Buddhism as a Brand

The New York Times today reported  that Buddhism may be
dying out in Japan. I am not in a position to be able to determine the accuracy of that report, however I did want to comment on something Kazuma Hayashi, a Buddhist priest, said about the custom of selling posthumous honorific names to families of the recently deceased:

“I know that, originally, that’s not what Buddhism was about,” Mr. Hayashi said of the top name. “But it’s a brand that our customers choose. Some really want it, so that means there’s a strong desire there, and we have to respond to it.”

There is so much wrong with that statement I don't know where to begin. There is the reference to people who come for his services as customers. This may be a problem of translation though. The Japanese okyaku can be translated as either "guest" or "customer," however I suspect customer is indeed what Mr. Hayashi meant.

Then he said that he sells these names because people really want it, there's a strong desire. Uhhh, pardon me, but isn't Buddhism about letting go of desire? Certainly any Zen priest could tell you that. Of course, Buddhism is so debased in Japan there are sects that teach believers that chanting can bring them material wealth. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

The Buddha did not chant to change the path of the deceased. But of course, just as Christianity picked up local customs and gods and incorporated them into local expressions of the faith, Buddhism radically changed as it moved from northern India through China to Japan. The Japanese in fact see no contradiction be being both Shinto and Buddhist, but then Shinto is a religion and Buddhism, at least as taught by the Buddha, was a way of life, a practice. Not a religion. All the rites and rituals came later. This doesn't really matter though today since it has become a religion for so many. Complete with deities the Buddha wouldn't recognize. But this is a bigger subject.   

Then there is the issue of Buddhism as a brand. This is one of my personal bugaboos. Buddhism is not a brand. The Democratic party is not a brand. A candidate is not a brand. This is the infection of consumerism into religion and politics. And I am afraid my industry, advertising, is probably very guilty in bringing this way of thinking to the world. Still, every time I hear a pundit on CNN  refer to something like "the Kennedy brand" my blood boils (clearly I am not meditating enough).

The posthumous sale of indulgences is what led to schism in the Roman church in the middle ages. It drove people from the church. And clearly it is having a similar effect in Japan in Buddhsim.

Buddhist priests in Japan own the family temple and hand down the job to their sons, since they marry. Another unique wrinkle in Japanese Buddhism. I have nothing against priests marrying. I think the Catholic church would be a happier place if priests were allowed to marry again (as they did, even popes were married, until the early middle ages). But this is simply Buddhism as the family business.

We all seek comfort when someone we love dies. Even more so when a child dies. In Japan, the custom is to purchase a statue of the bodhisatva Jizo, who is said to intercede on behalf of the souls of dead children (and aborted fetuses) in hell. As you can see from this photo from Kamakura's famous Hase Temple, business is booming.

No wonder that Japan people are turning away even as more Americans look to Buddhism as a refuge from consumerist culture and materialism.

Comments

[Moi]

Haven't the Kennedys always been a brand, ever since the Jack and Jackie days?
Attractive, young, vigorous, kind of like the models in the
cigarette ads. Or the AIDS drug ads.