Tondo, Manila City: Burning Incense on Ghost Month at Seng Guan Temple

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It's been almost 2 months when I last posted on my blog. That was June and now it's August. Many things happened, new president and government in the Philippines, also intense training at my new work (information overload). Seems like everything is brand new and doing awesome. Well, let me not forget the very popular and really took the world by storm, Pokemon! Sadly, this app is not yet working on my phone and the worst is I can't catch one. Anyway, I'll just figure out later how can I ride into this crazy hype. 

So now it's August! And what's with August? It's my birth month! Hahah! Owwkey! I know no one cares, aside from that it is "Ghost Month", scary right? In a multicultural country like the Philippines, this is not as strange as ghost, where traditions are passed down through multiple generations and mixture of different cultures due to never ending story of globalization(like what we know change is constant). This "Hungry Ghost Month" (The Ghost Festival) occurs every seventh lunar month(Aug.3-31, 2016) in the chinese calendar. Like chinese new year celebration where everyone wears red to welcome prosperous new year, it has also embraced by many Filipinos perhaps many still believe in great fortune and will do everything to avoid bad omen. Buddhists and Taoists believe that this time the gates of hell will open and let the ghosts and spirits be free to roam in the living world. And that made me scared really now, why on my birthmonth? Can we move it next month? 

Well not to worry, I came up with a solution! Hahah, right! A solution! I honestly don't take it seriously, those taboos on ghost month like don't open a business, avoid travel or major house renovation, the mere fact that I'm a good guy and I'm claiming that nothing will happen bad to me. But to make sure and no worries, I still went to a buddhist temple, burned incense and prayed hard. As they say If it will not jeopardize you, then do it. As a culture seeker, it also sparked my interest to go here. Let's get to know it further! 

It was Sunday morning when we(with my friend) headed to Binondo, Manila. Definitely not to catch Pokemon but to find this temple I had passed before. I knew it will be a long walk and sweaty since I had experienced it before, I knew we need to pass through flea markets of divisoria(shopping mecca of Manila). Yes, I was almost tempted to buy face towel. It was hard to walk under the humid weather. 

There you go, after roughly 20 minutes of walk from Binondo to Tondo, we reached this "not very usual to see in Manila" Seng Guan Temple named after a well-respected monk from China. I was totally amazed, being a Manila guy who usually sees old spanish houses and old catholic churches, that was my first time to walk inside a buddhist temple. I thought I had a short trip to chiang mai, thailand, hahah, almost the same like what I saw online. I don't know why only now I had chance to go here. Good thing, I didn't shop in divisoria. 

There were a lot of people, there was a queue on my right side, I was not sure what was that for, when we entered the temple, all of them were chinese. The smell of the incense and the golden altar are very welcoming. I thought I was a foreigner in my own country. I didn't know whom to approach about what are we going to do first, all I know was I wanted to pray. While looking toward the altar, an old woman passed infront of me, I right away approached her and spoke in english. Unexpectedly and kinda awkward when she talked in tagalog, oopps! She can speak like a filipino. She said we could get 3 incense sticks, burn it and pray, we could also go at the altar and talk to an old woman and do the prayer for us. I was still hesitant with what I'm doing, I didn't feel the sincerity yet, I knew it was first time but my true willingness was inside me.

We were already at the altar, when I talked to the old woman holding a golden pot, she looked at me as if I did something wrong and she suddenly responded in tagalog, oh my! Two strikes! Two awkward moments. Hahah. Anyway, going forward she told me to tell my name, she right away recited a mantra. Honestly, I didn't understand it, It was like a prayer, I just heard my name, then dropped my money(any amount will do) at the altar as an offering.

I was not really done yet, the place was very something you won't forget, its beauty was really unusual to see for me. I asked my friend to go upstairs. We first saw the Medicine Buddha Hall. If you wanna call peace, go here. I went every corner, there were other halls smaller than this and there was one thing that caught my attention. It was somewhat a prayer "I vow that my body be like crystal, pure and flawless, radiating rays of splendid light to every corner, brightening up and enlightening all beings with wisdom. With the blessings of compassion, may all beings strenghten their spiritual power and physical energy so that they could fulfill their dreams in the right track". It was like a mantra you can use when you go here again. 

Another room welcomed us with its stunning carvings. Its ceiling was prominent, it made me think whether I could imitate it in our house renovation. I don't know if they were made in real gold, can I scrape it? Haha. Lovely!

After more than an hour, we went out feeling very spiritually filled. Worshiping beyond what I normally do and outside my religion may sound unfaithful or unusual but I always believe, wherever and whenever you pray, it will go straight to one God. The thrice kneel and pray we did were fulfilling, from soul to mind. In short, my short visit in Seng Guan was worth it, being able to cleanse your soul and respect the customs of our Filipino Chinese friends, by not only looking at them and instead let yourself do it. Truly, my Ghost month was a great experience. I should come back here and discover more what other parts of Binondo and Tondo have.

"I vow to lead those who have gone astray back to the path of righteousness. Let them be corrected and returned to the Buddha way for enlightenment"-from Buddha Medicine Hall