Self-Realization and the Ancestors: An Analysis of Two Japanese Ritual Procedures for Achieving Domestic Harmony

Abstract

R. P. Dore in his book City Life in Japan suggests that the types of moral dilemmas faced by Japanese have changed as the bonds of the traditional family become weakened because of societal change through a process of individuation. This is a process in which one sets oneself apart from some larger wegroup, such as the family, in order to progressively select personal goals rather than collective ones (1958: 381). Traditionally, conflict of personal loyalties such as that between one's lord and one's family constituted the type of moral dilemma explicitly recognized and expressed in moral instruction. However, according to Dore, the type of moral dilemma faced by Japanese today is likely to involve conflicts between, on the one hand, particularistic loyalties, and on the other, either individual aspirations ... or generalized principles of conduct which are held to be applicable to all (1958: 381). I shall focus on one current type of moral dilemma, namely, that pertaining to conflict between loyalty to one's family and to one's individual aspirations. In the first part of this paper I shall describe by means of a number of examples how this type of dilemma is manifested in particular conflict situations which involve youths. In the second part I shall show how the dilemma and the conflict are resolved through religious belief and ritual which involve the ancestors. My thesis is that for some youths who are caught in this dilemma in which individual aspirations are pitted against family obligations, resolution of the dilemma is possible by equating one's aspirations with one's family obligations. This can be achieved through ritual action without a sense of personal loss, even when individual and family goals