A quick question... (JUNDO: That may take lifetimes to answer!!)

[TimF]

Please forgive me if this has been covered before. I have just finished watching the documentary "Souls of Zen: Buddhism, Ancestors, and the 2011 Tsunami in Japan", and at a point where the narrator was speaking about the temples conducting services for those who had died, he mentioned something to the extent of "Buddhists believe that the soul of the person who has died does not enter the afterlife for 7 weeks, and chants sutras to help them get through that 7 weeks".

A bit confused as he seemed to be saying this in the context of Zen Buddhism, and not another tradition. Just curious as to where this fits in, as I personally do not believe in an "afterlife" for a "soul".

Please keep in mind that I am not trying to stir anything up other than to straighten out what it is that he may have been referring to.

Gassho,
Tim

[Jundo]

Hi Tim,

Well, that is a big topic. I would say that the description is actually rather correct.

First, let me mention that in Japan, Buddhist beliefs and practices are all mixed together with traditional Japanese and Chinese views on the afterlife and ancestor worship, which sometimes conflict! Plus, Buddhism and even Zen Buddhism, have many traditional beliefs on death and rebirth. As well, people also mix and match their Buddhist beliefs sometimes.

Another confusing point is that, in modern times, Western and many Japanese Buddhists are all over the place in their belief and emphasis on rebirth!

Now, all that being said ...

The word "souls" is problematic from a traditional Buddhist perspective because of the belief in "no abiding self". Nonetheless, Buddhists traditionally believed that something ... like a stream ... does pass on and continue into future lives. Furthermore, Japanese ancestor worship does talk about some kind of "spirit" for the deceased that does move on. So, the distinction can be very fine. "Souls" or "spirits" may not be so wrong after all if looking at what most Japanese actually believe about the deceased.

Japanese Zen Buddhists do speak, traditionally, of a process of transition for the deceased that occurs over the hours, days and years following death. Dogen did not write so much on funerals, but other Soto Zen Priests in Japan and China certainly engaged in elaborate rituals to help the deceased cross the bumpy road into whatever came next.

For more detail on this "quick question" of the afterlife in Japanese Soto Zen (and Japanese Buddhism in general) than you probably need or want (although fascinating), read here (some not so important pages are omitted, but I have a copy of the few missing pages if you need them and can send it to you):

Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism
edited by Jacqueline Ilyse Stone
(Included Article by Soto Priest and Historian Duncan Ryuken Williams on Soto Zen Funerary Traditions)
213-215 and 228-234

http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=BYKIANRPXagC&q=zennen+shingi#v=snippet&q=zennen%20shingi&f=false

As for me, I am one of those new fangled Westerners who do not make such a big deal, one way or the other, about the next life ... focusing enough on this one right here. You can read more on Karma, Rebirth and the Afterlife in my "BIG QUESTIONS" series ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?6102-Jundo-Tackles-the-BIG-Questions-VI-%28Karma%29

and

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?6245-Jundo-Tackles-the-BIG-Questions-VII-%28Life-After-Death-%29

I usually sum up my personal attitude this way ...

My attitude, and that of many other Buddhist teachers, is that ...

If there are future lives, heavens and hells ... live this life here and now, seek not to do harm, seek not to build "heavens" and "hells" in this world ... let what happens after "death" take care of itself.

And if there are no future lives, no heavens or hells ... live this life here and now, seek not to do harm, seek not to build "heavens" and "hells" in this world ... let what happens after "death" take care of itself.

Thus I do not much care if, in the next life, that "gentle way, avoiding harm" will buy me a ticket to heaven and keep me out of hell ... but I know for a fact that it will go far to do so in this life, today, where I see people create all manner of "heavens and hells" for themselves and those around them by their harmful words, thoughts and acts in this life.

And if there is a "heaven and hell" in the next life, or other effects of Karma now ... well, my actions now have effects then too, and might be the ticket to heaven or good rebirth.

In other words, whatever the case ... today, now ... live in a gentle way, avoiding harm to self and others (not two, by the way) ... seeking to avoid harm now and in the future too.

Maybe it would really take lifetimes to properly answer your "quick" question!

Gassho, Jundo

[Jundo]

Oh, and quickly , as to the significance of "7 weeks" (49 days) to Buddhists, I found this nice little comment from the Korean Zen folks in Master Seung Sahn's Kwan Um ...

When someone passes away, in addition to a funeral service that usually occurs three or seven days after the death, we have a ceremony on the 49th day. Traditionally, the period of 49 days after someone dies is seen as a time for that person to check their consciousness and digest their karma. According to Buddhist teaching the bodhisattva Ji Jang Bosal (Jizo) helps the deceased during these 49 days to perceive their karma so when they return they are reborn to help this world, rather than continue in the cycle of birth and death. Religious Buddhism teaches that there is a life in this body, then a time of investigation or consideration, and then a new life in a new body.

But the truth is, we don’t know what happens when we die. The Buddhist teaching about death can be helpful in that it gives us a good feeling, some sense of comfort in this mystery. This framework that can be helpful in the grieving process, but the Buddha taught that originally there is no life or death. Our true self is infinite in time and space. Don’t Know Mind doesn’t have a beginning or an ending. Zen Master Seung Sahn’s teaching is to wake up in this moment and attain our true nature. When we keep a Don’t Know Mind we are addressing the big question of life and death moment to moment. The big meaning of a 49-day ceremony is to wake up just now. Actually, whenever anybody dies, they are teaching us that we must wake up, because our lives only occur in this moment [snaps fingers]. Just that.

http://www.providencezen.org/49-day-funeral-ceremony

Gassho, J

[Jinyo]

Blimey - not very keen on the belief behind 'The Blood Pool Sutra'

Thanks for the info Jundo - fascinating.

Gassho

Willow

[TimF]

Many thanks, Jundo. I believe he also said in the documentary something like "Japanese tend to like Christian wedding ceremonies, but when it comes to death, they tend to opt for Buddhist death rituals", and I figured that perhaps, like many cultures, the predominant beliefs and traditions tend to mingle a bit and folks choose what 'works best' for them. For example, my family is mostly protestant, but yet there are some who are Catholic. At family gatherings, there is a 'crossing-over' if you will, of rituals and beliefs that help them to get through whatever is thrown at them.

Gassho,
Tim

[Jundo]

Yes, Tim.

By the way, most of the "Christian Wedding Ceremonies" in Japan are not what they seem ... but are pretty much "image only" in faux-Christian chapels. I have several foreign friends who make a good side-income as weekend faux-priests for weddings here in Japan. In fact, my friends take the role very seriously, and work hard to bring happiness to the couples ...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2005/07/09/2003262800

I was married here in Japan, about 23 years ago, in a Shinto Shrine in my wife's family's town. Buddhist weddings are very rare here, so I did not even really consider it at the time. I was more concerned about keeping my father-in-law happy!

Gassho, J

[Nindo]

When Daido Loori Roshi died, Zen Mountain Monastery observed the 49 days and then held the funeral and celebration of life. Soul or not, I think it is helpful for the bereaved to have such rituals.
Gassho,
Nindo

[TimF]

When Daido Loori Roshi died, Zen Mountain Monastery observed the 49 days and then held the funeral and celebration of life. Soul or not, I think it is helpful for the bereaved to have such rituals.
Gassho,
Nindo

Hmmm...now where is my will so I can force the kids to wait 49 days to divvy up my meager spoils when I check out! LOL!

[Jundo]

Hmmm...now where is my will so I can force the kids to wait 49 days to divvy up my meager spoils when I check out! LOL!

There is no legal requirement for them to wait. That is a matter of civil inheritance law. Frankly, the way lawyers and courts work, that might take much longer than 49 days, although some joint property transfers at the moment of death.

Now Karma and Rebirth. that is another story. That is not Civil Law, but Dharma Law.

Gassho, J

[Jundo]

By the way, ceremonies are supposed to happen in Japan on the following schedule. The funeral itself occurs fairly quickly, usually a few days after death (there may be a kind of "Irish Wake" in between, depicted in the wonderful movie I recommend to all, "Okuribito/Departures" ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departures_(film)

... and also the movie that makes fun of Japanese funerals and priests, Soshiki/Funeral, a dark comedy) ..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Funeral_(1984_film)

However, given how busy people are in modern times, the ceremony for the funeral and 7th day are now frequently combined on the same day!! Don't ask me how, except that Buddhist priests can sometimes bend time and space. The 49th day is important, but the intervening 7 day ceremonies are often missed or abbreviated.

Also, because people gradually forget, it is rare now to see the long term ceremonies past the first decade or two.

A short article from the Soto-shu webpage ...

Hoji, literally translated as "dharma event", is an important Buddhist practice to commemorate a deceased person and to pray sincerely for the repose of his or her soul. It also provides a wonderful opportunity for surviving family and friends to reconfirm human ties which the departed brought about, to realize that they owe much to the deceased, to renew their gratitude to him or her and to deeply reflect upon themselves in connection with him or her.

...

Nowadays in Japan after a funeral is held, hoji is performed every seven days after the day of death, seven times altogether. These memorial services are called kinichihoyo. This is based on the ancient Indian idea that the soul of the deceased would stay in an intermediary realm (chuin, or chuu in Japanese) for 49 days after death, wandering between this world and the next. Each period of seven days marks a gradual loosening of the connection with this world and on the 49th day the deceased is reborn according to his/her karmic retribution.

Dogen Zenji wrote in Shobogenzo Doshin (Heart of the Way),
"…When you leave this life, and before you enter the next life, there is a place called an intermediary realm. You stay there for seven days. You should resolve to keep chanting the names of the three treasures without ceasing while you are there. After seven days, you die into another intermediary realm and remain there for no more than seven by seven days (49 days)...."

Through a funeral ceremony, a deceased person is made to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and the Sangha and to become an ordained Buddhist. And then while being in an intermediary realm, the deceased one devotes oneself to Buddhist practices under the protection of many buddhas. Family members and friends also support and encourage the deceased to diligently practice the Dharma by observing hoji every seven days. This is also a period of time for the bereaved family to mourn the loss, gradually coming to terms with it, and to regain a sense of peace.

There are also further memorial services after the 49th day, such as the service on the 100th day, the 1st year, 3rd year, 7th, 13th, 17th, 23rd, 27th, and 33rd year. These anniversary memorial services are called nenkihoyo. They are performed in order to support the deceased who have already gone to the pure land to continue walking on the path of the Buddha. Normally the 33rd year (sometimes 37th, or 50th year) is the last (tomuraiage, "end of mourning"), marking the time when the individual deceased is thought to have become absorbed into the general ancestral spirit. It means that the spirit is gradually purified by the power of tsuizen-kuyo, eventually loses its individuality and becomes a full blown bodhisattava (in Buddhism) or a guardian god (in Shinto).
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/...ve/201111.html

Fortunately or unfortunately, these funerals and memorial services are also the primary sources of income for most Japanese Buddhist Priests these days, and they are also feeling the pinch from funeral companies that now hire the priests on contract ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?11733-Buddhist-Funeral-Business-in-Japan&p=116934&viewfull=1#post116934

Gassho, J

[jphiled]

Fortunately or unfortunately, these funerals and memorial services are also the primary sources of income for most Japanese Buddhist Priests these days, and they are also feeling the pinch from funeral companies that now hire the priests on contract ...

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?11733-Buddhist-Funeral-Business-in-Japan&p=116934&viewfull=1#post116934

Gassho, J

Hello Jundo,

You may find interesting a certain book called "Practically Religious" by Prof. Tanabe and Reader. It was an extensive on-the-ground study of Buddhism in Japan and it challenged some notions about "Funeral Buddhism", but also showed how some Buddhist institutions were adapting to modern times and modern needs. The basic gist of their book (which was quite fascinating actually) was that the "parochial" style of Buddhist temples, the ones people associate with funerals and such, are slowly being sidelined by other Buddhist temples that are adapting to modern needs of the community. It doesn't defend funeral Buddhism, but points out that it is but one facet of Japanese Buddhism.

My wife's family works in the funeral industry in Japan (making gravestones), so we happen to know a number of Buddhist temples of various stripes. You definitely see the parochial ones, especially in the suburbs, but then you see ones like Tsukiji Honganji in Tokyo which are pretty modern and "hip" for lack of a better term. We like visiting Tsukiji when possible. I'm sure you've probably noticed this too. As I only visit for a brief period each year, I only know what little I see every visit.

Anyhow, well worth the read if you get a chance.

[jphiled]

Hello,

From my experience, most of what is now practiced in East Asian Buddhism wiht regard to funerals mostly comes from the Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra (speaking of Jizo == the Earth Store Bodhisattva). It's one of the more graphic sutras in the Mahayana-Buddhist canon (Zen is one branch of Mahayana by the way) because it talks in depths about death, the transmigration of the "stream of consciousness" and so on. It's particularly popular even to this day in Chinese Buddhism. Nevertheless, the gist of it is that one should not underestimate the importance of Karma:

“Karma is tremendously powerful. It is capable of covering Mount Sumeru, is capable of plumbing the vast ocean depths and is even capable of obstructing the holy doctrines. Therefore, sentient beings should not neglect lesser evils as being not sinful; for retribution will be meted out to them after their deaths for every bad intention or violation, even though it be as small or insignificant as an iota. Even beings as closely related as fathers and sons will part their respective ways, and one will not take the punishment of the other even if they chance to cross paths….”

Compare this with a famous letter by the 14th century Jodo Shinshu-Buddhist named Rennyo, called the Letter of White Ashes:

Thus our bodies may be radiant with health in the morning, but by evening they may be white ashes. If the right causes and conditions prevail, our two eyes are closed forever, our breathing ceases and our bodies lose the glow of life. Our relatives in great numbers and with great wealth can assemble, but they are powerless to change our situation. Even the rites and rituals of grief and mourning change nothing. All we can do is prepare the body for cremation; all that is left is white ashes.

Or from the Buddha in early sutras such as the Assu Sutta:

"This is the greater: the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — not the water in the four great oceans.

And yet, and yet, as Rev Jundo stated, it's important to stay focused on now just as the Buddha taught in the Bhaddekaratta Sutta:

You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there.

Thus, in my humble opinion, it's important to square with one's mortality, but at the same time, never forget that the most important thing is right now.

[Jundo]

Thanks Doug, I will look for the book.

I was also just looking at this recent article on how New Religions and schools of Buddhism in Japan are doing much as your describe ...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/07/national/social-issues/bell-tolls-traditional-funerals-new-sects-put-spin-buddhist-rites/#.VDdtUvmSx8E

Gassho, J

[jphiled]

Hello,

The book I mentioned doesn't really cover the new religions much, but generally stuck to the more traditional ones if I recall right. For example at Tsukiji, I remember they had a memorial to the famous singer who died, Hide, just inside the main chapel, not to mention disaster relief charities, etc.

But I've also had experience with Rissho Kosei Kai (a modern school of Nichiren) which also had similar stuff. So you're right in that new religions are getting into the act too.

[Jinyo]

Just wondering - do these rituals/beliefs come from the same root source as The Tibetan Book of the Dead?

Gassho

Willow