The Many Faces of Shinran: Images from D.T. Suzuki and The Eastern Buddhist (original) (raw)

2011, Eastern Buddhist, New Series

Images from D. T. Suzuki and The Eastern Buddhist ＊ James C. Dobbins i n the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Japanese Buddhism stood at a crossroads. Prior to that period it held a virtual monopoly on the Japanese mind. In ancient and medieval times almost all social, cultural, and intellectual activities-whether ritual, cosmology, art, literature, social organization, political legitimation, economic production, or religious life and practice-were tied directly or indirectly to Buddhism. By early modern times, that is, the Tokugawa 徳川 period (1603-1867), Buddhism stood as the dominant worldview, though other ways of thinking-Neo-Confucianism (shushigaku 朱子学), Western Learning (yōgaku 洋学), and Nativist Thought (kokugaku 国学)-began to destabilize its authority. At the beginning of the Meiji 明治 period (1868-1912), Buddhism tumbled from its place of prominence and underwent the harshest attack of its entire history in Japan under the so-called haibutsu kishaku 廃仏毀釈 persecution. Portrayed as an antiquated mindset, irreconcilable with a new, modern Japan, it lost most of its social, political, and economic clout. It would take all of Buddhism's creative energies to reestablish its credibility in the face of this challenge. This crisis brought to the fore a new generation of Japanese Buddhists who rose to the challenge. Instead of resisting modernization, they embraced it and sought to identify facets and dimensions of Buddhism that were fully compatible with the modern world. This was not an easy task, for on the ＊ Editor's note: In order to mark the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the Eastern Buddhist Society, a public symposium was held at Otani University on 16 May 2011. The lecture presented by Professor Dobbins and responses by the current and a former Secretary-General of the society are included here in this commemorative issue.