Correct and Incorrect Offerings: The True Story of the Spiritual World

Among the ancestor offerings in the world, there are places that attribute all misfortunes occurring within the family, such as illness, injury, business failures, or exam failures, to the ancestors, saying, "If we just offer to the wandering ancestors, we can attain happiness." However, this is incorrect. While there may be ancestors who are truly lost and wandering, fundamentally, there are no ancestors who actively wish to harm their descendants.

To truly honor ancestors and help them find peace, it is necessary for the descendants left behind to always hold a sense of gratitude towards their ancestors and to live a correct and light-filled life as human beings. This is the premise of ancestor offerings. Ancestors do not understand the correct way to live as humans, nor do they understand the reasons for their mistakes or their current suffering, so it is important to teach them in ancestor offerings.

It is good when the descendants' desire to honor their ancestors manifests as love, but when descendants perform ancestor offerings with selfish intentions, the ancestors may become evil spirits in the afterlife, and if they are lost, the hearts of both parties can completely connect.

For example, if a person living in this world harbors strong feelings of resentment or hatred towards someone, and if there are ancestors who have fallen into the hell realm and are filled with resentment, hatred, or anger, the wavelengths of both will resonate. As long as the descendants continue to hold onto those feelings, the ancestors can possess them indefinitely, worsening the fate of the possessed person. They can cause illness, prevent business success, or lead to wrong judgments. In that sense, there are indeed phenomena where "ancestors are lost and cause suffering to their descendants." However, even in such cases, I want to emphasize that "it is important for the descendants to first correct their own hearts."

This is akin to a father who is burdened with a significant debt, while the son also bears a similar debt separately, and the son cannot repay the father's debt. If the son succeeds in business and has a large sum of money, he may be able to repay the father's debt. This illustrates the relationship between ancestors and descendants. The idea that "ancestors are not at peace" or "are suffering in hell" is akin to carrying a 'debt'—a spiritual debt, a debt incurred during their lifetime. When descendants try to repay that debt through offerings to help their ancestors attain enlightenment, if they are living a chaotic life possessed by evil spirits, the descendants are also burdened with debt. Those who have debts cannot repay the debts of others. Only those who are prosperous can pay off the debts of others.

What does it mean to be 'prosperous'? It means 'accumulating virtue in this life.' It involves daily practice based on the truth of Buddhist teachings. It means accumulating the virtue of light, storing light, and accumulating wealth in the heavenly storehouse. Only with this can one offer that light to those who are suffering. Therefore, ancestors are not saved by talismans or goma wood; it is essential for the living descendants and those connected to them to accumulate virtue daily.

The very fact that you have the desire to honor your ancestors with love and compassion is a very good thing, but the wandering of the ancestors is by no means the responsibility of the descendants. This is a principle, so please keep it in mind.

The reason for falling into hell lies in the individual's way of living. There are issues with thoughts and actions that lead to falling into hell. Please keep this fundamental premise in mind. Otherwise, even if you are diligently offering, many ancestors will never think, 'I am at fault.' They will blame the descendants. They might say, 'I am suffering because you did not build a proper grave,' 'I am suffering because the altar is cheap,' 'The memorial tablet is bad,' or 'You did not give me a posthumous name,' and so on. These are mere accusations, and there is absolutely no salvation through such things.

It is important to teach them that 'heaven and hell are divided based on the thoughts and actions during life, and the reason you have fallen into hell is because you had that much responsibility.' The way to discern whether a religion is correct hinges on whether it properly teaches living people, those who are actually practicing, about reflection and personal responsibility.