ISSN
1527-6457 "Buddhism in Syncretic Shape": Lessons of Shingon in Brazil(1) by Rafael Shoji, Ph.D.
Candidate
1. Introduction 2. The Brazilian Folk Environment and
its Impact on Buddhism How does the social and cultural environment
of Brazil affect the adaptation of Buddhism, especially for converts and
sympathizers? It is difficult to generalize because each Buddhist group
has important particularities, but there are some general tendencies.
Despite the important influence of globalization in the adaptation of
Buddhism in Brazil, I think that there are Brazilian characteristics that
generate distinct forms of adaptation. Indeed, the influence of Catholicism
on religions in Brazil already suggests that others concepts could be
applied to the study of Buddhism and its history in Brazil. Brazil is
also a country in which multiple religious convergences between many different
religious movements are common phenomena, pointing to the tendency toward
a positive view of religious combination and syncretism. Many people appear
in the statistics as Catholics, but baptized as infants, they later committed
themselves to another religious practice. This is demonstrated by statistical
facts that indicate an acceptance of some Buddhist concepts. A recent
survey showed that belief in the existence of God is shared by an overwhelming
majority of 99 percent.(5) But despite
this, it is still possible that certain Buddhist concepts could be accepted.
A belief in reward or punishment after death is assumed by 69 percent
of Brazilians. The same research showed that 15 percent of the Brazilians
surveyed believe that they will reincarnate, second only to the number
expecting reward or punishment after death. A study carried out in 1992,
from ISER (Advanced Institute for the Study of Religion), showed that
64 percent of Brazilian Catholics accept reincarnation and are acquainted
with some forms of Spiritism or Afro-Brazilian religion (Carvalho 1992:
2). Although reincarnation and karma have distinct meanings in Brazil,
as compared to those of orthodox Buddhism, the popular concepts are already
there. In addition, a relationship to the ancestors, present in the majority
of Japanese Buddhist movements in Brazil, presents a possibility of cultural
acceptance in mainstream Brazilian religiosity, since ancestor worship
was also common among the Indian and African peoples that formed the Brazilian
nation, and played an important role in the formation and devotional practices
of Umbanda. The influence of Spiritism in Brazil, with its concepts of
reincarnation and karma, indicates a possibility for the acceptance of
some important Buddhist beliefs, not through their orthodox formulation
in Buddhism(6), but through a peculiar
syncretic reappropiation, as I will describe in the case of Shingon in
Brazil. Conversely, "Asian" elements are present in Afro-Brazilian
religions and New Age movements in Brazil, with a folk Brazilian meaning.
In particular, there are already in many Umbanda centers an oriental line,
with Hindu and occasionally Buddhist contents. In books produced by the
Afro-Brazilian religions, it is not rare the presence of oriental and
Buddhist elements (Corrêa 1999). 3. A Case Study: Shingon in Brazil
3.2 Practices of Shingon in Brazil
The majority of sympathizers and adepts
from the Church Shingonshu Kongoji come from the city of São Paulo
and their first contacts are made orally. Many Brazilians without Japanese
heritage visit the temple, many of whom are middle class or below. The
presence of many Japanese descendants often occurs during funeral rites.
The so-called consultations and blessings are an important element for
visitors to the temple, being performed daily in two small rooms, separated
from the monks' residence and from the main building. The participants
call the monks padres, a Portuguese word normally used in the
Catholic Church. The main motivations of these visitors are health, financial,
or familial problems. The great majority of Brazilians do not have a formal
association with the temple, or a more doctrinal or intellectual understanding
of Buddhism, although some of these sympathizers have visited these consultations
and weekend ceremonies for many years. Beyond the Shingon temple, many
also practice other traditions simultaneously, such as Catholicism, Spiritism,
or Seicho-no-ie, a new Japanese religion very popular in Brazil. Despite
this, some do consider themselves Buddhist and have done so for decades,
visiting the temple regularly, but participating in other religious practices
as well. In the city of Suzano there exists a Shingon temple other than the Church Shingonshu Kongoji. Due to a division in the temple that belongs to Koyasan, another Shingon temple was built in the city, called Buddhist Church Nambei Yugazam Jyomiyoji. This temple belongs to Shuguendô, a movement founded in Japan in the thirteenth century, and important in the syncretism of Shingon and Shinto practices that occurred at that time. Presenting a magnificent and traditional construction, the temple in Brazil is frequented only by immigrants and descendants. Although near it physically, this temple is a clear contrast to the Church Shingonshu Kongoji. The monks speak little Portuguese and the Buddhist Church Nambei Yugazam Jyomiyoji is very traditional, and associated with devotees of Japanese ethnicity, even though the numbers of these devotees has rapidly decreased in the last years. One interesting aspect of this temple, however, is its incorporation of some devotional and popular elements of Brazilian Catholicism. In this sense, one important characteristic of the altar is the presence of a lateral image of Our Lady Aparecida (port. Nossa Senhora Aparecida). She is venerated as the manifestation of the Virgin Mary in Brazil and is a traditional object of devotion in popular Catholicism. Being the Patroness and symbol of Brazil, devotion to her was very popular with Japanese immigrants in rural zones. The image appears beside the mandalas of Shingon, in the center is a great image of Fudô Myô-ô, the central object of Shingon devotion at this temple. Besides the incorporation of Our Lady Aparecida as a devotional image, there are around three pilgrimages each year to the city of Aparecida do Norte, an important and traditional point for this Catholic devotion. In the photos on lateral walls, the group often appears to be accompanied by Catholic priests during these visits to Aparecida do Norte. At this temple, it is also possible to affirm the presence of syncretism, due to its incorporation of Catholic elements in combination with Shingon meanings. Beyond the temples associated with Koyasan and the Buddhist Church Nambei Yugazam Jyomiyoji, there are also some small independent temples, thought to be derived from Shingon (Osaki 1990: 95-96). Regarding Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, there still exists two Tendai temples in the city of Diadema, following a syncretic pattern similar to what occurs in Shingon.(20) Besides this, there are some new religious movements influenced by Shingon based in São Paulo.(21) 4. "Buddhism in Syncretic Shape" 4.1 Diluting religious identities through syncretism One of the main difficulties of the research on syncretism is the ideological and historical connotation that the term contains, which causes some authors even to reject the concept. Despite its use in other contexts before the sixteenth century, its use in theological discourse frequently produced a pejorative connotation for the term.(22) In contrast to the tendency toward negative interpretation, syncretism was sometimes positively valued, as for example in Latin America, because it presented cultural elements of resistance against the official Catholic hegemony historically associated with European colonization. Despite the historical presence of a pejorative use, the elimination of any negative connotation in the scientific use of the term has been pursued, because as a neutral term it can be used as an important category in Religious Studies (Rudolph 1979). Another difficulty for the research
of syncretism is the relatively free use of the term, which hinders the
formation of a more precise concept. Although sometimes a more instrumental
and formal definition is proposed, the term is generally used in vague,
inexact, and often contradictory ways.(23)
Maybe the source of these contradictions and variations is the difficulty
in systematizing the contributions of different geographical regions or
different religions, given the specificity and peculiarities that influence
the occurrence of syncretism. Although some proposals about syncretism
were developed in Europe, these studies rarely include the research developed
in Latin America, where syncretism is more of a cultural characteristic
than a process.(24) On the
other hand, it is rare that reference, in the studies about syncretism
in Brazilian religions, is given to works about syncretism in other historical
epochs and geographical regions. This difficulty is probably due to the
diversity of local studies that can serve as a model for research about
syncretism. In Europe the main models for the concept of syncretism are
the histories of Hellenic religions in antiquity (Stolz 1996:18). In Brazil,
and perhaps in all of America, the main model seems to be the anthropological
works on African religions. These studies had important contributions
from social scientists such as Herkovits and Roger Bastide, who developed
lines of analysis that still today influence the interpretation of the
phenomenon (Ferretti 1995: 41-113 and Reuter 2002: 171-282). In the USA,
the use of syncretism in Anthropology, independent of its older use in
the History of Religions, appears throughout the works of Boas, in work
about integration and race, and was established as an instrumental concept
within the work of Herkovits on Afro-American religions (Greenfield 1998).
In accordance with the culturalist theory, syncretism was often used as
a reinterpretation, the result of contact between two cultures. More recently,
with the tendency of the USA and many countries, for the substitution
of assimilationist politics with the concept of a multicultural society,
syncretic phenomena has often been rejected in favour of the valorisation
of an ethnic identity, and the concept of syncretism in the academic community
has varied due to these political changes (Stewart 1994: 6-23). Because
religious combinations have been utilized ideologically and politically
for different uses in particular cultures, many researchers proposed the
study of the political discourse about its local validity through syncretism
and anti-syncretism. 4.2 Patterns of Buddhist combination in the West: insights from Brazil and Shingon The presence of syncretism in the history of Buddhism is frequently mentioned with regard to its adaptation in Asia,(29) although its presence in and explanatory value for Buddhist practice in western countries has been little researched. It is natural to suppose that this "suspension of barriers between two systems" can also arise in Buddhism in western countries, in a different pattern of religious combination that should be better described. In a broader sense, potential motives for religious combination is the new situation of simultaneous presence of diverse Buddhist schools in western countries, as well as the potential interaction with other religions. The peculiarities of different Buddhist schools are not important for some adepts, which can also stimulate combinations. Many differences between schools and even religions, which make sense in Asia due to local contexts or geographical distances, can have less meaning in western countries. Religious differences present in the Asian context can be viewed for immigrants and descendants as resemblances between minority groups in western countries. All these factors can generate new religious combinations, many of them temporary and tentative, as much for adepts as for institutions.(30) Here the concept of syncretism emphasizes this processual and dynamic adaptation of Buddhism in western countries. The association of many Buddhists with New Age groups or even with other forms of knowledge, such as psychology and science, also demonstrate influences that can be considered through the concept of bricolage or syncretism, used in the broad sense of the term. These elements are the mirror of a diluted Buddhist identity, adding to the fact that the adaptation of Buddhism in western countries is still in process. Beyond this, reflection on syncretism in Buddhism is especially helpful for countries like Brazil and Latin America in general. In the case of Brazil, given the tendency toward multiple religious practices and syncretism mentioned above, contrary to the European countries and the USA, syncretic tendencies certainly presented a considerable influence in the adaptation and interpretation of Buddhism. For these Buddhist combinations in western countries, it is reasonable to assume that the three structural levels proposed for the study of syncretism can occur, from the incorporation of external elements in a religious "grammar" to a whole new synthesis. Sometimes these religious combinations do not follow a pattern that could configure syncretism in a stricter sense, although a bricolage of different elements is recognizable. Moreover, it is important to distinguish between three functional patterns of Buddhist combinations, able to develop these different structural degrees of syncretism. The first functional pattern occurs in the ethnic religious combination. In the general case of immigrants and their descendants, different practices often reflect different levels of social belonging. In the case of institutions, the incorporation of elements from the mainstream society is something normal and reduces the ethnic strangeness, attracting possible converts and the new generation. In adepts, the simultaneous acceptance of Buddhist rituals and ceremonies of other religions is possible, since often participation in Buddhist rituals is understood as a family obligation or tradition. In these contexts of multiply religiosity, a theoretical perspective that analyzes ethnic religiosity only from a "monoreligious" point of view is often inadequate. Religious combinations can express a more differentiated reality, which can be analyzed through different levels of identity. Regarding religious identity, Hans Mol proposed that there are different identities in the personal, group, and social levels (Mol 1978: 10-14). These identities can converge or diverge, which can be reflected in religious practices. In the case of Japan, he quotes a correlation between community identity and Shinto, the family identity and Buddhism, and personal identity and Christianity. In the case of Buddhist nikkeys in Brazil, religious combinations often perform an integrative function, incorporating elements from the majority, and from Catholic society, and simultaneously reducing and preserving ethnic difference. In Brazil it is not rare to find the butsudan, the Japanese Buddhist altar for the ancestors, in families long since "converted" to Catholicism, Umbanda, or Spiritism. It is also common for Catholic figures to be placed with Buddhist images and the names of ancestors in these domestic altars. Although a heresy in the Christian thought, oriented to monotheism, there is frequently no idea of mutual exclusion or conflict because religiosity is sensitive to social context and can be changed accordingly. Indeed, the identification of different levels of identity in religious practices is very probable in societies that featured syncretism and multiple religious practices already. In contrast with the environment of reception of most western countries, religions frequently assume functional and contextual aspects in Japan and Brazil. As a result of this encounter between the Brazilian and Japanese religiosity, for nikkeys it is possible to recognize a pattern that mixes Brazilian and Japanese religious features. An approach based on the identity of Brazilian nikkeys can indicate the characteristics of this nikkey folk religion.(31) Doctrinal contradictions and ambiguities, something difficult to understand in a syncretic religious practice, can be better analyzed through the role of different practices in the life of an individual or a group. Different and even contradictory religious practices reveal the paradoxes of the different social roles that the same person must often exercise in modern and multicultural societies. In the case of nikkeys in Brazil, if Shinto was the Japanese religion that traditionally represented ethnic belonging, and was chosen at birth ceremonies, then in the case of Brazil a national belonging occurred symbolically through a Catholic baptism. Traditional Buddhism in Japan, as much as in Brazil is reserved for funeral ceremonies and for the worship of ancestors inside a family religiosity. Historical elements accompany a change in the ethnic identity of nikkeys and its consequence for religious practice, interpreted as a strategy of acquaintance and social interaction. From this historical point of view, Catholicism progressively came to replace the state Shinto that had reflected the ethnic identity before the Second World War, through the decision of a definitive permanence in Brazil. The Japanese influence on the nikkey identity, however, is often preserved at the ethnic and family level (Maeyama 1973, Shoji 2002). This ethnic pattern of Buddhist combination can be seen at the Buddhist Church Nambei Yugazam Jyomiyoji. According to interviews, the presence of Our Lady Aparecida represents the establishment and integration of the Japanese in Brazil. Even if this temple is one of the most traditional Buddhist temples in Brazil, these Catholic elements show the hybrid character of the Brazilian nikkey religious culture. Ethnic Shingon in Brazil has a very different pattern of adaptation in comparison, for example, with tendencies found in the practices of Shingon in the USA (Prebish 1999: 26). The influence of Brazilian religions in these adaptations, however, do not always imply an ethnic reception or even an active adaptation, being only the result of border transformations inside the nikkey group, transformed through the new generations and through interaction with Brazilian society. If in the nikkey temples the ethnic gap is reduced through similar incorporations, often this approximation occurs only at the symbolic or religious level, but not always with the real participation of Brazilians. Our Lady Aparecida can stay with the Shingon mandalas and Fudô Myô-ô, but Brazilians are not always encouraged to do the same. For the study of converts and sympathizers, it is important to make a more sharp distinction between a functional pattern of conceptual religious combination and a religious combination for worldly benefits.(32) In the conceptual religious combination, some parallels between different doctrines or myths are established, and a syncretic view depends on concepts that provide for the addition of different elements or practices from other systems, through a relativization of truth content and a subsequent integration. In a more formal approach these concepts for doctrinal relativization can be called entry points. These entry points can be, for example, the assumption of a mystical unity of religions or the idea of a New Age. In the case of Buddhism, the Mahayana concepts of 'skilful means' or the bodhisattva are examples of possible bridges with other religions. Sometimes, the idea of an "essence of Buddhism" is also a good example of an entry point for a syncretism between different Buddhist strands. The entry points make possible the filling of doctrinal gaps, independent of whether they appear through a lack of knowledge or really do exist. Due to a perceived necessity for doctrinal completion, these gaps are filled with elements from other systems, as is the case for many religious combinations. Indeed, the perception of doctrinal gaps is normal for the majority of Buddhists in western countries. For some, Buddhism is still intellectually difficult and the orthodoxy is often cultural distant, frequently existing only in the insufficient or inaccurate translations available. The practice of Buddhism mirrors a more diffuse sympathy toward Asian religions, understood through a holistic philosophy or in an individual and mystical way (Campbell 1999). Through interaction with a new social environment and with local religions, new Buddhist contents can arise. Even a translation of a religious text can potentially be read as a religious combination, since the translated elements are often used by other religions already established. For other Buddhists, the doctrinal gap is not produced by a lack of knowledge, rather the necessity of combinations is perceived as an attempt toward a necessary integration. The perception is that many doctrinal differences between schools or even religions can have less meaning in some western contexts, and that a conscious combination toward synthesis is something valuable.(33) In contrast, combinations of practices or rituals appear more frequently in a simple accumulative way, often without so much reflection. Specifically the religious combinations for worldly benefits are frequently unstructured and the result of an individual choice. The logic of this type of religious combination is that different practices, separated from their original doctrinal context, are united according to the worldly and practical benefit being pursued. Because they are isolated from an associated doctrinal meaning, they are combined with practices through bricolage or syncretism, without a sense of contradiction or exclusion. In a particular case, this pattern of combination for worldly benefits seems to be especially valid in for a magical understanding of Buddhism, something important for Shingon in Brazil. The magical aspects do not exclude the importance of correct behaviour and individual ethics for a desired benefit. However, given that the basic rule of magic is often effectiveness, real or perceived, it is natural to think that a simple addition is possible, if a multiple religiosity is possible. As Bastide writes about practices for magic protection, "in case of doubt, two precautions were better than one" (Bastide 1971: 160). In the case of a magical pattern, consequently, a formal synthesis in the form of a doctrine or new synthesis rarely occurs. Being a more magic conception of the world, without borders and even independent from religious systems, there is a place for the fusion of elements belonging to different practices through the desired benefit. A potential state of syncretism always remains in this case; the decisive impulse for the combination is not given by the religious concepts, but by the religious results. Being more oriented to a wordly result, the practices are often accumulative, existing often in the suspension of barriers between two or more systems and configuring the syncretism in a more strict sense. In this folk context, often associated with a karmic Buddhism in Brazil, the existence of syncretic conceptions in adepts and sympathizers is also stimulated by a lack of access to or the inexistence of more formal and specialized sources, as books or specialized reviews. These different ways of religious combination in sympathizers and converts can be seen at the Church Shingonshu Kongoji, but with the clear predominance of a syncretism originating from practices aimed at worldly benefits. This is the result of the encounter between a Japanese and Brazilian religiosity oriented toward the religious pursuit of practical benefits in this world. Because this search for concrete benefits through Buddhist magical practices is almost nonexistent in the bibliography on Buddhism in western countries, the rest of this item will detail the meaning of religious combinations for some priests and adepts at the Church Shingonshu Kongoji. According to interviews with priests
at the Church Shingonshu Kongoji, the magical aspect of practice is confirmed
and emphasized. The first motivation is the miraculous, and the solution
of problems, especially health problems. Over time, not rejecting these
miraculous aspects, the priests try to make the adept better understand
the other meanings of Shingon and therefore make visitors adhere more
consistently to Buddhism. Multiple religious affiliation is permitted,
but it is affirmed that this is not necessarily convenient or fruitful
for spiritual development. In an interview, a monk affirmed that he tries
to avoid the Christian vocabulary. For example, when the visitors utilize
the expression "graces to God" as religious gratitude during
consultations, he tries to correct them and suggest the use of the expression
"graces to our ancestors." He also affirms the use of concepts
from Spiritism and Afro-Brazilian religions because there would then be
a basis for a common spiritual reality, and the adepts understand these
concepts easily. For example, the term macumba is utilized because
"macumba is the African tantra." For a similar reason
this priest often uses the words encosto (influence of deceased
spirits) and passe (spiritual blessing), concepts often used
in Spiritism, instead of the similar Japanese and Shingon words, reishô
and kaji. He also emphasizes that the concept of karma, incorporated
into Spiritism, is derived from Asian religions and is a normal word for
Brazilians. Through the influence of Spiritism, therefore it would be
easier to understand the Shingon methods. However, as a distinctive aspect
of Shingon, he points out the importance of ancestors’ karma as
a cause and a possible source of evil remediation for the adepts, aside
from the contemplative practices. Personally, this priest wants to emphasize
the contemplative aspect particular to Shingon, through the introduction
of meditation on the Sanskrit A-Syllable. Instruction in meditation is
a request from some adepts. Despite this intention, he says that for this
to occur more commitment is necessary, and that the priests have little
time to introduce meditation, because a Shingon priest must perform many
rituals, aside from parallel activities for their own financial survival.
Each adept has therefore a relative
liberty of combination, which reflects a contemporary religious tendency,
not only including magical elements, but also including individual reasons
for personal combination. Indeed, institutions are often mentioned only
so fare as they affirm a more individual view. This can be illustrated
by an adept living in São Paulo. Being Buddhist and having visited
Shingon for many years, she read books about Asian religions and New Age
religion, in contrast to the majority in Shingon. She sought Shingon due
to a health problem and her suffering continues she says, but now she
is quiet and has more self-control. Although she values a more popular
aspect of Shingon in Suzano, she misses a more intellectual aspect and
doctrinal continuity through books or courses. In contrast with others
Buddhist groups, especially Zen groups, she feels that in Shingon there
is a liberty and a more popular tendency because in Zen groups, for example,
"the doors are not open for all and always, they are for people that
want to sit and meditate." She has a Shingon altar at home, built
according to what she learned from Shingon, but also incorporating Catholic
and African images. For her, Shingon is an open and individual way. 5. Conclusions In the practice of ethnic Buddhism, the simultaneous practice of other rituals, due to a progressive ethnic integration, can introduce local elements into Buddhism. For converts and sympathizers, syncretism develops through the simultaneous interaction with diverse Buddhist schools and through the potential interaction with local religions. In a "Buddhism in Syncretic Shape," in accordance with the syncretic attitude of suspension of limits between different systems, there is often the practice with other religions or adaptations through influences from New Age and ecological movements. These elements are the mirror of a diluted Buddhism, caused by the adoption of separate components. Since many differences of doctrine and practice are not important or not perceived as relevant by converts and sympathizers, Buddhism is sometimes adopted as a philosophy of life without a religious practice, often as a practice without a religious doctrine, or even diluted in aesthetic and esoteric ways. Attracting people for different motives and not as a whole, this type of adoption is often open to bricolage or even syncretism with other elements. Aside from this, reflection about syncretism in Buddhism is especially helpful for countries such as Brazil and Latin America in general. In Brazil's case, syncretic tendencies certainly present a considerable influence in the development of Buddhism within the encounter of a Japanese and Brazilian religiosity oriented toward worldly benefits. In the religious interpretation of Syncretic Buddhism, there is no attempt to "purify" Buddhism from subsequent historical interpretations or even eliminate the magical elements. 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Charles Stewart and Rosalind Shaw. London and New York: Routledge, 1-26. Shoji, Rafael. 2002. "O Budismo Étnico na Religiosidade Nikkey no Brasil: Aspectos Históricos e Formas de Sobrevivência Social," in Rever 2, 4. Available at: http://www.pucsp.br/rever/rv4_2002/t_shoji.html. Accessed on May 29, 2003. Stolz, Fritz. 1996. "Austauschprozesse zwischen religiösen Gemeinschaften und Symbolsystemen," in Im Schmelztiegel der Religionen: Konturen des modernen Synkretismus, eds. Volker Drehsen and Walter Sparn. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verl.-Haus, 15-36. Takeuchi, K. 1994. Imigração Nipônica no Brasil. In Veritas 154, 231-241. Tanaka, Kenneth K. 1998. "Epilogue: The Colors and Contours of American Buddhism," in The Faces of Buddhism in America, eds. Charles S. Prebish and Kenneth K. Tanaka. Berkeley: University of California Press, 287-298. Ten Grotenhuis, Elisabeth. 1999. Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Tweed, Thomas A. 1999. "Night-Stand Buddhists and Other Creatures: Sympathizers, Adherents and the Study of Religion," in American Buddhism: Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship, eds. Duncan Ryuken Williams and Christopher S. Richmond: Curzon Press, 71-90. Um povo que acredita. 2001. In Veja, Dez/2001. Usarski, Frank. 2002a. "Brazil," in Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, eds. J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 63-168. ______. 2002b. "Seu caloroso coração brasileiro e a energia pura de Maitreya atuam muito bem juntos: Reflexões sobre Lama Michel," in O Budismo no Brasil, ed. Frank Usarski. São Paulo: Lorosae. One version of this paper is available at: http://www.cesnur.org/testi/lama_michel.htm. Accessed on Sept. 20, 2002. Vogt, Werner. 1999. "Dekonstruktion von Religion zum Life-Style oder Neue Religiosität? Eine kritische Studie zur Rezeption des Buddhismus in Westen," in Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft 7, 205-226. Yamasaki, Taiko. 1988. Shingon: Japanese Esoteric Buddhism. Boston and London: Shambala. Yanaguida, Toshio and Alisal, M Dolores Rodríguez del. 1992. Japoneses en América. Madrid: Ampere. Werbner, Richard. 1994. "Afterword," in Syncretism/Anti-syncretism: The politics of religious synthesis, eds. Charles Stewart and Rosalind Shaw. London and New York: Routledge, 212-216. Notes (1)I would like to thank Prof. Frank Usarski, Prof. Peter Antes and Prof. Martin Baumann for the academic exchange, Kara Vincent for the English revision and editorial assistance and to the people that I meet in the field for the shared information. Return to Text. (2)The concept of a Protestant Buddhism was originally elaborated by Obeyesekere in a Sri Lankan context (a recent description is in Gombrich and Obeyesekere 1988, mainly Part Three). Although, the concept of "Buddhism in Protestant Shape" can have a heuristic value also in England, the USA, and Australia (Baumann 1997: 284-285), as a consequence of the importance of Protestantism for these countries and a similar emphasis and motivation toward Buddhism by westerners. For a general description of Protestant Buddhism and the simultaneous valorisation of textual sources, see King 1999: 150-154. For discussion of a "Protestant Buddhism" in England, through the FWBO (Friends of the Western Buddhist Order) and the English Sangha, see Mellor 1991. Return to Text. (3)For more details about Japanese immigration in Brazil see, among others, Saito 1980, Takeuchi 1994 and Yanaguida 1992. Return to Text. (4)In a preliminary release of the census of 2000 from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), around 246,000 Brazilians declared themselves Buddhists, starkly concentrated in the southeast region of the country. Despite the small number in comparison to the Brazilian population (around 170 million), this number is higher, for example, than the number of declared adepts of Candomblé. Restricted to world religions, Buddhism is certainly the religion that has the most adepts in Brazil, after Christianity. The number of Buddhists is, for example, twice the number of Jews, Muslims, and Hindus. It is well known, however, the difficulty of analysing any quantitative religious data in Brazil, due to a multiple religious affiliation. Some Buddhist groups in Brazil see it as no problem to have a Catholic affiliation and a Buddhist practice. Return to Text. (5)Report “Um povo que acredita,” Veja Magazine, Dec.2001. Return to Text. (6)For an analysis of the process of internalization of the reincarnation concept in a Tibetan group in Brazil, see Usarski 2002b (a revised analysis is only available in the Portuguese version). Return to Text. (7)For an analysis of this process as a reaction against the social ascendance of immigrants, see Queiroz 1988. Return to Text. (8)For more details, see Montes 1998, Sanchis 1997 and Usarski 2002a. In this sense, it is interesting to contrast the virtual disappearance of the African cults in Protestant America, as illustrated in Bastide 1971:152-169. Return to Text. (9)See Sanchis 1997 for a study of the history of religions in Brazil. Because the tendency toward syncretism is not an isolated religious phenomenon, but a cultural fact for all of Latin America, Christián Parker has defended the concept of a "syncretic thought" in the popular ideology of Latin America. For details, see Parker 1996: 315. About the syncretism of New Age groups in Brazil, see Amaral 1998. For a study about Umbanda, see Negrão 1996. Return to Text. (10)For a general description of Shingon practices, beyond Yamasaki 1988, see Goepper 1983. For a more detailed description of Shingon mandalas and Chinese influences on their elaboration, see Ten Grotenhuis 1999: 33-95. Return to Text. (11)In this sense, the term frequently used is kaji kitô, according to Yamasaki 1988: 78. Return to Text. (12)For a resume of folk religion in Japan, see Reader 1993: 44-63. Return to Text. (13)Yamasaki 1988: 9. Indeed, the pursuit of this-worldly benefits (jap. genze ryaku) is defended as the central theme of religion in Japan (Reader and Tanabe 1998). Return to Text. (14)A probable hypothesis is the positive correlation between syncretism and esoteric practice in the Buddhism of western countries. This has already been indicated in studies about Buddhism in Asia by Gombrich and Obeyesekere 1988: 462, for Sri Lanka, and Spiro 1982: 162-163 for Myanmar. In the case of Shingon in Japan, see Yamasaki 1988: 37. The esoterism in Buddhism, frequently of Tantric origin, tends toward the teaching of masters based on initiations, which would generate a potential for fragmentation and independence of teachings throughout generations, thereby becoming a Buddhism more open to individual influences and other religious ideas, frequently associated with magic contents. Return to Text. (15)Among them are the pioneers Rev. Gonçalves and Rev. Murillo Azevedo, who subsequently converted, respectively, to the Higashi and Nishi branches from the Jôdô Shinshû School. According to interviews, the motives were, in both cases, the syncretism with Afro-Brazilian religions. Return to Text. (16)In this context, the black magic originated from Afro-Brazilian religions that has the objective of injuring someone, is frequently associated with the so-called lower spirits. The popular term "macumba" is normally used by quimbanda. Return to Text. (17)In a second informational paper distributed by Koyasan: "This mass arose through a legend that says that offering it, we are able to live in peace and to have happiness, protected by the spirit of our ancestors." Return to Text. (18)See for example Jensen 1998: 84-85, in her description of the clientele of Umbanda in São Paulo. Return to Text. (19)A devotional aspect of Shingon in Brazil is briefly described by Clarke 1999: 204-205. Return to Text. (20)One of these temples is called Jogan-Ji Fudô Myô-ô and was built in the 1970s, being considered a tourist destination of the region. According to my fieldwork, the temple is directed by two priestesses and is associated with the temple Tyoujiu-ji Kihara Fudô-Son in Japan. Fudô Myô-ô is the main deity in this temple and there is also an emphasis on consultations, and the ritual of fire (jap. goma) is still performed. The other temple from the Tendai branch in Diadema is the Kannon Community, which has become somewhat decadent after the death of the founder. Until some years ago a ceremony with a walk on fire was performed annually, a special practice of Tendai, which attracted popular attention and the media. In the practices, there are consultations and blessings for curing illness or solving problems. The syncretism with Buddhist deities of the Catholic devotion of Maria and the Afro-Brazilian deity Iemanjá are some other popular local features. Return to Text. (21)Agonshu, an example from the so-called 'new, new' religious movements, is already established in São Paulo. It has many Brazilian adepts, mainly attracted for the solution of worldly problems. Although Agonshu does not belong to esoteric Buddhism, it is strongly influenced by the Shingon format. Another example is Shinnyo-En, an independent group associated with the temple Daigoji and strongly influenced by Shingon practices. For an overview of the Japanese new religious movements in Brazil, see Clarke 1999. Return to Text. (22)See Colpe 1995. Plutarch first used the term “syncretism” for the behaviour of the Cretans, because they would minimize internal disputes in order to combat external enemies. Centuries later, Erasmus used the term in a similar sense. The term was first used with a pejorative meaning during the reconciliation efforts between Molinists and Thomists in the sixteenth century and between Lutherans and Calvinists in the seventeenth century. Return to Text. (23)Some of these contradictory uses associated with History of Religions practiced in Europe are documented in detail in Berner 1982: 5-79. Return to Text. (24)Ulrich Berner, for example, wrote a detailed study about the use of the term syncretism in the academic literature, intending to elaborate a complete typology for the uses of the term (Berner 1982: 83-116). However, he practically excludes the history and contemporary practice of religions in Latin America, which are traditionally associated with syncretism. Michael Pye has directly acknowledged this deficiency, but he could not incorporate the contributions from this region either (Pye 1994: 218). Return to Text. (25)This is the definition of syncretism found in Berner 1982: 85, from the definition of religion as system in Luhmann. Berner also develops a complex typology of syncretism, which will not be utilized here and was criticized by Pye 1994: 221-222. Return to Text. (26)Bechert 1978:21. Berner described similar levels in his classification, with concepts of relationship (a system with limits), syncretism (suspended limits), and synthesis (new system), see Berner 1982: 83-87. A similar, although independent, proposal appears in the study of syncretism in the Afro-Brazilian religions, according to Ferretti 1995: 91. Return to Text. (27)See Lipp 1996 and Sanchis 1997. In this context Amaral has proposed the concept of "syncretism in movement," in which religious identities are not solidly established, but always alter themselves due to the appropriation of new elements and the abandonment of others, according to Amaral 1998. For some, syncretism is near to the concept of bricolage proposed in another context by Lévi-Strauss, but some authors distinguish more sharply between these two terms, reserving the term bricolage for the cases in which the creation of new cultural forms is the result of ready and isolated elements with a more traditional use in other cultures. One example is Werbner 1994: 215. Some authors try to incorporate aspects from the research about bricolage to the study of syncretism, such as Roger Bastide, see Reuter 2002: 232-250. Return to Text. (28)Besides Bechert, other authors have defended this differentiation, such as Berner 1982:92 and Pye 1994. In other research this difference is not very sharp, syncretism being not only a process but also a possible state, as described in Colpe 1995: 219. The Afro-Brazilian Umbanda religion in Brazil, for example, is frequently described as a syncretic religion, because syncretism appears not only in its formation but also in its theology, potentially open to external influences. For more details, see Negrão 1996. Return to Text. (29)The distinction between Protestant Buddhism and syncretic and popular influences was emphasized, for example, in studies about Theravada Buddhism in Asia. In the Sri Lankan context, for which the concept of Protestant Buddhism was initially created, the influence of spirit cults and syncretic tendencies with Hindu elements in Buddhism was justified as a consequence of the distinction between the worldly (laukika) and the supramundane (lokottara) (Bechert 1978: 219, Gombrich and Obeyesekere 1988: 16). Historically syncretism is also present in Protestant Buddhism, since it presents the influence not only of Protestant concepts but also from Theosophy. The main point is that Protestant Buddhism represents a tradition, essentially invented, that affirmed that the more syncretic, magic, and popular aspects would be deviations from the essence of Buddhism (Gombrich and Obeyesekere 1988: 241). In Protestant Buddhism the influences of other religions or magic aspects are frequently represented as corruptions from the true tradition or as "accessory" elements for right religious practice. In confrontation with the rationality of Protestant Buddhist soteriology, the appropriation and reinterpretation of Hindu and popular elements resulted in new Buddhist practices, mainly devotional and directed toward this world, incorporated into the process of social class formation in Sri Lanka. These devotional and popular elements were already present and they were always incorporated in some way into Buddhist practice, in a process of simultaneous influence. In the case of Sri Lanka, today these two basic forms of Buddhist practice have the tendency to form a new synthesis (Idem: 449-456. For more details, see specially Part Two). In another example, in his study on Buddhism in Myanmar (former Burma), Spiro describes the differences of interpretation between the Buddhist soteriology of monks and the laypeople, influenced more by a worldly karma and by the worship of spirits (nats). The latter introduced magical and more popular elements into Buddhist practice, which live together with a more intellectualized worldview (Spiro 1982: 187 and throughout the descriptions in Chapter Seven). Besides Theravada, syncretic influences were always present in Asian countries, mixing Buddhism with popular and magical practices or with other religions, sometimes in a more intellectualized way. See, among others, the contributions about syncretism and Buddhism by Bechert 1978, for a comparative view and case studies about religious syncretism in Nepal, Java and Bali, Indian and Japan. For a historical approach on syncretism in the religions of central Asian, including influences on Buddhism in Mongolia and Tibet, see Heissig and Klimkeit 1987. Return to Text. (30)For a description about the eclecticism of Buddhist groups in the USA, see Seager 1999: 216-231. This eclecticism mixed practices, and had the difficult task of defining a Buddhist identity. Another description of this tendency, labelled "diffuse" affiliation, can be read in Tanaka 1998: 296-297. One important contributor to this theme is Tweed 1999. This article seems especially interesting for the Brazilian case, because it emphasizes the difficulty in finding criteria to define religious identity, mainly in cultures with a tendency toward multiple religious affiliation or syncretic combination. About a possible criterion for religious identity, Tweed defends only self-identification and asserts that it is necessary to abandon normative and essentialist criteria for the classification of Buddhists, such as, for example, the taking of the three refuges or the practice of the five lay vows (Tweed 1999: 80). Moreover, he points out the hybrid character of contemporary religious identity, creating the category of "sympathizer." A "sympathizer" would be one that shows empathy for, and even adopts practices and readings of, a determined religious tradition. Return to Text. (31)As Michael Pye writes regarding the Japanese religion, "the contemporary primal religion in Japan is [in comparison with Shinto] a more general and more neutral religious complex with its own vitality and its own persistence. Buddhism and the various, in many cases locally influential new religions also stand in a complex relationship with this unnamed primal religion" (Pye 1996: 3) and "Japan's new primal religion however has no institutions, no spokesmen, and no thinkers" (Pye 1996: 5). Similar arguments could be used for Brazilian nikkey religiosity, but with a pattern including Brazilian religions such as Catholicism and Spiritism. These characteristics can be labeled as a common religion instead a primal religion (Reader and Tanabe 1998: 27). Return to Text. (32)Here, adapted for the Buddhism of western countries are similar points described by Roger Bastide in the syncretism of Catholicism and Candomblé (Bastide 1971: 154, Reuter 2002: 223-272). Also related, Rudolph made a similar differentiation between a reflected or conscious, and a folk or unconscious syncretism (Rudolph 1979: 207-208). Return to Text. (33)An approach orientated to the integration of different strands is discussed by Baumann 1995: 299-309, through the examples of the FWBO and Arya Maitreya Mandala in Germany. Rawlinson also describes the FWBO as an ecumenical sangha in his typology of Theravada Buddhism in West (Rawlinson 1994). Freiberger 2001 also offers some case studies in his view of the contacts between Buddhism and other religious traditions. Return to Text. (34)In Japan, this
relationship is more formalized and normally defined in the initiation
ritual, in which the adept casts a sprig of anise on a Shingon mandala.
For more details, see Yamasaki 1988: 176. Return
to Text. |