Buddhism on Decline in Japan?

My friend Joy sent me a link to this New York Times article discussing the apparent decline of Buddhism in Japan and the reasons for it. Buddhism has been a part of Japanese culture since around the 6th century. That’s a long time. Then, the ideas of Buddhism, already a thousand years old, began mixing with Shinto, Japan’s native spirituality (called Shinto only when it became necessary to differentiate it from Buddhism).

As a religion, with rites and rituals and the other trappings that go with them, Buddhism is not unlike any other religion. It evolves over time and changes along with the culture to which it belongs. The practice of Buddhism in Japan is different from the practice in Sri Lanka or Tibet or the United States, countries with their own cultural histories that began prior to the introduction of Buddhism. I’ve heard it said that Buddhism changes every culture it touches, and Buddhism is changed by every culture that touches it. The same can be said for Christianity.

What doesn’t change is Dhamma – the way things are. Everything that comes into existence goes out of existence. That’s Dhamma. The purpose of Buddhist practice is to grok this concept.

In Buddhism there is a list known as the Ten Fetters. A fetter – picture handcuffs or leg irons – is something that holds a person back from realizing full awakening. One of those ten fetters is the belief that rites and rituals – or in precepts and practices – in and of themselves is a means to spiritual attainment.

What’s apparent in the NYT article, in Japan – over many centuries – rites and rituals have become an important part of Japanese Buddhism, especially when it comes to dying and the afterlife. It seems Japanese Buddhists – as a group – don’t have much use for these rites and rituals or the priests who perform them. Hence, the decline.