盂蘭盆
Từ Điển Thuật Ngữ Phật Học Hán Ngữ
(盂蘭); 鳥藍婆 (鳥藍婆拏) ullambana 盂蘭 may be another form of lambana or avalamba, “hanging down,” “depending,” “support”; it is intp. “to hang upside down”, or “to be in suspense”, referring to extreme suffering in purgatory; but there is a suggestion of the dependence of the dead on the living. By some 盆 is regarded as a Chinese DICT_ENTRY_WORD, not part of the transliteration, meaning a vessel filled with offerings of food. The term is applied to the festival of All Souls, held about the 15th of the 7th moon, when masses are read by Buddhist and Taoist priests and elaborate offerings made to the Buddhist Trinity for the purpose of releasing from purgatory the souls of those who have died on land or sea. The Ullambanapātra Sutra is attributed to Śākyamuni, of course incorrectly; it was first tr. into Chinese by Dharmaraksha, A.D. 266-313 or 317; the first masses are not reported until the time of Liang Wudi, A.D. 538; and were popularized by Amogha (A.D. 732) under the influence of the Yogācārya School. They are generally observed in China, but are unknown to Southern Buddhism. The “idea of intercession on the part of the priesthood for the benefit of” souls in hell “is utterly antagonistic to the explicit teaching of primitive Buddhism'” The origin of the custom is unknown, but it is foisted on to Śākyamuni, whose disciple Maudgalyāyana is represented as having been to purgatory to relieve his mother’s sufferings. Śākyamuni told him that only the united efforts of the whole priesthood 十方衆會 could alleviate the pains of the suffering. The mere suggestion of an All Souls Day with a great national day for the monks is sufficient to account for the spread of the festival. Eitel says: “Engrafted upon the narrative ancestral worship, this ceremonial for feeding the ghost of deceased ancestors of seven generations obtained immense popularity and is now practised by everybody in China, by Taoists even and by Confucianists.” All kinds of food offerings are made and paper garments, etc., burnt. The occasion, 7th moon, 15th day, is known as the盂蘭會 (or 盂蘭盆會 or 盂蘭齋 or 盂蘭盆齋) and the sutra as 盂蘭經 (or 盂蘭盆經).