Summary and Comments on Yasuaki Nara's "History of Buddhism in India as 'Culture'" - A great book that I highly recommend to monks who are troubled by criticism of funeral Buddhism!
We are pleased to present "History of Indian Buddhism as a Culture" by Yasuaki Nara, published by Taisho University Press in 2018.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Buddhism, which originated in India, has been transmitted to modern society in Japan, albeit in a different form. Indian Buddhism has completed its role in Indian society. How did Buddhism in its pioneer days, and how did the ordained monks and followers who supported the cult come to terms with the culture and ideology of Hindu society, where a strong status system existed? This book reveals the culture of Hindu society, which tolerated Buddhism and eventually became the central ideology of Buddhism, using such keywords as "karma and samsara," "karma," "enki," "sorcery," and "merit and virtue. Dr. Yasuaki Nara, a Buddhist scholar with a broad perspective on the study of Indian thought and culture, including Buddhism, asks the question, "What is the history of Buddhism in India?
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As I wrote in the title of this article, I highly recommend this book to monks who are troubled by criticism of funeral Buddhism. In the past, this blog hasA History of Buddhism in New Asia 02 India II: The Formation and Development of Buddhism.and by Noboru Karashima and Yasuaki NaraA World History of Life 5: Faces of India."I have introduced a number of books on funeral issues in Buddhism and the relationship between the real life of a Buddhist cult and the general congregation, such as
Reading these books, I strongly felt that criticism of Japanese Buddhism from the standpoint of primitive Buddhist supremacism is a problematic discourse to begin with. Of course, it is important for each of us monks to take Buddhism seriously as monks. However, I feel that we can clearly say "no" to the criticism that "the current Japanese Buddhism is wrong because it is written like this in the primitive Buddhism.
This book, "History of Indian Buddhism as Culture," takes the criticism of Japanese Buddhism even further.
That cut is also the name of the book.Buddhism as Culture.It is.
The author states the following about this in Chapter 1, "What is Buddhism - A Question Raised? This is a bit long, but it is an important section, so I will read it carefully.
For doctrine and faith to take root in society is for them to take root as a religious organization. Without the existence of a religious order in some form, it is impossible for ordained practitioners to practice, learn, and transmit the Dharma in a stable environment, and to teach the way of life to believers. In Indian Buddhism, a cult composed of ordained practitioners and lay believers has been established to transmit Buddhism. In China and Japan, the form of the cult was different and its function was not the same, but there were the three treasures of Buddhism and Buddhism, and the existence of lay believers who received the teachings and protected the three treasures was indispensable.
However, from the standpoint of the cult, there is a discrepancy between the Buddhism preached by ordained practitioners and the way it is perceived by lay believers who live in the society. While ordained practitioners aim for enlightenment, the ultimate goal of Buddhism, enlightenment is not necessarily the goal of life for lay believers. The ordained believers' teachings on the way of conduct, self-control, ethical living and practice, and restraint of desire are recognized as "ideal" Buddhist beliefs, but it is difficult to say that they are fully functioning in reality.
The social life of a lay believer naturally requires daily rituals. Passing rites of passage at various stages of life are indispensable, including (in Japan) naming ceremonies, visits to the shrine, weaning ceremonies, birthdays, Shichigosan, coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. Ancestor worship rituals are also important, as are agricultural rituals. There are also rituals for ancestor worship, agricultural rituals, and to a lesser or greater extent, magical prayer rituals, which are found in every ethnic group, tribe, and society, and are an essential religious phenomenon. Even if they are not necessary for ordained bhikkhus and bhikkhunis who have left society, the social life of lay believers would not be possible without them.
Therefore, it is not uncommon for the nuances of Buddhist doctrines to change during the course of the transmission of Buddhism, and for the meanings of Buddhist doctrines to be modified and established in response to various requests or easy understandings on the part of the people who accepted Buddhism. The terms "causation," "engi," "no-self," "resignation," and "altruism (hongan)," which are commonly used in Japanese today, are examples of how they are often used outside of the original Buddhist doctrinal meaning. Folk beliefs, practices, and rituals of the people may also emerge as cult events. Funeral rites are a typical example.
Buddhist doctrine" and these "ideas and rituals that have taken root in the lives of Buddhists" were in conflict with each other, and during the course of historical transmission, they were intricately juxtaposed, layered, fused, and transformed into each other.
An important phenomenon here is that ideas and rituals that deviate from these doctrines (including traditional sectarianism) are understood to be "not Buddhism," and are therefore considered to be things that Buddhists should not do, and some are even doctrinally prescribed as such (by the cult). The "enlightenment monism," which states that the level related to enlightenment is Buddhism and all other levels are not Buddhism, has been handed down since India. I will point out many examples of this attitude in the following discussion.
This is why, despite the religious ideas and rituals that are practiced in reality and support the Order, they are dismissed as "non-Buddhist" and "secularized," and thus their religious meaning and function are rarely examined, and at times they cause harm by contributing to the accusation that the Buddhist Order is doing what it should not be doing. In some cases, this is the cause of accusations that Buddhist orders are doing what they should not be doing.
Here is an important point. If something is "not Buddhist" in terms of Buddhist doctrine, why is it "not allowed" to be practiced by Buddhists? Except for superstition, ethical rituals, or things that Buddhists are not supposed to do (e.g., sacrifices in Indian Buddhism were strongly forbidden by the Buddha, because they go against the worldview of non-killing). (Sacrifices in Indian Buddhism, for example, were strongly forbidden by the Buddha because they were contrary to his worldview of non-killing.) However, even if it is not Buddhism, that is, even if there is no Buddhist faith at the level of enlightenment, if it helps people to live positively, then it is acceptable to go. It is not a question of whether it is good or bad, but if it is not practiced, daily life will not be possible. Rites of passage, funerals, and ancestor worship in modern Japan are just a few examples.
The same tendency to think in a similar manner can be observed in Indian Buddhism. Since the earliest days of Buddhist tradition, the elite Bhikkhus took only what they believed to be Buddhism and wrote it down in Buddhist scriptures. The result is the so-called "primitive Buddhist scriptures. The result is the so-called "primitive Buddhist scriptures," which contain simple doctrines, clear ethics, and a world devoid of everyday rituals. However, the fact that it was not written down does not mean that it was not real. A distinction must be made between the two.
Dr. Teruhiro Watanabe points out the following. How could thousands of ignorant masses follow a religion that excludes all mystery, has no gods or miracles, performs no religious rituals, and requires only an understanding of the logic of karma and a life of ethics and asceticism without the support of faith? For this reason alone, Buddhism in the Buddha's time must have had much more elements of religious ritual and belief than the Pali scriptures of today" [Watanabe 1967, p. 21].
In fact, as later generations came into being, the ideas of merit, afterlife, spirit, and various rituals and magical prayer rites practiced by Buddhists emerged and were described in an unconcealed manner in Buddhist discursive literature, particularly in Jataka and Avadhana literature and Buddhist works of Tamil literature in South India. In addition, the elite's way of thinking that "enlightenment" is the core of Buddhism and that nothing else is of value has come to signify the folk belief elements that the cult has been forced to tolerate as "ultimately leading to enlightenment. Examples of this are the four directions and four fruits, the combination of birth-temperance thought and deepening Zen meditation, and the teaching of the Dharma as it depends on it. I will return to this later in this book.
The idea that "enlightenment" is Buddhism, and that daily rituals are "not Buddhism" (satori-oriented), is historical in Buddhism.
Therefore, "doctrines" alone (of "literal Buddhist studies and sectarian studies" and "faith-based Buddhist studies and sectarian studies") cannot cover the thought and life of Buddhists who are entrenched and functioning in the real society. Doctrinal studies alone are not sufficient to properly evaluate Buddhism as it has functioned in society both in the past Buddhist history and in the present day, and to open a vision for the future. This is where the viewpoint that sees Buddhism not as a "doctrine" but as a "culture" that embraces it becomes meaningful.
Taisho University Press, Yasuaki Nara, "History of Buddhism in India as 'Culture'," p. 10-13.
How could thousands of ignorant masses have followed a religion that eliminated all mystery, that had no gods, no miracles, no religious rituals, and that demanded only an understanding of the logic of karma and an ethical and ascetic life unsupported by faith? For this reason alone, Buddhism in the Buddha's time must have had far more elements of religious ritual and belief than the Pali scriptures of today.
Therefore, "doctrine" alone (of "literal Buddhist studies/religious studies" and "faith-based Buddhist studies/religious studies") cannot cover the thought and life of Buddhists who are entrenched and functioning in real society. Doctrinal studies alone are not sufficient to properly evaluate Buddhism as it has functioned in society both in the past Buddhist history and in the present day, and to open a vision for the future. It is here that the perspective that sees Buddhism not as a "doctrine" but as a "culture" that embraces it becomes meaningful.
In this book, funeral rites are discussed first as one of the most important aspects of "Buddhist culture. In fact, we wish we could give an overview of it here, but we fear that giving its contents in fragments may convey the opposite meaning. The author carefully and meticulously explains funerals and Buddhist culture. Each of them is an important element, so I thought it would be meaningless to give a summary of them.
So please read this book and see what it has to say.
I can say with certainty.Those who struggle with how to be a priest."This means that we highly recommend this work to
It is clear that Buddhism is not only a doctrine written in literature, but has walked with the people who live there. I myself received a lot of courage from this book. I feel that Buddhism will surely lead to the power to live even today.
Even non-monks interested in the meaning of rituals in Buddhism will find much in this work.
This is a great book that I would highly recommend. It was a wonderful book that conveys the author's beliefs.
This is "Yasuaki Nara's "History of Indian Buddhism as a Culture" - A great book that I highly recommend to monks who are troubled by criticism of funeral Buddhism! This is a great book that I highly recommend to monks who are troubled by criticism of funeral Buddhism!
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