Last month, I was fortunate enough to attain Enryakuji’s Endon Jukai, on Mt Hiei, Japan. This is the formal ceremony of taking the 10 Major and 48 Minor Bodhisattva Precepts as outlined by the Tendai school’s founder Dengyo Daishi Saicho. Though my time on the mountain was short, it did mean that I spent just over a week in Japan in all. And for me, this trip was slightly different than others I have taken, and it had nothing to do with the Endon Jukai.
I should be clear that I am going to be speaking in gross generalizations and cross-cultural assumptions, since there are understandably exceptions to this type of conversation, so please keep this in mind. I am simply trying to make some broad comparisons to help come to an overall conclusion.
Because something that has recently been of interest to me is the difference between cultural Buddhism and religious Buddhism. And even the fact that I say Buddh-ism here already denotes my “western” perspective on the matter, specifically religiosity. Religion, or –isms, as a term or concept, is relatively new to East Asia. We, outside of East Asia, may see much of their cultural perspectives and behaviors as very religious, although to those in the culture, they are seen as simply what is done and not as religious acts. In the same way that post Renaissance Protestantism has impacted American cultural perspectives and behaviors, for example. Many of us still practice Christmas with no adherence to the birth of Christ, or use clichés of “my God” or “God willing” without any belief in God. It’s simply what is done, not as religious acts.
And yet, these cultural norms are what stood out to me during my stay in Japan. As I have spent time considering “culture and religion”, seeing them being carried out in front of me, made them starker and more noticeable. Namely, a concern (or not) for the other. For the Japanese, it seems there is an understanding that each individual is part of a whole. They see and define themselves based on their family, community, nation, etc, not solely as an individual. We may consider that this is wholly Confucian ideology, although to separate that concept from Buddhism would be shortsighted. So we can say, in general, in Japan there is a greater acknowledgment of the group, rather than the individual.
For example, take the train system, which is notoriously on time, clean, and functions with minimal disruption. This is in part due to the collective understanding that working together, with each other, can help everyone benefit. There are certain unspoken rules, tendencies, and behaviors that allow everyone to get where they are going without as much hassle. People are let off the train first, to ensure the train empties efficiently, so that those waiting to get on do not have to run into those getting off. In this way, those in a long commute spend just that much less time and frustration in getting from A to B. And this may seem trivial until you see the number of tourists who visit Japan, and may not be aware of these unspoken rules. It’s really noticeable to see a family cut the line in waiting for the train to arrive, to think that because the doors are open, they are able to just walk on, while everyone on the train is pouring out. Everything slows down, time is taken in bumping into others, getting on or off, and the time at the stop thus lags, putting the train behind schedule, and delaying everyone, their connections to the next train, etc.
Trash is another example. There are very few public trashcans, and yet Japan is considered one of the cleanest countries. Simply because there is an expectation that you carry your trash with you. You aren’t eating while walking around, you eat at home, or the restaurant, and therefore leave your trash there. If you do have it, you pack it away in a bag or purse until you are able to dispose of it properly, not thrown on the ground somewhere. In this way, there is much less clutter around the streets, even in the busiest corners of bustling downtown Tokyo. There is an understanding that no one likes seeing trash around, so why would any single person contribute to what everyone dislikes?
There are so many different examples of how this plays out culturally. There is simply an ingrained notion of living in a community, being part of a whole. That any given personal behavior impacts everyone around them.
Now, I am not saying that the Japanese way is better, it obviously can have its own flaws. One might argue that the cultural cliché that “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” presents a difficulty in social or political change, for example. However, it is my argument that the long-standing presence of Buddhist teachings within their culture, teachings of interdependence, or non-self, has played a role in a cultural understanding that we live in a world of communities. We are not autonomous, not alone, but inter-be with everything else.
That stands in contrast to what it feels like sometimes to live in America. In general, it feels as if there is an ingrained notion of individualism. “It’s all about freedom”, “you can’t tell me what to do”, “I’m my own person”, “who cares what I do?”
Our rampant individualism flies in the face of Buddhist teachings. Maybe we can understand how our negative actions can cause adverse effects on the world – buying non-sustainable goods has a worse environmental consequence – but our beneficial actions are rarely seen as having any tremendous impact. “I’m just one person, how can I change anything?”
This notion is outside of Dharmic teachings. If we are active followers of the Buddha Way, then we should work to ingrain a cultural understanding of interdependence, that we live in relation to everyone and everything else. We can work to change our collective perspective, not simply during our personal practice on the cushion, but out in the world, embodying actions that actively work for the benefit of the whole. This may be difficult when surrounded by individualism, or even to know to what extent our individualism plays a role in our own cultural perspective.
But we must continually be introspective enough to call out our own short-comings when it comes to interactions with others. After all, they are happening all day, every day. There is plenty of material on which to reflect. Is what we are doing an individualistic choice? Are we determining what’s best for everyone, even if that means that it comes at a perceived personal inconvenience or discomfort?
“Religion” is a system of faith, but following the Buddhadharma is more than just being religious. It requires us to truly explore our role in the world, to see ourselves not as an individualized self, and to engage in actions that benefit the whole, based on the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Six Perfections, etc. In this way, our perspectives and behaviors, our culture, can better reflect our interdependence with all sentient beings.
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Gassho . . . Koshin