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Four Prototypes of Experimental Buddhism This world contains just one masterpiece, and that is itself.1 What causes a person to awake to the suffering of others and then engage in efforts to make society more humane? If education, upbringing, or intelligence were key factors, then Japan’s Buddhist priests should be world-renowned as guides and activists of compassion. After all, many of today’s priests have been raised in spacious, aesthetically pleasing settings (the temple) premised upon the teachings of a religious order. They have attended high-quality schools during the day and most are graduates of respected universities. They and their families have lived on the monetary donations of others, so it would seem only natural they would want to reciprocate. And yet, as we will see in the profiles below, it often takes a personal crisis or external agent to penetrate the inflated image priests have of themselves, or to motivate them to see society as a field for activism inspired by Buddhist values. This is not to say Japan lacks individual priests who fulfill their duties and meet the expectations of their temple clientele in admirable ways. But perhaps that is all they do. They play it safe, follow established patterns of priest-parishioner interaction, avoid making waves in the little pond of their temple community, and generally operate in ways that afford a modicum of satisfaction that they are doing what priests are supposed to do. The four individuals whose careers and ideas are profiled below do not fit this pattern. For a variety of reasons, they have become aware of pressing social problems and have devised initiatives and programs that make a positive difference in the lives of others. They not only see their position in contemporary society as Buddhist priests clearly but also have a sense of agency to experiment with and revitalize their temples by finding ways to serve others. For them, the sermons , dharma talks, and homilies at funerals and memorial services are still important ways to communicate with specific audiences, but they seek a wider field of influence in expressing Buddhist values in society. Using the word “prototype” for these four examples brings together some of the themes and characteristics suggested in the concept of experimental Buddhism. It also implies that these innovative endeavors are still works in progress and thus subject to ongoing revision. Four Prototypes of Experimental Buddhism • 113 “HEALING, LEARNING, AND ENJOYMENT” IN OSAKA So thoroughly does the Pure Land temple Ōtenin fly in the face of conventions for a typical Buddhist temple in Japan that we might with some justification consider it subversive. It has no dues-paying parishioners, no dependence on funerals and memorial services for income, and no sense of estrangement from its surrounding community. It embodies instead a dynamic vision of a Buddhist temple as a hub for activities, some religious but many secular and inspired by the arts, that promote “healing, learning, and enjoyment.” It also has a partnership with a nonprofit organization (NPO) that helps to extend the temple’s influence into areas and audiences it would never reach otherwise. Through its mission to reconnect and empower individuals left isolated by Japan’s consumer-driven economy, Ōtenin might just be a model for temple administration , purpose, and outreach that will become the norm for urban temples in the twenty-first century. As might be expected, Ōtenin is led by an extraordinarily creative and fearless priest who arrived at his understanding of Buddhism via a highly unconventional path. The eldest son in a family of a long line of priests, Rev. Akita Mitsuhiko was destined from birth to take over the Pure Land temple of Dairenji (which, along with nearly sixty other temples and countless structures in Osaka, had been destroyed by the allied firebombing in March 1945). However, as an adolescent he grew to despise the temple lifestyle. Children in the neighborhood would taunt him because his family “fed themselves by the deaths of others” (hito sama no shi o nariwai ni suru). In fact, the Shita-teramachi part of Osaka where his family’s temple is located is saturated with temples and cemeteries, all forcibly relocated during the Toyotomi regime of the late sixteenth century. Recalling the worldwide social upheavals and student revolutions of the late 1960s and early 1970s, some of the most violent and prolonged of which occurred in Japan, it is not surprising that many young Japanese destined to take over their family business wanted instead...

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