Mandylion
May 18, 2004, 15:22
I'm starting this thread to bounce some ideas around I have been messing with the past week or so. I by no means know the answers and post in hope someone can help me out with their thoughts as well. But first a disclaimer:
For the sake of clarity, I am going to make generalizations. I know Buddhism is made up of individuals and each should be judged on their own merits, but I don't have time to do that :) Keep that in mind as you read.
Lets get going:
Thought #1
Where did all the money come from? Let me explain for people outside of Japan - being a priest is as much a career in Japan as it is a calling. You can live well and support a family, drive a decent car, and expect to die well. In a sense, Buddhism is like the undertaker of the religious world in Japan. It deals in death - preists perform funerals, annual rites, and all manner of mortuary custom. For these service priests are given donations.
But don't think these donations are a token - we are talking serious cash. For example, every year in the middle of August Japan observes obon or veneration rites for the dead. Near the opening of obon a priest from the family temple will make a house call and spend about 10 minutes chanting sutras for the soul of the deceased relatives. The family then gives him any amount from about 100 USD and up (my old host family would give 500 USD). Say our example priest has 50 families in a good sized town. Just assume the all give about 100 USD - that is 5,000 USD for about two days of work. Not enough to live on, but I am just getting started.
When someone dies, they are given a new name. These are not based on merit, but on how much you pay. Last I recall there are three levels. The lowest level is around a 1000 USD, and the highest quoted I personally know of was 5,000 USD. Then there is the donation for sutras at the time of death, the ceremony 49 days later (in most sects) the yearly obon chanting, ceremonies at the temple itself if the family attends and all sorts of add-on features. Lets ignore the initial name buying and say in an average year a priest gets about 300 USD for each service for each household. At say 4 services a year (family related) and our example of 50 houses, or 300 x 4 x 50 and we are looking at 60,000 USD a year IF no one else dies. And I have a hunch my figures are low...
I honestly don't know how much of a cut the bozu upstairs take, and there are day to day expenses with running a temple, but those are subsidized by the main organization.
Also religious groups are not taxed in Japan.
Let me share a story or two. My wife's uncle runs a car dealership. One of the local priests came in to buy a car. Not a Merceded or anything, but a very nice vehical around about 25,000 USD. While he took pains to disquise his bald head and did not wear robes, everyone knew who he was. He also paid in cash - in full. This is not that unusual in Japan, but he admitted the cash came from a few years of obon chanting.
My wife's grandmother recently rode in a car owned by a younger priest. She complimented him on it and he responded with a navish smile. The general feeling was that he was doing something a little naughty.
I personally know a very elderly priest who was elevated a few years ago to a very high rank. His daughter told me flat out that one of the conditions was paying a huge amount of money.
So we have Buddhist priests in Japan mired in worldly goods and buying ranks. I'm not saying all monks need to be celebate and live in boxes under bridges, but I'm having trouble finding information that explains their behavior.
Is this cultural? Has Buddhism always been this way in Japan? Am I missing something? Am I supposed to take it this is okay behavoir?
My first question to the wife was, "Why don't people just pay less or not at all? Why don't they just do the sutras themselves (darn Protestant cultural background)" so that was really two questions. Her response, in short, was that if people did the sutra changing themselves or paid less, the would feel like they were not getting the best possible spiritual aid for their dead relative and as an insult to their memory. She also said it would be looked down on by the neighbors - seems to me a few priests relaized they could raise the prices and no one could do much about it...
Thought #2
Where has all the charity gone? Perhaps it is because I live in a town with one stoplight that does nothing but flash for 22 hours a day, but my corner of Japan is missing the whole selfless act and charity works you read so much about in historical accounts and sutras. Perhaps all the priests are too busy waxing their cars...Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever heard of a Buddhist group doing something on the grassroots level - cleaning up a stream, organizing voter registration, collecting clothes for orphans. I'm sure they do, I just have never come across one of them.
I don't think it is because Japan is not big on people coming to your door to ask you for stuff. There are so many other ways than knocking on doors. Plus Japan is so open to doing cross denominational stuff (Buddhism and Shinto get along just fine) if you have a good cause people will help.
You read in old accounts of famous priests who would build roads through mountains for poor communities or spend all their funds for temple construction to ease a famine. Boy have things changed.
In conclusion to this poorly worded and rambling posts, I guess what I am really after is - Is Buddhism really relevant in modern Japan in political, social, or even spiritual terms? I have been searching the internet, but I haven't been coming up with much. I don't know the answer - perhaps we could work though some ideas together... -M
For the sake of clarity, I am going to make generalizations. I know Buddhism is made up of individuals and each should be judged on their own merits, but I don't have time to do that :) Keep that in mind as you read.
Lets get going:
Thought #1
Where did all the money come from? Let me explain for people outside of Japan - being a priest is as much a career in Japan as it is a calling. You can live well and support a family, drive a decent car, and expect to die well. In a sense, Buddhism is like the undertaker of the religious world in Japan. It deals in death - preists perform funerals, annual rites, and all manner of mortuary custom. For these service priests are given donations.
But don't think these donations are a token - we are talking serious cash. For example, every year in the middle of August Japan observes obon or veneration rites for the dead. Near the opening of obon a priest from the family temple will make a house call and spend about 10 minutes chanting sutras for the soul of the deceased relatives. The family then gives him any amount from about 100 USD and up (my old host family would give 500 USD). Say our example priest has 50 families in a good sized town. Just assume the all give about 100 USD - that is 5,000 USD for about two days of work. Not enough to live on, but I am just getting started.
When someone dies, they are given a new name. These are not based on merit, but on how much you pay. Last I recall there are three levels. The lowest level is around a 1000 USD, and the highest quoted I personally know of was 5,000 USD. Then there is the donation for sutras at the time of death, the ceremony 49 days later (in most sects) the yearly obon chanting, ceremonies at the temple itself if the family attends and all sorts of add-on features. Lets ignore the initial name buying and say in an average year a priest gets about 300 USD for each service for each household. At say 4 services a year (family related) and our example of 50 houses, or 300 x 4 x 50 and we are looking at 60,000 USD a year IF no one else dies. And I have a hunch my figures are low...
I honestly don't know how much of a cut the bozu upstairs take, and there are day to day expenses with running a temple, but those are subsidized by the main organization.
Also religious groups are not taxed in Japan.
Let me share a story or two. My wife's uncle runs a car dealership. One of the local priests came in to buy a car. Not a Merceded or anything, but a very nice vehical around about 25,000 USD. While he took pains to disquise his bald head and did not wear robes, everyone knew who he was. He also paid in cash - in full. This is not that unusual in Japan, but he admitted the cash came from a few years of obon chanting.
My wife's grandmother recently rode in a car owned by a younger priest. She complimented him on it and he responded with a navish smile. The general feeling was that he was doing something a little naughty.
I personally know a very elderly priest who was elevated a few years ago to a very high rank. His daughter told me flat out that one of the conditions was paying a huge amount of money.
So we have Buddhist priests in Japan mired in worldly goods and buying ranks. I'm not saying all monks need to be celebate and live in boxes under bridges, but I'm having trouble finding information that explains their behavior.
Is this cultural? Has Buddhism always been this way in Japan? Am I missing something? Am I supposed to take it this is okay behavoir?
My first question to the wife was, "Why don't people just pay less or not at all? Why don't they just do the sutras themselves (darn Protestant cultural background)" so that was really two questions. Her response, in short, was that if people did the sutra changing themselves or paid less, the would feel like they were not getting the best possible spiritual aid for their dead relative and as an insult to their memory. She also said it would be looked down on by the neighbors - seems to me a few priests relaized they could raise the prices and no one could do much about it...
Thought #2
Where has all the charity gone? Perhaps it is because I live in a town with one stoplight that does nothing but flash for 22 hours a day, but my corner of Japan is missing the whole selfless act and charity works you read so much about in historical accounts and sutras. Perhaps all the priests are too busy waxing their cars...Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever heard of a Buddhist group doing something on the grassroots level - cleaning up a stream, organizing voter registration, collecting clothes for orphans. I'm sure they do, I just have never come across one of them.
I don't think it is because Japan is not big on people coming to your door to ask you for stuff. There are so many other ways than knocking on doors. Plus Japan is so open to doing cross denominational stuff (Buddhism and Shinto get along just fine) if you have a good cause people will help.
You read in old accounts of famous priests who would build roads through mountains for poor communities or spend all their funds for temple construction to ease a famine. Boy have things changed.
In conclusion to this poorly worded and rambling posts, I guess what I am really after is - Is Buddhism really relevant in modern Japan in political, social, or even spiritual terms? I have been searching the internet, but I haven't been coming up with much. I don't know the answer - perhaps we could work though some ideas together... -M