The spirits of the dead: Christianity, Buddhism and traditional belief in Japan by Takeda John Makoto Anglican Theological Review Vol. 79 No. 1 Winter 1997 Pp.27-37 Copyright by Anglican Theological Review


The Spirits of the Dead and the Meaning of Memorial Rites One of the popular features of the Anglican Church in Japan is the memorial service. At every Sunday eucharist, in almost every parish, the names of the departed whose memorial day falls during the week are cited and a memorial prayer is said. In every parish, there is a monthly memorial service for departed members. Even irregular communicants ask the priest to hold an annual memorial service for a departed Family member which a number of relatives and friends attend. On every third Wednesday of the month, I celebrate the memorial eucharist of the departed clergy of the Diocese. On November 1 and 2, parish priests are very busy holding memorial services in graveyards. Behind this popular practice of the memorial service lies a traditional belief in, or fear of, the spirits of the dead, whose presence is still near. They are vengeful spirits, who must be soothed by the regular offering of prayers or by those who have special spiritual power. Many Christians, especially among the elderly, seem to desire some kind of contact with their departed loved ones. According to traditional belief, either thirty-three or fifty years must pass before the haunting spirit of the dead becomes hotoke (buddha) or sorei (ancestor god) and thus finds rest. Then the burial ceremony is completed (tomuraiage). This belief originated neither in Buddhism nor in modem Shinto but seems to have been inherited from ancient Japanese beliefs. Many conscientious parish priests face the dilemma of complying with such popular beliefs and teaching the Resurrection faith and leading funeral rituals in accordance with Christian doctrine. Appropriate teaching about ancestor-worship is still a matter of debate in the Japanese church. Some honest Buddhist priests in Japan have a similar problem. One friend who is a scholarly Buddhist cleric once told me, "Selflessness (muga), transitoriness (mujo), emptiness (ku), nothingness (mu), such teachings of the Buddha are wonderful. But if you are faithful to such teachings, you cannot be the manager of a temple." For many scholars of religion, the belief that the dead become hotoke (buddha;jobutsu means "becoming buddha") appears strange and is unique to Japanese Buddhism. Even popular Buddhism outside Japan has no such teaching. (In Japan, Buddhism is considered the "funeral religion" because its priority is meeting such popular religious beliefs.) Ordinary Buddhist temples do have regular programs of Zen-exercise meetings and study seminars on the teaching of Buddha and Sutra, but participants seem few. More popular rituals and feasts are the memorials of the dead anti the welcoming feasts of the spirits of the dead (urabon-e). Sodo-shu, one of the Zen sects, recently released statistics about its members' opinion about what matters most to them as Buddhists. The four reasons most cited were: visit and worship before the grave, 31.6%; the memorial tablet of the dead (ihai), 25.9%; the temple's principal deity (the Buddha statue enshrined in the temple), 21.8%; and the priest, 8.2%. Those who considered visiting the grave the most important were asked their reason. 83.3% responded that it is the resting-place of their ancestors (hotoke=buddha). Only 17.4% hail ever attended Zen practice, which is ostensibly the principal duty. The discrepancy between the sect's ideal teaching and the reality of religious practice is recognized in Japanese Buddhism as it is in Christianity; neither is able to ignore the (deep-rooted traditional belief in the spirits of the dead. Characteristic features of the spirits of the dead: The fear of onryo (avenging spirits) Spirits are believed to be haunting and vengeful until they finally become sorei (ancestor spirits) or hotoke (buddha), either thirty-three or fifty years after death. There are many Japanese legends and myths in which a hero kills the evil ones. But the stories do not end with the righteous hero's final victory, but with the construction of a memorial shrine and the gift of a memorial ritual for the dead enemy he has killed. The spirits are onryo--grudging or vengeful. Unless the defeated enemy is buried and faithfully remembered, that spirit would return and bring unhappiness. The purpose of the memorial rituals is to keep the dead spirits enshrined and contained within a specific space. On certain days in the year, they are invited to the place of the living, who welcome them warmly and after some days send them back. Through such faithful memorials, the spirits also bring happiness and a peaceful life to those who remember and honor them. The structure of matsuri (festival) This ritual memorial of the dead is the basic structure of the Japanese matsuri (festival). The matsuri is the corporate ritual of a village community around the community shrine. First, the arrival of the community's patron spirits or gods is proclaimed; then offerings of prayers, special food and rice wine are made; divine oracles and some spiritual powers are received; finally, a concluding ceremony sends the spirits or gods back to the other world (mountain or sea). (The belief that the vengeful spirits could also be beneficial, becoming protective patrons for the living who keep their memorial faithfully, is a later development, perhaps influenced by the Buddhist idea of mercy.) The purpose of the traditional festival (matsuri) is to re-fill the people with ke (air, breath, spiritual power). If everyday life and work decreases one's supply of ke, it must be renewed on special occasions, especially at times of crisis, happiness, hard work or calamity. When ke is lost (kegare), everyday life must pause for a period of retreat to a secluded place (komorun = "to retire" or "to hide in a secluded place") while an ascetic life provides purification and restoration of ke. Ke is the spiritual power (air) of living and growing. Kegare is both decrease of ke and also "unclean." Hence "refilling the ke" means becoming both powerful and purified. The first stage of matsuri is komoru: retiring or hiding in a holy place such as a small shrine, a mountain or secluded sacred place. Then the priest or community representative enters the holy place of the shrine and performs a ritual of communion with the gods or spirits, receiving divine oracles and spiritual power. He then emerges from the holy place with signs that he has been filled with ke. This may take the form of excessive drinking, eating, dancing, singing, wrestling, or violent noises. This is a joyous moment and the term matsuri or "festival" is later applied only to this stage, when the entire community celebrates its liberation and filling with ke. Stories and legends of the Mountain People (sanjin, yamabito, yamando) The Japanese nation was originally made up of many local clans. By the third or fourth century, however, the Yamato clan dominated the western part of Japan and by the seventh century controlled the entire nation. It established the imperial dynasty and a Japanese state. In the process of the subjugating of local communities by the Yamato clan, most of the invaded people surrendered and eventually intermarried with their invaders. But some of the most respected of those invaded, men and women of integrity, were ashamed of surrendering. Rather than insisting on a hopeless resistance, they retired into the mountains, spending their lives like hermits or wanderers. Such people later came to be known as the "Mountain People" (sanjin, yamando). These Mountain People took on a paradoxical character. They were vengeful and bitter towards their fellow country people who had deserted them. But on the other hand, they also had compassion for those who had surrendered and been subjected to the Yamato clan. They observed from their hiding places in the mountains and in time of trouble came to their aid. People's feeling towards the Mountain People also took on an ambiguous character. They were frightened and awed by them and would like to forget them. But they also longed for contact with them. In an attempt to appease the Mountain People, they brought them food and other gifts. Gradually many local legends were created about these yamaudo, which came to be confused with beliefs about the onryo, the vengeful spirits of the deceased. The amalgamation of people's feeling of fear and awe towards the Mountain People with the traditional belief in the onryo heightened the religious sense that the mountains are a holy place, actively haunted by spirits. The mountains are conceived as the "other world" while the village communities on the plains are "this world." This notion of the mountain as the dwelling place of the spirits was heightened by another traditional belief of the rice-paddy culture: the mountains have a supernatural power to produce water. This was the source of the belief that those who go to the mountains for rigorous training are endowed with a supernatural charisma. Buddhism in Japan has developed a similar discipline in the mountains. Even today one hears of someone who has completed the sennichi kaihogyo (the "discipline of a thousand-day walk around the mountain") on Mr. Hiei in Kyoto. Those who have completed it are thought to receive a special spiritual power, so that people approach them to receive the touch of their hand in order to share in the charisma. The Buddhist discipline which mingled with traditional Japanese belief in the spirits and in the mountain as a holy place did not arise during the first stage of its introduction to Japan from China and Korea. That initial (Nara) stage, dated to the sixth or seventh century, was centered in the city of Nara, which is located on a plain, and was primarily scholastic in its form. Ninth-century Heian Buddhism, on the other hand, was esoteric in its perspective and its centers were in the mountains. It was represented by two mountain temples: that on Mr. Hiei founded by Saicho (the Tendai sect) and on Mr. Koya by Kunai (the Shingon sect). (A third movement, Kamakura Buddhism, occurred in the twelfth century and is represented by three sects: the Jodo sect introduced by Honen, the Shin sect by Shinran, and the Sodo sect by Dogen.) Heian Buddhism, with its center in the mountains, was well-indigenized in the life of the common people. It stimulated people's imaginations about the haunting vengeful spirits in the mountains, blending with the newly introduced divine figures of Buddhism such as the image of Hudo (Acalanatha, god of fire with an angry face, the guardian god of the temple). This esoteric Buddhism had the greatest influence on traditional religious belief and created Buddhist-Shinto syncretic religion in Japan. The traditional spiritual discipline in the mountains was blended with Buddhism. Once back among the people, the one who undertook the discipline was seen as a trustworthy person with spiritual power to soothe the avenging spirits of the dead and other healing gifts, mediating between the dead and the living. Among such spiritual ascetics were "wandering charismatics." They were known by various titles (yugyo, hijiri, gyo-ja, shugo-ja, angya-so among others). While their exercises were undertaken alone, they wandered through the people's world, committing themselves to the liberation (salvation) of the common people in this world. They played the role of spiritual advisor to the people who would not regard themselves as having attained nirvana or the state of blessedness. Their role as followers of the way to search for truth marks them as permanently imperfect, perpetually performing spiritual disciplines on the way. Because of this status as mediators, they were more respected and trusted, more relied upon by the common people than the priests of the official Buddhist hierarchy in the major temples under the established structure.[1] Wandering charismatic ascetics and the belief in Bosatsu (Bodhisattva) Ordinary people in Japan often exhibit a popular devotion to Bosatsu (Bodhisattva); indeed, this is the most popular piety of the Japanese people. Bosatsu is understood to be wandering in the world of the common people. He is the seeker of the truth, remaining in this world, accompanying the unsaved and sharing their pain. "The people are sick, so Bodhisattva is sick" (Yuima-kyo). He is willing to accept imperfection, even though worthy to be perfect with Buddha. Bodhisattva is one of the lower deities in Buddhism, the image of the imperfect saint who has not attained nirvana fully, a seeker and wanderer in this people's world. (Hence the figure of Bosatsu is depicted with a walking cane in his hand.) He co-exists with Nyorai (Tathagata), the image of the truth, the highest image who has now acquired the discipline and is now in nirvana. He is the symbol of the highest deity; but he is not able to become an intimate figure for ordinary people. Kukai (the Shingon sect) attempted to teach the doctrine of mystical union with Dainichi-Nyorai (Maha-Vairocana), who includes and unifies all the deities in himself. But this teaching was not widely accepted by ordinary Japanese people; they preferred Bosatsu or characters like him (Kannon, Inari, Amida and others). While people are identified by their own official religion, they also have their unofficial religion or private, unorganized piety. Generally, they are more attached to the latter. Bosatsu belongs in the tradition of the wandering ascetics; both belong to the reverse side of traditional Japanese religion. This popular piety is also related to the traditional belief in the wandering spirits and the Mountain People. The mission and ministry of the wandering charismatic ascetics (gyo-ja or shugyou-ja) The gyo-ja usually came from among the common people, but after completing their discipline, they were to separate themselves from their home village and go from place to place working for the welfare of the poor and humble. Empowered with some charism by their discipline, they went from village to village and helped those in trouble. There were reports of false gyo-ja, who appeared on the scene and cheated the people with their fake magic. Gyo-ja sometimes led insurrections of the village people at times of oppression by the village rulers or when heavy taxation or forced labor demanded by landlords became unbearable. If the insurrection failed, the leader could be arrested as an instigator and was often put to death. The people, however, would remember him and erect a memorial grave. During the tenth century, especially at times and places of turmoil, a strange custom arose among some of the gyo-ja of attempting to bury themselves alive (dochuu nyuujo, "trader-earth voluntary-death"). Monument graves (tsuka) belonging to gyo-ja can still be found in the countryside, especially in the northern part of the Japanese mainland. Legends recall that a solitary gyoja was buried alive for the salvation of the people of the village, especially for those who suffered in time of famine, epidemic or flood. This was usually done by the gyo-ja themselves, entering a cave and remaining in it until death. Sometimes gyo-ja were caught by the people and forced to be buried alive. They were often despised as vagrant beggars and treated by the poor people of the village as scapegoats for their suffering. Yet after their death by forced sacrifice, the people would build the memorial grave and commemorate them. Such gyo-ja were usually from poor families, prisoners, beggars, lower-class warriors' second sons, who themselves experienced life at its hardest. Other kinds of gyo-ja or shugyo-ja were active in the religious life of the common people in caring for their spiritual needs. They co-existed with the official religion, of which the people were nominally members. But those religions, the major sects ofth their large temples and organized hierarchy, represented the public side of religion, imposed by the rulers and accepted by the people only superficially. In their private life, they retained another secret religion on which they could rely: that of the wandering shu-gyo-ja. Self-satisfied religion and the idolization of imperfect faith: Kanzo Uchimura (1861-1930) and Toson Shimazaki (1872-1943) Two characteristics about the reception of Protestant Christianity in Japan around the time of the Meiji Restoration (1870) should be noted. The first is that it was mainly of interest to, and accepted by, the intellectuals of the time--members of the Samurai (Warrior) class. They were members of the ruling class, and had an austere, simple, honest and "puritanical" spirit. Second, those Samurai interested in Christianity were the ones who had failed to achieve positions of leadership in the new imperial government. They were excluded from the Samurai circles that carried out the reform and as political allies with the Emperor built the new nation. Hence they sought other means of reform through the newly accessible Western knowledge. For that reason they approached the missionaries. Kanzo Uchimura was one of them. The founder of the Mukyokai (Non-church) Movement, he was a typical Samurai Christian. He proclaimed his love of "the two J's": Jesus and Japan. He had a vision of a Japan reformed by faith in Jesus. He was a nationalist, but as a teacher at the First High School he refused to pay obeisance to the Emperor and was forced to resign. As a Christian, he was a man of integrity. Widely respected in Japan beyond the circle of the Christian community, as an eminent teacher he held himself aloof and was often considered lacking in tolerance, hardly approachable by ordinary Christians. There were other types of intellectuals than the Samurai who also accepted Christianity: they were writers, poets, novelists and other literary persons. Toson Shimazaki was one of them. Both Uchimura and Shimazaki were intellectuals who converted to Christianity, but they took very different paths. Well-known as a poet and novelist, Shimazaki was baptized in a Presbyterian Church in Tokyo while studying at Meijigakuin, a Methodist school. He is the author of a poem--his own adaptation of Phoebe H. Brown's hymn, "I Love To Steal a While Away," translated into Japanese by Masahisa Uemura in 1888 and still found in the Japanese Hymnal. Let us compare Shimazaki's poem with the original. Brown's hymn reads as follows: I love to steal away From every cumbering care, And spend the hours of setting day In humble, grateful prayer. I love in solitude to shed The penitential tear, And all His promises to plead, Where none but God can hear. I love to think on mercies past, And future good implore, And all my cares and sorrows cast On him whom I adore. I love, by faith, to take a view Of brighter scenes in heaven; The prospect doth my strength renew, While here by tempests driven. Thus, while life's toilsome day is o'er May its departing ray Be calm as this impressive hour And lead to endless day. Japanese translation Shimazaki's poem In evening quietly In evening quietly To pray To dream From worldly cares From worldly cares For a while steal away. For a while steal away. None but God None but loving yon Who hears, Who knows, Prostrate under a tree's shade Retiring under the flowers' shade Repent my sin. Wept because of my love. On mercies past On dreams past I keep on reflecting, Reflecting, Of the coming future Love is sin, For happiness I pray. Sin is love. Cries and sorrows Prayers and works: Unto my God From this my sin, To commend: Into a happy garden That is joy. I will go. Pressed down in body, With you loving, Of this evening hour Hand in hand The indescribable scene, Even into dark hell How can I forget? I will rush. The works of the world When I finish one day, At the time of my dying May I he as calm as this. Idolization of imperfect faith The newly introduced Christianity stimulated the realization of the individual self as a sinful person. But in many cases, this self-understanding of being a sinful person did not lead to the desire and hope for liberation or salvation from the state of sinfulness. Instead, people were satisfied to remain in a state of sin, even romanticizing the sinful self. Hence being a sinner became an ambiguous and narcissistic condition. Shimazaki's modified translation of Brown's hymn is a typical expression of this state of mind. In his work, "to pray" becomes "to dream," "God" becomes "loving you" and "sin" is transformed into "love" and viewed in a pleasurable light. This attitude might be traced to the influence of the traditional Japanese feelings of mujo and hakanasa ("transitoriness" and "self-pity") as they appear in the work of classic Japanese poets. But it is more likely to reflect the people's traditional piety towards Bohatsu (Bodhisattva). Shimazaki's Christian faith, as we encounter it in his poem, is rather a corrupted form of the traditional Bosatsu-piety-piety towards the eternal seeker for the truth in this world, the imperfect spiritual ascetic on the way. Uchimura is much respected by Japanese Christians as a great example of Christian faith, but he is also considered unapproachable by the ordinary Christian. Many superficial Christians, especially those Japanese Anglicans best described as "lukewarm" in their faith, seem more attracted by Shimazaki's version of a Christian lifestyle. But the traditional piety towards Bohatsu has been kept in an uncorrupted form by people less marked by intellectual ability, in-eluding victims of poverty, oppression and discrimination. The majority of Japanese who were converted to Christianity, representing as they do the intellectual, well-educated and those of higher social status, hardly endured the misery of those identified with Bohatsu-piety. If we compare the features of the ordinary Christian Church in Japan with Christianity in Korea, where it is growing rapidly and exhibits an enthusiastic sense of mission and solidarity with the people, we find the Japanese church more likely to be rather quiet, less enthusiastic (with few fundamentalists and charismatics among its number), comfortable with its minority status, and enjoying a comfortable but closed family-style fellowship. The Nippon Sei Ko Kei (Anglican Church of Japan) might be said to reflect an ethos closer to that of Shimazaki's acceptance of imperfection than the more rigorous, and less attainable, perspective of Uchimura. Perhaps this is the problem of Japanese Christian spirituality which we are now called to overcome. 1 Zen Buddhism and the life and teaching of Shinran are popularly identified as typical Japanese Buddhism. Both belong to the third, or Kamakura, stage of Buddhism in Japan, and both have a refined doctrine and spirituality. Many Christians find them attractive, and especially Catholic priests and monks frequently participate in Zen exercises. Generally speaking, Zen and Shinran's teaching and personality attract well-educated, sophisticated people and hardly represent the piety of the common people in Japan.