I was born 35 years ago
in a Buddhist temple here in Kyoto.
I was raised as a child of a Buddhist monk,
but graduated from Catholic junior high and senior high schools.
(Laughter)
As a son of a Buddhist monk,
getting educated in Christianity is very unusual;
however, everybody, including my family, relatives and friends,
have been very supportive of me.
I have once been to Ireland when I was a college student.
As you know,
Ireland is a religious Catholic country.
When I stayed at one local B&B,
I explained about my upbringing to the lady, the owner of B&B.
Then her face turned pale, and she said this:
"Why are things like that allowed in your country?
If you do such a thing in Ireland, no excuse would save your life!"
That was her reaction.
Sad to say, I was too young to refute her opinion then.
The Japanese religious perspective is very unique.
For instance, many Japanese celebrate the birthday of Christ, Christmas,
listen to the temples' gongs on New Year's Eve,
and pay the New Year's visit to the shrines.
People in other countries may say:
"How unprincipled the Japanese are!"
Japanese people generally are religiously tolerant.
Our attitude towards religions
may be similar to the one towards food.
Take the example of the differences between Japanese and Western meals.
Take a look at a full course Western meal.
You have a main dish that's the highlight of a course.
There isn't such a thing as a main dish in a Japanese meal course.
Take a traditional Japanese kaiseki-ryori:
if you look at each one, from the appetizer through the last rice dish,
none of them is considered as a main dish.
Just like the way we view our dishes,
we don't hold any discriminatory view towards any religion,
and we instead treasure common philosophies or moral values
that are shared by all religions.
So the Japanese view about religion isn't, "Believe in something,"
but instead, "Respect for something," or "Respect for others."
This is the Japanese style of viewing religions.
So in Japan, many people believe in various religions.
but we all respect each other's.
In fact in my temple, Myoshinji, in spite of being a Buddhist temple,
we often recite a sutra to deities of shrines.
A lot of temples have a shrine on their premises.
Japanese Buddhism is very unique in that sense.
There are exceptions, but Japanese Buddhist monks are allowed to marry.
We refrain from eating meat and fish during the ascetic training
and eat only vegetables,
but after finishing the training, we don't have such strict principles to obey.
In Japan, we detest wasting things
and throwing away food.
If anybody from India, the birthplace of Buddhism,
sees the reality of the Japanese Buddhism,
he may say, "This isn't Buddhism, is it?"
Throughout the Southeast Asia and India,
in Theravada Buddhism,
strictly following the principles, studying the teachings, and meditation
are what they aim to pursue in practicing it.
However, in Japan,
Buddhism lays a weight on other daily practices
such as the commemoration
of our deceased family members and relatives
and teaching propriety.
If this form of Buddhism we have established in the past 1,500 years
is denied to be called Buddhism,
what can we call it then?
No matter what,
there isn't any other way but to call this "Japanese Buddhism."
The Japanese Buddhism has been refined,
being influenced by Shinto, the ancient Japanese religion,
and taken in the appropriate form adjusting to the Japanese soil.
So the earliest Buddhism
is different from today's in its actual practice,
but the underlying core of all forms of Buddhism--
wherever it's in India, the East Asia or Japan
is based on the principles of wonderful philosophy and teaching of Buddha.
The differences between Japanese Buddhism and India's reminds me of the differences
in the tastes of curry we eat and theirs.
(Laughter)
In India very spicy curry is preferred by Indians.
Curry has also come from India,
but if people from India eat the Japanese curry, mild and sweet curry,
that we are used to eating
- I'm sure many of you like it -
they would say, "This isn't curry."
That's what they would think.
What would you call the Japanese curry
that we have become so familiar with, then?
(Laughter)
Again, there isn't any other way but to call this "Japanese curry."
The cooking method and the ingredients may differ,
but we cook the ingredients in the curry sauce
and eat it with rice or bread.
India and Japan share this style.
I majored in agricultural science.
I once had an experiment about curry when I was a college student.
I'd like to tell you about the experiment.
We prepared two separate rooms.
The first one was made very hot and humid
just like the summer in Japan.
Its temperature and humidity were high.
The other one was made into hot but not so humid.
Like India it was hot and dry.
Thirty students gathered from the world's different cultures
were asked to stay in the Japanese room of high humidity for awhile.
Then we asked them to eat Indian and Japanese curries
to compare the tastes.
20 out of 30 students who ate
both the Japanese and Indian curry in the humid room
said the Japanese curry tasted better.
On a different day the same group of students
were asked to eat both curries in the hot and dry, Indian room.
20 out of 30 students said
that the Indian curry tasted better.
The Japanese curry tastes better in the Japanese room,
the Indian curry tasted better in the Indian room.
That's the result we got.
Like this, food is greatly influenced
by the climate and the natural features of the place.
Similarly, a religion is affected by the climate and natural features,
and also the history, the culture, and traditions of its hosting place.
Religions are refined by these aspects
while adapting to its hosting country.
If we could share the Japanese, tolerant, religious view we generally have,
with people all over the world,
I strongly believe that it would be a wonderful offer to the world.
Several years ago,
an amazingly innovative programme of FM
started at Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
The very title of this programme is:
"Eight o'clock! Gods and Buddhas."
(Laughter)
Originally it was "Eight o'clock! Buddhism and Shinto, come together."
(Laughter)
Anyway, I am going to tell you about this program.
It goes on air for half an hour from 8:30 every Wednesday.
As you may know, this programme works like this:
a Buddhist monk, a Shito priest, and a Christian minister,
listen to the callers' personal problems
and put their heads together to find a solution for them.
(Applause)
Thank you.
Nobody had ever tried this revolutionary idea before.
We normally see a case
in which a monk from a certain school would give an advice to people,
but that three people dedicated to completely different religions
get together to try to figure out how to solve people's problems
is a very groundbreaking idea.
Such advices give the listeners a strong sense of security, assuring them
that there are more than one stereotype solution in the world.
And this February,
another epochal event proposed by me was held here in Kyoto.
It's this:
"Inter Faith Ekiden". (Laughter)
Japanese people are very familiar with "ekiden,"
and Kyoto is actually the birthplace of the sport.
A century ago this sport, ekiden was born in Kyoto.
In this religious city that represents the world of religions in Japan,
the birthplace of ekiden of Japan,
people of all sorts of religions from all over the world gathered
and took part in this road relay race
planned only for the people of religions.
This is not for one religion against another.
One team consists of 4 runners:
say, the first runner is a Shinto priest, the second runner is a Buddhist monk,
the third runner is a Christian minister; the fourth one is a Muslim imam.
With the idea that [different religions display same connects]
many teams were formed and the race took place.
Today, we often say we need to sit down and talk
in order to understand with each other,
but talking in a meeting room
wouldn't have much power to make ourselves understood.
On the other hand, this kind of open race
is so clear for everybody to see and understand with each other
because all of us become one, running together in an open area.
And since there isn't anything to do but running in the race,
the youth of religions inevitably have a chance to play an active role.
Moreover not only in Kyoto but also in Luxembourg,
the race with the same concept has been held.
In fact through this kind of race, a movement for all religions
to be in harmony with one another is growing throughout the world,
In this time of turmoil,
the people of religions themselves break their backs to make efforts
to make all religions harmoniously co-habitable.
This is a very important thing.
Now, if I were to meet the owner of the B&B of Ireland
whom I met in my college days,
I would unhesitatingly say with confidence
that it surely is important to faithfully follow the teachings
of the religion you believe in;
however, there are more important things in life.
That is no matter which religion we believe in,
we have to respect and live in harmony with one another.
In Japan there are many people who believe in various religions,
but the differences among religions rarely cause any trouble.
Such a thing hardly ever happens in Japan.
We often see on TV news
that a zealous religious group fights another of a different religion.
This is happening all over the world.
I think they are getting priorities wrong.
The essence of religion isn't to blindly believe in one thing.
The role of religions is to help people live out their lives,
feeling safe and appreciative with each other.
That's what religions are for.
The essence or role of religion is to give people a sense of security.
Therefore, In Japan, we live peacefully, with a sense of security
while respecting each religion,
although we have many kinds or religions.
Nevertheless, since the cultures and the traditions differ
depending on the regions in the world,
the sense of security can be gained in various ways.
The method shouldn't be only one.
For the past two years,
I have been invited to the Vatican by the Pope.
This April I was invited by the Dalai Lama
to participate in the symposium held in Kyoto.
The religious people in the world are truly holding a high hope
for the Japanese views on religion.
So, from Kyoto,
a world's pre-eminent city of religion,
let us call for the world to permeate
our tolerant view about religion throughout the world.
I definitely believe that when it comes true
the world will be an even more beautiful place to live.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)