Sutra of the 13th anniversary

Hello.

I don't understand the situation just by asking the question, but I think it's a good idea to ask the temple where the funeral was held or the monk of the temple in that ossuary.

Hello Shira.

It is important to have a monk make a memorial service for the 13th anniversary. Along with that, it is important to give it not only on the 13th anniversary, but also at the time of the death of the year, or every day. That is why I too can learn the meaning of sutras, and I can have a real memorial service.
It's not a good idea to play the tape; if you don't like sutras, it's fine if you play the tape and read it together.

You can use any sutra, but if it's the Shingon sect, the Heart Sutra is simple and good. If it's been a long time and you're not good at it, you can use Komyo Shingon. You should read this over and over again depending on your time. If that is also long and difficult, it's OK to repeat “Namu Amida Buddha.”
If you want to match that temple, it's a good idea to ask the chief priest.
The important thing is to read it yourself, and it's important to keep the teachings in your heart. It will be a memorial service for his late father.

Please do your best. Gassho

If you go to a Buddhist altar and Buddhist altar fittings store, sutras from each denomination are sold.
It contains the flow of a ritual (reading sutras) called “everyday work” (everyday work) that is sung on a daily basis.
It's a sutra book you can buy for a few hundred yen.
For the most part, those audio CDs are also on sale.

Sutras are books on which the teachings of Buddhism are written.
Kugyo (ceremony of chanting sutras) is an image of selecting important parts from the sutras and reciting them in a series of steps.
Even when monks recite sutras at memorial services, they combine excerpts from multiple sutras (books) like this, mix nembutsu and mantras (spells), etc. into it, and perform it as a ceremony.
Everyday work may also appear on video sites.

　I received a doctorate degree in literature from Hiroshima University for the conversion of merit to hungry ghosts. Please don't think it's “that stupid,” and read it for now.

A memorial service is taking care of someone by giving something to them.
It is a good act done to people who are originally alive, especially those who are superior.
However, if the person I want to make a memorial service for has passed away, I can't do anything directly for them, so I do something good myself and hand over that merit to the deceased. It's called merit conversion.
The person I want to make a memorial service for hasn't disappeared either; they have been reborn somewhere in reincarnation and are probably still doing their best, so surprisingly, the feeling of a memorial service from here on out arrived and they cheer me up.

That's why doing it for a memorial service is meaningless unless it's a good act.
The most popular “give sutra/have a monk give it to you” is a good act of giving an offering to a monk.
Monks can just receive the offering and go home, but in order for the client to do greater good deeds, they will do their best “so that the client's feelings are pure” by giving sutras. After the sutras, they recite Kaikōmon, and the merits of “ascetic practice,” which cleans the heart by listening to the sutras, are transferred to the deceased.

It's such a system, so it's good to give sutras, but if you ask a temple, you can rest assured that there is at least a good act of making an offering.
If you do it yourself, it's OK if you have a sense of closeness to the Buddha's path and recite sutras to clear your mind. I'm a little worried that “if I give you sutras, it will be a memorial service.”

For details, see my book “Why can merit be converted?” The booklet “What is a memorial service?” which can also be read on (Kokusho Publishing Association) and the Seikyo-ji Temple website where I work Please refer to etc.