Buddhist initiation ritual
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Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: , Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
: sugye (수계) refers to the public ordination ceremony wherein a lay
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
student of Zen Buddhism receives certain Buddhist precepts, "a rite in which they publicly avow allegiance to 'The Three Refuges
Three Jewels
The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Siemese Triples, Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem , are the three things that Buddhists take refuge in, and look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge.The Three Jewels are:* BuddhaTaking refuge in the Three Jewels is...
' of Buddhist practice: The Buddha, the dharma and the sangha."
Soto School
In the SōtōSoto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
school, as well as the White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga
White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a Zen school in the Harada-Yasutani lineage, created by the late Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors and students...
, students take refuge in the Three Jewels (or Three Refuges), the Three Pure Precepts ("to do no evil, to do good, and to do good for others") and the Ten Grave Precepts. Students must undergo a period of study for their jukai ceremony.
South Korea
In South Korea, the ritual, called sugye (수계), involves formally taking refuge in The Three Jewels of BuddhismThree Jewels
The Three Jewels, also called the Three Treasures, the Siemese Triples, Three Refuges, or the Triple Gem , are the three things that Buddhists take refuge in, and look toward for guidance, in the process known as taking refuge.The Three Jewels are:* BuddhaTaking refuge in the Three Jewels is...
: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and accepting the five precepts. During the ritual, the initiate is touched with a burning incense stick. This is to leave a permanent mark which serves to remind the initiate of their promise to uphold the five precepts. During (or right after) the ceremony, the initiate is given a Buddhist name
Dharma name
A Dharma name is a new name acquired during a Buddhist initiation ritual in Mahayana Buddhism and monk ordination in Theravada Buddhism. The name is traditionally given by a Buddhist monastic, but is also given to newly ordained monks, nuns and laity....
.
China
In China, the ritual, is called shòu jiè (受戒). The character 受 means "receive," while 戒 means "precepts." Taken together, the characters translate as "initiated" or "ordained," (according to Google Translate).Many people believe in Buddhism but do not go through any initiation ceremonies. Such Buddhists make up the overwhelming majority. Only a small part of Buddhists have gone through the ceremony which makes the recipient an upasaka or upasika and accepted the five commandments. They are formal Buddhists.
Lewis Hodus, in his 1920 book Buddhism and Buddhists in China remarks on the Chinese ceremony as well, after recording an initiation ceremony for both those entering monastic life and the laity: "Less private was the initiation of the lay brethren and sisters, more lightly branded on the right wrist, while all about intoned 'Na Mah Pen Shih Shih Chia Mou Ni Fo.' (I put my trust in my original Teacher, Säkyamuni, Buddha.)" In modern notation and Chinese, this would be written "Namo Ben Shi Shi Jia Mou Ni Fo" (南無本師釋迦牟尼佛).
USA
In the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, "jukai is a formal rite of passage that marks entrance into the Buddhist community. At that time, a student is given a Dharma name
Dharma name
A Dharma name is a new name acquired during a Buddhist initiation ritual in Mahayana Buddhism and monk ordination in Theravada Buddhism. The name is traditionally given by a Buddhist monastic, but is also given to newly ordained monks, nuns and laity....
. He or she also makes a commitment to the precepts, which are interpreted a bit differently in various communities."
Diamond Sangha
In the Diamond Sangha, jukai is "commonly practiced" though some members never undergo the ceremony because they are members of another religion which prohibits such initiations. Therefore, some would say, they are not Buddhist by definition.Rochester Zen Center
At the Rochester Zen CenterRochester Zen Center
The Rochester Zen Center is a Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage, located in Rochester, New York and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States. The history of the Rochester Zen Center begins overseas with the...
and its affiliated centers, the jukai ceremony involves taking the same precepts as in the Soto and White Plum traditions; however, from school to school or lineage to lineage, interpretation and translation of precepts can vary. During their ordination, "The Zen teacher individually [anoints] each participant with sanctified water (shasui). In this ritual a special wand tipped with pine needles is dipped in sanctified water and then touched to the head of the initiate, thereby establishing a physical bond between the initiate, the Zen teacher, and the teacher's spiritual lineage." Following their ceremony a student receives a rakusu
Rakusu
The rakusu is a traditionally Japanese garment worn around the neck of Zen Buddhists who have taken the precepts. It can also signify . It is made of 16 or more strips of cloth, sewn together into a brick-like pattern by the student during their period of preparation for their jukai or ordination...
, which is, "[a] rectangular piece of fabric worn around the neck." According to the late Houn Jiyu-Kennett
Houn Jiyu-Kennett
Houn Jiyu-Kennett, , born Peggy Teresa Nancy Kennett, was a British roshi most famous for having been the first female to be sanctioned by the Soto School of Japan to teach in the West. Jiyu-Kennett founded Shasta Abbey in Mount Shasta, California in 1970 after many years spent studying Zen and...
, "This is the most important set of ceremonies in the life of a [Zen Buddhist] layman [sic], and no person may become a [monastic] trainee unless he [sic] has undergone the week of training that these ceremonies occupy, either before his [sic] ordination or within a year of entering a training temple."