A Study on the relation with Japanese Lay Buddhism and Its Economic Ethics
Chuo-university（中央大學）
Shunji Hosaka(保坂俊司)
Preface
Ever since the collapse of the bubble economy from the early 1990's,a state of confusion has prevailed among various strata of the Japanese society. In particular, the conventional ethics and institution no longer function smoothly, and this, in turn, has given rise to all sorts of new problems one after another. As a result, there is an acute sense of anxiety and crisis regarding the future of the Japanese society. Confusion and deviation in morality among young people, and the long series of scandal in the financial and business world ,symbolize this development, and they create an impression that not just the economy, but the entire Japanese society from its ethics down, have started on a course of disintegration.
As a result, a dark mood is engulfing the Japanese society. Will Japanese go on this track of decline, given the moral decay that appears to permeate the entire society, and the stagnation of the economy which had been the symbol and source of vitality of Japan's prosperity?
Japanese Outlook on Ethics and Buddhism
In order to build a new economic thought for the Japanese people (in the present
Situation),a certain contradiction has to be overcome : To build" an outlook on economic
Ethics that is suitable for the Japanese people," while ensuring that outlook has an
universal character. This is a very difficult task.
Put another way In order to forge such an outlook on economic ethics, we must take
Cognizance of the reality that economic activity is based upon egoism in so far as
Economic activity is undertaken to satisfy the needs of the individual(s)involved, and
Such egoism is most often extended into nationalism. At the same time, universality,
Which is the opposite of egoism and nationalism, must be incorporated as well. Thus, It
is very difficult task. These two concepts (egoism and universalism) tend to be grasped as conflicting concepts in modern thought.
However, according to the kind of Buddhist concepts discussed above, conflict
Between these concepts is inevitable by no means. This is the case because there is no
Totality without parts, and there is no part which is not part of some totality. Thus in
The Buddhist understanding, the world is founded upon multiples of relationships
(cause and effects)that act and react upon one another, mutually. According to this
Thinking, we recognize that there is the relationship wherein I(one part)is sustained by
Other (the totality), as well as the relationship wherein we (as the totality) support
Another (part), and these relationships comprise the world. This is called the outlook
Of fusion (inseparability) of parts (repeated and infinite religious practice), or the
Outlook of "fusion of self-benefit and other's benefit."
When this kind of outlook of mutual relationships is applied to the economic world,
It is theoretically impossible to monopolize or exclusively control profits (benefits)in
One-sided manner, and accumulation of wealth in an unfair manner is rejected, it goes without saying. In short, individuals always make efforts in relation to the whole
While the whole endeavors to provide the best arena (market) for individual members.
naturally ,it is assumed that there is a community supported by a Buddhist ethical outlook. That is the basic spiritual premise.
In this way, the universal and particular are not in conflict、but work to supplement
one another, and it is possible to move to a happy state in this manner. It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese people have already experienced this kind of Buddhist ethical outlook in their history. I say this because Japan underwent the baptism of Buddhism, an universal religion, more than 1,400 years ago. In the subsequence years, by having this universal outlook (however vague it may have been)
Compete, and fuse, with the traditional Japanese thinking, the Japanese people succeeded in fusing universality with national characteristics.
In this process, an important role was played by the tolerance that comes from the
Unripe character of Japanese thought, which is an important characteristics. For one
Thing, there is no custom (in Japan) of making a rigorous distinction between the sacred and secular, and hardly any awareness of the sharp conflicts with alien cultures and civilizations. This kind of cultural unripe was brought about largely by a world of Japan was at the stage of so-called animism, and it maintained a world outlook centered around nature worship (this refers to the ancient Sinto(神道),and the same applies hereinafter). A similar stage of spiritual development was overcome, at least on the
surface, in the continent through mutual invasions among nationalities, and through
fusion of cultures and civilizations. However, here in Japan, the optimism of this nature worship and Buddhist thought were integrated and combined in different ways,which, in turn, gave rise to various modes of thought and ethical outlooks in Japan.
Typical among them are very Japanese types of Buddhist thought such as Tendai
Honkaku School of Thought(天台本覚思想) and Zen Buddhism. When we turn our attention to the aspect of economic ethics, the social thought of the early Edo period and the economic philosophy of Shozo Suzuki(鈴木正三：1579-1655) summarize many of the key ideas.
Buddhist Ethics in the Eclectic Fusion of Shinto and Buddhism
Before the arrival of Buddhism, common and rustic worship of the great nature
existed in many developing parts of Japan. After the introduction of rice cultivation
From Korea and China (several centuries before Christ), both religion and society were
organized around rice culture. For this reason, the spiritual culture of Japan looked upon rich harvest as a blessing of the mother nature, that is, of the gods. And the idea
existed for a long time period that taking part in rice cultivation was in itself a sacred
Activity to draw out gods blessings, or at least, an equivalent of that. This idea fundamentally differs from the view of labor as an act of penitence for the original sin
Which is held by the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions. That is, for Japanese people, labor is not a hardship to be abhorred, nor a hardship to be borne for penitence, but a sacred form of "festival". This is clear when we see that many motions related to
Agriculture are incorporated into festivals.
It was this(Mahayana)Buddhism with its emphasis on hard restraint on greed which arrived in the Japanese society with its affirmation of this world. For that reason,
It cannot be denied that there was tendency, naturally, for the Japanese Buddhism to select those realistic elements from the huge system of thought. Thus, it was no accident that Prince Shotoku(574-622AD),who set the substantive direction for Japanese's Buddhism,worte commentaries on such Mahayana sutras as "Vimalakirti nirdesa sutra；『維摩経』","Saddarma-pundarika-sutra;『法華経』" and『 勝鬘経』".And the Chinese Buddhism's tendency to emphasize worldliness and secular aspects was a definite precedents. When we reflect upon this background, we can explain Prince Shotoku's role as a greater Buddhist teacher who nevertheless remained a layman, as an extension of such historical development. And this semi-sacred, semi-secular outlook grew and expanded to become a salient characteristic of Jaspanese―Buddhism, and this has remained true to this day . One big difference is that at that time, the basic foundation of Buddhist faith was shared by everyone, which is not necessarily the case today.
In this way, Japanese of that time took in a religious and world outlook which was so abstract as to be nearly unapproachable, one hand, but they did not overlook the realistic philosophy that Buddhism has, on the other, and they repeatedly went through many trials and errors in a sustains effort to fuse both these aspects into their own spiritual and philosophical outlook. Within the process, a pessimistic world outlook was preached at times, while moves were undertake to develop a world outlook based upon fusion of Shinto and Buddhism, as well as movements to develop Japanese schools
of Buddhism such as Tendai-honnkaku-school (天台本覚思想).In particular, the latter represents a fusion of Buddhist thought and Japanese worship of nature, for it affirms that"all beings including grass and tree a can attain Buddhafood." And within this broad movement to develop world outlook, there arose an approach of finding religious sacrament to develop world outlook, there arose an approach of finding religious sacredness and spirituality in labor, economy, and other parts of mundane life. Typical of such a trend is the outlook of "senshu (専修)and sen-itsu（専一）（choose and concentrate the one way）which burst forth during the Kamakura period(1192-1333AD).Major examples of this orientation for"senshu"and "sen-itsu"can be in Honen's(1133-1212), who is the founder of Pureland Buddhism school (浄土宗)in Japan、teaching of salvation solely through invoking the name of Amida Buddha, Dogen's (1200-1253)who is the founder of "soto-syuu:曹洞宗in Japan ,teaching on the concentration on sitting meditation, and Nichiren 's(1222－1282)who is the founder of Nichirenn syuuu日蓮宗）thought of absolute faith and reliance on the "Loutus Sutra".
The Idea of "Sen-itsu(concentrate on one way)"and Japanese view of Labor
The idea of "sen-itsu" which was proposed by Honen and Dogen was highly characteristic (for the development of Buddhism up to that Time. This was possible, because in the course of its development even up to that point, Buddhism embraced and absorbed all, and in that sense, it was an open kind of Religion. No matter where it spread, it fused with the world outlooks and religions of each religion , and successfully took roots and became localized in each area without causing big disturbances. With its relational philosophy of "engi" (cause and effect relations) and its philosophy of "emptiness" to overcome conflicts in world outlooks, Buddhism did not develop in such a way as to uncompromisingly insist on one and the only world outlook and teaching. But this same religion began to unfold in a totally different direction in Japan. That is, the tendency for a part to encompass and include the whole began to be emphasized. Up to that point in Buddhism, based upon the premise that whole was the sum total of parts, all things were recognized as (potentially) Valuable, and respected, and not excluded outright. While this represents a noble spirit, it cannot help resulting in a cumbersome, and highly complex world outlook. Then, it could be interpreted as if true Buddhism is a religion for only educated elite who can understand such total philosophical system.
However, it is impossible for the masses to understand such a religion, and the
masses do not seek such a religion either. What masses need is not some complex
process, nor special philosophy or training, but simple teaching and tangible results.
In this sense, we can say that the teachings of the founders of new Buddhist sects
During the Kamakura Period(1192－1333) indeed represent a new development of Buddhism. For if we try to lead common folks without wealth, without the desire to enter a religious order, without sure knowledge or strong faith, to Buddhist enlightenment, then, there is no way except by adopting some simple method("the easy way"易業道)as advocated by Honen（法然；1133－1212）as equally efficacious in attaining enlightenment as study of difficult teachings and undergoing arduous training. While such a viewpoint has a certain persuasiveness, it is a very Japanese viewpoint as well. For ,in the Japanese society, the sacred and secular are indivisible, and two are on a continuum, and so, it was probably difficult, if not impossible ,for Japanese to clearly differentiate the two as in the (original)Buddhism.
Therefore, for Buddhism to become accepted generally by people at large in Japan, Buddhism itself had to undergone change. Thereupon, the need arose to simplify and concretize it. That is ,to simplify what is too complex, and replace what abstract with what is concrete. In this process, the idea of "sen-itsu" was born, that is, the Idea of selecting one out of multitude of ideas and practices, and having that one idea and/or practice substitute for the whole.
For example, this approach is very salient in following position pushed forward by Honen" Abandon the Sacred Gate and choose the gate of pure Land(捨聖道門、入浄土門).If you really wish to enter the gate of Pure Land（浄土）,then, out of the correct way and miscellaneous ways, throw off all the miscellaneous ways ,and return to the correct way. If you want to master the correct way, then, of the correct practice and supplementary practices, leave aside the supplementary practices, and concentrate on the correct practice. Correct practice mean nothing other than invoking Buddha's name "Here, the term "miscellaneous ways" referred to all types of practice and training that adhere to in so-called traditional schools of Buddhism. However, In Honen, contrast between correct way and miscellaneous ways is still not so prominent. When it comes to Dogen(道元；1200－1253) and Nichiren（日蓮；1222－1282）,however, they insist that total, exclusive concentration in the correct way that they each advocate,is the only way to enlightenment, and there is the outlook that that one path substitutes for all paths8to enlightenment).
Dogen expressed this idea as follows:"The first point of attention for Zen priest to improve himself is to concentrate totally in sitting meditation. If he restrains himself from discussing merits and demerits, and intelligence and ignorance, but just engages in meditation, he will improve naturally." And, "by engaging in sitting meditation exclusively,we will be able to gain great enlightenment." For his part,Nichiren taught,"When life weakens, you chan Namumyo horengekyo(南無妙法蓮華経) and if you should die while chanting it,you will be welcomed by Buddha,plentiful of treasures and hundred thousand Buddhas, and will be guided to the temple of enlightenment."with these words,Nichiren sought to substitute belief in the "Lotus sutra(法華経) for the totality of Buddhism. Now, one difference with Dogen is that his idea of "ikko(一向；concentrated faith)and "senshu(専修；concentrated one practice)"do not exclude others, unlike the Pure Land sects and Nichiren Later on. At any rate, while the traditional Buddhism up to that time had the tendency of moving from "one to (inclusion of ) many" this new development from "many to one" provided more possibility for the development of the concept of fusion between Buddhist salvation and daily life, as concreteness to that idea.
Later, there was a growing tendency to introduce more and more discipline into various actiivies that make up daily life,and to recognize all aspects of daily life as part of Buddhist practice and training (this is, the realm of one),going beyond the differences between the priestly and lay living(this is called the real of many).This meant popularization of the priestly world, and flowing out of the sacred world into the secular world, which ,in turn, brought about Buddhistic ethics into the consciousness of the popular masses .In that sense, it represents a highly significant outcome. It can be stated that the core of the Japanese-style ethics for day-to-day life was established within this process.
Put another way, we see here a typical pattern for the fusion between the Japanese-type animistic world outlook(in which the daily world and sacred world coexisted),on one hand, and Buddhism with its advanced ethics centered around human beings ,on the other. This, in turn, out only brought about further secularization of the Buddhist world outlook and belittling of the distinctions between priests and laymen ,but also some negative aspects such as rejection of priesthood as a phenomenon whereby laymen become priest-like or pseudo priests, and in the development of an monistic ethics which had something in common with the Lutheran view of every person as a priest. Based upon such a tendency, efforts were made to integrate the ethics of daily life and religious ethics. And this kind of outlook first took a concrete form in the outlook on "way of artistic accomplishments."
Economic Activity is Practice of Japanese Lay Buddhism
As we have seen already, the idea of"senshu"(concentrated one practice)which evolved out of Zen philosophy developed by the practical orientation of Chinese people significantly changed the form of religious practice, from the traditional practices carried over from India. Thus, priests themselves could now engage regularly in productive labor under the concept of "samu(labor as a form of Zen service),and it was not only approved, but actively encouraged as an effective step for the achievement of enlightenment. When Dogen went to China under the Soong Dynasty for study, he met a priest engaged in kitchen duty at a temple, and he learned from"this priest how the kitchen duty contained a path toward enlightenment, etc."We are told that this was a very shocking thought for Dogen. Now, while this idea may have been born in India as idea,it could not become reality in that country. Even in China, this idea(of productive labor as a form of religious practice toward enlightenment)was practiced only within the temple compounds, but not apparently spread to daily life in society at large. Actually ,in Japan, too, it took a considerable amount of time before various secular activities were accorded the same kind of significance as religious activities. It was the work of Shosana Suzuki who completed this development.
Shosan Suzuki was the first person in the history of Budhhism in Japan to forthrightly advocate the idea that essence of Buddhism is tobe found in practice of professional ethics in the actual society. Based upon the awareness that" while there have been many priests, they merely had knowledge of Buddhist Low, but none of them advocated the necessity of its use in every aspect of our social life."With this understanding, he developed and presented his distinctive view of economic ethics based upon Buddhist ethics in his writing such as"Banmin tokuyo(万民徳用：Virtuous Use for everyone).Shosan Suzuki maintained that if people wholeheartedly engage in their respective work in the secular world, this in itself will serve to realize Buddhist practice and service work in the secular world, this in itself will serve to realize Buddhist practice and service. According to him, the essence of Buddhism is to rely on their self efforts,that is, on the"true Buddha within oneself", and all occupations are workings of "one Buddha"(万民徳用)This means that righteous practice of any occupation is the proof of his faith, and is religious practice itself. For this reason, any occupation provides a way for Buddhist practice, and is therefore sacred in nature. That is why Shosan thought that "Agriculture itself is Buddhist practice" and told merchants to "Abandon greed and pursue profits wholeheartedly. However, do not enjoy the profits yourself. Serve the masses." And:"All business is Buddhist practice. Seek Buddhahood in people's activities. There is no real work outside of Buddhist practice. All activities are to be carried out so as to benefit the world."In short, he had in mind the existence of all types of jobs. However, if stopped there, then, there would be no difference of (Shosan's thinking)from" the way of economy in this world of carnage" and with "Bodhisattva." What is important is the idea he puts forth in the next sentence:"Human beings who received Buddha's nature must not allow their hearts to become evil, and willingly enter the evil way"
Put another way, there is a premise in Shosan's teaching that everything for the faith in Buddhism, which is the fundamental awareness. Without the awareness of this faith, his thinking does not hold water. Certainly, Shosan was not saying that everything unconditionally becomes Buddhist practice. This point is very important, and it is premise which is belittled the most in the present-day Japanese society.
For example, in the background of the great successes achieved by merchants and businessmen from Omi region(among whom have been outstanding economic leaders not just in the past but in the present age),is the economic ethics of Shinshu(Pure Land)sect which has sustained the it economic activity. The original pattern of tradesmen from Omi was peddling. but there did not go all Japan just to make money. Traders from Omi traveled to all parts of Japan to peddle their goods in order to put into practice Jodo Shinshu Sect's(浄土真宗) teaching of "ho-on(returning kindness：報恩),"to serve the people through trading. They chose to engage in peddling as a form of Buddhist practice and service. They did not bow their heads toward profits, but to the merciful spirit of Amida Buddha(阿弥陀仏) which is behind the profit. Therefore, profit is an ourcome、ｗhile this is not confined to the "Pure Lnad Sect(浄土宗),"this sect with its most worldly teachings regarded trading as an act for refining their faith.And this fact was not related to their business success.
Only when people are sustained by this kind of deep faith, and by ethics based upon such faith, can there be trust, which is the foundation of the economy. And only with such trust is damaged, then, that can bring about irreparable damage. By understanding that it is an ethical outlook which makes trust possible, and religious faith which givers rise to such ethics, and by renewing our awareness of the importance of this linkage, we may be able to rebuild the economic ethics the Japanese people as something universal, and yet distinctly Japanese.
In conclusion
In order not to dwell in pessimism, we must start with an accurate grasp pf the present conditions and self-critique, and seriously grapple the task of building of new values. And through this work of building the foundation, we must examine things without any prejudgment and correct knowledge about our own religious history, and draw out what we lack,and make the effort to create what we need.
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