Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

2 Soto

Zen inAustralia

Tradition,

challenges

and

innovations‘

LeesaS.

Davis

Establishing

Buddhisminanew

country

islike

holding

a

plant

toastoneand

waiting

forit

totakeroot.

Shunrytt

SuzukiRoshi

(Chadwick

1999:

252)

SotoZen

Buddhismcameto

Japan

almost

eight

centuries

ago.

whentheBuddhist

monk,

Eihei

Dogen,

rerumedfromChinatoteachin

hisnativeland,Inthe

late

I990s,

ina

radically

differenthistoricalandcultural

context,

a

Zenmonk

moved

pennanenlly

to

Melbourneand

began

to

develop

aSoloZen

teachingprogram

SotoZenBuddhist

teachershadvisitedAustraliaand

began

Zen

groups

before2

but

Ekai

Korematsu.knowntohisstudentsas

Ekai-osho,

isthefirstresidentZen

monk

toteach

purely

inthe

Sototradition.TheZen

community

thathe

founded.

Jikishoan.’

has

recently

celebrateditstenth

anniversary

andhas

enjoyed

a

steady

evolutionoverthe

years

froma

handfulofdedicated

practitioners

toasmallbut

thrivingcommunity

basedon

spiritual

andadministrativestructuresestablishedin

thirteenth—centuryJapan

by

theSoto

School

‘founder',

Eihei

Dogen.‘

The

10-yeardevelopment

ofthe

JikishoanZenBuddhist

Community

offers

fertile

ground

for

the

study

ofthe

adaptations,challenges

andinnovationsinvolved

in

transplanting

Buddhist

practices

and

organizational

structurestoanAustralian

cultural

setting

as‘it

isan

opportunity

to

study

the

acculturationofatradition

as

itis

actuallyoccurring.‘(Gregory2001:233)

Forthe

purposes

ofthisdiscussion,

the

organizational

and

spiritual

aimsofJiltishoanare

especiallyinteresting

because

EkaiKorematsu‘s

leachingemphasizes

traditional

ways

andadherence

totradi-

tional

forms,

whichinthe

SoloZencontextmeans

attempting

tofita

monastic

practice

toa

primarilylaycommunity

Thisisnot

always

an

‘easy

fit‘but the

problems

andsuccessesofthis

‘transplantation'

process

offerawindowintothe

cultural

shiflsandclashesthat

organizationsundergo

andindividuals

experience.

This

chapter

isbasedonthree

years

of

participant

observationfieldworkwith

.lilcishoan

(and

to

a lesser

degree,

other

AustralianZen

groups),5

communil}

(sangha)publications,

personal

interviewswithEkai

Korematsu-oshoandZen

practitioners

and

Ekai-osho‘stalks

given

bothon

retreats andtothe

general

public.

Inthis

chapter.

byway

ofacase

study.

Iwill

begin

to

explore

someol’

the
issuesthatthese

adaptations

and

challenges

totraditionalZen

practice

inthe

Australiancontextraiseswiththe
aimof

working

towardssome

understanding

SoloZeninAustralia 37

ofthe

development

andcharacteristicsofSotoZenBuddhisminAustralia

atan

organizational

and

individuallevelsTo

get

moreofanuancedsenseofthecultural

shifisandclashes

involved.my

discussionwillinclude‘theviewfromthecushion‘

intheformof

experiential

datafrom

practitioner

interviewsand

reports.

To this

end,

the

chapterproceeds

inthree

stages:

1.EkaiKorematsu’s

biography

is

briefly

recountedand theevolution

ofthe

Jikishoan

community

is outlined with

emphasis

onthe

implementation

of

Japanese

structures.

2.The

challenges

ofamonasticstructureto

laypractitioners

are

investigated

throughpractitionerreports

andinterviews.

3‘

Adaptations

andinnovationsintheAustraliancontextarenoted.

Where

appropriate,aspects

ofJikishoan’s

history

and

development

are

compared

and

contrastedwithother

westernZen

groups,

bothinAustraliaandoverseas.

The

chapter

concludes

byattempting

toisolatesome

defining

characteristicsof

SotoZen

BuddhisminAustralia

and

questioning

ifthere

are,

as

yet.anysignificant

differencesbetweenZen

inAustraliaandotherwesternbranchesofZen.

‘Outof

nowhere’:

theevolutionofaSoto

religious

community

Ekai

Knrematsu

(b.

1948. 
      

hasan

interesting

‘cross-cultural‘

background

toZen

practice

as.

although

bornandraisedin

Japan.

he

began

Zen

practice

intheUnited

Statesat

theSanFranciscoZenCentrewith

theintention‘lo

practise

intheUnited

States,

in

California.

toestablishsome kindof

practice

community‘(personal

communication

1999).

Having

no

familytemple

to

inherit.

asisthecustomfor

templepriests

in

Japan.

EkaiKorematsucomestoSotoZen

asan‘otltsider‘inthe

sensethat

hehashadtobuildithit

community

withouttheimmediate

recognition

and

financial

support

oftheSotoZenshuin

Japan.

The

necessity

of

coming

an

independent

livingcoupled

withtheneedtobecome

officially

afiilialedwithSoto

Zen

headquarters

in

Japanimpacts

on.likishoan‘s

organizational

strategies,

inthe

sensethat

thereisadrivetoconformtoSolo

‘orthodoxy'

and,

fromthestudents‘

point

of

view.

thereisasenseof

obligation

to

helpfinanciallysupport

theteacher

and

his

family

(Jikishoan

was

officially

affiliatedwith theSoto

Zen Schoolin

Japan

in

2001).

in

the

mid-I980:after

training

in

temples

in

Japan

andtwo

lengthyperiods

at

0n:

ofthe

Sotohead

temples,Eihei-ji.

Ekai-oshoreceiveddharrna

transmission

from

his

teacher,

lkkoNarasakiRoshi.As

per

hisstated

intentions,

he

returnedto

the

United

Statesandwas

beginning

aZen

practicegroup

inOakland.California.

while

also

practising

attheSanFranciscoZenCentre.Athisteacher‘s

request,

he

then

returnedto

Japan.

to

help

convertNarasakiRoshi‘s‘second'

temple,

Shogojis

intoan

international

trainingmonastery.

In

all,

EkaiKorematsu

spent

over

seven

Yearsat

Shogoji,

three

yearspreparing

the

monastery

and

helping

totrain

thefirst

visiting

Americanmonk6andthenafirrtherfour

yearsworking

to

fully

establish

the

training

centre.