Kesa after death

**Jishin** · 10-05-2019, 02:56 PM

The Zenny answer:

Disciple to master:

What happens after death?

Master to disciple:

How should I know? I am not dead yet.

Jundo has the other answer.

Gassho, Jishin, __/stlah\__

**Hoseki** · 10-05-2019, 02:57 PM

I’d like to know as well. I’m under the impression that one is ordained after death but I wouldn’t quote me in that.

I kind of figured I would be buried/cremated in mine.

Gassho
Hoseki
Sattoday/lah

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**Risho** · 10-05-2019, 03:03 PM

Originally posted by Jishin

The Zenny answer:

Disciple to master:

What happens after death?

Master to disciple:

How should I know? I am not dead yet.

Jundo has the other answer.

Gassho, Jishin, __/stlah\__

hahahaha

Gassho,

Risho
-stlah

**Meian** · 10-05-2019, 08:29 PM

Originally posted by Jishin

The Zenny answer:

Disciple to master:

What happens after death?

Master to disciple:

How should I know? I am not dead yet.

Jundo has the other answer.

Gassho, Jishin, __/stlah\__

Some much needed laughter today. [emoji23] Thank you, Jishin. I've been wondering how you are, good to see you. [emoji4]

Gassho
Kim
St

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**Jishin** · 10-05-2019, 08:37 PM

[emoji3]

Gassho, Jishin, __/stlah\__

**Kokuu** · 10-05-2019, 08:53 PM

Hi Tairin

In times past, fabric was often a scarce resource so kesas were passed on after death. This is especially true of kesas belonging to important teachers, some of which now reside in museums around the world after going through numerous generations. MyoHo was recently telling me of one he saw in a museum in The Netherlands.

Handing on the kesa was also part of dharma transmission, as told in The Platform Sutra when Hongren passes it onto Huineng as a symbol of being his dharma heir.

In contemporary times I am not so sure but know that Jundo has a few 'spare' kesas for use in ordination if someone has yet to complete sewing or needs one for another reason. I suspect that being cremated in one's kesa may happen and otherwise it is conveyed back to the teacher and used in similar circumstances.

Most of this, however, is guesswork, and Jundo can undoubtedly present you with a clearer picture.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

**Onka** · 10-05-2019, 11:56 PM

When I fall off the perch I'd hope that my Rakusu or Kesa (if I get the opportunity to become a novice monk/nun/priest) would get repurposed in some way.
Gassho
Anna

stlah

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**Meitou** · 10-08-2019, 07:18 PM

I expect I'll be buried in a Catholic cemetery so hell yes, I'll be wearing mine!

Gassho
Meitou
sattodaylah

**Jundo** · 10-08-2019, 10:59 PM

Hi,

As was mentioned, the standard Zen and other Buddhist Funerals in Japan are a priest ordination ceremony! It is true! In the Soto School in Japan, for example, the Precepts are administered after a symbolic Atonement for past Karma (done, of course, on the deceased's behalf, with the deceased agreement to abide by the Precepts heard only in heart) the head is shaven ... one thought being that one goes as a monk into the next world as a priest so as to meet a better realm or rebirth. No true Kesa is received, or only a very mini symbolic version. If you would like more details, please read from page 264 to 267 here:

Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism

https://books.google.co.jp/books?redir_esc=y&hl=ja&id=BYKIANRPXagC&q=ordination#v=snippet&q=ordination&f=false

For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. The nine essays in this volume, ranging chronologically from the tenth century to the present, bring to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. They also explore the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice.The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two essays. Sarah Horton traces the development in Heian Japan (794–1185) of images depicting the Buddha Amida descending to welcome devotees at the moment of death, while Jacqueline Stone analyzes the crucial role of monks who attended the dying as religious guides. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four essays. Brian Ruppert examines the roles of relic worship in strengthening family lineage and political power; Mark Blum investigates the controversial issue of religious suicide to rejoin one’s teacher in the Pure Land; and Hank Glassman analyzes how late medieval rites for women who died in pregnancy and childbirth both reflected and helped shape changing gender norms. The rise of standardized funerals in Japan’s early modern period forms the subject of the chapter by Duncan Williams, who shows how the Soto Zen sect took the lead in establishing itself in rural communities by incorporating local religious culture into its death rites. The final three chapters deal with contemporary funerary and mortuary practices and the controversies surrounding them. Mariko Walter uncovers a "deep structure" informing Japanese Buddhist funerals across sectarian lines—a structure whose meaning, she argues, persists despite competition from a thriving secular funeral industry. Stephen Covell examines debates over the practice of conferring posthumous Buddhist names on the deceased and the threat posed to traditional Buddhist temples by changing ideas about funerals and the afterlife. Finally, George Tanabe shows how contemporary Buddhist sectarian intellectuals attempt to resolve conflicts between normative doctrine and on-the-ground funerary practice, and concludes that human affection for the deceased will always win out over the demands of orthodoxy.Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism constitutes a major step toward understanding how Buddhism in Japan has forged and retained its hold on death-related thought and practice, providing one of the most detailed and comprehensive accounts of the topic to date.Contributors: Mark L. Blum, Stephen G. Covell, Hank Glassman, Sarah Johanna Horton, Brian O. Ruppert, Jacqueline I. Stone, George J. Tanabe, Jr., Mariko Namba Walter, Duncan Ryuken Williams.

If someone has received a Rakusu or Kesa in Jukai, however, it is perfectly fine and lovely to be buried (cremation, of course, is more typical in Asian countries for Buddhists) wearing the same, or having it placed in the coffin. As well, one can choose to leave it with one's family and loved ones. Either way is fine, according to one's heart.

Gassho, Jundo

STLAH

Kesa after death

Kesa after death

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