REL 444/544 Week 7 Notes

Shinmon Aoki (1937-present), Shin Buddhist layman, mortician, whose story is conveyed in his memoir Coffinman.

This is the story of Shinmon Aoki who was born and grew up in Toyama, an area of devout Shin Buddhists. He himself did not grow up with a strong sense of religion, but after dropping out of college in Tokyo, he returns to his hometown, where through various circumstances, he ends up broke, with wife and child, and needing a job. He almost accidentally backs into being a "coffinman," or mortician with the job of preparing corpses for the wake and funeral. In the process of carrying out his job, he ends up discovering the religious significance of his life.

The first part of his book is the main part of his memoir in which he recounts various episodes involving terminal illness, death, and the preparation of dead corpses.

The second part of the book presents Aoki's interpretation of Shinran's thought and Shin Buddhism. He also includes his musings on the relation between Buddhism and science, reflections on and use of poetry, and other topics.

Turning Points

Guiding Questions

The theme of "light" pervades the book. What kind of light is this? Is it a physical light, symbolic or metaphorical light, or some other kind of light?

The first part of the book presents a series of experiences Aoki has in the process of his becoming a "coffinman." Several of these episodes describe turning points in his life. Identify three turning points to discuss in class.

According to Aoki, the Japanese Buddhist expression, shōji 生死, "life-death," captures the sense of the nonduality, emptiness, or oneness of reality, especially in relation to life and death. He uses the image of mizore, a sleet-like condition which is neither rain nor snow to convey this sense of nonduality. What does he say is the difference between what is commonly understood as sleet and his sense of mizore as a more apt expression of the nonduality of life and death?

He talks about the dilemma of being a poet who attempts to write on the religious dimension of life. What is this dilemma? How does Aoki see himself in relation to this dilemma, and what do you think about him in this regard?