{{short description|Miniature version of a standard kāṣāya worn around the neck like a bib}} {{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:Japanese words and phrases]]}} [[Image:Japanese buddhist monk by Arashiyama cut.jpg|thumbnail|right|A [[Sōtō]] [[Bhikkhu|monk]] wearing his light-brown rakusu over his robes.]] A {{nihongo|'''''rakusu'''''|絡子||}} is a traditionally Japanese garment worn around the neck of [[Zen|Zen Buddhists]] who have taken the [[Bodhisattva Precepts|precepts]].<ref name="about">{{cite web |url=http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefirstbuddhists/ig/The-Buddha-s-Robe/Zen-Takahatsu.htm |title=The Buddha's Robe in Japan |accessdate=May 7, 2012 |publisher=[[About.com]] |archive-date=April 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418082754/http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefirstbuddhists/ig/The-Buddha-s-Robe/Zen-Takahatsu.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> It can also signify [[Upāsaka and Upāsikā|Lay Ordination]]. It is made of 16 or more strips of [[cloth]], [[sewing| sewn]] together into a brick-like pattern by the student during their period of preparation for their [[jukai]] or ordination ceremony.
There is no set standard, but the most common application of rakusu color is for the front of the rakusu to be black for priests and brown for teachers and sangha leaders.<ref name="urban">{{cite web |url=http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma10/robe.html |title=The Tradition of Buddha’s Robe |accessdate=May 7, 2012 |publisher=Urban Dharma }}</ref> Occasionally in Western sanghas, the color green is used to signify that the wearer has been given Lay Entrustment, an authorization to teach at a basic level. The back of the rakusu is left white.<ref name="urban"/> The teacher will traditionally write the student's new [[Dharma name]] and occasionally their [[Lineage (Buddhism)|lineage]].
== History == The rakusu is a miniature version of a standard [[Kasaya (clothing)|kāṣāya]] worn around the neck like a bib. The rakusu is a garment possibly of [[Culture of China|Chinese]] origins,<ref name="about"/> potentially dating back to periods of Buddhist persecutions.
The Buddha's original outer robe was a rectangular robe in the ratio of 6 by 9. The Buddha is said to have renounced the wearing of new cloth<ref name="urban"/> and created his robe from pieces of cast-off white burial cloth found at burial sites and dyed with saffron, for its disinfecting value. It is said in legend to resemble the rice fields seen by the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] himself while walking on pilgrimage.<ref name="about2">{{cite web |url=http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefirstbuddhists/a/robes.htm |title=The Buddha's Robe |accessdate=May 7, 2012 |publisher=[[About.com]] |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310071558/http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefirstbuddhists/a/robes.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
One origin story holds that when the Chinese emperors forbid the wearing of robes, defrocked all the Buddhist monks, and bestowed imperial favor on the [[Confucian]] and [[Taoist]] priests, then Buddhist monks created a miniature version of their robe to be worn secretly around the neck underneath their regular lay clothing. Another suggests that the rakusu developed as Zen monks became involved in manual labor because a full robe would have been too unwieldy. Additionally, some Japanese scholars believe it was developed in Japan during the Edo or Tokugawa Era, as the result of regulations specifying the size and fabric type of monks clothing.<ref name="urban"/>
Assuming the rakusu was used in China, it fell into general disuse there, but the tradition continues in Japan and it is now commonly associated with [[Zen|Zen Buddhist]] lineages stemming from that country. The rakusu today is still sometimes made with an ornamental circular clasp on the left side to emulate the circular clasp used on some full-sized robes.
== Symbolism == The rakusu represents the [[Kesa (clothing)|garments]] that the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] put together to wear after he left his palace to seek [[Bodhi|enlightenment]]. According to [[Buddhist scripture]], Siddhārtha left the palace where he was a prince, and collected [[wikt:rag|rag]]s from trash heaps, [[funeral pyre]]s, and various other places.<ref name="about2"/> He then cleaned the rags by rubbing them in [[saffron]], which gave his robes an orange-golden appearance.
In the [[Sōtō]] school, the rakusu's color is usually determined by the wearer's status.<ref name="urban"/> For example, lay practitioners frequently receive a blue rakusu and black ones are given upon ordination as a priest. A brown rakusu indicates that the wearer has received dharma transmission and is authorized to teach and lead an independent sangha. A green rakusu is sometimes used when the wearer has received Lay Entrustment and is authorized to teach basic dharma and practice.
On the back of the collar of the rakusu there is an identifying [[embroidered]] stitch that represents each of the existing schools of Zen. The Sōtō school uses a broken pine needle design, the [[Rinzai]] school a mountain-shaped triangle, and the [[Ōbaku|Ōbaku school]] a six-pointed star.<ref name="urban"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.sfzc.org/offerings/deepening-practice/instructions-sewing-rakusu Instructions for Sewing a Rakusu] from the [[San Francisco Zen Center]] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120406061808/http://www.upaya.org/teachings/rakusu-pattern.php Rakusu Instructions] or [https://www.upaya.org/search/?q=rakusu Rakusu search] from [[Upaya Institute and Zen Center]]
[[Category:Buddhist religious clothing]] [[Category:Japanese upper-body garments]]