农历七月盂兰盆  孝亲祈福吉祥月

佛教的盂兰盆节起源于“目连救母”的典故。“盂兰盆”一词源自于梵文“Ullambana”的音译，其意为“拯救倒挂的人”，泛指地狱中的饿鬼遭受痛苦，就像倒挂的人受尽折磨。因此，盂兰盆节法会的目的是为了让饿鬼众生能够远离地狱之苦难，投生于善道。

根据佛典的记载，释迦牟尼佛的十大弟子中神通第一的目键连以天眼看到已故的母亲投生至饿鬼道，皮骨相连，日夜受苦。目犍连深感悲痛，于是以钵盛饭给母亲食用，但其母亲因为恶业受报的缘故，饭食还没入口即化为灰烬。

目犍连为拯救母亲脱离苦趣，于是向佛陀请示解救的方法。佛陀说：“你得母亲罪孽深重，非你一人能救度，必须仰赖十方贤圣僧众的道行才可以救度。”佛陀指引目犍连在结夏安居圆满之日，以百味五果、汲灌盆器、香油锭烛、床敷卧具等供养十方僧众。依此供僧功德，可令父母增福添寿、远离一切烦恼，乃至过去七世的父母和亲人从恶趣中解脱，投生天道。

盂兰盆节的意义

盂兰盆节是慎终追远、孝亲报恩的节日。寺院每年于农历七月十五举办盂兰盆节法会，佛教徒透过斋僧供佛等善行功德，超荐历代先远孝妣宗親乃至十方法界眾生，帮助亡者投生善道，得沾法益。这个节日从古代流传至今，佛弟子透过忆念父母、斋僧供佛，以报养育之恩。因此，农历七月十五也成了佛教感恩尽孝道的节日。

Ullambana Festival — The Auspicious Season of Filial Piety

Ullambana is an important Mahayana Buddhist festival based on the story of ‘Maudgalyayana Saving His Mother’.  Ullambana is a Sanskrit term that means ‘rescuing those who are hanging upside-down’ or ‘seeking deliverance for the anguished ones in hell’ in layman's terms. According to the legend, a disciple of Buddha, Maudgalyayana (Mogallana), on obtaining the six spiritual penetrations, used his spiritual eye and meditative skills to locate his deceased mother only to find that she has been reborn and suffering in the realm of the hungry ghosts. Deeply saddened, Maudgalyayana journeyed there. Finding her tormented by hunger and starvation, he tried offering her food but before she could eat, the food turned into burning charcoal.

Dejected, Maudgalyayana implored Buddha Shakyamuni to provide him with a solution for his mother’s deliverance from this lower realm of rebirth. The Buddha answered, “her past sins are too deep-rooted for you alone to save. Your filiality is admirable but does not have sufficient strength for her redemption. Hence, the noble spiritual power of the holy community of Monks, the ‘Sangha’ from all ten directions, is necessary for her deliverance”.

The Buddha advised Maudgalyayana to offer delicacies, five fruits, incense, oil, lamps, candles, beds and bedding to the assembled order of monks of the ten directions at the end of the rainy retreat. In the retreat, members of the Sangha would dedicate themselves towards diligent Dharma practice and gain insights and realisations. Offering the Sangha on this day would help one to accumulate immense merit. The merit will enable one’s present parents, parents of the past seven lifetimes, and close relatives to be delivered from the lower realms of rebirth. If one’s parents are alive, they will have a blissful lifespan. If one’s parents are deceased, they will be reborn in the higher realms and attain heavenly bliss.

ULLAMBANA FESTIVAL SIGNIFICANCE 

Ullambana Festival reinforces the concept of filial piety. It signifies the importance of performing “good deeds” to accumulate spiritual merit by offering to the Noble Sangha (spiritual community of practice) and sharing the merit with the departed, to help them be reborn in good realms and end their suffering.

The story of Ullambana has been passed down over the ages. Buddhists all over the world celebrate this day by holding ceremonies of charity and performing acts of philanthropy to accumulate merit to help the departed have good rebirths. Thus, the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar moon has become an occasion for teaching the virtues of filial piety.