Japan 6th – Religious Observance

A preface – This morning I received a brief message from Ryushin and Shingaku. The tornado that wreaked havoc through central Massachusetts was nearby, but they are uninjured. They are without electricity and the roads are still mostly impassable, but they are otherwise OK. Thanks for letting me know Ryushin.

The blog

The pattern of religious observance in Asia is not centered on a specific day of the week, as is the cases with Abrahamic tradition observances. Among the more observant Buddhists in Japan there is usually a Butsudan or Buddha altar in the home. And each morning a member, or members, of the family will sit in seiza in front of the altar, exchange the old offerings for fresh, light candles and incense, and say a few prayers appropriate to the school of Buddhism in which that family belongs, as well as to their ancestors.

Ooops . . . there goes another earthquake. Better go turn off the LPG.

The quake was in the 4.5 to 5.0 range. Not a major shake, but enough to make everything sway back and forth. Back to the story.

The vast majority of the Japanese are both Buddhist and Shinto. It is best to see those two separate but synchronic traditions as Japanese religion. Though they do have separate origins, they have both separate and intertwined observances for most Japanese. Many Japanese are not able to distinguish a distinction between temples (Buddhist) and shrines (Shinto). Additionally, Japanese can be thought of as danka (members) or shinja (devoted practitioners) of Buddhist temples.

There are four or five times a year when Japanese will gather at temples and shrines. Shinja members will gather more often. One of the gatherings for the shinja are junrei (pilgrimage).

Some junrei are relatively short affairs lasting only a day, some may take up part of the day over a

week or more. Then there are the major junrei such as Kukai’s pilgrimage on Shikoku with 80 stops of sacred observance. The kaihogyo (about 40 km a day for 1000 days) on Mount Hiei is a type of junrei with over 250 stops each day. Many Tendai Buddhist Institute members remember Gojun. His temple is in Oita in northern Kyushu, Japan. They have a junrei every several years which lasts for about 10 days in which the soryo (priests) and shinja walk across some pretty rugged mountain trails, stopping at sacred locations.

It is important to keep in mind that stops along any junrei are not necessarily Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines. There are other sacred places, such as, a place where someone notable may have died, a sacred tree or rock, a waterfall.

This week there is a junrei in this area of Chiba. I’m not sure of the number of stops on this particular

pilgrimage, it is organized by a Shingon temple in the area. Tamonin is the third station on the route.

On June 2^nd a group of about 50 people came to Tamonin and recited prayers at four locations in front of the Hondo and concluded by reciting the Heart Sutra in the Amidha Hall.

A little before 8 AM twenty sodai (advisors) and other members of Tamonin arrived at the Temple. Within an hour and a half they had completely cleaned the area in front of the hondo (Bishamonten Hall) and put together snacks for the junrei participants. The Pilgrims arrived at 11 AM.

You can see the junrei participants in the accompanying photos. There is one fellow in a clear raincoat wearing a yellow robe underneath with the shaved head and the shakujo in his hand, he’s the priest leading the junrei. There is a man in a blue samue, he is the lay leader. A man with a blue hat and green rain coat is the hora gai (conch shell trumpet) player. Another person in a blue hat with a white bundle suspended from his neck, is carrying a sutra. Another photo you can see sodai members putting out the snacks for the junrei participants. In all the photos the junrei participants are wearing white samue tops with Japanese and Sanskrit writing on them.

Normally this junrei is held in March. Because of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster it was postponed until this time.

Junrei is one part devotional, another part engaged Buddhism. By performing the pilgrimage people improve their own chances of awakening, and at the same time they are chanting and praying for the benefit of all sentient beings. In the latter sense it is engaged. There is also a social component in which shinja members gather together to reinforce their own practices.

June 3^rd, the Junrei is stopping at Senzoji, Ichishima sensei’s main temple. This is part of the flow of Buddhism in Japan.

Gassho . . . Monshin