He also recommends reciting scriptures, remembering the Buddha and doing good deeds, with their merit dedicated to the ancestors. These practices seek more than nourishment in the present condition. They are intended to help the deceased move towards a better life. Gratitude is expressed through what the living continue to do: remembering their relatives, making appropriate offerings and undertaking good actions for their benefit. [9]
Notes
[1] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 32, on the union of compassion and wisdom and help that follows causation; vol. 2, chs. 17–18, on personal favour and the merit created by a sincere good intention.
[2] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 32, quotes the Universal Gateway teaching and applies it to this encounter. The identification of Mary as Guanyin's manifestation is the judge's explanation; the Lotus Sutra's teaching on appropriate forms does not itself name Mary. See Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama, trans., The Lotus Sutra, revised second edition (2007), ch. 25, pp. 297–298. [Source 1](https://www.bdk.or.jp/document/dgtl-dl/dBET_T0262_LotusSutra_2007.pdf) [Source 2](https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/zh/T0262_007)
[3] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 32. The account distinguishes the parents' prayer and charity, the boy's own repentance, and the bodhisattva's power. He withdraws his earlier request for heaven, and the final ascent has no specified destination.
[4] Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 963–971, especially 970–971, for Mary's relationship to Christ and the distinction between devotion and adoration. Qur'an 3:42 and 5:75 for Maryam's description within Islamic scripture. The Qur'an honours Maryam as chosen, purified and truthful, and calls her son Jesus a messenger. Each tradition gives her a distinct place. [Source 1](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_9/paragraph_6_mary_-_mother_of_christ%2C_mother_of_the_church.html) [Source 2](https://quran.com/en/ali-imran/42) [Source 3](https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=5&verse=75)
[5] Yinlü Wuqing, vol. 1, ch. 29, for the son's practice and the father's repentance. The subsequent human birth includes remaining consequences and a promise requiring continued practice.
[6] The connection between repentance and received help has older Chinese Buddhist expressions. A prayer attributed to Lingyu, a sixth-century monk, acknowledges the speaker's harmful deeds and appeals to the Buddhas' compassion. Its account of purification brings personal disclosure and a compassionate response together. This is one historical example of a practice in which asking for help includes facing what one has done. Wendi L. Adamek, ‘Addressing the Mind: Developments in the Culture of Confession in Sui-Tang China,’ Journal of Chinese Buddhist Studies 28 (2015): 117–152, pp. 132–134, discusses Lingyu's prayer and its account of repentance and the Buddhas' response. [Source 1](https://chinesebuddhiststudies.org/wp-content/uploads/jcbs2804_Adamek117-152.pdf)
[7] McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, ‘Ancestral Tablet,’ accession 1985.16.18: a rosewood object dated around 1900, with an inscribed inner panel recording a name and accomplishments. The museum also explains offerings and incense in the tablet's ritual use. [Source 1](https://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/object-of-the-month/ancestral-tablet/)
[8] Wei Liu, ‘Performing Sacrificial Texts and Reenacting the “Imperial Metaphor” in Rituals of Ancestor Worship in Qimen County, Huizhou, China,’ Asian Ethnology 82(2) (2023): 323–343, DOI 10.15119/0002000315: research from 2015–2021, including workshops. Yan Zhang and Yuwei Jiang, ‘An examination of communication mechanism of ancestral hall sacrifice rituals in rural southern China,’ Scientific Reports 15 (2025): 41341, DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-25237-4: fieldwork in four Luoyuan villages in 2022–2023, with twenty interviewees. These studies describe particular local rites. [Source 1](https://doi.org/10.15119/0002000315) [Source 2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-25237-4)