancestors all around me. Rather than visit a grave on a particular day once a year I prefer to say Hi! and Thank you! to my ancestors every day, and several times a day. I am surrounded by my dead ancestors spirits and energy and sound waves and whatnot, all the time. I ask them to advise me and try to hear their voices rather than project my own desires in their name. I find the lesser the ego, the easier it is for me to hear what they are saying. They don’t speak in any particular language - official or unofficial - it is more an intuitive experience followed by a great sense of peace. No need to fear our dead ancestors, especially if you loved them. They will never harm us. l always welcome them with open arms. I like the idea how everyone should have their own religion. It grew from a lesson I learned in school which teaches me something even today. A teacher with a doctorate taught us world history in middle school. He told us this story. A Christian and his Chinese friend were on their way to cemeteries when the Christian commented on the rice the Chinese was taking to his friend’s grave. He asked him when he thought his friend would be coming to eat the rice. The Chinese thought for a while and then said that his friend would be coming to eat the rice when the Christian’s friend would come to smell the flowers which the Christian was carrying to his friend’s grave. After listening to this story I became aware of how humour is more spiritual than smelling flowers or eating rice or putting flowers on a grave. I feel grateful to my ancestors for being in my house day and night, all through the year, every day. That’s why I say Hi! and Thank you! to them every day. Now, isn’t this a good way to enjoy a party?
