Jodo Shinshu Buddhism for everyone
By Rev. Ken Yamada Visitors to Higashi Honganji’s mother temple in Kyoto must be surprised to find on its main altar—not the Buddha—but rather, a statue of Shinran Shonin. Even I was surprised when I first saw it. The largest hall at the denomination’s headquarters is dedicated to Jōdo Shinshū’s founder, which makes sense. Nonetheless, …
Kiyozawa ditched his worldly life for asceticism, shaving off his hair, wearing only priestly robes, using wooden clogs, refraining from meat, secluding from his wife and children, intensely studying and chanting, and eventually reducing meals to mere buckwheat flour mixed with water. According to Hashimoto, “Through these ‘experiments,’ Kiyozawa attempted with his own body to prove what he wrote in his Skeleton of a Philosophy of Religion, seeking to realize ‘the inconceivable’ within himself.”
By Rev. Ken Yamada Two of the most influential Buddhist thinkers in modern times led vastly different lives. Daisetz Teitarō Suzuki gained world-renown as a Zen expert, traveled widely, and lived to a ripe old age. Manshi Kiyozawa failed to reform institutional Jōdo Shinshū, died relatively young and unknown outside Japan. Yet, they have much …
Continue reading “D.T. Suzuki: From Awakening to Philosophy”
According to Schroeder, the controversy erupted when Kaneko lectured on the Pure Land as an “idea” concept, apparently shocking various laypeople in attendance, including a wealthy businessman who was a member of Higashi Honganji’s accounting directors committee. The businessman later complained, sparking a defund-the-university proposal and an inquiry by denomination authorities, who concluded Kaneko’s writings had indeed contradicted the sect’s teachings.
By Rev. Ken Yamada Jodo Shinshu uses words such as “salvation” and “save” which make me uneasy. They give Pure Land Buddhism the appearance of a Christian-like religion with Amida Buddha as savior. Yet, Jodo Shinshu’s founder Shinran Shonin used these terms. In the Tannisho, he says: As for me, I simply accept and entrust …
What does Jodo Shinshu Buddhism say we should do about today’s social problems, world conflict, economic uncertainty, and political instability? According to modern Buddhist thinker Kiyozawa Manshi, first think of one’s own “spirituality.”Worldly concerns must be separated from spirituality, otherwise, each obscures the other. For those following the Buddhist path, spirituality must be first priority. Many Buddhists would strongly disagree. Engaging in society by helping others, feeding the hungry, fighting injustice, protesting war and advocating peace not only can be part of the Buddhist path, but they’re moral imperatives and ethical obligations.