Nirvana Ceremony - Nehane

This is a Buddhist ceremony held on the anniversary of the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. Nirvana is the state in which the flames of earthly desires such as greed and anger have been extinguished. When a Buddha who has already extinguished his earthly desires also extinguishes his physical body, this is called complete nirvana. Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have passed away on February 15th, and later generations held a Buddhist ceremony to express gratitude by displaying a portrait of Shakyamuni Buddha in nirvana and reciting the Nirvana Sutra and the Sutra of the Last Teachings of the Buddha. These three memorial days, along with the Koutane (April 8th) on which Shakyamuni was born and the Jodo-e (December 8th) on which he attained enlightenment, are known as the Three Buddha Memorial Days.

[Yoshinobu Nakao]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

釈迦(しゃか)入滅の忌日(きにち)に行う法会(ほうえ)。涅槃は、貪(むさぼ)りや怒りなどの煩悩(ぼんのう)の炎が吹き消された状態をいう。すでに煩悩を滅している仏がその肉身をも滅することを、完全涅槃という意味で般涅槃(はつねはん)という。釈迦牟尼仏(むにぶつ)は2月15日に入滅したとされ、後世この日に釈尊涅槃画像を掲げて、『涅槃経』や『仏遺教経(ぶつゆいきょうぎょう)』を読誦(どくじゅ)して、報恩供養(くよう)の法会を行った。釈尊が生まれた降誕会(こうたんえ)（4月8日）、悟りを開いた成道会(じょうどうえ)（臘八(ろうはち)、12月8日）とあわせて三仏忌という。

［中尾良信］

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