Murti, T. R. V. The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of
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Unwin, 1960.
Pérez-Remón, Joaquín. Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism.
The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton, 1980.
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught,revised edition.
Bedford, UK: Fraser Gallery, 1967.
K. T. S. SARAOANCESTORS
The meaning of ancestordiffers among different cul-
tures, depending on their kinship system and their be-
liefs regarding the deceased. Ancestorcould refer to the
originator of an ancestral lineage or the soul of a dead
person who is memorialized in a family shrine. The
Sanskrit word for ancestor, preta,is related to the Vedic
term pitarah(fathers). According to an ABHIDHARMA
commentary, Mahavibhasa (Chinese, Dapiposha lun;
Great Exegesis), Yama, the first mortal who died and
became the king of the netherworld, is called preta-raja
(king of the dead) or pitr-raja(king of fathers). Thus,
in ancient India, the words pretaand pitarahwere al-
most interchangeable in their use. This reflects the pa-
trilineal kinship system of ancient India and the
ancestral rites that were performed and maintained
through the male line.
In Asia, various forms of ancestor worship were in-
corporated into Buddhist rites. Ancestral rites and cer-
emonies are particularly prominent in East Asia, where
MAHAYANABuddhism and Confucianism predomi-
nated and interacted. Southeast Asian societies, where
THERAVADA Buddhism flourished, observe similar
Buddhist rites for ancestors, but the continuity of a
family lineage is not the main motive of their rites. In
general, ancestor worship entails belief in the protec-
tive power of the deceased members of a particular
family, lineage, or a tribal group. It is also based on the
desire to overcome fear of the corpse and elevate the
newly deceased to the level of respected ancestors,
which continue to interact with the living.
Buddhist ideas of soul and afterlife
According to Buddhist scriptures, questions regarding
existence in the afterlife constitute one of the fourteen
issues on which the Buddha did not elaborate because
such matters cannot be proven by experience or logic.
Buddhist teachings denied any unchangeable or per-
manent entity, such as a soul, since all phenomena are
seen as subject to ANITYA(IMPERMANENCE). The Bud-
dha is said to have instructed his disciples not to deal
with funerals, unless they were for family members.
The Buddha’s funeral is said to have been performed
according to the ancient Indian customs for the fu-
neral of a cakravartin (wheel-turning emperor or king,
who rules the world), and no Buddhist funerals for the
dead were established at that time. Buddhist ideas of
no-self (anatman) were the opposite of Brahmanical
beliefs concerning the continuity of the self. Later,
however, some Buddhist schools modified the idea of
no-self by, for example, positing the ALAYAVIJN
ANA
(storehouse consciousness) as that which undergoes
rebirth. One widely accepted theory is the Sarvastivada
school’s stance on KARMA(ACTION) as the continuing
force that sets in motion a new existence after death.
Whatever philosophical terms the Buddhist scholars
used, continuity of the individual after death was more
or less assumed. These ideas, such as karma, provided
the theoretical background for ancestral rites for the
Buddhists.
Buddhist ancestral rites developed and incorporated
non-Buddhist beliefs and practices from Hinduism,
Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto, as well as from the
popular folk beliefs of the people in Asia. In almost all
Asian cultures, indigenous spirit cults play a major role
in ancestor worship and veneration: for example, the
phispirit of Thai people, the natof the Burmese, the
tamaof the Japanese, and the poand guiof the Chi-
nese. These potentially dangerous spirits can become
ancestors through Buddhist pacification rituals and
memorial rites.The Ghost Festival and merit transfer
The most widespread Buddhist ancestral festival is the
GHOSTFESTIVAL, or yulanpen(Japanese, Obon), which
was recorded in Chinese Buddhist sources as early as
the fifth century. During the Ghost Festival, ancestors
are invited back to this world for a feast, which is pre-
pared by the family members. This festival is based on
the Buddhist legend of MAHAMAUDGALYAYANA, one of
the ten leading disciples of the Buddha. Mahamaud-
galyayana is well known for liberating his mother from
hell. His mother was unable to eat since all the food
she tried to eat changed into fire before she put it into
her mouth. Mahamaudgalyayana’s offerings to the
community of monks saved her from hell, and she was
reborn in an upper heaven. This yulanpenfestival
unites the Buddhist components of hungry ghosts and
salvation with Chinese indigenous belief in pacifying
dead spirits. In China, imitation paper money andANCESTORS