The other side of Zen : a social history of Sōtō Zen : Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan / Duncan Ryūken Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Duncan Ryūken, 1969-

Series:

Buddhisms

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sōtōshū--Social aspects.

Sōtōshū.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xiv, 241 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2005]

Summary:

Popular understanding of Zen Buddhism typically involves a stereotyped image of isolated individuals in meditation, contemplating nothingness. This book presents the "other side of Zen," by examining the movement's explosive growth during the Tokugawa period (1600-1867) in Japan and by shedding light on the broader Japanese religious landscape during the era. Using newly-discovered manuscripts, Duncan Ryuken Williams argues that the success of Soto Zen was due neither to what is most often associated with the sect, Zen meditation, nor to the teachings of its medieval founder, Dogen, but rather to the social benefits it conveyed.

Zen Buddhism promised followers many tangible and attractive rewards, including the bestowal of such perquisites as healing, rain-making, and fire protection, as well as "funerary Zen" rites that assured salvation in the next world. Zen temples also provided for the orderly registration of the entire Japanese populace, as ordered by the Tokugawa government, which led to stable parish membership.

Williams investigates both the sect's distinctive religious and ritual practices and its nonsectarian participation in broader currents of Japanese life. While much previous work on the subject has consisted of passages on great medieval Zen masters and their thoughts strung together and then published as "the history of Zen," Williams's work is based on careful examination of archival sources including temple logbooks, prayer and funerary manuals, death registries, miracle tales of popular Buddhist deities, secret initiation papers, villagers' diaries, and fund-raising donor lists.

Contents:

1 Toward a Social History of Soto Zen 1

2 Registering the Family, Memorializing the Ancestors: The Zen Temple and the Parishioner Household 13

3 Funerary Zen: Managing the Dead in the World Beyond 38

4 The Cult of Doryo Daigongen: Daiyuzan and Soto Zen Prayer Temples 59

5 Medicine and Faith Healing in the Soto Zen Tradition 86

Conclusion: The Other Side of Zen 117

Appendix A Nyonin Jobutsu Ketsubonkyo Engi (the Origins of the Blood Pool Hell Sutra for Women's Salvation) 125

Appendix B Shinsen Gedoku Manbyoen Fukuyo no Koto (How to Prepare and Take the Wizard Mountain "Poison-Dispelling" Pill That Cures All Illnesses) 129.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [197]-233) and index.

ISBN:

0691119287

OCLC:

54479202