Eitaikyo Service: The "Perpetual Sutra"

Around the first two weeks of November, most Japanese Buddhist traditions have the Perpetual Sutra or Eitaikyo Service.

Eitaikyo is when we honour family members who have passed away, out of respect be it due to filial piety or out of obligation to a close friend.

This is the time of year when Buddhists of the Jodo Shinshu tradition honour their dearly departed ones.

To the casual visitor to a Japanese Buddhist temple, the service held therein might be discounted as "ancestor worship."

Yet for the dedicated Buddhist, the respect we pay to deceased family members is no different from the respect given to the war dead on Remembrance Day. Just as it has become tradition to remember the fallen heroes of November 11, 1918 and later wars, so too has it been tradition to practice Eitaikyo.

In both cases, we as human beings show a spark of compassion for the dead and recently departed.


Links:
Eitaikyo Muen Hyo

Background:
Eitaikyo began as a memorial service held at Buddhist shrines, first to honour ancestors, and later, to honour the war dead.

Hence Eitaikyo originally served to help surviving family members to cope with the loss of loved ones lost to death through disease and war.

Eitaikyo Service

Sometimes this service has Buddhist temples honouring the dead and being paid for it by surviving family members who fear death, yet still have obligation to their parents' wishes.

So, both Remembrance Day and Eitaikyo share the deepest respect for the dead.

In this way, we may accept our fear of death by paying our deepest respect for deceased family members at memorial services for them.