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Religion of the Samurai THE RELIGION OF THE SAMURAI Zen Buddhism was first introduced in Japan as the faith for the Samurai or the military class, and moulded the characters of many distinguished soldiers and statesmen. The object of this work is to show how the Mahayanistic views of life and the world differ markedly from those of the Theravada, and thus to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East. To this end, the author undertakes a close study of the Zen sect, selecting this group because of the great influence it has had on Japanese life and also because of the unique position it holds among the established religious systems of the world. Kaiten Nukariya was a professor at Kei-O-Gi-Jiku University and at So-To-Shu Buddhist College, Tokyo. www.keganpaul.com Th e Kegan P a u l Ja pa n L ibrary The National Faith of Japan • D. C. Holtom The Japanese Enthronement Ceremonies • D. C. Holtom History of Japanese Religion • MasaharuAnesaki Ainu Creed and Cult • Neil Gordon Munro Japan: Its Architecture, Art and Art Manufactures • Christopher Dresser An Artist’s Letters from Japan • John La Farge Japanese Girls and Women • AliceM. Bacon The Kwaidan of the Lady of Tamiya • James S. deBenneville The Haunted House • James S. deBenneville We Japanese • Frederic de Garis andAtsuharu Sakai Shogi: Japanese Chess • Cho-Yo The Nightless City of the Geisha • J. £. de Becker Landscape Gardening in Japan • Josiah Conder Things Japanese • BasilFFallChamberlain The Gardens of Japan • Jiro FFarada Ancient Japanese Rituals and the Revival of Pure Shinto • Sir Ernest Satow with KarlFlorenz History of Japanese Thought • FFajime Nakamura The Mikado’s Empire • WE. Griffis Quaint Customs and Manners of Japan • Mock Joy a Beauty in Japan • Samuel W. Wainwright Behind the Japanese Mask • Robert Craigie Human Bullets • FadayoshiSakurai In the Bamboo Lands of Japan • Katharine Schuyler Baxter Japan and Its Art • MarcusB. FFuish Japanese Marks and Seals • James Lord Bowes Learning the Sacred Way of the Emperor • Yutaka FFibino The Flowers and Gardens of Japan • Ella Du Cane The Last Genro • OmuraBunji The Theory of Japanese Flower Arrangements • Josiah Conder Traveller from Tokyo • John Morris THE RELIGION OF THE SAMURAI Kaiten Nukariya First published in 2004 by Kegan Paul Limited Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA Routledge is an imprint o f the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Distributed by: Extenza-Turpin Stratton Business Park Pegasus Drive Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SGI8 8QB United Kingdom Tel: (01462) 672555 Fax: (01462) 480947 Email: [email protected] Columbia University Press 61 W est 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023 Tel: (212) 459 0600 Fax: (212) 459 3678 Internet: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup © Taylor & Francis, 2004 All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electric, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN: 978-0-710-30885-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-81054-6 (elSBN) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Applied for. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (1) The Southern and Northern Schools of Buddhism - - xi (2 ) The Development and Differentiation of Buddhism - xii (8) The Object of this Book is the Explaining of the Mahayanistic View of Life and the World - xiii (4) Zen holds a Unique Position among the Established Religions of the World ------ xiii (5) The Historical Antiquity of Zen - - - xiii (6) The Denial of Scriptural Authority by Zen - - - xiv (7) The Practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their Predecessor, whose Spiritual Level they Aim to Attain - - - xiv (8) The Iconoclastic Attitude of Zen - xiv (9) Zen Activity - - - - - - xv (10) The Physical and Mental Training - . - - - xv (11) The Historical Importance ----- xvj CHAPTER I HISTORY OF ZEN IN CHINA SECTION PAGE 1. The Origin of Zen in India 1 2. The Introduction of Zen into China by Bodhidharma - 5 3. Bodhidharma and the Emperor Wu 6 4. Bodhidharma and his Successor, the Second Patriarch - 8 5. Bodhidharma’s Disciples and the Transmission of the Law - 11 6. The Second and the Third Patriarchs - - - 12 7. The Fourth Patriarch and the Emperor Tai Tsung - - 13 8. The Fifth and the Sixth Patriarchs - . - 14 9. The Spiritual Attainment of the Sixth Patriarch - - 15 10. The Flight of the Sixth Patriarch - - - - 16 11. The Development of the Southern and the Northern School of Zen 17 12. The Missionary Activity of the Sixth Patriarch - - 18 13. The Disciples under the Sixth Patriarch - - - 19 14. Three Important Elements of Zen - - - - 23 15. Decline of Zen - - 24 V vi CONTENTS CHAPTER II HISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPAN SECTION PAGE 1. The Establishment of the Rin Zai School of Zen in Japan - 28 2. The Introduction of the So To School of Zen - 30 3. The Characteristics of Do-gen, the Founder of the Japanese So To Sect - - - - - - 3 2 4. The Social State of Japan when Zen was Established by Ei-sai and Do-gen - 34 5. The Resemblance of the Zen Monk to the Samurai - 35 6. The Honest Poverty of the Zen Monk and the Samurai - 35 7. The Manliness of the Zen Monk and the Samurai - - 36 8. The Courage and Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and the Samurai - - - - - 39 9. Zen and the Regent Generals of the Ho-jo Period - 40 10. Zen after the Downfall of the Ho-jo Regency - - 42 11. Zen in the Dark Age - - - - - 44 12. Zen under the Toku-gawa ShSgunate - - - - 46 13. Zen after the Restoration - - - - 50 CHAPTER III THE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE OF ZEN 1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper - - 52 2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen - - - 54 3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon - - 56 4. Sutras used by the Zen Masters - - - 60 5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World - - - 68 6. Great Men and Nature - - - - - 70 7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction - - 71 8. The Sermon of the Inanimate - - 72 CHAPTER IV BUDDHA, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT 1. The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon - - - - 7 5 2. Zen is Iconoclastic - - - - - - 76 3. Buddha is Unnamable - - - - 77 4. Buddha, the Universal Life - - - - - 79 5. Life and Change - - - - 81 6. The Pessimistic View of Ancient Hindus - - 82 CONTENTS vii SECTION PAGE 7. Hinayanism and its Doctrine - - - - - 84 8. Change as seen by Zen - - - - - 85 9. Life and Change - - - - - - 86 10. Life, Change, and Hope - - - - - 87 11. Everything is Living according to Zen - - - 88 12. The Creative Force of Nature and Humanity - 89 13. Universal Life is Universal Spirit - - - - 90 14. Poetical Intuition and Zen - - - - - 91 15. Enlightened Consciousness - - - - 92 16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind - - - 93 17- Enlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight - 94 18. Our Conception of Buddha is not Final - - - 95 19. How to Worship Buddha - - - - - 96 CHAPTER V THE NATURE OF MAN 1. Man is Good-natured according to Mencius - - - 98 2. Man is Bad-natured according to Siiin Tsz - - - 99 3. Man is both Good-natured and Bad-natured according to Yan Hiung ------- 100 4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su S h i h ..................................................................................101 5. There is no Mortal who is Purely Moral . 101 6. There is no Mortal who is Non-moral or Purely Immoral - 103 7. Where, then, does the Error Lie ? - - - 103 8 . Man is not Good-natured nor Bad-natured, but Buddha- natured - ----- - 105 9. The Parable of the Robber Kih - - - - 106 10. Wang Yang Ming and a Thief . - 107 11. The Bad are the Good in the Egg - 108 12. The Great Person and the Small Person - - 109 13. The Theory of Buddha-Nature adequately explains the Ethical States of Man ------ i l l 14. Buddha-Nature is the Common Source of Morals - - 112 15. The Parable of a Drunkard - - - - - 113 16. Shakya Muni and the Prodigal Son - 115 17. The Parable of the Monk and the Stupid Woman - - 116 18. ‘ Each Smile a Hymn, each Kindly Word a Prayer’ - - 117 19. The World is in the Making - - - - - 118 20. The Progress and Hope of Life - - - - 119 21. The Betterment of Life 120 22. The Buddha of Mercy - 121 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER VI ENLIGHTENMENT SECTION PAGE 1. Enlightenment is beyond Description and Analysis * - 123 2. Enlightenment Implies an Insight into the Nature of Self - 124 3. The Irrationality of the Belief of Immortality - - 127 4. The Examination of the Notion of Self - - 129 5. Nature is the Mother of All Things .... 131 6. Real Self - - - - - - - 132 7. The Awakening of the Innermost Wisdom - - - 133 8. Zen is not Nihilistic ------ 135 9. Zen and Idealism ------ 137 10. Idealism is a Potent Medicine for Self-Created Mental Disease 138 11. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Objective Reality - - 139 12. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Religion and Morality - 141 13. An Illusion concerning Appearance and Reality - - 142 14. Where does the Root of the Illusion Lie ? - - 143 15. Thing-in-Itself means Thing-Knowerless - - - 145 16. The Four Alternatives and the Five Categories - - 146 17. Personalism of B. P. Bowne ----- 149 18. All the Worlds in Ten Directions are Buddha’s Holy Land - 151 CHAPTER VII LIFE 1. Epicureanism and Life - 154 2. The Errors of Philosophical Pessimists and Religious Optimists 156 3. The Law of Balance - - - - - - 158 4. Life Consists in Conflict - 159 5. The Mystery of Life ------ 160 6.
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