Abstract
Does the soul exist? If there exists where it is, what it is doing and if the soul does not exist why is it still appear in the daily lives of so many people, so many generations and many places in the world. Why is it so important for so many countries in the world to believe in the immortality of the soul and death? Faith in the dead and the next generation depends largely on a person’s religion and culture, on a community of people. For many Vietnamese, this belief goes from the belief that the soul only reaches its ultimate goal after many reincarnations, to the idea that life will now determine its final destiny. Consequently, one person can feel confident that he will eventually merge with the ultimate reality after death, others will surely reach Nirvana, and others will believe that he will be rewarded in heaven. So what is the truth? Because our beliefs affect our attitude, actions, and decisions, are we not interested in finding answers to that question? The dead are not finished but their souls still exist. Depending on the behavior of those who live with those who have died, they (those who are still alive) may be blessed by the soul or punished by the soul, encountering unfortunate things in life. This study provides a discussion of whether or not the existence of the immortal soul and the blessing or harassing of the soul for human life. How can humans limit the harassing and many blessings from the soul? Why does belief in the blessing and harassing of the soul become such a popular custom of worship among Vietnamese people?
Highlights
The concept of the soul is closely related to the notions of life after death, but there are very different ideas, even of the same religion, about what happens to the soul after the body dies
The ideology is not bound to a certain framework; since Buddhism and Taoism were introduced into Vietnam, ancient Vietnamese people have actively opened the door, welcomed the essence of that ideology, filtered, integrated and transformed it into a unique one suitable for the living conditions to serve the common interests of the nation
One of those harmonies was clearly shown in the custom of worshiping souls, which is popular in almost every part of Vietnam
Summary
The concept of the soul is closely related to the notions of life after death, but there are very different ideas, even of the same religion, about what happens to the soul after the body dies. The ideology is not bound to a certain framework; since Buddhism and Taoism were introduced into Vietnam, ancient Vietnamese people have actively opened the door, welcomed the essence of that ideology, filtered, integrated and transformed it into a unique one suitable for the living conditions to serve the common interests of the nation. One of those harmonies was clearly shown in the custom of worshiping souls, which is popular in almost every part of Vietnam. Apart from typical forms of folk beliefs such as the worship of mother goddesses and the worship of village tutelary gods, which are very popular in the lives of the whole Vietnamese people, the worship of souls is a way to show good values of Vietnamese people and satisfy the spiritual needs of each individual, family, and community
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