As a matter of fact, Moginlin has a Sanskrit name of (Maha)maudgalyayana or Maudgalaputtra. Maudgala modifies puttra, which means “son” Maudgala is a derivative of mudga, which means “lentil” Maudgalaputtra’s maternal ancestors are believed to live on lentil alone, and that’s why he is known as the son of the lentil-eating people, the translation into Chinese of puttra being “lian (連)” which means “related” Mahamaudgalyayana was a historical person. He called a Buddhist synod for Mahendra, successor to Asoka, emperor of Magadha. Asoka, who overran the Macedonian garrisons left in India in 325 B.C. by Alexander the Great, is to Buddhism what Constantine the Great is to Christianity. Maudgalaputtra is also known as Kolita, who, according to a Buddhist sutra, went to Hell to rescue his mother and reborn as a Buddha.

In the Chinese legend, however, Moginlin was a Buddhist fakir or bhiksu, who began to acquire supernatural power after long years of practicing asceticism. He had a pair of eyes that could penetrate the wall separating man’s world and Hell. One day he saw his own mother in Hell among hungry ghosts with his supernaturally-powered eyes. She had been starved into a walking skeleton. So the first thing he did on seeing her was to offer rice in his alms bowl to her. Once in her mouth, the rice became charcoal fire, however. She could not swallow it, of course. Then he prayed to the Sakyamuni Buddha for help.

The Buddha told Moginlin his mother was overly selfish while alive. She never did anything to earn merit. That’s why she had to suffer so much in Hell. “You alone couldn’t save her,” the Tathagata said, adding: “On the fifteenth day of the seventh moon, you have to offer food and fruit to members of the Sangha everywhere. With the help of the monks and deities, you would be able to rescue your mother, who would be reborn at an early date. That would also help the parents of many other people get out of the Sea of Duhkha (suffering) as well.”

Moginlin complied. His mother was saved. So were fathers and mothers of many other people. The event is known as Ulambhana (孟蘭盆), or Buddhist All Souls Day, like Halloween in the Christian West. It is also known as the Pudu festival (普渡) or the Festival for All Ferried Across to the Other Bank or Zhongyuan jie (中元節), which means the festival of Midyear, because it falls on and around the fifteenth day of the seventh moon on the lunar calendar. Buddhist and Taoist faithful believe the Gates of Hell would be opened two weeks before the fifteenth of the seventh moon and closed two weeks thereafter. During the festival period, which is popularly called the Month of Ghosts (鬼月), hungry ghosts in Hell would be free to visit their relatives in this world and entertained.

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