About the wife belt

Good morning.

The ascetic practice of “becoming” a Buddha is also important, but there are also monks who are in a position where this is not the case.

This Hasunoha isn't for monks either. This is a place that only makes sense if everyone has questions.

The idea that only special people who have done ascetic practices can attain Buddhism makes it a lie even if someone other than a monk does a funeral in the Buddhist style.

Marriage is not an obstacle to training.
It seems that there are also monks in Japan who aim to lead to enlightenment and nirvana from the viewpoint or standpoint of married people, rather than being in a position where they cannot be enlightened unless they do something different from others.

I don't care if someone like Kobo Daishi doesn't show up in Japan.
I know how many wonderful monks have inherited Kukai's teachings.
I am fully satisfied with my relationship with them.

Shinran didn't bother to go down Mt. Hiei if his ascetic practice was completed in a secluded place.

There is also an aspect of hereditary inheritance that is the opposite of wandering.
It is also quite difficult to carry out the teachings to which I have devoted to last for a hundred or a thousand years in one place.

Also, if you define a wife belt as simply breaking the precepts of immorality, understanding of adoption or discrimination due to gender differences will not advance, and there is also a part where I don't think it would be Nyorai's wish to place a monk in a status that only consists of distinguishing between home and being a monk.

I think that monk also chose to become a monk for a reason, but I feel that this is different from the reason I have a monk's license...
However, both that person, and I, and the other respondents, are in a position where they want to walk Buddhism together without being superior or inferior.

I wonder if that's where it is.

If you have a chance to talk with that monk, I recommend that you sign up for Hasunoha.
This is also a place of evangelism for those seeking salvation.

　I think you can understand historical things in books and on the internet.
The question is, “Now that religion is free, it is enough to return it to its original form, why not?” I think it's hard to understand the attitude of monks and the attitudes of Japanese believers and parishioners who allow it.

That monk is probably from a Western-style non-Buddhist country. With Shakyamuni's primitive Buddhism as an ideal, others probably think of it as depraved since then.

Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (closest to Shakyamuni's style of primitive Buddhism) see Japanese monks as “living Buddhists.” Also, they don't have values such as being “corrupt.” They don't have the arrogance to look down on others.

Learn and practice Buddhism, grow even a little, and ultimately achieve enlightenment, and even if you don't reach that, you can accumulate virtue and aim for happiness in this life and the next, regardless of whether you are a monk or at home. Instead of being a monk easier to practice, I bind myself with precepts.

Japanese monks are also a matter of individual monks who are lay Buddhists. The point is whether or not you are seriously practicing Buddhism, and the position seems to be that you should do it in a form that is easy to do within that culture, which seems to be the idea of Therawada Buddhism. That monk probably happened to have his own ideals taken the lead, and at the same time, the worry of arrogance came out.

Elder Sumanasara of Telawada Buddhism from Sri Lanka has published many books in Japanese. You can also get a lot of information on the website of the (sect) Japan Therawada Buddhist Association hosted by elders. Rather than asking a Japanese monk who is somewhat demeaning, you may be able to learn more accurately there.

I'm now asking “Is Japanese Buddhism Buddhism?” Up to the third volume, which is scheduled to be 4 volumes in total, has been published, and up to this point, it is in the form of “original Buddhism...”, so it is quite disliked by Japanese monks. This is the final fourth volume, and I will go into a summary, including being a home monk. The outline is scheduled to be announced earlier at the Japan Buddhist Association (at: Doho University) on September 4 and 5. I think I'll be able to read it in a year. If you remember it, try looking for it in a year.

In my opinion, practicing Buddhism is something only I can do on my own. No matter what kind of great mentor you are under, it's always an ascetic practice you do for yourself. There may be people who easily lose sight of their direction because they have a wife or family while doing training until they find something certain.

While practicing ascetic practices, people who don't have that much confidence may be better off not getting married.

Buddhism is a way of discerning the truth and truth as a person. There's no doubt that being a wife is a natural progression as a person. Buddhism is a way for all people to be saved, yet if it is prohibited, humanity will perish. In other words, it's unnatural. Buddhism is wonderful because it is a path where everyone, whether married or not, is saved as a matter of course as a person, whether they are adults or children, bimbo, and the rich. Since it is commonplace as a human being before Buddhism or anything, there is no need to forcibly prohibit it.

Hello.

Buddhism, which originated in India, crossed the Silk Road, crossed the ocean, and reached Japan.
Originally, Buddhist monks didn't do any production activities, rather than being just beggars (worshipers). However, once I entered China, I started cultivating fields and growing crops. And Japanese monks are getting married. I think one of the advantages of Buddhism is that it changes freely according to the land. On the other hand, there is no change in the very roots of Buddhism. Don't you think that kind of thing is wonderful? There is a form of Buddhism in Japan, where the spread of Buddhism came from, and I think it is unique to Japan.

Other than that, for example, even if you take a monk's outfit, you wear a kimono on top of your nakedness in India, but in Japan, you wear a kimono, wear clothes on top of it, and then put a kimono on top of it. In this way, there are various evolutions, or rather changes, in the process of transmission. It's also nice for you to enjoy watching such things together.

I read your question.
When Japanese Buddhist monks discuss having a wife, no matter what they say, it seems like an excuse, but of course there isn't just one reason.
As the Buddha said, there are various factors.
So, if we talk about it from a slightly different angle,
“Once you're addicted to a framework that has been created, it's difficult to go back.”
I think there is an aspect of that.

For example, in modern society, there is a powerful tool of civilization called the internet. The spread of the internet has dramatically improved the convenience of our lives, but recently crimes originating from the internet have also begun to stand out.
So, when it comes to whether it's good to lose the internet, that's impossible.
Our lives are structured in many ways with the internet.
You can't just conveniently disconnect from the internet.

Similar to this, Japanese Buddhism is now constructed with a wife belt.
As an example, there are a small number of people around me who don't have wives, but parishioners go to stay home and take care of their events and daily lives.
It's quite a hassle, so I'm always pressured by my parishioners to get married.
The devotees in the Terawada area are very enthusiastic about supporting temples and monks.
However, it is not possible to support a temple as if they were lay believers in the Therawada area in Japan, where values and culture are different.
Instead, the monk's wife is doing it alone.
Presumably, if Japanese Buddhism stops taking wives as of now, Japanese Buddhism will perish.

However, monastic Buddhism without a wife is absolutely necessary in Japan, and I also think that monastic Buddhism will be necessary in a society where it will be increasingly difficult to live in the future.

Even if you exchange words, it won't be conveyed. It's the same as those who oppose whaling and those in need don't understand each other.
I was asked the same question when I practiced Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. At that time, a Japanese volunteer who has been active in the field for 15 years explained it, and the local people were both nodding and feeling fidgety. This is true even for people who have been doing it for 15 years, so it's impossible even if you try to communicate with a burnt blade.

In the first place, the argument “how to capture the commandments” is the exact opposite, so it's really like a whaling dispute.

Even if it's a beggar in Japan, it's possible if it's an individual parade, but if a religious group of 200,000 or 300,000 people starts begging all at once, it definitely won't work in Japan. It's been 1 year since “okimochi” was implemented on hasunoha, and I actually received 4 emails saying “I received okimochi” (unless it was mixed up with junk mail). This is true even at Hasunoha where people who like monks gather. It's not that it's bad; it's just that unfamiliar in Japan as a climate and temperament.

Even so, even though it was further conveyed that we monks of the Soto sect only received the 16 commandments, local monks said, “Japanese Zen monks are cool, aren't they?” “I want to study Japanese Zen, but how much money do I need?” The responses came one after another. Zazen, worship... when serious monks interact with each other, their sincerity to Buddhism is conveyed from each act. Conversely, you won't know until the real thing interacts with each other.
The German master Nerke Mufangrō also used to talk abashly about Japanese Buddhism, but now he doesn't have a wife. There is also a festival where you feel the old days are black history.

Now, “Southern monks don't think of Japanese Buddhism as monks” is now an old perception. With the spread of the internet, monks over there are also growing strong admiration for Japanese Buddhism “the grass next door is blue.” Just like we used to be.
The chief priest of the southern temple where we trained said, “We, the new generation of Theravada monks, want to contribute more and more to society like Japanese Buddhism. Please tell me what kind of things they do in Japanese Buddhism,” he said. Of course there were temperature differences between people.
Also, monks of the Soto sect were honored from Japan at the 1st World Buddhism Outstanding Leaders Award hosted in Thailand in 2014. This would be impossible if Japanese Buddhism were viewed as a home.

Honen Shonin, the founder of the Jodo sect, was mentioned. “Chanting Nembutsu is the most important thing, so if you can recite Nembutsu more by getting married, it's better to get married, and if getting married makes you unable to recite Nembutsu, it's better not to get married.”
It's a well-known phrase for monks of the Jodo sect, but I think it can also be said for Japanese monks in general.
This is because if you remove the framework of the Jodo sect and interpret it in a broad sense, it means that if it is positive for Buddhism, it is better to get married, and if it interferes with Buddhism, it is better not to get married.
For those overseas monks, they think marriage interferes with Buddhism, so we must respect that.
However, there is no need to despise Japanese monks.
This is because, although that person may not know, getting married is quite a Buddhist practice that requires patience, abandoning obsessions, caring, giving, and continuing these things more than when single.