Who is 84-year-old Shurei Sasai, the "Japanese monk" who leads India's 150 million Buddhists?

インドの仏教徒、特に不可触民（アンタッチャブル）カーストの信者の増加に大きく貢献したのが、84歳の日本人僧侶、佐々井秀嶺氏です。何度も命にかかわる事件や苦難に見舞われながらも、佐々井 氏は半世紀以上にわたって、教育の普及やカースト差別の撤廃など、不可触民の生活向上に尽力してきました。彼の努力は、犯罪が多発するスラム街を安全な都市に変え、何百万人もの人々に希望をもたらしました。その謙虚な生き方とたゆまぬ努力で知られる佐々井氏は、インドで尊敬される人物であり、彼の活動に反対する人たちからの脅迫を受けながらも、一般の人々に指導と支援を提供しています。※不可触民は、ヒンドゥー社会の中でも最下層階級であり、「触れると穢れる人間」として扱われてきた。 不可触民は、触れてはいけないだけでなく、見ることも、近づくことも、その声を聞くことさえいけないとされた。(English) Shurei Sasai, an 84-year-old Japanese monk, has been instrumental in the significant increase of Buddhism followers in India, particularly among the untouchables caste. Despite multiple life-threatening incidents and hardships, Sasai has dedicated over half a century to improving the lives of these outcasts, including promoting education and fighting against caste-based discrimination. His efforts transformed crime-ridden slums into safer cities and brought hope to millions. Known for his humble lifestyle and tireless dedication, Sasai is a revered figure in India, offering guidance and support to ordinary people, despite ongoing threats from those opposed to his work.

* Untouchables are the lowest class in Hindu society and have been treated as 'humans who become unclean when touched'. Therefore, untouchables were not only to be touched but not to be seen, approached, and even heard.

Who is 84-year-old Shurei Sasai, the "Japanese monk" who leads India's 150 million Buddhists?

"Three suicide attempts, three assassination attempts, 20 years illegal stay" Monk changed slums.

A)

In India, a country of Hindus, the number of Buddhists is exploding, especially among the untouchables, the outcasts. Half a century ago, there were only a few hundred thousand followers; now, there are 150 million. The driving force behind the revival of Buddhism has been Shurei Sasai, a Japanese monk who is at the forefront of Indian Buddhism. He came to India half a century ago to help people experiencing poverty. Mr Sasai is very popular in India but almost unknown in Japan. So what kind of person is he?

B)

Attempted suicide three times and suffered from sexual destiny?

Five years ago, I heard the name of a Japanese monk called Shurei Sasai (84 years old) in India. By chance, I received an offer from a support group for Mr Sasai saying, "Would you like to interview Mr Sasai, who is temporarily returning to Japan? So I started researching Mr Sasai on the internet and in books, thinking he was probably a kind monk who also worked as a local priest, digging wells and building schools for NPOs.

C)

Then I involuntarily looked at the computer screen twice because of the unexpectedly strong keyword. After all, from "I lost my virginity at the age of 11 because my libido was too strong'' to "Wandered through life and death and was resurrected by drinking the heart of a snake'' to "Suffered from sexual predicaments and attempted suicide three times'' to "I was saved in the temple where I collapsed.'' Finally, he is said to have fled to India after being "pistol-whipped by a woman in a Thai temple because of a love triangle".

D)

That alone is a cartoonish half-life, but what happened after moving to India? Discovered a substantial Buddhist ruin after listening to the revelation of Ryuju Bosatsu,'' but "was poisoned and knocked down, an assassination attempt three times,'' "fasted for eight days, water cut off,'' and "imprisoned after 20 years of illegal stay. Six hundred thousand people signed and acquired Indian citizenship", "The murderer who killed 30 people was reformed and turned into a servant", and "He protested against the H-bomb test and entered the Prime Minister's official residence". The fantastic episode that seems to have happened continues.

E)

Japanese at the head of every Indian Buddhist organisation

It seems, however, that he is not just an unpredictable monster monk. After all, this Japanese Monk was the driving force behind the rapid increase in the number of Buddhists in India from a few hundred thousand to 150 million half a century ago. Of course, Mr Sasai is not alone in his power, but it does not seem to be a lie that he is currently at the head of all Indian Buddhist organisations and energetically active.

F)

I had no idea such a charismatic and unique Japanese person existed in India. But when I think about it calmly, isn't he a bit divine and overdone? I even thought that many Indians might be deceived because they are hoarding gold and silver treasures.

G)

Then, on the interview day, while I was waiting in the designated hotel café, a tiny older man appeared wearing cheap rubber sandals and a red Indian monk's robe that looked like a monk's work uniform. His face is deeply wrinkled, but he's smiling and kind, with a petite black pochette slung over his shoulders. He had imagined a more sharp-eyed and terrifying monk and was disappointed.

H)

"If they face it, they will be killed and only be given leftover food."

Untouchables

When the interview began, however, Mr Sasai's expression changed, and he began to talk with all his might, like a storyteller, about the current situation in India.

"As you know, Buddha was born in India. But most of India's 1.3 billion people are Hindus. Indian Buddhism was attacked by other religions and disappeared around the 13th century. But now the number of Buddhists is exploding, and many are untouchables, who are said to make up 20% of the population."

I)

Hinduism and India's caste system are closely related and are roughly divided into four classes: monks, kings and warriors, merchants and enslaved people. An untouchable is an outcast who does not even enter the slave caste.

When Mr Sasai arrived in India half a century ago, untouchables were forbidden even to draw water from wells and drink muddy water. As for work, he could only choose between disposing of corpses or hard farm work, and even if he was killed by a higher caste for unreasonable reasons, his family could not sue. Yet they believed in and prayed to the gods of Hinduism, which discriminated against them, and said they could not live without relying on something.

"You may ask, why don't we resist? 　But the 3,000-year brainwashing that you are not human is not easy to break. My body was small and weak because I couldn't do it," so I went to every village and kept chanting, "You are the same human beings because in Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, everyone is equal."

J)

Crime-ridden slums reborn

Then the untouchables, crying constantly, woke up and said, "I am a human being too". Parents skipped meals to send their children to school, and the children studied hard to live up to expectations. There was a lot of harassment from higher castes at school and work, but Sasai instructed everyone to unite and protest when it happened.

As a result, after half a century, what was once a crime-ridden slum has been transformed into a safe city with three-storey houses standing side by side. After the interview, he said: "There will be a big conversion ceremony for a million people in the autumn. So please come to India."

With that, Mr Sasai returned to India.

There was no Shinto altar or Buddhist altar in my house, and whenever I heard of murders related to religion, I felt suspicious of faith from a young age. I never thought that five years later, I would be writing a non-fiction book about a monk ("A Japanese Monk Who Surprises the World, Shurei Sasai Laughs at India"). Still, at that time, I thought, "I'm going to India for the first time in a long time to see the conversion ceremony," and he casually bought a plane ticket.

K)

No wife, no money, no house

A few months after our interview in Tokyo, I visited Nagpur, a city on the Deccan plateau in central India, where Mr Sasai's temple is located, as promised. Before my visit, I thought that despite his poor followers, he was among the top 150 million people, so his house must be spacious and luxurious.

However, Mr Sasai's residence was a temple lodge of about ten tatami mats in the corner of a small temple. The stained walls, ceiling, dusty floors and desks were strewn with dishes and documents. There was a cheap cane bed and a torn sofa, a fridge with the door jammed and an old air conditioner about to stop rattling.

L)

The toilet in the shared bathroom has to be flushed with water in a bucket, and there is no bathtub in the bathroom, just water poured over it. In summer, the temperature can reach nearly 50 degrees Celsius, so hot water may not be necessary. Still, Mr Sasai, over 80 years old, would find it difficult with this facility. When I asked him, he shouted, "Bakamon!"

"What are monks doing with their extravagance?"　When I came here half a century ago, I had no money, house, or one to know. I've been beaten and chased by dogs; this is heaven compared to that; even the Buddha preached barefoot and died under a tree instead of on his bed, with no monks, women, or money. I don't need anything, not even a house. I'm ready to die in the end in the land of India!

M)

A married woman rushes in, crying

Mr Sasai's daily life is very different from that of an old Japanese monk who, in a quiet temple, holds hands and visits parishioners. Instead, he rushes to Buddhist festivals and conversion ceremonies around the country. In between, he goes out when a poor local Indian family asks him to pray for ceremonial occasions.

Even when I go to the temple, I don't have time to rest my body. People have been queuing outside since morning. A middle-aged man in tears, saying that his daughter, who is studying on a government scholarship, has stopped sending money, a married woman rushing in crying that her husband has eloped with another woman, a family asking for an exorcism because they are cursed, a marriage. Consultations range from prayers for safe childbirth to simple migraines.

N)

Mr Sasai solves all kinds of problems of ordinary people with anger and joy. A donation of a few hundred yen would be nice, and some would accept a bag of crisps, while others would get it for free. Even in Japan, there is a word called 'kakekomi temple', so it may be that in the old days, the monks accepted all kinds of advice.

Unlike Mr Sasai, who is exhausted and sinks into the sofa, the Indians leave the room lightly. And they all said, with beaming faces, "Sasai is my God," "He made us human," "He never abandoned the poor," and "I have hope for life."

O)

Monks plot to kill Mr Sasai

The more I do local reporting, the more I understand how much Mr Sasai is loved and popular among ordinary people—some Buddhist monks. Even during the interview, the secret police came in to say there was an informant, and I attended a conversion ceremony where the monks were plotting to assassinate Mr Sasai. Even though it's only a few weeks of reporting, I'm exhausted every time.

P)

No matter how dangerous his life might be, Mr Sasai never fled back to Japan and spent 44 years, including two years in Thailand, never returning to Japan and working hard to help poor Indians. He finally returned to Japan just before the Great East Japan Earthquake. Now, once a year, he returns to Japan for about a month to visit the affected areas and supporters nationwide.

"Why hasn't he returned to Japan in 44 years?" How can a Japanese boy return to Japan when people are in trouble right before me? It doesn't matter if you are Indian or Japanese. Even if it's your mother, it's not unique. I'm sorry for my mother who died waiting for me. I couldn't meet her, but I'm prepared for that. And I became a monk. So my mother in heaven will understand.

Q)

Selected as one of the 50 people who move the world

He is short-tempered and sometimes pushes people around. He is not a saint. The interview taught me that he is also someone to reach out to and help.

I want him to stay healthy forever, but due to hard work and repeated assassination attempts, Mr Sasai's physical strength is much less than it was five years ago when he started reporting. As he is old, I don't know if he can return to Japan next year.

S)

I am proud that Japanese monks are reviving outdated Buddhism in India and risking their lives to save people. Mr Sasai is very popular in India and has been visited by media worldwide, but unfortunately, he is not well known in his home country of Japan.

Recently, Mr Sasai's existence has begun to be publicized, including his appearance in an NHK documentary and his selection as one of the "50 people who move the world" by the Nikkei business magazine. I want you to know about my half-life and activities. This is because I believe that the actions and words of Mr Sasai, who sincerely hopes for the happiness of others, transcend religion and nationality and are filled with things that are truly important for every human being to live.

Who is 84-year-old Shurei Sasai, the "Japanese monk" who leads India's 150 million Buddhists?

"Three suicide attempts, three assassination attempts, 20 years illegal stay" Monk changed slums.

https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/15417#photo_1

Shurei Sasai The man who dedicated his life to Bodhisattva path 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69QWegukdoE

Shurei Sasai performed the memorial pilgrimage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngr9fBOxQiA

A Buddhism priest, Shurei Sasai, performed the memorial pilgrimage in June 2011 toward the stricken area of the tsunami three months after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Shurei Sasai, born in Japan and became a priest, crossed to India 45 years ago and is continuing propagation in Nagpur, which is known as the headquarters of the Buddhist conversion movement of the DALIT class, which Ambedkar revived.

Shurei Sasai, who came to Nagpur with only the clothes, was staring at with conspicuous eyes and thrown the stone by people when he first arrived.

However, Shurei Sasai integrated himself into their daily life little by little.

He conducted positively the everyday work, which the Buddhists regarded to be required, such as house construction or digging for a well, not just a problematic sermon and reciting mystic words.

Also, he never refused his work as a priest, such as a marriage ceremony and funeral, and participated at any time.

Ultimately, Shurei Sasai became a priest who collected the most respect from the Indian Buddhists.

It is the Buddha Gaya recapture fight that Shrei Sasai attracted the most.

The holy place and Buddha Gaya, where Buddhistic founder Buddha realized the Hindus had managed spiritual enlightenment for a long time.

Shurei Sasai opposed it and started the Buddha Gaya recapture movement in 1992.

It resulted in an administration committee system now, and both opinions of Hinduism and Buddhism are reflected in management.

Shurei Sasai has a sitting room in the temple in Maharashtra state Nagpur.

Since immediately after the earthquake in Japan, Indian TV featured a special edition covering every single moment of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the area. All Indians were not the only ones shocked by the disaster. The telephone rang, caring a lot about Japan from many Indians who adore him, not only a Buddhist but Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam. So it was from the friends of all religions. Warm hearts from all his friends made him reach one decision.

The Shurei Sasai returned to Japan with the wooden monuments for a memorial service.

Praying for 20,000 victims, Shirei Sasai travelled to Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, and 20 areas significantly damaged for reciting the sutras derived from Japan and India.

Shurei Sasai travelled from the south to the north along the coastline of about 300 km tsunami-hit area for two nights and three days.

Even though it tidied up, rubble remained in the stricken area for three months as it was, or it was collected in one place. The waste was far too much quantity.

The black trace is far over the view, showing the tsunami reached. Quite a scenery without any motion where the building was destroyed, and people were washed away remains just confusion. No word can be replaced with the view. It was just a simple view with nothing special, which did not make us feel sad.

We overlooked the ruins, which spread everywhere, priests considered death, and the photographers could only take pictures as shown in the scenery.

Who is 84-year-old Shurei Sasai, the "Japanese monk" who leads India's 150 million Buddhists?

"Three suicide attempts, three assassination attempts, 20 years illegal stay" Monk changed slums.

https://bunshun.jp/articles/-/15417#photo_1

Shurei Sasai Otoko Ichidai Bodhisattva Path 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqgYJtMMupg

Rev. Shurei Sasai J 77

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fjwktmlGT4