The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1507 page)
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Authors: John Bowker
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Matsah
(unleavened bread):
(unleavened bread):
Ma-tsu
(Chinese Goddess):
(Chinese Goddess):
Matsuo Bash
(Japanese poet):
(Japanese poet):Matsuri
.
.
Japanese festivals. Derived from a verb meaning ‘to attend to’, ‘to entertain’, or ‘to serve the
kami’
, the souls of the deceased, or a person of higher status, matsuri implies ‘the mental attitude of respect, reverence, and the willingness to listen, serve, and obey’ (J. M. Kitagawa). Always there is an element of revelation, whereby sacred beings manifest their wills to the human community, which responds in matsuri.
Given the immanental Japanese world-view, every act can be considered an act of matsuri, which in this sense is a ritualization of everyday life. Since the function of government under the imperial system was to actualize the sacred will, the ancient word for government was
matsurigoto
or ‘matsuri affairs’. Matsuri, or its sinocized pronunciation (
-sai
), came to refer to special ceremonies at court or at Shinto shrines which involve formal procedures, from the invocation and arrival of kami, through the phase of festive communion (
naorai
), to their final dispatch. Some form of sacred entertainment always accompanies the communal feast.
In modern Japan, as in the West, the essential context of the festival is often disregarded, resulting in strictly commercial or civil celebrations also known as matsuri.
kami’
, the souls of the deceased, or a person of higher status, matsuri implies ‘the mental attitude of respect, reverence, and the willingness to listen, serve, and obey’ (J. M. Kitagawa). Always there is an element of revelation, whereby sacred beings manifest their wills to the human community, which responds in matsuri.
Given the immanental Japanese world-view, every act can be considered an act of matsuri, which in this sense is a ritualization of everyday life. Since the function of government under the imperial system was to actualize the sacred will, the ancient word for government was
matsurigoto
or ‘matsuri affairs’. Matsuri, or its sinocized pronunciation (
-sai
), came to refer to special ceremonies at court or at Shinto shrines which involve formal procedures, from the invocation and arrival of kami, through the phase of festive communion (
naorai
), to their final dispatch. Some form of sacred entertainment always accompanies the communal feast.
In modern Japan, as in the West, the essential context of the festival is often disregarded, resulting in strictly commercial or civil celebrations also known as matsuri.
Ma-tsu Tao-i
(Jap., Baso D
itsu
;
(Jap., Baso D
itsu;
709–88)
. Third-generation leader of the Ch’an/Zen school of
Hui-neng
, who, with Shih-t’ou, established the two main characteristics of Ch’an, issuing eventually in
Rinzai
and
S
t
. He is the first known to use the abrupt methods of Ch’an/Zen, e.g. the shout (
ho
) and the stick (
kyosaku
).
Since there is only one undifferentiated nature of all appearance, it has to be realized as already being the only truth that there is; it cannot be attained as something not yet realized. His style is summarized in the phrase
kigen kik
, ‘strange words and extraordinary actions’, which became a model for other Zen masters.
. Third-generation leader of the Ch’an/Zen school of
Hui-neng
, who, with Shih-t’ou, established the two main characteristics of Ch’an, issuing eventually in
Rinzai
and
S
t. He is the first known to use the abrupt methods of Ch’an/Zen, e.g. the shout (ho
) and the stick (
kyosaku
).
Since there is only one undifferentiated nature of all appearance, it has to be realized as already being the only truth that there is; it cannot be attained as something not yet realized. His style is summarized in the phrase
kigen kik
, ‘strange words and extraordinary actions’, which became a model for other Zen masters.Other books
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