Japanese Journal of Religious St udies 31/ 1:163-184 © 2004 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Cult ure Cristina R o c h a Zazen or Not Zazen? The Predicament of Sotoshu5s Kaikydshi in Brazil In this paper, I discuss the establishment of Soto Zenshu missions in Brazil.I conte nd that the discourse on Ze n that emerged from the writings of D. T. Suzuki and the Kyoto School to resist Western cultural hegemony not only fed the Zen boom in the West, but has more recently impacted on the Zen practice of some Japanese. I show that Japanese Sotoshu kaikydshi who catered to the (mostly) non- Japanese Brazilian community since 1968 embraced Suzuki， s ideas on Ze n wholeheartedly in Japan, prior to their arrival in Brazil. Thus, while these kaikydshi praised zazen as the main Ze n practice, others, who catered for Japanese- Brazilians, favored devotional practices. Their diame tri­ cally oppos ing attitudes towards zazen and rituals created conflicts, which were mirrored in their congregation. Here I will present the kaikydshi side of the conflicts and their evolution through the years to reveal the way the JapaneseBrazilian and non- Japanese communities negotiated their place in the Busshinji temple in Sao Paulo city. k e y w o r d s : Sotoshu - kaikydshi - Brazil- Japanese- Brazilian community - Zazenless Zen - conflicts Crist ina Rocha is a Senior Research Assistant at the Centre for Cult ural Research at the University of W estern Sydney, where she received her PhD in 2003. 163 Z e n B u d d h is m was in t r o d u c e d to Br azil b y the Japane s e im m ig r a n t c o m m u n it y who first migrate d in 1908， and by non- Japanese Brazilian inte lle ctuals who became interested in Ze n through readings of Europe an and subsequently Ame r i­ can lite rature since the late nine te e th century. Accordingly, since its ince ption, there have been two conflicting definitions o f Ze n Buddhis m, both sides claiming to practice “authentic” and “true” Ze n Buddhis m. In very broad terms, while some kaikydshi 開 教 師 and the Japanese c o m m u n it y have asserted that Ze n is comprised o f de votional practices, wors hip o f ancestors, and funeral rituals, other kaikyosm and (mos tly) non- Japanese Brazilian practitione rs have claime d that Ze n relies mainly on zazen in order to experience e nlighte nme nt. The same state o f affairs has been observed in ma ny We s te rn countrie s where Buddhis m emerged and de v e lo p e d as a r e s ult b o t h o f im m ig r a t io n a n d r e lig io us c o n v e r s io n ( B a u m a n n 1995,2001; F ie ld s 1998; N a t t i e r 1995,1998; N u m r ic h 1996; P r e b is h 1993). To be sure, this division is a supe rncial picture o f Ze n in Br azil.A more con­ temporary and detailed approach reveals a blurre d area where Japanese- Brazilians who have bee n Catholic for many ge ne rations have be come inte re ste d in 乙 en through zazen, while some non- Japanese Brazilians have developed a devotional attitude towards 乙 en. Here, however, I will keep the bigger picture o f divis ion so that I can illuminate the approach o f Sotoshu 曹 f同 亲 and consequently that o f its kaikydshi to Ze n, which in time generated bitter conflicts between the two congre­ gations in Br a zil.I argue that the experiences o f the kaikyosm m Brazil and the sides they have taken in the conflicts have been profoundly shaped by the choices they made in Japan regarding these oppos ing attitudes towards zazen. Mode rn Buddhis m : Constructing the Western Discourse on Ze n De votional Buddhis t practices carried by kaiky dshi ofte n contrasted with ideas non- Japanese Brazilians were receiving fr om the Nor th Ame r ican Ze n bo o m o f the late 1950s and 1960s. The a ppr o pr ia tio n and cons tr uction o f Ze n, w mch took place in ma ny We s te r n countrie s , ha d a s imilar de parture poin t. D. T. Suzuki (1870- 1966) and the Kyoto School scholars, particularly its founde r and Suzuki， s frie nd Nis mda Kitaro (1870- 1945), were fundame ntal to the creation o f a Ze n discourse in Japan and in the West. Recently this discourse, its creators, and the ir association with Japanese nationalis m have received strong critiques fr om ★ I would like to express m y gratitude to the Japan Foundat ion for funding m y research in Japan through a Japan Foundation Fellowsmp. 164 RO CH A ： SO TOSH U^ S K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | 16 5 Western scholars, such as Bernard F a u r e (1993， pp. 53- 88), Donald Lope z (2002, p p . v ii- x ii), John M a r a l d o and James H e is ig (1994 )， and Robe rt S h a r f (1994 ， 1995a, 1995b). Robert S h a r f has observed that Suzuki and the Kyoto School schol­ ars were “inte r nationally minde d inte lle ctuals ” (1995b, p. 108)， fas cinated with Western culture while at the same time anxious about its universalizing discourse. Atte mpting to create a response to this discourse, these university- educated inte l­ lectuals “appropriate d key concepts from the West, while at the same time appear­ ing to challenge the cultur al he ge mony o f We s te rn mode s o f thought” (S h a r f 1995b, p. 124). Furthe rmore , these purveyors o f Ze n were writing in the milie u of the so- called Nationalistic Buddhis m (Shin Bukkyd 亲 Jf仏 教 )， a move me nt that also deve lope d as a response to the We s te rn secular critique o f re ligion. In orde r to secure Buddhis m a m e a n in g fu l place in Japanese mode r n society, S hin Bukkyd intellectuals deployed Europe an ideas o f anti- clericalism and anti- ritualis m o f the Re formation, and the rationalis m and e mpiricis m o f the Enlighte nme nt to recon­ struct Buddhis m as mode r n， cos mopolitan, humanis tic, socially responsible ’ [ ...] a (world re ligion’ [ that was] e mpirical, rational and in full accord with mode rn science” (S h a r f 1995b， p. 110). Influe nce d by S hin Bukkyd and by the conte mporary discourses o f Japanese uniquenes s, S u z u k i and the Kyoto School intellectuals recreated Ze n as the very essence o f Japanese national identity, which would denote the cultural s uperiority o f Japan over the West. According to this discourse, because Ze n was constructed not as a religion with its rituals and doctrine, but as an individual spiritual experi­ ence that would lead to “an uncompr omis ingly empirical, rational and scientific m o d e or in q u ir y in t o the na t u r e o f t h in g s ” (S h a r f 1995b, p . 111)， Ze n was able to live through the e nlighte nme nt trends coming from the West. By identirying this s piritual experience with a “timeless, pure , and invariable Ze n essence, and diffe re ntiating it fr om its cultural expressions (re garde d as degenerate, impur e ” accretions), these Ze n advocates were able to regard it as trans cultural and universal. Ze n would not be associated with any particular religion, philos o­ phy, or me taphys ics, b ut would be “the s pirit o f all re ligion and philos ophy 55 (Suzuki quote d in F a u r e 1993， p. 57). Give n that Suzuki and othe r intellectuals who popular ize d Ze n in the We s t were not par t o f ins titutional Ze n sects and lacked for mal trans miss ion in a Ze n lineage, it is not s urpris ing that they advo­ cated authe ntic Ze n as an individua l, lay experience that did not re quire an association witn ins titutional tradition. Inde e d, this discourse was so influe ntial that two o f the kaikydshi whose lives will be presented here severed their associa­ tion with Sotoshu while purs uing “authentic Zen. Bernard F a u r e refers to this Ze n discourse as “Orie ntalis m £by excess， ， a Csecondary， Orientalis m, [one] that offers an idealized, na tms t’ image o f a Japanese culture deeply influe nce d by Ze n” （ 1993， p. 53). One could also trunk o f a “reverse Orientalism, where Japanese scholars created a discourse o f resistance, appr opri­ ating categories that the We s t deploye d to classify the m and the n inve r ting the 166 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) trend. Inde e d, not only did they use the same essentialized categories to refer to themselves (the Orie ntal vis- a- vis the Occide ntal), but they also asserted that the Orie ntal (me aning Japanese) traits were superior to Occide ntal ones. In s um, by making Ze n rational and in accordance with mode r n science, and thus superior to s uperstitious Chris tianity, while at the same time fas hioning Japanese culture as e mbe dde d in Ze n, Japan w ould have a s upe rior Ze itge is t compar e d to the West. Donald Lo p e z (2002) has take n a step forward in his critique by linking this Japanese Buddhis t response with responses o f othe r As ian Buddhis t societies in the late nine te e nth and thr o ug ho ut the twe ntie th centuries . For Lope z, the e ncounte r o f these traditional As ian Buddhis t societies with mo d e r nit y ^m o s tly thr ough a colonial s ituation— pr ompte d the inve ntion o f a Buddhis t tr adition that would enable its survival against the We s te rn secular challenge. Lopez called this newly created pan- Asian and We s te rn tradition “mode rn Buddhis m,” for “it shared ma ny characteris tics o f othe r proje cts o f mo de r nity ” (2002, p. ix ).1 In addition to the characteristics me ntione d before, he includes some ne w features which w ill he lp us bette r unde r s tand the k in d o f Buddhis m pre ache d by kaikydshi wor king with non- Japanese Brazilian adherents . First, mode r n Bud ­ dhis m regards the recent past and conte mporary practices as degeneration, and seeks a re turn to the ccauthe ntic, or iginal” Buddhis m o f the Buddha, which is the Buddha’s enlighte nme nt experience (Lo p e z 2002, p. xxxi), hence the central role played by me ditation in mode rn Buddhis m. Second, Lopez argues that m o d ­ ern Buddhis m is a sect, with its own doctrine s , lineage, practices, and sacred scriptures. Unlike the tr aditional master- to- disciple pe rs onal trans mis s ion confine d to a single school, this sect transcends cultural and national boundaries , since its leaders and followers are inte lle ctual cos mopolitans who are in contact with othe r Buddhis t traditions . They seek to create an inte r national Buddhis m whose essence would be ide ntical once the “cultur al accretions ” are re move d (Lo p e z 2002 ， p. xx x ix ). T h ir d , the d is t in c t io n be t we e n m o n k s a n d la ity is b lu r r e d , with lay followers taking up traditional monks ’ practices o f s tudy o f scriptures and me ditation (Lo p e z 2002, p. xxxvii). Finally, the leaders o f mode rn Buddhis m were marginal figures in the ir own countries. As I show in this paper, kaikydshi catering for mos tly non- Japanese Brazilians e mbody all these traits: they regard zazen as a central Ze n practice; whereas they are marginal in their own country, 1. M artin Baumann has also established a distinction bet ween tradit ionalist (which places empha­ sis on the rit ual and devotional acts o f merit making) and modernist (emphasis on rational, scientific and scriptural elements) Buddhism. H owever, Baumann adds a third historical development: global or post -m odernist Buddhism . The lat t er would be “ a non-Buddhist , expressively non-religious underst anding, highlight ing individualized 'healing,5therapeutic remedy, and psychological wellbeing” (Baum ann 2001， p. 22). Since global Buddhism is a development of modernist Buddhism, and part o f the larger phenom enon o f Buddhism in Br azi l ,I will disregard it in this paper, keeping the main distinction between modern and tradit ional Buddhism. RO CH A ： SO TO SH U JS K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | 16 7 they are highly influe ntial in Brazil; they are in contact with other Buddhist tradi­ tions in the country and overseas; they believe there is an ide ntical essence in all Buddhis t practices (“the only difference is the color o f the robes ， ， ， says one o f the m); and, finally their followers are neither completely lay people nor monks . Sdtdshu’s Historical Choices Long before conflicts erupte d in We s te rn countries, Sotos hu itself had a his tory o f a dualistic attitude towards zazen. Ian R e a d e r has argued in his classic works (1985 and 1986) that while asserting that zazen is at the core and is the essence of the teachings o f Doge n (1200- 1253), Sotos hu does not promote zazen to its con­ gregation and very few o f its priests actually practice it. According to Reader, the be lie f that zazen was a hindr ance for the popula r iza tio n o f the sect has made patriarchs and the ins titution alike opt thr oughout the sect’s his tory for a func­ tional re lations hip with the congregation rather than emphasis on monas tic Ze n practices. Afte r Doge n5s death, his successors realized that in orde r to e xpand, the sect would have to incorporate more popular customs and practices, such as fune ral services and me mor ial rituals ( R e a d e r 1986， p. 17). This move has paid off: fr om the fourte e nth and the fifte e nth centuries onwards the Soto sect has e xpande d greatly and today is the largest Ze n Buddhis t de nomination in Japan. In c o njunc tio n with this e xpans ion, curre nt statistics s how that the choice o f te mple - hous e hold system over Doge n5s monas ticis m has pre vaile d greatly. In 1996, Willia m Bodiford pointe d to more than nine ty percent o f Sotos hu5s priests be ing marrie d and managing Ze n temples as hereditary family business. Accord­ ingly, there were over fifteen thous and family- run temples and only thirty- one monas te r ie s in Japan at the t im e ( B o d if o r d 1996 ， p. 4). These statistics beg the que s tion o f whe the r this ambivalence towards zazen would be a pre dicame nt had Sotos hu not e xpande d to the We st. Participating in the Japanese religious arena as a s upplie r o f fune rary and me mor ial rites, like any othe r Japanese Buddhis t school, made Sotos hu the largest Ze n sect in Japan and no appar e nt dile mma ens ue d. Howe ve r, once it confr onte d the Ze n dis ­ course cons tructe d for and in the We s t, which pr ior itize s zazen, Sotos hu saw itself in a pre dicame nt. Therefore, one has to keep in m in d that it is this diffe r­ ence between Japanese practices and beliefs and We s te rn expectations that cre­ ates the pre dicame nt I am discussing here. A n Ex ported Predicament? Naturally, whe n Sotoshu sent kaikydshi overseas this pre dicame nt was exported as well. However, as in Japan, no ope n conflict was expected since kaikydshi were sent to continue the temple- hous ehold system and cater to the Japanese community. Kaik y dshi were not sent to proselytize outs ide the e thnic enclave. Thus , as in Japan, they were not expected to promote zazen or monas ticis m. Nevertheless, 168 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) upo n arriving in We s te rn countries these kaikydshi e ncounte re d a de mand for monas tic Ze n and zazen by non- Japanese adherents, which grew stronger over the years. At times, this generated acute conflicts conce rning the authe nticity o f Zen practices and evinced Sotos hu5s own dualistic discourse towards the authe n­ ticity and legitimacy o f its practices. In an interview I conducte d, a representative o f the he adquarte rs o f the Soto sect in Tokyo (Sotos hu Shumuc ho ) expressed concern over the s erfs difficulties in managing conflicts over authe nticity in the US and in Brazil where there is a large numbe r o f Japanese immigr ants , as opposed to the lack o f problems in Europe, where there has been a small Japanese diaspora.2 Sotos hu has sent a total o f thirteen kaikydshi since it began its mis sionary activ­ ities in Brazil in 1955. These kaikydshi were usually recent graduates from Komazawa Unive r s ity (the Sotos hu unive rs ity in T okyo) and were sent overseas for three to five years to acquire experience. Mos t o f the m were part o f the templehous e hold system and we nt to Brazil to assist immigr ants in time s o f de ath by pe rforming funerary rituals and ancestor worship. A good example o f this kind o f kaikydshi is Ze ndo Mats unaga. Mats unaga was sent to Brazil in 1959 where he lived until he was transferred in 1964 to Ze ns huji 禅 宗 寺 on the is land o f Kawai in Hawaici. Upo n arriving at Bus s hinji 佛 心 、 寺 (the he adquarte rs o f Sotos hu in South Ame r ica locate d in Sao Paulo city) to assist Shingu Ryohan, the sokan 総 監 (s upe r inte nde nt) for South Ame r ica, he was s oon sent to the west o f the state, where mos t immig r ants were. Mats unaga established hims e lf in the town o f Pompe ia, but would vis it all the othe r towns built along the Sorocabana railroad. The train lines had been the ma in means o f trans portation dur ing the expans ion o f coffee farming into the west in the be gin­ ning o f the twe ntie th century, and the Japanese immigr ants had settled in the towns along the m. Mats unaga was s oon to realize that the zen congr e gation (zenshu dank a 禅 未 檀 家 ） was s mall because mos t o f the Japanese immigr ants were fr om the west or Japan, particularly Hiros nima, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Okinawa, all sites o f s trong Jodo Shins hu 浄 土 真 宗 and Jodos hu adhere nce . Therefore, the Soto congre gation celebrated Buddhis t rituals, s uch as O- bon (me mor ia l day) and Ha na mats ur i 花 祭 り （ Buddha ’s bir thday ), toge the r with othe r Japanese Buddhis t de nominations . More ove r , the Japanese c o mmunity had adopte d Br azilian re ligious rituals. The y also celebrated the Catholic All Souls Day 1,2 Nove mbe r), for many Japanese had converted to Catholicis m in an atte mpt to be accepted in the country. Kaikyosm were sent to Brazil by So t o s h u , but tms did not me an Sotos hu paid the m a salary during the mission. Mats unaga, as for other kaikydshi sent overseas, had to find the means to s upport nims e lf amongs t his congregation, which in tms case was compos e d ma inly o f s mall farmers and me rchants . Mats unaga s mile d 2. For a hist orical overview and current trends in Japanese emigration, see Bef u 2000. RO CH A ： SO TOSH U^ S K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | 16 9 w h e n he t o ld m e in a n in t e r v ie w h o w t h e dank as an w o u ld give h im p r o p e r clothes to wear, food, and treats. In fact, he comme nte d that the congre gation kne w his Buddhis t appare l w ould cause h im to be frowne d upo n and pos s ibly dis cr iminate d agains t in a s trictly Catho lic countr y. He s oon e xchange d his black robes for a white line n s uit a nd covere d his s have d he ad w ith a white P ana ma hat dona te d by the congre gation. But tha t was no t e nough. In the be ginning, the congre gation still did not feel comfortable with his shaved he ad so Ma ts unaga ha d to let his ha ir grow. He told me the same thing happe ne d whe n he move d to Hawaici. This illustrates how kaikydshi e mbodie d the process o f ne gotiation and hybr idization that occurs whe n Ze n Buddhis m e ncounte rs othe r culture s . The classes Mats unaga taught at the k aik an 会 館 (c o m m unit y hall) o f each town provide d a source o f income . Mats unaga reminisced: I would stay in Pompeia for one- third of the month and then travel around to Marllia, Lucelia and Tupa or go to Sao Paulo city to report to the sokan. Grad­ ually my acquaintance increased and they asked me to stay longer in P om­ peia. The numbe r of students in my Japanese language class, ikebana (flower arrangement), odori (dance), and chanoyu (tea ceremony) also increased and I was giving two or three classes a month. Once a year we had a flower arrangement exhibition. I taught Japanese language for children as their par­ ents had a hard time trying to unde rs tand what the childre n were saying because they learned Portuguese in regular school. Finally, on Sundays I had a Buddhis t service for children in the mor ning and for the adults in the after­ noon. Wit h all these classes, some of the Japanese who had converted to Catholicis m started coming too! (Personal communication, Eiheiji, October 2000) It is clear from his memories that expanding Sotoshu in Brazil in the late 1950s and early 1960s me ant allowing for non- sectarianism and giving the immigrants a space to pe rform and learn about their e t h n ic identity. The k aik an and kaikyosm alike functione d as s olid pillars o f the ir culture and as e mbodime nts o f the ir mothe r country. As a result, even Japanese who had converted to Catholicis m took up the activities carried out by the Sotos hu kaikyosm and the presence o f these Catholic converts was, in turn, readily accepted based on their ethnicity. It is note ­ worthy that since its establishment, Bus shinji, like so many other Japanese Bud­ dhist temples outside Japan, has also served as a cultural center where missionaries teach Japanese language, arts, and crafts as a way o f maintaining community ties.3 3. Zenshu)1m Los Angeles and Sokoji m San Francisco are good examples o f Sotoshu temples in the US doubling as religious and cult ural sites. For m ore on this, see A s a i and W i l l i a m s 1999; S o t o s h u S h u m u c h o 2 0 0 0 ; A c t i v i t y C o m m it t e e & A s s o c ia t io n o f S o t o Z e n B u d d h is t s 1997. For Jodo Shinshu examples see K a s h im a 1977 and P ie r c e 2000. 170 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) Kaiky dshi W ork ing w ith Non- Japanese Brazilians After Mats unaga left for Hawai'i, new kaikydshi continue d to be sent by Sotoshu to cater for the Japanese community. In 1968， Sotos hu sent T okuda Ryotan (a.k.a. Igarashi Kyuji) to work at Busshinji in Sao Paulo city. He became a teacher for the immigr ants ’ childre n at the Mahayana Ele me ntary School situated in the temple grounds and assisted in the temple ’s adminis tration. T okuda was a different kind o f kaikydshi altogether. Not be longing to a temple family, he be came a Soto Ze n m o n k due to a calling, not to an obligation to inhe rit his fathe r’s te mple . He had been in the Japanese army, but after a while had deep doubts about it. He tried to find answers in religious literature and read many books on Christianity, Buddhis m, and Ze n Buddhis m. In 1958， while read­ ing books by D.T . Suzuki (whose complete works he collected thereafter) and p a r t ic u la r ly Euge n HerrigeFs Zen in the A rt o f Archery (in Japanese), he decided Ze n Buddhis m was the way to go. After having what he called ccs piritual experiences， ” where he felt the clear calling for monkhood, Tokuda did his first sesshin 接 心 (retreat) at Ry uta kuji 育 董 澤 寺 ， a Rinzai 臨 済 te mple. This is not s urpris ing since Suzuki advocated the Rinzai tradition. However, whe n he decided to enter Komazawa University, he founa his interests very different fr om his colleagues: In the first year of the university, I had the need to practice zazen. At Koma­ zawa there is zazen, but the first year students don’t need to do it. I wanted to sit, but many colleagues who were monks didn’t understand that. They used to say to me: cNext year you’ll have to sit, why sit now?’ (Personal communication, Nagoya, November 2000) This incide nt reveals the influe nce D.T. Suzuki and mode rn Ze n had not only in the West, but in Japan as well. Evidence o f such influe nce is io k u d a 5s expecta­ tion that zazen w ould play a central role in Sotos hu5s e ducational system as it does in the We s te r n Ze n practice . He fur the r to ld me that in 1968， whe n the oppor tunity came to go to Brazil, he kne w he wante d to stay in Brazil as long as possiole, learn Portuguese ana sit with Brazilians.” Paramount to this decision were the facts that he was, as me ntione d earlier, on the fringe o f his own sect since he did not be long to a te mple family, a nd that his first contact w ith Ze n happe ne d thr ough the literature pr oduce d for a We s te rn audience in which the issues o f zazen and e nlighte nme nt were mor e highly regarded than ce re monial practices. More over, Suzuki s influe nce ran deeper: T okuda was also fascinated by early Chr is tian mys tics, for he unde r s tood the ecstatic state me ntio ne d by Saint John o f the Cross and Meister Eckhart as the experience o f e nlighte nme nt in Zen. T okuda saw no difference between We s t and East conce rning this state o f ecstasy and regarded the Chr is tian experience o f unio n with God as s imilar to s atori ( T o k u d a 1997， p. 61). Inde e d, in his bo ok Psicologia Budis ta [ Buddhis t psychology] , T okuda wrote: RO CH A ： SO T O SH U ^ K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | 1J 1 As Saint John of the Cross said: the night of senses, the night of s pirit, the night of soul. Through this inte rnal voyage, we leave the external world and begin to work with our inne r world, diving into our subconscious. Whe n we get to the bottom of this darkness, there is a union with God, with Love. To this experience, Zen gives the name enlightenment, or satori. ( T o k u d a 1997， p. 60) His inte rpre tation seems to derive dire ctly fr om Suzuki， s bid to equate Ze n and Chris tian mys ticis m to re s pond to the challenge o f Chris tian/We s te rn dis ­ cursive s upe riority. For Suzuki, because Ze n was free fr o m re ligious , cultur al and philos ophical tr aditions , Buddhis ts and Chr is tians alike could practice it. Inde e d, Suzuki asserts: “Eckhart, [and] Ze n [ ...] can be gr oupe d toge the r as be lo nging to the great s chool o f my s tic is m” and “I am sure Eckhar t ha d a s atori” (Suzuki quote d in F a ur e 1993， pp. 61- 62). T okuda’s bridging o f Catholic and Buddhis t beliefs undoubte dly allowed him to be re adily accepted by non- Japanes e Brazilians who alre ady had a zaze nk ai 坐 禅 会 (s itting group) at Bus s hinji. Afte r four years o f difficulties in Bus s hinji because o f his views, T okuda decided to leave the temple but stay in Brazil le ad­ ing his gr oup o f Br azilian followe rs . Soon afterwards, he also had to leave Sotoshu, as his Ze n practices and ms making a living as a shiatsushi, an acupunc­ ture and herbal practitioner, were not readily accepted by the Soto headquarters in Tokyo. It is note worthy that while Mats unaga made a living teaching Japanese arts and language to the Japanese community, T okuda offered alternative me di­ cine to his non- Japanes e Br azilian audie nce . In Brazil, alte rnative me dicine is fre que ntly associated with the ancie nt wis dom o f the East” and, incide ntally, Ze n Buddhis m (R o c h a 2001). Hence, a Ze n priest connected with acupuncture and Chinese herbs did not raise any eyebrows— quite the contrary, it fulfille d his followers5expectations. A New Sokan Arrives: Open Conflicts Afte r ma ny years w it h o ut a sokan for South Ame r ica, Sotos hu finally sent Daigyo Mo r iy a ma Ros hi to Bus s mnji te mple in 1993. Between 1970 and 1973， Mo r iy a ma ha d be e n the abbo t o f Sokoji 桑 港 寺 ， the Sotos hu te mple in San Francis co. There he s ubs titute d for Shunr yu Suzuki Ros hi (1904- 1971)， a kaikydshi forced to resign fr om his pos t as abbot o f the temple because Jiis activ­ ities with his non- Japanese Ame r ican s tudents were not accepted by the Japan­ ese c o m m u n ity .4 Alt ho ug h Mo r iy a ma wor ke d in the te mple and Suzuki was ma na ging ms ne wly e s tablis he d San Francisco Ze n Ce nte r, the y ma in ta in e d close contact. Whe n interviewed, Mor iyama told me he shared Suzuki， s ideas o f fo r e ig n e r s h a v in g a b e g in n e r ’s m in d ” (shoshin 初 心 ） ， th a t is , “ o n e w h ic h is 4. For a biography of Shunryu Suzuki, see C h a d w ic k 1999. 172 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) e m p t y a n d r e a dy fo r n e w t h in g s ” ( S u z u k i 1980 ， p. 21). T h is is h o w M o r iy a m a expressed his dis conte nt with Japanese Ze n and his hopes for Brazil: In Japan, monks are more interested in social practices and mone y to be received for services rendered to the community, such as funerals and wor ­ ship of ancestors, than spiritual work. That is why I put my energy in a foreign country; here [in Brazil] Zen Buddhis m can be created again in a purer way Traditional Buddhist countries are losing the essence of Buddhis m; I think religions are created, evolve, and degrade, and this is happening in Japan now. I feel that here the same thing that I witnessed in California is taking place: in Brazil there is a kind of energy that I don’t find in Japan. (Personal communication, Sao Paulo, October 1999， my italics) .... This resembles the words o f Shunr yu Suzuki Ros hi: “I came to Ame r ica to br ing the pure way o f Ze n Bud d his m” ( C h a d w i c k 1999， p. 326). Mor iy a ma ’s words were translated into actions and after three years wor king as the sokan at Bus s hinji, he e xperienced the same pr oble m Suzuki did in 1969. The Japanese congregation was not happy with his preference for the Brazilians of non- Japanese origin and pressed Sotoshu to dismiss him. As mis sion temples belong to the con­ gregation rather than to the priest, as is the nor m in Japan, the congre gation had the right to do so. In 1995 Mor iyama was ous te d fr om the temple and fr om his pos t at Sotos hu. He we lcome d the change and took his non- Japanese Brazilian s tude nts with h im e s tablis hing two Ze n groups , one in Sao Paulo city and the other in Porto Alegre, the capital o f state o f Rio Grande do Sul. Today he lives in Porto Alegre and, together with his sangha, is building a monas tery in the co un­ tryside. Although living in Brazil, his inte r national conne ctions are strong: his oldest dis ciple r uns a Ze n center in France, he ofte n travels to Ar ge ntina and Uruguay to oversee other groups o f students and he has a Ge rman disciple assist­ ing h im in Brazil. Like T okuda, Mo r iy ama marke dly subscribes to the mode r n/We s te r n Ze n discourse. His evocation o f a “pur e ， authe ntic, or iginal” Ze n, which is to be fo und in the Bud d h a ’s and Do g e n5s e nlighte nme nt e xperience, and which is lost in Japan, is all too familiar . In a dditio n, his disciples , like othe r We s te rn Ze n followers, blur the boundarie s between laity and monkhood since he places zazen and sesshin at the core o f Ze n. Finally, if we accept Lope z’s vis ion o f m o d ­ ern Buddhis m having its own lineage, doctrine, and practices we could say that although Suzuki did no t give tr ans mis s ion to Mo r iy ama, Suzuki was s urely a s tr ong influe nce in his tho ught. By the same toke n, by giving te achings and trans mis s ion in Brazil and overseas and having close contact with othe r nonJapanese Buddhis t schools in Porto Alegre city, Mor iyama is pr oducing his own lineage o f mode r n/We s te r n Zen. RO CH A ： SO TOSH U^ S K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | I 73 The Substitute: A Non- Japanese B razilian W om an Ironically, the successor o f Mor iyama Ros hi and newly appointe d abbess was a married, non- Japanese Brazilian nun. Claudia Dias de Souza Batista was ordaine d in Los Angeles unde r Taizan Mae zumi Ros hi ( d .1995) in 1983， whe n she received the Buddhis t name of Koen 孤 圓 (hereafter Coen, as it is spelled in Portuguese). In the same year, she left for Japan where she spent the next twelve years, eight o f the m at Aichi Se nmon Nisodo 愛 知 専 門 尼 僧 堂 in Nagoya.5 Coe n took the pos ition o f abbess at Busshinji in 1995， a post she was able to hold until January 2001. Alt ho ug h she e xpe rie nce d ma ny obstacles— inc luding he r e thnic bac k­ ground, gender, and mar ital status— she slowly gaine d the respect o f the c om­ munit y . Soon after he r arrival she be gan e nforcing all o f the activitie s mor e s trictly than they had been before, and at the same time worke d hard at preserv­ ing the rituals that the Japanese c ommunity expected to be pe rforme d. Looking back, one non- Japanese Brazilian practitione r observed that, Whe n Moriyama was in charge of the temple, he tried to adapt Japanese Zen to Brazilian culture. It was more flexible. With Coe n, as she had recently arrived from Japan, she tried to maintain the patterns and rules by which she had lived there. She tried to establish the rhythm, behavior, and discipline of the Japanese practice. (Personal communication, Sao Paulo, March 1998) I suggest that because Moriyama was an “authe ntic” Japanese and a male, he did not have to prove hims e lf worthy o f his pos ition at the temple; he even made a point o f not fitting their expectations. For instance, he told me in an interview in Sao Paulo in December 2000 that the congregation expected him to be dressed in fine brocade, b ut he mor e ofte n than not wore m o n k ’s wor king clothes and carrie d a backpack ar ound. On the othe r hand, Coe n had to wor k at be ing accepted by the Japanese- Brazilian community. This include d be ing sometimes more Japanese than the Japanese themselves, that is, be ing strict, respecting the congregation’s expectations, and speaking Japanese fluently. In an interview conducte a m March 2000, whe n she was still the head o f Busshinji, Coe n told me: At first, when I was officiating rituals here in Busshinji they would comme nt cgaijin, gaijirf [foreigner, foreigner] , but when I started speaking Japanese and talking about Buddhis m, their attitude changed. I guess the apparent discrim­ ination against gaijin is because they are not sure if we know their way of life, culture, tradition, and so on. Slowly people would start saying to me, ‘so and so are gaijin, aren， t they, Sensei?’ They even felt a bit embarrassed because I lived in Japan for twelve years and some of the m d id n’t even know how to read Japanese. Some arrived in Brazil really young and felt I knew more of their culture or was more Japanese than them. Nowadays many come to me 5. For a good account of life in this nunnery, see A r a i 1999. 174 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) and say they want me to officiate at the mass [sic]， 6it is pretty embarrassing sometimes. There are other monks and they choose me. They say, cwe want you and we want you to speak Portuguese after you speak in Japanese.， Inde e d, by s pe aking Japanese and Portugues e flue ntly, she was a successful inte rme diary between Japanese- Brazilian and non- Japanese Brazilian c o mmuni­ ties. Furthe rmore , it was her fluency in both Japanese and Brazilian cultures that pr ompte d Sotos hu Shumucho to send her to Brazil as a mis s ionar y because the new generations did not speak Japanese and felt alienated from the temple, which made the numbe r o f members fall dramatically. This proved to be the right policy since many young Japanese- Brazilians would come to Bussmnji to a grandparent’s funeral and upon listening to her preaching in Portuguese would feel a conne ction with Buddhism. Although Coe n’s language skills and attitude he lpe d her to become accepted, her gender was a difficult obstacle. Buddhis m has had a long his tory o f dis cr im­ ination against wome n, and that was no diffe re nt in Japan.7 Unt il the Me iji era (1868- 1912)， the he ad temples refused admis s ion to wome n. Whe n monks and nuns were allowe d to mar r y and choose tons ur e (1872 and 1873 respectively), monks were able to adopt the ne w be havior, while nuns who mar rie d and did no t shave the ir he ads were no t cons ide r e d nuns by socie ty.8 Because w ome n were still expected to take care o f the family in the first place, those who m a r ­ ried were “natur ally” expected to abandon n unho o d.9As a result, while mar rie d monks make up the vast major ity o f Japanese monks , nuns have maintaine d an ascetic life ( U c h i n o 1983， pp. 178- 80). Howe ve r, since one o f the features o f mode r n Buddhis m is precisely the active and visible role o f wome n as ordaine d nuns and teachers, the non- Japanes e Br azilian congr e gation r e adily accepted Coe n. If Co e n’s ge nde r was pr oble matic to the Japane s e - Brazilian congre ga­ tion, her status as a mar rie d woman s hould surely make things worse. Yet, since he r hus band was a Japanese m o nk, things were a bit easier as he actually cir ­ cumve nte d this ge nde r status issue by r e minding the c o mmunity thr ough his be havior towards he r that he was, in fact, hie rarchically unde r he r (due to his 6. “ M ass” is the com m on term used for funeral and m em orial rit es, which indicat es a st rong influence of Catholicism. 7. For instance, Uchino remarks “ In Buddhist dogma, women were regarded as impure, having a more sinful karma than men, and being unable to attain Buddhahood.... Even nuns, who shunned all worldly attachments, were segregated from and had heavier precepts than monks. Two hundred and fift y precepts were imposed on monks while the figure for nuns was five hundred. In addition to these precepts, there were eight laws, called the H akkeikai, which were writ t en especially for nuns and placed them under the control o f monast ic orders. According to the law, no matter how long a nun had been in service, she was required to obey and worship even those monks who had taken the tonsure only the day before” ( U c h i n o 1983， p. 177). For a cont em porary discussion o f fem inism and B u d d h is m , s e e G r o s s 1 99 3 ， a n d K a w a h a s h i a n d K u r o k i 2 0 0 3 . 8. For more on this, see Ja f f e 2001. 9. For an account of the role o f jizoku (priests， wives) in Soto temple life, see K a w a h a s h i 1995. RO CH A ： SO T O SH U ^ K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | I 75 fewer years o f training). Cons equently, he helped her to be regarded as worthy of the pos ition she he ld in the temple. But things were not easy at first. According to Coen, At first, the congregation thought a woman officiating ceremonies as strange; they thought only me n could do it. There were comme nts such as, (this is a big temple; it is not a n u n ， s te mple .， This is the kind of dis crimination nuns suffered in Japan; only small temples were given to nuns. Nowadays, nuns do everything monks do in Japan. Of course, in practice things are a bit different, since it is a society that is not totally egalitarian. But there is a strong move ­ me nt against dis crimination in Japan and particularly within Sotos hu.10 But the Japanese community here still sees things as Japanese people did before Wor ld War Two. Information does not reach here. I was the first non- Japan­ ese and the first woman to become president of the Federation of the Bud­ dhis t Sects of Brazil.11 This was a way to be accepted in the Japanese community, because by accepting me the monks from other schools were say­ ing that I had a high level of unders tanding of Buddhis m. (Personal communication, Sao Paulo, March 2000) But Coe n did not stop at asserting her own status. Upon arriving at the temple she realized there were some Japanese- Brazilian nuns who had never been allowed to officiate ceremonies and had been confine d to r inging the bells, ma king tea, flower arrangements, and participating in the baika 梅 花 (a wome n’s group that chants and plays bells dur ing rituals). She told me these wome n were too old to learn how to officiate ceremonies, but nonetheless Coe n asked the m to participate by ormging incense, chanting, and playing the drums as well as allowing the m to wear okesa お 裝 裳 ， the formal robes, which they owne d but were not authorized to wear. Asserting the pos ition o f nuns in the temple was not the only thing that may have brought discontent and her final downfall in the be ginning o f 2001. She fur ­ ther toid me: Wome n didn’t vote here! The jujink ai 婦 人 会 [ women’s association] was forbid­ den to vote until 1998, when the new board was due to be elected. In 1998， on the election day the president got together with the board and reaffirmed that the fujink ai didn’t vote. Then I realized the women had never voted in the temple! I checked the bylaws and there was nothing there about it— so on that day I said 1 0 . For m o r e o n tms, s e e B o d i f o r d 1 9 9 6 . 11. The Federat ion o f the Buddhist Sects o f Brazil (Federa^ ao das Seit as Budistas do Brasil) was established in 1958 as part o f the celebrations o f the fiftieth anniversary o f the Japanese immigration into Brazil. It comprises six Buddhist schools: Sotoshu, Jodoshu, Jodo Shinshu, Nichirenshu, H onmon But suryushu, and Shingonshu. Since its establishment, the Federation has been in charge of the celebrations of the arrival o f the first immigrant s, or joint Buddhist calenarical festivit ies, as well as visit ing nursing homes run by the Japanese com m unit y, and collect ing food and clothes to be donated to the homeless. 176 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) that everyone would vote. The wome n didn， t even think that was good, they were worried and didn’t know what to do. We won that election and for the first time in the history of the temple the old board lost. Even Brazilians started to vote. Only people who paid a yearly fee voted, but no one ever asked the Brazil­ ians to pay it, so they didn’t know about it. The old board was offended and went to Japan to say they s hould send somebody here to substitute for us because it was dangerous to leave the temple in our hands. And in reality the temple was doing really well, the numbe r of adherents was increasing; there were more masses [sic]， more people for lectures, study groups, and zazen. After a long pe riod o f conflicts, Sotos hu sent a new sokan, Miyos hi Koichi Roshi, to the te mple in early 2000. For the next ten months , the presence o f both the sokan and Coe n in the te mple — respectively as the Supe r inte nde nt for South Ame r ica and as Bus s hinji’s abbess— exacerbated the conflicts to the point that the s ituation be came unte nable . To make matte rs worse, the rift re ache d the Japanese im m ig r a nt press and even the mains tr e am press, as Coe n was well known by the Br azilian me dia. She was dismiss ed in Januar y 2001. Like all the pre vious mis sionaries who lost the ir pos itions , her students followe d her whe n she left Bus shinji. However, unlike others, Coe n established a new temple, Tenzui Ze n Dojo, not a Ze n center in Sao Paulo city. Some Japanese- Brazilian fami­ lies also followe d her to the new temple. T e nzui Ze n Do jo is a good e xample o f ho w the boundar ie s be twee n tr a di­ tional and mode r n/We s te rn Ze n are blurre d in Brazil. Coe n manage d to inte r­ est non- Japane s e Br azilians a nd (like the m, s ome time s n o m in a lly Ca tholic) Japanese- Brazilians in “Japanese” rituals such as fune r a ls , me mor ial rite s , higan 彼 岸 (s p r in g a n d a u t u m n e q u in o x e s ), a n d o- bon お 盆 (r e t u r n o f t h e s o u ls o f deceased forebears to the ie 豕 ， the hous e hold). She also engaged both c o m m u­ nitie s in “We s te r ne rs 5 Ze n ， ， practice s s uch as zaze n a nd sessmn, as we ll as in Catholic activities s uch as All Souls Day and we ddings . Coe n is pres ently in charge o f anothe r center in Rio de Janeiro. This is manage d on a daily basis by her non- Japanese Brazilian s tude nt, and hence de dicate d solely to me ditation. She also participates in inter- religious meetings, gives public lectures, has estab­ lis he d a s itting gr oup at the Sao Paulo city As s e mbly o f Counc ils , a nd leads w alking me d ita tions in the city’s pub lic parks on Sunday mor nings . He r char is ma has le d he r to be fr e que ntly s ought after by the me dia to the extent that she is now r outine ly recognized in the streets o f Sao Paulo city. Recoupment: Re gaining Control o f the T emple While studying the arrival o f Buddhis m in Ge rmany, Mar tin Baumann employed the term “re coupme nt” (first coine d by Michae l Pye in 1969) as one o f five modes for tr ans planting a r e ligion to a ne w s ociocultural context. They include contact, confr ontation and conflict， ambiguity a nd alignme nt, r e coupme nt RO CH A ： SO T O SH U ^ K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | I 77 (re - orie ntation), and innovative self- development. Bauma nn e xplains that the process o f tr ans planting a par ticular re ligion does not nee d to cover all these modes and need not necessarily occur in this sequence. “Re coupme nt” or re- ori­ e ntation is a critique o f the ambiguitie s that have arisen due to the need to blur the boundarie s between the new religion and the host culture. Once accepted, the foreign re ligion the n tries to reduce the ambiguitie s in order to regain its tr adi­ tional ide ntity (Ba uma nn 1994， p. 38). I contend that Miyoshi Koichi, the new sokan, is part of such a process o fC£recoupme nt.” If charisma and s mooth transit among non- Japanese Brazilians and ma in ­ stream me dia are the qualities that br ought Coe n to the lime light, the new sokan had the opposite task. He was sent to keep a low profile and, in the process, hand Bus s hinji back to the old and traditional Japanese- Brazilian board, which in fact established and has always funde d the te mple thr ough dana (donations ). For a start, although he had been in Hawaici for thirty- three years (first as a kaikydshi at Shoboji, and the n as the abbot of Ze ns huji), Miyos hi Koichi never learned to speak Englis h. Therefore, communica tion at Bus s hinji has been restored to the way it was dur ing Shingu’s time (1956- 1983)— mos t activities are conducte d solely in Japanese. Whe n they are directed to a ma inly non- Japanese Brazilian audience, Japanese- Brazilian monks function as translators. Since Miy os hi’s ins tallation, because o f the Buddhis t boom, which was appare nt in Brazil by the late 1990s， 12 new non- Japanese Brazilian adherents have arrived and cons tituted a new zazen group, taking part in sesshin and lay ordinations (juk ai 受 戒 ） . Miyos hi’s lack of lan­ guage skills is not an obstacle because non- Japanese Brazilians at the temple justify the s ituation by invoking the Ze n belie f that communication with a master s hould be a matte r o f he art/mind- to - h e a r t / m in d trans miss ion (isnin- densnin 以 心 伝 心 ） .13 However, whe n I sat through a hop 法 事 (funeral) in 2001， Miyos hi preached m Japanese and no translation was offered. The young Japanese- Brazilians who were present showed no interest, keeping their eyes on the floor or on the walls for mos t o f the time. While for people interested in monas tic Ze n the preaching in Japanese may aad to the exoticism and obscurity of Zen, thus making it a desirable religion, for Japanese descendants who have to sit thr ough a long ritual it can me an a fur ­ ther step towards rejecting the religion. Ce rtainly this exodus is not particular to Ze n in Brazil: it occurs in othe r Japanese Buddhis t s chools in Brazil and in the US.14 Language skills are so impor ta nt in attracting young people that, as I me n­ 12. For more on this Buddhist boom in Brazil see R o c h a forthcoming a and b. 13. Ishin-denshin is a central not ion o f Zen. “ It comes from the Platform sutra o f the sixth pat ri­ arch o f Ch’an (Zen) in China, H ui-neng. He point s out that what is preserved in the lineage o f the tradit ion and 't ransm it t ed5is not book knowledge in the form o f (teachings’ established in sacred scriptures, but rather an immediate insight into the true nature o f reality, to which an enlightened master can lead a student t hrough the training in the way of Zen” ( D i e n e r et al .1991， p. 101). 14. See, for instance, GoNgALVES 1990 for Jodo Shinshu in Brazil and T a n a b e fort hcom ing for Jodo Shinshu in H aw ai 1. 178 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) tione d before, Coe n was appointe d in 1995 precisely because o f her Portuguese and Japanese fluency. Therefore, the appointme nt o f a Japanese sokan who does not speak either Englis h or Portuguese shows the powe r the Japanese- Brazilian congre gation exercises over Bus s hinji, as well as the s tre ngth o f the process o f “r e coupme nt.， ， The sokan, like all othe r kaiky dshi I have discussed, e xe mplify the way mis ­ sionaries carry ideas whe n the y rotate fr om countr y to country. For ins tance, the group pre paring for jukai follows a me thod used by h im in Haw aici: every s tude nt has a note book where they write down the numbe r o f zazen pe rforme d, sutras chante d, and the a mo unt o f dana (donations ) given. The nove lty is not only the presence o f the note book (with Coe n the re was a two- year course b e fo r e o r d in a t io n ) , b u t als o t h e in c lu s io n o f d a n a , t h a t is , m e r it - m a k in g thr ough donations . It is note worthy that me r it ma king is the ce ntral practice for de vout immigr ants , whereas it is usually ignore d by non- Japanese adherents for w ho m me dita tio n is the “authe ntic ， ， ， ce ntral activity. Dana expresses the depende nce o f mis s ionaries and temples on the local communitie s . Therefore, t he in c lu s io n o f d a n a in t h e la y o r d in a t io n pr oc e s s in d ic a t e s a n o v e r la p p in g , which bridges the typical separation between the two congregations. Com pany Me n and Free Agents Wha t can one learn from the lives o f these kaikydshi in Brazil and the sort o f con­ te ntions the y we nt through? Jan N a t t ie r (1997， p. 475) has pointe d to the fact that there have bee n no s cholarly studies on the kaiky dshi who we nt to the US and such studies could “raise inte re s ting issues for the s tudy o f cross- cultural religious trans miss ion•” She argues that there have been two types o f kaikydshi: the company ma n’ (arme d with tracts and doctrinal treatises pr oviae a by the home church, s upporte d financially by this ins titution, and perhaps subject to recall if his for m o f pr opagation does not meet the ir specifications), and the ‘free agent’ (who moves to a new country o f his own accord, disseminates his re ligion as he sees fit, ana is cons trained only by his own need to make a living).， ， Fr om the lives o f the three kaikydshi described above I have s hown that Na t­ t e r ’s categories were not quite so clear cut in Brazil. All the kaikydshi be longe d to and were sent by Sotos hu to Brazil. He nce , in Nattie r ’s sense the y were all company me n. Howe ve r, since they did not receive a s tipe nd fr om the ins ti­ tution, ana because the temple was funde d by the co mmunity (through dana), they were suojected to the congre gation’s approval while living in Brazil. Whe n the congre gation decided the kaikydshi s attitudes were not acceptable, as in the cases o f Ryotan T okuda, Daigyo Moriyama, and Coe n de Souza, they lost the ir posts. Mo r iy a m a ’s case is even more re ve aling o f the congr e gation’s powe rs because Mor iyama he ld the high pos ition of sokan for South Ame rica. I suggest that T okuda, Mor iyama, and Coe n cannot be cons ide re d totally “free agents” ROCHA： SOT OSHUJS KA IKY OS HI IN BRAZIL | I79 since they did not arrive inde pe nde ntly in Brazil, and they had to answer to the congr e gation’s needs. Wh e n conflicts s urface d, the y were dis miss e d a nd had the ir affiliation to Sotos hu severed (in the cases o f T okuda and Mor iy a ma ). Only the n did they be come “free agents” and “diss eminate the ir re ligion as they saw fit,” as Nattie r puts it. Like L o p e z (2002, p. xxxvii), Robert S h a r f has note d that “one feature shared by virtually all o f the figures responsible for the We s te rn interest in Ze n is the ir relatively marginal status within the Japanese Ze n establishme nt” (1995b, p. 141). N a t t i e r a dd s , “the s e m e n we r e , fo r t h e m o s t p a r t , g e n u in e m a v e r ic k s , d e e p ly dissatisfied with the current state o f Buddhis m in their own country and eager to establish what they saw as ‘true Ze n， in a virgin mis s ion field” （ 1997， p. 475). Shar f and Nattie r pa int an accurate portr ait o f T okuda Ryotan and Daigyo Mor iyama and the ir desire to leave Japan for Brazil. Both kaikydshi he ld a ma r ­ ginal status in the ir own country. The forme r did not be long to a te mple family and chose not to mar ry into one — as is the no r m in Japan in order to acquire a pos ition in the ins titutio n— — b ut rather left the country to pre ach his own Ze n Bud d his m to foreigne rs . The latte r, albe it ha ving his own te mple in Japan (Zuigakuin 瑞 岳 院 ， in Yamanas hi Prefecture, west o f T okyo), has chosen marginality by not offe ring the regular set o f services to the s ur r ounding c o m m u ­ nity. T his choice is revealed in a leaflet adve r tis ing Zuig a kuin to pros pe ct Brazilian students. There one reads: Zuigakuin (Zen Buddhis t Center for Cultural Exchange) temple was founde d in 1978 by Daigyo Mor iyama and differs from other Ze n temples in two aspects: it intends to reestablish Doge n5s Ze n practice and it offers Western students access to this practice. Coe n， s is a slightly different case, since she reveres Sotoshu5s authority and does not wish to leave the ins titution. Not being Japanese, she needs its seal o f approval to legitimate her own authenticity. However, her new temple, which has zazen and traditional calendrical rites at its core, further complicates the clear- cut picture o f ins titutional Ze n on the one hand, and mode r n Ze n on the other. In contras t, Mats unaga was me aningful for the Japanese c o m m unit y (who even today ho ld him in high esteem), as he func tione d as an im p o r ta nt s ym­ bolic c onne ction be twe e n the immig r a nts a nd the ir ho me land. He d id not, however, engage in s pre ading Ze n outside the e thnic enclave. This attitude can be attribute d to the fact that in the early 1960s， whe n Mats unaga lived in Brazil, there were very few non- Japanes e Brazilians inte re s te d m Ze n Buddhis m. He was and still is part o f Sotos hu5s establishment, currently holding a central pos ition in the ins titution as the head o f the Inte rnational De partme nt at Eihe iji水 平 寺 (in Fukui Prefecture). Miyos hi Koichi ma y be placed in the same c ate go r y ~ uc om­ pany ma n — as Mats unaga. Although he does cater for non- Japanese Brazilians and Japanese- Brazilians interested in zazen, since unlike Mats una ga he has i 8o | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) arrived at a time whe n Brazil is unde rgoing a Buddhis t boom, his ma in task is to wor k for the Japanese immigr ants and des ce ndants who own the te mple . His almos t m o n th ly visits to Japan to oversee his own Japanese te mple and his absence fr om the non- Japanese Brazilian Buddhis t circuit has reduced Bus s hinji to the low profile it used to have before 1993， whe n Mor iyama arrived. These two groups o f missionaries reflect the tens ions which at times evolved into ope n clashes between Japanese tr aditional practices and We s te rn expecta­ tions o f Ze n infor me d by mode r n/We s te r n Ze n. Mats unaga and Miyos hi have been able to continue the ir careers inside the ins titution because they delivered what the Japanese congregation overseas expected fr om the m. Coe n manage d to keep he r conne ction w ith the ins tit utio n by acce pting Sotos hu5s injunctions . T okuda and Mor iy ama may not have had a long career at Sotos hu, b ut both, togethe r with Coe n, have be e n “ge nuine mave ricks for the e xpans ion o f Ze n amongs t non- Japanese Brazilians. In the past thirty years 1 okuda has established more than fifteen Ze n centers all over Brazil and ordaine d thirty people; four o f the m have traine d in ma in Soto monas teries in Japan such as Zuio ji 瑞 応 寺 (in Ehime Prefecture) and Eihe iji. T okuda left Brazil for France in the 1990s but continue d to go to Brazil for a pe riod o f three months every year to oversee his Ze n centers and ordain ne w disciples. In 2000， Sotos hu recognized his non- stop pros e lytizing wor k and ins talle d h im as the official re side nt kaikydshi o f Eitaiji 水 代 寺 ， a ne w inte rnational te mple established in the s outh o f France by T okuda to be the basis ot s otos hu in Europe . In 2002， however, T okuda move d back to Brazil to establish Ze n Hor yuzan Eisho- Ji, a monas te ry dedicated to the for ma­ tio n o f monks in P mno po lis , ce ntral Brazil. Mor iy am a and his s tude nts are pre s e ntly wor king at b uild in g a monas te r y s ignilicantly calle d Inte r natio na l Buddhis t Monas te ry Doge n Ze nji in Rio Grande do Sul state. Conclusion Ze n in Brazil is not isolated fr om the trends and global flows o f Ze n in the West. As I have s hown in this pape r, Sotos hu kaikydshi appointe d to Brazil were pre ­ vious ly or s ubs equently sent to othe r countrie s where there was a large Japanese immigr a nt population. Since Brazil was part o f the circuit o f Soto kaikydshi sent overseas, a na at the same time received flows o f the We s te rn cons truct o f 乙 en Buddhis m that attracted non- Japanese Brazilians, Brazil had s imilar conflicts to othe r countrie s that had an extensive Japanese dias pora. However, because the Ze n b o o m o f the 1960s happe ne d on a m uc h s malle r scale in Brazil, clear conflicts did not really arise until the 1990s， whe n a Buddhis t bo o m took place in the country. Dur ing the 1990s, what were differences o f unde rs tanding and Ze n practice turne d into a battle ground where kaikydshi who dared to align with non- Japanese Br azilian practice s cons tantly los t powe r to the Japanese c o mmunity . These RO CH A ： SO TOSH U^ S K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | l8l kaik y dshi were dis mis s e d fr om the ir posts at local temple s , lost the ir pos ition with Sotos hu, and e nde d up establishing the ir own inde pe nde nt Ze n centers. In this process, Sot6s hu5s dualis tic attitude towards zazen was not only revealed, but the ins tit utio n le ane d towards the te mple - hous e hold system whe n it dis ­ avowed the choices o f its own kaikydshi. As a result o f such a s ituation, one cannot help but ask what will become of the Sotos hu^ mis s ion in Brazil whe n the old Japanese immigr ant congre gation dies out. Since the majority o f young Japanese- Brazilians are not interested in be long­ ing to the temple anymore, how will Sotos hu survive its own predicament? In an interview conducte d in Tokyo in De ce mbe r 2000， I pos ed this same que s tion to the representative o f Sotos hu Shumucho in Japan. He gave me a s urpris ing answer: “we need more non- Japanese Brazilians to come here to train as priests so that they can go back and spread Ze n in Brazil.” I am sure the old Japanese im m i­ grants w ould be more than a little shocked. The answer nevertheless reveals Sotoshu^s atte mpt at some flexibility in dealing with the crisis. REFEREN C ES A c t iv it y C o m m it t e e & A s s o c ia t io n o f S o t o Z e n B u d d h is t s 1997 B uddhas Seed T aking Firm Root in North America s Soil. Los Angeles: Association of Soto Zen Buddhists. A r a i , P a ula 1999 Women Living in Zen: Japanese Soto Buddhist Nuns. Oxford: Oxford Uni­ versity Press. A s a i Se nr yo a n d D u n c a n Ry u k e n W i l l ia m s 1999 Japanese Ame rican Ze n temples: Cultur al ide ntity and economics. In American Buddhis m : Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship, ed. Williams , D.， and C. Queen, pp. 20- 35. Richmond: Curzon. Be f u , H a r u m i 2000 Globalization as human dispersal: From the perspective of Japan. In Globalization and Social Change in Contemporary Japan, ed. Eades, J. S., T. Gill, and H. Befu, pp. 17- 40. Melbourne: Transpacific Press. B a u m a n n , M a r t in 1994 1995 2001 The T rans plantation of Buddhis m to Germany: Processive modes and strategies o f a da pta tio n. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 6:35- 61. Creating a Europe an path to nirvana: His torical and conte mporary developments of Buddhis m in Europe. Journal of Contemporary Religion 10: 55- 70. Global Buddhis m: Developmental periods, regional Histories, and a new analytical perspective. Journal of Global Buddhism 2:1- 44. 182 I Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) B o d i f o r d , W illia m 1996 Zen and the art of religious prejudice: Efforts to reform a tradition of social discrimination. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 23:1- 27. C h a d w i c k , Da v id 1999 Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen T eaching of Shunry u Suzuki. New York: Broadway Books. D i e n e r , Mic h a e l, In g r id F i s c h e r - Sc h r e i b e r , a n d Fr a nz- Ka r l E h r h a r d 1991 The S ham bhala Dictionary o f Buddhis m and Zen. Boston: Shambhala Publications. F a u r e , Be r na r d 1993 Chan Insights and Oversights: A n Epistemological Critique o f the Chan T radition. Princeton: Princeton University Press. F i e l d s , Ric k 1998 Divide d Dharma: White Buddhists, ethnic Buddhists, and racism. In The Faces of Buddhism in America, ed. Tanaka, K.， and Charles Prebish, pp. 196- 206. Berkeley: University of California Press. G0N9ALVES, Ricardo Mario 1990 〇 Budis mo Japones no Brasil: Reflexoes de um Observador Participante. In Sinais dos Tempos: Diversidade Religiosa no Brasil, ed. L. Landim. Rio de Janeiro: Ins tituto de Estudos da Religiao. G r o s s , Rit a 1993 Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History ， Analysis, and Reconstruc­ tion of Buddhism. Albany: SUNY Press. Ja f f e , Ric h a r d 2001 Neitner Monk Nor Layman: Clerical Marriage in Modern Japanese Bud­ dhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. K a s h i m a T e t s ude n 1977 Buddhism in America: The Social Organization of an Ethnic Religious Ins ti­ tution. Connecticut: Greenwood Press. K a w a h a s h i N o r ik o 1995 Jizoku (priests， wives) in Soto Ze n Buddhism: An ambiguous category. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 22:161- 83. K a w a h a s h i N o r ik o a n d K u r o k i Ma s a ko , eds. 2003 Fe minis m and Re ligion in Conte mporary Japan. Special Issue. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 30/3- 4. L o p e z , D o n a ld 2002 Intr oduction. In A Modern Buddhis t Bible: Essential Readings from East and West, pp. vii- xli. Boston: Beacon Press. RO CH A ： SO T O SH U ^ K A I K YO SH I I N BRA ZI L | 18 3 M a r a l d o , Jo h n C., a n d Jame s W . H e i s i g , eds. 1994 Rude Awakenings: Zen， The Kyoto School and the Question o f Nationalism. Honolulu: University of Hawaici Press. N a t t ie r , Ja n 1995 Visible and invisible: Jan Nattier on the politics of representation in Buddhist America. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, pp. 42- 49. 1997 Buddhis t Studies in the post- colonial age. Journal of the American Acad­ emy of Religion 65: 469- 85. 1998 Who is a Buddhist? Charting the landscape of Buddhis t America. In The Faces of Buddhism in America, ed. Tanaka, K.， and C. Prebish, pp. 183- 95. Berkeley: University of California Press. N u m r ic h , P aul 1996 Old W^isaom in the New World: Americanization of Two Im m igrant Theravada Buddhist Temples. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press. P ie r c e , Lo r i An n e 2000 Constructing American Buddhisms: Discourses of Race and Religion in Terri­ torial Haw aii. UMI thesis, American Studies, University of Hawaici. P r e b i s h , Cha r le s 1993 Two Buddhisms reconsidered. Buddhist Studies Review 10 (2): 187- 206. R e a d e r , Ia n 1985 Transformations and changes in the teachings of the Soto Zen Buddhist sect. Japanese Religions 14/1: 28- 48. 1986 Zazenless Zen? The pos ition o f zazen in ins titutional Ze n Buddhis m. Japanese Religions 14/3: 7- 27. R o c h a , Cr is tin a 2001 Catholicis m and Zen Buddhis m: A vision of the religious field in Brazil. In The End o f Religion? Religion in an Age of Globalization, ed. Cusack, C.， and P. Oldme adow. Sydney: University of Sydney Press. Forthcoming (a) The Brazilian imaginaire of Zen: Global influences, Rhizomatic Forms. In Japanese Religions in and Beyond the Japanese Diaspora, ed. Pereira, R.， and H. Matsuoka. Berkeley: Center for Japanese Studies, Uni­ versity of California. Forthcoming (b) Being a Ze n Buddhis t Brazilian: Juggling multiple religious identities in the land of Catholicis m. In Buddhis t “Missionary S pirit” in the Twentieth Century: The Propagation of Buddhism in the Era of Global­ ization, ed. L. Learman. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. S h a r f , Ro b e r t 1994 Wh o s e Ze n? Ze n n a t io n a lis m r e vis ite d. In M a r a l d o a n d H e i s i g , eds ., PP- 40- 51. 184 | Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 31/ 1(2004) 1995a Buddhis t mode rnism and the rhetoric of meditative experience. Numen 42: 228- 83. 1995b The Zen of Japanese nationalism. In Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism, ed. D. Lopez Jr., pp. 107- 60. Chicago: Uni­ versity of Chicago Press. So t o s h u Sh u m u c h o 2000 Ze ns huji Soto mis sion in Los Angeles. Zen Friends: A Guide to the Bud­ dhist Way of Life 11:34- 37. Su z u k i S h u n r y u 1980 Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Inform al Talks on Zen Me ditation and Prac­ tice. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill. T a n a b e Jr., Ge or g e J. Forthcoming Grafting identity: The Haw aiian branches of the Bodhi Tree. In Buddhist “Missionary S pirit” in the Twentieth Century: The Propagation of Buddhism in the Era of Globalization, ed L. Learman. Honolulu: Unive r­ sity of Hawaici Press. T o k u d a Ry o t a n 1997 Psicologia Budista. Rio de Jane iro: In s tit ut o Vit o r ia Re gia. U c h i n o , K u m ik o 1983 The status elevation process of Soto Sect nuns in mode rn Japan. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 10:177- 94.