earticle

영어

Buddhist memorial service performed by the Japanese Buddhism blended into the Japanese folk customs and became an established tradition of the Japanese people. The symbolic structure of it is not derived from the ideas peculiar to Japan, but from the idea, which accompanied the re-burial of primitive societies in Southeast Asia. It might be presumed that each Buddhist memorial service is given the meanings by each sect as long as they are performed according to the Buddhism ways. This paper aims to examine the case of Jodo sect that was deeply involved with the mortuary practice from the early days. In the doctrine of Jodo sect, the prayer is supposed to be born into the paradise after receiving Amitabha when he dies and begin his training by receiving the teachings of Amitabha in a blessed environment. It is extremely difficult to drew a conclusion of the symbolic structure of the re-burial from this doctrine. According to Jodo sect, the Buddhist memorial service has its meaning in cherishing the memory of the dead or giving the opportunity to come in contact with the teachings of Amitabha. It can be stated that such a disparate phenomenan of the doctrine and practice is not the phenomenon that can be seen only in Jodo sect, but a phenominon that can be seen across the Japanese Buddhism.