Zen and the Art of Religious Prejudice

Abstract

Since the so-called M achida affair, the Soto Zen school has become embroiled in controversies over traditional institutional practices that fos ter prejudicial attitudes and social discrimination.In response to public denunciations by the Buraku Liberation League, the Soto school founded a Human Rights Division charged with eliminating discriminatory prac tices and reforming Soto public image.Evidence of discriminatory lan guage, necrologies, posthumous names, talismans, and ritual practices within Soto has been publicized and steps taken to eliminate them.This is the larger context within which Soto scholars, including advocates of "Critical Buddhism " (which has attracted wide attention outside of Japan) have sought to repudiate Buddhist teachings (such as "original awakening") that they identify as fostering social discrimination.* I would like to express my gratitud e to the N o rth east Council o f the A ssociation o f Asian Studies, which provided financial support that enabled me to visit the Soto Administrative Headquarters in Tokyo, and to the staff of the Soto Central Division for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights {Jinken yd go suishin honbu 人権擁護推進本部， especially Yugi Sogen and Nakano Jusai, who answered questions, explained recent develop ments, and provided me with copies of many essential sources. 1 The final text of the findings of the WCRPIII Commission on R eligion and Human Dignity, Responsibility, and Rights included the following passage: "We should all be deeply concerned with the plight of people such as the so-called untouchables.We ask all religious people of those societies where untouchability still lingers to look deep inside their own hearts and eradicate this evil p ra ctice " (H om er 1 980, p .丄 lb ).A ccord in g to T om on ag a Kenzo (1989, p. 214), the original text of this finding read as follows (my translation from the Japanese): "We should all be deeply concerned with the plight of people such as the Burakumin of Japan and the Untouchables of India."Only after Machida protested at least three times was the text revised to eliminate all direct and indirect reference to Japan.The full te x t o f M ach id a's subsequent apology was published by the Soto Sch ool (M ach id a 1 9 8 4 ). 2 Accordinsr to reports in the Buddhist newspaper Chugai nippo 中夕1 * 日 報 (11 October 1979) Machida first told the members of the commission: "In Japan today an 'outcaste problem' (buraku mondai) does not exist.As a Japanese I know this very well, ihere are some groups who use 'outcaste problem' or 'outcaste liberation' as a pretext to create uproars, but the actual situation within Japan is that no one encounters discrimination.The govern ment does not engage in discrimination.No one else engages in discrimination.It is just that until a hundred years ago during the feudal period such discrimination existed to a cer tain extent, so that some biased emotions persist.But no one actually practices discrimina tion.Therefore, this passage must be removed.It is a matter of Japanese national honor" (rep rin ted in S o to s h u Shum ucho, ed., 19 8 2 , pp. 2 -3 ) .M achida rep eated these assertions in subsequent protests and insisted that not just mention of Japan but also all words associated with outcastes in Japan, such as buraku or burakumin, must be deleted.As noted by Wagatsuma and De Vos (1967， p. 374), "A major 'coping5 technique of Japanese society in respect to the general problem of discrimination concerning this group is avoidance or tacit denial that any problem exists."