Quote:
Originally Posted by steven
While I've seen some amazing butsudans in some houses, there are houses/households that don't have one. I've even seen a couple of newer houses that actually have a special space for one... even though nothing was in them! Incidentally, Butsudans are expensive (although the prices vary as does the extravagance). So I could imagine that younger people might be a little reluctant to spend money on one... but that's a guess on my part.
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I think you`ve somehow missed out the reason people have butsudan.
You buy one and put it up when someone in the household passes away. Newer houses with younger families are a LOT less likely to have lost someone, so therefore are a lot less likely to have one. We have a spot for one in our house, though it`s currently being used as a closet and likely will be for quite some time.
The custom behind it hasn`t been lost in time - it`s where you store some of the ashes from the deceased family member, and where they are commemorated. It`s a part of the funeral ritual, really. The more extravagant the butsudan you invest in, the more important you are declaring the person who passed away and the family to be. (Of course, after the first you just add to it / clean and repair it instead of buying more)
As it holds some of the ashes from the cremation, it is also the closest place in the house to the deceased - so is the place to "talk" to the dead. Prayers for the dead, to the dead to protect the family, and a place to relay family news to the dead.
I have yet to see any Buddhism connected to it in daily practice - it falls more into the tradition of relatives becoming family "gods" once they pass away. The form is just taken from Buddhism. That said, Japanese "Buddhism" is a thing all it`s own, so comparing it to other forms of Buddhism is kind of futile.