Buddhist Daily Rituals in Korea: Their Structure and Meaning - Focusing on Sasi bulgong
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the structure and meaning of sasi bulgong, a Buddhist daily ritual performed to offer rice to the Buddha in late morning, that targets lay Buddhist followers at the Three Jewel Monasteries affiliated with the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, the mainstream Buddhist order in contemporary Korea. An in-depth analysis was conducted of the spatial, temporal, and contextual structure of sasi bulgong as well as the functional, ideological, and practical meaning of the ritual. This research led me to conclude that sasi bulgong is highly stratified both spatially and temporally and no clear evidence was found to support the contentions that it functions to solidify the identity of monastic members and is an outward expression of key Buddhist doctrine. Rather, the ritual currently used is a product of uncritical acceptance of “tradition,” serving as a kind of performance itself that contained the lay participants’ wishes for the betterment of their family, both living and dead.
Source: The Review of Korean Studies
Author: Jongmyung Kim
Language: English
Topic: Indian and Buddhist Studies
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2099558478