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Asura's Harp: Engagement with Language As Buddhist Path Michiko Yusa Western Washington University, Michiko.Yusa@Wwu.Edu Western Washington University Western CEDAR Modern & Classical Languages Humanities 7-2009 Review of: Asura's Harp: Engagement with Language as Buddhist Path Michiko Yusa Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/mcl_facpubs Part of the Japanese Studies Commons, and the Modern Languages Commons Recommended Citation Yusa, Michiko, "Review of: Asura's Harp: Engagement with Language as Buddhist Path" (2009). Modern & Classical Languages. 14. https://cedar.wwu.edu/mcl_facpubs/14 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Humanities at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Modern & Classical Languages by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOOK REVIEWS Asura's Harp: Engagementwith Language as BuddhistPath. By Dennis Hirota.Hei- delberg: UniversitätsverlagWINTER, 2006. Pp. ix + 156. Reviewedby Michiko Yusa WesternWashington University Asura's Harp: Engagementwith Language as BuddhistPath by Dennis Hirota is a book thatgrew out of lecturesgiven by the authorat the FürstFranz-Josef and Fürstin Gina Memorial PhilosophyLecture series in Liechtenstein(p. 153). Herein the au- thorexamines the significantrole that language plays in the religiouspractice of the True Pure Land Sect of Japanese Buddhism(hereafter referred to as Shin Bud- dhism),founded by Shinran(1173-1263). Hirota's originalaudience being those presentat his lectures,this book directlyengages Western intellectuals,Christian and non-Christian. Hirota examines the language act of recitationof "Namu Amidabutsu"(nem- butsu&{L>) and hearingthe name of Amida Buddha (monmyõK|£) as fundamental religiouspractice, sustained by the Buddha's spiritualityof wisdom and compassion (shinjinfs^LO- This approach to Shinran'steaching via language opens up the trea- sure chest of Shin Buddhism,making it accessible to those who are interestedin the philosophicalquestion of language and how it is relatedto everydayexperience and spirituality. Hirotastarts out witha generaldiscussion of Shinran'sview of language,namely thatordinary deluded human beings cannot grasp the "truth,"which is none other than the significanceof Amida's PrimaryVow revealed in the world of history.The Buddha essence (dharmakãya)or spirituality,however, transcendsthought and speech and enables the transformationof the deluded beings (chapters 1, 2, 3). Next,he investigateshow language itselfis notdenied by Shinran.Rather, we should returnto the originof language, which is wisdom and reality,and enter into the "Pure Land," "Amida's bosom," "truth,"or "suchness," to which language directs us. By enteringthis realm, the "teleological duality of this world and the Pure Land" and the "interpersonalduality of the selfand the Buddha" are overcome,but the dualityitself is not abolished (p. 53). In this experience, shinjin(the wisdom- compassion of Amida, and not one's own "faith")becomes the pipeline thatcon- nects duality.Shinran asks us to become aware of the falsityof ordinarylanguage and the realityof true language; this is because "the world is characterizedby the simultaneouspresence of false and true languages." This is in line with Shinran's teachingthat "nirvana is attainedwithout severing blind passions" (p. 57). Shinran tells us to discard our moral judgmentof good and evil, because it is stilla stance of reliance on one's hubris(chapters 4, 5, 6). In part3, Hirotadiscusses two decisive momentsfor Shin Buddhists:(1) the en- trance into the true awareness of shinjin,which takes place in a single thought- momentand transformsthe practitionerradically from a self-centeredbeing to an 382 PhilosophyEast & West Volume 59, Number3 July2009 382-385 © 2009 by Universityof Hawai'i Press This content downloaded from 140.160.178.168 on Fri, 16 May 2014 14:15:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Amida-centeredbeing, and (2) the continuingpractice carried out throughoutone's life(chapters 7, 8). This seems to parallelthe Zen experience in which the attainment of awakeningor Kenshõ and the sustainedpost-Kenshõ practice are both essential. In the final part, Hirota describes how the act of hearingthe "Name'' of Amida Buddha fillsthe awakened practitionerwith the Buddha's virtues,and thistransforms "our evil intovirtue." Hearing the Name in the shinjin,our calculativethinking and ego-centricself drop away. In thisway, chantingthe Name of Amida,either "voiced or voiceless," functionsas a "sacrament,"and in thissense, concludes Hirota,the Name presentsa new paradigmof language (chapters9 and 10). This book demands of the reader a certainfamiliarity with Shinran'steaching. Beingtruly well versed in the writingsof Shinran,Hirota cites withmastery passages fromthe vastand complex body of treatisesand otherwritings. Therefore, in orderto engage in a meaningfulconversation with the author,we would do well to bringout a copy of Tannishõand Kyõgyõshinshõto read, or reread,as the authorunfolds his philosophicalcontemplation. I found Hirota's discussion on the relationshipbetween Amida, Dharmakãra, and the historicalworld fullof suggestions.Christian theologians may findpoints of dialogue in termsof Christology.The question at hand is how the eternalintervenes in the historicalworld. Amida, once giventhe Name, becomes notjust a word but a "prayer,"which establishesthe relationshipof humanityto Buddha, and the Name revealsthe "truth"that the PrimaryVow was made manifestin thishistorical world (pp. 29-33). Hirota'sdiscussion in termsof the threemanifestations of the Buddha body (the trikãyadoctrine) especially bringsDharmakãra to the foreground.The "verticaland horizontal"coordinates that Hirota develops caught my attention- the verticalindicates the movementof the timeless-formlessemerging into the histor- ical world of time and form,while the horizontalindicates the causal, temporary process of Dharmakãra becoming Amida Buddha (pp. 38-43). I would like to knowwhere each of us as individualsis located in these coordinates.In otherwords, I would liketo see Diagrams 1 and 2 (pp. 141 -1 45) incorporatedinto the discussion on the coordinates. Hirotamakes it veryclear thatShinran's understanding of language is construc- tive and positive,as thatwhich bringsabout the understandingof Pure Land teach- ing and leads us beyond the ego-filled,delusion-laden self-existence to liberation. What has to change, as I understandit, is the stance of the individualself from an egocentricand calculating self to the one given lifeby the wellspringof Amida's compassion and wisdom. I found that Shinran's referenceto Nagarjuna's four hermeneuticalprinciples (shii H0c) nicelycaptures Shinran's conviction on the usefulnessof discrimination. It reads: Relyon thedharma, not on theperson who teaches it Relyon themeaning, not on thewords Relyon wisdom,not on thedivisive consciousness Relyon sutrasthat are meaningful,not on meaninglesswritings. BookReviews 383 This content downloaded from 140.160.178.168 on Fri, 16 May 2014 14:15:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions To exercise our judgmentand discernmentdoes not have to lead us intothe trapof subject-objectdichotomy; instead it can lead us to clarityand light(pp. 49-50). Our intellectualdiscrimination is then like a double-edged sword. A deluded person wields it in one way, and those who are enlightenedin anotherway. In relationto the self-transformativeeffect of the nembutsupractice, it struck me as odd to read the followingon page 117: "Persons of shinjindo not cease from 'emptytalk and gibberish';neither do they give themselvesfreely to false speech and acts witha sense of license." My question is, is it not by definitionthe "persons of shinjin" who no longer engage in "empty talk and gibberish/'because their awareness has been transformed?According to early Indian Buddhism, "right speech" was emphasized as one of the partsof the eightfoldpath, and the spiritually "transformative"effect of rightspeech is acknowledged.Certainly, persons of shinjin stillengage in everydaylinguistic discourse, but do theyreally engage in "emptytalk and gibberish"? Despite Hirota'sexcellent elucidation, I findmyself still left in the darkconcern- ing the actual "awakening" experience of Shin Buddhists.I am wonderingif a psy- chological descriptionof the nembutsupractice might be helpfulfor readers like me to understandwhat kind of self-transformationmay take place. To illustratewhat I am lookingfor, let me quote the followingfrom a radio interviewin which theAmer- ican jazz musician Herbie Hancock was explainingwhat happens to him when he chants"Namu Myõhõrengekyõ."I am well aware thatI am talkingabout a different sect of Japanese Buddhism,but in termsof the psychological-existentialeffect of "chanting,"I wonder ifthe example mightnot be relevant. radiohost: Forthe past thirty-five years, Herbie Hancock has beenpracticing Buddhism. How do youspur creative juices? hancock:We chant"Namu Myõhõrengekyõ/' That's a phrasewe chant.It's a sound, and whathappens is thatit opens up yourcore, and is thesource for elevating your life condition,creating you insync with the universe. radio host: Does ithelp you write songs? hancock:Where do the songscome from?Song comes fromlife. When lifeis illumi- nated,and youfeel more illumination from life, then the inspiration is there. It's been sit- tingout there all along,just didn't see it.I feelmore inspired when I chant.1 By citingthis interview, I do not mean to denigrateHirota's serious philosophical en-
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