Of hungry spirits and temples. . .

Monday was a real hectic day for me. . . I'm surprised some of the folks at Nut's blogsphere were so free and easy. . . one had the luxury of watching the olympic clips on youtube and counting the medal tally... Blessed be. . .  My day started with my daily trips to the new house to see the progress of renovation. And after spending two hours ironing out issues with the project manager and main contractor, I had my brunch and went to see some clients. 

Later the evening, got back and did my usual thing which I often do during the Chinese hungry ghost month. Got invited by TO to have dinner as she need to go to the General's temple to pay her respects and make some payments. Dinner was a simple affair at a simple vegan coffee shop at Entrepreneur's Park along Jalan Kuchai Lama.

When we got to the temple around 8ish pm, the medium was not around, made some calls and the good old fella was with his mates at a nearby chinese 'tai chow' restaurant, he personally went to invite us over and asked us to join them for dinner... Of course, the food looked good.. temptation.. steamed fish, black sauce chicken with black beans, Ma Poh Tau Fu, Stir fried sprouts and Pork ribs. . . Ya.. good food. I could only look and see them savor the food. TO took some morsels in respect. Mr Loong is a kind old soul. He' chatty and our conversation was on the recent anniversary celebration of the deity General Kang. 

After the hearty meals, Mr Loong and Ah Kau went back to the temple, we followed and as TO was doing her rounds of prayers, I took the opportunity to catch up with Mr. Loong. It was indeed interesting to listen to the old guy as he shared with us his experiences as a Medium for General Kang and stories of eerie tales during the Hungry Ghost month. The conversation went further with some info on Yi Jing, Feng Shui, Metaphysics, Early Tao deities, Taoist practices. . . Spending time with these old veterans are always a treat. They are so full of life and as they unfold each tale, I felt like a small kid listening to grandpa's stories. TO joined in and we quietly listened with intent and enthusiasm. 

Truly remarkable, Mr. Loong did mentioned that these 'good brothers and sisters' that's how they addressed the unseen beings as pitiful spirits who had to roam to settle their dues. It is rather heart wrenching when he tells us of this incident where a whole family were assassinated and the mother bore such a deep grudge that the karmic winds were unfathomable. He had to use a very powerful incantation and with the help of the deities, release her spirit from the anger and return her to the light. 

His advice was one should not be afraid, but one should not also court disaster by disrespecting them as truly we are from different spheres and it is due to the yearning and undone business, they come back once a year to return favors or seek their claims. . . 

As we bid these old timers, I took a quick glance on the main shrine, General Kang seemed to be fierce but I thought I saw a slight grin on his red face. . .