<Begin Segment 9>

SF: If we think of Buddhism in Japan -- say, in Kyoto -- and what the immigrants brought with them in terms of their ideas about Buddhism and so forth, when the, your grandfather came over, and what they brought with them -- how has Buddhism in America, and the Japanese American community changed from the relig -- quotes, "religion" that was found in Japan, turn of the century? I mean how's the whole institution kind of evolved I guess?

RI: Well, the Buddhists who came to Hawaii and California were, came mainly because they were in trouble in Japan. There were famines, and there were maybe, I think farmers or laborers there who were starving. Lot of -- and so they were promised, of course, wonderful gold mountain here. So they already had a great appreciation for... just to be alive to begin with. And very much earthbound already, very close to the earth. And this is very much the direction of Buddhism already. So I don't think they identify themselves as Buddhist because of certain "beliefs," or whatever -- more of a way of living, and a way of interacting that was always inclusive and nonjudgmental and so on. So they came in large groups, no one better or worse than anyone else. So I think that's... and what was missing when they came here, they found eventually, was their minister was missing, or their priest, made it complete, so they got a full community here. So I think that was -- at least, you know from my perspective many years later in looking back, and the little reading I've done, what I perceive to have been kind of a common experience back then, as far as being a Buddhist. Of course, it's changed quite a bit now. But still, when I go to a Buddhist temple -- whether it's in Tacoma here, or in Seattle, or down in California, I see a lot of those elements. There's a, when I joke about the bazaars and the basketball leagues and all that, they serve a very similar purpose, actually, in affirming a community that's intergenerational. A lot of them, their parents played ball together, and their grandparents. And they all got married at YBA conferences. That's where they met. And, so it's different, yet the same in many ways. And they -- inside the Buddhist temples now, if you ask the member there, "Describe Buddhism to me and in a hundred words or less. What is the main teaching?" They may appear to be quite, either unknowledgeable, or unable to articulate clearly what it is. You say, "God, you been going for, you know, since you're a kid and you're forty, and you still can't say one decent sentence?" And they could be written off in that way as not being Buddhist, but if you notice how they identify with the community and the -- it's a very warm support they give each other. It's not Buddhism in a philosophical, cognitive sense, that I think many new Buddhists, Caucasians from university type backgrounds would treasure. But more of a gut level, just a way of living and relating, this warmness is nonjudgmental. So anybody could go inside of a -- many of these Buddhist temples on a Sunday, and join in with the udon or whatever is going on, and you're invited to help make the teriyaki chicken over in the pit and help out. And the teachings of compassion, of inclusion and even of awakening to one's true self, is all happens within -- without the explicit verbal communications. But the experience is there. And I think it's doubly wonderful if they could also learn the teachings in more of a philosophical sense, and then see the connections and know what's going on. When I go to the Caucasian Buddhist temples I see brilliant discussions and -- but there's a coldness. You know, they're individuals, they're not families. And they're there only to get something out of it rather than to give, often. I think it's changing as Buddhist, Buddhism stays here longer. But you don't see children running around. You see quite a bit of conflict over policies and all that because there's not the care of not insulting people, or, or causing divisions within the, we call it the sangha. And so when I go back to the Japanese temple, oh maybe the dharma talk isn't so interesting. You have the same old boring music again, from the 1920s, these Christianized hymns. But, it's still a wonderful feeling of inclusion, of warmth right there. And you realize that Buddhism -- the Buddhist (teaching is in) action just right there, right in front of you. But no one's pointing it out. So that same spirit that from the olden days is still here. And I think there's some success in starting to bring in -- as they intermarry, you see more and more children who are half Nikkei, half Caucasian usually. But they seem to acquire some of that community identity. And somehow, just by hearing the same messages and stories every Sunday -- they may not be conscious of it -- it is shaping them in, I think very distinct Buddhist ways. So I hope, and at the same time a lot of thoughts about ways that we're failing, or ways to improve.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.