Buddhism and Japanese Shinto

·期刊原文

Buddhism and Japanese Shinto

Dr. Ku Hung-Ting

Department of History

Nanyang University

貝葉, 第九期, pp. A12-A13

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p.A12

Buddhism emerged from the highly developed religious Hindu society. Many teachings of Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, are found in or are similar to the teachings of the Upanisadic sages.

Gautama found the secret of sorrow and at last understood why the world is full of sufferings and unhappiness, and what man should do to overcome them, through the deep meditation under the bodhi tree. Thus he was fully enlightened and became a Buddha.

Buddha is said to have preached to his disciples in the Deer Park. The teachings include the "Four Noble Truths", and the "Noble Eightfold Path" which are accepted as basic doctrines by all Buddhist sects.

". . . this is the Noble Truth of Sorrow. Birth is sorrow, age is sorrow, death is sorrow, contact with the unpleasant is sorrow, separation from the pleasant is sorrow......"

". . . the Noble Truth of the Arising of Sorrow...... thirst, which leads to rebirth, which brings delight and passion, and seeks pleasure now here, now there -the thirst for sensual pleasure, the thirst for continued life, the thirst for power."

". . . this is Noble Truth of the Stopping of Sorrow. It is complete stopping of that thirst, so that no passion remains, leaving it, being emancipated from it, being released from it, giving no place to it."

". . . this is Noble Truth of the Way which Leads to the Stopping of Sorrow. It is the Noble Eightfold Path - Right Views, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Recollection and Right Meditation."

To Buddhist, the universe is sorrowful and transient. The only stable and peaceful entity is Nirvana, the state of bliss reached by the Buddhas and Arhants (one who realized Nirvana) or perfected beings. Some scholars interpreted Nirvana as a state of complete annihilation. However, Buddha just said, "I have not said that the Arhant exists after death, and I have not said that he does not exist......" This statement suggests that the Nirvana is outside this universe, transcending both being and non-being.

p.A13

Later, Nirvana was described as a glorious city, stainless, pure, white, clean, calm, secure, deathless and happy. But Nirvana has no definite location, it may be realized any- where and at any time, even while still in flesh. The man who finds it, never again loses it, and when he dies, he passes to this state forever.

According to orthodox theory, then the Buddha died, the chain of his existence in this universe was broken. He entered into the Nirvana which he had realized at the time of his enlightenment, and ceased to be an individual or to affect the universe in any way. Before his death, he told his disciples to rely on the Doctrine for leadership. However, soon after his death, his followers evolved the "Three Jewels" which the Buddhists commonly accept as basic ideas. The "Three Jewels" are, "I go for refuge to the Buddha; I go for refuge to the Doctrine;.and I go for refuge to the Order." It seems to me that the concept of going for refuge to the Buddha is the base for the later development of the Buddha images in the Buddhist history. About 200 A.D., the image worship was eventually prevailing in many Buddhist sects.

Besides the religious aspects Buddhism also has a strict system of ethics or morality. The Noble- Eightfold Path and the Ten Precepts indeed constitute a moral code. Ten Precepts forbid the killing, false speech, theft, usurp, extra-marital sexual relations. As to the Eightfold Path, it is not only a kind of knowledge or wisdom, but also a standard of behavior. Furthermore, love, pity and serenity are all positive requirements for Buddhist morality.

On the other hand, Japanese Shinto is a simple, primitive religion which bases itself on the natural worship. The worship originally sprang from appreciation of the beauty of nature. To Shinto, nature is kind and gracious, and life is lovely and joyful. The worship objects are not only the powerful and awe-inspiring, such as sun and moon, or the useful, such as the well, but also the lovely and pleasant, such as - rocks, streams and flowers. Although Japan is so often riven by earthquakes and swept by storm and flood, there is no common myth of a terrible earthquake god, and the storm god himself appears in be- nigh aspects. As Professor Aston says, "Shinto is a religion of love and gratitude rather than of fear, and the purpose of Japanese religious rites was to praise and thank as much as to placate and mollify their divinities." In fact, Shinto has an optimistic view toward the present life and its environments, while Buddhism holds the pessimistic world views.

Unlike Buddhism, there is no systematic interpretation about the existence of human being and the universe. To Shinto, the existence of this universe is a fact and truism, and the present life is a reality which people should enjoy with joys and thanks. The pessimistic world views on the chains of death and redeath (not only birth and rebirth) of human being are foreign to Shinto. The Buddhist idea that "the universe is only an illusion" would be very difficult for Shinto to comprehend. I think that early Shinto might say, "The view that the universe is an illusion, is only an illusion itself." In short, the early Shinto would not have any idea in her beliefs about Buddhism's Four Noble Truths.

Furthermore, the Shinto, particularly the early Shinto, was lacking in abstract ideas of morality. As Professor Sansom once pointed out, "The conception of sin, as distinct from uncleanness, is wanting...... in Shinto." Thus the early Japanese, under the influence of Shinto, had never been tortured by the sense of sin. On the other hand, an ordinary Buddhist should always guard his heart from sins like a watchdog guards his master's home from theft.