Search

Contrary to other European countries, where Buddhism has been studied since at least the 19th century, this paper shows that there are no known direct channels of transmission of Japanese Buddhism between Japan and Greece. Connections have, however, been made through other European countries, where, for example, Italy continues to play a major role. Moreover, these transmissions have taken a very long time to spread beyond the immediate circle of one or two key figures, because such traditions have been met with suspicion by the larger population, which remains influenced by a Christian Orthodox outlook. The establishment of Zen meditation centers in today’s urban centers, however, shows that the legal and official protections from which the Greek Church continues to benefit are not a reflection of devout sentiment among the population. This paper illustrates that under Greece’s conservative Orthodox climate, Japanese Buddhism has become simultaneously “Japanese culture” and a philosophy open to “all religions.”

This study analyzes how Buddhist philosophical ideas in Chinese and Indian scriptures were interpreted to make them more understandable in mediaeval Japan. It is based on the textual analysis of a cycle of poems entitled Kasuga hyakushu sō, composed by the Tendai monk Jien (1155‒1255). Jien con­sciously uses the poetic language of waka to express complex philosophical concepts. A textual analysis of Kasuga hyakushu sōōōо (circa 1218) sheds light on some seminal features of Japanese Buddhism including the place of Japanese deities (kami) in the system of Buddhist teaching, the time-spatial concept of the sangoku-mappō. Kasuga hyakushu sō was an offering to the Ka­suga Shrine, where the ancestral deities of the Fujiwara clan were worshipped. Conversely, this cycle of poems also reflects the historiosophical views of Jien, who believed that the role of the Fujiwara family in the history of Japan was willed by Amaterasu.

Introduction. The article focuses on The Original of Laura, an unfinished novel by V. V. Nabokov, supporting materials to which contain definitions of such concepts and categories as ‘Buddhism’, ‘Nirvana’, ‘bonze’, and ‘Brahmin’. Moreover, the novel mentions Yukio Mishima and cites an article by R. Scruton’s examining Ivan Morris’s The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan. Goals. The paper aims to reveal the reasons why Nabokov turns to the Far Eastern philosophy Japanese cultural tradition, describe Nabokov interpret such categories of Buddhism as ‘incarnation’ and ‘Nirvana’. Results. The article shows the development of Nabokov’s interest in Buddhism, illustrates the semantic series to have constituted the image of Japan in his work, determines the semantic categories of Japanese Buddhism actualized in Nabokov’s narratives. Conclusions. In Japanese Buddhism Nabokov was attracted by aspects that combined philosophical, aesthetic and ethical principles. The unity of these principles Nabokov finds in the Samurai code of Bushido, and particularly, in the act of seppuku aestheticizing death, and The Original of Laura actually seeks to solve the problem of a happy death.

Recent studies on Buddhist materiality tend to focus on specific objects and their ritual uses, without dedicating much attention to processes of production of those objects and their actual makers. This article begins to redress this situation by outlining a general theoretical framework for the study of Buddhist objects and material culture in general through their continuous transformations—a framework that takes into account not only the ontological status and phenomenological features of individual objects, but also their signification and the various types of labor involved in their production and fruition. After proposing a general typology of objects, in order to gain a better sense of the ontological extension of Buddhism, the article also discusses the types of labor and practical activities involved in the production and use of Buddhist objects. Next, it deals with different aspects that determine the value of Buddhist sacred objects, and addresses modes of transformation affecting Buddhist objects through time and space, envisioned here as instances of broader processes of semiotic transformation (semiomorphosis). While this paper mostly examines objects within the Japanese Buddhist tradition, it hopes to offer a contribution to the study of practical materiality and labor in other Buddhist traditions as well.

KEIZAN Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾 (1264–1325) is the fourth generation patriarch of the Japanese Sōtō School after Eihei Dōgen (1200–1253), Ko’un Ejō 孤雲懐弉 (1198–1280), and Tettsū Gikai 徹通義介 (1219–1309). Today, the Sōtō School is based on the idea of two patriarchs in one body as well as the idea of “funiryōzan” 不二両山, which regards the founding figure kōso as father and the reviving figure taiso as mother. Generally speaking, Keizan’s contribution to the development of the Sōtō School is well recognized; however, he did not receive adequate attention from academia. In my work Dōgen zen no seiritsushiteki kenkyū 道元禅の成立史的研究, I compare Keizan with Dōgen. My analysis is that in contrast to the “true dharma” (J. shōbō 正法) constructed by Dōgen, who overcomes the “silent illumination Zen” (J. mokushōzen 黙照禅), Keizan sees the characteristics of the Sōtō School (which is a rival of the Rinzai School) as a return to the tradition of the Silent Illumination Zen. It follows that Keizan supported satori 悟り by experience, which is rejected by Dōgen. Apart from general research such as mine, there are new attempts to understand Keizan such as Bernard Faure’s Vision of Power–Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism (1994), in which Keizan is regarded as the one who established a Zen teaching combining Dōgen’s orthodox Zen with various Zen elements in local religion, schools, and rituals. Finally, Keizan promoted zazen. It is well known that Dōgen promoted “sitting-only” (J. shikantaza 只管打坐). His first book after returning from Song China was a meditation manual, Fukanzazengi 普勧坐禅儀. Dōgen’s position of valuing zazen is followed by Keizan, who wrote the book Zazenyōjinki 坐禅用心記. In this book, Keizan introduced a method and frequency of breathing, which was not mentioned in Dōgen’s work. In another book Sankonzazensetsu 三根坐禅説, Keizan manifests a compassionate attitude towards practitioners with different abilities. This warm character of Keizan can be seen in his teaching of zazen.

In this paper, I analyse the image creation of Zen Buddhism as emerges from films produced in Europe and North America. In particular, I explore Marc Rosenbush's Zen Noir (2004), Zen & Zero by Michael Ginthor (2006), and Erleuchtung Garantiert (1999) by Doris Dorrie. Comparatively, I examine a recent Japanese production on the life and teachings of the Sōtō Zen master Dōgen titled Zen and directed by Takahashi Banmei (2009). The aim of this analysis is to explore if and how depictions of Zen in western movies mirror representations of this religious tradition made ad hoc for the ‘West’ and, conversely, what is the image of Zen Buddhism as appears in Japanese productions. This will be considered in a comparative perspective in order to identify differences, possible common patterns and mutual influences which may have shaped the cinematic perception of this form of Japanese Buddhism in Europe and North America.

This paper examines recent innovations in the American vipassana or insight community, specifically a current I identify as ‘West Coast Vipassana’ that has revisioned the Theravadin Buddhist goal of liberation, from a transcendental condition that demands a renunciation of the world, to an ‘embodied enlightenment’ that affirms everyday householder life as a site for awakening. I draw on Jeffrey J. Kripal's tantric transmission thesis to advance an essentially tantric hermeneutic of West Coast Vipassana. I argue that while West Coast Vipassana is originally based in Theravada Buddhism, an Asian renouncer tradition that sharply differentiates between the immanent and transcendent, it has taken a markedly tantric turn in America. I also note, however, that it considerably differs from traditional Buddhist tantric traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism or esoteric Japanese Buddhism in being distinctively modern and American.

Contents: Preface, Helen Rose Ebaugh Introduction to religious and global transnational service movements, Stephen M. Cherry The Redeemed Christian Church of God: African Pentecostalism, Afe Adogame The Gulen Movement: Sunni Islam, Helen Rose Ebaugh Soka Gakkai International: Nichiren Japanese Buddhism, Daniel A. Metraux BAPS Swaminarayan Community: Hinduism, Arun Brahmbhatt The Gawad Kalinga Movement: charismatic Catholicism, Stephen M. Cherry Aga Khan development network: Shia Ismaili Islam, Karim H. Karim BahA!'A- international community: BahA!'A- faith, Mike McMullen Studying global transnational religious service movements, Stephen M. Cherry Index.

While embryological symbolism pervades Buddhist discourse, it has only recently come to the attention of Buddhist scholarship. The present paper, after briefly discussing the notion of the “five stages of gestation” (tainai goi), focuses on its symbolic expression in medieval Japan—not only in esoteric Buddhism, with the embryological encoding of the “wisdom kings” Aizen and Fudō, but also in medieval Shintō, with the figure of the sun goddess and in Shugendō, a mountain cult aimed at spiritual rebirth.

Contributors Acknowledgments Abbreviations Editor's Introduction: Two for the Price of One - Steven Heine Part I. Studies of Dogen 1. Dogen's Use of Rujing's 'Just Sit' (shikan taza) and Other Koans - T. Griffith Foulk 2. 'Raihaitokuzui' and Dogen's Views of Gender and Women: A Reconsideration - Miriam Levering 3. Dogen, A Medieval Japanese Monk Well-Versed in Chinese Poetry: What He Did and Did Not Compose - Steven Heine 4. Negotiating the Divide of Death in Japanese Buddhism: Dogen's Difference - John C. Maraldo 5. 'When all Dharmas are the Buddha-dharma': Dogen as Comparative Philosopher - Gereon Kopf Part II. Studies of Soto Zen 6. Keizan's Denkoroku: A Textual and Contextual Overview - William M. Bodiford 7. Are Soto Zen Precepts for Ethical Guidance or Ceremonial Transformation? Menzan's Attempted Reforms and Contemporary Practices - David Riggs 8. Vocalizing the Remembrance of Dogen: A Study of the Shinpen Hoon Koshiki - Michaela Mross 9. Interpreting the Material Heritage of the 'Elephant Trunk Robe' in Soto Zen - Diane Riggs 10. Embodying Soto Zen: Institutional Identity and Ideal Body-Image at Daihonzan Eiheiji - Pamela D. Winfield Sino-Japanese Glossary Index

Zonkaku (1290-1373) was the fourth generation descendant of Shinran, the founder of the Jodoshin school of Japanese Buddhism. He traveled throughout Japan with his father Kakunyo, and wrote many books to spread Shinran's doctrine.This paper will analyze his reason for writing the Hoonki. Zonkaku believed that filial piety in Buddhism is better than filial piety in Confucianism. In Confucianism filial piety brings happiness in this life, but in Buddhism filial piety brings happiness in both this life and the life to come. Nembutsu is the best expression of filial piety.

It is a well documented fact, albeit perhaps not emphasized enough in scholarship, that Japanese Buddhism, historically, has often favored and contributed to technological developments. Since its t...

What have modern Buddhist ethicists to say about abortion and is there anything to be learned from it? A number of writers have suggested that Buddhism (particularly Japanese Buddhism) does indeed have something important to offer here: a response to the dilemma of abortion that is a 'middle way' between the pro-choice and pro-life extremes that have polarised the western debate. I discuss what this suggestion might amount to and present a defence of its plausibility.

Christian belief in a future life was historically based on theistic religious experience. Today Near Death Experiences are more often cited. Exceptional reports of NDEs go back to the dawn of history but modern medicine has democratised them. Accounts from St. Paul, St. John of the Cross, and from Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism are described and compared with a large survey of contemporary experiences. The author pleads the desirability of establishing a prospective research project to determine the objectivity of some of the experiences claimed.

This chapter analyzes and explicates the akunin shōki theme in Shin Buddhism and explores its significance in Japanese Buddhist history. It reviews cursorily the stock of Buddhist tropes, images, and themes that Shinran and Shin Buddhism inherited from earlier texts, which they used to formulate their ideas about the evil person. Akunin shōki is the idea that the evil person is neither excluded from the Pure Land nor grudgingly granted birth at its lowest level, but in fact represents the prime target of Amida Buddha's vow to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment. This idea has been celebrated by some scholars as Shinran's most important and original contribution to Japanese Buddhism. Shinran's idea of akunin shōki represents a powerful, counter-intuitive religious proposition in Buddhism that has stimulated doctrinal reflection and elaboration over the centuries. Keywords: akunin shōki ; Japan; Shin Buddhism; Shinran

This chapter offers a brief reflection on the notion of "contemporary", which is in Japan. It describes how the different esoteric traditions in Japan find themselves involved in the weaving of contemporary Japan. The chapter shows how contemporary scholarship plays an important role in the deconstruction of mainstream discourse and representations of Japanese esoteric Buddhism. Since the time of Kūkai, Saichō, and their early disciples, the Buddhist esoteric traditions have found themselves involved in the constant weaving of positions and their legitimacy. The esoteric traditions of Japanese Buddhism have renewed their interest in contemporary Japan, trying to adapt their teachings and practices to the needs of a rapidly changing society. The word "mikkyō " has begun to be used in a new way, one that reveals in the minds of many Japanese a coherent conceptual landscape that renews the reflection on identity and offers a sense of belonging. Keywords: contemporary Japan; esoteric Buddhism; mikkyō

This paper introduces the teachings of three contemporary practitioners of Tendai Buddhism. I argue that the study of Japanese Buddhism has focused on doctrine and the past to the detriment of our understanding of contemporary teaching. Through an examination of the teachings of contemporary practitioners of austerities, I show that practice is drawn on as a source more than classical doctrine, that conservative values are prized, and that the teachings show strong similarities to the teachings of the new religions, suggesting a broad-based shared worldview.

Tantric practices are often considered a "degenerate" development of Buddhism; there is a widespread notion that in Tantric ritual the deeply altruistic motivation and penetrative insight of Great Vehicle Buddhism were discarded in favor of expression of baser instincts. As these notions take no account of the presence of more prevalent, high traditions of tantra that are preserved in Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, they create great stumbling blocks to meaningful dialogue between Tantric Buddhists and Christians. Therefore, in this article I present the basic principles of tantra as these are described in one of the high Tibetan traditions, the Ge-luk-ba1 order. My emphasis will be on how the Tantric path is an enhanced embodiment of the teachings on compassion and wisdom basic to Great Vehicle Buddhism.