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Techno Pure Land Buddhism!
Jodo Shinshu monk @gyosen_asakura Asakura Gyosen offers memorial services based on techno music, EDM lighting, and CGI. Here's an English-language video for context:
Jodo Shinshu monk @gyosen_asakura Asakura Gyosen offers memorial services based on techno music, EDM lighting, and CGI. Here's an English-language video for context:
These services are hoyos (memorials)--the most frequent and thus central form of Jodo Shinshu temple practice. But they're not mere morbid death-oriented services. They are moments of encounter with the Great Compassion of Amida Buddha and the sensual liberation of the Pure Land.
The styles of the services vary, as Rev. Asakura plays with the format and explores the outer boundaries of Pure Land service possibility. For instance, a 2016 Techno Hoyo is fairly sedate:
This is a Buddhist object. It might not look that way to you at first. Can you guess how it is Buddhist? 
It doesn't LOOK Buddhist according to how we imagine Buddhist things should look. They should show some Asian aesthetic, such as Tibetan art styles. They should depict grand buddhas or wise monks, or be tools for meditation or mantra practice. They should be traditional (ancient)
But Buddhistness arises not from inherent properties in things themselves--it arises from use and context. What was the context and purpose of this object, therefore?
"Going Phase and Returning Phase" by Rev. Kenryu Tsuji, the former bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America. This excerpted essay (published in various forms, including in "Turning Wheel") is from "The Wheel of Dharma" Dec 1996 #engagedbuddhism #Ecology #Buddhism #jodoshinshu
Tsuji describes the key Jodo Shinshu Buddhist doctrine of oso eko/genso eko. These indicate the going phase (moving toward buddhahood through the Pure Land way) and returning phase (moving toward suffering beings to share the liberation from suffering one has received).
"Death is neither the end of life nor the termination of life's activity. Waters of the river flow onward to reach the wide expanse of the sea. In time, the water evaporates and becomes clouds.
"My Socialism: Labor Day Notes on Jodo Shinshu Martyr Takagi Kenmyo"
Takagi Kenmyo's Pure Land conscience was activated when he became Josenji's head monk in 1899, coming into contact with the social and economic suffering of the many burakumin (outcastes) in his congregation.
Takagi Kenmyo's Pure Land conscience was activated when he became Josenji's head monk in 1899, coming into contact with the social and economic suffering of the many burakumin (outcastes) in his congregation.
He campaigned against the oppression of burakumin, women, and the poor, and advocated pacifism rather than the rising imperialist militarism of Japan. In 1910 he was jailed on trumped-up charges and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment). He died in jail in 1914.
The Higashi Otanji branch of Jodo Shinshu, which had experienced over four decades of intense government pressure, abandoned him, but some of his work was preserved and in the post-war period he became an important figure. The denomination restored his status in 1996.
Rev. Gregory Gibbs: "There are two things that anyone must do to be at home in the world. The one thing we must do to have peace in our lives is to change our attitudes toward the world. We must soften our tone, deflate pretentions, set more realistic goals for ourselves."
"The other thing that we must do, in order to be at home in the world, is to act to change the world. We must act to change the world so that it comes to accord more closely with the most positive values and aspirations we have developed as Buddhists."
"At a minimum, we must speak out in defense of the
bullied, oppressed and marginalized. We must oppose
tyrants, tyrannical ideas, and garden variety bullies. We must decry blocks to freedom of all sorts."
bullied, oppressed and marginalized. We must oppose
tyrants, tyrannical ideas, and garden variety bullies. We must decry blocks to freedom of all sorts."
Folowing from Faran’s negative experiences with a #Buddhist group discussed yesterday, let’s examine some resources for #trans, #nonbinary, and #genderqueer folks and their sanghas, especially in relation to #JodoShinshu. #LGBTQ #Buddhism #shinbuddhism
@ray_moishe Ray Buckner provides advice for sanghas in making their space and practices more accessible for all practitioners (not Pure Land-based, but pretty universally applicable)
lionsroar.com/our-opportunit…
lionsroar.com/our-opportunit…
You can take your sangha’s efforts further by implementing the recommendation of the breakthrough “Developing Trans*Competence guide”
transbuddhists.org/retreat-guide/…
transbuddhists.org/retreat-guide/…
