A video of a Buddhist monk lamenting that the growing number of Japanese people closing down their family graves are “too poisoned by capitalism” went viral on 5ch. The thread saw a wide range of opinions fly back and forth — from complaints about posthumous-name fees and temple-severance fees, to questions about how flush temples and monks themselves seem to be, to arguments that cremation alone is enough and graves aren’t even necessary.
[Grave Closures Are Surging] The Result Capitalism Brought Us
Source: youtube.com / Original video here
Honestly, we don't even need funerals.
Just cremate me and call it done.
Just cremate me and call it done.
>>7
Just do a subsidized cremation-only send-off.
Leave the ashes with the funeral home and forget about them — they'll end up in some communal grave eventually anyway.
Just do a subsidized cremation-only send-off.
Leave the ashes with the funeral home and forget about them — they'll end up in some communal grave eventually anyway.
A lot of Kyoto monks cruise around in Lexuses — what's that about?
>>10
Even yakuza want to get their hands on temples, so yeah, that's basically it.
Even yakuza want to get their hands on temples, so yeah, that's basically it.
That's because you people keep bleeding them dry with posthumous-name fees, memorial-anniversary fees, Obon, Higan, and whatever else.
>>12
So true.
They call it a "heartfelt donation, pay what you feel," but then get pissed if it's too little and phone in the service — makes no sense.
So true.
They call it a "heartfelt donation, pay what you feel," but then get pissed if it's too little and phone in the service — makes no sense.
I visit the grave, and I pray at the family altar every day.
Though it all ends with me.
Though it all ends with me.
>>13
You don't have kids?
You don't have kids?
>>13
Yo, last of the line lmaooo
Yo, last of the line lmaooo
Why don't you guys just buy a grave?
>>14
Don't need one.
I'm fine with a tree burial.
Don't need one.
I'm fine with a tree burial.
Isn't it fine to just keep the memorial tablet at home and pray to it?
>>22
Apparently once you've got too many of those piled up over the generations, you can thin them out.
A Shinto priest told me that.
Apparently once you've got too many of those piled up over the generations, you can thin them out.
A Shinto priest told me that.
Went back to my parents' place for Obon for the first time in a while and stopped by the grave — saw someone scrubbing it down with a handheld pressure washer, kind of hilarious.
>>41
Honestly it's super convenient.
You still wipe it down by hand afterward, of course.
Honestly it's super convenient.
You still wipe it down by hand afterward, of course.
That's you, you crappy monk.
The monk in my neighborhood is cruising around in a brand-new S-Class too.
The monk in my neighborhood is cruising around in a brand-new S-Class too.
>>44
I really hate how lavishly Kyoto's crappy monks live it up.
Back when I worked as a floor manager at a host club, monks would just show up wasted and hassle the girls.
I remember thinking, this guy's a walking bundle of worldly desires.
I really hate how lavishly Kyoto's crappy monks live it up.
Back when I worked as a floor manager at a host club, monks would just show up wasted and hassle the girls.
I remember thinking, this guy's a walking bundle of worldly desires.
Honestly, a big part of why Japanese people's religious faith has faded is because of stuff like this.
>>78
I think that's a huge factor, honestly.
I think that's a huge factor, honestly.
Not like the monk world has much room to talk — when they run out of money they just sell off their temple's corporate religious status to Chinese buyers at a premium.
>>91
Truly the Age of Dharma Decline we're living in. (mappō — the Buddhist doctrine that the teachings are in terminal decline)
Truly the Age of Dharma Decline we're living in. (mappō — the Buddhist doctrine that the teachings are in terminal decline)
Closing down a grave just means getting fleeced for nothing, so I'll leave it be.
It'll end up an abandoned grave once I'm gone anyway.
It'll end up an abandoned grave once I'm gone anyway.
>>110
Yeah, it really did cost a lot.
Yeah, it really did cost a lot.
>>110
Disposing of the grave itself costs money, but a lot of temples also slap you with this absurd "temple-severance fee" on top.
Disposing of the grave itself costs money, but a lot of temples also slap you with this absurd "temple-severance fee" on top.
When I die I just want to be tossed straight into the Kamo River.
>>113
That riverbank's gonna end up looking like the Heian period.
That riverbank's gonna end up looking like the Heian period.
To begin with, the reason cremation is even an issue in this country is that the furnaces are calibrated to burn slowly and leave bones behind, just to suit Buddhist practice.
Buddhism's the one causing the trouble here.
Buddhism's the one causing the trouble here.
>>139
Wait, seriously???
Wait, seriously???
Over on the grave-closure thread on Edge, people were saying closing a grave costs money too, so just leaving it alone is the best option.
>>143
Can't you just renounce the inheritance?
Can't you just renounce the inheritance?
Monks were never really "clergy" to begin with.
Why do you think Musashibō Benkei went around armed?
Spreading a religion wasn't about winning converts through preaching — it was about crushing rival religions by force and scooping up the believers who'd lost their faith's home.
That's why Benkei carried weapons.
And where does the gambling happen in period dramas?
At temples.
The bookies running the gambling dens were temple monks — they were also the moneylenders of the era, and they used yakuza to collect debts.
They'd let the yakuza run the gambling den, then lend money to the losers.
That's actually where the word "terasen" (the house's cut of gambling winnings) comes from — "tera" means temple.
Why do you think Musashibō Benkei went around armed?
Spreading a religion wasn't about winning converts through preaching — it was about crushing rival religions by force and scooping up the believers who'd lost their faith's home.
That's why Benkei carried weapons.
And where does the gambling happen in period dramas?
At temples.
The bookies running the gambling dens were temple monks — they were also the moneylenders of the era, and they used yakuza to collect debts.
They'd let the yakuza run the gambling den, then lend money to the losers.
That's actually where the word "terasen" (the house's cut of gambling winnings) comes from — "tera" means temple.
>>154
The bell Benkei looted from Mount Hiei is actually on display at Onjō-ji Temple.
Fun fact, both are in Ōtsu, right next door to Kyoto.
And Mount Hiei, of course, is the place Nobunaga burned to the ground.
The bell Benkei looted from Mount Hiei is actually on display at Onjō-ji Temple.
Fun fact, both are in Ōtsu, right next door to Kyoto.
And Mount Hiei, of course, is the place Nobunaga burned to the ground.
>>154
Lol.
No wonder ordinary people were so eager to join the anti-Buddhist purges back in the day.
Should we do it again?
Lol.
No wonder ordinary people were so eager to join the anti-Buddhist purges back in the day.
Should we do it again?
You can say all that, but are you really okay with never attaining Buddhahood?
>>194
Nobody even knows whether there's a Buddhahood to attain in the first place.
Nobody even knows whether there's a Buddhahood to attain in the first place.
>>194
What, are you anti-Buddha now?
What, are you anti-Buddha now?
Every time there's a memorial service, the monks' gear gets flashier.
Lately they're clanging these cymbal-looking things nonstop — so damn loud.
Lately they're clanging these cymbal-looking things nonstop — so damn loud.
>>211
Sounds like a heavy spender (like a whale in a gacha game).
Sounds like a heavy spender (like a whale in a gacha game).
>>211
That's just how Nichiren Buddhism does things.
That's just how Nichiren Buddhism does things.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Monk Snaps at Japanese People Who Keep Closing Down Their Graves: “Too Poisoned by Capitalism””.
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