Intangible Culture ISSN:2799-3868(Print) 무형문화연구

The purpose of this article is to explore the actual situation and problems of participation in the ritual between Buddhist priests and Buddhist participants in ‘Sasibulgong (巳時佛供)’, a representative ritual of Korean Buddhism, and to explore various ways to popularize it in modern times. Sashibulgong is a daily ritual in Korean temples to invite Buddhas and their Bodhisattvas enshrined in various halls at the time of 9am ~ 11am every day. At this time, the Buddhist monks and participants in the Buddhist ceremony put various offerings including Ma-ji(摩旨; rice) on the altar in a formal way and perform the Buddhist ritual for about an hour. This is the most basic daily ritual in Korean temples, and various prayers, rites, and events such as Cheondojae (薦度齋) are added to it in accordance with the specific buddhist day (齋日). Therefore, as a religious ceremony representing Buddhism, it can be seen as the first indicator that can determine the measure of the popularization and vitalization of Buddhism in Korea. On the other hand, in the religious population survey conducted by the government statistics office in 2015, Buddhism was the first to give up its previous position as the No.1. in Korea. But this was already foreseen. This is because the Buddhist circle is too entangled in the pre-modern tradition based on the ‘agricultural society’ and lacks in its religious function to cope with the rapidly changing modern Korean society. Therefore, this study will explore ways to modernize and popularize the rituals of Galapagos-style Korean Buddhism, especially the traditional Sasibulgong.