Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘There is no evidence that Dogen thought in terms of the category ‘‘ritual’’; nor do the women who served as consultants for this study, for the English term ‘‘ritual’’ finds no easy translation into Japanese. There are terms like hoyo (Buddhist service), gishiki (ceremony), girei (etiquette), and a generic suffix, shiki, added to a wide range of activities, as in seijinshiki (Coming of Age), sotsugyoshiki (graduation), kekkonshiki (wedding), and soshiki (funeral). Notably, there is no abstract category with the overarching sense that accompanies the current usage of the English word ‘‘ritual.’’ In fact, I had a great deal of difficulty communicating with the women who served as consultants for this study that I was interested in understanding their use of ‘‘ritual.’’ Even those with advanced academic training were not clear what I meant. Therefore, it is with acute awareness that I am projecting a Western academic category onto the material in the interests of communicating to a Western academic audience… In Japanese we talked in amorphous ways that communicated volumes with such phrases as ko iu yo na koto (‘‘Events like this’’).’ (Women and Dogen: Rituals Actualizing Empowerment and Healing)