The majesty and precepts of monks

　A long time ago, a program called “Manga Nihon Mukabanashi” was broadcast on TV.
They're the same age, so you probably know it.

Among them, there was a story called “The Wooden Buddha Millionaire.”
http://nihon.syoukoukai.com/modules/stories/index.php?lid=105

No matter what kind of splendid Buddha is just a puppet if you don't properly worship it.
On the other hand, even a poor Buddha made of wood is a “Buddha” by properly worshiping it with a sense of faith.

I think we monks will also gain dignity by being worshipped, worshiped, and cherished by many people. Please take the long term and take good care of us monks. I will continue to work hard to live up to that feeling.

Our goal as Buddhists is to reach enlightenment.
It is a signpost for that, and creating an environment is a precept.
In the Jodo sect, disciples are taught Endon (ten times prohibition and 48 light commandments), which was given by Honen Shonin during the Tendai sect period, from generation to generation.
I was also taught at Denshu Denkai Dojo.
So keeping the commandments is basic.

However, as a fool, I am unable to keep the commandments, and it is unlikely that I will be able to wake up in this world like the Buddha.
Therefore, after death, I would like to rely on Amida, go to the Pure Land of Paradise, continue to walk in Buddhism, and aim for remembrance under the guidance of Amida and the Bodhisattva.
Also, the way to get to the Pure Land of Paradise is to chant Namu Amida Buddha and Nembutsu.
For me right now, chanting nembutsu is the most important thing.
However, don't neglect the commandments. Keeping the commandments helps to recite nembutsu. By keeping the commandments, a good environment is created for chanting nembutsu.
If I am foolish and break the commandment, I reflect on it by chanting a sentence called repentance.

In other words, they take precepts to the extent possible in this world, make firm efforts to practice nembutsu while reflecting on them from time to time, and come to awakening through complete precepts and ascetic practices in the Pure Land of Paradise.
I'm thinking like this.

I drink a little bit of alcohol when I get together with my friends. I'm just tipsy though. Still, he's not a monk that you look up to very much. I'm sorry.
But don't be disappointed.
There are also monks who don't drink alcohol at all.
There are also monks who don't have wives.
There are also monks who hardly eat meat. (It seems that they started eating a little bit after becoming malnourished)
I will do my best in my Buddhism, please do your best in your Buddhism.

Thank you for always helpful questions. If you try to think about this question, it's a difficult question that you can pursue as deeply as possible, so I expect specialized answers from each high priest, and I will answer them with Light.

First, what about the “dignity of monks”?
I feel that education is one thing. The college enrollment rate for the generation born in the S40s is around 30%. For the current generation, it's about 50%. In the old days, everyone in the village supported the temple, and it seems that monks were sent to university to study. It means that the monks were highly educated. When that happened, I think they naturally looked at me with respect, saying, “My boy has been studying for us.” However, the economy is now prosperous, and we are now in an age where many people receive education. The monk = highly educated diagram has completely collapsed.
The last thing I can mention is the reality that has gone astray on the temple system and then on customs that are ridiculed as funerary Buddhism. The monks didn't seriously seek Buddhism. I wonder if they managed to do it without asking for it. Currently, various denominations are probably working on a movement to return to the attitude of pursuing Buddhism.

Next, regarding the “precepts,” I am a member of the Jodo Shinshu sect and I don't take the precepts, so I don't know the current state of affairs in the Japanese Buddhist world. However, even in the Jodo Shinshu sect, the precepts are not something you “don't need to have.” It's probably something you can't “get.”
It reveals my own self, which is so illuminated by Buddhism that I have no commandments. You must feel ashamed of that.
Also, “precepts” are “acts of purifying and preparing the body and mind in order for practitioners to complete their ascetic practices,” and “rules” are “norms for protecting peace and order within the religious community,” but the basis for this is probably restraining evil and doing good, as can also be seen in the Shichibutsu Dao. However, the more Shinran Shonin and Honen Shonin listened to Buddhism, the more uncertain their own sense of right and wrong was ascertained, and they sensed that nembutsu is certainly good. I am uncommanded only because I have been freed from a sense of right and wrong. It is an awareness of evil that cannot be expected of commandments.
Also, if you don't keep the commandments, fishermen and hunters are not eligible if you can't be saved. It means that the side that holds the commandments can only have the commandments because someone breaks the precepts. How to take the precepts as a form of Buddhism where all people are saved is probably a major issue.

Furthermore, I myself respect the “way to try to hold” the commandments themselves.
Whether that's the answer...

Rainbowman

This is Kawaguchi Hidetoshi. This is my humble answer to the question.

In the case of Japanese Buddhist monks, I am aware that they always harshly criticize the precepts.

Sanpo devotion is truly precious and thankful.

Incidentally, in the “monks” (sanga/sanga) within the Three Treasures, there are probably monks who cannot be respected or attached no matter how you think about it, so if resistance arises from doing it against all the monks..., I think it would be good to be treated as “monks worthy of great respect.”

I know there are various precepts, such as those that should be strictly observed, those that should be made as effort goals, and those that are interpreted according to the times.

Basically, it's about refraining from bad behavior, not accumulating bad karma, working hard on good deeds, and accumulating good deeds.

Of course, I'm aware that some of them may break by any means. At that time, I say “Fusa,” and I also regularly reflect, feel ashamed, and repent.

I am seriously aware that it is a “war crime” for a person in the position of a monk to have a wife without returning to secular life...

To be honest, when it comes to precepts, I think that when it comes to the precepts, the “Sanju Purification/Regent Rite Commandment is the Family Believer Commandment” and the “Sanmaiya Kyō” were given at the summit of the Dalai Lama's heir, and now they are officially admired...

Therefore, even if I was in a position as a “monk” for the time being in Japan, I am aware that in my heart, I am not an official monk, but a person who practices Buddhism as a lay believer.

I would like to ask for your wise understanding.

Kawaguchi Hidetoshi Gassho

> The reason why Japanese Buddhism doesn't place importance on precepts (...) is from the standpoint that if faith is thorough, the precepts are naturally included in it, so there is no need to specifically address the precepts as an issue
> When it came to Mahayana Buddhism, the commandments came to be emphasized not only in terms of self-interest in good deeds but also in terms of altruism
(Mizuno Hiromoto, “Basic Knowledge of Essential Buddhist Terms” Chapter 7, Shunjusha)

It was probably not until after the war that Buddhism began to lift the upper seat a lot in Japan. Funerals are now also called ceremonies of reprimand, but a year ago they were called leadership ceremonies. Furthermore, multimedia, which was a joke or lie if audience ratings and number of copies were obtained during the bubble period, and the Buddhist community, which was first picked up by the media and got along with the “bad misunderstandings are troublesome, but good misunderstandings don't matter,” stoic images were spread as stoic images.

It's often said like this. Southern Buddhism asks “what not to do,” and Japanese Buddhism asks “what did you do”... I'm a Zen monk, and I've actually seen the Theravada in Southeast Asia by practicing it. Some monks who are local monks who are long-term monks on an annual basis practice the three disciplines of precepts, dharma (zazen meditation and meditation), and wisdom (study of sutras).
However, most monks are short-term monks of about a few days to a few months, and they live a leisurely life with only the precepts out of the three schools.
Moreover, it is quite dogmatic, and it is a world where “there is a commandment that you must not eat chewable food in the afternoon, but it's OK to drink liquid food without chewing it.” Historically, this was accepted because of the temperament where when heavy rain came during the rainy season unique to the south, work was stopped without problems for about a month, but it was completely out of touch with the temperament of a hard worker in the north.

Therefore, the Theravada sect questioned what the precepts were, and in Japanese sects, they began to question ascetic methods such as tadaikan meditation or senshu nenbutsu. Furthermore, practical and altruistic items such as the “Four Regents Method” (Shishobo) of Fuse, Aiji, Toshiyuki, and Colleagues were emphasized. That's why the monks here are also working hard at hasunoha. People in the olden days saw that kind of place.
Even in the Theravada, people these days are aiming for altruism. I also had a strong admiration for Japanese Buddhism. The lawns next to each other probably look blue

In the Zen sect, in addition to the 16 commandments, there is a code of life called shingi (shingi), and the precepts and rules are included in this. When looking at whether Zen monks are good or not, you can see the standing behavior nurtured by an ascetic lifestyle based on Kiyonori rather than the Sixteen Commandments

In Mahayana Buddhism, there is an idea that Buddhism declines after the Buddha dies.
After the fall of the Buddha, the world of justice (an age where enlightenment people also have proper ascetic practices and teachings) continued for a while at first,
Next, it became the world of image law (an age where there are teachings and ascetic practices, but no one understands them correctly),
The idea is that the apocalyptic world (of course, there are no enlightenment people, no proper ascetic practices, and only teachings and sutras) will come in order.
So, there seem to be various theories about the length of each period, but in Japan, it was thought that the Heian period entered the end of law.
In other words, after the Heian period, there were no monks in the world who practiced proper ascetic practices.
However, the founder of the Jodo sect, Honen Shonin explained that even if they were broken monks in the late Ho period, monks should be respected.
This is because in the age of the end law, not only monks but also the entire human race, including lay believers, leveled down, so relatively speaking, monks are still better.
Also, without monks and religious orders, even the few remaining teachings cannot be passed on to the next generation.

Based on the above perception of the times, in Japan, there may be acceptance of breaking the precepts, saying “no one can keep the commandments because it's the end of the law anyway,” and giving up halfway.
Also, the Jodo religion, etc., which found a way to be saved even by foolish ordinary people in the apocalyptic world who could not keep the precepts, blossomed in Kamakura Buddhism in Japan, blossomed in Japanese Kamakura Buddhism.
Even monks who have lost their dignity should have a little respect for them as members who support the cult that conveys their teachings.