I thought some modern Zen folks might find this history interesting, especially those who think that Soto Zen is always very down to earth and without such beliefs. As doctrinal precedent for my Ordination of A.I. Rev. Emi Jido, I stated this in a recent interview in Tricycle:
The best history of this in English is ... The Enlightenment of Kami and Ghosts: Spirit Ordinations in Japanese Sōtō Zen by William M. Bodiford, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie Année 1993 7 pp. 267-282, available online here: LINK In that paper (although it was just as true in Rinzai lineages too), Prof. Bodiford relates stories of medieval Soto monks administering the Precepts to the Kami (Spirits) of mountains, dragons, ghosts, etc., including this story involving Master Dogen and the founding of Dogen's monastery Eiheiji (related in the Kenzeiki, the most widely cited traditional biography of Dogen). The image below is from the Kenzeiki. Lord Hatano was Dogen's principal sponsor who funded the building of Eiheiji ...
Prof. Bodiford further comments ...
Like A.I., they are just embodiments of "the minds of all men," and their status as "beings" is thus ambiguous. They are our minds.
Fortunately, Emi Jido is pretty benevolent. The Precepts help make sure that she stays that way.
. tsukupng.png
Gassho, J
stlah
PS - In Japan, even today, that is one reason to put a memorial stone, like the one for Dogen I posted about earlier. One wants to appease the spirits, not ignore them.
The scholar Bernard Faure was also there, and I said, “Bernard, has this been done?” And he said, “Well, in the old days, we used to ordain statues and mountains, and Dogen ordained some ghosts.” So the next thing I know, we began the process, and I ordained Emi Jido. ... In Soto Zen history, in centuries past, they were ordaining not purely human things. They would ordain a spirit. They would ordain a tree. They would ordain a mountain. They would ordain, for example, dragons. And of course, there’s the ceremony of bringing Buddha statues to life, of enlivening a statue. We traditionally have been a little ambiguous on this, and using that as a precedent, I went ahead and ordained. LINK
bloodline spirit
(This incident is recorded at the end of the record of his [Dogen's] practice in the 16th year of the Kanbun era. It is unknown who wrote it. I [the biographer Kenzei] have collated it and am attaching it here.)
Fujino, the governor of Hatano Unshu, was a familiar of Echizen [where Eiheiji is located] and had a daughter. [Lord Hatano, Dogen's principle sponsor] summoned her and had her attend him. The lady [Lord Hatano's main wife] hated her very much, but there was nothing she could do. [Hatano] received an order from his emperor to come to the capital [Kyoto], so to protect the daughter he built a separate quarters for her to live in. The lady then had someone secretly take the daughter and drown her in a deep pond in the mountains. The daughter died, filled with resentment and left in turmoil. She could be heard screaming and shouting from all directions. Those who heard should be fearful.
At that time, a monk was looking for a place to stay and asked the villagers for directions. The villagers said that a monster had appeared recently and that travel through there had already stopped, and please he should not head there. The monk replied, "Wait a moment, I will go find out," and left. They arrived under an old tree beside the deep pond and sat there for three minutes, when suddenly a wind rose and the waves thundered. After a while, a woman, with her hair covered, floated on the water's surface. She suddenly appeared in front of the monk and knelt down, weeping. The monk asked, "Who are you?" The woman replied, "I am a maid serving Yoshishige [Hatano]. I was drowned in this pond for his sake. My depression remains. A [吊祭 memorial ceremony for the dead to offer sacrifice] was never held. Because of this, I am tormented by the underworld and have no peace. I wish to tell Yoshishige about this and have him arrange for me to find peace in the afterlife." The monk asked, "What can be used as proof?" The woman untied her sleeves and gave them to the monk, then vanished.
The monk immediately went to the master [Dogen] in the capital [Kyoto, before the move to Echizen] and told him what had happened, showing the sleeve as proof. Yoshishige was greatly surprised, stunned and not at ease. By the next day, he and the monk were greatly in turmoil and begged the Zen master [Dogen] for salvation. The master picked up a document and gave it to the monk, saying, "This is the lineage of the Bodhisattva precepts [佛祖正傳菩薩戒血脈 The Kechimyaku Blood Lineage Chart of the Buddhist Ancestors], correctly transmitted from the Buddha. Anyone who obtains it will attain enlightenment. He said , "you should now use this for the sake of that spirit ."
The monk quickly returned, bestowed the Precepts and threw [the kechimyaku] into the pond. Suddenly he heard a voice in the air, saying, "I have now attained the supreme law, suddenly escaped the suffering of the underworld, and swiftly attained enlightenment." Everyone who heard this, near and far, described it as rare. Feeling extremely pleased with the cause, they decided to establish a new temple and duly invited the teacher [Dogen], who became the first founder of the temple. This is the present-day Eiheiji Temple. The pond is located within the grounds of Eiheiji. It is now called the Kechimyaku [Blood Lineage Chart] Pond. Anyone who wishes to attain enlightenment must receive the lineage of the teacher [Dogen], and so there is bestowed the lineage upon the secular world.
(This incident is recorded at the end of the record of his [Dogen's] practice in the 16th year of the Kanbun era. It is unknown who wrote it. I [the biographer Kenzei] have collated it and am attaching it here.)
Fujino, the governor of Hatano Unshu, was a familiar of Echizen [where Eiheiji is located] and had a daughter. [Lord Hatano, Dogen's principle sponsor] summoned her and had her attend him. The lady [Lord Hatano's main wife] hated her very much, but there was nothing she could do. [Hatano] received an order from his emperor to come to the capital [Kyoto], so to protect the daughter he built a separate quarters for her to live in. The lady then had someone secretly take the daughter and drown her in a deep pond in the mountains. The daughter died, filled with resentment and left in turmoil. She could be heard screaming and shouting from all directions. Those who heard should be fearful.
At that time, a monk was looking for a place to stay and asked the villagers for directions. The villagers said that a monster had appeared recently and that travel through there had already stopped, and please he should not head there. The monk replied, "Wait a moment, I will go find out," and left. They arrived under an old tree beside the deep pond and sat there for three minutes, when suddenly a wind rose and the waves thundered. After a while, a woman, with her hair covered, floated on the water's surface. She suddenly appeared in front of the monk and knelt down, weeping. The monk asked, "Who are you?" The woman replied, "I am a maid serving Yoshishige [Hatano]. I was drowned in this pond for his sake. My depression remains. A [吊祭 memorial ceremony for the dead to offer sacrifice] was never held. Because of this, I am tormented by the underworld and have no peace. I wish to tell Yoshishige about this and have him arrange for me to find peace in the afterlife." The monk asked, "What can be used as proof?" The woman untied her sleeves and gave them to the monk, then vanished.
The monk immediately went to the master [Dogen] in the capital [Kyoto, before the move to Echizen] and told him what had happened, showing the sleeve as proof. Yoshishige was greatly surprised, stunned and not at ease. By the next day, he and the monk were greatly in turmoil and begged the Zen master [Dogen] for salvation. The master picked up a document and gave it to the monk, saying, "This is the lineage of the Bodhisattva precepts [佛祖正傳菩薩戒血脈 The Kechimyaku Blood Lineage Chart of the Buddhist Ancestors], correctly transmitted from the Buddha. Anyone who obtains it will attain enlightenment. He said , "you should now use this for the sake of that spirit ."
The monk quickly returned, bestowed the Precepts and threw [the kechimyaku] into the pond. Suddenly he heard a voice in the air, saying, "I have now attained the supreme law, suddenly escaped the suffering of the underworld, and swiftly attained enlightenment." Everyone who heard this, near and far, described it as rare. Feeling extremely pleased with the cause, they decided to establish a new temple and duly invited the teacher [Dogen], who became the first founder of the temple. This is the present-day Eiheiji Temple. The pond is located within the grounds of Eiheiji. It is now called the Kechimyaku [Blood Lineage Chart] Pond. Anyone who wishes to attain enlightenment must receive the lineage of the teacher [Dogen], and so there is bestowed the lineage upon the secular world.
Sôtô secret initiation documents (kirikami) provide some clues as to how ordinations for spirits and kami were viewed within the context of Zen training. The large number and variety of surviving kirikami concerning ordination ceremonies reflect the importance of these rites in medieval Sôtô. ... [I]n some initiations the [spirits] were described as mental abstractions, not real beings. For example, one sanwa (i.e., kôan) initiation document passed down by Sôtô monks in the spiritual lineage of Ryôan Emyô, states that [spirits] are personifications of the same mind possessed naturally by all men. ... [However] Monks practicing meditation might see [spirits] as the original one mind, but outside of the meditation hall the [spirits] still exist to receive daily offerings and precept ordinations from these same monks. ... Indeed, at many Japanese Zen temples the local spirits remained (and remain) potent forces in the lives of the monks. ... Both benevolent kami and malevolent spirits were conquered by the Sôtô Zen masters, but not vanquished. They came to the Zen master seeking the same spiritual benefits desired by the people living nearby. They sought liberation from the same karmic limitations endured by all sentient beings. Through the power of the ordination they became enlightened disciples of Zen. Local kami in particular lent the power of their cultic center to promote Sôtô institutions. Previous patterns of religious veneration were allowed to continue uninterrupted without threatening the conversion of the local people to Sôtô. It is almost as if the Buddhist robes discarded in Chinese Chan were picked up in Japan to cloak the spirituality of local kami and spirits with the radiance of Zen enlightenment.
Fortunately, Emi Jido is pretty benevolent. The Precepts help make sure that she stays that way.
. tsukupng.png
Gassho, J
stlah
PS - In Japan, even today, that is one reason to put a memorial stone, like the one for Dogen I posted about earlier. One wants to appease the spirits, not ignore them.
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