Kimura, Kiyotaka

English

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FAITH IN BUDDHISMEDITED BYIMRE HAMAR,TAKAMI INOUEInstItute for east asIan studIes, eötvös Loránd unIversIty Budapest 2016The present volume was publishedwith the support of theKomatsu Chiko Foundation,the Khyentse Foundationand theShin Buddhist Comprehensive Research Institute, Otani UniversityTo the memory of Archbishop-Nun KOMATSU Chiko  of Jakkoin Buddhist Temple© Imre Hamar (ed.), 2016    © Takami Inoue (ed.), 2016ISBN 978-963-284-715-3ISSN 1787-7482Cover Art: A Painting of the Mahābodhi Stūpa and the Bodhi Tree  at Bodhgaya by Rev. Chikō KomatsuCONTENTSList of Authors...................................................................................................................... viPreface by Takami Inoue  ...................................................................................................viiPreface by Imre Hamar  ....................................................................................................... ixKiyotaka Kimura: The Meaning and Perspective of Buddhist Studies:  With Special Reference to Faith  ............................................................................. 1Akihiro Oda: The Concept of “Faith” in the Discourse  on the Awakning of Mahayana Faith ...................................................................... 7Gergely Hidas: References to Faith in Dhāraṇī Literature  ............................................. 15Erzsébet Tóth: The Concept of Tibetan Dad-pa (Faith) in Lam-rim  (Stages of the Path to Enlightenment)  .................................................................. 25Alexa Péter: The Two Basic Texts on Faith in the Tibetan  Bka’-gdams-pa School  .......................................................................................... 39Melinda Pap: The Concept of Faith in Zhanran’s Diamond Scalpel Treatise  ................ 49Gábor Kósa: “Trusting Words” in Pre-Buddhist Chinese Texts  ...................................... 67Imre Hamar: Faith, Practice and Enlightenment in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra  and the Huayan School  .......................................................................................... 93Takami Inoue: A Genealogy of Other-Power Faith:  From Śākyamuni to Shinran  ............................................................................... 119Robert F. Rhodes: Faith and Practice in the Ōjōyōshū  ................................................... 135Kiyotaka Kimura: Faith and Enlightenment in Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō  .......................... 153Myōshin Fujitake: The Faith Elucidated by Shinran:  The Faith of Amida’s Directing of Virtue  ........................................................... 165Michael Conway: Dharmākara as the Subject, Not Object of Faith:  The Reinterpretation of Amida’s Causal Phase in Modern Shin Thought  ....... 177Ágnes Birtalan: The Objectification of Faith and Rational Choice:  The Role of Sacred Images in Mongolian Buddhist Folk Religion  .................. 189Melinda Papp: Some Reflections on the Use of the Concepts of “Religious Consciousness,” “Faith,” and “Religion” in the Cultural Context of Japan  ..... 205Mónika Kiss: Buddhist Ancestor Worship at Home through the Sacred Place  of the Butsudan ~ Faith at Home ~  ..................................................................... 219viLIST OF AUTHORSÁgnes BIRTALAN Professor of Mongolian StudiesEötvös Loránd Universitybirtalan.agnes@btk.elte.hu,  birtalan@hotmail.comMichael CONWAYLecturer of Shin Buddhist StudiesOtani Universityconway@res.otani.ac.jpMyōshin FUJITAKEProfessor of Shin Buddhist StudiesOtani Universityfujitake@res.otani.ac.jpImre HAMARProfessor of Chinese StudiesEötvös Loránd Universityhamar.imre@btk.elte.huGergely HIDASIndologistPostdoctoral researcher,  The British Museumghidas@gmail.comTakami INOUEProfessor of Shin Buddhist StudiesOtani Universitytinoue@res.otani.ac.jpKiyotaka KIMURAProfessor of Buddhist StudiesProfessor Emeritus of Tokyo University Former President of Tsurumi Universitykimura-k@jp.bigplanet.com Mónika KISSPhD Student of Japanese StudiesEötvös Loránd Universitymoni.kiss33@gmail.comGábor KÓSAAssociate Professor of Chinese StudiesEötvös Loránd Universitykosa.gabor@btk.elte.huAkihiro ODAProfessor of Buddhist StudiesOtani Universityodaaki@res.otani.ac.jpMelinda PAPAssistant Professor of Chinese StudiesEötvös Loránd Universitypap.melinda@btk.elte.huMelinda PAPP (PAPPOVA)Assistant Professor of Japanese Studies Eötvös Loránd Universitypapp.melinda@btke.elte.huAlexa PÉTERAssistant Professor of Tibetan StudiesEötvös Loránd Universitypeter.alexa@gmail.com Robert F. RHODESProfessor of Buddhist StudiesOtani Universityrhodes@res.otani.ac.jpErzsébet TÓTH Assistant Professor of Tibetan StudiesEötvös Loránd University totherzsebet@upcmail.hu1The Meaning and Perspective of Buddhist Studies:  With Special Reference to FaithKIYOTAKA KIMURAPrefaceToday, we have gathered for an important symposium at Eötvös Loránd Uni-versity in Budapest, Hungary. It is my honor to present as a specially invited guest speaker. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Pro-fessor Imre Hamar, the Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies, and his colleagues for their considerable efforts to host this symposium. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the history of Buddhist studies up until the present, and also consider how to promote the field in the future.1. What is Buddhism?One of the most frequently discussed issues with regard to Buddhist studies is the definition of  “Buddhism.” I would like to first consider this issue as well.The biggest reason that this issue is raised lies in the fact that it is uncertain what Śākyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, actually taught. Almost all sūtras in early Buddhism were memorized by his disciples in India, standardized in the three councils held after his death, and then gradually transmitted to other countries. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, many of the sūtras were edited or newly written by his successors a couple of hundred years later.The second reason the nature of Buddhism is so frequently discussed in Buddhist studies is that throughout its approximately 2,500 year history, Bud-dhism has developed and spread in various (primarily Asian) nations and re-gions that contain different ethnicities and cultures. Under these conditions, Buddhism has changed and even qualitatively transformed. In a sense, Bud-dhism as a whole is the product of cultural fusion. We could call it a great systemized cultural composite.2KIYOTAKA KIMURAThe third reason is that Buddhist texts are written in various languages. As is well known, many early Buddhist texts have been transmitted in Pāli, and the majority of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature are being preserved in the form of Tibetan or/and Chinese translation, and part of which along with their Sanskrit version or revision. Here, we should keep in mind the creativity that translation entails. We especially need to deal with Chinese translations thoroughly and carefully because frequently they were deeply influenced by native Chinese thought. Sometimes Chinese Buddhist texts even appear to be new texts when com-pared to their Sanskrit versions containing the same names and stories. Relat-edly, there is also the issue of pseudo-texts produced in East Asia. However, I will pass this over for the time being.The fourth reason is that Buddhism contains various cultural elements, and therefore can be approached from almost all fields in the humanities: philos-ophy, religious studies, psychology, historical studies, esthetics, folklore, and so on. This is a reflection of the extent to which Buddhism has formed as a great systemized composite of cultures.The last reason relates to so-called “Critical Buddhism.” First advocated by Noriaki Hakamaya 袴谷憲昭 in the early 1990’s, it has become an impor-tant concept in the field of Buddhist studies today. It strictly judges whether doctrines are Buddhist based on the concept of pratītya-samutpāda (縁起) as understood in the Mahāyāna Mādhyamika school (中観派). According to its proponents, something is only Buddhist insofar as it coincides with the prin-ciple of pratītya-samutpāda, which they understand as meaning that all phe-nomena are produced by causation and empty in nature. However, the theory that the “Critical Buddhism” has attempted to prove might not be persuasive in many ways. Because strictly speaking, there is no existing evidence that proves the doctrine of pratītya-samutpāda was taught by Śākyamuni Buddha himself.As can be seen, it is impossible to give a singular definition of Buddhism. Therefore, I would like to provisionally define it as “a system of composite religious culture that originated in Śākyamuni’s teachings.”THE MEANING AND PERSPECTIVE OF BUDDHIST STUDIES32. The Modality of Buddhist StudiesWhen studying Buddhism following the above definition, it appears to me that, roughly speaking, there are three possible approaches: ① traditional studies, ② sectarian studies, and ③ modern scientific studies.Among these three types, the first one primarily relies on the mutually re-lated religious practices of sīla (precepts), adhicitta (meditation for calmness of mind), and paññā (basic wisdom). Study of this type includes gradual in-tellectual training as well as continuous somatic exercises rooted in true faith. The second approach is called shūgaku (宗学) in Japanese. The most de-veloped approach in Japan, it is characterized by an emphasis on specific patri-archs rather than the Buddha. Shūgaku Buddhist scholars engage in their stud-ies based on firm faith in these patriarchs and focus on learning their action, behavior, and speech, rather than the doctrines of general Buddhist sūtras. The third approach, the scientific study of Buddhism, shares a common base with other fields in the humanities. It is expected to be objective, log-ical, and clear as much as possible, despite the fact that it is impossible for researchers to completely abandon their subjectivity. Finally, I would like to briefly discuss the relationship between scientific studies and the first and the second traditional Buddhist approaches. On the one hand, they are opposed to each other: the former requires objectivity and a scientific mindset, while the latter two are subjective and based on specific beliefs. However, on the other hand, these approaches complement each other: the former makes clear the meaning of words, the structure of sentences, and historical facts, while the latter can disclose the essence of thought that cannot be clarified with a scientific approach (although this is sometimes insufficient in a methodological sense). We should try to sublate these two approaches, even if we have to tread a thorny path in order to do so.3. The Present Situation and Issues to be OvercomeIt is hard to be optimistic when considering Buddhist studies’ present situation from a global perspective. Academic study is falling on hard times throughout the world, with the number of scholars decreasing, reduced financial support, and a slump in researchers’ motivation. Furthermore, this is all taking place against the background of the violent stream of recent utilitarianism engulfing the world as a whole. However, there is still some hope, as can be seen by the fact that this symposium is being held here today. 4KIYOTAKA KIMURAWhat are the characteristics of present-day Buddhist studies? Firstly, the rapid development of computer technology has changed its methods to a considerable degree. Nowadays, nearly all Buddhist texts, dictionaries, and references materials are able to be used on a small personal computer, and many researchers use computers in their studies. In fact, some scholars rely almost entirely on computers in their research. While computers are certainly very convenient for looking up information on texts, comparing them, using indices, and so on, research that overly relies on computers cannot produce high-quality creative studies.Secondly, Sanskrit and Chinese manuscripts of various Buddhist texts have been newly discovered and released to the public in the past several decades. This has meant that the field has had to add to or rethink its received knowledge.Thirdly and relatedly, Buddhist studies has moved away from an exclusive dependence on printed texts, and started to take into account manuscripts. Buddhist studies that only rely on printed and published texts are becoming things of the past.Fourthly, while this may appear to contradict my above statement, various systematized editions of Buddhist canons (called daizokyō 大蔵経 or issaikyo 一切経 in Japanese) have been newly edited and published as books or elec-tronic data by various organizations throughout the Buddhist world. We must be able to make use of these resources that allow for more approaches than exist at present.However, I think there are issues in the field of Buddhist studies that should be pointed out. I would like to point out five of them.Firstly, all of the scholars should make it clear about his/her purpose of research and then decide the most appropriate scope and method to carry out the project.Secondly, as mentioned above, it is possible to study Buddhism from var-ious viewpoints and using diverse methodologies. This means that it is easy for the process of study to fall into disorder. One must have firm awareness of the methodology being used in one’s research. Thirdly, Buddhist texts (manuscripts in particular) are not easy to read ac-curately and interpret appropriately. Therefore, each researcher has to always brush up on their text reading skills.Fourthly, among the Buddhist texts, we often find writings that supposedly reflect religious experiences that can never be obtained or understood in an ordi-nary state. The problem is how we should deal with and present them. I believe that we need to make clear what can and cannot be understood, and logically and carefully explain the former within the scope of scientific research.THE MEANING AND PERSPECTIVE OF BUDDHIST STUDIES5Lastly, we have to consider the mode of study. Generally speaking, close analysis of the subject at hand as well as the logical systematization and prop-er positioning in the field of the results obtained therein is required in the humanities. We should not forget these matters as Buddhist studies researchers.4. The Direction of Buddhist StudiesFor a long time, Buddhist studies have produced high-quality research through both traditional and scientific methods. However, we have entered into a new era called the information age, and it is also being demanded that scientific researchers contribute to society with their research. What should Buddhist scholars do in response to such expectation in this new era? General speak-ing, they should 1) make efforts to promote the field’s development, and 2) increase their influence in society. With regard to the former, Buddhist texts should be reexamined as the cul-tural heritage of humankind and dealt with more carefully than before. They should be classified into five groups - original texts, revised texts, translated texts, interpreted texts and texts for education or civilization.Regarding point two, I would like to propose propagating the ideas of peace, wisdom, and faith in Buddhism to people throughout the world through the English translations of Buddhist texts. Relatedly, I have advocated kyōsei (共成) since the 1990’s, which means to stand on an awareness of pratīt-ya-samutpāda as understood in Huayan Buddhism while working together for inner peace as well as peace in the world as a whole. Buddhist scholars have studied and explained many of the significant teachings in Buddhism. However, the majority of these teachings are con-cerned with one’s view of life and the world, and inner purification and peace. In other words, it is hard to find useful teachings for cooperating with other people and bettering society. However in the present age, people will not ac-cept Buddhist teachings that lack a sound view on society and the promotion of social action. Therefore, I think that it is now necessary to advocate kyōsei. I arrived at this idea while studying Huayan teachings.

The Meaning and Perspective of Buddhist Studies

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The Meaning and Perspective of Buddhist Studies

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