Obon is a social institution that openly "celebrates" (if you will
allow me to use that term) grief. It is a time of honoring and
remembering departed friends and family.
I find this interesting because Western culture seems to want to
forget about death. We're all about youth and wealth and health. Oh,
we have our "Remembrance Day" or "Memorial Day", but we have no
tradition of the social working-out of "good grief" through customs or
rituals. (The "dia de los muertos" or "day of the dead" around All
Souls Day in Mexico might be close.)
The reason for this post is not to push or bash any religion, but to
point out that in some places, some aspects of grief are less isolated
and more public than they are for most of us. Most of us find that
the realities of death and grief are pushed to the background,
hidden, even ridiculed.
Back in 2002 when my oldest son was studying the Japanese language,
our entire family learned a lot about Japanese culture. That is how I
learned about the celebration known as Obon.
The celebrations of Obon strike me as "good grief" -- the working out,
in action and ritual, of feelings and beliefs about death.
Here are some descriptions and links:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2286.html
A short description of festival:
"Obon is a Buddhist festival during which memorial services are held
for the deceased ancestors. It is said that on Obon, the ancestors'
spirits return to this world and visit their relatives. People
traditionally hang lanterns in front of their houses in order to guide
their ancestors' spirits. Food offerings are made at house altars and
at temples, and special dances (bon-odori) are performed. At the end
of the festival, floating lanterns are put into rivers and seas to
guide the spirits back into their world."
http://www.****ngon.org/library/archive/Obon.html
Site describes origins of Buddhist festival.
"We can share in the mind of Mokuren Sonja in which he yearned for his
mother even after she died, and wanted to repay the obligation and
gratitude he felt toward his parents. There is an old saying: "If by
the time you want to practice filial piety your parents are gone, you
cannot lay a quilt over their graves."
http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=5303
A citizen of Japan describes how the festival is celebrated in Okinawa
in this article, "Obon - a spiritual homecoming for all the family",
by Kotoko Chinen (1999). "Obon is an im****tant event for Okinawans
because it presents an op****tunity to remember our blessings and show
our appreciation not only to our ancestors but also to our immediate
family."
The exact time of celebration of Obon differs by region, depending on
whether the local people follow the solar year, where "seventh month"
is counted from January 1 (meaning Obon is July 15); or the strict
lunar year, mainly in northern Japan and some of the southern islands,
where Obon coincides with the full moon of the seventh month after
"Chinese New Year"; or a compromise centered around August 15 every
year, such as in Tokyo. In 2008, the Obon travel season is mainly
between August 9 and 17.
Get-togethers, food, music. Sounds healthy to me.
Peace,
--
Daniel ( deltaechomike@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
)
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