Nope, lol.

As I've mentioned earlier, Tu Di Gong and Tua Pek Gong are two aspects of the same god. Tu Di Gong is the Earth God aspect; Tua Pek Gong is the Wealth God aspect.

A Tu Di Gong can outrank a Datuk, or vice versa, depending on his influence in the area of land and how long he has been reigning as its landlord.

The Cheng Huang or City God has a different scope of duty from both the Datuks and Tu Di Gong; I will speak about him later.

I'm sorry, I don't follow.

What exactly is there to reconcile?

Try looking harder, haha.

There is one right in my neck of the woods (see photo below).

Another City God temple in Penang is one of the oldest temples in Malaysia, if not THE oldest.

It's possible for a virtuous individual to attain divinity.

Theoretically, everyone has this potential; most of the sintua deities were once human beings, after all.

The uninitiated will call it Taoism, but in truth, Taoism and sintua are different religions.

As I have mentioned, sintua contains a lot of elements that Taoism does not subscribe to - this includes mediumship and certain deities such as the Monkey King, Na Zha and Guan Yin.

A lot of people who think they are Taoists are actually sintua practitioners.

Mao Shan and what-not are similar, but not the same.

Divination does have a part to play in Chinese folk religion, yes.

If you dream the same lucid dream or experience some state akin to NDE;
falling into hell, called for Guan yin, monkey king, Tai SengYe...all powerless
at last teringat Jesus, called for him, he came and hellfire cool down, shown you a glimpse of heaven...

I ask this because many sintua practioners believe supernatural beings can comunicate with people through dreams or trance. Do you?
So what if a monotheist God appears and seem to occupy the throne?

A true sintua practitioner would understand that EVERYONE goes to Hell - see my earlier posts on the meaning of Hell in the sintua context.

He would understand that if he is being punished in Hell, he deserves it, and that he should accept his punishment like a man, plus reflect and repent accordingly.

And he would understand that the gods are not all-powerful, nor would they intervene if someone is being deservedly punished.

Which is why the more I listen to this fella Vince's testimony, the more I think he's full of crap.

Since when does becoming a medium afford you any sort of special protection, or grant you exemption from final judgement?

You become a medium as a form of atonement for your negative karma, nothing more.

If a monotheist god appears to occupy the throne, I wouldn't give two hoots.

He never exerted any influence over my life, the same way the ghostly beings in black and white did.

My loyalty lies to them, not to this guy who never made his presence felt one bit.

I recall he said he is good man, more than 10 years as medium always help out others.



Yes, crap mesti ada... because Christian hell is said to open only after judgement day.

looks like some serious discussion is going on, hope can be resolved peacefully and rationally.

nachtsider, I would like to ask some question, sorry if it might not be Sintua related,

1. I worship guanyin, tu di gong, and perhaps (not sure) tian gong? (a small lantern hanging outside with a slot for jossticks). my question would be, what language do I use to communicate with the gods? any gods to be precise. should i converse with the language I'm more comfortable with (english) or the language I feel that it's more right? (chinese, but so-so only)

2. those spirits whom wander around us, are they like, under some sort of proabation? like the 49 days thing you mention but under the surveillance of certain being. or to settle unfinished business? maybe waiting for the gods to guide them?

3. hell's scenery. is it like how it is depicted since the ancient times? a fire burning area? I read the so called "penang hell trip" article, the participant said it's random images of area on earth such as shopping malls and whatsoever,but those area are said to be empty (sounds kinda far fetch) also the colour red will always come across my mind when something related to the realm is being mention. or perhaps its some sort of cave like area? dark, but voices of the deity and the other souls around? butttttt it's probably a one-way-to-find-out question eh?

4. the story of the hell gate being open during the seventh month. Is it because of some mother's love story which I heard before? my mother's friend who posses the third eye said that the number of spirit wandering during that month is no different than the rest of the year, is it true? how is the hell gate being filtered?

Also, I guess the story my teacher told me, where she heard sounds of chain from her neighbor house and only to found out the next day the neighbor pass away would be the sound produce by the black deity?

Anyway, thanks for this insightful article, some clarity of the religion have been answered and also learned a thing or two. Keep up the work.

That ten years' service would mostly have been penance for previous bad karma, as I mentioned earlier.

Hi Coco, glad you're enjoying the thread. Here are the answers to your questions.

The small lantern would, indeed, be a makeshift altar to Tian Gong.

A sincere prayer by a pious, virtuous person can transcend language barriers of any sort.

If a person dies suddenly or unexpectedly (i.e. in an accident or through foul play), their passing may be overlooked or undetected, thus resulting in their soul not being collected as it normally would be. Also, those who die violent deaths may find themselves bound to the place where they died, unable to leave unless they are collected, or unless the relevant rituals are performed to release them.

Other souls are under probation, yes, as you've suggested. Others are fugitives, perhaps escapees from Hell or elsewhere. Others are performing spiritual cultivation on earth, perhaps in the service of one or more gods. And there are others who are not the souls of the dead, but supernatural creatures who may have never even been human to begin with.

Hell is traditionally depicted as being located deep underground (the Chinese name for Hell, di yu/地狱, literally means 'prison of the earth'), but it is very vast, way more vast than the subterranean regions of the earth could ever encompass. It should more appropriately be regarded as a separate dimension in its own right - if you play Dungeons and Dragons, the Shadowfell would be a good analogue.

There are many zones in Hell. Some of these are boiling infernos, others frozen wastelands. The terrain and scenery are very varied, depending on where you are. It is said that some zones can even be tailor-made to suit the punishments of individual sinners.






The origin of the Gates of Hell being opened during the Seventh Month lies in the story of Maudgalyāyana, also known as Mu Lian/目连. He was one of Buddha's first disciples, who journeyed to Hell and discovered his departed mother in a state of starvation as a result of being miserly and mean-spirited when she was alive - she was now a hungry ghost, one of hundreds.

Mu Lian developed a means to offer food to the hungry ghosts, as well as to contribute to their eventual salvation by providing charity to monks and the needy, thus accumulating merits on their behalf (the Ullambana). This eventually evolved into the beliefs surrounding the Hungry Ghost Festival, in which the prisoners in Hell are let out during the Seventh Month for a temporary reprieve, to partake of food offerings provided by their loved ones and good Samaritans alike.



The spirits are guarded, of course, to prevent them from escaping or otherwise causing havoc. But the Hell deities can only do so much, of course. Mishaps do happen, unfortunately.

Those with the second sight get sensitised to the sight of spirits. Whether it is the Seventh Month or otherwise may thus make no difference to your mother's friend at all.


Li Ya Pek, the Black Ghost, does indeed wield magic chains, which he uses to bind his prisoners with.

This is me dressed up as him, by the way.

Nice costume!

Mind to share more on how & guarded the spirit during the 7th month?

I've been reading this thread since 6AM until now - 9:20AM. I'm now on page 8 and there's still halfway more to go, gonna continue the rest later. Nacht, if you'll ever publish a book about this in the nearest future, I will sure get a copy!

I was raised by a christian mom and a buddhist dad, so being in the middle of both makes me somewhat 'lazy' to care about religions. All I know was how to pay respect when I'm in church or temple. I'm illiterate in chinese but wanted to know more about these chinese religion things, so basically this thread is really interesting and helpful for me. Thanks alot! Hoping this thread will keep on going.

This post has been edited by CrimsonFox: Feb 12 2015, 09:23 AM

Can you post details about the common Thai occult worship? I always see some altars have a lady with snake-like hand posture. Wondering who or what is she?

This post has been edited by yeeck: Feb 12 2015, 05:28 PM

Thai occult stuff is totally beyond the scope of this thread, sorry.

Absolutely staggering! My utmost respect and admiration toward your commitment.

Nacht:

I am just curios... Hope u don't mind me asking... You are working at emergency room at hospital, right.? Do you help praying or utter some kind words of 'rest in peace' to the recently deceased in ER, especially them whom you were attending to?

Hi Fox, glad you're enjoying the thread. I'm trying my best to make it accessible and understandable to neophytes and longtime believers alike.

To everyone participating, and those who are merely lurking, stay tuned. I plan to keep this show on the road for as I'm able.

I do, as a matter of fact.

The fact that I pray to the Hell beings is actually quite relevant to my job as an ER doctor, as I deal with those who are at death's door on a very regular basis.

cool so kind of you