Demythologizing Pure Land Buddhism

Paul B. Watt

Paul B. Watt

Demythologizing Pure Land Buddhism

Yasuda Rijin and the Shin Buddhist Tradition

In: Pure Land Buddhist Studies

Edited by: Richard K. Payne

University of Hawaii Press | 2016

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824856342

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About this book

The True Pure Land sect of Japanese Buddhism, or Shin Buddhism, grew out of the teachings of Shinran (1173–1262), a Tendai-trained monk who came to doubt the efficacy of that tradition in what he viewed as a degenerate age. Shinran held that even those unable to fulfill the requirements of the traditional Buddhist path could attain enlightenment through the experience of shinjin, “the entrusting mind”—an expression of the profound realization that the Buddha Amida, who promises birth in his Pure Land to all who trust in him, was nothing other than the true basis of all existence and the sustaining nature of human beings. Over the centuries, the subtleties of Shinran’s teachings were often lost. Elaborate rituals developed to focus one’s mind at the moment of death so one might travel to the Pure Land unimpeded, and a rich artistic tradition celebrated the moment when Amida and his retinue of bodhisattvas welcome the dying believer. What is more, many Western interpreters tended to reinforce this view of Pure Land Buddhism, seeing in it certain parallels to Christianity.

This volume introduces the thought and selected writings of Yasuda Rijin (1900–1982), a modern Shin Buddhist thinker affiliated with the Otani, or Higashi Honganji, branch of Shin Buddhism. Yasuda sought to restate the teachings of Shinran within a modern tradition that began with the work of Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903) and extended through the writings of Yasuda’s teachers Kaneko Daiei (1881–1976) and Soga Ryōjin (1875–1971). These men lived through the period of Japan’s rapid modernization and viewed the Shin tradition as possessing existential significance for modern men and women. For them, and Yasuda in particular, Amida did not exist in some other-worldly paradise but rather Amida and his Pure Land were to be experienced as lived realities in the present. In the writings and lectures presented here, Yasuda draws on not only classical Shin and Mahayana Buddhist sources, but also the thought of Nishida Kitarō (1870–1945), the founder of the Kyoto School of philosophy, and modern Western philosophers such as Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Buber.

Author information

WattPaul B.:

Paul B. Watt is professor at the Center for International Education, Waseda University, and adviser to Waseda’s International Division. In the United States, he has taught at Grinnell College and Columbia University and is professor emeritus of Asian studies at DePauw University.

Reviews

In short, Watt has left us with some very exciting questions for future research. I commend him on this important contribution to the field and look forward to future studies of modern and contemporary Shin thought.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
Series Editor’s Preface Free access PDF PDF	vii
Preface Free access PDF PDF	ix
A Word about the Translations Free access PDF PDF	xi
Part I. Introduction: Yasuda Rijin and the Shin Buddhist Tradition Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
Part II. Translations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	43
Abbreviations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	141
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	143
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	167
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	173

Demythologizing Pure Land Buddhism

Yasuda Rijin and the Shin Buddhist Tradition

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