Since
I’ve talked about Meak Bochea, I would like to share another Buddhist holiday
–only this one is a Japanese holiday.
Obon
is traditionally held around beginning to mid-August and it’s a week when dead
souls come back to roam around Earth. Families put out ornaments/incense and
perform rituals to welcome their deceased ancestor back in. Many go back to
their hometowns to gather with family and visit cemeteries to pay respect to
their ancestors. It sounds like a somber holiday but it’s actually quite
festival with summer festivals, firework events, and obon dancing.
If
you live in California, your friends might’ve invited you to Obon festivals at
local Buddhist temples or Japanese community centers. Or if you’ve celebrated
of Hungry Ghost Festival in China/HK/Taiwan it traces back to the same origin.
The
story behind this holiday goes back to when one of Buddha’s disciples, Moggallāna
(or Mokuren) discovers that his deceased mother was suffering in the realm of
hungry ghosts. In order to save her, the Buddha instructed to make offerings of
food and pray for her. In the end her mother does get released and Moggallāna
dances in joy. This dance of gratefulness has been adapted as the bon dance. (note: My
memories of this story go way back to dharma school at temple when I was young
so please forgive me if I’ve let out anything)
In
any case, people in Japan and global Japanese communities circle around a yagura in traditional obon dancing. Many
dress up in traditional summer kimonos and lantern are lit up around the yagura which makes the festival
especially colorful. Taiko and fue music resonate all night.
As
many of you know, I lost about a dozen friends and family in the 2011 Tohoku
Earthquake. It was life shattering in many ways as not only have I lost people
who were close to me but also a community and a place I called my childhood
home. It was especially hard losing my uncle, who was a father figure to my
mother and so naturally he was grandfather figure to me in my childhood. In my
later teens, there was a lot of family strife and I lost contact with him. He
became a sort of a curmudgeon and developed alcoholism. It was said that few
months before his death on March 11, he was diagnosed with fatal lung cancer. I
often think about how things may have changed if I was still kept in contact
with my uncle. We were inseparable whenever I visited him in the summer. He
would usually pick me up after breakfast at my aunt’s house and take me on a
drive along the beautiful Sanriku coastline. We would stop at his
favorite ramen place and afterwards he will pull over to get cigarettes and buy
me ice cream. On weekends I would stroll over to his house and lie with him on
the tatami for an afternoon nap. Not only can I ever relive those days but all
the memorable places have been washed away.
It’s
been three years since his death (in accordance to the Chinese counting system
which counts year 0 as 1) which is a pivotal landmark in Buddhist traditions as
his soul has finally reached his intended destination.
So what does ALL this have to do with my time in Cambodia?
I missed Obon in Japan because I was the midst of a chaotic moving process back
to the US. So when I learned that the Japanese
society here was having their Obon Festival in correspondence with the Pchum
Ben Festival (the Cambodian version of Obon), I had a need to go.
The
event was beautiful, the venue beautifully decorated with lanterns and a
makeshift yagura. The stage featured dancing, taiko performances, and
comedians. The event ended with dancing to the Tanko Bushi, a Japanese Bon Odori favorite and one that I’ve danced
to since my youth.
Unfortunately
I didn’t participate in the dancing but my attendance at the event was my way
of sending off my uncle to where he belongs. I do hope he is in a better
happier place now.
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