{"id":326,"date":"2009-05-27T13:55:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-27T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death\/"},"modified":"2009-05-27T13:55:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-27T13:55:00","slug":"what-happens-after-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html","title":{"rendered":"What Happens After Death?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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My interest in this question resurfaced during my holiday re-reading of Mark Rowe\u2019s article, \u201cWhere the Action Is: Sites of Contemporary Soto Buddhism<\/a> (<\/span>Japanese Journal of Religious Studies<\/span><\/span>, 31\/2 2004). Provoked by this article, I\u2019m wondering again how \u201cSoto\u201d American Soto Zen really is. More on that in a moment.
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First, Rowe\u2019s done some good work here but his title is misleading. The \u201caction\u201d is about so-called funeral Buddhism (a huge issue in Japan) and its effects on Soto Zen. 90% of Soto temples report that they depend on funerals and the 33-yearly follow-up memorial services for their support. Meanwhile, only 30% of the monks believe what is said in the services about what happens to the dead. That kind of disconnect must create some outflows.
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But here\u2019s the part that struck me the most. When asked what happens to a person after death, Japanese Soto priest\u2019s responses were as follows (they could pick more than one response):
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\u2013 the deceased becomes enlightened as a child of the Buddha (46%)<\/span><\/div>\n

\u2013 the deceased goes to a Buddhist<\/a> land (maybe meaning \u201crealm\u201d) (45%)
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\u2013 the deceased goes to a Pure Land paradise (30%)<\/span><\/div>\n

\u2013 the deceased goes to another world (23%)
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\u2013 the deceased goes to a temple or grave (3%)<\/span><\/div>\n

\u2013 the deceased goes to the oceans or mountains (1%)
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\u2013 don\u2019t deal with spirits at all (8%)<\/span><\/div>\n
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I\u2019ve talked at some length about deep belief in karma and rebirth in <\/span>Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile. I<\/span><\/span><\/em>n short, I could say I\u2019m a nuanced agnostic. I suspect that 90% of American Soto Zen priests and practitioners are closest to the last category: \u201cdon\u2019t deal with spirits at all.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
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And that\u2019s what has me wondering about Soto in Japan and America. An 80% gap around the explanation for what comes next is kinda big for folks all wearing the same style of robes, it seems to me. Granted, whatever happens after death isn\u2019t as BIG a thing in Zen as it is in other religions. And such a diversity in views could be a healthy thing.\n

After all, completely forgetting the self is no easy matter.<\/p><\/span>\n

<\/p><\/span>Capping Phrase<\/span><\/span>
\u201cJust do good, don\u2019t worry about the road ahead.\u201d
\u2013 Wansong<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My interest in this question resurfaced during my holiday re-reading of Mark Rowe\u2019s article, \u201cWhere the Action Is: Sites of Contemporary Soto Buddhism (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 31\/2 2004). Provoked by this article, I\u2019m wondering again how \u201cSoto\u201d American Soto Zen really is. More on that in a moment. First, Rowe\u2019s done some good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Happens After Death?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My interest in this question resurfaced during my holiday re-reading of Mark Rowe's article, "Where the Action Is: Sites of Contemporary Soto Buddhism\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Happens After Death?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My interest in this question resurfaced during my holiday re-reading of Mark Rowe's article, "Where the Action Is: Sites of Contemporary Soto Buddhism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-27T13:55:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_0uPSljNE9f4\/Sh2NGwrSRwI\/AAAAAAAAAdI\/N8hUj_UWxPg\/s320\/101_0733.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html\",\"name\":\"What Happens After Death?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-27T13:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-05-27T13:55:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"My interest in this question resurfaced during my holiday re-reading of Mark Rowe's article, \\\"Where the Action Is: Sites of Contemporary Soto Buddhism\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2009\/05\/what-happens-after-death.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Happens After Death?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. 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