Breakout Session: Rituals

This session sought to investigate the role of Jodo Shinshu rituals in the changing face of Eastern District Sanghas. The participants themselves showed the nature of the change: Included in our session were people new to the religion, some who had been “born into” the religion with deep family roots, and some who were in various stages in between the two extremes.

Moderated by Carl Ichikawa of Midwest Buddhist Temple, the session opened with each member going around and introducing themselves and giving a brief description of their personal histories with Buddhism, and the path they took to joining their temples. This served to reinforce the concept of a changing Sangha, as there was an assumption (in this writer's mind, at least) that all would be coming from the same mindset, that of a person who had been around a BCA temple long enough to have and eyewitness viewpoint of the changes that have been occurring.

Despite the disparity of the group, all found themselves in agreement that Jodo Shinshu rituals served an important role for many people, albeit for many different reasons. For those members who had been raised in the practice of Jodo Shinshu, it was viewed as important to show respect to the traditions and values of Jodo Shinshu practice. However, for members that had only recently joined their temple or church, the concept of rituals and their importance provided them with something concrete on which they could focus, if only for the initial stage of learning the Buddha-Dharma.

One of the rituals that we focused on as an example was the practice of oshoko, or the offering of incense. For some followers, it is a way to physically demonstrate their practice. For other members, it is a simple concrete procedure, yet full of symbolism that serves as a reminder of the teachings of the Dharma. One of the concerns discussed was whether a Sangha's decision to adhere to a “correct” form of oshoko would interfere in a newer member's sense of belonging to a Sangha and thus, affect their decision to follow the Buddha-Dharma. As one participant stated, “If the heart is in the right place, does it really matter if we bow at the correct time, or pinch the incense in the correct manner?”

However, for a member who is new to the faith, being aware of the “proper” way of offering incense and how to gassho was seen not as a hurdle that got in the way of learning the Dharma, but rather a ritual that could be easily learned, thus helping to symbolically demonstrate a desire to learn more of the Buddha-Dharma. As one participant later elaborated, with so much of the concepts of Buddhism being fairly concept and hard to grasp at first when coming from a Judeo-Christian mindset, the simple ritual of offering oshoko was something that a beginner COULD learn fairly quickly, thus helping to foster a feeling of “walking the path” for themselves and showing progress.

An interesting part of the seminar was having members and ministers from Buddhist Temple of Chicago, who bring a slightly different set of practices from BCA temples. What we did know was that even within different sects of Buddhism, there are many different “correct” ways to offer oshoko, thus opening avenues for further discussion as to the true importance of a “correct” form of ritual.