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Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
BUKKYOO
仏教
Buddhism
Buddhism, along with Shinto, is one the two major religions of Japan. Whereas Shinto is a native Japanese religion, Buddhism is an imported faith.
In 552, representatives of the Korean state of Paekche gave members of Japan’s court in the Yamato region an image of the Buddha. (The Buddha image was soon followed by a broad influx of cultural influences from China, including traditional Chinese medicine and literature.)
Not everyone was enthusiastic about Buddha and the new, foreign religion associated with him. Japan already had a native religion based on animist fertility rites and shamanism. Shinto was always a tolerant religion, and it included no doctrine of exclusivity. Theoretically, there was nothing to prevent a practitioner of Shinto from simultaneously practicing another faith. But then, as now, religion and politics were easily mixed.
In the 500s, a handful of powerful families, or clans, vied for domination over the Japanese imperial court. Two particularly influential clans—the Nakatomi and Mononobe—had a vested interest in keeping Buddhism out of Japan. Shinto was now a state-sponsored institution; and certain members of Nakatomi and Mononobe clans had been given official ceremonial roles in administering to the national deities. These ceremonial roles included kick-backs and privileges. The Nakatomi and Mononobe were therefore unwilling to share the stage with an upstart religion from the Asian mainland.
However, Buddhism found a powerful convert in the Soga clan, which was gaining influence in the Yamato court. In 587, the Soga clan defeated the Naktomi and Monobe clans in a short, but exceedingly bloody conflict. The Soga clan became the dominant clan at court, and Buddhism became the established religion of the Japanese nobility by 600.
The Basics of Buddhism
Buddhism is not a major religion in most English-speaking countries; and many readers may be unfamiliar with its core practices and tenets.
The term Buddha means “one who has reached enlightenment.” The first Buddha was Siddhartha Gautama; and his teachings form the basis of the Buddhist faith.
Gautama was originally the son of a wealthy family from the region near the Nepal-India border. At the age of 29, he decided to give up his opulent lifestyle and seek enlightenment. He then abandoned his family—including his wife and child—and began a quest of discovery.
For six years he lived in a state of extreme self-denial. The experience almost killed him, and he realized that extreme asceticism would not lead to enlightenment. Gautama then turned to solitary meditation. This at last led him to the answers he sought.
Over a period of weeks, he organized the insights he had gained through enlightenment into a series of tenets. The first of these was the Four Noble Truths:
- Suffering an conflict are inseparable aspects of the human condition.
- Suffering arises from egotism and desire.
- The goal of humanity is liberation from the endless cycle of reincarnation into non-being—or nirvana. (The Japanese term is nehan 涅槃)
- Perfection may be attained by pursuing the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path outlines a middle course between extreme self-denial and hedonism. It consists of the following:
- Correct view (understanding of the destiny of humanity in the universe)
- Correct speech (avoidance of false speech and libel)
- Correct action (avoid excessive lust and gluttony)
- Correct purpose (quest for truth)
- Correct livelihood (an occupation which benefits others and harms none)
- Correct effort (constant pursuit of virtue, resistance of vice)
- Correct awareness (self-awareness)
- Correct focus (meditation)
The Buddha then embarked on a mission to teach others what he had learned. He taught until his death at the age of 80.