Buying Statues From Temples

[kalimantan 6]

As usual i go for my weekly praying session in a neighbourhood temple. And this stretch of block has 3 temples.

I saw an advertisment that they need fundings to extend the temple's lease. Ok i don't frequent this particular temple.

Let's assume the temple has insufficent funds.

Is it ok for public member to "donate" (or buy) and worship a status at home ?

What is the common practice ?

[delirious_jeff 0]

As usual i go for my weekly praying session in a neighbourhood temple. And this stretch of block has 3 temples.

I saw an advertisment that they need fundings to extend the temple's lease. Ok i don't frequent this particular temple.

Let's assume the temple has insufficent funds.

Is it ok for public member to "donate" (or buy) and worship a status at home ?

What is the common practice ?

I think it is okay to donate. But I think this will also depend if the temple is willing to accept the donation. Some temple only accept donations from their worshippers.

If you do decide to buy the status, you need to make every effort to take care of the status. If you don't think you can do that, I think you should not buy the status and put in your home.

[therat 18]

u don't buy status.

U 'welcome' them to your house

[edenstrauss 3]

As usual i go for my weekly praying session in a neighbourhood temple. And this stretch of block has 3 temples.

I saw an advertisment that they need fundings to extend the temple's lease. Ok i don't frequent this particular temple.

Let's assume the temple has insufficent funds.

Is it ok for public member to "donate" (or buy) and worship a status at home ?

What is the common practice ?

I'm not sure if I'm out of line to share this incident which occured to a friend's relative who stayed in "Mah-Po", Malaysia. Not sure what that part of M'sia is known as in English. And I'm also not sure why it turned out that way so it's for readers for this discussion thread to judge for themselves.

A couple of years back, the relative who was an elderly lady decided to worship to guanyin. She stayed together in a bungalow with her son & daughter inlaw with 2 maids. They already have an altar with guandi & tau pekong. A relative assisted her in acquiring & inviting a statue of guanyin from a temple back to their bungalow. Nothing was amiss initially, everything was ok until 1 day, her daughter inlaw got possessed by an evil spirit.

There were instances in which my friend's cousin who visited the bungalow during a family gathering session, slammed the table & make gestures of stroking an imaginary beard from his chin. Then, charged out of the house with a stick to chase away something. And came back redfaced after the chasing. He was shocked & puzzled how he ended up outside the gate & holding onto (not sure, I can't recall) a stick or broom. My friend told us that his cousin's body was probabbly occupied by guandi to chase away the evil spirit in the house.

Anyway, the situation got out of hand because the daughter inlaw started behaving strangely. 1 maid actually wanted to resign because she claimed that she heard 2 voices from her. Many things happened along the way. Their guan yin statue got really fierce looking with a fang-like, menancing look just like the daughter inlaw.

The family got mediums, exorcists from everywhere but not only did the remedies backfire, the evil spirit got really out of hand & more aggressive. Eventually, they got a visiting lama from 1 of the temples who specialises in exorcism. He tried to help but he predicted that it was already too late by the time they travel back to Mahpoh. The lama also claimed that this is the karma of the daughter inlaw because the evil spirit could not be appeased & leave until she has gotten her soul.

And true enough, by the time they reach home with the lama, the daughter inlaw was dead. Found entangled with huge bales of curtains & curtain threads, hanging from the curtain rods inside the bedroom, locked from within.

When the police came, the neighbours who were interviewed claimed that they heard very loud screamings & commotions in the house. Their 2 maids asked for help but the neighbours said they were too frightened to get involved. They also heard 2 different voices screaming...

It is really scary! My grandma's tua pekong statue was invited back after a company who went bust abandoned the statue in the 1950s. But everything was great for her because the statue has a very red, oily face with a wide smile after so many years of worship at her place. Friends who visited would always marvel at the condition of the statue. My grandpa passed away at the age of 100 yrs old & my grandma who is still living is 90 yrs old this year. Still fit & strong althoug she suffers from dementia.

What's most important is that you must be comfortable with inviting the god back from the source.

Edited August 16, 2010 by edenstrauss

[noobhouse 1]

I'm not sure if I'm out of line to share this incident which occured to a friend's relative who stayed in "Mah-Po", Malaysia. Not sure what that part of M'sia is known as in English. And I'm also not sure why it turned out that way so it's for readers for this discussion thread to judge for themselves.

A couple of years back, the relative who was an elderly lady decided to worship to guanyin. She stayed together in a bungalow with her son & daughter inlaw with 2 maids. They already have an altar with guandi & tau pekong. A relative assisted her in acquiring & inviting a statue of guanyin from a temple back to their bungalow. Nothing was amiss initially, everything was ok until 1 day, her daughter inlaw got possessed by an evil spirit.

There were instances in which my friend's cousin who visited the bungalow during a family gathering session, slammed the table & make gestures of stroking an imaginary beard from his chin. Then, charged out of the house with a stick to chase away something. And came back redfaced after the chasing. He was shocked & puzzled how he ended up outside the gate & holding onto (not sure, I can't recall) a stick or broom. My friend told us that his cousin's body was probabbly occupied by guandi to chase away the evil spirit in the house.

Anyway, the situation got out of hand because the daughter inlaw started behaving strangely. 1 maid actually wanted to resign because she claimed that she heard 2 voices from her. Many things happened along the way. Their guan yin statue got really fierce looking with a fang-like, menancing look just like the daughter inlaw.

The family got mediums, exorcists from everywhere but not only did the remedies backfire, the evil spirit got really out of hand & more aggressive. Eventually, they got a visiting lama from 1 of the temples who specialises in exorcism. He tried to help but he predicted that it was already too late by the time they travel back to Mahpoh. The lama also claimed that this is the karma of the daughter inlaw because the evil spirit could not be appeased & leave until she has gotten her soul.

And true enough, by the time they reach home with the lama, the daughter inlaw was dead. Found entangled with huge bales of curtains & curtain threads, hanging from the curtain rods inside the bedroom, locked from within.

When the police came, the neighbours who were interviewed claimed that they heard very loud screamings & commotions in the house. Their 2 maids asked for help but the neighbours said they were too frightened to get involved. They also heard 2 different voices screaming...

It is really scary! My grandma's tua pekong statue was invited back after a company who went bust abandoned the statue in the 1950s. But everything was great for her because the statue has a very red, oily face with a wide smile after so many years of worship at her place. Friends who visited would always marvel at the condition of the statue. My grandpa passed away at the age of 100 yrs old & my grandma who is still living is 90 yrs old this year. Still fit & strong althoug she suffers from dementia.

What's most important is that you must be comfortable with inviting the god back from the source.

thanks for sharing. fated to go also e poor gal. just personal belief, if someone sent e diety away

alridi, it's better not to reinvite it back. u never know wat occupies its empty shell later.

[leechaorui 2]

I'm not sure if I'm out of line to share this incident which occured to a friend's relative who stayed in "Mah-Po", Malaysia. .....

What's most important is that you must be comfortable with inviting the god back from the source.

Thanks for sharing. Quite a scary story.

[edenstrauss 3]

thanks for sharing. fated to go also e poor gal. just personal belief, if someone sent e diety away

alridi, it's better not to reinvite it back. u never know wat occupies its empty shell later.

Yes she has that type of "ming" (i.e. life) to be the chosen one to be sacrificed. There's one tamil movie that was aired on vasenthram channel last year from 9pm to 2am that was similar to this tragedy fr M'sia.

I think it's known as Chandramoorthy. It was a truelife story in India about a haunted mansion that was previously the palace of a raja who killed his concubine & her lover... During the modern times, the mansion was bought over by a rich guy who married a lady with a split-personality disorder. Apparently the mansion was very terribly haunted especially in one of the west wings of the premises where that concubine used to be staying at. The female ghost targetted at the owner's wife.

It is really very interesting to watch. The cast of actors & actresses is a good mix with a punch of comedy. Some native Indian friends here in S'pore claimed that this movie was so much in demand that it was aired in all theatres in India for 1 whole year!

[kalimantan 6]

I mnaged to check with a old-bird who keeps temples statues.

He told me that public members can only buy statues that are no longer "worship" by the public. In another words, the statues are already brought down to be kept within the temple compound. If no one buys, they will "hua" away the statues.

If really want to buy those "current"s statues", must seek committee members. Eg sometimes there are lots of GuanYin statues and public may seek committee members for permissions to purchase.

[catwoman 0]

I mnaged to check with a old-bird who keeps temples statues.

He told me that public members can only buy statues that are no longer "worship" by the public. In another words, the statues are already brought down to be kept within the temple compound. If no one buys, they will "hua" away the statues.

If really want to buy those "current"s statues", must seek committee members. Eg sometimes there are lots of GuanYin statues and public may seek committee members for permissions to purchase.

Which temple is this? The person got explain any advantage in buying this?

[kalimantan 6]

it could be any temple.

No advantages buying from temples to worship at home - it does not mean your statues become more powerful than others from retail shops. However i can check for u this.

[noobhouse 1]

I mnaged to check with a old-bird who keeps temples statues.

He told me that public members can only buy statues that are no longer "worship" by the public. In another words, the statues are already brought down to be kept within the temple compound. If no one buys, they will "hua" away the statues.

If really want to buy those "current"s statues", must seek committee members. Eg sometimes there are lots of GuanYin statues and public may seek committee members for permissions to purchase.

when u mean no longer "worship" by public means where it's kept? cause at temples i see an assortment of stautes

which ppl "donate" there & they're all placed at a common altar/space where ppl still offer them joss sticks. & how they "hua" them

away? conduct mass ceremony to send all of them back to heaven then physically destroy the shell? just curious cause normally we

see ppl donating statues to temples but then wat happens when they get too plentiful, most of us not aware if such instances occur?

[kalimantan 6]

i m not good at religious stuffs.

I do not know how they "hua" it.

I am surprise pple donate to temple. all along i thought pple no longer wants to worship and they seek temple for advise to "hua" it.

[edenstrauss 3]

when u mean no longer "worship" by public means where it's kept? cause at temples i see an assortment of stautes

which ppl "donate" there & they're all placed at a common altar/space where ppl still offer them joss sticks. & how they "hua" them

away? conduct mass ceremony to send all of them back to heaven then physically destroy the shell? just curious cause normally we

see ppl donating statues to temples but then wat happens when they get too plentiful, most of us not aware if such instances occur?

Hi noobhouse, the Loyang Tau Pekong temple's priest claimed that when it gets too "crowded" and nobody "adopts" the dieties' statues in the common place, they would normally perform rituals to invite the gods to leave the statues then proceed to "hua". I've heard before that some mediums would not retain the statues but go straight into the rituals to "hua".

[noobhouse 1]

Hi noobhouse, the Loyang Tau Pekong temple's priest claimed that when it gets too "crowded" and nobody "adopts" the dieties' statues in the common place, they would normally perform rituals to invite the gods to leave the statues then proceed to "hua". I've heard before that some mediums would not retain the statues but go straight into the rituals to "hua".

i c. thanks for e info. this is something new.

[dome81 0]

Hi noobhouse, the Loyang Tau Pekong temple's priest claimed that when it gets too "crowded" and nobody "adopts" the dieties' statues in the common place, they would normally perform rituals to invite the gods to leave the statues then proceed to "hua". I've heard before that some mediums would not retain the statues but go straight into the rituals to "hua".

Actually Hua - happen yearly on Pekong big day, all these status, will be burn with many many boxes of josspaper. Common for most of the big temple to do this, small temple don't take in status anymore.