Here is a small story regarding Sur practice
The Hungry Ghost Mother Who Found Peace
Long ago in Tibet, there lived a kind woman who died suddenly during a harsh winter. She had left behind a young son. After her death, her consciousness took rebirth as a hungry ghost (preta) due to lingering attachment to her family and the food she used to lovingly prepare.
The boy, not understanding spiritual rituals, would cry each night for his mother. An old lama practitioner who lived nearby heard his crying and told him:
“Your mother cannot eat ordinary food anymore. But she can smell what is offered to her with love.”
The lama showed him how to mix tsampa, butter, and sugar, bless it, and burn it on hot coals. When the smoke rose, the lama instructed:
“dedicate the fragrance to her with compassion.”
That night, the boy did as being told. In the unseen realm, the mother — as a preta, weak and starving — smelled the sur smoke and felt an overwhelming sense of relief, like drinking nectar. Over several nights of offerings, her pain lessened, her attachment softened, and she was finally guided by compassionate beings to a better rebirth.
This story is often told in villages to explain how sur is not a tradition, but meaningful and truly reaches beings who suffer in subtle realms.
