Hi all, I just moved to Japan and I'm interested in learning more about Buddhism, maybe participating in meditations or services in my area (not quite sure how it works). Does anyone have any tips for how I could potentially go about doing this? I live in the countryside and the temples I've visited in the area were all very quiet with no one around.
TIA.
by Nafacake
8 comments
First, be careful you don’t join a cult. A lot of them are just cults trying to extort money from people. Second, the only in I had was from my wife’s (then-girlfriend) mom and I didn’t even want to join, I was just curious about the practices and tradition. It seems like a lot of the people who keep up with actual Buddhist services are gonna be middle aged from what I saw so depending on your age and Japanese social skills, you may want to hit up Japanese friends moms as weird as that sounds lol
However, if you can’t speak Japanese then there’s kind of no point anyway since everything will be in Japanese and they’re not gonna translate for you. I’ve seen translators at like the main location (country-wide) but not locally.
Find out about your local temple’s schedule of events, and attend a few, to start with. If you’re not comfortable with Japanese yet, there are plenty of translation apps that can help you find out what each ceremony or festival is for, and how to properly participate, just look up the temple’s website, and if the smaller ones don’t have any, check in with the closest large one, perhaps in a more populated area. Many festivals happen on the same dates wherever you go. Otherwise, there are a wealth of websites about Japanese Buddhist practices in both Japanese and English you can start studying from, just do some searching.
If you’re becoming a buddhist in Japan you need to research shinto as well, they go hand in hand.
There are also a lot of insane cults floating around in Japan. I’d recommend researching online and visiting a very well known shrine that isn’t part of a cult, like Meiji Jingu.
If you see a mention of Soka Gakkai or Unification Church anywhere, run.
Have you been religious before, and is this a first time thing for you? And did something happen in your life that you realized you need a change?
Make sure you have the right reason.
The thing about Buddhism is you don’t need a temple. You can do it all on your own.
To start with read a few books like – Buddhism For Beginners; Thubten Chodron.
I joined a Shingon temple after I started living here and converted to Buddhism. My Japanese partner took me there and introduced me to the monks. That’s how I got started. That temple always has staff, there is never a time when no one is there.
Both my father-in-law and mother-in-law are monks. Here is the advice I would give you based on my experience and advice from my in laws.
-Look into Buddhism. Japanese Buddhism is different from other forms of Buddhism (Buddhism in India, Thailand, etc.) Also, within Buddhism in Japan, there are different sects and within those sects, there can be splits. For example, the most common form of Buddhism in Japan is Jodo sect (called Pure Land Buddhism in English) but there is Jodo-shu (sect) and Jodo-shinshu. I would look into whatever kind of Buddhist your local temple is and learn about their sect. You can also visit the head temple of whatever sect you are interested in to learn more. I don’t know about other sects but Nichiren-shu’s main temple is in Minobu, Yamanashi. Also, different sects have different activities. Zen Buddhists practice zen meditation but in Nichiren-shu, we don’t do zen meditation.
My family is Nichiren Buddhist (Nichiren-shu) but there can be breakoff sects that are more cult like (for example, Soka Gakkai is considered to be a cult by some). Avoid anywhere that is asking you for money all the time. For example, my in laws don’t ask followers for money unless some sort of service is being provided (like funeral services for the deceased). Some followers give donations in the form of cash or donations of food but these are not required. Some temples may have ‘suggested donations’ to help keep the temple running. At bigger temples, you may see shakyo calligraphy experiences (or other experiences) and they may require a donation to do the experience. Some people may give yearly donations for the continued care of the gravesites of their family and then the temples use those costs for upkeep of the graves, pay for utilities, and general upkeep of the temple. But in general, the temple of my in laws does not ask for or receive money from followers without providing some sort of service.
I don’t know where you are from but I am originally from the US and went to a very strict Southern Baptist Christian church as a child and was very much agnostic/atheist from my high school years on. I did convert to Buddhism after marriage after doing some research. (they might not now but the edX website had a Buddhism online course that I took to learn about Buddhism and how it is practiced differently around the world). At least with Nichiren-shu, there are books about Nichiren in English that you can find. You can also find translations of some of his writings. Converting to Buddhism is pretty easy compared to converting to some other religions. You don’t necessarily have to do anything specific rituals to become Buddhist.
If you need any help finding a temple or have questions about how I converted, let me know. I am happy to help.