21.06.2012
Summer
Term 2012
Seminar:
Reading Theory in English: Bernard Fauvre, “The Red Thread:
Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality”
Lecturer:
Presenter:
Chapter
4: Clerical Vices and Vicissitudes
Part
2 (p.172-206)
The
Juridical Background
Edict of
1873: Monks are now allowed to eat meat, take wives freely etc.
(This
edict deplores corruption) how corrupt must your circle be if are
forced to lower the rules like that in order for everyone to be an
acceptable monk
The role of
Shintô:
(anti-Buddhist
atmosphere), promotion and support majority, as Buddhism was already
seen as degenerated => leave Buddhist monks to their degeneration
Inner rule of
the sangha
now supplemented by an external rule. Code for Monks and Nuns
(Sôniryô) State
legislation
Ambivalent
situation. Monks must be authentic symbols of the Buddha and
therefore cut their ties to the secular world. Yet the state often
tried to make monastic life more transparent.
How
did these conditions arise?
The
Reformation of the Vinaya
After
Ganjin
there was the unexpected results of lowering the minimum age to
receive ordination => observance of precepts declined =>
Reforms in various places 1155-1350
In Nara there
was still a gap between the study of Vinaya
and its practice, monks still keep young boys as toys or eat meat.
Massive
ordinations lead to many dissolute monks versus only a few true
followers (The bodhisattva precepts were conferred on all kinds of
people, even prostitutes)
Observation
of precepts became stricter by 1292 especially having guests over
night was prohibited
Many schools
face transgressions in this troubled period, even Zen and the school
of the pure land which again led to reforms, mainly addressing
drinking and intersexual relations.
Internal
problems led to reforms but the main impact was to come from the
state
The
Evolution of state Legislation
The
text jumps around between 645 and Meji
times after 1868. It is hard to fully connect time, the role of
Buddhism within the society and how changes might have influenced or
affected the monastic life in total.
After the
Taika
reforms of 645 monastic control in the hand of 10 masters who issued
a series of codes of conduct. Only few deal with sex, and even if
you were to transgress rules e.g. not to sleep in a nunnery, you
would still be able to amend for that defiance. They code stated
that one, who would transgress the rule was to be punished
appropriately. But how exactly is not mentioned. Sankai
(three precepts no meat, no alcohol, no aphrodisiacs) meat here
serves as a countermeasure to carnal lust, at first glance it seems
unrelated to sexual desire though
Self
ordination is seen as a problem from 780. As many decided to become
monks only to bypass taxes, their motivation had little to do with
renunciation, thus they continued a secular lifestyle. An official
ordination system was introduced later on, but foul practice
continued. => most humans are rotten to the bone.
General
laxity cannot be controlled, sometimes there are punishments like
825 in Nara (2 Monks exiled) but punishments like that could be
considered as rare. In 914 Miyoshi
Kiyoyuki addressed
the throne, he sees Buddhism as degenerated (p.177)
With the
Vinaya
renewal there is a big change in jurisdiction (13th century). Once
tolerated transgressions were now subject to directly being dealt
with by the state.
However the
state itself is far too lenient with monks. E.g.: A woman and monk
meet at the crossroads => he tries to rape her, she screams for
help => detention of the monk through the police => he later
is set free, the girl is brought to jail. Reasoning: By walking
alone at night she summoned evil. She is guilty of evoking desire in
the monk. The same occurrence between a laymen and woman would have
been a different case. (p.178)
State only
intervened if the transgressions affected the society as a whole,
not individuals.
In 1235 the
Bakufu
annexed laws to keep monastic rules from being transgressed. One
example of a nenbutsu
practitioner,
who had it all, meat, women, alcohol, association with evil people.
His house was torn down and he was exiled from Kamakura.
Again
transgressions get out of hand throughout the schools. Counter
measures taken through annex laws (nearly 400)… might be an
inspiration on how to have a good time
During the
Edo period (1600-1868) rules by the Bakufu
supported the rules of the clergy. => Punishments were actually
enforced and became more frequent. Wrong
behavior became an offense, a criminal one at that.(p.181)
In the Meji
Era the above offences were tolerated again by the government.
Illicit
Sex
Ritual sex
became licit at least in the Vajrayâna.
However other Mahâyâna
texts allow for flexible redefinitions of what can be considered an
offence => sacred sex found its way into Japanese Buddhism
Nyobon
(means as much as assault. Most times monks attacked women and raped
them) has been reinterpreted as the unavoidable reaction to female
temptation => women were denied access to monasteries
Certain
tendencies can be found that sexual relationships and marriage
became common for Japanese monks. On the other hand stories about
monks who successfully found their way to hell by taking a wife can
be exist (e.g. in the Sô
Myôtatsu soshô chûki)
Story of the
monk Ensai
1175
displays how arbitrary punishment was. (p.184)
Ritual
incubation led to promiscuity => free sex (grizzly
stories to prevent intercourse like that from happening existed p.
185)
As if
granting monks the right to marry was not enough, many stories of
adulterous monks can be found in the 15th
century.
In the Edo
period transgressions were severely punished
-1671: Monk
crucified after having intercourse with a nun
-1720: Hidden
rooms were found in monasteries -> monks sent into exile
-1738: public
crucifixion as standard punishment for adultery
-1796: 70
monks were bound and displayed for 3 days after being seen in the red
light district => banished
-sometimes
detention did not work out for the police in Ôsaka, as the sheer
number of offending monks exceeded the number of prison cells
-pillory and
monk heads displayed at prison gates after executions
The
aim of the Edo
government
to keep the status quo affected the Buddhist lifestyle. Transgression
could not be tolerated, monks had to be monks. Regardless
transgressions continued to occur.
Married
Monks
Characteristic
feature of Japanese Buddhism => hard to mix married and unmarried
monks
Even Kyôkai
(author of the Nihon
ryôki)
himself, a fully ordained monk took a wife
Many examples
of men who had children prior to being ordained as monks and who
continued their secular life afterwards
Blood lineage
becomes a common practice p.194/195 (Succession from a monk to his
wife and children are too many to be listed) => Paradox
situation, focus might be lost
Hints at
pedophilia p.194, marriage tolerated as a compromise
Married
and meat eating monks have existed since the time of the Buddha
Order
or Freedom
Both monastic
discipline and state law pursue the same goals, however the penal
system of the state gets harsher as time progresses till 1868
Edo
punishments hard because religion had to fit the immobility role,
there is no place for transgression
Outcasts find
a ghetto/asylum in monasteries /muen
quality
double edged sword (…when they recite nenbutsu
they
become restless like monkeys or horses and do not hide their
pudenda… p201)
Despite all
attempts to curb monks… transgressive behavior persisted
Many texts
have to be seen as anticlerical critique (there
are always 2 sides of a fence)
Buddhism not
more corrupt than in earlier periods, more records of punishments,
harder punishments, Buddhism was “domesticated”.
Nevertheless
corruption cannot be denied. For many monk aspirants the freedom of
a life in a monastery was equal to a path of selfishness and
corruption.
Possible
topics for discussion:
What do you
think after reading this chapter are the main reasons for the
degeneration of Buddhism? (self -ordination, leniency, state
involvement, etc.)
What do you
think is the purpose of chapter 4 in the context of the whole book?
Why does Fauvre torture us with a 60 page sequence of transgressions
and how they were dealt with? He himself calls his way of presenting
these “facts” as tedious.