Buddhist monks take to the catwalk at the Tsukiji Honganji temple in Tokyo last month. The event opened with the recital of a prayer set to a hip-hop beat.
According to an article in The Guardian recently, Buddhism is in such decline in Japan that 75,000 of the country's temples are in desperate need of renovation.
To try and counteract this, monks are taking to the catwalk and are praying (and drinking and smoking) in bars in Japan in an attempt to revive interest in the religion from the younger generations.
"Taguchi is prepared to go almost anywhere to reach out to the sceptics, including to the Bozu [monks] bar in Tokyo.
"I can understand why younger people aren't attracted to Buddhism," says Taguchi, 46, a former salaryman from Hokkaido who turned to the priesthood after his sight became impaired in his late 20s. "Most priests are getting on, and I'm not sure young people want their advice. I'm happy to come here and listen to people talk about anything they like. It's up to them if they decide whether to heed my advice."
In the days ahead, millions of Japanese will visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rat. For many, this will be the only contact they have with their spiritual roots for the entire year.
More than 1,200 years after its arrival in Japan from mainland Asia, Buddhism is in crisis. About 75% of Japan's 127 million people describe themselves as Buddhists, but new year apart, many see the inside of a temple only when a local head priest is asked to arrange a traditional (and expensive) funeral for a dead relative.
As a result, public donations are drying up and many of the country's 75,000 temples are in financial trouble. Applications to Buddhist universities have fallen so dramatically that several schools have dropped the religious association from their titles."
What do you think about this?
Swan xx
4 comments:
Hi Swan,
Yes this seems symptomatic of many religions around the world who are going through this sort of crisis. I am amazed that Japan has 75,000 temples and cannot believe it can sustain that many in this day and age when people seem to me either swept away by materialism or are investigating more new age-style beliefs. organised religion appears to have had its day. I dont know what the situation is like in the US where they appear to be more fervent than ever if the press are to be believed. I saw a very moving program on Skyarts about the Turtle Creek Choir which is a choir of 140 gay men. They had many moving stories of how they were disowned by their church-loving parents for being blasphemous. And they lost so many of their members during the AIDs crisis. It was called something like The Power of the Chorale.
Another excellent program on the BBC at present is called Extreme Pilgrim about a 'trendy' english vicar who goes off to explore different faiths. He has been to a Shaolin monastery and became a Hindu Holy Man living in a cave above a Himalalyan village. Catch it if you can, I found it very moving. When I go to church here I find the average age of the congregation to be about 70. So when they die what will happen to the thousands of beautiful english churches. It seems that organised religion just does not connect with people today.
What do you think from where you are guys?
Love Bruv
Must get signed up for Sky! These programmes sound fab.
In france I was reading the other day that the number of divorces has increased in Nantes by 8.7 per cent and that a large proportion of divorces occured within the first 3-6 months of marriage! What's the point of getting married if your vision of someone is that short-term?
The thing I found very sad about this article was that buddhists were 'selling out' on their principles to attract younger people by drinking and smoking in bars and by displaying themselves as a fashion statement. Doesn't ths give the appearance that Buddhism is just like anything else in life if I can find it in a bar or on the catwalk - why do I need it in my life? What's so special about it?
It's like when the Christian church many years ago suddenly tried to become trendy with advertising campaigns trying to attract younger people.
Maybe it does work on a certain level to young people who need help or guidance, but for the rest of us, we know that religion doesn't reinvent itself overnight.
Bruv if you feel like a trip over to Nantes this Summer, the Dalai Llama is coming here in August for a series of talks. He is also in London too!
http://www.dalailama-nantes2008.fr/
Hi Swan,
Good points.
It is often overlooked that the Christian church has always encouraged drinking and never frowned upon smoking. The vicar in the show I mentioned puffs away all day and of course each service finishes with a mouthful of wine as part of holy communion.
If I can get over to Nantes this year it will be to see you guys. The Dalai Lama is a nice bloke but he never calls, he never writes ;-)
Love Bruv
Hi Swan,
A more considered response to your sadness at the monks behaviour is:
An old Zen story.
A monk once asked his Master, "Can rocks and grass also become enlightened?"
The Master replied, "Why are you wasting your time thinking about rocks and grass when you could be devoting all your efforts to achieving your own enlightenment."
I once wasted a few hours at the monastery debating with a fellow pilgrim as to whether stones could become enlightened, before we both remembered we should have been practicing meditation!
Love Bruv
Post a Comment