Opening of Heavenly Gate aka Tian Men Kai (天門開又稱天貺日)

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In Taoist Culture, every year during the Lunar 6 Month, the Taoist or Chinese will celebrate 1 very important Festival on the 6th Day of Lunar 6 Month (2008 falls on 8 July).

This Day is known as Opening of Heavenly Gate, Tian Men Kai (天門開) or Tian Kuang Ri (天貺日).

In Singapore, due to the mis-interpretation and mis-teaching, the Opening of Heavenly Gate will usually be celebrated on the 7th Day of Lunar 6 Month, but to be more accurate or exact, it shall be on the 6th Day of Lunar 6 Month.

According to Chinese History, the Celebration of Tian Kuang Ri aka Tian Men Kai was only being fixed after Song Dynasty (this is a Day that being Bestowed by Song Emperor Zhen Zong 宋真宗祥符四年 on AD 1011, before AD 1011, Tian Men Kai is usually being celebrated between the 1st Day & 15th Day of Lunar 6 Month).

So does Really the Heavenly Gate opened on this Day?

This is just a Myth that the folks believed in, to be more exact, Heavenly Gate does not have the process of Opening or Closing.

So what is the actual meaning of this Tian Kuang Ri aka Tian Men Kai?

According to records and the Objective that being fixed by the Song Empire, actually Tian Kuang Ri is a Day for the Taoists to pay respect to the Heaven and other Deities and also, for Jade Emperor of Heaven (玉皇大天尊) to send his Officials to the Mortal Realm to distribute out the necessary Blessing to the Living Beings according to their Credits and Merits accumulated thru-out the past 6 Months (another Day of such Events will be on the 25th Day of Lunar 12 Month).

Due to this Tian Kuang Ri belief, this is why in our Taoist or Chinese Society, in the Spiritual Theory, we have a Theory of Luck will only changed after every 6 Lunar Months.

Tian Kuang Ri has another meaning of, Heaven gives out the Necessary Gifts/Rewards to the Necessary groups of Beings, such as Sick, Poor, Cultivated People or “Badies (its time for them to Receive the Rewards of what they have Accumulated)”.

So how will the Taoists or Chinese Celebrates this Day?

For Taoists, we will visit Temples to pay Respect to Heaven & Jade Emperor of Heaven and then, do certain Chanting or Reciting of Scriptures or Mantras.

For Chinese, they will visit Temples to do requesting of Lucks and also, to do reprimanding of one self Debts, Sins and Evil-doing, once the Reprimanding is done, then they will do another round of Luck-requesting.

For those whose Requests being fulfilled within the 6 Months, they will need to return to the Temple to show their Gratitude to the Heaven or Deities before 25th Day of Lunar 12 Month.

For the Folks, on this Day, they will bring out their Clothing, Paintings, Books or some Valuable-stuffs to do Sun-bathing. Why they do so? Folks believed that by doing the Sun-bathing, the Objects will be blessed by Heaven and all these Objects will be able to last longer.

In the Early Days (in Singapore), Old people who had bought their Shou Yi (壽衣 the Apparel for their Funeral) to keep, on this Day, they would bring out one piece (out of the 7 Layers) to do Sun-bathing. Why they do so? The Old people believed that by doing so, their Age-span would be prolonged by 1-3 years. If they didn’t do that, meaning that on that year, it might be their Last Year staying in this Mortal Realm.

So how can one self Celebrates this Day in this Modern Society?

Its very simple, just get some simple Offerings (as followed) to any Temple. Sincerely pay your respect and I’m sure your Request will be heard by the Heaven.

Here the offerings go:

1 A set of 3 Long Incenses
2 A pair of Red Candles
3 A set of Fruits (5 Quantity)
4 A set of Loose Flowers
5 A/3 set(s) of Tian Gong Jin (Big Josspaper)
6 A/3 set(s) of Shou Jin (Normal Josspaper)

Upon reaching the Temple, place All the offerings on the Main Altar or at the Jade Emperors Altar, then proceed to the Whole Temple to pay respect to the Other Deities and then return to the Altar where you placed the Offerings, sincerely make a Bow and then Kneel down on the Kneeling-pad and start your Requesting:

1) Start with the Offering of Incense Mantra:

祝香神咒 (Incenses Offering Mantra)
道由心學。心假香傳。
Dao You Xin Xue, Xin Jia Xiang Chuan

香爇玉爐。心存帝前。
Xiang Re Yu Lu, Xin Cun Di Qian

真靈下盼。仙旆臨軒。
Zhen Ling Xia Pan, Xian Pei Lin Xuan

令民關告。逕達九天.。
Ling Min Guan Gao, Jing Da Jiu Tian

2) Report your name and where you stayed
3) Report what is the event Today
4) Report what is your Request (remember to request for those that is possible to fulfill)
5) Once the report is done, sincerely make 3 Bows and then stand-up and place your Incenses into the Urn
6) Make a Bow and leave the Spot
7) After 10 – 15 Minutes, retrieve the Josspapers and proceed to do the Sending-off
8) Once the Burning is done, retrieve the Offerings and then leave the Temple

Remember, once the Request is being fulfilled within the 6 Months, please return to the Temple again to show your Gratitude.

PS: This year, Wan Shou Shan Tian Gong Miao located at Telok Blangah Height, besides Blk 45 & 46, will be conducting a Ceremony of Enhancing the Newly Renovated Temple Gate on the 7th Day of Lunar 6 Month (9 July 2008).

For those who are interested in observing this Event, please do proceed to the Temple in the Morning.