Bringing transparency to Buddhist funerals

2008/10/21

When novelist Saburo Shiroyama died in spring last year, fellow novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki wrote a eulogy in The Asahi Shimbun.

"Mr. Shiroyama once told me how impressed he was when the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist monk officiating at his wife's funeral not only asked for a fee that was quite reasonable, but even gave him a receipt," he wrote.

Itsuki went on to note that he could never forget the incredulous expression on Shiroyama's face as he recounted this episode. I recall reading this and thinking, "How like Shiroyama," who detested anything that offended reason.

I am sure many people have worried uneasily that they were being ripped off when making an ofuse (cash offering) to a priest at a funeral or memorial service. The appropriate amount is in the hundreds of thousands of yen, if not more--and you don't get a receipt.

In this day and age, such a transaction is a no-no even in the world of politics. There is no objective way to tell if the tacitly approved "going rate" really is appropriate.

Concerned that this sort of murkiness might have led to public distrust in the institution of Buddhism, about 20 young Buddhist monks in Tokyo recently formed an organization called Tera-netto Sangha (Temple network of followers of the Buddha) in Tokyo. One of its stated purposes is to try to restore faith in institutional Buddhism by explaining everything people need to know about the donations they make and where the money goes.

Daiki Nakashita, the group's 33-year-old leader, said that some funeral business operators have been "referring" Buddhist monks to their customers and pocketing kickbacks from the monks. The kickbacks, Nakashita explained, came out of offerings the monks had received.

In Buddhism, the deceased receives a kaimyo (posthumous name), and what kind of kaimyo the deceased receives usually depends on how much the bereaved family is willing to pay. Obviously, not all Buddhist temples are guilty of capitalizing on bereavement. But for a long time now, Buddhism in Japan has been viewed cynically as "the religion of funerals."

"Religion is not only for mourning the dead. It is also supposed to save the souls of the living," said Nakashita, who has been at the deathbeds of many patients in hospices.

Nakashita and his fellow monks intend to donate some of the offerings they receive to various charitable causes. I truly hope they will be like a fresh breeze to blow through and shake up the old order.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 20(IHT/Asahi: October 21,2008)

Peanut Butter on the Chin by James O’Toole

運用 PDCA, Bill 說戴明博士故事,「擦り合わせ」透明化（transparency）