May the Deceased Get Enlightenment!

An Aspect of the Enculturation of Buddhism in Japan

Author(s): Yasuaki Nara
Source: Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 15 (1995), pp. 19-42
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1390033
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 JAPANESEBUDDHIST DEATHAND DYING

May the Deceased Get

Enlightenment! An Aspect of the
Enculturation of Buddhism in Japan

Yasuaki Nara
Komazawa University, Tokyo

1. The Problem: The Cases of the Jodoshin and Soto Sects

2. The Historical Background
3. The Dead and Enlightenment
4. Two Religious Levels of Buddhism
5. Conclusion

I. THE PROBLEM:THE CASES OF THE JODOSHIN AND SOTO SECTS

Although the problem of interpreting death has existed throughout the

whole history of Buddhism in Japanese society, resurfacing at various times
and creating a whirl of agitation, the end result has always been the further
enculturation of Buddhism in Japan.
In 1985 and 1985, the journal Dend6n-kiyo published two "Special Issues
for the Problem of Customs and Popular Beliefs" in which several scholars
jointly urged the necessity of exploiting new dimensions of their traditional
theology (sbkgaku).' Honganji is one of the biggest sects of the Jodo-shin
(or simply Shin) school founded by Shinran (1173-1262). Their well-estab-
lished doctrines are based on the Hongan (the Original Vow of Amida
Buddha) and the practice of Nembutsu (the chanting of the name of Amida
Buddha) that together form the center of their spiritual faith and universal
teaching.
The most striking feature of the elite of the Jodoshin tradition is their
contemptuous attitude toward popular beliefs, which are by nature part of
folk religion and sometimes superstitious. They think that faith in Amida
Buddha and Nembutsu is sufficient to relieve life's various crises and to
instill happiness. Prayers for worldly benefits, magical rites, exorcism, and
the many other popular religious ideas and rites represent to them nothing
more than the weakness of being human. Man needs no recourse to such
practices as salvation is to be found in exclusive faith in Amida Buddha.
Their insistence on this kind of puritanical faith has gradually led them to

Buddhist-Christian Studies 15 (1995). ? by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved.

20 YASUAKINARA

see ancestor worship and even funeral rites as acts of thanks and apprecia-
tion to the patriarchs and Amida Buddha. Even the lay believers have been
oriented to this orthodox attitude, which has in one sense driven them to a
highly religious and ethical way of life, but it has also fostered a general
tendency to neglect the inherent meaning of these popular rites and cus-
toms. This realignment has sometimes caused tension between them and
those belonging to other Buddhist sects and is responsible for the famous
Japanese phrase monto-mono-sbirazu, "the Jodo-shin believers are igno-
rant [of the socioreligious customs]."
These attitudes have naturally led to a decline of traditional religious
customs and festivals in local areas. In fact, in the areas facing the Sea of
Japan, where Jodo-shin Buddhism is very popular, folklorists and anth-
ropologists have often lamented the drastic destruction of the varieties of
popular religious ideas and rites.
The actual situations, however, are not so simple. What priests do most
of the time (and in fact this is their main source of revenue for maintaining
their temples) is administer funeral rites, conduct memorial services for the
dead during the period of mourning (which lasts seven weeks) or on the
anniversaries of the death, perform ceremonies on the occasions of o-Bon
and o-Higan, and so forth. A thorough study has also revealed that, in the
religious consciousness of the common lay believers, very primitive con-
cepts of the Japanese gods (kami), which are closely associated with an-
cestor worship, constitute the main pillar of the religious ethos.2 It has been
made clear that underneath the superficial acceptance of the Shin Buddhist
teachings and seemingly puritanical view of religious life lies a belief in an-
cestor worship that is based on animistic ideas and the worship of tradi-
tional godly beings. The need for rites that bring such practical benefits as
healing and good luck is never wanting. While the idealized faith is nicely
elucidated and accepted as the standard, the functions that the priests actu-
ally perform very much involve popular religious customs and ideas.
It is worthwhile to note that these popular ideas are usually not ac-
knowledged as part of and are indeed considered as separate from ortho-
dox Jodo-shin doctrine. Rather, they are explicitly neglected, considered
not part of the real faith and hence not to be indulged in. There is then
a gap, and consequently a tension, between "the precept and the prac-
tice," to quote R. F. Gombrich, who studied the socioreligious situations of
Sri Lanka Buddhists.3
Scholars who have studied the problem are of the opinion that a new
theology (ky6gaku) should be established, giving full consideration to what
they call the "field."The gap between orthodox doctrine, which they call
the "respectable"teaching, and actual practice in the "field"of the common
temples and lay believers must be bridged in the interest of a more com-
prehensive theology. These scholars argue that such integration will be
achieved not by a mere addition to or revision of the traditional theology,
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 21

in which they distinguish sbu-gaku (theology before the Edo period) from
Sbinsbu-gaku (Shin theology up to now), but only by a qualitative change
in the paradigm. They like to call it "postmodern kyogaku." According to
them, the old theology (i.e., shu-gaku and Sbinshu-gaku) cannot accom-
modate such emerging issues as the karma theory and its relation to social
discrimination,4the Yasukuni shrine problem,5 ancestor worship, and rites
for worldly benefits.
Unfortunately, in addressing these problems, the theorists provide a con-
vincing analysis but offer no permanent solutions. This is certainly under-
standable, as the problems with which they are grappling are too big to be
solved easily and quickly. The direction in which they suggest moving,
however, is shown in their references to the flexibility and adaptability of
Catholicism. Unlike the inflexible, puritanical nature of Protestantism, Cath-
olicism worldwide has successfully incorporated a variety of popular beliefs
without losing its spirituality.
The Soto sect, founded by Zen master Dogen (1200-1253), is the biggest
of all the sects of Japanese Buddhism in terms of numbers of temples,
priests, and lay believers. The sect has an institute of its own, ky6ka-
kenshujo, where all the evangelical problems are studied. In 1980, several
scholars associated with the institute jointly published the results of their
cooperative studies.6 Here again, as in the case of the Honganji sect of
the Jodo-shin tradition, these scholars were aware of the gap between doc-
trine and actual practice in Zen Buddhism. The doctrine can be described
as looking into the reality of all things and men through the practice of
Zazen meditation and living a life that is in accord with that of the Buddha.
In both theoretical and spiritual terms, however, the doctrine can be
sharply distinguished from Soto priests' actual practice, which consists
mostly of performing funerals, ancestor worship, and other popular reli-
gious rites for the laity. While the majority of these priests are serious in
making, or at least in trying to make, their lives religious, they support
themselves financially mostly by performing these popular rites. Owing to
the reasons I discuss below, there was in the past, and is today, a gap
between the monastic life and life in the temple, a gap of which many
priests are aware.
In the study mentioned above, the scholars have tried to give a founda-
tion in doctrine for rites for the dead and for ancestors. Their main interest
lies in finding the spiritual meaning of these rites. These scholars have tried
to interpret such funeral practices in the light of Sbusb6gi, the authorized
text of the school, a compilation of citations from the Sbob6genzo (the
main work of Dogen). The opening article argues that some theory is ur-
gently needed to unite these two levels of practice and rites. It is hoped
that this book will serve as a stepping stone for future explorations.
It is not insignificant that, in the two biggest Buddhist sects in Japan
today, the gap and the tension between what ought to be and what is have
22 YASUAKINARA

become matters of general concern, and leaders feel that it is imperative to

align the latter on the basis of the former.
This leads to a pair of problems: the first is the inquiry into how and why
such a gap arose in the Buddhist tradition; the second is what kind of pro-
cess of theorization, sometimes justification, could be undertaken to unite
both in an integral whole. These problems, however, have been faced
before.

L. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In the history of the Jodo-shin school, the discord between the third patri-
arch Kakunyo (1270-1351) and his son Zonkaku (1290-1373) is famous.
Carrying on the spirit of Shinran, Kakunyo highly emphasized the mean-
inglessness of the funeral when he said, "Mymaster [Shinran]said, 'on my
death with my eyes closed my body should be given to the fish in the river
of Kamo.' By this he meant to say that the greatest importance should be
attached to the Buddhadharma even to the extent of making little of this
physical body. Judging from this we should not regard the funeral as some-
thing important. The funeral is not to be performed."7He emphasized faith
at the cost of popular religious ideas and rites. It is further true that Shinran
once said that he had never chanted even once the name of Amida Buddha
in order to discharge his duties to his parents. Kakunyo seemed to have
accepted this literally and strongly admonished priests not to perform
funeral rites for lay believers.
Kakunyo's son Zonkaku, however, apparently held the opposite attitude.
While deeply appreciating the message of the founder Shinran, he never-
theless could not ignore the faithfulness and the ancestor worship so deep-
ly rooted among the common people. He said, "Youshould be particularly
faithful to your parents while they are living and, on their demise, fulfill
your duty of doing good for the departed parents with rites for their happi-
ness. The chanting of the name of Amida Buddha [Nenbutu] is the best for
this purpose."8 He also said in another place, "Forthe purpose of praying
[for practical benefits] in this world and doing good for the departed ones,
there is nothing that surpasses the merit of Nenbutu and the virtue of
Amida Buddha."9
Apparently Zonkaku has given a new meaning to Nembutsu. This reli-
gious practice, whose aim is to obtain spiritual relief from Amida Buddha,
is expanded functionally to include the rites of praying for worldly benefits
and ancestor worship. This means, first, that the popular beliefs that had
been practiced without any connection to Shin Buddhist teaching have
now become part of the Sbinsbfi practice. Popular beliefs are now em-
braced by Shin Buddhism. Second, however, there is good reason to criti-
cize Zonkaku for having accorded to Nembutsu efficacy in meeting the
demands of the populace in quite an easy way. Nembutsu is an act to be
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 23

performed without any bakarai (ego-centered contrivance). Popular beliefs,

on the other hand, are motivated by the naive wishes of the people to sat-
isfy their egos in various ways. They stand in opposition to their ultimate
concern. The practice whose object is birth in the Pure Land of Amida Bud-
dha must be distinguished from the rites of consoling the souls of the dead
and ancestors. One facet of what Zonkaku did for lay believers was to sec-
ularize Nembutsu. It is therefore no wonder that Kakunyo, a sincere leader
of the puritanical faith, felt that it was terrible to interpret popular practices
in the light of Nembutsu and repudiated his son twice.
This case represents the discord in Japanese Buddhism between what
ought to be and what is. While being fully aware of the discord, however,
Buddhist leaders made little effort to improve the situation. It is not without
interest, on the other hand, that the tradition of the Soto school is different
in that its efforts seem to have been directed toward such practical solu-
tions as how to compromise rather than toward continuing to struggle for
an alternative choice.
In spite of the apparent difference between jiriki (self-reliance) and
taniki (reliance on the power of the other, i.e., Amida Buddha), there are
many factors in common between Dogen (1200-1253) and Shinran. For
instance, both of them looked into reality in the sphere of the negation of
the ego. The real feature of the self becomes manifest only when the ego
consciousness ceases to work. Zazen is the act in which the function of the
mental creation of the ego is stopped in order, so to speak, to return to the
original and absolute state of being, that is, buddhahood. Dogen put a
strong emphasis on only doing Zazen (shikan-taza). However, he also
taught the importance of daily life in the monastery, where every aspect of
life is to be performed in the spirit of Zazen. Here again Zen differs from
popular rites and ideas in terms of the religious level. The funeral and
ancestor worship have nothing to do with the Zen way of life. In fact,
Dogen says nothing about these rites, although the collection of his
sermons (Eibei-k6roku) suggests that he might have performed memorial
rites for his mother, master, and a few others who were closely related to
him. There is, however, no evidence that he performed these rites for lay
believers. In Shob6genzo5-zuimonki, a collection of his talks for his disci-
ples, Dogen says that, while performing memorial services as a job for lay-
men, serious study of the Buddha's Dharma is the way that monks pay
homage to their parents.
In fact, by this time the Buddhist orders had begun to take care of
funerals and ancestor worship in Japan in various ways. The first document
that refers to priests involved in the funeral of a layman (the Empress Jito)
goes back to the end of the seventh century. It was sometime about A.D.
700 when the custom of cremation became popular. During the first half
of the eighth century, references begin to appear in some documents to
services for the dead soul during the seven-week period of mourning (dur-
24 YASUAKI NARA

ing the early intermediate period, Ch. zbong-yin, Jp. cbhin) and on the
hundredth day after death.10
Each school of Buddhism seems to have gradually developed a method
of performing its own funerals. For instance, the Tendai school applied to
the funeral the Hokke-zanmai (the practice of contemplating reality on the
basis of the Lotus Sutra) and the jogyo-zanmai (the practice of remember-
ing and chanting the name of Amida Buddha), the latter of which was to
some extent responsible for the rise of Pure Land Buddhism in the later
Kamakura period. The Shingon school founded by Kobo-daishi (Kuikai)
gradually developed some rites for putting souls to rest by means of man-
tras. Subsequently, such rites were easily and understandably diverted to
funerals and ancestor worship on the grounds of a general belief in the
existence of the soul.
My aim here is not to trace the historical development of the funeral in
Japan. But I feel that it is not inappropriate to mention that one of the
secrets as to why Buddhism could take root firmly in the soil of Japanese
culture (enculturation) lies in its association with many groups of rites con-
cerning the soul. It was fortunate that Buddhism had very developed ideas
of cbhu (Ch. zbong-you, Skt. antarabhava; the intermediate period of the
soul between death and rebirth) and also of the after-death world.
The former originated in Indian Buddhism. The concern for the fate of
the soul among the Indian people was very strong, and even Buddhists
had to accept several popular religious ideas about the soul despite their
fundamental doctrine of an-atman, or an-attan (i.e., nonself). The con-
cept of chuu is one of these. It arose certainly as a popular belief, but it
was taken up and discussed at length in philosophical treatises like the
Abbidharma-ko?a." It then made the long journey to Japan through Cen-
tral Asia and China, providing each respective area with an appropriate
way to amalgamate beliefs concerning the soul.
The basic idea of the chu-uthat the soul of the dead remains some-
where for seven weeks, preparing to be reborn-was easily identified with
the traditional idea of the soul in Japan. Although there were historical vari-
ations and modifications according to the age, the soul of a newly dead
person (aramitama) was widely believed in Japan to possess some influ-
ence in bringing about evil on living people. In order to counteract the
influence of the dead, the living had to enter mourning for a certain period
until the soul became harmless. The Buddhist idea of cbhu helped fix this
period at seven weeks, after which the soul has departed. One of the
proofs is found, for instance, in a text like Da-pi-po-sha-lun, which clearly
states that the soul can be in cbau for a maximum of seven weeks before it
is reborn in a certain after-death world.12
The well-established theory in Indian Buddhism of the after-death world
also gave a framework to the vague ideas of the ancient Japanese. The soul
transmigrates endlessly through the six rebirths of heaven, human beings,
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 25

asura, animals, hungry ghosts (Ch. e-gui, Jp. gaki), and hell. For our pur-
poses here the latter two are of particular importance, both inspiring,
despite their unique historical development, the concern of the Japanese
for the fate of their ancestors and even of themselves. It was not until the
Middle Ages, however, when the method of Buddhist funerals and services
for laypeople was established, that priests began to play the central role.
Particularlyin the Zen tradition, the priests adopted the brilliant Chinese
way of adapting the funeral rites accorded monks for use with the laity.
The book Lin-zbong fang-jue (Procedures at the deathbed; ca. tenth-
twelfth century A.D.) describes in detail the method of the Chinese Zen
funeral service, affirming that such ceremonies are to apply to both clergy
and laity.'3 In the tradition of Chinese Zen Buddhism, there is a group of
books called qing-gui that give rules and regulations for monks living in
the monastery. One of them is the Chan-yuan Qing-gui (The pure regula-
tions of the Zen monastery; hereafter Pure Regulations), compiled by Zong
Ze in 1103. Herein is described the method for the funeral service for the
accomplished high priest as well as for the ordinary monk who has not yet
reached the spiritual heights.'4 This is perhaps the earliest documentary
proof that a definite funeral service was established in the Chinese Zen
tradition.
The service specified for the ordinary monk is important for our pur-
poses because it is essentially the funeral service that is popular today in
Japanese Zen schools. I discuss below how the service is performed and
what Buddhist ideologies and religious sentiments underlie it. It remains to
mention here only that, when this funeral method is administered to lay-
people, recipients must be initiated to the monkhood by receiving the pre-
cepts and making the vow to keep them. Since the recipients are dead,
however, the initiation ceremony must be symbolic.
Dogen definitely knew the Pure Regulations and the customary practice
for lay believers, but he was too keen about the religious practice of Zazen
to follow this kind of service for the laity. The situation had changed dras-
tically, however, by the time of Zen master Keizan (1268-1325), the fourth
patriarch of Eiheiji temple. Besides having deep insight into reality, Keizan
was also blessed with administrative ability and a flexible mind. It is of
course true that the times demanded that religious orders of all sorts pro-
vide more services than had been their wont, and Buddhist orders too
were more conscious than ever before of the necessity of making available
to the laity such rites as funeral services and ancestor worship. Accord-
ingly, it was Keizan who, for the first time in the history of the Soto school,
openly encouraged the clergy to perform funeral services for the laity. This
attitude resulted in the gradual expansion of the order throughout Japan
and the building of many temples.
The relation between the spread of funeral services and the develop-
ment of the order was well illustrated by the late Professor Taijo Tamamuro
26 YASUAKINARA

TABLE 1. CHANGING EMPHASISFROM ZAZEN TO FUNERALS

Pages

Zen Masters Analects Total Zazen Funeral

Eihei Dogen (1200-1253) Eibei-kWroku 116 115 1

Tugen Jakurei (1322-1391) Tugen-zenji goroku 33 17 15
Kisi Iban (1404-1468) Iban-zenjigoroku geshui 61 0 36
Senso Esai (?-1475) Sens6-zenjigoroku 81 1 62
Shodd Kosei (1431-1505) Entui-shod6-zenji goroku 138 4 49
Kikuin Zuitan (1447-1524) Kikuin-osh6-agyo 50 0 29

Note: All editions are those published in The Complete Collection of Zen Writings of S6t6-shu
(Tokyo: Komeisha, 1928-1936).

in his book on funeral Buddhism. Having gone through the analects of

Soto and Rinzai Zen masters, Tamamuro found that, in both traditions, the
later the text, the more pages are given to describing and explaining
funeral and other rites instead of Zazen. His discussion of the Soto school
is outlined in table 1.15
It is clear that, in the earlier analects, fewer pages are given over to
funerals than to Zazen, but the treatment of funerals gradually increases in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to the point where more than half the
work is concerned with funerals. Exactly the same phenomenon is ob-
served in the case of Rinzai Zen masters. Just what does this mean? If these
Zen masters were aware of the gap between enlightenment and popular
beliefs, and if they indeed took seriously the admonition of Dogen, what
did these popular rites mean to them, and how did they react to their
increasing prominence in Zen theology and practice?

3. THE DEAD AND ENLIGHTENMENT

I turn now to the prayer that constitutes the main part of the ceremony per-
formed on the eve of a funeral. The text of the prayer, shown in Appendix
1 in translation, is taken from the Keizan shingi (The pure regulations of
[Zen master] Keizan), in which Keizan established the official funeral
method in Japan, following the Chinese Zen Pure Regulations of Zong Ze.
This prayer was originally meant for the dead monk but was in fact also
used for the laity. On the eve of the funeral, the celebrant priest (or one of
his assistants) recites this prayer and leads his fellow priests in chanting in
front of the coffin containing the body of the dead person. The prayer
begins with a reflection on the impermanent nature of life. According to
the truth of impermanence, the concurrence of various causes and condi-
tions that results in life has ceased, and the monk is dead. He is now in
"the ocean" of "eternal tranquillity,"which is blissful. During the service,
 ENCULTURATION OF BUDDHISM 27

Photo by Philippe Gross

I used to believe in reincarnation, but that was in a past life.

-Paul Krassnerts

the names of the various buddhas and bodhisattvas are chanted to help the
dead monk proceed on the way of enlightenment.
However, giving full consideration to the fact that this is a prayer of con-
solation, sincerely hoping for a good journey for the one who has just
departed from life, some questions still remain from the viewpoint of Bud-
dhist theories. First, why is the dead person lying merely as a corpse in
"teternaltranquillity,"which is said to be "blissful"?Second, what does it
mean that someone already dead is, it is hoped, proceeding on "the way to
enlightenment"? Third, this prayer raises the problem of the transfer of
merit effected by chanting the names of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas.
Answering these questions using orthodox theories at the transcendental
level of the Buddhist tradition may be difficult. Herein, however, lie the
secrets of the successful establishment of Buddhism in Japan.
To address first the problem of the blissful eternal tranquillity of the
dead, according to Buddhist theory, any existence has its being, in any
place (here) and in any time (now), as the result of the concurrence of the
causes and conditions (i.e., the law of causation). Since new causes and
various conditions that help causes to become actualized arise constantly,
things are always in the process of change, that is, impermanent. The prob-
lem remains, however, of how to "see" or "recognize" things that are
impermanent. One of the characteristics of Buddhist realization is to see
things, not from the human viewpoint, but from the point of view of things
28 YASUAKINARA

themselves. This emphasizes that the natural change of things according to

the law of causation has nothing to do with human contrivance. Who can
change the order of spring and summer? "Willow leaves are green and
flowers are red" without being influenced by our intention. Our heart beats
and our blood runs not because we order them to work. Even the function-
ing of our will is not a result of our will. From the Buddhist viewpoint, a
thing exists "as it is," having no connection with our contrivance, which is
by nature ego centered.
But we human beings cannot help creating numerous concepts about all
things and according some "meaning" to them. Even the "I"is a concept
with a particular meaning accorded to it. In fact, the "I"is a mere fiction
with nothing real about it. We overshadow, so to speak, our contrivance of
all things, the result of which is the formation of our world of "meaning."
In Buddhism, this is called the created or the conditioned, in contrast to the
uncreated or the unconditioned, the way of being of all things that are
constantly coming and going without having any connection with our
human evaluation. The created and the uncreated are not two independent
entities. The former is the world as we see it, and the latter concerns all
beings that are approached at the level of enlightenment without being
influenced by our contrivance.
Applying the same attitude to the context of the self, Buddhism, espe-
cially Zen Buddhism, explains human existence, customarily and conve-
niently, by means of distinguishing the ordinary self from the real Self. The
former is the ego self constructed by our contrivance, whereas the latter is
the uncreated. This ego self, which is the "I"in the ordinary sense, is at the
same time the real Self if it is considered in the religious sense with no
influence of human contrivance. In this connection, we may say that the
ego self is able to "function" on the basis of the real Self. The ego self,
then, is merely a fiction created by means of contrivance, which is one of
the numerous functions innate to human existence. Thus it seems to me
that Buddhism takes the opposite point of view from Descartes. Instead of
saying, "I think, therefore I am," the Buddhist would say, "I am (as the
result of a concurrence of various causes and conditions), therefore I can
think (as one of the human functions)."
Similarly,any given thing is, essentially, uncreated. The name, value, and
various meanings attached to it are nothing but what we human beings
have given to it on the basis of our ego-centered contrivance. Everything
always keeps on being "as it is." Therefore, Dogen once wrote that the
same water is seen differently by men, fish, heavenly beings, and hungry
ghosts because of their respective viewpoints. Not one sees the "water of
the Buddhadharma,''16 that is, reality. Thus, in the Buddhist tradition, the
reality of things is sought for, to quote the famous phrase of Daisetz
Suzuki, in its "as-it-is-ness." In short, things are looked at as an integral
whole, not to be analyzed by reason. Since it keeps on its way of being as
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 29

reality from the beginningless past and is manifested in every now, it is

"eternal." And, through their experience and practice, Zen masters are
aware of all things constantly in "tranquility"because they are devoid of
any evaluation from any particularhuman ego-oriented standpoint.
Zen masters who have looked into reality, that is, are enlightened,
appreciate the serenity of things as beautiful. The factual being of "things
as they are," receiving no interpretation from anywhere, seems to them to
be wonderful. Therefore, the phrase "blissful is the eternal tranquillity"is
the utterance not of ordinary logic but, as it were, of the logic of enlighten-
ment. It is the conviction of Zen masters at the existential or spiritual level.
This way of existence naturally underlies all things, including man. Reality
is here; we simply do not see it because we cloud it by contrivance.
On the basis of the brief sketch of the Buddhist view of existence given
above, we may understand the implication of the famous Mahayana
phrase, "All human beings possess Buddha Nature." With the removal of
"human being," this came to mean that Buddha Nature is embodied in all
existence. And it is not far from this point to reach the famous theory of
Original Enlightenment (bongaku-sbisO). This is a very problematic theme
in Buddhist doctrinal studies. Putting aside these difficulties, however, suf-
fice it to say here that the theory of Original Enlightenment has incurred
various misunderstandings, one example of which is the statement, "Every
thing is the Buddha as it is." From the religious viewpoint, this is utterly
wrong in that enlightenment is achieved and buddhahood attained only
through religious practice. It is a matter of experience and practice in life. It
is true that, to the eyes of one who has reached a certain height of spiritu-
ality, all things appear real. This should not, however, be confused with
saying in a quite objective way that everything is the Buddha as it is.
Many cases exist, however, in which this approach was supported and
even positively affirmed by Buddhist leaders of old. They sometimes
pulled down the logic of, so to speak, enlightenment to the level of mere
logique usuelle and elaborately elucidated how all things and human
beings are the Buddhas being one indiscriminately. The idea seems to have
been very appealing to the common people. One example of how this
appealed to the emotions of the Japanese is found in some of the popular
arts like YokyokuandJ6rurd.17
Now, the idea that everything is the Buddha has apparently something to
do with the popular practice in Japan of calling the dead person botoke,18
namely, the Buddha. Logically, at least, there is no contradiction. If every-
thing is the Buddha as it is, why is it wrong to identify the dead corpse as
the Buddha? And there is a good reason why he must be called botoke, as
will be discussed below. This idea is clearly exemplified in the new title
"the one who has newly returned to eternal tranquillity,"which is added to
the monk name of the dead person.
Another illustration of the same mentality is found in the usage of
30 YASUAKINARA

kakurei in the last part of the prayer. The merit acquired by chanting the
names of the buddhas and other sacred beings is "thereby. . . transferredto
the kakurei of you who has returned to eternal tranquillity."Kakurei here
literally means "the enlightened soul" and has in fact been used elsewhere
with the same connotation. The monk's soul is here glorified by receiving
the new appellation.
Addressing the newly dead monk as one who has "newly returned to
eternal tranquillity"may well be analyzed as an example of the fusion of
Buddhist ideas, naive religious feelings, and psychological motivation. In
Japanese Buddhist society, the value of becoming the Buddha is taken for
granted. Enlightenment is the ultimate goal to be achieved not only by
monks but even by lay believers. Therefore, on one hand, in theory at least
everyone hopes and is expected to become the Buddha. On the other
hand, we have the notion that "everything is the Buddha." It seems quite
likely, then, that the warm feelings of the living, who like to glorify the
dead and pray for the happiness of his soul, led them to regard the dead as
the one who has reached the same state of enlightenment as the Buddha
and even explicitly to give the new name Buddha to him.
The idea of the dead as hotoke, again, must have developed along with
the traditionalJapanese popular idea of the soul. It is commonly held that
the soul of the dead, aramitama, a "new soul" that is to some extent dan-
gerous, is expected to become tama, which is a harmless soul to be ranked
among ancestors. There is a set of rites in the Shinto tradition prescribed
for helping aramitama become tama. Some scholars have recently sug-
gested that, since the time when Buddhist funerals became prevalent, the
term tama seems to have been replaced by hotoke.19If so, the religious
feeling of Japanese Buddhists may well be satisfied in a double sense. On
one hand, the Shintoist idea that they have inherited from their ancestors is
maintained by changing the old frame "aramitama becomes tama" to the
new one "aramitama becomes hotoke." On the other hand, as Buddhists
they can make the deaths of their relatives glorious and meaningful by
affirming that the dead have fulfilled the ideal of becoming the Buddha.
At present I am not in a position to trace definitively to its origins the
usage of hotoke in this context; further study is required. But it is almost
certain that calling the dead person hotoke, which is unique to Japanese
Buddhist culture, must have taken shape in the process of developing Bud-
dhist funerals. The practice is thus a very fine example of an important step
in the enculturation of Buddhism in Japan.
Now we come to the second problematic idea, that the dead soul is pro-
ceeding on its way to enlightenment, and analyze it in turn in the context
of Buddhist doctrine and popular religious ideas. From the doctrinal view-
point, early Buddhism supposedly taught that one should have no concern
for human fate after death. What is important is learning how to live today
in this world with peace of mind. In a well-known episode, Sakyamuni
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 31

Buddha emphasized living in the present by keeping silent in the face

of questions about human fate after death.20 The later development of
Buddhist practice and theory, including Dogen's, maintains the same atti-
tude. However, in every stage of the historical development of Buddhism,
some popular ideas about the after-death world were prevalent among lay
believers and even among monks. Some of these ideas have come to the
attention of the elite, who have tried to explain or incorporate them in their
doctrine. Popular ideas are thus "Buddhisized."
In this context, beliefs in the existence of life after death are quite un-
stable and complicated. Of course, in theory, the Buddhist answer to the
question of whether one keeps on living after death is definitely no. But, in
practice, that is, in the context of daily life, the answer very often is yes, an
answer supported by many descriptions in Buddhist texts of lives in trans-
migration. While the previous lives of Sakyamuni Buddha are fully narrated
in the Jataka literature, good conduct is advised for brighter future lives in
all canonical texts. Even allowing for existential interpretations, the exist-
ence of life before or after death is taken for granted among Buddhists in
such a way that a no in theory becomes a yes in practice. The idea is
accepted and has manifold implications.
It is quite understandable that bereaved family and friends are anxious to
provide to the dead the benefits available to the living. As we have seen,
prayer for the good of the departed person is popular. For example, if the
deceased individual was a monk who died before reaching the ultimate
goal, this must be a matter of great regret to him, and we should therefore
help him achieve his desire as best we can. As a result, we pray to speed
him on the way to enlightenment.
This idea is apparently inconsistent with the notion that the dead have
"newly returned to eternal tranquillity"or that of the kakurei, "the enlight-
ened soul." If the deceased is already in the state of enlightenment, that is,
already is the Buddha, why should prayer be necessary to help him or her
proceed on the way to enlightenment? However, while this is a contradic-
tion at the theoretical level, the actual situation is much more complicated.
It is often observed of popular beliefs that several ideas exist side by side,
each of which, having a particular function of its own, may logically con-
tradict the others. The incorporation of popular beliefs in a religious system
can result in some inconsistencies existing in the broad system of doctrine.
For instance, the idea of chuu discussed above is definitely a result of the
"Buddhisization"of an indigenous folk belief that has become closely con-
nected with the notion of transmigration. And it flatly contradicts the an-
attan theory. Both are Buddhist "doctrines"in the sense that they are the
subjects of elucidation in authentic Buddhist texts. They are, however, to
be distinguished in terms of their historical origin as well as their religious
meaning and function.
This problem is also found in other areas of Buddhist culture in which
32 YASUAKINARA

doctrinal and popular religious ideas intermingle. Toward the end of the
funeral prayer, the names of several buddhas and bodhisattvas and the
name of the Lotus Sutra are chanted, the merit of which is transferred to
the "enlightened soul" so that it may "glorify"the Land of Reward, that is,
the Land of the Buddha. Here, again, we can see a typical case of the
fusion of Buddhist ideas and popular religious practice, which by itself
has a long history of development in Buddhism: that is the problem of the
eko. Basically speaking, in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist scriptures, eko
(Ch., bui-xiang, "the transfer of merit") is used for two Indian terms, ade-
sand and parinamana. The former is to "direct"(a-dis; adesana is the
noun form) the merit acquired by some religious deeds, like offering to the
Buddhist sangha. When a lay person offers something to monks, the latter
accept it and utter a phrase to direct the merit acquired by the offering
either to the gods from whom the donor expects protection or to the
donor's dead relatives so that they may attain a better place of rebirth. Dif-
ferent from ordinary rites, this offering is not directly given to the object of
worship. The sangha-the monks and nuns-is necessary to accept the
offerings that help the laity produce merits and also to direct those offer-
ings to the appropriate beings. That is why the Buddhist sangha is often
called fukuden (Ch. fu-tian, Skt.pu nya-ksetra), meaning the "field [out] of
[which] merit [can be produced]."
This idea underlies the basic structure of the funeral and of ancestor
worship in ancient India regardless of whether one considers Hindu or
Buddhist practice. In fact, Buddhist monks in India did not preside over
the funerals and the ancestor worship of lay Buddhists (see below). But
there is ample textual as well as epigraphic evidence to show that the cus-
tom of the transfer of merit to dead relatives and friends was very common
among Buddhist people.
Along with the rise and development of Mahayana Buddhism, the merit
acquired by offerings or by righteously following the precepts began grad-
ually to be used as a means by which one could pray for enlightenment
either for oneself or for all the people in the world. This is parincamana,
which literally means "to transform"or "to change into" and is in fact often
applied to some desirable religious state. Franklin Edgerton also gives the
meaning of "to ripen, mature" ;21 in other words, the merit gradually ripens,
becoming enlightenment. The idea is spiritual and in good accord with the
Mahayana ideal of compassion for all beings.
In the course of history, eko in the sense of parinamana seems to have
begun to be used in place of adesana. There are not a few instances of this
kind in the epigraphy of Indian Buddhism of the fifth to the eighth centu-
ries, which I have studied elsewhere.22 In China, too, we can observe the
same tendency. Eko in the sense of Mahayanic parinamana is found in
funerals. One of the examples is a prayer in the Chan-yuan Quig-gui (see
above) on which the prayer we are examining now is based. Here, again,
we can see the fusion of the Buddhist idea of parinamana directed toward
 ENCULTURATION
OF BUDDHISM 33

enlightenment and the practice of cidesanai, involving the transfer of merit

to one's dead relatives. The former constitutes the outer expression and,
consequently, the surface meaning of the prayer, although the ripening of
merit for enlightenment will be, theoretically, of no avail to the dead soul.
It is valid only in the sphere of Mahayana ideology. The original sense of
transferringmerit to the dead by praying for the happy life after death is no
longer shown explicitly in the prayer. But it is nevertheless present because
the prayer itself is meant for the dead. Also, there is a compromise in that
the notion originally meant to be applied to a living person is now applied
to the dead, with the result that the prayer maintains its original meaning.
It is important that both Buddhist elites and the Buddhist laity are satis-
fied by this fusion. Both are convinced of the rightness of the prayer, "May
the deceased get enlightenment!" which is meant to assure the happiness
of a person after death.
Throughout the history of the Soto Zen tradition,the basic structureof the
funeral prayer as studied above seems to be maintained. It is not infrequent
that contact with other ideologies brings about changes in the prayer, but
these changes are secondary. (See Appendix 2, which supports the discus-
sion presented above and also provides the material for further analysis.)
I have discussed so far the phenomena of the dead person being called
hotoke, the prayer for the dead to proceed on the way of enlightenment,
and the application of eko to the deceased, none of which can be consid-
ered part of orthodox Buddhist doctrine. Although all three represent the
accommodation by orthodox Buddhism of popular religious ideas, ortho-
doxy still seems to be predominant. Such a predominance is natural be-
cause Buddhist funeral rites were formulated by Buddhist priests. We
should not, however, forget that the laity explicitly, and local cultural tradi-
tions implicitly, demanded funeral rites. During the process of the encultur-
ation of Buddhism in Japan (or, in fact, in any country where Buddhism
has taken root), the people, on the one hand, preferred that their tradi-
tional beliefs and customs be dressed in, but not drastically changed by,
the garb of Buddhism so that their consciousness as Buddhists may be sat-
isfied. The Buddhist elite, on the other hand, were keen to inculcate Bud-
dhist doctrine in the laity. In this case, as always, the problem facing the
fusion of orthodox doctrine and popular belief is that, whereas the former
focuses on attaining enlightenment, the latter is expressly concerned with
the here and now, a basic incompatibility that is bound to produce tension
on both sides. And herein lies another important theme for the further
study of the enculturation of Buddhism.

4. TWO RELIGIOUS LEVELS OF BUDDHISM

What I have designated above are two levels of religious belief: that of
orthodox doctrine, which is concerned with enlightenment, and that of
popular ideas and practices. What exactly are the contents of the former
34 YASUAKINARA

that are so incompatible with the latter?Answering this question leads to a

reexamination of a pair of popular Buddhist terms-namely, laukika (secu-
lar: Ch. shi-jian, Jp. seken) and lokottara (transcendental: Ch. cbu-sbi-jian,
Jp. sbusseken)-in the light of cultural study.
Soon after Sakyamuni Buddha attained Nibbana (i.e., enlightenment)
under the Bodhi tree, he is said, in some of the early texts, to have de-
clined to preach the Law because "the truth I realized is against the stream
of the world, delicate, profound, difficult to see, and subtle. Therefore the
people covered with the delusion and darkness [of ignorance] cannot see
it." Then the god Brahma appeared and requested him to preach by saying
that there could be some who were able to listen to the Buddha and see
the truth. Sakyamuni was convinced and began to turn the wheel of the
Law.23This episode shows symbolically the transcendental nature of the
Buddha's enlightenment in the sense that it can be aimed at only by going
beyond the influence of delusion. This is in fact the lokottara (Pali, lokutt-
ara), which literally means "beyond the (secular) world." The implication
is quite clear in the following examples drawn from some Buddhist texts of
different ages and characters:

[Buddha says] there is no delusion in me that is not discarded. As

long as my mind is bound by delusion, I can not see things as they
are.... This is the sacred and transcendental [lokuttara] wisdom that
is not shared by the [unenlightened] "common people."24

This sutra makes people realize [that they are in] sufferings [caused
by delusion] in the Three World, and shows and propounds the way
of the lokottara.25

Since it is cut off from the secular world, it is called the transcen-
dence. The secular world is comprised of two kinds of delusion.26

As was touched on before, unlike science, Buddhism sees things from

the viewpoint of their religious "meaning." Since the world is viewed as
"mentallycreated," and since the mental function is at once contrivance, the
world thus created is taken existentially, or spiritually, as no more than the
world of suffering ("All is suffering"). This is the "(secular) world" (i.e.,
laukika). It is then in contrast with the state of enlightenment, which can be
sought only in the negation of the ego. That is why all the Buddhist ideas
and practices at the level of transcendence, lokottara, necessarily point in
the direction of "looking into the self" by controlling ego and delusion. Not
all popular religious ideas and rites function at that level: the funeral ser-
vice, memorial services, rites of passage, and various types of magical prac-
tices, for example, are meant to "satisfythe ego," which is laukika.27
Thus, in both theory and practice, the functions of lokottara and laukika
are contradictory, and it is therefore difficult to reach a compromise be-
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 35

tween them. However, since they do function on different levels, it is

possible for them to coexist. Consider, for example, the case of Japanese
Buddhists. Devout practitioners of Nembutsu or Zazen not infrequently
participate in the annual festival at their local Shinto shrine or take their
children to a Shinto shrine to celebrate Shichi-go-san, a gala day for chil-
dren of three, five, and seven years of age.
It is, however, characteristic of Buddhism that the leaders of the various
Buddhist traditions are reluctant to admit that such coexistence is possible.
They are in this sense puritanical. It is true that the Buddha admonished his
disciples not to be bothered with funerals and other rites for lay believers
because they have no place on the path to enlightenment. But he never
denied the socioreligious significance of such rites, without which human
social life is impossible. Judging from the behavior of later Buddhists, one
can conclude that they seem to have followed the admonition strictly, even
blindly, because a particularly Buddhist type of funeral and ancestor wor-
ship seems never to have developed. Even in the seventh century, accord-
ing to the record of Yi-jing, monks in India conducted only a very simple
funeral for their fellows in the monastery, simply reciting the "sutra of
impermanence" (wu-chang-jing).28 And so far I have found no evidence
that monks in India conducted funerals for the laity-hence the fact that,
while the Buddhist laity in India accepted the Buddhist ideal of an ethical
life (lokottara), their funerals were conducted by Hindu priests according
to Hindu traditions.
Indian Buddhists were more flexible about other popular religious ideas
and practices. Since the Buddhist elite did not purposefully create any par-
ticular Buddhist rite, lay followers had to fall back on the traditional, that is,
Hindu, rites. These practices could not, however, be kept completely sepa-
rate from the influence of Buddhist doctrine, and eventually various ele-
ments of orthodox Buddhist doctrine were incorporated in them, evidently
over the objections of some of the Buddhist elite.
For instance, the practice of magical rites is explicitly prohibited in the
early texts, and it is believed that the Buddha rejected it thoroughly. The
prohibition, however, applies specifically to monks and only in two con-
texts: as part of the pursuit of enlightenment and in return for financial
compensation from the laity.29The laity are left out of consideration. In
fact, from the earliest stage of the historical development of Buddhism, var-
ious types of magical practices were developed, even among monks, such
as the "words of truth," (saccakiriya, based on the mysterious power
believed to be hidden in words, especially words of truth), paritta (prima-
rily a spell for protection, and quite commonly used even now in the The-
ravada tradition), and after the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, mantra, vidya,
and dharani.
But the more popular magical practices became, the greater the effort to
give them an appropriate place in the Buddhist doctrinal system as "a prac-
36 YASUAKINARA

tice for obtaining enlightenment" or "an act of compassion." In fact, a later

text belonging to the time when such practices were very commonly per-
formed discussed praying for the practical benefits of lay believers and said
that "such practices are of the ungenuine type [za-fa] and were not per-
formed previously, but now in the vile age of the five corruptions [wu-
zhuo-e-shi] we perform them for the benefit of people in the world."30
The idea of merit is quite popular in India in the framework of transmi-
gration and karma, which is a typical popular religious idea, at least in its
origin, in the Hindu world, where practitioners earnestly wished to accu-
mulate good karma and be reborn in heaven after death. Buddhism, how-
ever, aims at reaching enlightenment at the lokottara level. Heaven is
nothing but one of the six worlds in the process of the endless transmi-
gration of the soul-never the ultimate goal. Buddhist leaders were quite
aware of the nature of good deeds. They evaluated them as "good at the
level of laukika," to be distinguished from that of lokottara, which is the
practice and way of living directed toward enlightenment. They finally for-
mulated a very smart theory called the "gradual instruction" (anupub-
bikatba) or "theories of offering (dana), discipline (sila), and being reborn
in heaven"31in which they evaluate the acts of giving and keeping disci-
pline that lead to rebirth in heaven as the first step toward the ultimate goal
of enlightenment. They insisted that enlightenment will come in a later
birth-no one knows when!-after experiencing several births during
which one is supposed to do good and keep one's mind on enlightenment.
Instances of this type can be greatly multiplied. Suffice it here to see that
these are only a few examples of the accommodation of ideas and prac-
tices at the two levels of laukika and lokottara. The Buddhist elite has
always been well aware of the qualitative differences between the two.
Regardless of the times and the traditions, Buddhist leaders have shared a
tendency to regard the former as the only authoritative norm of conduct,
which very often leads them to think of the latter as something forbidden.
Such a point of view is historical and a pattern in religious culture. I am
inclined to believe that the qualitative difference in the soteriological func-
tion of each level is responsible for this tendency. Various sufferings in life
can be ameliorated at either level, but the way to solve the problem of life
is the opposite. The laukika level offers prayers to change or improve the
situation of the individual who has undergone suffering. The lokottara
level, on the contrary, emphasizes elevating one's mind by realizing the
present situation as it is. The elite too often hold to the existential (spiritual,
lokottara) way of solving problems to evaluate appropriately the meaning
of religious practice at the laukika level.
The ideas and practices of the laukika level of religion are socially in-
evitable. Notwithstanding the intention of the elite, the popular religious
elements exist anywhere and anytime underneath the higher level of spiri-
tual religious faith. Interaction between the two is necessary, which, if
established satisfactorily, helps the faith to take root and flourish.
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 37

5. CONCLUSION

My purpose here has been primarily to discuss the sociocultural context of

one aspect of how the Zen tradition in Japan embraced the traditional prac-
tices of funeral rites and ancestor worship. For the purpose of analysis, an
example was selected to illustrate how popular religious rites and senti-
ments of the Japanese have been beautifully enveloped by some Buddhist
views and located in Buddhist culture. But these "Buddhist"views are not
always genuinely Buddhist.
This, of course, brings us to the matter of defining what Buddhism really
is. One position would hold that only those particular ideas, such as de-
pendent origination, nonself, impermanence, and so forth, that were taught
by Sakyamuni Buddha himself are truly "Buddhist," excluding all later
developments. Then there is the position that any idea or practice touched
on by the elite in any discussion of doctrine in any text in the recognized
canon is "Buddhist,"which broadens the notion of what is authentically
Buddhist to include the ideas of the after-death world, the intermediate
state of the soul (chuu), and many others that were originally popular
beliefs. What is important, however, is whether the True Law is transmitted.
Taking all this into consideration, I have settled here on the two levels of
laukika and lokottara as a measure for the purpose of discussing the prob-
lems of enculturation. In the cultural (not doctrinal) tradition of Buddhism,
the elite have always been aware of these two levels in the sense that,
whereas the former is considered Buddhist and hence to be evaluated
highly, the latter, the ideas and practices of the popular religion, is not
Buddhist and therefore not recommended for practice. This is particularly
true in the case of Japan and must be taken into consideration in any dis-
cussion of the way in which Buddhism has taken root in Japanese society.
Examples examined here were confined almost exclusively to the Soto
school of Zen Buddhism. Other schools should be examined separately,
which will surely bring to light the different types of structure achieved his-
torically on the basis of different doctrines and different ways of incorpo-
rating popular ideas and customs. Nevertheless, funerals and ancestor
worship are vital points on which the enculturation of Buddhism in Japan
depended. The fact that the usage of the word of hotoke to mean the dead
is common to all Buddhist sects shows how this idea has not only ap-
pealed to the mind of the Japanese but also been useful in the process of
the enculturation of Buddhism in Japan. Therefore, in spite of its absurdity
from the doctrinal and lokottara viewpoint, the usage of botoke for the
dead may be said to be one of the most important and decisive cultural
changes leading to the acceptance of Buddhism in Japan.
ShuiisakuEndo, a Catholic and one of the most influential writers in the
field of Japanese literature, once lamented that, no matter how much
people tried to implant the Christian faith in Japanese society, it has never
taken root, but withered away in the soil of ancestor worship. Buddhism
38 YASUAKINARA

has become a settled and central feature of Japanese culture. A great many
popular beliefs and customs, of which the funeral is just one, have been
successfully incorporated into "Buddhism," and these "newcomers" are
what now work to maintain it. Buddhism in Japan has been enculturated
successfully, always leaving behind, however, the problem of how to
create an appropriate relationship between the lokottara doctrine and what
the "field"is actually doing at the level of laukika.
Christianstoo are now obliged to find some way to incorporate ancestor
worship into their religious life, a challenge that they are finally recogniz-
ing. For example, in 1985, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan pub-
lished a small pamphlet called "A Manual on Ancestors and the Dead for
the Catholic"32that introduces changes in traditional positions to accommo-
date the point of view of Japanese Catholics. Regardless of whether it is
Buddhism or Christianity that is facing the challenge, however, funerals
and ancestor worship present an important and challenging problem to
those attempting to bridge traditional faith and popular beliefs.

APPENDIX I: PRAYER ON THE EVE OF THE FUNERAL (TAIYA-NENJU)33

It should be reflected that birth and death interchange and that heat and
cold alternate. This life of yours, once it comes, is [short] like lightning in
the air, and, when it is gone, it stays like waves in the ocean [of the eternal
tranquillity].Today you have newly returned to eternal tranquillity [shin-
enjaku]. The conditions that have helped your life be maintained have
ceased to function, and the great life of yours fell all of a sudden. [You
should realize that] "everything is impermanent, and blissful is the eternal
tranquillity."I now request all the monks present here to chant the names
of the sacred buddhas. The merit acquired hereby is to glorify the way to
enlightenment on which you proceed.
Let us now chant [the Three Jewels of the Law]:

1. Vairocana-Buddha,the Buddha of the pure body of the Truth.

2. Rushana-Buddha, the Buddha of the perfect body of Bliss.
3. Shakyamuni-Buddha, the Buddha of [one of the] thousands of bodies
of incarnation.
4. Maitreya-Buddha,the Buddha of the future yet to come.
5. All the buddhas in the ten directions of the past, the present, and the
future.
6. Mahayana Lotus Sutra.
7. ManjusriBodhisattva.
8. SamantabhadraBodhisattva.
9. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
10. All the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas.
11. The great Perfection of the Wisdom.
 ENCULTURATION
OF BUDDHISM 39

[A sutra is recited here, which is followed by the prayer of transferring

the merit.]
We have now chanted [the Three Jewels of the Law] and recited a sutra.
The merits acquired thereby should be transferred to the "enlightened
soul" [kakurei] of you who have returned to eternal tranquillity. May this
merit glorify the Land of Reward [in which you are destined to stay].34

APPENDIX 2: A MANUAL FOR THE (SYMBOLIC) FIRING

OF THE WOOD IN CREMATION35

The celebrant priest is [for] Sakyamuni Buddha, and the dead is [compared
to] his disciple, the Venerable Kasyapa.36The fire brands [that the priest is
now holding in the symbolic form of two sticks made of paper to the tips
of which are added several long rectangular read and black slips, respec-
tively] are the lotus flower that the Buddha held in front of him. The flower
that is called the golden utpala [in Sanskrit]is the flower of the mind [xin-
bua]. The flower of the mind is the fire of the mind [xin-buo]. When the
Buddha held it and showed it to the millions of the audience, he [meant to]
draw a circle in the air [which is the gesture symbolizing reality, i.e., the
perfection of all beings]. Therefore, when the celebrant [ceremoniously]
sets fire by drawing a circle in the air with the flowers [i.e., the sticks], it is
[to show] the oneness of the self and the other, of the incarnated body and
the Real [Dharma]body of the Buddha, of the Buddha and all beings: there
is no discrimination between these. My being is a form of incarnation,
whereas that of the dead is nonbeing. The celebrant priest is the one who
has attained the enlightenment, whereas the dead is the "OriginallyEnlight-
ened." The smile of the Buddha while holding the flower shows the one-
ness of the Attaining Enlightenment and the Original Enlightenment. Since
they are one, it is called the same Enlightenment [to-shogaku].
The celebrant priest is [in his spiritual state] beyond the world of delu-
sion and hence [compared to] life in the sphere of the sun and [like] the
living fire, that is, red fire brand: this is the fire of the mind that is all pene-
trating. As the dead is to go to that state, he is [compared to] life in the
moon and [like] the dead fire, that is, black fire brand: this is the real [indi-
vidual] fire of mind. Burning the incarnated body of the dead person by
joining the real fire and the fire of the mind, the celebrant [wishes to] make
the dead live in the real formless feature of things. Reality [shb] is the nou-
menon, and the manifoldness of things [hen] is the phenomenon. They are
the dead and the celebrant. The mutual identity [e] is to put two things
together [to be one] without losing their original individuality. When these
two are [considered to be] not-two [from the viewpoint of reality], each of
which has no substantial entity, this is the transcendence of birth and
death. Therefore, two firebrands [of red and black] are to be placed on the
table to imply their mutual identity. That the circle is drawn in the air by
40 YASUAKINARA

these two brands is their mutual penetration [go]: this strikes to the real
nature of the Buddha.
There is [additional] secret knowledge of importance. When the cele-
brant draws the circle, he should blink at the dead. Then, holding the
brands in front with his eyes closed, he chants a verse of prayer with four
lines in a low voice. Then he should have his eyes wide open staring at the
sky and recite the Dharma words [for the dead]. All having been done, the
whole of his being becomes free from any restraint;then he utters a thun-
dering roar at the dead. Even the no-mind, no-form, and no-contrivance
are discarded [to be in real void]. If there is even a little contrivance left
undiscarded, the dead will [not be led to buddhahood but will] go astray.
The closing verse is also important. All these should be learnt and mas-
tered.
-The chief abbot of the Yokoji Temple, Donryo [sealed]

NOTES

This paper was first delivered at the Second Seminaire Franco-Japonais, entitled
"Bouddhismes et soci6tes asiatiques-clerges, societ6s et pouvoirs," held in Paris,
8-10 December 1987, and organized by the Institute of Asian Cultures, Sophia Uni-
versity, Tokyo. It was previously published in French as "Puissent les morts attein-
dre l'Illumination: points de vue sur l'insertion du bouddhisme au Japon" in Alain
Forest, Eiichi Kato et L6on Vandermeersch, eds., Boudhismes et societes asiatiques:
clerges, societes etpouvoirs, Paris, L'Harmattan,1990. It is published here with kind
permission of L'Harmattan.
1. The special issues appeared as nos. 29 and 30 of Dend6in-kiy6, which is pub-
lished by Dendoin, the official institute for the study of Pure Land Buddhism run by
the Honganji sect of the Jodo-shin school. Dendoin has since changed its name and
is now known as Kyogaku-honbu.
2. See Shoten Sasaki, "Shuigaku, Soto Studies, Folkways, and Folk Beliefs"
(in Japanese), Journal of Soto Propagation Studies (Kyoka Kenshu-), no. 30
(1987): 94.
3. R. F. Gombrich, Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural High-
lands of Ceylon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).
4. Discrimination based on sex, physical condition, social group, etc. has
now become a big social problem in Japan, one in which not a few Buddhist
orders, including the Honganji sect of the Jodo-shin school, are involved in various
ways.
5. Yasukuni shrine, the shrine for the war dead, was the symbol of national inte-
gration before and during World War II. Although it is now one of the religious cor-
porations, the problem of whether it should be maintained by the government has
yet to be solved. Concerning the war-dead problem, see Nara Yasuaki, "Religion
and State-a Problem in Japan," Young East 9, no. 1 (1983): 9-28.
6. See Shbumons6sai no tokushitu wo saguru (A study of the special character of
the funeral of the [Soto] sect), ed. Shinsuikai of the Soto-shu Propagation Research
Institute (Tokyo: Dobosha-shuppan, 1980).
7. Kakunyo, Kaijash6o.
8. Zonkaku, Hoonki.
9. Ibid.
 OF BUDDHISM
ENCULTURATION 41

10. See R. Minagawa, T. Nakano, S. Shirogane, and S. Danjo, "History of the

Funeral with Its Problems in Japan" (in Japanese), Journal of S6t6 Propagation
Studies, no. 12 (1969): 77-78.
11. The Abbidharmako?abhbsya, written by Vasubandhu in about the fourth cen-
tury, contains an elaborate discussion of chbfu in the chapter that treats the loka
(i.e., the world).
12. Taish6Daiz6-ky6, 27:361b.
13. Ibid., 17:746b-747a.
14. For an annotated Japanese translation of the Chan-yuan Qing-gui, see
G. Kagamishima, T. Sato, and K. Kosaka, Yaku-chbfzen-nen-shingi (Tokyo: Soto-
shiu shuimu-cho [Head Office of the Soto School], 1972), pp. 237ff.
15. See Taijo Tamamuro, S6shiki Bukky6 (Funeral Buddhism) (Tokyo: Daihorin-
kaku, 1963), p. 129.
16. Dogen, Sh6b6genz6 Sansui-ky6.
17. Y6kyoku is the song of Noh plays. J6ruri is a kind of ballad drama to be
recited to the accompaniment of a samisen, a three-stringed instrument. Both are
traditional forms of public entertainment, and their origins are said to go back to
the fourteenth century.
18. As the word used for the dead person, hotoke is now still common in Japan
in some conversational contexts. For example, "He has at last become hotoke [or
hotoke-sama]"(sama is an honorific particle), or, "Be quiet in front of hotoke-sama"
(scolding children making noise in front of the coffin).
19. Kokan Sasaki, "A View to the Problem of the Funeral," in Shuimon s6sai no
tokushitu wo saguru (1980), p. 19. The usage of hotoke for the dead has been vari-
ously discussed. See esp. Ariga Kizaemon, Hitotu no nihon bunka-ron (Essays on
Japanese culture) (Tokyo: Mirai-sha, 1976), chap. 1.
20. See, e.g., Digha Nikaya, 1:187ff. etc.
21. Franklin Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1953), p. 323.
22. See Yasuaki Nara, Indian Society and Mahaydna Buddhism (in Japanese),
vol. 10 of K6za Daig6 Bukky6 (Tokyo: Shunjiu-sha,1985), pp. 35ff.
23. See Samyutta Nikdya 6.1; Vinaya 1.1.5.
24. Majjbima Nikaya, 1:323. (Kosambiya Sutta, MajjhimaNikaya 48).
25. Saddharma-pundarika-sftra, ed. A. Kern, p. 90; chap. 3, Taisho Daiz6-ky6,
9:15a (Lotus Sutra, Chap. 2).
26. Taish6 Daiz6-ky6, 31:50c (Cheng-wei-zhi-lun, fasc. 9).
27. Elsewhere, I discuss lokottara and laukika as a means of analysis (see my
"Kodai Indo-bukkyo no shuikyo-teki hyoso to kiso," San-p6, Nos. 32-34 (Tokyo:
Daizo Shuppan-sha, 1971), and "Bukkyo-shiI-Indotonan-azia" [Historyof Buddhism
-India and Southeast Asia] [Tokyo:Yamakawa Shuppan-sha, 1979], pp. 265ff.).
28. In his Nan-hai ji-gui nei-fa-chuan (Taish6 Daiz6-ky6, 54:204ff), Yi-jing gives
a simple description of the funeral for a monk. Fellow monks attend the cremation
while reciting the "sutra of impermanence," then return to the monastery remem-
bering the impermanent nature of life and take a bath either in a pond or in a well.
29. I discuss the prohibition by Sakyamuni Buddha of magical practices and var-
ious magical customs in a series of papers (in Japanese): see, e.g., "The Structure
and Function of the Paritta,"Shiiky6kenkyfu213 (1973); "Saccakiriya-an Aspect of
the Buddhist Magical Practices,"Nihon-Bukkyb---Gakkai-nenp6 38 (1973); and "The
Meaning of 'Healing' in Ancient Indian Buddhism," in Festschriftfor Dr. Hajime
Nakamura (Tokyo: Shunjilu-sha,1973).
30. Consecration scripture, Fascicle 5 (Taish6 Daiz6-ky6, 21:511c). This text was
probably compiled in China in the fifth centruy. See Michel Strickmann, "The Con-
42 YASUAKINARA

secration Siutra:A Buddhist Book of Spells," in Robert E. Buswell Jr., ed., Chinese
Buddhist Apocrypha (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1990): 75-117.
31. Vinaya, Mahavagga, 1.1.7, etc.
32. "Sosen to shisha ni tuiteno Katorikku shinja no tebiki" (A manual on ances-
tors and the dead for the Catholic) (Tokyo: Katori-kkuchuio kyogi-kai, 1985).
33. The text is taken from the Keizan shingi (The pure regulations of [Zen
master] Keizan) as found in the Soto-shbf-zensho(Tokyo, 1930), 2:449.
34. Keizan basically depends on the prayer shown in the oldest book of Zen reg-
ulations, The Pure Regulations of the Zen Monastery, compiled by Zong Ze in A.D.
1103 in China. This last sentence was changed, however, in the authorized service
book of the Soto school that is now still commonly used, where it reads as follows:
"May your soul attain the pure land of enlightenment and all of your karma be
improved. May the lotus [in the land of the Buddha] open the best blossom [to wel-
come you], and may you get the prediction that you are destined for buddhahood."
35. This material was found and edited by Professor Rikizan Ishikawa and pub-
lished by him in his "AnEssay on the Classification of Kirigami as Used in the Soto
Sect in Medieval Japan" (in Japanese), Komazawa Daigaku Bukky6-gakubu Ronshbu
(Journal of Buddhist studies) 18 (1988): 170f. (The journal is published by the
Department of Buddhist Studies of Komazawa University.) It is based on a kiri-
gami, a kind of manual of teaching passed on from master to disciple in the Zen
lineage, preserved in Yokoji in Ishikawa prefecture.
36. This refers to the very popular episode of the Buddha and his disciple Maha-
kasyapa (Pali Maha-kassapa) that is emphasized especially in the Zen tradition in
China and Japan. One day the Buddha held a lotus flower in front of him and
showed it to his disciples in silence. No one could understood him. Only the Vener-
able Mahakasyapa understood the religious meaning of the gesture and smiled, at
which point the Buddha said that his Dharma was now transmitted to
Mahakasyapa. That is why Mahakasyapa is regarded in the Zen tradition as the sec-
ond patriarchin the lineage of Dharma succession. The episode, however, does not
go back before the tenth century and was most probably created in China. (See
Yasuaki Nara, "History and Tradition (2)-Sakyamuni Buddha and Mahakasyapa"
[in Japanese], Monthly Report no. 22, Eibei-Sh6b6genz6-shbsho-taisei, 1971.)