Bon

Bon
or o-bon, urabon, bon-e, bon matsuri.
   Technically a Buddhist festival but never seen as distinct from or incompatible with Shinto, of which it therefore forms a part. As much could be said of many customary 'Buddhist' rites not mentioned in this dictionary, but bon must be included because hatsu-mode and bon are the two main calendar customs with religious significance almost universally observed in Japan. Some Shinto purists argue that bon was originally 'Shinto' and the Buddhist aspects are a later addition, though without evidence. The word 'bon' derives from 'urabon'=Sanskrit ullambana /avalambana meaning 'hanging down'. It refers to rites performed for a dead person to prevent them from being hung upside down—i.e. entering a womb to be reborn in this world. In the Urabon-gyo, the Buddhist sutra invoked to explain the festival in Japan, it is related that the dead mother of Mokuren, one of the Buddha's disciples, was saved from torment in the realm of hungry spirits by Mokuren making an offering to some monks. Bon represents a service for the repose of deceased relatives and is an intensification of memorial rites in general. Ideally, people travel to their 'home village' (furusato) to observe bon. The festival starts with a 'welcoming fire' (mukae-bi) at the entrance of the house to call back the ancestors. Offerings are made to them, usually in the butsudan, graves are visited (haka-mairi) and special bon-odori dances are performed. Shrines are not involved in the celebrations except in the case of some bon-odori where shrine precincts happen to provide the venue for the yagura, a high stage around which people dance to hayashi music. Bon ends two days later with an okuribi or 'sending-away fire' as well as the custom of shoro nagashi, floating lanterns downriver. The festival is an expression of filial piety and pacification of ancestral spirits, as well as a reason to visit one's 'home' village. Bon has been observed annually in Japan since 657. Up to 1867 it was celebrated on the 13th—15th day of the 7th month, and since the Meiji restoration it has been held in different places on either 15th July or 15th August.

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  • Bon — Bon …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • bon — 1. s. m. 1°   Ce qui est bon. Il a préféré le bon à l utile. •   La France, où les connaissances ont été portées aussi loin que partout ailleurs ; seulement est il à craindre que l on n y prenne à la fin un bizarre mépris du bon devenu trop… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • bon — BON, Bonne. adj. Qui a en soy toutes les qualitez necessaires à sa nature. Bon vin. bonne eau. bon air. bon cheval. bonne terre. bon fruit. bonnes cerises. bonnes poires, &c. bon blé. bonne avoine. bon pain. bon or. bon argent. En ce sens il se… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • Bön — [Although the Wylie transcription of the Tibetan spelling is just bon , the umlaut is conventionally added above the o to more nearly suggest the Tibetan pronunciation of the vowel.] (bo|t=བོན་|w=bon|l=pʰø̃̀(n)) is the oldest spiritual tradition… …   Wikipedia

  • Bon-po — Bön Le Bön (prononcer beun) est une religion tibétaine préexistant au bouddhisme. Ses adeptes sont les Bönpo (lignée Bön). De l’ensemble des pratiques animistes et chamanistes constituant le premier Bön (shes pa bcu gnyis) s’est dégagé au… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bon — BON, Bon, or bon can refer to:Places: * Cap Bon, a peninsula in Tunisia. * Flamingo International Airport, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. (IATA code BON )People: * Anna Bon, Russian/Italian composer and singer. * Bartolomeo Bon, Italian sculptor… …   Wikipedia

  • Bon — ist die älteste in Tibet praktizierte Religion, siehe Bön die Bezeichnung für einen Kassenbon eine venezianische Baumeisterfamilie, siehe Bartolomeo Bon ein alternativer Name für das japanische Obon Fest die Bezeichnung für einen Schokoriegel,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • BON — ist die älteste in Tibet praktizierte Religion, siehe Bön die Bezeichnung für einen Kassenbon eine venezianische Baumeisterfamilie, siehe Bartolomeo Bon ein alternativer Name für das japanische Obon Fest Bon ist der Familienname folgender… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • bon — BON, bonuri, s.n. 1. Bilet provizoriu pe baza căruia se eliberează o marfă, un bun etc. 2. Hârtie de valoare emisă de stat sau de o instituţie financiară recunoscută de stat. ♢ Bon de tezaur = obligaţie emisă de stat pentru sumele împrumutate pe… …   Dicționar Român

  • bon — Bon, m. Se rapporte tantost aux moeurs et conditions de l homme, et selon ce on dit, Voila un bon homme, Eccum tibi virum probum, et tantost à la robusteté, vaillance et force du corps, selon ce on dit, Il est bon chevalier, bon homme d armes, c… …   Thresor de la langue françoyse

  • Bon — /bon/; Fr. /bawonn/, n. Cape, a cape on the NE coast of Tunisia: surrender of the German African forces, May 12, 1943. Also called Ras Addar. /bawn/, n. an annual festival of the Japanese Buddhists, welcoming ancestral spirits to household altars …   Universalium

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