By D. Max Moerman
The term “Engi” has had multiple different iterations of its meaning across time and space. The Engi of Onsenji and many other temples with healing waters is a translation of religious texts that show the overcoming of human suffering (Moerman, 74). This post will attempt to explain some of the origins of the Buddha and the bathhouse metaphor(s).
This article is specifically about Onsenji Enji in Japan, but can be applied to almost any bathhouse in Asia. “Onsengi” is the name of the temple at the Arima hot springs, and “Engi” is known today as the origin narratives of Buddhist temples, images, or practices (Moerman, 74), but the more technical denotation is “a term for the theory of dependent origination” (Moerman, 71)
Arima hot springs
Figure 1. Arima Hot Springs in Japan
The Arima hot springs have always attracted the elite because of its “healing waters and the sacred blessing of the Medicine Master Buddha, Yakushi”. (Moerman, 72) These sacred waters flow out of the Buddha’s body and in a way heal the people who encounter it. A painting that was kept at the hot springs until 1743 shows the guests the history of the temple. A man named Zuikei visited the temple in the mid-fifteenth century, it is said that the history of the temple that he learned about during his stay is really a combination of many stories. All of which are explained throughout this article. Onsenji was originally founded by Gyoki, a former monk who crossed the path of a sick man and dropped everything to help him. By the end of their interaction, the man asked Gyoki to “lick his diseased skin” to soothe it (the true test), and just as Gyoki began to do so the sick man turned into Yakushi (Buddha). Because of Gyoki’s compassion, Yakushi gave Gyoki the name “holy man of the hot springs” and sent him to Arima where the water would cure all disease. (Moerman, 74-75). “Although the engi of the different onsen vary in how they articulate the causal relationship between the healing powers of Yakushi and the medicinal effects of the hot spring, all concur in linking the Buddha with the bathwater.” (Moerman, 75) Furthermore, this means the story of Gyoki was not actually that unique… There are many others like it. Because the origins of Onsenji aren’t actually that unique, it is important to contextualize this idea into a larger realm…
Monks & Bathing traditions
Historically, cleansing with water has always symbolized purification of all forms in Japan. “As in China and Korea, bathing was an institutionalized Buddhist practice and the bathhouse was an integral part of Japan’s earliest monasteries” (Moerman, 78). It was very common for monks to have a big bath twice a month – on the 14th and 29th day. The bath would cleanse the monks of all physical and mental impurification which led them to be cleansed of all worldly filth and ignorance. (Moerman, 78). Each narrative of the Buddha and the bathhouse refer to impurity as both a mental and physical thing, but Buddha’s teachings specifically are more about mental defilement.
Figure 2. Buddhist monk Bathings
Elite vs. outcasts in ancient japanese society
Up until the 11th century, the link between the Buddha and the bathhouse was strictly found in temples, but eventually these ideas were opened up to the public and even the sick and diseased. For a long time, people who were disabled were outcasts of communities, but the water was thought to have helped heal them (Moerman, 79). In a way, opening up the bathhouse to people besides the elite and monks was a reflection of Gyoki’s story with the sick man. Lepers represented the walking dead in medieval Japan and were marginalized even within the outcast community. It was believed that Leprosy was “Karmic retribution for past transgressions” – meaning people thought that people with Leprosy deserved it (Moerman, 82). There were many Chinese tales that emphasized similar concepts of faith, except in these it was Manjusri (another sacred figure) to test the piety of his followers, most of which have now developed into similar ‘Buddha and bathhouse’ stories. “The individual elements of these origin narratives- religious exemplars such as Gyõki, Kõmyõ, or Jakushõ; sacred sites such as Onsenji, Hokkeji, or Wutaishan; or buddhas and bodhisattvas of healing such as Yakushi, Ashuku, or Monju – are almost interchangeable” (Moerman, 83). Each of these stories vary a little bit but there are always two constants within all of them: the leper (buddha), and the bathwater (cleansing of impurification).
Figure 3. Painting of a "Leper"
In conclusion, the stories of the Buddha and the bathhouse have existed for centuries and are still relevant to how we view them today because their history is what helped evolve the modern bathhouse. Like many stories from religions all over the world, this metaphor asks us to be kind to others (especially to those who are less fortunate than us) and in return we will be rewarded in one way or another. Bathwater has virtually always and probably will always be viewed as not only physically cleansing but also spiritually and mentally cleansing. Today, bathhouses all over the world contribute to this philosophy and allow us to find some luxury in the simple things.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Moerman, D. Max. “The Buddha and the Bathwater: Defilement and Enlightenment in the Onsenji Engi.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, vol. 42, no. 1, 2015, pp. 71–87. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43551911. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.