Buddhists seek younger members
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
Lady Noriko Ohtani, during a rare English-translated interview with
The Advertiser at the Honpa Hongwanji yesterday, says she sees more
women coming into Buddhist leadership.
As thousands of Buddhist women gathered in Honolulu for the World
Buddhist Women's Convention this week, the Lady Noriko Ohtani,
president of the sponsoring organization, said Buddhists worldwide
need to reach out to younger members.
Ohtani, president of the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha World Federation
of Buddhist Women's Associations, gently held her purple prayer
beads, occasionally patting the silken tassel as she fielded
questions. As wife of the Monshu Koshin Ohtani, head of the Jodo
Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji sect, she's married to a direct descendant
of Shinran Shonin (1173-1272), the founder of the Jodo Shinshu
denomination, which includes Hawai'i's largest Buddhist
organization, the Honpa Hongwanji.
The number of women involved in Buddhist women's organizations has
dropped almost in half in the past 25 years, yet the numbers of
women ministers is on the rise, to nearly one in four, Ohtani
noted. She motioned to a robed priest for the latest data: 24
percent of the priesthood is female, though only 2.8 percent of
these women hold top positions in the religious leadership.
"However, I foresee more women coming into leadership," Ohtani said
in a rare English-translated interview.
The sect is not experiencing the same decline in numbers of
Buddhists in Japan as Hawai'i is, Ohtani said; however, the
population in general is getting older.
"The average age of women members may be rising," she said. "So
generally speaking, (the) traditional Buddhist order seems to be
experiencing the same thing (as Hawai'i is).
"Up to this point, it was relatively simple for younger women to
take over the organization. Now it requires more effort on our part
to reach out to them."
Ordination studies for Jodo Shinshu take place on the Mainland and
in Japan. English correspondence courses are being improved, she
said, and in Berkeley, Calif., a Center for Buddhist Studies has
begun operating as a center of Jodo Shinshu study for the United
States.
The group is encouraging temples to reach out to younger women by
offering dharma messages that are relevant to them "not
necessarily stiff, doctrinal messages or lectures," Ohtani
said.
A mother of four, Ohtani said, through translator the Rev. Thomas
R. Okano, that she tried to bring up her children two girls, two
boys equally, though her oldest son, now 28, is destined to
become the next abbot of the denomination. She's passed on the
beliefs of the tradition through a Jodo Shinshu-school education,
though Shinmon Kojun Ohtani went to a Tokyo university that was
more secular.
Ohtani, who is on her first trip here in two years, said she
expects her son will serve as an ambassador of Jodo Shinshu to the
greater world.
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BUDDHIST FORUM
13th World Buddhist Women's Convention
More than 3,800 expected to attend
Today through Sunday at the Hawai'i Convention Center
Held every four years, usually in Japan; this is the first time in
24 years it's been held in Hawai'i