What exactly is Jodo Shinshu’s path to spiritual awakening? What are we supposed to do? The answer isn’t always clear.
Responses typically include “Just listen to the teachings” or “Accept Amida Buddha’s compassion.” Is that enough? Another makes sense: “Jodo Shinshu is about self-reflection and introspection.” Yet this last answer proved controversial.
Kanae Tada (1875-1937), referring to Manshi Kiyozawa’s campaign to modernize Jodo Shinshu (called Seishinshugi, translated here as “Spiritual Activism”), wrote:
Spiritual Activism, which my master, Kiyozawa, advocated, is a practical path of self-cultivation for gaining liberation from anguish and suffering. Its aim is to lead each individual to spiritual contentment and freedom… As the method for achieving this goal, Spiritual Activism employs introspection.
Kiyozawa (1863-1903) faced great challenges and severe disappointments in his life, including his failed attempt to reform the Higashi Honganji denomination, the loss of his teaching position, his excommunication as a priest, the deaths of his two sons and wife, and finally his fatal bout of tuberculosis. Yet he faced each experience head on, unrelentingly examining his thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions in light of Shinran Shonin’s (1173-1262) teachings. This brutal period of self-examination ultimately led him to a deep spiritual understanding and awakening.
“Kiyozawa encountered many difficulties and disappointments in his life, but he used these various experiences as opportunities to reflect deeply within himself,” wrote Shin’ya Yasutomi, in his essay “The Way of Introspection: Kiyozawa Manshi’s Methodology,” (The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. 25, No.1/2, 2003).
“For Kiyozawa, introspection means self-examination,” Yasutomi wrote. “It is not meant to culminate in a state of other-worldly bliss, in which the self is totally forgotten. Instead it refers to a way of reflecting inwardly on oneself in order to realize that one is a deluded finite being, laden with raging blind passions. This contrasts sharply with the approach to self-examination in which one’s self is not made the object of careful investigation or criticism. Yet neither does self-examination refer to the process whereby the self is analyzed theoretically. As Kiyozawa states, ‘To examine the self through the process of self-cultivation means to examine how one is actually acting. To do this is none other than introspection.’”
The problem, according to critics, is that introspection requires using one’s mental capabilities, which reeks of “self-power.” Such an approach flies in the face of Shinshu’s teaching of “Other Power,” reliance on power beyond our limited selves. Consequently, spiritual liberation and understanding comes—not from one’s own efforts—but through passive acceptance of Amida Buddha’s wisdom and compassion.
Kiyozawa’s introspective approach developed after he studied the Āgama sutras, early teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha that spoke of self-renunciation and self-cultivation practices. He also studied the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, a slave in the Roman Empire, who preached attainment of inner freedom through self-reflection and ascetic practices. Later, Kiyozawa embarked on a path of “the minimum possible,” shaving his head, wearing robes, leaving home, and adhering to a life of ascetic discipline and the barest of diets. Subsequently, his health declined and he contracted tuberculosis, forcing him to abandon that rigorous lifestyle.
Returning to his wife’s temple, he was too sick to perform priestly duties. He kept a journal called Rōsenki (December Fan), referring to his uselessness like that of a summer fan in winter. He wrote, “Upon returning to my temple, I found time to rest, and fortunately gained the chance to reflect inwardly on myself at length.”
Struggling with an incurable disease and a life in tatters, he directly confronted his feelings and thoughts, rather than find a way to flee from them. In this way, he found insight into human life, which arose, according to Kiyozawa, from “the most active desire which arises from the deepest part of the human heart.”
As Yasutomi described: “It is when we are prompted by such deep spiritual longing that we can truly engage in introspection. Moreover, through such spiritually committed introspection, we discover in ourselves a stable and immutable ground of being, which enables us to lead our lives as ‘practioners of adamantine minds’ or ‘the true disciples of the Buddha.’ Śākyamuni, revered by Kiyozawa, was not only a person who deeply understood the reality of human suffering, but was also a teacher who lived with an indomitable aspiration for enlightenment.
Kiyozawa wrote:
The reason why I was moved so deeply upon reading the Āgamas was because I was lying sick in bed, frequently coughing up blood. Therefore you should know that, in order to savor the sublime essence of the Buddhist teachings, it is most important to see yourself standing at the extreme where life turns to death.
According to Yasutomi: “‘To see yourself standing at the extreme point where life turns to death’ means to confront death honestly, reflect upon oneself without self-deception, and finally effect a thoroughgoing transformation through which one can resolutely accept oneself as one is. In other words, the goal of introspection is to discover, by gazing intently and relentlessly upon oneself, that the Buddhist path provides a stable and immutable ground of being, which enables us to live as true disciples of the Buddha. From the time when the Buddha preached the Four Noble Truths, introspection became recognized as a practical method for attaining liberation from the cycle of birth-and-death. In this sense, it can be said that Kiyozawa recovered the traditional Buddhist path through his reading of the Āgamas.”
Kiyozawa wrote in his diary:
-Daily I encounter things that I cannot control
-If I wish for things to follow my will, I must understand my limits
-It is for this reason that the desire to examine the self arises
-The result of self-examination is the desire to do good
-The desire to do good leads to Other Power faith
-Other Power faith develops into gratitude
-Gratitude (recitation of the Name in praise) becomes the desire to attain faith and teach others to have faith
-The desire to attain faith and teach others to have faith leads to the desire to practice and teach others
-And the desire to practice and teach others comes back once again to the desire to do good and so on
These are linked together as a circle.
Another entry says:
How should one engage in self-cultivation? I say: you should reflect on your self. Reflect on your self and apprehend the Way of Heaven. Once you apprehend the Way of Heaven, you will not feel there is anything lacking in the things you have. Once you feel there is nothing lacking in the things you have, you will not desire things that other people have. If you do not desire things that other people have, there will be no conflict with other people. Feel satisfied with yourself; do not desire, do not be involved in conflicts. Nothing in the world is stronger than this or as all-embracing as this.
Coughing up blood, he felt death nearing. He wrote:
Hence, for me to be able to perceive to some extent the sublime world of liberation while still alive, I must be confronted by the state of mind expressed by the phrase “poised at the extremity where life turns to death, the great death (where one casts aside all attachments) is of utmost importance.” This is what is meant by the words, “brooding over my death, I find joy in faith.”
Yasutomi writes, “Kiyozawa’s quest shows that introspection and self-reflection are both crucial in attaining the joyful acceptance of Other Power faith.”
Shinshu scholar Daiei Kaneko (1881-1976), once a student of Kiyozawa’s, shared a similar view about the importance of introspection. He wrote, “When it comes to self-cultivation, doesn’t reflecting on oneself mean reflecting on the reality of one’s own actions? If that is the case, it must be entirely introspection.”
According to Yasushi Murayama, in his essay, “Heresy and Freedom of Inquiry in Interpreting the Pure Land: An Introduction to Kaneko Daiei’s ‘My Shin Buddhist Studies’” (The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. 1 No. 2, 2021), Kaneko’s approach to introspection was multilayered—as it develops, “one becomes aware of oneself as an ordinary person and feels a sense of anguish over one’s own impurity and a consciousness of one’s limited, evil nature.”
For both Kaneko and Kiyozawa, introspection was “a psychological and epistemological inquiry into one’s own existence, as well as ethical reflection and spiritual cultivation.”
Is closely examining your thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions a path of spirituality accessible to common people? Or does it reflect a “Path of Sages” monastic discipline for a privileged few?
That criticism was voiced by Tada, who became critical of the Seishinshugi movement. He felt Jodo Shinshu was a path for ordinary people with no special abilities. They only need to passively listen to the teachings.
Kaneko responded: “In my Shin Buddhist studies, I try to understand the teachings, with myself as one ordinary person representing the inner needs of the populace. In Tada’s Shin Buddhist studies, he explains the teachings to ordinary people with himself acting as a ‘good teacher.’”
According to Kaneko: “At the limits of my introspective contemplation of my inner life, I always sense the profound reverberations of the teachings of Shin Buddhism” and “touching one part of them eventually leads to being moved by the whole.” He wrote, “The truth of the teachings reverberates only in the heart of introspection. In other words, for those who adopt an attitude of introspection, it is none other than the true words of the Buddha that reveal the truth of that stance.”
Kaneko’s awareness of being an ordinary person develops through introspection (of transgressions and hindrances), a method of “listening to and reflecting on the teachings,” according to Murayama. Whereas “one considers what one has heard and applies it to one’s entire being.”
Kaneko wrote:
The Shin Buddhist studies which I aspire to realize aims to conceptualize, based on the logic of self-awareness, the experience of aspiring for birth in the west by awakening to the transgressions and hindrances within one’s own mind and coming to know the transgressions and hindrances within one’s own mind by aspiring for birth in the west.
For Kaneko, “pure Shin Buddhist studies” means to “study the way Shinran studied,” not to study how Shinran “researched texts.” “We do not learn Shin Buddhism, we do Shin Buddhist studies.” That means, “learning from one’s whole life, learning the totality of the path that one should follow in one’s life.”
In the final year of Kiyozawa’s life before dying at age 40, he wrote “My Religious Conviction” (Waga Shinnen), considered the “Tannishō of the Meiji period” for the way it gave Shinshu a fresh sense of relevance and meaning, similar to what the classic text of Shinran’s teachings accomplished.
In his essay, Kiyozawa describes his peace of mind grounded in religious understanding. Previously, his frustrations had led to suicidal thoughts. He explained:
But religion has relieved me of my suffering and I no longer feel any need to resort to suicide. That is to say, I now have peace and comfort through my trust in Tathāgata, the infinite compassion.
How does Tathāgata, the infinite compassion, enable me to attain such peace of mind? In no other way than by assuming the burden of my every responsibility. Nothing, not even the worst evil, can hinder the working of Tathāgata. There is no need for me to deliberate on what is good or evil, right or wrong. There is nothing I cannot do. I act as I please and do as I am inclined. There is no need for me to be concerned about my every action, even if it turns out to be a mistake or a crime. Tathāgata takes on the burden of responsibility for all of my actions. I need only trust in Tathāgata to live in constant peace of mind.
The power of Tathāgata is limitless. The power of Tathāgata is unsurpassed. The power of Tathāgata is omnipresent. It pervades everything and works freely, without hindrance. By committing myself to the wondrous power of Tathāgata, I have great peace and comfort. By entrusting the great question of life and death to Tathāgata, I have no fear, no discontentment.
(“My Religious Conviction,” in December Fan, The Buddhist Essays of Manshi Kiyozawa, translated by Nobuo Haneda)
According to Yasutomi: “Our daily lives are characterized by discontent and dissatisfaction, but our experience of discontent can provide us with an opportunity to embark upon self-cultivation and apprehend the Way of Heaven. As a result, we can achieve spiritual satisfaction and have a rich and creative life as free and independent human beings. Through the practice of introspection, Kiyozawa was able to gain the firm belief that, no matter what kind of situation he found himself in, he could achieve unconditional spiritual contentment.”
-Rev. Ken Yamada, editor at Higashi Honganji’s Shinshu Center of America