Buddhists emboldened

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

The annex chapel at Honpa Hongwanji on Pali Highway is brimming with families.

Terry Labiste, left, her 9-year-old son Eric, and Doris Abe worship at the Honpa Hongwanji on the Pali Highway. The hongwanji and the Soto Zen mission are the two largest Buddhist denominations in the Islands. Buddhists here are second in numbers only to Roman Catholics. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

"My wife and I grew up Buddhist," said her father, Scott Yoshida, explaining that he and Debbie want the same grounding for their daughter.

Cross the Pali and head mauka one block and the scene is much different at the main temple of the Soto Zen mission. Here, after the 45-minute service, some of the 30 or so mostly older Asian Americans gather for coffee and savory Japanese pastries and lament the loss of their youthful members to Christian churches.

Welcome to the two largest Buddhist denominations in the Islands, both taking different approaches as they face the challenges to Buddhism in Hawai'i today.

Buddhists, second in numbers only to Roman Catholics here, face encroachment by evangelical groups from other religions and aging congregations. Buddhist tradition eschews self-promotion, so even this can be a difficulty.

There are signs of progress, most notably the August opening of the Pacific Buddhist Academy, as the denominations consider their future and retrench. But experts note that Buddhism, which suffered its cruelest blow in the anti-Japan fervor of World War II, may be in need of even more change to stave off erosion.

Honpa Hongwanji and Soto Zen host English-language services that are attended primarily by Japanese Americans — no surprise for denominations deeply rooted in Japan and celebrating, respectively, their 114th and 100th years in Hawai'i. But both are looking to the future in different ways.

Yet while their members may be fewer, Komagata says they are stronger.

Beatrice Yoshimoto agrees. She's one of the women who gather after a service, to practice a song for the coming centennial celebration.

The young people still come out for the Obon festival, she notes. "They help at the food booths."

She's worried about the loss of members but optimistic overall: "In a way I'm concerned, but I'm confident our church will continue," Yoshimoto said. "As (youth) get older, they're coming back. Youth feel the need for a deeper religious base."

One sign of progress for this congregation: The mission recently ordained its own home-grown Buddhist minister and has another on the way, both of whom were trained here in the Islands.

That's an important step, says Youth, whose own Honpa Hongwanji's policy is to ordain in Japan.

But Honpa Hongwanji leaders aren't sitting back wringing their hands. In October 1999, the Honpa Hongwanji released the half-inch-thick "Rethinking the Hongwanji: Report of the Core Committee," with an introduction that began, "In December 1998, Bishop (Chikai) Yosemori and President Fred Nonaka took a risk. ... They believed that a new direction and bold leadership was needed to revive the Jodo Shinshu movement in Hawai'i."

Since the release of the report, a group met during 2002 to formulate recommendations "for creating a new attitude for change."

Some Hongwanji temples already have come back with their own strategic plans, said Youth, while others are trying to refocus.

"How do you fix a plane's tire in the air while it's flying?" she said. "Maybe if we tweak, do a grassroots-up. That's been happening."

While some of those fixes seem to be working — the 100-plus people attending the family service at Honpa Hongwanji just about equaled the number next door at the main betsuin temple's later service — it's important to remember that Buddhism doesn't consider regular attendance at Sunday services mandatory or even necessary.

"You can't count by who goes to temple on Sunday," explained the Rev. Alfred Bloom, a professor emeritus of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Religion Department.

Bloom also notes that Buddhists aren't exclusive: "In Japan, the number of Buddhists and the number of Shinto is more than the population. People do not draw lines."

The Rev. Thomas Okano, the director of the Buddhist Study Center, a part of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission near UH, takes issue with that. He says it's as many as 6 million Buddhists, and the racial breakdown is closer to 50 percent, if you add in the "American Buddhism" movement.

Indeed, American Buddhism, often more about meditation than congregation, has grown nationwide.

If attendance at New Year's or O-bon services is any indication, ethnic Buddhism in Hawai'i isn't going away anytime soon. Both continue to draw healthy crowds, ministers said.

During the war, all Japanese Buddhist temples were shut down (though not, Okano remarked, any Japanese Christian churches), which in turn led to pent-up demand. When the temples reopened, it sent Buddhism back in an upswing in the 1950s, one that lasted into the 1960s, but after that peaked, Buddhism has seen a steady decline, he said.

"During the war and ever since, the pressure from within and without (is) Buddhists have felt they needed to become Christian to become accepted in the mainstream," Okano said. "That may not be the only reason they convert, of course, but it has a tremendous impact on Buddhism. That's another big blow the community suffered."

Some evangelical Christian groups actively target Japanese: For example, New Hope Christian Fellowship last weekend held a "Japanese Hawaiian Fun Night," complete with food, entertainment and games.

Ironically, Buddhist Study Center director Okano adds, temples have not done a good job attracting the new Japanese arrivals, who sometimes find their ways to the so-called "new Japanese religions," some of which may have more in common with evangelical Christian groups than traditional Buddhist groups.

"We have to serve these people, too, which we have not been doing so effectively," Okano said. "The new religions may be doing a better job attracting these people."

Change needs to take place within congregations, said Komagata at the Soto Zen mission. Ministers are expected to serve their flock, be administrators, perform ceremonies and even tend to the facilities, but the propagation of the faith requires they do more.

"All these years, Buddhist ministers have been very dedicated, but the aim was at serving the congregation," he said. "Now, we need to address the community. We need the blessings of members that Buddhist ministers need to serve not only the congregation, but to get involved in the entire community.

"Like a farmer is not concerned just about what you plant in your part of the field, you must also be concerned about the whole field, the rain, the fertilizer, even the sun."

And there have been some efforts toward "interdenominational bonding," says the Rev. Yoshi Fujitani, who recalls the heyday of the Hawaii Association of International Buddhists, pointing out that the Hawai'i Buddhist Council is more than 50 years old.

"I think Buddhism may not be moving up as much as moving out," he said.

Mary Kaye Ritz covers religion and ethics for The Advertiser. Reach her at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.