How Mulian rescued his mother from hell

Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Mulian (Maha Moggallana) rescues his mother from her afterlife (wiki)

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To rescue mom from Realm of Hungry Ghosts

The Buddha's black disciple

This story is widespread. The Buddha's Black chief disciple Maudgalyāyana (Maha Moggallana) looked for his mother after her death.

In addition to being used to illustrate the principles of karma and rebirth [69, 70], in China the story developed a new emphasis:

In China Maudgalyāyana is known as "Mulian," and his story is taught in a mixture of religious instruction and entertainment to remind people of their duties to their deceased relatives [71, 72].

The earliest version of the story is the Sanskrit Ullambana Sutra [73]. The story is popular in China, Japan, and Korea, where it is told in the form of edifying folktales such as the Chinese bianwen (e.g., "The Transformation Text on Mu-lien Saving His Mother from the Dark Regions") [74, 75].

In most versions of the story, Maudgalyāyana uses his psychic powers to look for his deceased parents to see in where they were reborn.

Although he finds his father in a heaven (deva world), he cannot locate his mother and asks the Buddha for help.

What if we're reborn as shapeshifting ghosts?

The Buddha brings him to his mother, who is located in a hellish realm [usually it is the preta-loka or Realm of Hungry Ghosts], but Maudgalyāyana cannot help her.

The Buddha advises him to make merits on his mother's behalf, which helps her to be reborn in a better place [75, 76, 77].

In the version of the story in Laos, he travels to the world of Yama, the kind king of the dead and ruler of the underworld, only to find the world abandoned.

Yama tells Maudgalyāyana that he allows the denizens of the hell to go out of the gates of hell to be free for one day, that is, on the full moon day of the ninth lunar month.

On this day, the hellions can receive merit transferred and be liberated from hell, if such merit is transferred to them [78].

Son, is that FOOD for me?! Aww, it burned up.

In some other Chinese accounts, Maudgalyāyana finds his mother, reborn as a hungry ghost. When Maudgalyāyana tries to offer her food through an ancestral shrine, the food bursts into flames each time.

Maudgalyāyana therefore asks the Buddha for advice. He recommends him to make merit to the Noble Sangha (the community of enlightened disciples, which is the unsurpassable field of merit) and transfer that merit to his mother.

• While this may sound odd, fantastical, and preposterous -- opposed to the theory of karma (action, deed, intentional act) -- it is actually possible for others to "receive" the merit (meritorious deed, the wholesome action of body, speech, or mind) we perform. How? When we offer the merit, if the other person knows it and receives it and is grateful, then that good mental acts of theirs is what benefits them to the measure of what is offered. Karma is a strange thing and very complex, in fact, so complex that knowing HOW it is going to work itself out by its many results-and-fruits (vipaka and phala) is one of the Four Imponderables.

The transfer not only helps his mother to be reborn in heaven but can also be used to help seven generations of parents and ancestors [79, 80].

• Sadly, as regards this Buddhist transfer of merit, it is not a universal cure for those reborn in the downfall (niraya, the subhuman planes of existence). This is how we know that the mother of Maudgalyāyana (Maha Moggallana) had not fallen into a "hell" (naraka) but rather the less painful Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a kind of Hades/Sheol [an underworld or dimension of shadows right next to us but veiled so we do not see it] or place the ancient Greeks and Jews thought all beings were reborn after death regardless of their karma. The Buddha explained that there are not many places beings would be in a position to "receive" any merit one attempts to "transfer" to all of them. But one should still try. Why? Beings who have fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts can receive merit. And even if the person one is sending the merit to is not in that world but in some worse place, that merit can still be received by one's relatives. Now the Buddha said two very interesting things. One, he defined "relative" or "ancestor" as going back seven generations. All of those beings are our relative eligible to receive merit we transfer. Two, there is no one who does not have a relative(s) in this realm because of the number of people encompassed by going back seven generations. They will benefit even if our target cannot, and we will certainly benefit by the doing of merit, more so for wanting to transfer it, whether or not a particular person receives it.

The offering was believed to be most effective when collectively done, which led to the arising of the ghost festival [81]. (See § Heritage).

Several scholars have pointed out the similarities between the accounts of Maudgalyāyana helping his mother and the account of Phra Malai, an influential legend in Thailand and Laos [82, 83].

Indeed, in some traditional accounts Phra Malai is compared to Maudgalyāyana [83].

On a similar note, Maudgalyāyana's account is also thought to have influenced the Central Asian Epic of King Gesar, Maudgalyāyana being a model for the king [84]. More