What happened to "our problem"? (Ten years since the Aum salin attack, Part 5)

The problem posed by the Sarin attack of the Aum cult in the Tokyo subway was defined by the officials of the Rinzai and Ôbaku sects as a "question of responsibility of the Zen sect as an established religion in modern society".

So what answer do they give to their own question?

"The religious establishment is dwelling savely in their temples, relying on the support of their parishioners, without taking notice of the corrison right below their feet. Nor do they pay any interest in the direction that modern society is historically developing, and that is why they are completely unable to respond neither as individual priest nor as religious organizations as a whole to the questions asked by modern man. As a result, the Buddhist temples have turned into mere ceremonial halls for funeral services, and the Zen sect has turned into an obscure historical relic of old times, with no relation to present day society. We have to reflect on this tendency, keeping in mind our own responsibilities as Zen monks and temple priests. We have to think once more about the style of our practice, handed down in the tradition, present day activities to spread the dharma, and the real situation in the single temples and the Zen organization as a whole."

This is a pretty severe self-criticism from the side of the Zen officials. But how are they going to bridge the gap between tradition and present day responsibilty, between the buddha dharma and the rotten reality in the temples?

"We discussed the topic what we as Zen Buddhists could do for those young believers who were lead around a leash by the Aum cult, and are spiritually lost now. But, regarding the strong criticism and fear of the cult in Japanese society on the one hand, and the fact that the single temples all rely solely on the support of the parishioners, without the priest feeling any sense of responsibilty for society as a whole, and also the structure and atmosphere in the religious establishment today, it seems to be quite unrealistic if we - representing the Rinzai and Ôbaku sects - would pronounce that the former Aum believers should be accepted and given asylum. We have come to the conclusion that this would be impossible considering the real state of our sect now. It seems to us that the fact that each of us as Zen monks feels that we have to do something about this problem, while at the same time realizing that we are unable to take any real action - not only as individuals but also as a religious organization - is the reason why the 'Aum problem' is also 'our problem'. Being aware of this, we agreed that we have to make an effort and find a way out of the dilemma we are stuck in."

The officials discussed, analyzed, felt responsible and concerned, realized a dilemma and came to the cocclusion that more effort is needed. A lot of words, no action...

"We want to end our report with the following proposal: We suggest that the Rinzai and Ôbaku together build up a new institution with the purpose of looking for answers for the basic problems throughout both sects, i.e. the lack of dharma heirs and proper training, the problems posed by the wifes of the Zen priests or the question how to propagate the dharma in modern society. Such an institution might help to bring some reform inside the organization. We are aware that this proposal might not sound like a direct solution to the problem at hand. But reflecting on the challenge that we are facing, and our own present situation, we hope that the respective responsible persons approve of our suggestion. Not only modern society is suffering from a basic problem, we ourselves are suffering from the same disease."

This is how the report of the symposium about the "Aum problem" that continued for 6 months ends. Indeed, building up a new institution which is to be responsible in turn for all those questions that the symposium couldn't solve doesn't quite sound like an answer to anything. If the officials are really aware that the real problem is our present situation, i.e. "our problem", why wait for a new institution to solve those problems which can't be solved by anyone one but ourselves, here and now? What are these problems? More basic than the "Aum problem" are indeed those named in the report: The lack of dharma heirs (i.e. the sons of the priest refuse to become monks themselves), no training, temples turned into family homes, the absence of dharma. How could we expect the Zen priests to offer help to modern society when they can't even take care of their private lifes? Many in the West might not be aware how life in an average Japanese Zen temple really looks like. Let's take a look next month.