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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism
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Mourning the Unborn Dead - A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America (Hardcover, New)
Loot Price: R1,755
Discovery Miles 17 550
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Mourning the Unborn Dead - A Buddhist Ritual Comes to America (Hardcover, New)
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Many Western visitors to Japan have been struck by the numerous
cemeteries for aborted fetuses, which are characterized by throngs
of images of the Bodhisattva Jizo, usually dressed in red baby
aprons or other baby garments, and each dedicated to an individual
fetus. Abortion is common in Japan and as a consequence one of the
frequently performed rituals in Japanese Buddhism is mizuko-kuyo, a
ceremony for aborted and miscarried fetuses. Over the past forty
years, mizuko-kuyo has gradually come to America, where it has been
appropriated by non-Buddhists as well as Buddhist practitioners.
In this book, Jeff Wilson examines how and why Americans of
different backgrounds have brought knowledge and performance of
this Japanese ceremony to the United States. Drawing on his own
extensive fieldwork in Japan and the U.S., as well as the
literature in both Japanese and English, Wilson shows that the
meaning and purpose of the ritual have changed greatly in the
American context. In Japan, mizuko-kuyo is performed to placate the
potentially dangerous spirit of the angry fetus. In America,
however, it has come to be seen as a way for the mother to mourn
and receive solace for her loss. Many American women who learn
about mizuko-kuyo are struck by the lack of such a ceremony and see
it as filling a very important need. Ceremonies are now performed
even for losses that took place many years ago. Wilson's
well-written study not only contributes to the growing literature
on American Buddhism, but sheds light on a range of significant
issues in Buddhist studies, interreligious contact, women's
studies, and even bioethics.
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