Souls of Zen

Ancestors and Agency in Contemporary Japanese Temple Buddhism

Buddhist responses to the largest natural disaster in Japan’s recorded history went largely unnoticed by the Western media apart from statements that “stoic” reactions to the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami could be explained by the country´s Buddhist background. This neither explained the unprecedented ways in which priests and lay adherents put Buddhist principles into practice, nor did this notion give consideration to differing experiences of calamity. The practice of imposing essentialist conceptions of “Buddhism”, “Japaneseness” and “stoicism” on an entire nation inevitably resulted in a discourse of simplification that overshadowed the immediate tasks of disaster relief at the expense of its subjects.

This documentary presents perspectives on Buddhism as practiced by clergy and millions of families in Japan today by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork about prayer practice and mortuary rituals “on the ground”. “Souls” of Zen thereby refers to one of Japan´s most enduring traditions – the commemoration of ancestral spirits. We visit rural graveyards, urban temples, modern funeral halls, and public events to trace the rapid change this tradition is undergoing in the last decades and, most recently, in the wake of the tsunami.
In bringing together long-standing Buddhist traditions, cutting-edge ritual innovations, and religious reactions to 3-11 in Japan, this film intends to re-evaluate the complex role of Buddhism in a society that is affected by natural disasters as well as it is shaped by demographic change and ongoing religious pluralism. The primary approach to this evaluation will encompass assessing the ways in which Japanese Buddhism is reflected in and shaped by societal change. With a focus on Sōtō-shū and excursions into Pure Land (Jōdo) Buddhism, this documentary takes a look behind the interplay of this-worldly norms and concepts of the afterlife; belief and practice; disaster and rebuild.

In an ethnographic journey, “Souls of Zen – Ancestors and Agency in Contemporary Japanese Temple Buddhism” will cover insights and opinions from priests, scholars, and lay adherents across Japan. Spend a day in the life of a prayer temple where zazen and kit?-rituals for this-worldly benefits take place; learn about priestly education and temple management; study ancestor veneration during the 2011 Obon summer festival of the dead; and observe Buddhist organizations in their effort to provide material goods, funeral assistance and post-traumatic grief-care to those in need.

Coming in 2012

Please see the teaser trailer below.