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TOK TOK CHENG

OVER THE YEARS in China, Buddhism deteriorated, and nowadays, among many Chinese, there is the impression that Buddhism is only about praying for the deceased.

Tok tok cheng is onomatopoeic Asian slang that mimics the sound of the striking of the wooden block and ringing of the bowls in Buddhist ritual. It makes fun of empty, silly services that became the way monasteries and monks supported themselves by officiating at funeral services, chanting, striking the block, and ringing the bowl. Tok tok cheng. This kind of empty commercialization of Buddhism and exploitation of the importance Chinese people put on funeral practices caused monks to become known as parasitic maggots and worms who live in and feed off the rice of others.

Funerals must be grand in China to signify that you are an important person. There can be thirty monks, all chanting, a full orchestra, lots of food, and offerings of all kinds. The belief is that chanting creates merit that accrues to the deceased and ensures a better rebirth. Professional mourners may be employed who beat their heads and weep, pound the floor and carry on, all for a fee. The monks are very much a part of this show, part of ushering the deceased through the ten halls of hell by burning joss paper and hell money (US one-dollar bills are popular these days; George Washington represents the king of hell who you are bribing to allow you to pass through the ten halls).

Chan became entwined with these cultural superstitions, and it was enmeshed in the way we Chinese believe that life and death are permeable and interconnected. The folk superstitions of China became the bread and butter of Chan monks and monasteries, much to the detriment of the religion.

But if you look at Chan, it doesn’t talk so much about the dead. Its primary concern is what it is to be alive in the present moment. We say in Chan: “When you’re alive take care of the living matters. When you die take care of the dying matters.” Chan is about living a happier, more meaningful life. Not tok tok cheng.