The Dragon's Head Blog

Getting ready for the All Souls Festival, volunteers wash fruit and prepare jai vegetarian food as offerings. They also get ready to film the ceremony so participants around the world can join together to chant virtually.

We all have a relationship with our ancestors. All Souls Festival provides a way to care for & maintain harmony with them, which extends to our lives & communities. At the FLK International Centre the Columbarium, along with the cemetery and Memorial Hall, are permanent places to care for people after they have died.

At this time of year the temples bustle with activity. Volunteers at D’arcy Street Temple in Toronto prepare for the All Souls Festival. FLK All Souls Festival chanting ceremonies will take place virtually this year. 

All Souls Festival gives the living an opportunity to express filial piety, harmony and dedication by honouring ancestors, relatives and friends who have passed away.  Beautiful paper bags decorated with symbols of longevity, balance and comfort in the afterlife hold paper offerings to be burnt. FLK All Souls Festival chanting ceremonies will take place virtually this year. 

Paper offerings help the souls.  FLK All Souls Festival chanting ceremonies will take place virtually this year.  Buddhist and Taoist temples around the world observe All Souls Festival during the first half of the 7th lunar month when the gates of the realm of the dead are opened and the souls of the deceased can receive […]

All Souls Festival is one of the most important times of year in the Taoist calendar. It provides an opportunity for the living to honour those who have passed away. Volunteers prepare paper offerings for the souls of the departed in the Realm of Yin.  FLK All Souls Festival chanting ceremonies will take place virtually this […]

FLK held virtual All Souls chanting ceremonies online this year. In Chinese culture the All Souls Festival is one of the most important festivals of the year.  The All Souls Festival gives souls a chance to listen to the wisdom of the sutras chanted during the days of the festival and become free by resolving any […]

Last Saturday, the Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism  offered an opportunity to observe and or participate in the All Souls Festival in a live online format following the weekly chanting opportunity.  Being familiar with some other traditions for the deceased, I was intrigued and curious but intended to just ” stay for awhile”.  Long […]

  Throughout the period of All Souls Festivals we have offered chanting opportunities and held two day events to align with each of the three Festivals held at the International Centre, Wong Dai Seen Temple and at D’Arcy Street this month.  Joining with others around the world we came together to provide help to those […]

Master Moy taught us to honor the living and the dead, to promote cultural exchange, and to help others. The All Souls Festivals of 2019 has given the opportunity to express all of these aims. Around the world, participants gathered to engage in something greater than themselves. We chanted, prepared plaques honoring the deceased, folded […]

Accumulate virtue and continue to do good deeds. Help people while they are living, comfort them while they are dying or after death. Moy Lin Shin – May 1998 In keeping with Master Moy Lin Shin’s guidance, the All Souls Festival has been observed at the Calgary Centre between August 24th to 26th, 2018. There […]

A volunteer at the International Centre near Orangeville describes how helping at the All Souls Festival has a profound effect.   https://youtube.com/watch?v=FzdUeruFaws

Accumulate virtue and continue to do good deeds. Help people while they are living, comfort them while they are dying or after death. Moy Lin Shin – May 1998   In keeping with Master Moy Lin Shin’s guidance, All Souls Festival has been observed at the D’Arcy St Temple, Wong Dai Sin Temple, and the […]

All Souls Festival is being observed at D’Arcy St Temple in Toronto with Taoist and Confucian chanting.  Volunteers and staff have been working for weeks to support the festival and those who wish to offer paper money and other gifts to the dead. Many members of the local Chinese community come to D’Arcy St over […]

It is nice that you can actually do something practical for a loved one who is no longer around; that you are still able to communicate, to have a connection with that person. Participating together makes the festival really special; you build that connection as a group in order to help loved ones that have […]

The All Souls Festival is a major event in the tradition of Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi® practice, and took place at the International Centre  at the end of a week of chanting and quiet contemplation. Each year the gate of the realm of the dead is opened for the first half of the […]

The International Centre looked stunning today as participants took part in the All Souls Festival, welcomed visitors to an Open House, and continued preparations for CIT Week, the 10th Anniversary of the Grand Opening of the Three Religions Temple, and International Awareness Day. It was the penultimate day of the International Centre Anniversary Photo Contest […]

“Energising chants to remember and honour departed loved ones, while lightening and transforming grief into joy.” “Powerful, still, moving.” “Stillness, joy, compassion. Reflections and celebration. Amazing energy of lives lived.” “Great learning experience in the rituals and the helping others that creates harmony in many directions.” “Powerful, profound, a wonderfully rich experience of sharing and […]