of those of Jodo Shinshu, one of the major lineages of
Pure Land adherents. The ancestral tablet is Chinese
Confucian in origin but was popularized by Buddhist
monks during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
(Fujii, 1988, p. 20).
Family tombs are also important objects of ances-
tral worship in Japan. Early tombs are modeled on the
STUPASin India, where relics of the Buddha are en-
shrined. Japanese ancestral tombs are visited by family
members to commemorate their ancestors during the
Obon ancestral festival. Unlike the Chinese and Japan-
ese, Thai and Burmese Buddhists do not show much
interest in building and maintaining elaborate graves
because tombs are not regarded as ancestral residences.
Founder worship in Japan
Another characteristic of Japanese Buddhism in rela-
tion to ancestor worship is worship of the founders of
various Buddhist schools and sects, many of which
were established during the Kamakura period (1185–
1333). Those most frequently worshipped include
KUKAI(774–835) of the Shingon Tantric school; Eisai
(1141–1215) of Rinzai Zen; DOGEN(1200–1253) of
SotoZen; HONEN(1133–1212) of the Pure Land sect
or Jodoshu; SHINRAN(1173–1263) of Jodo Shinshu;
and NICHIREN(1222–1282) of the Nichiren school.
These founders are worshipped and revered as divine
“fathers” of their respective lineages. The followers of
these founders are considered the “children” of the
father-founders, using a family analogy. The blood lin-
eage (Japanese, kechimyaku) is interpreted in a spiri-
tual sense as the bond connecting the founder and the
followers through various rites. This founder worship
is the basis of salvific and devotional Japanese Bud-
dhism, since schools and lineages were formed and de-
veloped upon the basis of the revelatory experience of
these founders. Several annual rites are performed to
commemorate the birth, death, and other major life
events of the founders or prominent monks who con-
tributed to the different schools of Buddhism in Japan.
The stupas, which contain the remains of founders and
prominent monks, are usually constructed within a
monastery complex of the headquarters of a particu-
lar lineage or sect. Furthermore, statues of the founders
and prominent monks are made and placed near the
central objects of worship, usually Buddha figures or
MANDALAS.Conclusion
Although S ́akyamuni Buddha did not affirm the exis-
tence of an unchanging soul, Buddhism, in its devel-
opment over many centuries in different parts of Asia,
provides a rich theoretical and ritual basis for ances-
tral rites. One aspect of this basis is the idea of repeated
birth in the lower six realms of existence: the realms
of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods
(asura), or heavenly deities, depending upon one’s
karma from past lives. This idea of karma, of ancient
Indian origin, was inherited by Buddhists and is un-
derstood as the continuing individual process that
undergoes the cycle of rebirth. The concept of PRA-
TITYASAMUTPADA(DEPENDENT ORIGINATION) also con-
tributed to ancestor worship, as the theory was
understood, especially by the laypeople, to mean that
past, present, and future lives are connected. More-
over, the idea of NIRVANA, which is often explained
with the analogy of extinguishing a candle, evolved
into the idea of dharmakaya or dharma body, which is
not affected by the death of the physical body of the
Buddha (Sanskrit, nirmanakaya). The Buddha’s fu-
neral and the subsequent development of relic worship
gave further impetus to the worship of ancestors.
The main concept underlying Buddhist ancestral
rituals is the transfer of merit, which is practiced in al-
most all Buddhist countries. In the rituals of meritANCESTORS
A Zen (Chan school) priest paying respect at his parents’ gravesite
in the cemetery of the Kotokoji in Tokyo, 1992. © Don Farber
- All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission.