[See profile] About the meaning of giving sutras

I think your question is even greater. I myself still don't really understand it, so if you do, please let me know.

Now, the quotes are getting longer, for example

Buddha theory Muryoju-kyo
“There is a great fire and the world is filled with three thousand, so you should go past this and listen to this sutra, rejoice and shugaku, recite it with joy, recite it, and practice ascetic practices like the theory. What is the reason. There are so many Bodhisattvas that if you don't listen to these sutras, you won't be able to obtain them. If sentient beings are present and listen to this sutra, they will not retreat in the end in Mujodo. For this reason, we should wholeheartedly accept, recite, and preach.”

Buddha theory Muryoju-kyo
“An “elegant student” means that if sentient beings exist and they do not wish to be born in that country, they emanate from three types of minds, in other words, they pass away. Let's say something like three. One is sincerity, two is sincerity, and three is devotion. If you have three hearts, you won't always be born in a country. Also, there are three types of sentient beings, and they really should have passed away. Let's say something like three. They take good care of one and don't kill them, and they have all the precepts. In two, they recite sutras such as the Mahayana method. For three, practice six senses. I don't hope to be born in a country like this after applying for conversion.”

As you can see, although it is a Buddhist theory in the Mahayana Sutras, reciting the sutras is recommended by the Buddha.
However, this certainly doesn't mean it's a funeral or memorial service. Here, self-practice and recitation of sutras are recommended for living things to listen to.

I think this idea was somehow linked to the idea of “conversion,” and then developed as a memorial service for good fortune.

Note that the memorial service for the Jodo Shinshu sect is a memorial service of praise rather than chasing goodness, so I think the recitation of sutras has also been found as praising the Buddha. In other words, the teachings and functions of the Buddha are praised even at funerals and memorial services.
I think there is an idea here to find the deceased as Buddha for us. It is a way of thinking that the deceased gave us an opportunity to encounter the teachings of the Buddha (reading sutras).

So why do you read it as it is in Chinese? When it comes to that, I think the aspect of ceremony is still strong.
Our feelings in the face of the deceased may be that we entrust the thought that “cannot be expressed in the words of Shaba” to “reading sutras in Chinese.” Are they avoiding the risk of staying within the scope of one's own thoughts by translating it into Japanese? However, this point needs to be examined.

I think my understanding will deepen if I read Zendo's “Hoshi Sho,” etc., but shamefully, I haven't been able to read it yet.

I've read your question.
It overlaps with what Yoshimushi says, but in simple terms, it's because chanting sutras is a good act.
As represented by the Lotus Sutra, there is a concept in the Mahayana sutras that chanting sutras itself is a “good act.” This is a concept not found in the early scriptures, but it is emphasized in the Mahayana sutras.
Since the merits gained from those good deeds were “transferred” to the deceased, they probably began to recite sutras during funerals.

I'm a little curious, so I'll add, but it's not just us who live in humanity who can learn Buddhism. In the early sutras, there are many scenes where gods who are residents of Tendo are also taught by Shakyamuni.

Also, this is the first time I've heard that all Buddha's masters are Amida Nyorai. I've never read the Pure Land Sutra, so maybe there are sutras written like that (maybe I simply haven't studied enough), but from the setting of Mahayana Buddhism, the main body is probably the Buddha's master, or rather, the main body of the Buddha (Dainichi Nyorai), famous as the Great Buddha of Nara. (It is described as such in the Kegon Sutra.)
Without going into the setting, all Buddha statues embody the characteristics and functions of the human Buddha. For example, it is said that Yakushi Nyorai comes from Shakyamuni preaching to those who suffer so as to give medicine according to the sick.
No matter which Buddha you worship, there are probably vestiges of Shakyamuni there.

The best offering or memorial service is not only that person, but it would be best to offer something that makes relatives, people around you, and people around the world happy.
The best memorial service for us is when we have that kind of heart.
I think there are many modern monks who just recite sutras in karate.
If it's just a form and no heart, it becomes an imitation.
Since I recite sutras, I think that people who recite sutras are fraudulent if the contents of the Dharma, Buddhism, and enlightenment, which are the contents of the sutras, are not clear. If the leader of sutras chanting is also a person who claims to be a mentor, they don't know where to lead, and they're just chanting like impersonating a parrot, it's probably not a memorial service. This is because it means that anyone can do it.
Things like today's commercialized memorial services and sutras recitation services are probably in that sense, most people read the sutras without the guidance described above.
If you don't know, that's fine. Ignorance is blessing.
However, that is disrespectful to those who really want it.
In the first place, the origin of sutras is Buddha's sermon.
The method and content of how humans attain enlightenment have become worded.
If you're a kid, student monk, or if you work at home, you start with the form.
However, if you look at it from overseas, don't you think a strange scene is unfolding?
There are also people who come to Japan from overseas to study Buddhism.
If such people go back to their home countries and recite sutras in Japanese that they don't even understand, they will feel a sense of incongruity. In fact, when I heard overseas sutras recitation tapes, I felt uncomfortable.
A foreign monk who doesn't understand Japanese well
(; °°) Even if they chant something like “Aogi Koinegawa Kawakwa Sanbofushite Show Kanno Taletamae,” it's because it's also Wakarang that they themselves are doing.
I turn my best heart and law as a human being to those who have passed away. share. Sending out your best heart to the world.
A person who revealed the law = mentor is invited to hold a memorial service for the “sutra,” which explains the specific details of obtaining the supreme bodhisattva. = The Buddhism that lived there is explained, and teachings (Dharma = sutras) that saves many people are spread. The deceased said, “I will pass away first, but let's learn the teachings of the mentor I (the client) respects, and seek a heart and body where we can be saved from life, old age, illness, death, and suffering together while living.” The Buddhist direction is clearly shown. In other words, the sutras recitation method is the best memorial service. That's why a monk is not just a form, but if you're not a mentor who really made the law clear, the chanting of sutras is just a play.

Dear Kou

This is Kawaguchi Hidetoshi. This is my humble answer to the question.

Jusei also recites sutras and works every day, and I think there is still a big difference between understanding the meaning and reading the content, and not reading it.

For example, Japanese people read sutras, copy sutras, etc. with a certain degree of familiarity, but if you ask if you understand the content of the true “sky” that is being explained, I think 99% or more of people have handled it without being able to understand it.

Of course, rather than doing nothing, there are times when chanting sutras can be a little bit of a good Buddha relationship.

Even if it is impossible in this life, it is not impossible that in the next life, the next life, and beyond, that Buddha relationship will truly blossom and you will walk the path of true Buddhism.

If so, even if it is only a small Buddhist connection, if it is based on the “Bodhi Heart” of wanting to save all sentient beings, it is said that it is insignificant, and it can be a merit to sentient beings at all.

So, rather than doing nothing, it's up to me to think that humble life is meaningful, and since all sutras recitation at funerals is performed as a merit to sentient beings, the deceased are naturally included in it, I think it is something that can be established as a memorial service.

Also, Jusei is currently endeavoring to practice Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, but if all of them are formally performed in the main ceremony without abbreviating all of them, from the Six Za Guru Yoga to the Supremacy Yoga Tantra, etc., it will take 6 hours or more every day...

If you live in a Tibetan monastery, there are also lectures on various scriptures and treatises, preparation, review, recitation, questions and answers, etc., so time to do common affairs is completely lost anywhere.

If so, if you have free time like us, you are in a state where you can hardly do bad deeds where worries work during that time, and it can be said that it is a state where you can keep the precepts, don't harm others, and accumulate good deeds by being encouraged to do good deeds with Bodhicitta.

In other words, when it comes to what I want to say, it can be said that at least the time spent reciting sutras is an important and precious time that can be spent suppressing worries and being able to spend time without doing bad work.

However, I believe that there must always be a “Bodhi Heart” there.

Kawaguchi Hidetoshi Gassho