Eastern Religions: Compare and Contrast. Buddhism Zen Buddhism Confucianism Daoism Hinduism Shinto. and a powerful

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1 Eastern Religions: Compare and Contrast Belief in a Supreme Deity There is no Supreme Confucianism is a On the level of Daoist At an elite level, often Deity. The word "Zen" system of morality that texts and thinkers, the today called Vedanta (Chinese: Chan; was heavily influenced Dao is not a personal (relating back to the Sanskrit: dhyana) means by government divine being. There is last texts of the ancient "meditation." Zen adaptation and none. It is the Way of Vedas), and Buddhists believe that promotion from the Han the universe, the particularly popular everyone has the dynasty to the present. primordial ordering among English- Buddha nature within. Government sponsored principle of all of educated Indians, the Though Zen in principle Confucian temples reality whose highest reality is the saw no need to use taught national morality, movement is One impersonal images or to concentrate as did passing a civil characterized by the absolute often on the study of Buddhist service examination forces of yang identified with the true scriptures (sutras), both system for government (positive) and yin Self within and called continued to be used in employment, which (negative). Good is a Brahman. Within this Zen temples. created a uniform balancing of these two understanding, the ideology in government forces; evil their numerous popular and a powerful imbalance. deities are therefore scholarly class. considered to be personifications of Brahman and organized in various schema. There is no Supreme Deity who creates and rules the universe. Karma, the law of cause and effect governing all one s actions, is responsible for the universe as it is. Other cultural deities, like humans, also participate in samsara, the continual passing through karma and rebirth. The title buddha means enlightened one, a human who has awakened to see reality as it is. Thus, there can be many buddhas. The historical Buddha, Gottama, reportedly said his role was to point the way. Rejecting ignorance, grasping to things, and greed, a buddha embodies the Dharma (the Truth, Law): wisdom, generosity, compassion, non-attachment, and nonviolence. On a popular level, as in temples, however, numerous buddhas and bodhisattvas (enlightened beings who vow to end the suffering of others, e.g. Kuan Yin) function for the people as deities who grant wishes. Crucially central to Zen practice is the master, roshi, who must be within an authoritative tradition of personally passing down satori from master to disciple that is traced back to the historical Buddha. Thus, the importance of the Chinese Patriarchs of Zen (e.g., the First: Bodhidharma or Daruma). The roshi passes on the means to enlightenment. He has complete authority for he embodies the very presence of enlightenment and the Buddha to the Zen monks, unsui, and is assumed to know exactly what each unsui needs to reach satori. Confucius, according to the Analects, believed in a supreme divine king called Tian, Heaven, which since the Han dynasty has become an impersonal Nature. However, Confucius interests were more in restoring the crumbling social order of his day than discussing spirits. On a popular level, numerous cultural heroes and legendary figures who embodied Confucian virtues were raised to the status of worship by the government and are found in temples today. At a popular level, many Chinese people include in their pantheon of suprahuman beings Daoist Immortals (popularly eight): i.e. folk figures who upon attaining immortality have been raised to the status of functioning to grant people s wishes. Even Lao-ze, riding his ox to the Western regions, the legendary author of the Dao-dejing, has been deified. Daoist temples are dedicated to one or more of these. They are not creator deities but merely answer prayers. On a popular level, these gods (e.g. Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva) and goddesses (e.g. Durga, Kali) are worshipped as creators, sustainers, and destroyers of all, and different sects worship various Lords (Ishvara) as supreme. For some a goddess is considered the power, shakti, of the god; for others she is the highest lord in herself. Most people are henotheists, some polytheists or monotheists. Kami are the gods, forces, and powers, worshipped by the Japanese people in Shinto shrines. The traditional number is 800 million. These can include both good and evil forces, often related closely to nature, and in earliest times they were the ancestral gods of each clan (ujigami). Today kami are worshipped for their functions -- to aid people with the problems of life. Shinto practices are mixed with Buddhist practices. Ancestor spirits may also be kami and a long tradition dating back to the Chronicles of Japan from the 8 th century CE says the Emperor is a living kami directly descended from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. Only in these early texts and when the government promoted Shinto were there attempts to rank kami, such as considering Amaterasu the most powerful.

2 View of Life After Death The goal is satori (nirvana), an intuitive experience that is the release from, and end of, suffering and samara, the otherwise endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth caused by one s actions, karma. The goal is nirvana, not a heaven -- an intuitive experience which is the release from suffering and samara, the otherwise endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth caused by one s actions, karma. Nirvana is an indescribable state of consciousness beyond reality as we know it in which one knows reality the way it is. Buddhists stress the concept of impermanence for understanding the world. Human desire causes suffering, frustration, and disappointment; it is the clinging to things, including one s sense of ego, all of which are impermanent. In some traditions one must become a monk to attain this; monks are thus central symbolic figures. Some Buddhists at a popular level developed the idea of a Pure Land, a heaven into which one can be born as a result of devotion. Once there, attaining nirvana is guaranteed. This became Jodo, a major movement in China and Japan. Also, temporary hells and heavens were posited to live out one s karma before an earthly rebirth. Because Zen (Chan) developed in China, Zen thinkers emphasize the this-worldly aspects of the new indescribable insight one achieves with satori -- how it causes one to relate to, see, experience, and live in the present reality from a perspective of oneness and non-attachment, a rejection of the approach to reality of analysis of things and stand-back objectification. Different schools of Zen varied on whether the experience of satori came suddenly, like a shock to one s system (Rinzai Zen), or more gradually, attained during zazen (seated meditation) but deepening as one continued to practice zazen (Soto Zen). According to the Analects of Confucius, Confucius was uninterested in discussing life after death and a hereafter. He apparently recognized ancestral spirits but was singlemindedly concerned with social order and stopping the fall of his civilization. He therefore held that life and its problems were sufficient to tax the energies of a junzi, ideal gentleman-leader. Because no texts survive that can be shown to be authored by, or contemporary with, Confucius, most scholars are wary to attribute specific ideas to Confucius himself. Later Confucian scholars, such as Mencius, continued this concern for social order, defined in terms of maintaining appropriate relationships, li. They encouraged worship of ancestral spirits as acts of filial piety that maintained the family structure. Chinese governments heavily supported these thinkers. The earliest Daoist texts, the Dao-de-jing and Zhuang-zi, are concerned with restoring the social order that was deteriorating during the fall of the Zhou dynasty. Death is seen as merely another regular movement of the Dao to be accepted just as one accepts life. Neither of these texts will become popular beyond the elite, scholarly classes. Later popular movements often called Daoist will search for means to attain xian, immortality. The outer elixir schools use alchemy with gold and cinnabar to find a potion to produce it. The inner elixir schools will practice, yoga, massage, sexual practices, breath control and other means to reorder one s body to attain immortality. Popular temple practices around worship of Daoist Immortals in response to Buddhist influence will develop funeral and memorial services led by Daoist priests to ensure the happiness of the departed in the afterlife. Hindus believe in samsara, the cycle of life, death, rebirth, and redeath. If a person s karma has been exceptionally good or bad, they will be reborn only temporarily in one of the heavens or hells to live out their good or bad karma before being reborn on the earth. Elite Hindu thought teaches that moksha, liberation from samsara, is a state of consciousness in which one is One with Reality, described as pure being (sat), pure consciousness (chit), and pure bliss (ananda). At the popular level of bhakti, devotion, by worshiping deities people can be reborn into increasingly higher positions in the class system until they escape samsara. This final liberation is often conceived as permanent rebirth in a heaven in the presence of one s ishtadeva, chosen deity. Shinto has been reluctant to deal with death since death is considered polluting. Death as a concern has been left to Buddhist priests. It thinks of some kami as the spirits of the dead, such as ancestors, who can affect the living. Those who die inauspiciously can become evil spirits who cause community disasters or personal misfortunes. When a child is born, a local Shinto shrine may add the name to a list and declare him or her a family child or ujiko. After death, an ujiko becomes a family kami (ujigami). Names can be added without consent regardless of the beliefs of the person added, such as the names of military spirits at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. Such children and adult spirits can be appeased in a Shinto shrine dedicated to stilling their anger and sadness.

3 Relationship with Nature Zen roshi promoted the Confucianism was a Nature is the model for Hindus have varied in cultural practices and styles pragmatic & moralistic human action. It has a their interest in nature. of the upper, military philosophy focused Dao, Way, about it that Some, like Buddhists, classes of their day, and upon the human being, acts as a pendulum believed the way to through their emphasis on one s place in society, ever-balancing yang attain moksha was discipline and desire to and appropriate, and yin. All of nature monastic or ascetic. express satori in this world government. It is was divided up to be Since purity was became masters of these concerned with order understood in terms of defined first as arts: gardening, flower and structure. these two forces: personal, there was less arranging, the tea ceremony, man/woman, interest in issues of ink painting, calligraphy, summer/winter, cleanliness outside haiku, swordsmanship. heat/cold, day/night. oneself. All living beings are caught up in karma and rebirth and thus to be valued on the same level as human beings -- deserving compassion and not to be treated as useful for our egoistic selves. Even the deities of the cultures in which Buddhism exists are considered to be caught up in this samsara though on a higher plane than humans. Traditionally Buddhists have taken little interest in nature because Buddhist monks and nuns were expected to withdraw from the world and its attachments. Some modern Buddhist thinkers have begun applying Buddhist ethics to issues of environmental justice. An indefinable mood (fuin) of Zen was posited. Nature is imbued with the same vitality as the Buddha nature within. It is to be seen in oneness with it, intuitively, without the objectification that takes it apart to analyze it. Zen arts, including gardens, are representational of the strict Zen discipline required for attaining satori: the importance of detail, the spontaneity of egolessness, and the breaking of common distinctions such as artificial/natural. The placement of each of the elements of the garden or other artistic work is crucial but the ultimate goal is the over-all intuitive effect upon the viewer. They are objects of meditation, not analysis. While the worship of natural spirits of ancient China was respected, these were considered inferior by Confucian scholars to worship by the Emperor of the supreme Lord in Heaven (Tian) and the veneration of ancestors as a part of filial piety. Natural disorders were thought to be the result of neglecting traditions that were dated back to the idealized Zhou dynasty. The Emperor was the central figure, the go-between between Tian and the state. Some thought that disasters were punishments from Tian, but most understood them to be the automatic response of Nature to improper government. The correct action is to be in touch with this Way of Nature, reject (contra the Confucians) artificial structuring of society, practice lasse faire in government. According to the texts, Daoists are to follow wu-wei, the action of non-being, which is to let nature take its course, not stand out, do nothing artificial, embrace simplicity, and manifest plainness. Popular beliefs related to the Dao promote traditional Chinese medicine, massage, taichi, acupressure, and other practices meant to balance the yang and yin by allowing the chi, material force, to flow freely. There were hierarchies of purity with the dog, for example, being one of the most impure animals and the cow the purist. On the human level, the traditional caste system declared lower castes impure and, at the bottom, some even untouchable. Marriage and food taboos centered around the desire to maintain personal purity. Modern Hindus at elite levels apply the belief in the oneness of reality to Nature. If all is Brahman, then Nature is sacred and to be liberated as well. Modern Hindu ethicists see this as the basis for environmental improvement. The kami are often associated with natural phenomena including the seasons of rice cultivation. The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, was the ujigami of the imperial clan. She is the center of worship at the national, imperial shrine at Ise. Striking aspects of nature -- a waterfall, an outcropping of rocks, a mountain, an island, a dominant tree -- are either considered kami or are associated with kami as their abodes. Mt. Fuji, for example, is a shrine to the kami Izanami, the female cocreator of Japan. Kami often have animal messengers who represent them at the shrines. As the National Learning School defined Shinto in the Tokugawa Period, it was understood to flow from a national characteristic of the Japanese, claiming they were uniquely, deeply emotionally attached to nature. This sense now commonly defines Shinto identity.

4 Places of Worship Zen monasteries For the elite textual Worship of one s were typically built, and philosophical chosen deity or deities in isolated locations traditions there is no takes place at a home that would offer the concept of worship shrine or in a temple on solitude necessary since there are no a regular basis. Daily for discipline and suprahuman beings. worship at the home meditation. One Living in touch with shrine is most popular could meditate as the Dao, in sync with since it is not one performed nature s rhythms, is obligatory to visit simple everyday practiced, but there temples. work in the upkeep are no places to of the monastery. worship. Buddhists often worship in temples. In the past, caves (e.g. Ajanta, Ellora in India) were places of worship for monks. Earliest worship in South Asia, and some today, took place at stupas, funerary mounds, which first represented the Buddha. In Southeast Asia these places for relics are called dagoba and in East Asia pagoda. Eventually they became part of temple complexes. In some monastic traditions, worship at a Buddha image should only be to thank the Buddha for teaching the Dharma. Popularly, though, Buddha and Bodhisattva images are used in prayers for everyday concerns and success in the afterlife. Bodhisattvas became popular objects of worship. Many who worship in Buddhist temples also visit other temples. Monasteries have become known for their gardens, screens, painting, and calligraphy. Zen temples affiliated with the various sects can be found in cities and rural areas all around Japan. There Zen priests function like other Buddhist priests with their main duty the performing of funeral ceremonies and memorial services for the dead. Confucian temples were built by government edicts to instill Confucian virtues in the populace. Instead of anthropomorphic images, the presence of Confucius and other well-known scholars and Confucian heroes is represented by mortuary tablets like those of a family s ancestral spirits found on home shrines. An honorific name of Confucius is inscribed on the central tablet while those of disciples and illustrious followers are inscribed on others that surround the central altar. These act as the focus of veneration. Being surrounded by the spirits of these great paradigms of Confucian virtues is meant to provide a culturally unifying experience. Official sacrifices to Confucius began in 195 BCE when the Han emperor Gaodi offered the Great Sacrifice including the offering of an ox. On Taiwan today, Confucius birthday (September 28) is celebrated in these temples with official ceremonies. Temple architecture echoes that of the emperor s palace e.g, the north-south axis on which the important halls are located. Civil service examination results were posted in these temples, which were used for music and ritual training. Popularly, the family altar or ancestral shrines are the most common places of sacred activity. Deities and spirits as well as family ancestors (in memorial tables) may reside here. On a popular level, there are temples where the main image is usually one of the Eight Daoist Immortals. These temples have hereditary priests who perform rituals. Devotees bring offerings and practice divination and the securing of one s luck through fortunetelling, in a similar fashion as in those temples devoted to a Bodhisattva or a folk deity. Some Daoist priests participate in a hierarchical clerical organization. Images are usually crucial because seeing and being seen by the image, darshan, is central to worship. A few Hindus reject images; most treat the image as a form of the deity or a visual aid. Hindu temple priests serve the deities of the temple and enable people to do puja, worship through offerings. Some temples are built according to classical plans set as far back as the Gupta period, but their structure is more likely to reflect regional styles. South Indian temples have large, elaborate gateways. Others have great towers over their inner sanctum. Besides the main shrine, temples usually have subsidiary shrines to other deities. For Shinto, places of worship are called shrines, jinja. These can be small shrines at the base of a tree or rock, or large complexes featuring numerous buildings. Often they are associated with striking natural phenomena such as waterfalls, rocks, trees, etc. Early shrines were unpainted, made of natural materials such as inoko, Japanese cypress, and fashioned after farm homes or community granaries. With Chinese influence they were often painted with bright vermillion. Concern for maintaining the worship space s purity prevents the public from entering the inner shrines. Gateways, or torii, mark the entrance into the sacred area. Priests serve the kami and shrine worshippers. With a few exceptions influenced by Buddhism, kami are not represented by images. They reside in a sacred object: e.g. a mirror, a sword, a jewel.

5 Presence of Evil Spirits and Guarding Against Them On the monastic level In popular, non-official For the elite texts, On the elite level, the concept of evil Confucianism, the evil is an imbalance evil is a result of, spirits is not worlds of the living and of yang and yin, or is defined as, applicable. Evil, of deities and ancestral being out of touch ignorance and suffering, and spirits closely interact. with the Dao, overcome by disappointment are Ancestral spirits are corrected by wu-wei attaining intuitive caused by the way the deceased family and meditation. knowledge, often intellect normally members appeased with at the feet of a works to attempt to offerings. Those not guru, master. This understand reality. The properly cared for after might involve result is ignorance, death due to neglect, a lengthy study, that is, lack of descendants, or meditation, and misunderstanding those who die yogic practices. reality in the prematurely or by inexplicable way it violence can bring really is. People then misfortune to the living. live in terms of this They are likened to misunderstanding, bandits and vagrants of cling to it, and the spirit world and are experience suffering considered to be and disappointment. dangerous, malevolent forces that need to be placated with food and other offerings. Buddhist art often includes guardian figures native to Indian or local culture. These figures protect temples and the Buddha himself. In Japan, for example, temple complexes often included a Shinto shrine to the guardian kami of the Bodhisattva of the temple. Portal guardians were to overcome evil, which was often interpreted as arising from human desire and ignorance. Guardian lions in fact guard the faith. In the various cultures Buddhism entered, local beliefs in evil spirits and forces were incorporated on a popular level. The reciting of sutras, the use of talismans and charms, and other means, could shield a person from, among other things, these evil spirits who could bring misfortune. Ancestors are regularly offered carefully prepared dishes, and tended to at their burial sites and in the home. Numerous methods are used to maintain good fortune and prevent evil. Feng-shui is used to site graves and buildings to bring fortune, talismans are purchased, and divination and fortunetelling secure one s fortune. Popular beliefs are indistinguishable from those of other Chinese regarding evil forces in the spiritual universe. Evil spirits are the unsettled souls of the dead who roam. Called gui, they create havoc for the living by their presence in homes, businesses, and temples, and cause natural, personal, and family disasters such as floods and droughts. Some still wear magic charms and amulets to ward evil spirits away. Shamans, usually women, could destroy evil spirits by performing exorcisms for believers. Elaborate rituals determine what needs to be done by the devotees to appease these spirits. Popularly evil is recognized as a part of nature that can cause havoc in the world of both humans and gods. For devotees of a particular deity, that deity overcomes evil as a response to worship. One is to practice one s duty, dharma, which was often based on social class. behavior. There are also evil spirits and forces (e.g. the evil eye) from whom we must be protected. Guardian figures stand at the thresholds protecting many temples. Kami can be evil as well as good and a basic explanation for evil has been that it is caused by evil kami A pair of shishi (Chinese liondogs; also called koma-inu) traditionally stands guard at the gates of temples and shrines and on eaves of shrine roofs. One is depicted with its mouth open (to scare off demons) and the other with its mouth closed (to shelter and detain the good spirits). Another traditional explanation for the open/closed mouth relates to Ah and Un ("Ah" is the first letter in the Japanese alphabet and "Un" is the last, as in Sanskrit). The combination is said to symbolically represent birth and death. They may be accompanied by other protective kami, such as an elephant/tapir-like creature (baku) known as an eater of nightmares in Japanese mythology. Evil is not interpreted as breaking a law but as impurity. Sacred places are typically marked with a shimenawa (a plaited rope made of rice, straw, or hemp with pendants) placed around holy areas to indicate it is purified and ward off evil spirits, or placed around trees/objects to indicate the presence of kami. Ritual purification with water, salt or earth is a regular practice.

6 Living the Faith: Rituals, Festivals, Devotion Zen emphasizes practice Few Chinese identify Puja, worship through over theory with the goal solely as Daoists. The offerings, is the most of reaching satori. popular rituals usually common practice. In the Traditionally this means labeled Daoist are folk home, a small shrine may entering a monastery as and community rituals be set aside, even in a an unsui, a disciple of a that take place in almost separate room, for daily roshi, Zen master. any temple, not just those worship. Images of the Discipline is strict with dedicated to a Daoist family s deity or deities the practice of zazen, Immortal. are fed, bathed, dressed, seated meditation, and and entertained as if they the use of koan, problems In temples where a are honored guests in the posed by the roshi to Daoist Immortal is the home. challenge the mind. central image, offerings, Unsui also meet regularly divination, and other with the master in standard Chinese temple personal, intense, activities take place to mentally challenging ensure one s wellbeing. sessions called sanzen. Daoist priests preside but They participate in the are unnecessary for most chores of the monastery everyday worship. as part of their discipline. Monks are expected to enter a monastery to follow the Eightfold Path of right knowledge, meditation, and morality to attain nirvana. What this entails varies according to each particular Buddhist school. Most monks are required to seek alms regularly. Though there were nuns in the early period, they died out in Southeast Asia but continue in East Asia. Laypeople participate through the giving of alms to monks on their daily rounds, worship at temples, and festivals. One of the largest festivals is Buddha Day (Vesak). Held in April or May, it celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the historical Buddha. People also visit temples to celebrate the birthdays of Bodhisattvas. Popular Buddhist practices are mixed with other religious practices native to each culture, including worship of Bodhisattvas in temples, at a small shrine, or before an image of a Buddha in the home, for meditation, reflection, or praying for one s needs. Zen s broader influence on Japan is centered in roshi mastering the cultivated arts of the dominant warrior (samurai) class that was most influenced by Zen. These were practiced as expressions of the discipline, mindfulness, and spontaneity roshi taught. Some monks mastered the tea ritual as a disciplined expression of the mood of satori. At more popular temples associated with Zen sects, people come to hear the priests chant sutras as part of funeral and memorial services. Confucian moral principles thoroughly pervaded China, Korea, and Japan as cultural mores of the upper-class gentleman, junzi, to be emulated by all. These centered on the concepts of ren, humaneness, li, propriety, i, righteousness, and shuei, study. Li, literally ritual, meant that all life was to be approached by realizing that different actions are appropriate for each human relationship. The five relationships (renlun) central to society were that of: child to parent (filial piety), younger to elder (respect), friend to friend (reciprocity), wife to husband (obedience), and subject to ruler (loyalty). Governments encouraged temples to be built honoring folk heroes who embodied this ethic and whom the Emperor deified. Very popular, there offerings, divination, and the celebration of the deities birthdays take place. Home shrines may include pictures of Daoist Immortals along with folk deities, ancestor tablets, and Bodhisattvas. The first major holiday is Chinese New Year, (the 1 st day of the 1 st lunar month). Lao-zi s birthday (the 15 th day of the 2 nd lunar month) is another of several festivals. A synthesis of Daoist and Confucian ideas brings families to graves during three annual festivals (e.g. Qingming) to present gifts and reconnect with ancestors. Spirit money and incense are burned; firecrackers lit. In the temple, priests, pujari, attend the image with daily rounds of activities modeled upon how attendants in a palace would wait on a king or queen. When the image is ready, it becomes available for audience with its subjects, the people who bring offerings and, aided by a priest, receive back a portion after it has been in the deity s presence as prasad, kindness, grace. Numerous feasts, festivals, fasts, and pilgrimages punctuate the year, the greatest number during the four months known as caturmasya on a lunar calendar (roughly mid-july to mid-november). Some have a national following, but many are regional celebrations. Festivals are filled with celebration, music, food, and decorations on homes and even animals. Shinto denoted diverse ritual activities more than a doctrinal system. Rituals became more uniform with government promotion in the early 20 th century. They ensure the kamis blessings for well-being and take place at a kamidana, a shrine positioned like a shelf in the home, or a public shrine. Vital are harai, purification rituals for people, places, and things. This is a priests chief concern. Shrines include a font (temizuya) for one to wash one s hands and mouth before beginning worship. Worship is simple: ringing a bell, clapping one s hands, praying, writing prayers on ema (wooden plagues) left at the shrine, and acquiring talismans and charms. Festivals (matsuri) are central, especially the first visit to the shrine after New Years.

7 Honoring Ancestors Given the emphasis of Zen on attaining satori, it might be thought that concern for ancestral spirits is absent. Early Buddhist texts taught that there was no permanent human self or soul and thus no place for the worship of ancestral spirits. One should not cling to the dead either. As Buddhism accommodated to the variety of South, Southeast, and East Asian cultures, Buddhists adopted each culture s ideas of ancestral worship. In all, the primary ceremonies performed for the public by most Buddhist priests and monks are the funeral service and the memorial service to remember the dead. The family gives food to the monks in order to receive merit (karma), and ensure that the deceased will have an auspicious rebirth, not in one of the hells. Buddhists typically cremate their dead and sometimes place the ashes in an urn in a grave. Some art includes the person who paid to have the art created in order to get merit. This merit would extend to one s family and ancestors as well. However, Zen monks and priests practice the same rituals to honor the ancestors as other Buddhists in their respective cultures. Funeral services and memorial services for the dead are standard activities priests in Zen temples perform for the public. These are major sources of income for most popular Buddhist temples. The Chinese believed people had a continuing existence after death and venerated ancestral spirits to help them join the other ancestors, to keep them from becoming malevolent, and to secure their blessings. Ancestral spirits had multiple souls: one that would ascend to be in the place of the ancestors, one that would remain at the grave, and one that would enter the memorial tablet on the family altar. Any of these can shower misfortunes or blessings on the living. Misfortune is often attributed to an individual or community s failure to show their ancestors the respect and honor due them. Confucian scholars added filial piety (xiao) as the main reason why one should honor the ancestors. As probably the most important virtue for the five relationships (renlun), it must continue after parents are dead. Veneration traditionally includes substantial funerals, families visiting gravesites (often on specific festival days) as if the visits were family reunions that include the dead, and honoring the spirits at home shrines with the spirit represented by a memorial tablet inscribed with its honorific name. Daoist texts show little concern for death, much less ancestral spirits. Death is another movement of the Dao, a rest where one returns to one s origin, and therefore to be accepted without great fanfare. Popularly, the same practices as those discussed under Confucianism are practiced because they are part of popular Chinese culture, not merely tied to any one religious tradition. The central concern of rituals for the departed (shraddha [ faith ] or tarpan rites) is doing one s duties (dharma) by performing one of the samskaras (important rituals that sacrilize life passages). By so honoring, remembering, and expressing gratitude to parental ancestors (pitri) through prescribed (dharmic) duties such as shraddha, the living accrue good karma. The actual rituals and their interpretations vary widely. But they are also generally believed to help the spirits on their journey in the next life in the pitriloka (realm of the ancestors). The importance of securing offspring to perform the rituals for oneself is traditionally crucial. They are performed for both the father and mother separately on the days following a death. A year later tarpan ensures that the soul has joined the other ancestors. Offerings of food are made to the pitri and gifts to worthy Brahmins An important two-week period (Pitri Paksha) in September-October honors ancestors with offerings of food and gifts to worthy Brahmins with prayers for prosperity, protection, and wellbeing. Spirits of dead ancestors are usually considered kami. Humans are obligated to worship them. Yet it is more likely that they will be worshipped at a Buddhist altar in the home where they are venerated with memorial tablets and photos of the dead. Twentieth-century, pre-war Japanese nationalists particularly set aside certain Shinto shrines to enshrine, honor, and appease the souls of Japanese military who died in all the 20 th century wars. The most controversial shrine is the Yasukuni ( Pacifying the Country ) Shrine in Tokyo, the site of protests as well as defenders today.