From Star Trek episode “Spectre of the Gun” (s3:ep6)
One Zen anecdote that I remember from my youth, was a story where a student declared to his master “all is illusion”. The master, listening to this whacked the student on the head (or pinched his nose, I forget) and said “was that an illusion?”.
I always liked this anecdote, but didn’t really appreciate until I got older and had more field-experience with Buddhism.
There’s a tendency to view Buddhism as a way to transcend one’s problems. People like to meditate in Buddhism, or do chanting, because they think it will “chill them out” or go into “Zen mode” as a way of facing life’s problems. Once you’re blissed out and calm, you’ll not be bothered by problems anymore, and all will be well. Right?
Sooner or later, you have to come down and still deal with problems in life: work, food, jerks, illness, boredom, bills, political crises, economic hardships, debt, injustice, broken cars, crying kids, angry spouses, dogs with “intestinal issues”, getting older, loneliness, house chores, the inevitable death of everyone you know, back problems, and so on. The list goes on and on. It does not go away, no matter how much you want it to.
Once you come to grips with this, which also happens to be the First Noble Truth of Buddhism, then the rest starts to fall into place. Until then, no chanting, meditation, prayer, seminars, self-help exercises, fancy gurus, or books will do any good. Not because you’re stupid, or unworthy, or not disciplined enough; it’s because you can’t put the cart before the horse. 🛒🐴
Recently, I finally got a hold of an introduction book on Rinzai Zen from Japan titled うちのお寺は臨済宗 (“My Temple is Rinzai Zen”). This book is part of a series for Japanese-Buddhists to learn more about the particular parish or sect they grow up in, and I have used it extensively covering other sects here. For some reason, I failed to find the Rinzai book in the past, but was finally able to order it.
Anyhow, most Western books on Rinzai Zen tend to focus on the mystical aspects of Zen without explaining the more practical side for lay followers. So, similar to my posts on Soto Zen and Tendai, I wanted to post the details of Rinzai Zen home liturgy based on what I learned from the book. Personally, I find the mundane side of Zen far more interesting than the more mystical aspects taught by the likes of Alan Watts and D.T. Suzuki.
As with Soto Zen, Rinzai Zen emphasizes the importance of zazen (meditation) practice, but it does have its fair share of chanting and devotionals as well as a support. How you, the layperson Zen student, balance these needs is something you will learn over time. I just wanted to share the information as presented in the book. If you are new to Buddhism, and maybe not comfortable with meditation, start with doing home devotional services first, and as you build confidence, you can expand to other practices in including meditation and precepts, etc.
In many ways, Rinzai Zen liturgy very closely resembles Soto Zen. Both are derived from Chinese tradition1 so this isn’t very surprising. Also, some chants will have a “Sinified” (Chinese) version and a native Japanese version, some only appear in Sinified form. I will try to post both when applicable.
A Quick Note on Liturgy
The book recommends consulting your local Rinzai temple for details. I believe this is because there are many subsects in Rinzai Zen (complicated history) and thus many lineages and home temples. Each temple lineague might do things a little differently, so the book cautiously suggests checking with your home temple first.
But if you are reading this, you probably don’t live in Japan, so the book also suggests commonly practiced liturgy format. That is what I am posting here. Again, it’s very similar to Soto Zen, so if you are unsure, you can consult Soto Zen sources too.
Example Rinzai Zen Home Liturgy
So far, based on research, I have seen that there are two versions use in Rinzai Zen. For simplicity, I will call them the “short version” and “long version”. People are welcome to chose which version they want to recite, or adapt as needed. These are examples. For both versions, I was lucky to find some nice video examples from the temple of Yogaku-ji in Tokyo. Thank you!
The video below shows a similar format, without reciting the Four Bodhisattva Vows, so it’s a very short and simple.
Kaikyogé: Opening of the Sutra Verses
I had trouble finding an example in native Japanese, but posting the Sinified form below. It is basically identical to other sects. I included rough translation as well.
Sino-Japanese
Translation
Mu jo jin jin mi myo ho
The supreme and profound teachings (Dharma) of the Buddha
Hyaku sen man go nan so gu
is truly rare to encounter,
Ga kon ken mon toku ju ji
but now we are able to hear and receive it.
Gan ge nyo rai shin jitsu gi
It is our hope that the teachings become clear to us.
As noted above, my book mentioned that one can also recite the Dharani for the Prevention of Disaster, typically chanted three times after reciting the Heart Sutra. But this is entirely optional.
Shiguseigan: The Four Bodhisattva Vows
See this post for more details and translation. Youtube link here. It is the same as other sects in Japan.
Sino-Japanese
Native Japanese
Shu jo mu hen sei gan do
n/a
Bon no mu hen sei gan dan
Ho mon mu ryo sei gan chi
Mu jo bo dai sei gan sho
Fueko: The Dedication of Good Merit Towards Others
See this post for more details. This liturgy is somewhat unusual in that every sutra book I see consistently prints it as a mix of both native Japanese followed by Sino-Japanese (highlighted in bold). So I am posting as-is. Youtube link here.
Dedication of Merit, full version
Negawaku wa kono kudoku wo motte, amaneku issai ni oyoboshi,
Warera to shu jo to, mina tomo ni butsu do wo jozen koto wo
Ji ho san shi i shi fu
Shi son bu sa mo ko sa
Mo ko ho ja ho ro mi
There is also a second version that I found in a liturgy book from Nanzenji temple, another major Rinzai temple that uses a different format:
Sino-Japanese
Translation
Gen ni su kun te
May this good merit that I have accumulated…
Fu gyu o i shii
Be distributed to all beings
Go ten ni shun san
So that we may all walk this path
Kai kyu jin bu do
And equally attain the Buddha Way.
What’s fascinating about this version is that the Chinese characters are exactly the same as found in other sects (for example Tendai liturgy), but the pronunciation is much more Sinified (Chinese-style), rather than Japanese style readings. Feel free to adapt either verse. I prefer the Chinese-style pronunciations as I find them shorter and easier to pronounce.
Another dedication of merit …. (I had trouble finding information about this one… will update later)
Many aspects of this liturgy are the same as the short version, or they are linked in other blog posts (The Great Compassion Dharani is too long to post here). Some of these “dedication of merit” verses are hard to find online, so I wasn’t able to post anything here.
In any case, the temple of Yogaku-ji in Tokyo has put another excellent video with this format, which I encourage you to take a look.
Conclusion
These are just a few examples (I found others) of how Rinzai Zen liturgy works. As with many aspects of Buddhism, find what works, and is sustainable, and feel free to adjust and modify over time. Consistency, preferably daily, is the most important thing.
1 In truth, all Buddhism in Japan derives from Chinese Buddhism (often through the Korean peninsula), but for historical reasons, the two Zen sects (namely Rinzai and Soto) were founded by monks who journeyed to China during the Song Dynasty (10th – 13th century) which is much later than other traditions who imported Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty (7th – 10th c.). This means that they had the latest, freshest practices and monastic traditions compared to other sects, and this earned Zen an outsized cultural impact where other sects were either homegrown or seemingly antiquated. When Rinzai’s cousin Obaku came to Japan in the 16th century, it was even newer and briefly had a heyday in Japan.
I saw this post recently on BlueSky, the hip new social media platform all the kids are talking about,1 and I had to share it with readers 🤣:
Speed-running is a fascinating sub-culture of gamers who finish games in impossibly short times through a combination of intense practice, manipulating errors in game code, and pre-planned strategy. My son and I like to watch speed-run world-records on YouTube for games I used to play as a kid. For example, this is a speed-run video where someone beats the classic NES game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out in 22 minutes!
And this video shows someone attaining the world record for finishing the original Super Mario Brothers in 4:57. You can see multiple sneaky glitches and exploits here, plus lots of careful jump timing:
Finally, in this video, someone cleverly exploits an obscure glitch in Super Mario 3 to beat the game in 3:32!!!
But what does this have to do with Buddhism?
Buddhism is a 2,500-year old religion, adopted by many cultures and many times. The Buddha Shakyamuni (i.e. our historical founder), laid out the basic premise and trained his disciples on how to liberate themselves from the endless cycle of Samsara, and especially in the Mahayana-Buddhist tradition, to liberate others. We can see in early texts that this was a regimen of meditation training, self-restraint and living a humble, monastic lifestyle, as well as observation into one’s own mind. In video game terms, you can think of this as “grinding” level after level, building your skills, taking countless hours of gameplay.
The Buddhist path is a slow process, and requires a lifetime of dedication. Periodic visits to your favorite “meditation center” are fine, but Buddhism traditionally sees the path to awakening as a multi-lifetime endeavor for all but the truly talented (who may have already cultivated these qualities in previous lifetimes).
The actual length of time it normally took to accomplish awakening in Buddhism was hotly debated across Buddhist history. Early Buddhist texts implied that monks who were well-trained, or even lay-people who assiduously followed the basic code of conduct, could expect to reach awakening in one more lifetime, or may be a few lifetimes. But in Mahayana Buddhism, the length of time got longer and longer times as the bar of difficulty got higher and higher, well beyond what one could reasonably accomplish. A text called the Sutra of the Ten Stages in the Flower Garland Sutra describes the “Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva” over dozens of pages, and what’s required to complete each one before even getting to awakening. But each stage is a huge, huge endeavor by itself. Lifetimes of effort were not measured in eons of lifetimes.
As the road to awakening became longer and more remote, many Buddhist methods were developed to compensate for this and help people achieve the fruition of the Buddhist path much sooner, often through devotion to on Buddhist deity or another, or through specific samadhi methods, meditations and so on. The Pure Land path is by far the most popular and well-known due to its accessibility.
But in particular the Esoteric or Vajrayana traditions developed in the first centuries CE, hundreds of years after the Buddha. Historically speaking, the trend toward a longer and longer Buddhist path reversed and using this or that series of rituals, mantra chants, and mandala visual aids, one could “hack” the code of Buddhism and accomplish awakening in this very lifetime. Of course, the secrets behind such Buddhist speed-running techniques require a guru and a lineage.2 Vajrayana Buddhism is most prevalent in Tibet, but also in Japan through both Shingon and Tendai Buddhism.
But this does beg the question: is it really possible to speed-run the Buddhist path? Further, is the Buddhist path really eons and eons long as Mahayana Buddhism tends to assert, or is the length of time over-inflated?
Frankly, I don’t know.
Esoteric teachings and practices were definitely not part of the early Buddhist tradition (I definitely do not buy the idea of “secrets transmissions”, either). The Buddha’s advice in the early texts is generally pretty straightforward, one might say a little bland and anti-climactic, but also challenging because it gets to the root of who we are. It is definitely a lifetime effort.
But as much as I love the Mahayana tradition, it did have a tendency to out-do itself over and over. Waves and waves of Mahayana texts get increasingly dramatic, increasingly grandiose, and describe the Buddha path (namely through the Bodhisattva path) increasingly challenging terms. A backlash was inevitable, and so I can’t say I’m surprised that anti-intellectual movements such as Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, or “speed-run” methods such as Vajrayana arose in response.
Then there’s inevitable backlash from modern Buddhists who look at this convoluted history and complain, “none of this is real Buddhism anymore, it just cultural accretions”.
Every religion changes and evolves. Christianity as we know it didn’t have Christmas trees, and used Jewish-style liturgy in its early years. It adapted as it moved into new cultures. Islam grew into two different traditions, and as it became more urbanized some of the desert-nomadic traditions of the early community had to be adapted. Even obscure religions such as Zoroastrianism, whose early texts were composed amidst a steppe-nomadic culture, evolved to a more urbane and worldly culture until the Persian Empire.3
Zealous people love to go on a quest to find the “pristine” religious teachings, but you’ll never really find it. At best, you’re just reconstructing from pieces of the ancient past. At worst, you and your community just goes off the rails. It’s a fruitless quest.
So what to make of all this history and breadth of practice in Buddhism? Again, I just don’t know.
I do think that the old Kalama Sutta of the Pali Canon (AN 3.65) does provide some help though (slightly edited for readbility):
“It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias toward a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher.’
Kalamas, when you yourselves know: ‘These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,’ abandon them.
Translation by Soma Thera
Followed by:4
…Kalamas, when you yourselves know: “These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,” enter on and abide in them.’
Translation by Soma Thera
or the Buddha preaching to his stepmom in the Gotami Sutta of the Pali Canon (AN 8.53) :
“Gotamī, the qualities of which you may know, ‘These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to reclusiveness; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome’: You may categorically hold, ‘This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher’s instruction.’
Translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
To summarize, if your Buddhist is leading to negative qualities described here, you should probably stop. If it is leading to wholesome qualities described here, keep going.
Namo Shakyamuni Buddha
Edit: I forgot to mention that the ultimate speed-runner in Buddhism is the Dragon Princess from the 12th chapter of the Lotus Sutra:
At that time the members of the assembly all saw the dragon girl in the space of an instant change into a man and carry out all the practices of a bodhisattva, immediately proceeding to the Spotless World of the south, taking a seat on a jeweled lotus, and attaining impartial and correct enlightenment. With the thirty-two features and the eighty characteristics, he expounded the wonderful Law for all living beings everywhere in the ten directions.
Translation by Burton Watson
1 I have a couple BlueSky feeds on there, but nothing related to the blog.
2 The Zen tradition is often compared to the Esoteric tradition since it also has ineffable teachings that can only be conveyed by a proper teacher.
3 I only know this because of the History of Persia podcast, by the way.
4 Because early Buddhist texts (sutras) were memorized and recited, they tended to be very repetitious. Later sutras, those in the Mahayana-Buddhist canon, used a more narrative style and thus longer and less repetitive, but also much more epic in tone.
Spock : “… I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you.”
Star Trek, “Plato’s Stepchildren” (s3ep10), Stardate 5784.2
Meditation, specifically mindfulness meditation, is touted as a stress-relief exercise. Busy people believe that if they can block out the time to meditate for X minutes a day, or when stressed, this will make more happy and productive. It has been all the rage in Silicon Valley too.
But it doesn’t work.
It will calm your mind while you are sitting, but as soon as you are back to work, your blood pressure will quickly rise again. Old habits will quickly resurface. Self-help, in short, does not help.
How do I know this?
I tried the same trick in my late 20’s. My first child was born, and I was working at Amazon (yes, that Amazon) for a few years in a technical support role. The environment was stressful, demanding, constantly on the move, the on-call rotation gave little time to decompress because something was always broken,1 and I had to drive into work at all hours of the night to try and fix it.
Since I had recently converted to Buddhism at the time, and listened to a lot of Ajahn Brahm dharma talks, I wanted to try meditation. We had a spare office that no one used, so I would go in there once or twice a day, turn off the lights, dutifully sit, chant certain Buddhist mantras, meditate for 20 minutes or more, and then return to work.
As soon as I was back at my desk, the stress would rise all over again. I kept at the meditation for months, almost a year, before I finally gave up.
The stress, constant sense of inadequacy measuring myself to hyper-competitive co-workers who graduated from Stanford, unrealistic work performance goals, fear of losing my job, and so on simply didn’t go away until I QUIT MY JOB AND TOOK A LESS DEMANDING ONE.2
It took me years as a Buddhist to finally realize that stress-relief is not what mindfulness meditation was intended for.
Mindfulness meditation is a tool to develop insight, not stress relief. It is necessary in the early stages of meditation to quiet the chatter in the mind, but that is just the first stage. It is to remove barriers to insight by develop a focused mind, and a quiet mind, a mind that can perceive things in a more balanced way. Consider this quote from the Buddha in a very early text, the Dhammapada:
There is no meditative concentration for him who lacks insight, and no insight for him who lacks meditative concentration. He in whom are found both meditative concentration and insight, indeed, is close to Nibbana.
The monk who has retired to a solitary abode and calmed his mind, who comprehends the Dhamma with insight, in him there arises a delight that transcends all human delights. …
Control of the senses, contentment, restraint according to the code of monastic discipline — these form the basis of holy life here for the wise monk.
The emphasis is on focus, insight, and contemplation NOT relaxation or stress-relief. Mindfulness meditation has been repackaged and sold to naive Westerners with false promises. Meditation really does provide excellent benefits, but it has to be done as part of a much larger, holistic lifestyle change and with wholesome intentions. This is the “holy life” as described by the Buddha: a life of wholesome, guilt-free conduct, goodwill towards others, and a desire to pursue the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha).
First, one should take up the Five Precepts of Buddhism. As we see in verse 374 above, the Buddha openly encourages that we curb our worst behaviors first as a foundation for other Buddhist practice. One will gain no lasting benefit from meditation until this is done. Full stop.
Second, one must approach meditation with the mindset of a monk. It is not necessary for lay-people to give up everything and go live in the woods. Buddhism accommodates both the “house-holder” lifestyle and that of a true renunciant (a.k.a. a monk or nun). But both the renunciant and the house-holder are expected to live a life of moderation and restraint.3 Easier said than done (speaking as a gamer and foodie), but it’s a goal to sincerely aspire to.
Speaking of restraint, one should always guard one’s speech. A long time ago, a Buddhist minister I admired once told me that speech was like toothpaste: once it was out of the tube, you couldn’t put it back. One has to learn to carefully monitor what one says both in person and online (and yes, at work). Again, easier said than done, but the alternative will only make your life miserable.
Finally, when such good foundations are established, meditation will help you learn more about yourself, and the world around you.4 It’s incredibly helpful, and life-changing when carried to fruition. I have my own little private insights that have stayed with me through the years, and I hope you will find yours too.
Namu Amida Butsu
Namu Shakamuni Butsu
P.S. if you feel the need to calm yourself right away, try something much simpler. You can recite the nembutsu, the Heart Sutra, a mantra, whatever. Try that for a minute, and see if that works. It is a band-aid fix though, and you still need to approach things from a holisitic standpoint, or you will gain no long-term benefit. Alternatively, just go for a walk.
1 Years later, the sound of a pager going off still triggers me a little bit. No joke.
2 Another ex-Amazonian who had joined the same company years earlier confided in me that after leaving Amazon, he drank himself stupid for months to decompress. I noticed that I was still on a hair-trigger for months after leaving Amazon, and it took me a while to unlearn those habits too. My wife noted that my posture improved after leaving, and that I grumbled about work less. Some jobs are simply not worth staying in.
3 The Buddha was pretty flexible about what exactly this meant, citing whatever cultural standards applied at the time as a benchmark. In short, a lot of it is rooted in common courtesy and good sense. If you cannot act toward others using common courtesy, meditation ain’t gonna fix your issue.
4 You may learn that your whole problem is that your job sucks, for example, and that the burn-out is not worth the money. Of course, if you’re a single mom caring for three kids, you have a lot fewer options available to you, and in such cases I recommend the nembutsu as a starting point.
I alluded in recent posts about my visits to the temple of Sanjūsangendō (三十三間堂, San-ju-san-gen-do) in Kyoto, Japan, but I’ve never really talked about it.
My experiences with Sanjusangendo go all the way back to our first trip to Japan together in 2005. My wife (whose Japanese) and I had married the previous year,1 and we came to Japan to meet the extended family, but also take in many sites. That first trip through Kyoto was a whirlwind, and I have very fuzzy memories of most of it. I couldn’t remember much about Sanjusangendo, and since we couldn’t take photos, I had very little to remind me either.
And yet, something about Sanjusangendo drew us back in recent years. My late mother-in-law really liked Sanjusangendo, and my wife wanted visit again for her mother’s sake, and now with 20 years of experience in Buddhism, the temple made a lot more sense to me. The fact that it’s a Tendai temple (and I like Tendai Buddhism) was icing on the cake. My wife was really inspired by it too, so the following year we visited it again.
…. so, what is Sanjusangendo?
Sanjusangendo is a Buddhist temple, which venerates the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Avalokiteshvara, Guan-yin, etc. It was founded in the 12th century by the infamous warlord Taira no Kiyomori as a way to impress Emperor Go-Shirakawa (tl;dr it didn’t work). What makes Sanjusangendo so famous is two things:
It’s very long, narrow main hall (本堂, hondō). This is different than most temples which have a more square-shaped main hall. The hondō of Sanjusangendo is a very long rectangle, but there’s a reason for this. The featured photo above is something I took in 2023, and shows the scale of the building. The website also has a nice photo.
The temple’s main attraction is the 1,000 statues of Kannon bodhisattva, centering around a much larger statue of Kannon. These statues are lined up in rows along the main hall, and in front of them are other statues featuring various gods and other divine beings protecting the temple. More on that below.
Since Sanjusangendo doesn’t allow photography inside the main hall,2 you should check out the official website instead. You can see the main hall, and the row upon row of Kannons here. The official website also has photos of each figure.
The main figure of devotion, as i said above, is the bodhisattva Kannon, but since Kannon has many forms, this form is the 1,000-armed Kannon called Senju Kannon (千手観音). This form of Kannon isn’t limited to Japanese Buddhism; I have seen this form expressed at Vietnamese Buddhist temples as well. The idea is that Kannon, according to the Lotus Sutra, uses many different means and methods to help people, and the 1,000 arms, each holding different objects, symbolizes the diverse ways that Kannon helps others.
Something you might also note is that the Kannon statue has 11 heads. Just as the 1,000 arms show Kannon’s efforts to help all beings in a variety of ways, the 11 heads show Kannon’s vigilance in watching out over people.
Not shown in the photos is a small display which teaches a particular mantra associated with the 1,000-armed Kannon:
You can recite this mantra in Japanese or Sanskrit. I am unclear what the translation is, but I’ve been told before that translating mantras is kind of pointless, like giving answers to a Zen koan. So, I left out the translation.
Anyhow, flanking the great big statue of Kannon on either side are 10 rows of smaller, standing statues of Kannon, each with 1,000 arms, which you can see here. The website says that of the one-thousand statues, they were built over time: 124 were from the late Heian period (12th century) and the rest were constructed during the Kamakura period (13th-15th century). There are a total of 1,000 statues, each one slightly different, but generally the same form.
Finally, in front of these statues is a series of mythical figures. Some are originally from India, and traveled the Silk Road, gradually transforming into what we see today. Others are more native Japanese deities who’ve also become Buddhist guardians. You can see the full catalog here.
To give an example of the eclectic nature of these figures, one figure is a Buddhist guardian deity named Vajrapani (Naraenkengō 那羅延堅固 in Japanese), whose imagery was influenced by the Greek hero Herakles at a time when places like Bactria and Gandhara were still part of the Greek world.
On the other hand, you can also see the famous figures of Raijin and Fūjin who are Thunder and Wind gods respectively. As far as I know, these are native deities and did not originate from the Silk Road.
The quality of the artwork is really excellent. When you see any of these figures, Kannon, Vajrapani, Raijin, etc, the life-like quality is really impressive. And, like many examples of Buddhist art, they are full of symbolism and visual meaning beyond words. They impress and inspire those who see them. Since I have now seen Sanjusangendo three times, I found that it continues to impress me every time I see it.
Speaking from experience, Sanjusangendo is a place that requires some context to really appreciate. If you are unfamiliar with Kannon and why they have one-thousand arms, or with the strange but beautiful figures guarding the front row, then some of it will feel like a mystery. It’s a beautiful mystery, but still a mystery. But, hopefully after reading this, you will get a chance to see it someday and really get a feel for why this place is special.
As someone who has an affinity for Kannon since I first became a Buddhist, it is a special place for me. 😊
Edit: fixed a number of typos. Three-day weekend drowsiness. 😅
P.S. Again, apologies for the lack of photos. I know sometimes foreigners will take photos anyway (I have seen people do this), despite the signs clearly saying “photography prohibited”, but I don’t want to be one of those tourists. So, if you want to see more, check out the excellent website.
1 Twenty-year anniversary as of early 2024. 🎉
2 A lot of temples in Japan do this. I don’t fully understand why, and it is frankly a little frustrating.
3 Katakana script is often used to write foreign-imported words in Japanese, as opposed to hiragana script. Since mantras are originally derived from Sanskrit, using katakana makes sense in this context. Sometimes katakana is also used for visual impact (like in manga), so that might explain things too. NHK has a nice website explaining how to read katakana.
I’ve talked a lotrecently about the Jodo Shinshu sect (sometimes called “Shin Buddhism” in some circles) of Japanese Buddhism and its founder Shinran, a former Tendai-Buddhist monk of the 13th century.
Shinran was one of a multitude of disciples of Honen. Honen was crucial in propagating Pure Land Buddhist teachings to the wider Japanese populace through simple recitation of the nembutsu over elaborate death-bed practices. For his part, Honen was building on older teachings from such illustrious monks as Genshin in Japan (also Tendai), and Shandao in China.
Needless to say, Honen’s hugely popular egalitarian movement really rubbed the Buddhist establishment, which had close ties with the Imperial government (especially with the Fujiwara), the wrong way. Although several complaints by powerful temples such as Kofukuji of the Hosso (Yogacara) sect and Enryakuji of the Tendai sect were rejected, Emperor Gotoba1 finally purged the movement after some alleged shenanigans between a couple disciples and some of his ladies in waiting. This is known in history as the Jogen Persecution (jōgen no hōnan, 承元の法難) of 1207.2
I say this because not only were the offending disciples executed, Honen and many of his followers were banished to the provinces, including Shinran, and were stripped of their monastic certification. The latter point is important to this post and worth exploring.
Way back in the day in ancient India, during the time of Shakyamuni (5th c. BCE), people who wished to follow the Buddha full time would renounce worldly life and become monks (bhikkhu) or nuns (bhikkuni). This was voluntary, and people could choose to give it up and return to lay life, assuming of course they weren’t kicked out for committing some offense. Since antiquity, Indian religious culture respected sages, ascetics, and monastics, such sages, ascetics and monks lived by begging for alms and were generally supported by the community. Since they were supposed to devote themselves full time to religious pursuits, it was assumed that the community would handle their day to day needs.
Fast-forward centuries later to Imperial China, where Confucianism was already entrenched in the government. Confucian bureaucrats generally had a suspicious view of Buddhist monks because they did not work, and didn’t contribute toward rearing families, or other such obligations to society. This clash of cultures played out over centuries, and there was even a dramatic purge during the Tang Dynasty in 845 where many monasteries were destroyed. Centuries later, they gradually reconciled, but it was a very bumpy ride.
This tension between Confucian bureaucracy and Buddhists played out in Japan too. Buddhism was eagerly adopted by the early Imperial court in Japan, but it was a tightly regulated extension of the State, intended to help avert calamities, and bring prosperity to the nations. Monks were frequently called on to recite sutra passages, or chant mantras to help ailing members of the aristocracy, or prevent natural disasters. Of course, many people were sincere followers too, but ordinations, regulations and such were all managed by the central government. It was, first and foremost, another organ of the State.
Why do I mention this?
Because when Shinran and other followers of Honen were stripped of monastic certification, they were no longer recognized as monks by the authorities. Sure they might have training, but no official status.
However, Shinran had been a trainee on Mount Hiei, center of the Tendai sect, since he was a small boy. He knew no other life. And yet now he was technically not a monk anymore in the eyes of the law. And yet, he wasn’t really a lay person either.
This led to a fascinating declaration by Shinran who changed his name to Gutoku Shinran (愚禿釋親鸞, “foolish, stubble-headed disciple of Shakyamuni [Buddha], Shinran”) and declaring himself hisō hizoku (非僧非俗) which means “neither priest, nor layman”. This set the trend that became the Jodo Shinshu movement thereafter.
Rather than relying on monastic institutions or monastic structure, Jodo Shinshu followers self-organized into dōjō (道場)3 which were often just people’s houses. Such members would gather periodically, pay dues, discuss issues at the time, shared letters from Shinran, recited the nembutsu together and so on. It was probably the first truly lay-centered Buddhist movement of this size and scale in Japan, possibly in history.
Lay movements are not new to Buddhism, but usually are often centered around a famous teacher (a monk) or a temple. Or, they tended to dissipate after a few generations. The Jodo Shinshu movement had neither monastic teachers, nor temples. They self-organized, trained their own priests, which included both men and women, and these men and women lived as other people did: they married, had families, worked, etc. Shinran for his part also married and had kids. He had no reason at this point not to since he was legally not a monk any more.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing, and Shinran (and later Rennyo) had to frequently deal with bad teachers, who let the power go to their heads, or taught unorthodox ideas purporting that they came from Shinran. Further, in the time of warlord Oda Nobunaga, and later the Zen monk Tetsugen, mob-violence by Jodo Shinshu followers was a genuine threat.
Nevertheless, the fact that such a self-organized lay-focused Buddhist community existed and thrived across medieval Japan is very noteworthy. It’s openness to women priests was revolutionary for the time, as was its lack of monastic standards for priests. It was run by laypeople for laypeople.
Even while I criticize some aspects of Shinran’s thought, I can’t help but deny that the “neither priest nor layman” concept, even if it was lamenting his own fate, ended up being a brilliant innovation and ahead of his time. Lay-Buddhist movements are very common now across Asia and the West, but these are often very modern innovations. Jodo Shinshu was basically doing it centuries earlier, before it was cool. It met the needs of people in a way that “ivory tower” monastic institutions could not, and solved the issue of accessibility of Buddhist teachings in a robust, sustainable way.
Not surprisingly, Jodo Shinshu is overwhelmingly the largest sect in Japan.
P.S. Shinran wasn’t the only one to really propagate Pure Land teachings in the provinces. Another major disciple of Honen, Bencho, was exiled to the island of Kyushu and established a lineage there which is now the main branch (a.k.a. Chinzei-branch) of the Jodo Shu sect we know today. Another disciple, Shoku, developed a second branch called Seizan-branch Jodo Shu. Shinran’s teachings and organization differed enough from Honen’s that later generations treated it as a separated sect entirely. Hence, “Jodo Shinshu”, not “Jodo Shu”. This might feel like splitting hairs, but if you’re a history nerd, now you know.
1 Emperor Gotoba was also the author of poem 99 in the Hyakunin Isshu, and was definitely a larger-than-life figure… for better or for worse.
2 There is also another persecution in 1227 called the Karoku Persecution (karoku no hōnan, 嘉禄の法難). In the latter case, Honen had already passed away, but after followers who remained in Kyoto built a mausoleum for their beloved teacher, the warrior monks of Enryaku-ji temple raided the mausoleum, destroyed it, and killed some disciples. These were tough times.
3 the modern “dojo” as a martial-arts institution gradually derived from this.
In June, I posted about the “day” and “night” concept used in Tendai Buddhist practice, using the example of the Jimon sect. I felt inspired to experiment a bit and try this out myself. My adjustments to home practice took a few twists and turns, but within a week or so I settled onto a consistent routine that I’ve been happy with.
Here’s what I’ve been doing for the past month, more or less.
I have found that splitting the practice like this has had some benefits. For me, this style of practice lets me cover both the here and now, through veneration of Kannon and reciting the Heart Sutra, while also looking to the future through venerating Amida Buddha through the evening practice. I feel pretty content covering both aspects.
I made both morning and evening routines intentionally short and lightweight so they are more sustainable, rather than doing something elaborate.
Still, to be honest, sometimes I am still too busy to even do this much. Or I just forget. 😅
I am not proud of that, but I felt I should be honest with readers and let them know that mistakes in Buddhist practice are perfectly OK. Life is unpredictable, and for us are “householders” (e.g. lay-Buddhists), life gets in the way. That’s why the monastic community was (presumably) created: to give people the option of practicing Buddhism full-time, not part-time.
That said, Buddhist practice is like exercise: the more you can do, the better. Even a little bit is a positive thing.
Anyhow, when I am simply busy, sometimes I will just recite either the Kannon mantra in the morning, or the nembutsu in the evening. Sometimes, I can only just bow at the altar for a moment.1 The Soto Zen resources I read previously often said much the same thing: adjust as needed, depending on how busy you are. Sometimes your home practice will be longer, sometimes shorter.
Just don’t give up.
Keep experimenting, keep trying, make it personal, and always be flexible.
Good luck and happy … er, “Buddhist-ing”.
P.S. I took a nice, relaxing weekend off to catch up on some things, avoid social media, and just unplug for a bit. I didn’t really have a plan, I just took a break. I may have also played some Fire Emblem games as well. The fun continues. 😀
1 To make this “split service” work, I have two altars now at home: the main one for Amida Buddha and tiny little “side altar” for Kannon on my bookshelf. It’s basic, but it’s something I can keep building on over time.
I have never tried using these WordPress writing prompts, but I thought I’d try as a fun exercise today.
Life is stressful. That’s the First Noble Truth of Buddhism. More precisely life is marked with stress, unease, discontent, and so on, collectively called dukkha in Sanskrit. Put more succinctly, shit happens sooner or later. It is impossible to avoid, but at the same time, a well-trained even-keel mind can weather the storm and thereby help ease one’s life, but also make life better for those around you too.
Buddhism as a 2,500 year old religion comes with a really large toolkit of methods, practices, and liturgy that can help bring peace of mind.
Most people think of meditation first, but this is simply not always practical, especially if you are a working parent, busy college student, and so on. There are other practices available that can more easily be fit into a busy lifestyle, and are not difficult to learn.
The first is to take up the Five Precepts as a baseline for one’s conduct. This is a passive practice, but helps provide some guideposts to life, gradually smooths out our rough edges, and builds self-confidence as well.
The second is Buddhist chanting.
There are many, many things one can chant in Buddhism: mantras, excerpts of Buddhist texts (sutras), full Buddhist texts, or devotional phrases as well.
Mantras are very short, but esoteric phrases often used for chanting, recited originally in Sanskrit language, but filtered over time in other languages. One of the best known is the Mantra of Light, but you can find many mantras. People often recite these 3 or 7 or even 21 times, but traditions vary. Consult your preferred tradition if you are unsure. Keep in mind that many traditions within Buddhism simply don’t use mantras, or use very sparingly.
Buddhist texts (sutras), or even excerpts of Buddhist texts, are an almost universal chanting practice. They are longer than mantras, but also more commonly practiced, and have a nice habit of reinforcing important teachings within yourself. You can recite them in the old, liturgical language, or recite in your own language. It does not really matter.
By far the most popular Buddhist text to recite is the Heart Sutra. The Heart Sutra is somewhat unusual because you can recite the entire text, from start to finish, in about 1-2 minutes. It is profound, but also really pithy. Another common chanting text you can do from start to finish is the Metta Sutta in the Theravada tradition. Most other Buddhist sutras are a challenge to recite in one sitting (some are extremely long), so instead people traditionally recite key excerpts only. The Lotus Sutra is particularly quote-worthy; it has many verses and quotations that are chanted by themselves without chanting the entire chapter. There are other good quote-worthy Buddhist sutras as well.
When chanting Buddhists sutras (or excerpts), you can either do it in a chanting voice, or simply recite the same way you might read a poem aloud, or something like reciting the “Litany of Fear” in Dune. Personally, I find chanting in English sounds silly, so I recite with an even voice instead.
Finally, we have devotional phrases. Because Buddhist deities are many and varied, each embodying some essential truth or concept in Buddhism, people tend to gravitate toward one or another. This is fine, and perfectly normal in Buddhism. One might gravitate toward the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. One might gravitate toward Guan-yin (aka Avalokiteshvara, Chenrezig, Kannon, etc). One might gravitate toward the Buddha of Infinite Light (aka Amitabha, Amida, etc). Over time, you might shift as well. Again, perfectly normal.
In any case, many of these deities will have some simple devotional phrase: “Hail to X”, or “Praise to Y”, and so on. These might overlap with mantras, but aren’t necessarily mantras. They are often exoteric (no subtle, hidden meaning), not esoteric. Sometimes mantras are used as devotional phrases too. It’s also common in some traditions to praise the Lotus Sutra itself, not as a deity, but as the embodiment of the highest and best Buddhist teachings.
All of these devotional phrases are short, simple, and easy to recite. People often recite in groups of three, but you can recite as little or as much as you like. Consult your preferred tradition if you are unsure.
When should one do Buddhist chanting?
Whenever appropriate. If you get up first thing in the morning and recite your chosen sutra, mantra or devotional phrase, that’s great. If you do it before going to bed, that’s great. If you are stressed out at work, and need a moment, go in a quiet spot, and recite something Buddhist. If you are moved by something spiritual, you can also recite something in the form of gratitude. There are many times and places to do Buddhist chanting. Find what works, experiment if needed, see what sticks in your life.
One thing to keep in mind though: always do it respectfully, solemnly, and without showing off. Intention and sincerity are important.
Why should one do Buddhist chanting?
There are many reasons why one takes up the practice. For some, it helps settle the mind, especially when stressed or worried about something. It tends to reinforce positive habits too. Sometimes it can also bring a flash of insight because one’s mind is settled and they meaning of the texts finally makes sense. It also helps generate good karma for the future, like planting seeds for later harvest. By settling the mind, it also helps disengage negative habits and avoid negative consequences later.
Coupled with the Five Precepts I mentioned above, the long-term effects are both peace of mind for yourself, but also others around you as the wholesome effects “rub off”.
The Five Precepts and Buddhist chanting are two practices that almost anyone can do almost anywhere under any circumstances. You might have to tailor things to make it sustainable in your life, but there’s plenty of wiggle-room to make it work. Also, don’t be afraid to make adjustments.
Home services in Japanese Buddhism, known as otsutomé (お勤め) or more formally gongyō (勤行), have many different approaches. It often depends on sect, particular communities, and personal preference. Trouble is, English sources are often confusing or insufficient. So, I try to look up information in Japanese, which is sometimes harder than you might think.
Anyhow, something I’ve learned recently about Tendai Buddhism, is that at least in some Tendai traditions, home practice might be divided between a morning service and a night service. This is in keeping with the two concepts in Tendai (more on that here):
Hokké Senpō (法華懺法) – reverence for the Lotus Sutra, the foundation for Tendai Buddhism, and for much of Mahayana Buddhism.
Reiji Sahō (例時作法) – reliance on Amida Buddha to help deliver oneself (and others) from this world of frustration and fear.
Thus, in lay-Buddhist home services for Tendai Buddhism, some communities tend to divide the morning versus evening services to reflect these two concepts.
This page from the Jimon-branch of Tendai Buddhism, based in the famous Mii-dera Temple (as opposed to the Sanmon-branch based in Enryakuji atop Mount Hiei) shows example services for both morning and evening. I can’t translate everything word for word from the site, but let me try to summarize the basic format.
Morning Service
For the morning service, one pays homage to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas “of the ten directions”1 and takes the Lotus Sutra as their basis. The morning service cited in the Jimon-sect page is based on a treatise by founder Saicho called the Hokke Sanmai Gyōhō (法華三昧行法), and for some reason is much shorter than the evening service.
The morning service is comparatively short, but includes liturgy such as:
I left out some of the liturgy from this list because I could not find details, or they were very specific to the Jimon sect (e.g. praises of Saicho’s disciple Enchin, who is the source of the Jimon branch), but hopefully you get the idea. This emphasizes the here and now, and seems rooted in the hokke senpo side of Tendai Buddhism to me.
Evening Service
The evening service by comparison uses the Amitabha Sutra as its basis and includes somewhat different liturgy.
Dedication of Merit for Rebirth in the Pure Land (this differs slightly from the morning service version).
It’s interesting to note that the evening service still includes verses from the Lotus Sutra, but also mixes the Nembutsu and Mantra of Light as well and definitely emphasizes the reiji saho side of Tendai.
Conclusion
As these are services associated with just one sub-sect of Tendai, and since people often add, subtract or adapt services to meet their needs, it’s perfectly fine to adjust this to whatever works in your situation. You could potentially reduce this all the way down to reciting the Heart Sutra in the morning, and the nembutsu at night. Or something similar. As long as it is sustainable, and captures the spirit of Hokke Senpo and Reiji Saho.
The themes of morning services expressing hokke senpo, and evening services expressing reiji saho, are a great way to apply Tendai teachings in one’s own life, or just Mahayana Buddhism in general.
P.S. features the gardens of Mii-dera temple, photo by E5894, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
1 The eight cardinal directions, plus up and down.
The dharani below is the Dharani for the Prevention of Calamity, or shōsaishu (消災呪), called more formally the shōsaimyōkichijō darani (消災妙吉祥陀羅尼). It is used in both Rinzai and Soto Zen traditions as a general-protection “spell”.1 I assume the intention is to protect the Zen disciple so that they can reduce obstructions on their path, similar to prayers to the Medicine Buddha in other traditions.
Before we share the dharani, let’s talk about mantras vs. dharani in Buddhism. Both belong to the esoteric traditions of “Vajrayana Buddhism”, (e.g. Tibetan Buddhism, and Shingon/Tendai Buddhism in Japan). My experience is limited, but I believe that mantras usually have layers of deeper and deeper meaning that a disciple explores in the esoteric path, while dharani do not. Instead, dharani are more like tools, simple “spells”1 or chants to provide a specific benefit. Mantras might provide also a benefit, but that’s not their sole purpose in the esoteric tradition.
Also, non-esoteric traditions in Buddhism will sometimes cherry-pick ones that they feel are useful, some more than others.2 Sometimes mantras and dharani are used for very specific liturgical purposes, others are chanted as part of normal service.
In any case, the Dharani for the Prevention of Calamity is regularly chanted three times in Rinzai Zen liturgies. I am less clear how it’s used in Soto Zen.
An example of the recitation is below from the Soto Zen tradition:
The dharani has a couple versions, one used in the Soto Zen sect, and another used by Rinzai. I’ve included both versions below.
NO MO SAN MAN DA MO TO NAN O HA RA CHI KO TO SHA SO NO NAN TO JI TO EN GYA GYA GYA KI GYA KI UN NUN SHI FU RA SHI FU RA HARA SHI FU RA HARA SHI FU RA CHI SHU SA CHI SHU SA CHI SHU RI CHI SHU RI SO WA JA SO WA JA SEN CHI GYA SHI RI EI SO MO KO
NA MU SAN MAN DA MO TO NAN O HA RA CHI KO TO SHA SO NO NAN TO JI TO EN GYA GYA GYA KI GYA KI UN NUN SHI FU RA SHI FU RA HA RA SHI FU RA HA RA SHI FU RA CHI SHU SA CHI SHU SA SHU SHI RI SHU SHI RI SO WA JA SO WA JA SE CHI GYA SHI RI EI SO MO KO
1 I am not sure what else to call it. Dharani use Sanskrit words that are chanted to provide a concrete benefit. If there was a meaning originally, it’s obscure now. I wish I could use a more suitable word for this, but there’s nothing in English I can use that doesn’t sound like a Harry Potter episode.
2 the Pure Land tradition usually doesn’t use mantras or dharani. One could argue the nembutsu is something similar, but that’s a story for another post.
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields 
.jpg){kind=link}
You must be logged in to post a comment.