Chapter 16: every tradition · Buddhism
Buddhist Churches of America
A temple of the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA), the American branch of Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, the Shin Buddhism of Shinran Shonin, whose mother temple, the Hongwanji, is in Kyoto. Shin Buddhists entrust themselves to the vow of Amida Buddha and say the nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu, in gratitude; there is no monastic life and no meditation obligation. It is the most church-like Buddhist body in America, the fruit of an Americanization that gave it its name in 1944, during the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans: a Sunday service in pews in the hondo before the onaijin altar, sutra chanting, gathas sung with the piano or organ, a dharma talk by the minister (Sensei), and Dharma School for the children. Memorials drive the year: the 7th and 49th days and the anniversaries to the 50th year, and every month's Shotsuki Hoyo. Obon in July and August is the year's peak and its biggest fundraiser, when the neighbourhood comes to dance. Temples are their own nonprofits, run by lay boards and funded by members' dues (from which they pay BCA a per-member assessment, estimated here), memorial offerings, and festivals; ministers are trained at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, ordained through the Hongwanji, assigned through the Bishop's office, and often shared between small temples, for ministers are scarce. The membership is ageing and mostly Japanese American, now with more mixed families and newcomers. BCA ministers have performed same-sex weddings since the early 1970s. Practice varies by temple: some hold services every other week, some in Japanese for elders, and some have a columbarium (nokotsudo).
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it and what sets its faith apart; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Buddhism |
|---|---|
| Its words | temple, temple, hondo; the minister leads the service; the dharma talk; Sunday; the sutras |
| Worship | image focus, reserved, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on pews |
| Music | gospel organ discouraged; piano expected; band discouraged; brass discouraged; handbells discouraged; chant expected |
| The room's sound | likes a ringing room (organ and choir) |
| Its year | jodo shinshu; full observance; fasts none |
| Leans | liberal on moral questions, neutral on economic ones |
| Polity | congregational; leaders come by appointment; property local |
| Leaders | one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any |
| Belonging | moderate commitment, none discipline, admitted by board |
| Giving | tithing not emphasised; collected by dues, boxes, online; also stipends |
| Way of life | alcohol moderation, dress church clothes, sabbath relaxed |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 10:00 am | Shin Buddhist service | the minister | expected |
- Leader: a minister. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the temple holds a Lay-led practice in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply minister stands in ($800 a month). A small temple shares its minister with another, who leads only its first service of the week; each later one costs 0.03.
Rites
- Shotsuki Hoyo (monthly, +0.015 to those there): The monthly memorial service, on the first Sunday: the names of everyone who died in that month, in any year, are printed in the newsletter and read, and their families come to offer incense and hear the teaching.
- Hatsumairi (per birth, +0.015 to those there): A baby's first visit to the temple: the parents bring the child before the altar of Amida Buddha, the minister chants and welcomes the newest member of the sangha, and the family offers incense. Many temples hold it with Gotan-e, Shinran's birthday, in May.
- Memorial service for the dead (on request, +0.015 to those there): Chanting for someone who has died: on the seventh days after a death through the forty-ninth, and on the anniversaries after, the family comes before the altar, the names are read, incense, tea, and food are offered, and the merit is dedicated to the one who died. The family gives the temple an offering.
- Obon service (yearly, +0.03 to those there): The memorial service of Obon (Kangi-e, the gathering of joy), held before the summer festival: the minister chants for all the temple's dead, and families whose loved ones died in the past year keep their first Obon (Hatsubon). Families visit the cemetery, and that night the Bon Odori begins.
- Hanamatsuri (yearly, +0.025 to those there): The Buddha's birthday, the flower festival: a small image of the infant Buddha stands in a shrine of flowers (the hanamido), and everyone, children first, pours sweet tea over it with a ladle.
- Joya-e (yearly, +0.02 to those there): New Year's Eve: a short service of reflection on the year, then the temple bell is rung 108 times as the year turns, once for each of the passions, members and neighbours taking turns at the beam.
- Taking Refuge (on request, +0.02 to those there): Someone becomes a Buddhist before the minister: kneeling before the image, they take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, receive the Five Precepts, and are given a dharma name by the teacher who becomes their own.
- Buddhist wedding (on request, +0.02 to those there): A couple marries before the Buddha: they offer incense together, exchange vows and rings (and, in Japanese temples, the beads of the onenju) before the minister, who chants and gives them a short talk.
Joining
- Joining: a content regular is received as a member after about 4 weeks.
- Joining age: 18.
- Kinds of belonging: members (votes, may hold office); received by its board.
- What it means: being received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home at each of its great days (at most once a month) for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the offering, by dues, boxes, and giving online. With no plate passed, members give a tenth less at the boxes than they would into one, and visitors give nothing at the service. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
- Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
- Dues: each November member households take up their dues, about 70% of what they could give (±15%), with the chance a pledge would be made (0.9 × engagement), and pay them monthly, nearly always; regulars who haven't joined pay none, so membership is most of the income.
- Service offerings: $15 a service, and more with weddings and funerals.
- Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
- Owed above: BCA assessment, $120 a year for each member, to the Buddhist Churches of America; not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.
The minister, the staff, and who decides
- How the minister comes: sent by the District, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
- Paid: full time; housed or given an allowance, as you set.
- Who they are: trained at seminary; women among them (about a third); most married.
- Tenure: settled, then may be called elsewhere.
- Ranks: Tokudo, Kyoshi, Kaikyoshi; a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational minister ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Minister ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate minister ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Minister's assistant (unpaid; from the members; cares for 30 more)
- Dharma School superintendent (unpaid; from the members; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Organist / pianist ($8,000–$20,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Temple secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Its boards: the board of directors (deciding, over everything).
- Renovations: The members vote.
- New construction: The members vote.
- Who votes: members, 16 and over.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Dharma school, Hospital and prison chaplaincy, Meditation for beginners.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Obon festival.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bake sale, Bingo night, Car wash, Casino night, Raffle, Rummage sale, Temple festival.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Wedding receptions.
- Auxiliaries: Buddhist Women's Association.
- Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): Beer at the Obon, One teacher, two temples, The old ways and the new, Through the fence.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.
What the building needs
- required Onaijin altarThe onaijin, the altar of Amida Buddha, is the heart of the hondo.
- expected Temple bellThe temple bell is struck 108 times as the year turns.
- expected Incense burnerIncense is offered before the altar at every service.
- expected Upright pianoThe sangha expects singing led from a piano.
- discouraged Drum kitA band and drum kit do not belong in this tradition's worship.
- discouraged Hammond organA gospel organ doesn't suit this tradition's worship.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 3.4 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: in their seasons, the bon lanterns and vesak lanterns are worth up to ±0.027 (missing them, the minus); out of season, nothing is called for.
- Solar panels: leaning liberal, it's glad of them (+0.02 at every service).
- The dharma talk lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the minister's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
How each dharma talk lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation+0.06
- Radical Inclusion+0.06
- Interfaith Understanding+0.04
- Reading Scripture in Context+0.04
- Swords into Ploughshares+0.04
- Amida's Primal Vow+0.015
- Compassion for All Beings+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Impermanence+0.015
- Interdependence+0.015
- Mindfulness in Daily Life+0.015
- Okagesama de: Gratitude+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- Suffering and Its End+0.015
- The Noble Eightfold Path+0.015
- Care for Creation-0.02
- Healing for All-0.02
- Welcome the Stranger-0.02
- Social Justice Call-0.03
- Faith & Family-0.05
- Faith of Our Fathers-0.05
- Resisting Temptation-0.05
- Sanctity of Life-0.075
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
Sources
- Buddhist Churches of America (BCA), San Jose Betsuin (link)
- Buddhist Churches of America, Wikipedia (link)
- Sunday Services, Oregon Buddhist Temple (link)
- New to the temple?, Salt Lake Buddhist Temple (link)
- Special services, Salt Lake Buddhist Temple (link)
- When Buddhism Came to America, JSTOR Daily (link)
- Obon: Gathering of Joy, Buddhist Churches of America (link)
- What is Membership?, Senshin Buddhist Temple (link)
- Dates for family memorial services, Buddhist Church of Oakland (link)
- JSC hosts historic Kyoshi session, BCA (link)
- Jeff Wilson, Buddha's Big Shrug, Berkley Center (link)