Universal Brotherhood
The First Zen Buddhist master to teach in the United States had something to say about Truth and Race
Purple, Blue, and Pink
After the state of emergency was lifted at the end of last month, stores have been reopening and more visitors are back on the street (with masks)! The air in Kamakura has loosened up a bit with the laughter of people. The hydrangeas at Hase Temple and Meigetsu-in have started to bloom in purple, blue, and pink — as has my Facebook and Instagram feed with my friends’ pictures. It is almost like a paused movie has restarted after 50+ days of quarantine time.
Black
At the same time, my Facebook feed started to fill up with black posts, tagged #blackoutTuesday. I was surprised by the gap between the colorful hydrangea posts and the blacked-out posts. I started trying to find out what was going on in the U.S., but Japanese TV was too busy reporting how Japanese society was adjusting to the state of emergency being lifted. This is understandable. Minneapolis is a long way away. But even still, coverage seemed surprisingly light. As I went deeper and learned more about what was going on in Minnesota and all over the U.S., I realized that, even though we might not hear about it much, the problem of racial discrimination against black people in the U.S. is far from being solved.
This reminded me of the first speech given by a Zen master in the U.S.
Soyen Shaku
I’m guessing few of you know about Soyen Shaku (1860–1919), the Zen monk who first introduced Zen from Japan to the U.S. You may know D.T. Suzuki, who is well-known scholar and author on Zen. Soyen was his master.
Soyen had a deep connection to Kamakura, being the head monk of Kamakura’s Zen temples Engakuji, and Kenchoji as well as Tokeiji Temple. Last year, as I became curious about the first Zen monk to transmit Zen to the West, I decided to visit an exhibition about Soyen Shaku, marking the centennial of his death.
Soyen’s Speech World’s Parliament of Religions of 1893
As I walked through the exhibit, I came across the original script of the speech Soyen made at the World’s Parliament of Religions of 1893 in Chicago. The parliament took place in the context of the Chicago World’s Fair, a celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the “New World.” Today, the 1893 Parliament is recognized as the birth of formal interreligious dialogue worldwide. A variety of spiritual leaders from around the world came to share their perspectives and engage in dialogue. Among them, Soyen was introduced as a Buddhist high priest of the Zen sect. At that time, Soyen was 33 years-old and serving as the head monk of Engaku-ji Temple.
During the 10+ days of the parliament, he gave 2 speeches. The script on exhibit was for the second one, “Arbitration Instead of War” which he gave the night before the closing ceremony. Seeing the creased paper and penciled edits made it feel like something that happened just the other day. I wish I could show you the whole script.
Universal Brotherhood
In the speech, he questioned the alliances of force between nations in Europe as a viable way to promote “true peace and love.” He went on to say that it is religious leaders’ “duty to bring peace instead of fighting,” by uniting instead of discriminating among races, civilizations, or religious beliefs. Surprisingly, there was no mention of “Zen” in this speech. It was all about peace, love, and universal brotherhood.
We are not born to fight one against another. We are born in order to enlighten our wisdom and cultivate our virtues according to the guidance of truth…We must not make any distinction between race and race, between civilization and civilization, between creed and creed, and between faith and faith…We are all sisters and brothers; we are sons and daughters of truth…Truth be praised. (Excerpt From “Arbitration instead of War”, Read more)
Just standing there at the exhibit, reading the script through the glass case, I was moved by the speech. I could feel that it moved the audience as well when he gave it 130 years ago. Even now, under the recurrent movement of #blacklivesmatter, his speech is not obsolete, but still a powerful guide for us.
What can I do?
This week, I talked to my family about this issue and talked about the discrimination we have experienced or stereotypes we have towards certain groups of people. I was relieved to hear my teenagers’ openness to talking about this topic, and understanding of this issue. As half-Japanese and American, with experience living in both countries, they are aware of discrimination more than I am. In Japan, there may be a less ethnic variety compared to U.S., but there is discrimination by sexual preference, physical disabilities, and certain nationalities. It is not about the fire on the other side of the river. It all starts from being interested in differences, and understanding, not rejecting.
My daughter told me that this month is Pride month. LGBTQA — what does A stand for? I need to do more learning.
Love from Kamakura.
Reference:
” Did Soyen Shaku transmit Zen to the World? “ by Takeyuki Tokura, Associate Professor of Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, Keio University from “The Man who Transmitted Zen to the World, Soyen Shaku and Modern Japan”
