DISQUS

It's true that burning these offerings is not part of the Buddhism practice. In fact, I feel that the misconception lies in years of influence by traditional beliefs, customs, and Taoism. Even though my B.C. registers myself as a Buddhist, I am by practice a Taoist. And even Taoism has evolved over the years.

I do question the burning of offerings at times ... but then again I have had my own share of experiences that led me to believe there is an unexplained phenomena going on. I do not agree with it being related to time-travel. I don't know what it is, but I remember seeing my relatives write certain Chinese chants on the paper offerings before burning them. They even include the names of the deceased, date/time of deceased, and all those other stuff (kinda like a postal system to hell LOL).

WHen my grandmother passed away, we did the same thing. During her one-year death anniversary, we had prayers again and what not. At that time, my youngest cousin who was only 2 years old did something really impossible ... speak in fluent Mandarin. We were just sitting in the living room just resting and chatting. I believe she was playing around somewhere in the house. But she came up to us, and said in a clear, pronounced, full sentence, "I am feeling very cold and I don't have any clothes to wear." In a spilt second, my cousin returned to her own self. I don't think she realized anything at all.

To believe or not to believe? I do not have the answer as well.