Today was the Ohigan ceremony at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church, during which prayers are offered for our ancestors, to transfer our merit to them to ease their burden.
Ven. Kenjo Igarashi’s service reminded us that Ohigan is also the final day of a weeklong focus on living the life of the Six Paramitas.
The Six Paramitas, also known as the Six Perfections, are:
The bottom line of Buddhist practice, Rev. Igarashi explained, “Don’t make bad actions.”
At the last service, Rev. Igarashi explained that the first seven-day trial for the deceased is to climb a treacherous mountain. The heavier your karma, the more difficult the climb.
Today, Rev. Igarashi explained that the second seven-day trial involves crossing a deep river. Those with little or no bad karma can cross on a bridge but those with heavy karma are forced to cross by bobbing to the surface, sinking to the bottom, and bobbing to the service until they reach the other shore.
He also made an effort to explain the third seven day trial but something was lost in translation. The third week apparently involves snakes and cats but how and why were unclear.
Postscript: An article entitled Meido: The Japanese Underworld offers a detailed explanation of the trials of the 49 days following death. This is the explanation of the Third Trial:
The third trial takes place 21 days after death, and is overseen by King Soutei (whose true form is Manji Bosatsu, or Manjusri). Manji judges the souls on their sins of lust and sexuality, using a cat and a snake. The cat is used to judge the souls of men; it bites at their penises, and the degree of the injury — from a slight scratch to completely severed — is used as a measure of one’s sexual sin. The snake is used to judge the souls of women; it is inserted into the woman, and the depth to which it can enter is used to determine the depth of her sin. As before, some will go on to Hell, while others — with the aid of funerary services from their surviving family members — will pass on to the next trial.