Cultivating Spirituality

Description

Cultivating Spirituality is a seminal anthology of Shin Buddhist thought, one that reflects this tradition's encounter with modernity. Shin (or Jodō Shinshū) is a popular form of Pure Land Buddhism, the most widely practiced form of Buddhism in Japan, but is only now becoming well known in the West. The lives of the four thinkers included in the book spanned the years 1863–1982, from the Meiji opening to the West to Japan's establishment as an industrialized democracy and world economic power. Kiyozawa Manshi, Soga Ryōjin, Kaneko Daiei, and Yasuda Rijin, all associated with Kyoto's Ōtani University, dealt with the spiritual concerns of a society undergoing great change. Their philosophical orientation known as "Seishinshugi" ("cultivating spirituality") provides a set of principles that prioritized personal, subjective experience as the basis for religious understanding.

In addition to providing access to work generally unavailable in English, this volume also includes both a contextualizing introduction and introductions to each figure included.
Preface
Yasutomi Shin’ya

Abbreviations

1. Shin Buddhism in the Meiji Period
Mark L. Blum

Kiyozawa Manshi

2. Kiyozawa Manshi: Life and Thought
Mark L. Blum

3. Why Do Buddhists Lack Self-Respect?
Kiyozawa Manshi
translated by Mark L. Blum

4. Negotiating Religious Morality and Common Morality
Kiyozawa Manshi
translated by Mark L. Blum

5. The Nature of My Faith
Kiyozawa Manshi
translated by Mark L. Blum

Soga Ryōjin

6. Soga Ryōjin: Life and Thought
Robert F. Rhodes

7. A Savior on Earth: The Meaning of Dharmākara Bodhisattva’s Advent
Soga Ryōjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt

8. Shinran’s View of Buddhist History
Soga Ryōjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt

9. Lectures on the Tannishō
Soga Ryōjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt

Kaneko Daiei

10. Kaneko Daiei: Life and Times
Robert Rhodes

11. Prolegomena to Shin Buddhist Studies
Kaneko Daiei
translated by Robert Rhodes

Yasuda Rijin

12. Yasuda Rijin: Life and Thought
Paul Watt

13. The Practical Understanding of Buddhism
Yasuada Rijin
translated by Paul Watt

14. The Mirror of Nothingness
Yasuda Rijin
translated by Paul Watt

15. A Name but Not a Name Alone
Yasuda Rijin
translated by Paul Watt

Combined Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Philosophie de la religion
• History of religions
• Buddhism

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438439839
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

BLu M r hode S
Cultivating Spiritualit y
•

B U D D H I S T S T U D I E S / P H I L O S O P H Y
Cultivating Spirituality is a seminal anthology of Shin
Buddhist thought, one that refects this tradition’s encounter
with modernity. Shin (or Jōdo Shinshū) is a popular form
of Pure Land Buddhism, the most widely practiced form of
Buddhism in Japan, but is only now becoming well known in
the West. Te lives of the four thinkers included in the book
spanned the years 1863–1982, from the Meiji opening to the
West to Japan’s establishment as an industrialized democracy
and world economic power. k iyozawa Manshi, Soga r yōjin,
k aneko d aiei, and Yasuda r ijin, all associated with k yoto’s
Ōtani u niversity, dealt with the spiritual concerns of a society
undergoing great change. t heir philosophical orientation
known as “Seishinshugi” (“cultivating spirituality”) provides a
set of principles that prioritized personal, subjective experience
as the basis for religious understanding.
In addition to providing access to work generally unavailable a M o d e r n
in e nglish, this volume also includes both a contextualizing
S h i n B u d d h i s t introduction and introductions to each fgure included.
A n t h o l o g y
Mark L. B LuM is Professor of Japanese at the u niversity
at Albany, State u niversity of New York. h e is the author of
The Origins and Development of Pure Land Buddhism: A Cultivating Study and Translation of Gyōnen’s Jōdo h ōmon Genrushō
and the coeditor (with Shin’ya Yasutomi) of Rennyo and the
Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism. roBert F. rhodes Spiritualityis Professor of Buddhist Studies at Ōtani u niversity.
edited by
M A r k L . B Lu M
S tat e U n i v e r S i t y o f n e w y o r k P r e S S
www.sunypress.edu r o Bert F. r hode SCultivating Spirituality
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 1 11/4/11 2:36 PM33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 2 11/4/11 2:36 PMCultivating Spirituality
A Modern Shin Buddhist Anthology
edited by
Mark L. Blum
and
Robert F. Rhodes
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 3 11/4/11 2:36 PMThis publication has been supported by the Shin Buddhist Comprehensive
Research Institute at Otani University.
Cover art from the journal, Seishinkai, volume 11, no. 1, January 1911.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2011 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including
electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production by Diane Ganeles
Marketing by Michael Campochiaro

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blum, Mark Laurence.
Cultivating spirituality : a modern Shin Buddhist anthology / Mark L.
Blum and Robert F. Rhodes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-3981-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Shin (Sect) 2. Religious life—Shin (Sect) 3. Pure Land Buddhism.
4. Japan—Religion. I. Rhodes, Robert Franklin. II. Title. III. Title:
Modern Shin Buddhist anthology.
BQ8715.4.B58 2011
294.3'440952--dc22 2011009764
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 4 11/7/11 8:26 AMContents
Foreword viiYasutomi Shin’ya
Abbreviationsxi
Chapter 1Shin Buddhism in the Meiji Period 1Mark L. Blum
Kiyozawa Manshi
Chapter 2 Kiyozawa Manshi: Life and Thought 55
Mark L. Blum
Chapter 3 Why Do Buddhists Lack Self-Respect? 67
Kiyozawa Manshi
translated by Mark L. Blum
Chapter 4 Negotiating Religious Morality and
Common Morality 77
Kiyozawa Manshi
translated by Mark L. Blum
Chapter 5 The Nature of My Faith 93
Kiyozawa Manshi

Soga Ryo¯jin
Chapter 6 Soga Ryøjin: Life and Thought 101
Robert F. Rhodes
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 5 11/4/11 2:36 PMvi CONTENTS
Chapter 7 A Savior on Earth: The Meaning of Dharmåkara
Bodhisattva’s Advent 107
Soga Ryøjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt
Chapter 8 Shinran’s View of Buddhist History 119
Soga Ryøjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt
Chapter 9 Lectures on the Tannishø 139
Soga Ryøjin
translated by Jan Van Bragt
Kaneko Daiei
Chapter 10 Kaneko Daiei: Life and Thought 159
Robert F. Rhodes
Chapter 11 Prolegomena to Shin Buddhist Studies 173
Kaneko Daiei
translated by Robert F. Rhodes
Yasuda Rijin
Chapter 12 Yasuda Rijin: Life and Thought 217
Paul Watt
Chapter 13 The Practical Understanding of Buddhism 227
Yasuda Rijin
translated by Paul Watt
Chapter 14 The Mirror of Nothingness 233
Yasuda Rijin
translated by Paul Watt
Chapter 15 A Name but Not a Name Alone 239
Yasuda Rijin
translated by Paul Watt
Combined Glossary 267
Bibliography 279
Index299
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 6 11/4/11 2:36 PMForeword
Since its entry to Japan from the continent, Buddhism has fowed like
a great stream through Japanese history. Within that stream, the most
notable developments were made in the ancient capital of Nara and
on Mounts Hiei and Køya. Among these three centers, however, the
most important was Mt. Hiei, the site of Enryakuji, the head temple
of the Tendai school. We are all familiar with the great teachers of
this stream, such as Ennin 円仁, Ryøgen 良源, Genshin 源信, Hønen
法然, and Shinran 親鸞.
The chief objects of interest among scholars of Japanese religions
in the West have included Zen Buddhism in the area of thought,
Shinto and Shugendø in terms of folk studies, and the new religions
inspired by Nichiren 日蓮 in the feld of sociological studies. However,
when looking at Japanese religions from the point of view of popular
Buddhism, one cannot overlook the great infuence that Pure Land especially Shin Buddhism, has had on the spiritual lives of
the Japanese people. The fact that Pure Land Buddhism propagated by
Hønen and Shinran have, albeit slowly, begun to attract the attention
1of a growing number of scholars outside Japan, is to be welcomed.
Despite this growing interest, however, the number of works
about fundamental aspects of Pure Land Buddhism remains very small.
Since Shinran’s passing, Shin Buddhism has undergone three major
revivals—in the late medieval period, in the Edo period and again in
the modern period—but only a few studies published in English deal
concretely with the content of the revivals between the medieval and
modern periods. In an attempt to fll this gap in studies on Pure Land
Buddhism in the West, the Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research
Institute of Otani University published a collection of articles about
Rennyo 蓮如, who greatly contributed to the development of Shin
Buddhism in the medieval period, in commemoration of his 500th
2memorial service.
In the meantime, the International Buddhist Studies Research
Group of the Shin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute had
vii
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 7 11/4/11 2:36 PMviii FOREWORD
embarked on a project to select and translate some of the important
works by Shin Buddhist thinkers of the modern period, that have
been little known in the West. Although the work on this project had
frequently been interrupted, we have fnally been able to complete
these translations, the result of over a decade of painstaking work.
The Meiji period, when Japan’s modern period began, was a
time when Western civilization surged over Japan like a tidal wave. It
was an age in which the dramatic encounter between the cultures of
East and West began. Within this encounter, all of Japan’s traditional
values were subjected to a complete and relentless critique. Buddhism
was one of the value systems brought into question. Along with the
persecution of Buddhism after the Meiji Restoration, the infux of new
ideas and technologies from the various countries of the West and the
spread of Christianity within Japan threw the Buddhist world, which
had until then lolled comfortably under the protective policies of the
Shogunate, into a state of crisis never known before.
This crisis posed the gravest threat to Shin Buddhism. To respond
adequately to this crisis, it was necessary for Shin Buddhism, which
had transmitted Shinran’s teachings through the ages, to provide a
spiritual foundation that would adequately meet the needs of the
people coping with a period of intense change ―a heavy burden indeed.
Unfortunately, in reality, the intellectual vitality of Shin Buddhism
had by then degenerated to the point where it was scorned as “the
religion of foolish people.”
We must remember the work of our forerunners who, through
their own struggles in this period of intense change, were able to
rediscover Shinran’s fundamental message and open up a new frontier
where Shin Buddhism could again fourish. Their labors pioneered
the recovery of the dignity and prestige of Śåkyamuni’s religion in
the modern period.
Our group decided that it was necessary to introduce readers
outside Japan to several of the historical fgures who, from the midst
of the suffering and confusion of modernity, took refuge in the three
treasures of the buddha, dharma, and sangha and contributed greatly
to the rebirth of Shinran’s faith and thought. After a careful discussion,
four outstanding scholars were selected: Kiyozawa Manshi 清沢満之,
who took the frst steps toward the revitalization of Shin Buddhism
in the modern period, Soga Ryøjin 曽 我量深, who, as a disciple of
Kiyozawa, played a pivotal role in the development of modern doctrinal
studies, Kaneko Daiei 金子大栄, who clarifed the fundamental stance
of Shin Buddhist Studies as an academic discipline, and Yasuda Rijin
安田理深, who, in the postwar period, developed a new perspective
33700_SP_BLUM_FM_00i-xii.indd 8 11/4/11 2:36 PMixFOREWORD
on Shinran’s thought and the Shin fellowship through his study of not