If you have watched the Mexican movie COCO, you may remember its central message: our ancestors are not truly gone while they are still remembered. The Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos and the Vedic tradition of Pitru Paksha are different, but both recognize one powerful truth: The relationship between the living and the departed does not end with death. Once every year, Pitru Paksha gives us a sacred period to remember our ancestors, make offerings to them and repay Pitru Rina, the karmic debt we carry toward our lineage. The first Shraddha begins: The night of September 25 in the USA and September 26 in India During the entire Pitru Paksha: - Offer Tarpan: Face south and offer water mixed with black sesame seeds to your maternal and paternal ancestors.
- Feed a crow, cow, dog or anyone who is hungry before you eat.
- Keep your food and lifestyle simple. This is a period of repayment and remembrance, not indulgence.
- Avoid beginning elaborate or luxurious or wasteful celebrations.
- Observe the pattern repeating through your family: anger, addiction, dishonesty, abandonment or broken relationships. Let it go. Offer it to the Fire. Offer it to Mother Earth through rituals and manifestations.
- “I honor what came before me, but I will not carry this pattern forward.”
Namaste,
Amit Garg
Shri Ganesh Utsav Yagya: Register
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