Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva

The Sutra of the Fundamental Vows of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva records that, countless eons ago, Kshitigarbha was a Brahmin woman. Her mother had slandered the Three Jewels during her life and fell into hell after death. The daughter sold the family's property, made offerings far and wide, and vowed before the Buddha: if my mother can escape the suffering of hell, I will save all beings, and until the hells are empty I will not become a Buddha. Through the power of that vow, she not only freed her mother but set out on the path of rescuing souls in the dark realm. In another life she was a woman named Bright Eyes, who likewise made offerings and vows to the Buddha for a mother fallen into hell. Both stories begin with saving a mother; filial love holds up the weightiest vow in Buddhism.

Legend also says that in the Tang dynasty Kim Gyo-gak, a member of the royal family of Silla (in today's Korea), crossed the sea to Mount Jiuhua in China to practice austerities. After his death his body did not decay and his face looked alive, so he was believed to be a manifestation of Kshitigarbha, and Mount Jiuhua became Kshitigarbha's sacred site, ranked with Putuo, Wutai, and Emei among the four great Buddhist mountains. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, faith in Kshitigarbha crossed the strait with immigrants to Taiwan and fit naturally with the local tradition of caring for the dead. In Taiwan he became a bodhisattva every household knows.

Kshitigarbha receives vegetarian offerings: fresh flowers, fruit, clear tea, and cakes. Meat, alcohol, and cigarettes are all taboo. The main text to chant is the Sutra of the Fundamental Vows of Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva, or you can recite his name, 'Namo Dizang Wang Pusa.' What sets this faith apart is doing things on behalf of the dead. When an elder in the family passes away, inviting monks to chant the Kshitigarbha Sutra and dedicate the merit is the most common rite at Taiwanese Buddhist funerals, while the Kshitigarbha services and deliverance rituals held at Dizang shrines and Buddhist temples in the seventh lunar month are for wandering souls with no one to care for them and for generations of ancestors. There is also help for this life: you can light a guangming lamp to pray for safety and wisdom, and some temples fold Tai Sui rites into Kshitigarbha worship as well. If you want to do something for a loved one who has passed, a Dizang temple is the right place to come.

Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva's Birthday: the 30th day of the seventh lunar month (the 29th in some traditions). Buddhist temples and Dizang temples hold large services with sutra chanting, deliverance rites, and the Flaming Mouth ceremony (a Buddhist rite to feed and deliver hungry ghosts). Because the day falls near the end of the Ghost Festival season, it often carries on directly from the Zhongyuan Pudu rites.

Zhongyuan Services: throughout the seventh lunar month (especially around the Zhongyuan Festival on the 15th), Buddhist temples widely hold Kshitigarbha services, the most important religious activity of 'Ghost Month' in Taiwanese Buddhism.

The Emperor Liang Repentance and the Water and Land Dharma Service: larger-scale Buddhist deliverance rituals in which Kshitigarbha is one of the central figures, mostly held during the seventh lunar month or at major services.