All Saint's Day (Nov 1)

Here in the Philippines, All Saint's Day (which falls on November 1 and is an annual holiday) is a big date for families to get together to eat, laugh, and pray. All Saint's Day is when people go tovisit their loved ones in the cemeteries to pay their respects. Although All Saint's Day is also a day when violence erupts which results in deaths, it is generally a time when the streets are empty and peaceful.

This year, as with the past nine All Saint's Day, I, along with my nephew and nieces visited my mom at the Thousand Buddha Temple where her cremated remains are kept. Although everyone who comes here has a car, parking is generally easier to manage than in a normal cemetery. Aside from the fact that my mom's remains were cremated, the other reason that we chose Thousand Buddha Temple is that my parents are 50% Buddhists and 50% Catholics. What it means is they do worship at both Catholic churches and Buddhist temples (not on a regular basis though if I remember it right)

So what does one do in a Buddhist temple to pay respects to a dear departed one.

1. Candles - lots and lots of candles. golden dragon trimmed one, gel based, glass encased or just plain candles. Red, white or yellow (it depends on how long the departed one has 'departed').

2. Burning of the Paper Money- ok so it ain't real money. Its just bundles of paper with gold or silver coloring to signify money (which is still bought using real money) that we eventually burn (talk about literally burning money) so that our departed ones can have some money to spend in the next life.

The second floor is where an incinerator is found (hidden by that piece of tarpaulin) and where we end up burning the paper money. The thick black smoke is the end effect of that burning.

3. Offerings - This could range from flowers to food and drinks. Whatever the departed one ate of liked during his/her living years.

This year I noticed that more flowers were displayed than food items. The food is eventually eaten if you're curious to know. We don't throw it away as it would be a waste.

Above picture is like the summary of it. Candles-check. Food offering-check. Paper money folded and ready to burned-check.