Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician
By:
Shinmon Aoki
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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Description:
This story looks at one man's very personal struggle to engage his Shin Buddhist faith to make sense of his experiences with the dead and dying. Shinmon Aoki is forced by extreme financial circumstances into a job in one of the most despised professions in Japanese society, that of the nokanfu, one who washes and prepares dead bodies for burial. Shunned by family and friends and burdened by his own initial revulsion for his work, Aoki throws himself into the job with a fervor that attracts the attention of the townsfolk and earns him the title of Coffinman. In this spiritual autobiography, Aoki chronicles his progression from repulsion to a gradual realization of the tranquility that accompanies death. He assists the uninitiated in gaining an understanding of the basic principles of Shin Buddhism and its concepts of death and dying. Also included are definitions of key terms and phrases and a bibliography.
Publisher: Buddhist Education Center
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Buddhist universalism as seen in the faces of the dead - "If we never shift our perspective from the standpoint of life, no matter how much we want to think on death, it will only be an extension of our thinking on life." (p. 63)
This book came highly recommended by one of my best friends, a Jodo Shinshu priest currently living in Iceland. This book has some really profound moments, examining death and life ("LifeDeath") in light of the teachings of Shinran and of Jodo Shinshu (Shin) Buddhism. What kept it from being a five-star book was that much of the book (specifically the first section and the latter half of the final section) was too disjointed and culturally-specific for my taste.
The moments of clarity, when they come, though, are quite insightful and inspiring. Author Aoki worked as a coffinman (a corpse washer or mortician, apparently a job held in low esteem by the Japanese) for many years, and his practical experience with death and the dead have informed his understanding of Buddhism in general, and Shin Buddhism in particular. In the second section, "What Dying Means," he explores the universalism of Shin Buddhism in practical terms. It is not some theological or Buddhological argument that has swayed Aoki to accept Shin's "gospel" of universal enlightenment; rather, it is his everyday experience of seeing radiant peace on the faces of the dead.
"During their lives I don't know what right or wrong they might have done, but it seems to have no bearing on them now. It doesn't matter whether their beliefs were thick or thin, whether they belonged to this denomination or that ,whether they were interested in religion or not. Nothing they have done goes to making the dead wear such gentle faces." (p. 60)
He further explores this insight:
"I would contend that it is more accurate to say there's no good person or evil person among those who die...Many [Shin commentaries] say the good person relies on self-power in an effort to achieve birth in the Pure Land, while the evil person does not operate in that way. Various explanations are brought forth, but the peaceful composure of the faces of the dead are completely oblivious to these weary arguments." (p.61)
For Aoki, Shinran, like the Buddha, approached the topics of enlightenment and "LifeDeath" from a practical, rather than a speculative, perspective. Shinran's evaluation of the Larger Sutra of Infinite Life (the foundational text of Shin Buddhism), as the core scripture of the Buddhadharma, came not from its intellectual or theological content, but from the fact that in the text, attention is drawn to Shakyamuni Buddha's radiant visage. For Shinran, as for Coffinman Aoki, this radiance calls to mind the radiant peace on the face of the dead, and is thus the only real support that the Shin Buddhist gospel of universal salvation and enlightenment in the Pure Land requires.
Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Fascinating memoir, refreshing philosophy, bracing spirituality - In Japan, there's no job lower than washing corpses and putting them in coffins. This was, as Shinmon Aoki wryly tells us, not his dream job. He had dropped out of college, opened a coffee shop and pub, and soon found himself running a hangout for poets and artists. A well-known novelist encouraged him to write; he got his first story published in a classy magazine. Soon he was neglecting his business --- he filed for bankruptcy as his wife was giving birth. There wasn't even money for baby food. So when he saw a want ad --- "for ceremonies to start a new life" --- he jumped at the job. Only when he started work did he see the stack of coffins.
The book begins on Aoki's first day. "There's more to washing corpses than meets the eye," he learns. "It's not just bathing them. You've got to wipe them down with alcohol, put them in their white 'Buddha-robes,' fix their hair and faces." And then there's the small matter of revulsion --- dead bodies force us to confront our own fear of death. "I worked frantically, frenzied, fighting off waves of nausea," he confesses.
Why am I shoving such unpleasantness your way, as if it were a gift? Because this 142-page book is unlike anything I've ever read. As memoir, it's fascinating. As philosophy, it's refreshing. As spirituality, it's lovely and reassuring. You definitely get your money's worth from Shinmon Aoki.
Ten pages in, and Aoki is getting beyond the horror. Driving home, he notices thousands of red dragonflies flying into the sunset. He realizes that they've been doing this "from the past beyond all reckoning." He looks at the fishermen trolling the river. "The salmon, too, in this one moment of autumn, were traveling upstream, fully believing in the eternal cycle of life."
Then he is called to bathe and coffin the father of an old girl friend. He had never met the man. Indeed, he'd never resolved the relationship with the woman. But now he is locked in a profound moment with her, a moment "that transcended the trivial world of scorn or pity or sympathy." It's so much bigger: "She accepted my total existence just as I was." And from this moment, he began to feel good about himself and his work.
And that opens him up more. He decides to claim a better opinion of coffinmen by wearing doctor's clothes. He gets respect from families and priests. And now he is ready to change his view of death.
In Part II, the cases are just as unattractive. But Aoki has changed. "All I see are dead people," he explains. "And so the dead appear to me as serene, even beautiful." And so do the living. He sees a glow around people, the sparkle of the day, the glory of the world --- and the insignificance of death.
The final section of the book deals with the Buddha and with Buddhist thought. It's a bit technical, but not esoteric. And it feels right --- the coffinman's passage is from horror of death to a deep appreciation of dying. Because the book is short and fascinating, you get there with him, and very quickly. Whether you can hold that thought is another matter.
I'll be thinking about this short book for a long time.
Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Something you don't read everyday... - ... Also, should you find this title, no, it is not mis-categorized from the graphic novel/comic genre.
Shinmon Aoki's "Coffinman" (subtitled The Journal of a Buddhist mortician) is a small work that one can easily complete and mentally digest in a short period of time in-between the latest Oprah recommendation and politico-talking head bleating, but unlike the de jour bestsellers, "Coffinman" will resonate with the reader for a much longer time and for deeper practical purposes. As the story begins, Mr. Aoki reflects upon the sight of Mt. Tateyama, and one can sense that the mountain is symbolic of the big (but not unconquerable) question(s) that will ultimately present themselves. Several that come to mind after reading are, do we value the time we have? Are we really living or just merely existing? Do we respect life (no, not in that Operation Rescue definition of the word) or are we desperately clutching it close because of our fear of what happens "after" life? And when we revisit Mt. Tateyama later in this diary/memoir, it seems welcome and is almost reassuring in the sense that our assumptions and opinions regarding the Big 3 of life and death and suffering have been somewhat crystallized. Indeed, some answers can be just as huge as the questions.
This is a recollection of one's experience with the issue of death and it's cultural taboos, of familial pride and the potential for dysfunction, of self-doubt, and of acceptance and self-awakening. How Mr. Aoki acquires his insight is unorthodox to say the least; one doesn't get the impression that he accepted his position as "coffinman" in the context of "it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it." Rather, the occupation seems to have been drifted into, the way a boat may drift from a familiar harbor into a larger sea without perceptual knowledge. He realizes that he's no longer where he started, but now has much more room for exploration. And in that sense, one gets a deeper understanding about the nature and the participation of "the end", and the acceptance of the role of finality in this flowing and twisting stream that is life. Death does, however, loom prominently and there are some descriptive scenes the deal with physical deterioration of the human body. They are, however, not written in a sensationalistic fashion. Actually, Mr. Aoki follows a respectable and humble style, comfortably balancing passages between prose and poetry.
I would not go so far to suggest that the book is definitive about the subject of Buddhism. The personal experiences involving death and dying could have happened to anyone and the religious epiphany (of sorts) involved, in this case, happened to manifest into a deeper appreciation and understanding of Buddhism. The potential for crossover to those readers of different faiths appears to be easy and non-threatening (and encouraged) in that spirituality can arise and enlighten from the most unlikely of wellsprings.
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