Here's a case in point; look at the placard above these Datuk statues.

Datuk keramat is missing?

Datuk worship in its present incarnation has incorporated quite a number of Chinese influences; the use of statues to represent the Datuks, for instance, which Chinese devotees incorporated in order to clearly, visually differentiate the Malay Datuks from the rest of the Chinese pantheon.

This is not something the original Malay worshipers subscribed to; they preferred to use the Datuks' abodes themselves (rocks, trees, their grave sites, etc) as focuses of worship.

Incense sticks are not something that the original Malay worshipers used, either; they opted to burn benzoin resin, a.ka. kemayan, instead; Chinese Datuk worshipers do use it on occasion.

Trance mediumship of Datuks, while it did occur in Malay Datuk worship, certainly did not happen on as widespread a basis as in Chinese Datuk worship, given how trance mediumship is so significant an element of Chinese folk religion.

But offerings such as shredded tobacco, pulut kunyit, areca nut flakes and betel leaves are passovers from the Malay Datuk worshiping era that Chinese Datuk worshipers opted to retain in an unmodified form.

Sorry, I am a few days late and I have been missing for quite a while from here I just want to point out something here about "offering"/"Sacrifice". I am of course not talking in the sense of "sintua" religion but since "sintua" is a local adaptation from the buddism and places heavy focus on the dharma, therefore what the dharma says will have some significance. In buddism, NO FORMS OF OFFERING THAT REQUIRES TAKING ANOTHER LIFE IS ALLOWED! For whatever reason, for whomever it is, for whatever excuse nor logic there may be, NO KILLING is allowed. And that is how one person can differentiate if the "spirit" is good or evil. ANY GOOD spirit will NEVER ASK YOU TO KILL AS SACRIFICE TO THEM! and those who "does", they are EVIL spirits/deities to begin with. ALL SPIRITS have some limited abilites (most are limited but there are some powerful ones that have abilities without limits) depending on a few things. There are no exception to the NO KILLING AS SACRIFICE rule. Its just makes the person who does the killing accumulate bad karma and no GOOD spirits/deities/protectors will want that.

However, I have to point out another thing which is about "wine". As I say above, Sintua religion is a local "adaptation" of buddism. As BUDDIST, of coz wine is to be avoided but these are what called presepts and are with exception and so on (ie, erm... how to say so i dont sound bad... its like ponteng sekolah.. not good but if you did it... you wont be "expelled" terus and you can redeem yourself if you can give good excuses? forgivable "sin" depending on "why" you did it? hmmm... anyway.. dont do it if you can!). But as a MONK you MUST follow the precepts (200 plus of it.. not the normal 5 for layman only). And as the sintua religion, it seems they are "ok" with wine and depending on the "spirit"/"deity's" character, wine is a norm (not all as some are stricter on themself". So, you must really know the deity well. Not all are "ok" with wine.

Natch, am i right?

The information in this thread is a real eye-opener to me. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Back to talismans, is there an expiry date attached to it? My mother always told me that it need to be "renewed" yearly i.e. seeking a fresh new one from deity yearly.

Please enlighten me. Thank you.

Kinda sorta.

As previously mentioned, sintua is an amalgamation of some Buddhist beliefs and some Taoist beliefs, albeit interpreted slightly differently from actual Buddhism and Taoism, and combined with a number of unique elements (e.g. trance mediumship and the worship of certain deities), as well.

The overarching sintua doctrine does not place restrictions on the killing of animals for food or in self-defense; however, it takes into consideration the principles, religious or otherwise, that the individual gods adhere to (Datuks are Islamic, for instance, and require halal food; while entities such as Guan Yin, Ksitigarbha, the Monkey King and Shan Cai have embraced Buddhism and strictly abide by its precepts).

Devotees are advised to bear these principles firmly in mind, and act accordingly during worship of certain deities with religious dietary restrictions or other taboos.

So yes, you must know your deities, their likes and their dislikes as intimately as possible.

actually since i felt like you might not be aware of certain things, in buddism, trance, mediumship and oracles do exist as well (especially tibettan and even some thereveda sect). The biggest difference in the way of worship is the deitified "local" ppl and the "range" of deities/gods. The way of worshipping might differ slightly and i believe the difference is mainly due to the toaist influence. However, the basics are still the same. Buddism allows integration as long as it does not break the fundamentals. That includes "NO KILLING" and hence NO LIFE SACRIFICES.

However, that itself brings out a few confusions especially about "offerings" as seen by some ppl slaughtering pigs and roast pig as sacrifice. To be honest, the practice itself is generating more bad karma as oppose to good karma. Think about it. What will be the excuse when the person went "down" after pass away when the "pig" accuse the person for "murdered" it in front of the court? (talking in sintua explanation and system as example). That pig is sacrifice for bigger good? sacrifice to honor some "deity"? what if the pig ask why him? his karma? this can't be correct, right? What i believe happened is that the pork was to give their "ancestors" as its the behaviour of the "human" when they are still on earth (extrapolated to those heros and local good man) and being uneducated or limited education society (i mean their son and daughters), these practices were then assumed to be correct for deities and so on. Another possibility i can think of is some "rich" fella wanted to show off they can please the deity by making offering "normal" peasants cant to gain favour (whole roast pig was considered a very good luxury in the olden days) and it was then assumed to be "better" and people "try to follow" the rich person's way and it spread. This again might be due to the lower level of education lvl then. However, the same question applies and "bribing" the deity is in itself a wrong/bad intention. That is my own opinion though but i still believe that "life sacrifice" should never happen.

If we go to the root of everything about "offerings" the right way was to offer offerings that pleases the 5 senses, Ie, sight, touch, taste, smell and sound. I want to clarify that the sight can be anything pleasing to the eyes like colourful flags (flags of 5 colours mentioned in some sutra text) or scultpure of the deity or precious stones like pearls. the touch can be in the form of silk or nice things to touch (banners and flags). the TASTE is not "meat" offerings but refers to fruits and water to be exact where non bad karma will be generated and i think this is where the life offerings went wrong as well. The deity or gods do not really need to "eat" if we think about it. The smell can be candles (which pleases sight as well in a way) and the toaism joss stick in this case is acceptable (hence i say buddism allow integration as long as it does not harm others). the sound could be mantra, reciting sutras or any hum and nice music. of course this is my opinion lar but i believe if we stick to the basics, we will be a lot safer than to venture into giving offerings like wine, meat sacrifices and the sorts. i doubt the "god"/deity will scold us for giving such offerings.... errr... i guess? lol..

natchsider .. care to talk more? i want to emphasize these coz it just.. erm.... makes me feel not good when i see ppl "sacrificing" livestocks as offerings. Hence when i see the topic mentioned about offering i "talk too much" about it. But i am, like most ppl, curious about offerings one should prepare and it puzzles me why i see during Chinese New Year especially ppl actually ordered one whole pig with apple at the mouth and offer it up to the temples. I also wish to be clear on sintua's stand on these issues.

BTW, just to mention a fun fact and its debatable of cours. not all monks are vegetarian

This post has been edited by Wolves: Jul 3 2015, 01:31 PM

Some talismans require replacement, correct.

Others merely require 'recharging'.

The expiry date varies from talisman to talisman, and from issuing deity to issuing deity,

And others yet, need not be replaced or recharged at all.

玄天上帝

威嚴女身男相古老體態

Rare to see a female medium channeling a male deity, especially such a deity of such intense Yang energy as Lord Xuan Wu - not all female mediums are capable of doing this without suffering adverse effects.

She pulls it off with incredible poise, grace and regality.

Very true , seen so many female mediums not a single one is able to pull through such a regal tranCE. If given a chance , I wouLD like to see her live

Hi there, has anyone heard of "Japanese buddha"? I would like to know more about it. Though I heard from stories that, he/she does grant your wishes but there are consequences. Anyone has info on it? Thanks.

This post has been edited by Guenhwyvar: Jul 5 2015, 02:20 PM

Consequences, you say.

That doesn't sound very Buddhist-like to me; Buddhist doctrine focuses on altruism.

I have only heard about it, apparently it will be on the altar covered with yellow cloth. Just curious about it.

I can't think of anything within Chinese folk religion that's even remotely similar, sorry.

No worries, Nachtsider. Just being curious.

actually all "buddism" or "deity" have their own version in their own country. For example, Gautama Buddha, Bhaisajyaguru, Amitabha Buddha, they are the "most commonly" known buddha all over the world. However, each country has their own interpretation and their own way of worshipping but not very far off from each other. I take bhaisajyaguru for example. In Japan there is a dedicated temple called yakushi-ji. In Japan, bhaisajyaguru is called yakushi. In china, "yao shi fuo" (藥師佛）。 In thailand, Phra Kring. In tibet, bhaisajyaguru. I believe you might be talking of something similar.

However, please be aware that Japan is very "tradisional" and they do worship "natural" local deity like the 9 tail fox and so on. Its like the Japan verson of chinese folklore. Ie, it was a "local adaptation" of buddism plus taoism in their own culture sense and the buddha you mention might not really be a "buddha". The only one i can think of is the "brahman" or the 4-face buddha (Erawan) in the thailand version. I am sure you heard of the 4 face buddha in thailand where you make a wish/desire and when what you wished for came true, you need to give something back (what you promised when you make the wish) or whatever you seek will be gone and with some consequences? In japan I will not be surprised if such version (in their own local adaptaion) existed.

actually, i believe there is "the 3 wise man" in chinese folklore whom i believe that sounds like the brahman. And i think there is similar stuff where you make a wish in exchange for something you will give (exchange) when you get what you asked for. Isnt there one?

This post has been edited by Wolves: Jul 7 2015, 10:44 AM

Hi Wolves, it's definitely not Phra Phrom. As I heard stories that "it" is able to follow it's worshipers everywhere. This is after one of the worshipers decided not to worship anymore and has even did some ceremony to send it back. But still it won't stop following her. So this poor lady thought that she could leave the house with it and move to a new house. But apparently, according to her, she can still feel that it is following her around.

Ah, then I can tell you what natch said is correct. It is not the "main stream" buddism. It sounds more like the local adaptation of japanese buddism/local deity/culture type. In Japan, besides the "main" buddhas, they have different sects or schools (like any country) as well that practices slightly different. I believe your friend had mess with the "bad" side of the practice. In thailand, there is one that is called kumanthong. Normally I do not wish to mention so ppl will not ask more of it. Its known as small ghost or little ghost in chinese. In japan, there is also a sect of schools/culture that "welcomes" it. It is called Zashiki-warashi. I am not sure if your "friend" is talking about these but its a small boy or girl version which you can "invite" by performing certain ceremony and it sorts of follow you around. It comes and goes as they like. But i can tell you that you are not talking about the same thing from the two different post as the first post you mention a buddha (a buddha dont do these wish thingy to be honest) and on the second post you mention it "sticks" to you. There are quite a number of yokai (spirits) that can stick to a person in Japan's cultural believes. It is definitely out of this scope in these thread and before you anger our local "guardian" of the page, mr Natch, I believe we should not discuss this topic further. I am very scared of mr Natch's holy "smite" since he is experts in needles, injections and diseccting human alive..............

Hey man, you are right it might not be a Buddha. But that's what they called it here (Penang). So I was directly translating it. I think Nacht's won't mind as long as it doesn't turn into a ghost stories thread (haunted bungalows) as there are worshipers who worship it.