Making Healthy Religion

Abstract

On a muggy summer afternoon in 2015, I was walking in Kyoto when I happened to come across a bookstore offering a large sale. As I perused some of the books set out on the sidewalk, one in particular caught my eye. It was titled The Reason a Zen Priest Aims to Be a Doctor. The author was Tsushimoto Sōkun, a former Zen abbot who had resigned from his temple to enter medical school. As I skimmed through the pages, I lighted upon the following passage.What on earth is it that parishioners expect of us priests? For the sake of the argument let's say that they only expect us to conduct funerals and memorial services. This would be truly sad. As Zen priests trained in fundamental Buddhist practices, what is it we can do to contribute to society? Is this not something that priests must individually consider as a theme in their activities? For example, problems in education, social welfare, and volunteer activities are all areas in which we can expect religionists [shūkyōsha] to play a role. 1