Once again a double-posting day! This will just be a short note on terms, so please bear with me. Anyways, no one forces you to read this...

Speaking about buddhist monks in english is difficult. In japanese, when in doubt, always call them obôsan (お坊さん) and you will be saved from a lot of trouble. In english the 2 main words used are a) monk and b)priest. Now it might be only me, but the first picture that comes to my mind from "monk" is someone who lives in a temple, dedicated to his religious life, not smoking/drinking/eating meat, and living a celibate life - pretty close to the european medieval monastics but with buddhist rules. Of course I know this not to be true, and when I think of "obôsan", my mental image is much closer to the reality I've witnessed here this far. But the word "monk" still retains some kind of special flavor of "hard-core religiousness" in the deep recesses of my mind. The word "priest", on the other hand, summons a less intense picture of someone whose work is to be a priest but who lives a "normal" life (as opposed to the heroic monks who shine with their magical pow... Oh, sorry. *g*) - a kind of watered-down version of the former.

As you might guess, it's not this easy. First of all, buddhist monks are allowed by law to drink alcohol, eat meat, marry, and basically live as they want. They don't have to go around in robes and shave their heads, unless of course if they want to. The small buddhist temples are actually quite close to family businesses, where the son inherits the temple from his father, enabling the family to keep living on the temple grounds (read "Japanese Temple Buddhism" by Stephen G. Covell if you're interested about this kind of stuff).

The ones that would probably be closest to the common idea of a "monk" would be the shugyôsô, "ascetic monks" living in the bigger temples. They are the ones who spend their days in a monastic community, looking like the part with their robes and shaved heads etc - all the trappings that a monk should have. These can be found mainly from places like Hiei-san, Kôya-san and Eihei-ji, BIG temples where the sects' trainee monks complete their mandatory ascetic practises. The one closest to Tokyo is sôtô's Sôjiji in Tsurumi, near Yokohama. A great place to go monk-spotting around noon when the trainee monks are cleaning the complex...

I usually call all the guys who either have their own temple or work in one as monks, be they married or not. If they shave their heads, even better. Robes and rosaries? Bring it on! Butbutbut... What about people like the owner or the bar we went yesterday? He's taken the precepts, but instead of serving in a temple he owns a buddhist bar. Can't really call him a monk, now can I? Well, of course I can, but it feels somehow strange. This time I opted for the "(buddhist) priest" (even though I have a certain dislike to use "priest" when not talking about christianity), in the future I might change to "monk". Who knows?

So, be warned that even though I might use 2 different terms, the situations and religious rules regulating these peoples lives aren't actually too different. At least keep in mind that buddhist monks aren't what the sects' PR-offices try to make them look like: mountain ascetics engaged in mystical rigorous training, making them glow in the dark with their magica... Right. Well, you get my meaning.