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在东北亚诸国中，佛教最晚传入日本。但多年来，佛教在日本比在其他任何国家都得到更充分的发展。立足于大乘佛教精髓的日本佛教扎根于日本民众的生活之中，成为日本文化的中心，绽放出绚丽的花朵。
然而近年来，日本佛教出现了危机。虽然绝大多数日本人都称自己是佛教徒，但他们一年内进出佛教寺院的次数却屈指可数。去的人少了，为寺庙捐钱的人自然也少了，寺院因此陷入了财政危机。加上总体说来，日本的年轻一代对佛教的兴趣大不如他们的前辈。有人担心，当老一代佛教徒去世后，也许日本寺院会出现后继乏人的窘况。
为了吸引更多的年轻人，日本佛教界也开始了反思。本文讲述的就是他们的创新之举。
Dressed in dark cotton robes, a bracelet of 1)prayer beads hanging from his wrist, Gugan Taguchi certainly looks the part. But as he kneels to chant a 2)sutra before an 3)altar in the corner of the room, the people around him continue to chat, and his 4)rhythmic prayers can only just be heard above a Blue Note jazz track.
Minutes later Taguchi is back in his seat, glass in hand. A bottle of 5)rum sits on the bar in front of him, next to a half-filled 6)ashtray as his tobacco smoke mingles with the aroma of 7)incense.
Some of his peers may disapprove of his methods, but amid a dramatic decline in interest in Buddhism among young Japanese, Taguchi is prepared to go almost anywhere to reach out to the 8)skeptics, inclu-ding to the Bozu [monks] bar in Tokyo.
“I can understand why younger people aren’t attracted to Buddhism,” says Taguchi, 46, a former 9)salaryman from Hokkaido who turned to the priesthood after his sight became 10)impaired in his late 20s. “I’m happy to come here and listen to people talk about anything they like. It’s up to them if they decide whether to 11)heed my advice.”
Millions of Japanese visited 12)Shinto 13)shrines and Buddhist temples to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rat. For many, this is the only contact they have with their spiritual roots for the entire year.
More than 1,200 years after its arrival in Japan from mainland Asia, Buddhism is in crisis. About 75% of Japan’s 127 million people describe themselves as Buddhists, but New Year apart, many see the inside of a temple only when a local head priest is asked to arrange a traditional (and expensive) funeral for a dead relative.
As a result, public donations are drying up and many of the country’s 75,000 temples are in financial trouble. Applications to Buddhist universities have fallen so dramatically that several schools have dropped the religious association from their titles.
Bozu’s owner, Yoshinobu Fujioka, a Buddhist priest who can also mix a decent cocktail for those in search of a quicker path to 14)nirvana, says that Japan’s mainstream 15)sects must shed their conservative image to broaden their appeal. “There was a time when people would go to their local temple for advice on all sorts of problems, not just spiritual
matters,” said Fujioka, 31, who belongs to the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) sect. “This bar is just the same, a place where people can come and talk freely about their problems.”
Being served 16)sake by a priest is just one of the novel ways in which skeptical Japanese are being encouraged to get in touch with their spiritual roots. Baijozan Komyoji temple in Tokyo has opened an outdoor cafe in front of its main hall, and in Kyoto, Zendoji temple operates a beauty salon. At Club Chippie, a jazz lounge in Tokyo, the saxophone makes way for 17)Sanskrit once a month as three shaven-headed monks wearing robes chant sutras and encourage 18)bemused customers to join in.
And recently, dozens of Buddhist monks and nuns took to the catwalk in colorful silk robes as part of a public relations exercise at Tsukiji Honganji temple in Tokyo. The event opened with the recital of a Buddhist prayer to a hip-hop beat and ended in a blur of 19)confetti shaped like lotus petals.
“Many priests share the sense of crisis and the need to do something to reach out to people,” said Kosuke Kikkawa, a 37-year-old priest who helped organise the event. “We won’t change Buddha’s teachings, but perhaps we need to present things differently so that they touch the feelings of people today.”
Taguchi believes that the pressures of modern life mean Buddhism’s message is as relevant as it ever was. “These days there is constant pressure to appear happy, and to keep fulfilling your desires to stay that way,” he said. “You could easily get the impression that people don’t need advice from priests, but that’s not the case. Everyone experiences times when they’re not at their best, when things don’t go according to plan.”
田口原一身穿黑色棉布长袍，一串念珠从他的手腕垂下，看起来和一般僧侣并没什么不同。但是当他在房间角落的祭坛前跪下，口中念念有词地诵读着佛经时，身旁的人们在继续着他们的谈话，而他那富有节奏的念经声几乎被爵士蓝调的音乐所湮没。
几分钟后，田口回到自己的座位上，手里拿着酒杯。一瓶朗姆酒摆在他面前的吧台上，旁边还有一个半满的烟灰缸，香烟味混杂着熏香，在空气中弥漫。
一些僧侣也许会对这种做法持不同意见。然而，由于当今日本年轻人对佛教的兴趣大不如前，田口已经做好准备，到任何需要的地方去向对佛教持怀疑态度的人展示佛教的魅力，其中包括东京的僧侣酒吧。
“我能理解为什么年轻一代对佛教不感兴趣，”田口说道。现年46岁、原籍北海道的他曾是一位白领，年近30岁的时候视力受损，继而皈依了佛门。“我很高兴来到这里，聆听人们谈论任何他们喜欢的话题。听不听取我的建议，完全由他们自己决定。”
鼠年到来之际，上百万日本人来到神社或寺庙，欢迎新年的到来。对许多日本人来说，这是他们全年中惟一一次以行动表达信仰的机会。
1200多年前从亚洲大陆传到日本的佛教目前在日本面临危机。在1.27亿日本人中，大约四分之三的人称自己为佛教徒，但除了新年之外，许多人只会在亲人举行葬礼时才会去寺庙。当有亲人去世的时候，他们会邀请当地德高望重的僧侣主持传统且价格不菲的佛教葬礼。
结果，公众给寺院的募捐日益减少，全国75,000座寺庙中的大部分都陷于财政危机。报读佛教大学的年轻人急剧减少，一些学校还因此删去了校名之中与佛教的关联。
僧侣酒吧的老板藤冈美畅是一名佛教僧侣，他能为那些寻求涅磐捷径的人调制上好的鸡尾酒。他认为日本的主流宗教教派必须摆脱他们死板保守的形象，提升自己的吸引力。“从前，人们喜欢到当地的寺庙向僧侣咨询各种各样的问题，而且并不仅仅限于精神层面，”隶属净土宗的31岁的藤冈说道，“这个僧侣吧有同样的作用，人们可以来这里自由自在地畅谈各种问题。”
僧侣当酒保，为来客奉上日本清酒，这是只吸引半信半疑的日本人重燃宗教热情的新奇方式之一。东京的光明寺在大殿前开了个露天咖啡店；京都的善导寺还同时经营着一间美容院；在东京一家名为“艺伎夜总会”的爵士酒吧里，每个月总有一个晚上萨克斯音乐要给梵语的诵经让路，因为三位身披袈裟的削发僧侣会在这里诵读佛经，吸引彷徨迷惑的顾客参与其中。
最近在东京的筑地本愿寺，几十位僧侣和尼姑穿着色彩鲜亮的丝质长袍表演了一场服装秀，作为公关活动的一部分。活动以朗诵佛经开始，接着是节奏强劲的“嘻哈”音乐，接近尾声时，大量形如莲瓣的五彩纸屑漫天飞扬。
“许多僧侣都感受到了危机，他们感到要做出一些改变，主动走出去接触民众，”37岁的僧侣吉川孝介说道，他参与了该活动的组织工作。“我们不会改变佛陀的教诲，但也许我们要以不同的方式去呈现它，从而使它可以触及当代人的内心感受。”
田口相信，现代生活给人们带来的压力意味着佛教的要义一如既往地与人们密切相关。“现代人不断承受着要假装快乐的压力，还要不断地满足自己的各种欲求，从而让自己快乐。”他说，“你很容易产生错觉，认为人们不再需要僧侣来答疑解惑了，但事实并非如此。每个人都会经历低潮期，大家都会有事不遂愿的时候。”
编后语：
日本佛教所遭遇的问题在中国同样存在，然而是否应该借鉴日本佛教界的创新做法，是否应该更加开放或世俗，依然是个见仁见智的问题。
在普通人的观念中，佛门清净地是远离尘嚣，厌世避俗的象征，然而佛门子弟一样要穿衣吃饭，但这能否成为商业化的理由？如今，某些佛教胜地的运作与商业集团无异，用一系列包装使其变成了观光胜地，虽然赚足了名声与利益，却让人们不禁疑惑，在这样的心态和环境下，出家人该如何修行？
随着经济的飞速发展，信仰与道德问题日见重要，中国的佛教又该何去何从？
然而近年来，日本佛教出现了危机。虽然绝大多数日本人都称自己是佛教徒，但他们一年内进出佛教寺院的次数却屈指可数。去的人少了，为寺庙捐钱的人自然也少了，寺院因此陷入了财政危机。加上总体说来，日本的年轻一代对佛教的兴趣大不如他们的前辈。有人担心，当老一代佛教徒去世后，也许日本寺院会出现后继乏人的窘况。
为了吸引更多的年轻人，日本佛教界也开始了反思。本文讲述的就是他们的创新之举。
Dressed in dark cotton robes, a bracelet of 1)prayer beads hanging from his wrist, Gugan Taguchi certainly looks the part. But as he kneels to chant a 2)sutra before an 3)altar in the corner of the room, the people around him continue to chat, and his 4)rhythmic prayers can only just be heard above a Blue Note jazz track.
Minutes later Taguchi is back in his seat, glass in hand. A bottle of 5)rum sits on the bar in front of him, next to a half-filled 6)ashtray as his tobacco smoke mingles with the aroma of 7)incense.
Some of his peers may disapprove of his methods, but amid a dramatic decline in interest in Buddhism among young Japanese, Taguchi is prepared to go almost anywhere to reach out to the 8)skeptics, inclu-ding to the Bozu [monks] bar in Tokyo.
“I can understand why younger people aren’t attracted to Buddhism,” says Taguchi, 46, a former 9)salaryman from Hokkaido who turned to the priesthood after his sight became 10)impaired in his late 20s. “I’m happy to come here and listen to people talk about anything they like. It’s up to them if they decide whether to 11)heed my advice.”
Millions of Japanese visited 12)Shinto 13)shrines and Buddhist temples to mark the arrival of the Year of the Rat. For many, this is the only contact they have with their spiritual roots for the entire year.
More than 1,200 years after its arrival in Japan from mainland Asia, Buddhism is in crisis. About 75% of Japan’s 127 million people describe themselves as Buddhists, but New Year apart, many see the inside of a temple only when a local head priest is asked to arrange a traditional (and expensive) funeral for a dead relative.
As a result, public donations are drying up and many of the country’s 75,000 temples are in financial trouble. Applications to Buddhist universities have fallen so dramatically that several schools have dropped the religious association from their titles.
Bozu’s owner, Yoshinobu Fujioka, a Buddhist priest who can also mix a decent cocktail for those in search of a quicker path to 14)nirvana, says that Japan’s mainstream 15)sects must shed their conservative image to broaden their appeal. “There was a time when people would go to their local temple for advice on all sorts of problems, not just spiritual
matters,” said Fujioka, 31, who belongs to the Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land) sect. “This bar is just the same, a place where people can come and talk freely about their problems.”
Being served 16)sake by a priest is just one of the novel ways in which skeptical Japanese are being encouraged to get in touch with their spiritual roots. Baijozan Komyoji temple in Tokyo has opened an outdoor cafe in front of its main hall, and in Kyoto, Zendoji temple operates a beauty salon. At Club Chippie, a jazz lounge in Tokyo, the saxophone makes way for 17)Sanskrit once a month as three shaven-headed monks wearing robes chant sutras and encourage 18)bemused customers to join in.
And recently, dozens of Buddhist monks and nuns took to the catwalk in colorful silk robes as part of a public relations exercise at Tsukiji Honganji temple in Tokyo. The event opened with the recital of a Buddhist prayer to a hip-hop beat and ended in a blur of 19)confetti shaped like lotus petals.
“Many priests share the sense of crisis and the need to do something to reach out to people,” said Kosuke Kikkawa, a 37-year-old priest who helped organise the event. “We won’t change Buddha’s teachings, but perhaps we need to present things differently so that they touch the feelings of people today.”
Taguchi believes that the pressures of modern life mean Buddhism’s message is as relevant as it ever was. “These days there is constant pressure to appear happy, and to keep fulfilling your desires to stay that way,” he said. “You could easily get the impression that people don’t need advice from priests, but that’s not the case. Everyone experiences times when they’re not at their best, when things don’t go according to plan.”
田口原一身穿黑色棉布长袍，一串念珠从他的手腕垂下，看起来和一般僧侣并没什么不同。但是当他在房间角落的祭坛前跪下，口中念念有词地诵读着佛经时，身旁的人们在继续着他们的谈话，而他那富有节奏的念经声几乎被爵士蓝调的音乐所湮没。
几分钟后，田口回到自己的座位上，手里拿着酒杯。一瓶朗姆酒摆在他面前的吧台上，旁边还有一个半满的烟灰缸，香烟味混杂着熏香，在空气中弥漫。
一些僧侣也许会对这种做法持不同意见。然而，由于当今日本年轻人对佛教的兴趣大不如前，田口已经做好准备，到任何需要的地方去向对佛教持怀疑态度的人展示佛教的魅力，其中包括东京的僧侣酒吧。
“我能理解为什么年轻一代对佛教不感兴趣，”田口说道。现年46岁、原籍北海道的他曾是一位白领，年近30岁的时候视力受损，继而皈依了佛门。“我很高兴来到这里，聆听人们谈论任何他们喜欢的话题。听不听取我的建议，完全由他们自己决定。”
鼠年到来之际，上百万日本人来到神社或寺庙，欢迎新年的到来。对许多日本人来说，这是他们全年中惟一一次以行动表达信仰的机会。
1200多年前从亚洲大陆传到日本的佛教目前在日本面临危机。在1.27亿日本人中，大约四分之三的人称自己为佛教徒，但除了新年之外，许多人只会在亲人举行葬礼时才会去寺庙。当有亲人去世的时候，他们会邀请当地德高望重的僧侣主持传统且价格不菲的佛教葬礼。
结果，公众给寺院的募捐日益减少，全国75,000座寺庙中的大部分都陷于财政危机。报读佛教大学的年轻人急剧减少，一些学校还因此删去了校名之中与佛教的关联。
僧侣酒吧的老板藤冈美畅是一名佛教僧侣，他能为那些寻求涅磐捷径的人调制上好的鸡尾酒。他认为日本的主流宗教教派必须摆脱他们死板保守的形象，提升自己的吸引力。“从前，人们喜欢到当地的寺庙向僧侣咨询各种各样的问题，而且并不仅仅限于精神层面，”隶属净土宗的31岁的藤冈说道，“这个僧侣吧有同样的作用，人们可以来这里自由自在地畅谈各种问题。”
僧侣当酒保，为来客奉上日本清酒，这是只吸引半信半疑的日本人重燃宗教热情的新奇方式之一。东京的光明寺在大殿前开了个露天咖啡店；京都的善导寺还同时经营着一间美容院；在东京一家名为“艺伎夜总会”的爵士酒吧里，每个月总有一个晚上萨克斯音乐要给梵语的诵经让路，因为三位身披袈裟的削发僧侣会在这里诵读佛经，吸引彷徨迷惑的顾客参与其中。
最近在东京的筑地本愿寺，几十位僧侣和尼姑穿着色彩鲜亮的丝质长袍表演了一场服装秀，作为公关活动的一部分。活动以朗诵佛经开始，接着是节奏强劲的“嘻哈”音乐，接近尾声时，大量形如莲瓣的五彩纸屑漫天飞扬。
“许多僧侣都感受到了危机，他们感到要做出一些改变，主动走出去接触民众，”37岁的僧侣吉川孝介说道，他参与了该活动的组织工作。“我们不会改变佛陀的教诲，但也许我们要以不同的方式去呈现它，从而使它可以触及当代人的内心感受。”
田口相信，现代生活给人们带来的压力意味着佛教的要义一如既往地与人们密切相关。“现代人不断承受着要假装快乐的压力，还要不断地满足自己的各种欲求，从而让自己快乐。”他说，“你很容易产生错觉，认为人们不再需要僧侣来答疑解惑了，但事实并非如此。每个人都会经历低潮期，大家都会有事不遂愿的时候。”
编后语：
日本佛教所遭遇的问题在中国同样存在，然而是否应该借鉴日本佛教界的创新做法，是否应该更加开放或世俗，依然是个见仁见智的问题。
在普通人的观念中，佛门清净地是远离尘嚣，厌世避俗的象征，然而佛门子弟一样要穿衣吃饭，但这能否成为商业化的理由？如今，某些佛教胜地的运作与商业集团无异，用一系列包装使其变成了观光胜地，虽然赚足了名声与利益，却让人们不禁疑惑，在这样的心态和环境下，出家人该如何修行？
随着经济的飞速发展，信仰与道德问题日见重要，中国的佛教又该何去何从？