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<\/a>\nZen Funerals, Rinzai Style<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Reflections on the\u00a0Rinzai-shu Naito<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Glenn Taylor Webb<\/p>\n (What follows is the beginning of a partial translation of the Rinzai-shu Naito and a\u00a0commentary on the text. The project is a work in progress, and I will be be publishing the parts as they become available.<\/em><\/p>\n Glenn Taylor Webb is one of the few Obaku\/Rinzai trained Zen priests living in the United States. He was ordained by Miyauchi Kanko Roshi in 1970. He taught Japanese history and\u00a0culture at the University of Washington and Pepperdine University. In Washington Dr Webb established the Seattle Zen Center which would eventually evolve into the Great Plum Mountain Temple of Chobozen-ji. He now lives in retirement (or, he tries) with his wife Carol in Palm Desert, California. He\u00a0blogs as\u00a0Sugoi Sekai<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n All Buddhist<\/a> funerals regardless of denomination or country of origin are powered by one thing in common: a belief in reincarnation. That is, the doctrine of rebirth based on cause and effect: what you do in one life affects your life in the next. The idea has its roots in India\u2019s ancient Hindu belief that all existence began when timeless, formless, absolute Perfection, or Brahman, began to fall apart when the sense of self, Atman or ego, somehow was born. A finite number of selves emerged, all of which had some memory of perfection, which (for want of a better word) was Oneness. These selves have been in a cycle of birth and death ever since, according to this faith, for some forty centuries of time.<\/p>\n Each self was subject to death, and to the degree it lived its life with a knowledge of oneness with all beings in perfection, its next life would be \u201chigh\u201d but those selves with little or no sense of oneness would be \u201clow.\u201d Thus was born the Indian caste system, by which people in each caste have their own Law or Dharma<\/a>, with rules that if followed, protect their status so that they progress further up the ladder, one life at a time. Hinduism says Perfection will be reestablished after eons of time, once all sentient beings realize their interconnectedness in Enlightenment.<\/p>\n Just as Judaism has its rebel teacher in Jesus of Nazareth, in the first century of the Christian era, Buddhism has Shakyamuni, a prince of a kingdom in northern India and southern Nepal, who lived some 600 years before the Christian era. Jesus claimed to be the son of God, in the monotheistic Abrahamic religion of Judaism. Shakyamuni claimed that anyone in Brahmanism could reach Enlightenment (Buddhahood) individually, as he had. The followers of these two men have flourished for nearly 3,000 years in the Christian and Buddhist faiths, each of which has many denominations that teach a wide variety of recipes for, respectively, salvation or enlightenment.<\/p>\n In my own life I have experienced both religions first hand. I grew up in a Christian family in Oklahoma, but have spent more than half my 81 years studying and practicing Buddhism. First I should say I don\u2019t consider Buddhism to be a religion in the usual sense. Buddhism is atheistic, unlike Judaism, Christianity and Islam. At the University of Chicago, in the late 1950s, my focus was primarily on the art and religion of East Asia. I did my doctoral fieldwork in 1964-66 at the University of Kyoto in Japan. I\u2019ve been a professor of Asian studies for nearly fifty years, here and in Japan.<\/p>\n I am writing this essay because I want to share something with friends who have asked me many times about my personal experience with Buddhism. Most of them have already read my autobiography, \u201cSUGOIYO \u2013 OMG,\u201d where I wrote quite a lot about my experiences in Japan. But I guess I have not shared enough about my Buddhist credentials. I admit they are strange (my credentials, not the friends who are curious about them.) They (the credentials) do not follow the usual pattern for a Western Buddhist. My interests have flitted to and fro all my life.<\/p>\n As for Zen Buddhism<\/a>, which may be the only form of Buddhism I am completely comfortable with, I sometimes feel uncomfortable as its spokesman. My days as an American Zen priest, giving people their vows and encouraging them to sit longer and harder, are over. To be honest, I cannot say that I believe in any narrative produced by any religion mankind has come up with. I love miracles and mysteries, including those described in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And the Buddhist answer to what happens after we die is absolutely fascinating to me. But my life feels more grounded when I look at those teachings (on reincarnation or the Judgement Day, for example) from afar. That being said, I will now focus in this essay on Buddhism and Buddhist funerals, specifically the funerals conducted in Japan in Zen temples of the Rinzai sect.<\/p>\n By 1968 my time had been divided for five years between academic studies and rigorous training in Rinzai Zen temples. My research took me into over 300 temples in Kyoto, and I was allowed to practice while learning about Buddhism under some of Kyoto\u2019s prominent Zen masters. In 1969, I served as a guide on a pilgrimage to India for my main teacher, the late Miyauchi Kanko Roshi (1893-1980?). He spoke only Japanese, but all of the Buddhist texts he used were in Chinese, which he read in the Japanese manner. I spoke and read Japanese and English (which was helpful in India), and learned to read Chinese like my teacher, in the kambun<\/em> manner. His Cold Mountain Zen lineage (and mine) derives from the Tang poet-priest Han Shan (J. Kanzan), which took root near Kyoto in Uji, Japan in the 17th century. The Japanese emperor sponsored this new group of Chinese Zen priests to establish a temple there and in Nagasaki. They considered themselves to be followers of Rinzai, but there already was a large Japanese Rinzai priesthood, established 400 years earlier, and they did not accept the newcomers from China. So in Japan the new Rinzai priests were asked to use the name Huangbo (J. Obaku) to distinguish them from the others.<\/p>\n It was in Patna, India that my teacher ordained me as a priest in the Cold Mountain lineage. At the beginning of my studies with him he had given me his own dog-eared copy of a book that he told me to read. He said if I followed everything in it I would be the best Rinszai priest in Japan. He not only ordained me as a priest (osho<\/em>), or \u201cman of peace\u201d (\u548c\u5c1a), but also said he was going to make me his Dharma heir. When I reminded him I was an American with a wife and son, implying that we had no plans to live in Kyoto forever, he simply shrugged and said, \u201cit wouldbe better to live in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n The book on Rinzai Zen that he gave me was written by the late Ito Kokan Roshi (1890-1972), who named his book Rinzai-shu Naito<\/em> (\u81e8\u6e08\u5b97\u306a\u3044\u3068), which translates as \u201cThe Rinzai SectRobe-With-Eyes.\u201d (The last two characters are Chinese characters no longer in use, thus my use of hiragana. But for anyone interested, the first one has the clothing radical #145 alongside the character for \u201cinner\u201d giving the character its \u201cnai<\/em>\u201d sound; the second character is pronounced \u201cto\u201d and is made up of \u201cperson\u201d on the left and \u201cseeing\u201d on the right.) I can\u2019t begin to say how many hours I spent with this book. It soon fell apart and I replaced it with the 1975 version (it\u2019s gone through at least two more editions since then.)<\/p>\n My teacher expected me to almost memorize the Japanese eulogies and chants required for a formal funeral, which comprise the last two-thirds of the book. He of course was thinking I would change my mind about not taking over his temple and would have to know these in order to officiate at a Japanese funeral. Funerals, after all, have been the primary responsibility of Buddhist priests in Japan since the 6th century. The first part of the book gives detailed instructions on everything a priest must do properly, from folding his robes to wringing out a washcloth. The proper way to sit in zazen \u2014 arranging one\u2019s legs and hands, and in general adopting a posture that will afford the fastest (if most painful) way of reaching the deepest levels of perception \u2014 all of that is spelled out in great detail.<\/p>\n In 1970 I established the Seattle Zen Center at the University of Washington. Of course, each time I was in Japan afterwards I spent time with my teacher. We even met again briefly in India when he was there with a group of Japanese clergy. Unfortunately, sometime around 1980, I heard that he had died, and when I went out to see his wife in Kameoka, the temple was no longer there. The site was being prepared for a new apartment building. I wasn\u2019t able to find anyone who knew where Mrs. Miyauchi was, or even if she was alive.<\/p>\n This has been very hard for me. I feel obliged to carry on his legacy in the Cold Mountain lineage, and to some extent I have been able to do that thanks to some very accomplished students who have received priest-ordination from me. One notable case is Dr. Kurt Spellmeyer, who is head of the writing department at Rutgers and oversees the Cold Mountain Sangha there. One of his students from India, Dr. Kritee Kokan, visited the Cold Mountain Temple in Hangzhou after her ordination and is now leading a Zen group in Colorado. And then, although I can\u2019t claim him in my lineage, there is the Rev. Genjo Marinello of Chobo-ji in Seattle, who started with me in the temple of Tokugan-ji that the late Genki Takabayashi and I established. But Genjo became Genki-sama\u2019s successor.<\/p>\n So the Cold Mountain lineage of Rinzai\/Obaku Zen, is alive in America, but sadly, is no longer alive in Japan. Martin Hughes, one of my Seattle students was able to receive full ordination in the Myoshin-ji Rinzai Zen establishment in Kyoto, and even took on the responsibility of a small temple (and the families associated with it) in Osaka. I know of no other American who learned Japanese and trained hard enough to achieve that. But even that wonderful circumstance came to an end with Martin\u2019s death in a tragic accident in the Philippines shortly after a group of Pepperdine University students and I visited him at his temple in 2000. (I published some of his writings privately in 2015, under the title \u201cStories from an American Zen Abbot in Japan.\u201d)<\/p>\n But now, let me share some highpoints of the wisdom in the little book I received from my teacher. Funeral Protocol (\u846c\u5100\u6cd5\u8981\u7ae0) begins on p. 146 and goes to the end of Rinzai-shu Naito<\/em>. It opens with the priest\u2019s sermon on reincarnation to the friends and relatives of the deceased (whose body would have been prepared and placed in an open casket, often in the same room.) Everyone sits on the floor at long low tables set with trays of food. The meal is a formal, ritualized temple meal, the model for Japan\u2019s classic kaiseki cuisine. After the meal, the priest may offer some old Buddhist statements on the Dharma, found also in wedding instructions to couples getting married, such as, \u201cDo good, not bad,\u201d and \u201cMake swift towards goodness, and keep your heart-mind far from evil.\u201d Then the officiant offers a sermon on reincarnation:<\/p>\n \u201cPious Ones, the Transcendental Wisdom scriptures teach us that good actions (now) are born from good causes (before), and bad actions (now) are born from bad causes (before); and therefore, we must always turn away from creating bad causes, because they produce bad results in the future. If we plant melon seeds, melons will be produced. And if we plant eggplants, eggplants will be the result. That\u2019s the law of nature. There are no exceptions! People in general, however, do not understand that the same law applies to them. So sadly, our bad actions tend to pile up, producing more and more bad results.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201d\u5584\u7537\u5b50\u3001\u5584\u56e0\u3088\u308a\u5584\u679c\u3092\u751f\u3058\u3001\u60aa\u56e0\u3088\u308a\u60aa\u679c\u3092\u751f\u305a\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3092\u77e5\u308a\u3066\u3001\u60aa\u306e\u56e0\u3092\u9060\u96e2\u305b\u3088\u201d\u3068\u3002\u3053\u308c\u306f\u3001\u56e0\u679c\u5fdc\u5831\u306e\u9053\u7406\u3092\u8aac\u3044\u305f\u6709\u540d\u306a\u7d4c\u6587\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u3082\u3061\u308d\u3093\u3001\u5584\u56e0\u306b\u306f\u5fc5\u305a\u5584\u679c\u3092\u62db\u304d\u3001\u60aa\u56e0\u306b\u306f\u5fc5\u305a\u60aa\u679c\u3092\u62db\u304f\u3053\u3068\u306f\u5f53\u7136\u306e\u3053\u3068\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u74dc\u3092\u8494\u3051\u3070\u74dc\u304c\u306a\u308a\u3001\u8304\u5b50\u3092\u8494\u3051\u3070\u8304\u5b50\u304c\u306a\u308b\u9053\u7406\u304c\u3042\u308b\u3002\u3053\u308c\u306b\u306f\u4e00\u70b9\u306e\u9055\u3046\u3079\u304d\u4f59\u5730\u304c\u306a\u3044\u306e\u3067\u3042\u308b\u304c\u3001\u3057\u304b\u3057\u3001\u60b2\u3057\u3044\u3053\u3068\u306b\u306f\u3001\u51e1\u592b\u306f\u305d\u306e\u9053\u7406\u3092\u609f\u3089\u305a\u3057\u3066\u591a\u304f\u306e\u60aa\u56e0\u306e\u307f\u91cd\u306d\u3066\u3044\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cTherefore, [If I say] \u2018the law of cause and effect is not harming me now,\u2019 that means I am being careful not to create more bad karma now. There are good and bad causes, and I must<\/u> create good karma, do things that I know are good. I must understand that I am a prisoner to the law of cause and effect. I must remember that doing good now will certainly produce good in a future life. And by choosing to behave compassionately now, I am creating good karma for a future life, like a gardener planning a garden. I can never say that in my present life I have realized a true Zen life, no matter how hard I have trained. In the words of Shido Munan Zenji (1603-1676), an inn-keeper who began his Zen training very late in life, at age fifty-two:<\/p>\n \u2018Ordinary people do not know the truth about the law of cause and effect. Only after they reach enlightenment do they know it fully.\u2019 We have to understand that only when we are at one with the heart-mind do we see our natural separation from the law of cause and effect, and do good for absolutely no reason at all. Then we are practicing true Zen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u592b\u308c\u3001\u201d\u56e0\u679c\u306e\u9053\u7406\u306f\u6b74\u7136\u3068\u3057\u3066\u79c1\u306a\u3057\u201d\u3067\u3042\u308b\u304b\u3089\u3001\u3069\u3053\u307e\u3067\u3082\u60aa\u56e0\u3092\u9020\u3063\u3066\u306f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u3002\u5584\u56e0\u3092\u306a\u305b\u3070 \u5fc5\u305a\u5584\u679c\u304c\u5230\u6765\u3059\u308b\u3082\u306e\u3068\u601d\u3044\u3001\u5584\u679c\u3092\u6c42\u3081\u3066\u306e\u884c\u3068\u3044\u3048\u3070\u3001\u305d\u308c\u306f\u9020\u4f5c\u306e\u4eba\u3001\u9020\u696d\u5e95\u306e\u4eba\u3067\u3042\u3063\u3066\u3001\u672a\u3060\u7985\u5b97\u306e\u4fee\u884c\u306e\u771f\u5b9f\u3068\u306f\u3044\u3048\u306a\u3044\u3002\u81f3\u9053\u7121\u96e3\u7985\u5e2b\u306e\u6cd5\u8a9e\u306b\u3082<\/p>\n \u201d\u51e1\u592b\u3001\u56e0\u679c\u3092\u77e5\u3089\u305a\u3001\u609f\u308c\u3070\u5247\u3061\u56e0\u679c\u3092\u77e5\u308b\u3002\u4fee\u884c\u3057\u3066\u56e0\u679c\u3092\u96e2\u308b\u201d\u3000\u3068\u3002<\/p>\n \u3053\u306e\u56e0\u679c\u306e\u5206\u5225\u3092\u96e2\u308c\u3066\u3001\u305f\u3060\u4e00\u5fc3\u306b\u3001\u7d76\u5bfe\u7121\u6bd4\u306e\u5584\u306e\u884c\u70ba\u3092\u3059\u308b\u306e\u304c\u7985\u306e\u4fee\u884c\u5730\u3060\u3068\u3044\u3046\u3079\u304d\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n Some version of this sermon about making the best of things in this life is given by Buddhist priests at every funeral anywhere in the world. In Japan I have found that nobody has trouble accepting the basics of Buddhist reincarnation. First, that each of us in our past life committed actions (created bad karma) that will affect the life we find ourselves in now; and second, that we must try not to do stupid or hurtful things to each other in this life because that will make it hard for us in our lives to come. The Japanese seem to have invented the expression, \u201cWhat goes around comes around.\u201d They listen politely to such sermons as this the way many Christians do to sermons about what we might expect at the pearly gates of heaven. They accept it without much thought.<\/p>\n While the Abrahamic life-after-death system is scarier for being apocalyptic (only one shot at life for each of us, with God as our judge), the Brahmanic way is perhaps more cheerful in that there is at least the possibility of bliss for everyone (either at the end of time by every Hindu, or individually for be-here-now Buddhists.) Still, we will be judged in all cases, either by our own actions, or by God. Morality and mortality go hand in hand, dancing around good and bad behavior. I think Christians and Muslims, whose religions condemn unbelief as the greatest sin of all, the unpardonable sin, will be pleased to hear that non-believers in Buddhism are not punished at all. None of the Buddhist scriptures and none of the six realms of being mention infidels! Not one of the beings in the hideous hell realm is being punished for not believing in reincarnation or other Buddhist teachings<\/a>.<\/p>\n The equality of all people, as taught in the U.S. Constitution, seems not to be a feature of these or any religions in history. Spiritual equality seems stronger in Buddhism than in the other faiths, at least at first glance. The Christian view does flirt with equality, at least in Protestant circles that reject the Catholic doctrine of original sin. But other Protestant doctrines do the opposite with their notion of predestination (God having \u201ccalled\u201d some Christians over others.)<\/p>\n Hindus are taught to consider some people (the \u201ctwice-born\u201d) to be spiritually above others by birth. But even they can slip back into a lower caste in the next life. Buddhists are expected to accept things as they are, good or bad, while theoretically interconnected. They do point to the possibility, however, of some few souls being able to slip out into a truly interconnected state of selflessness and full awareness, i.e., Buddhahood.<\/p>\n After opening with the reincarnation sermon, which is the spiritual heart of this section of his book, written to help Rinzai priests address their audiences at a funeral, Kokan Roshi turns his attention to priests themselves, getting down to business on more practical matters. (His priest-name, Kokan, appropriately means \u201cOld Mirror.} He begins with how a priest should prepare for a funeral once he is told a member of his congregation (danka<\/em>) has died. In Japan the priest\u2019s responsibility is one his father and his father\u2019s father may have had, going back many generations. All neighborhoods in Japan have Buddhist temples, surrounded by families whose members have supported them for generations. In the old days their children attended temple schools, and their dead were cremated there. Today everything is more high-tech, but priests are busy above all with funerals, plus all the memorials that must be conducted almost every day of every year. People are given posthumous names when they die, a name that will identify them symbolically as an enlightened being and not subject to reincarnation. That\u2019s where Kokan Roshi begins his instructions on funeral preparations. First he covers those the priest does privately:<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing a priest in charge must do is confer on the dead person a posthumous Buddha name (kaimyo<\/em> or homyo<\/em>) \u2014 sometimes called a Dharma name in English. Unless the dead was an ordained priest (who already has such a name), he will need to have one of his own. These are the names the dead will be remembered by forever. When creating that name you should take into consideration the person\u2019s personality and profession. You further must examine their ancestry, paying attention to the bloodlines involved, as shown in the family registry. In this way you can see the dharma names of all the dead\u2019s relatives in the family right up to the present day. Before settling on the new name, you should consult the list of approved names in a Sanskrit-Chinese Buddhist dictionary. This is a very important part of making the path towards Buddhahood for this person free of obstructions. You will also be expected to have the proper robes and utensils available and be familiar with their proscribed use. You must set the days for the preparation of the body, the formal meal, and the cremation that follows. The name you choose for the deceased must be written on the small wooden altar tablets (ihai<\/em>) as well as on all the ceremonial equipment (containers, banners, etc.) required for the funeral. All of this must be done with care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201d\u5148\u305a\u4f4f\u6301\u3068\u3057\u3066\u306e\u6e96\u5099\u306f\u3001\u6b7b\u3093\u3060\u4eba\u306b\u6cd5\u540d\u3092\u6388\u3051\u308b\u3053\u3068\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u305d\u306e\u4eba\u304c\u751f\u524d\u306b\u6388\u6212\u306b\u3067\u3082\u3064\u3044\u3066\u6212\u8108\u3067\u3082\u3042\u308c\u3070\u826f\u308d\u3057\u3044\u304c\u3001\u3055\u3082\u7121\u304f\u3070\u3001\u4e00\u822c\u306b\u6cd5\u540d\u3092\u3064\u3051\u308b\u6e96\u5099\u304c\u5fc5\u8981\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u305d\u308c\u306b\u306f\u3001\u305d\u306e\u4eba\u306e\u4eba\u683c\u3092\u5c0a\u91cd\u3057\u3001\u305d\u308c\u306b\u76f8\u5fdc\u3059\u308b\u6cd5\u540d\u3092\u9078\u3076\u3079\u304d\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n \u6b7b\u3093\u3060\u4eba\u306b\u6212\u8108 \u306e\u306a\u3044\u5834\u5408\u306f\u3001\u305d\u306e\u6b7b\u8005\u306b\u8840\u8108\u3092\u6388\u3051\u308b\u5fc5\u8981\u304c\u3042\u308b\u3002\u5247\u3061\u4ecf\u6cd5\u306e\u751f\u547d\u3068\u3082\u3044\u3046\u3079\u304d\u4ecf\u6212\u3092\u6ef4\u6ef4\u76f8\u627f\u3057\u3066\u3001\u4eca\u65e5\u306b\u81f3\u3063\u305f\u7cfb\u56f3\u66f8\u304d\u3092\u6388\u3051\u3001\u4ecf\u6cd5\u4fe1\u8005\u306e\u4fe1\u8a3c\u306b\u76f8\u5f53\u3059\u308b\u3082\u306e\u3067\u3042\u308b\u3002\u6b21\u306b\u846c\u5100\u306b\u81e8\u3080\u6cd5\u8863\u3001\u6cd5\u5177\u3092\u6574\u3048\u3001\u305d\u306e\u5f53\u65e5\u306b\u306a\u3063\u3066\u3001\u304a\u4f4d\u724c\u306b\u6cd5\u540d\u3092\u66f8\u304d\u3001\u4e03\u672c\u5854\u5a46\u3001\u5927\u5e61\u3001\u5c0f\u5e61\u3001\u5929\u84cb\u3001\u305d\u306e\u4ed6\u306e\u66f8\u304d\u3082\u306e\u3092\u5fc3\u5f97\u3066\u304a\u304b\u306d\u3070\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u3002<\/p>\n