PACIFIC WORLD Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies Third Series Number 7 Fall 2005 SPECIAL SECTION: MEDITATION IN AMERICAN SHIN BUDDHISM TITLE iii Pacific World is an annual journal in English devoted to the dissemination of historical, textual, critical, and interpretive articles on Buddhism generally and Shinshu Buddhism particularly to both academic and lay readerships. The journal is distributed free of charge. Articles for consideration by the Pacific World are welcomed and are to be submitted in English and addressed to the Editor, Pacific World, 2140 Durant Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704-1589, USA. Acknowledgment: This annual publication is made possible by the donation of Buddha Dharma Kyokai (Society), Inc. of Berkeley, California. Guidelines for authors: Manuscripts (approximately twenty standard pages) should be typed double-spaced with 1-inch margins. Notes are to be endnotes with full bibliographic information in the note first mentioning a work, i.e., no separate bibliography. See The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition), University of Chicago Press, §16.3 ff. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all quotations and for supplying complete references. Clear, clean typescript is required for electronic page scanning. Please include electronic version on disk in both formatted and plain text, if possible. Manuscripts should be submitted by February 1st. Foreign words should be italicized and marked with proper diacriticals, except for the following: arhat, bodhisattva, buddha/Buddha, dharma/Dharma, Hinayana, kalpa, karma, Mahayana, nembutsu, nirvana, samsara, sangha, shinjin, sutra, yoga. Romanized Chinese follows Pinyin system (except in special cases); romanized Japanese, the modified Hepburn system. Japanese/Chinese names are given surname first, omitting honorifics. Ideographs preferably should be restricted to notes. Editorial Committee reserves the right to standardize use of or omit diacriticals. Conventionalized English form of sutra title may be used if initially identified in original or full form in text or note. Editorial Committee reserves the right to edit all submissions. Upon request, page proofs may be reviewed by the author. Include institutional affiliation and position, or present status/occupation and place. All manuscripts submitted for publication become the property of Pacific World. By agreeing to publication in the Pacific World, authors give the journal and the Institute of Buddhist Studies an unlimited license to publish and reprint the essay. This license includes, but is not limited to, any media format (hard copy, electronic, etc.), and international rights. Copyright remains the author’s. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Richard K. Payne, Chair David Matsumoto Eisho Nasu Natalie Quli, Assistant Editor REVERSE TITLE PAGE iv PACIFIC WORLD Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies Third Series, Number 7 Fall 2005 SPECIAL SECTION: MEDITATION IN AMERICAN SHIN BUDDHISM CONTENTS SPECIAL SECTION: MEDITATION IN AMERICAN SHIN BUDDHISM Editorial Note: Meditation in American Shin Buddhism Richard K. PAYNE and David R. MATSUMOTO 1 Keynote Address: The Meaning of Practice in Shin Buddhism Takamaro SHIGARAKI 3 Dōgen’s Zazen as Other Power Practice Taigen Dan LEIGHTON 23 Seeing through Images: Reconstructing Buddhist Meditative Visualization Practice in Sixth-Century Northeastern China Bruce C. WILLIAMS 33 Nenbutsu and Meditation: Problems with the Categories of Contemplation, Devotion, Meditation, and Faith Lisa GRUMBACH 91 A Contemporary Re-examination of Shin Buddhist Notions of Practice Mitsuya DAKE 107 ARTICLES Seeing Buddhas, Hearing Buddhas: Cognitive Significance of Nenbutsu as Visualization and as Recitation Richard K. PAYNE 119 Transforming Reality through Vocalization of Salvific Truth Russell KIRKLAND 143 v American Women in Jōdo Shin Buddhism Today: Tradition and Transition Patricia KANAYA USUKI 159 BOOK REVIEW Ian Reader, Making Pilgrimages: Meaning and Practice in Shikoku Jonathan H. X. LEE 177 NOTES AND NEWS BDK English Tripiṭaka Series: A Progress Report 181 vi Editorial Note: Meditation in American Shin Buddhism Richard K. Payne Dean, Institute of Buddhist Studies Editor-in-Chief, Pacific World David R. Matsumoto Director, IBS Center for Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies ON FEBRUARY 24, 2005, the Institute of Buddhist Studies, in association with the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies, sponsored a symposium entitled, “Meditation in American Shin Buddhism” at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. The symposium was organized on the premise that the question of meditation and the broader issue of practice in Shin Buddhism are in need of reexamination within a contemporary, Western context. Shin Buddhism, one of the first forms of Buddhism in the United States, is now just one of many Western Buddhist communities, a great number of which are increasing in scope and activity through a focus on the practice of meditation. American Shin Buddhism is also experiencing an infusion of non-Asian followers and new perspectives on the role and value of religion in the world. Many Shin Buddhist followers adopt the Western call for social praxis and engagement and for the practical application of doctrine to everyday life. Non-traditional approaches to meditative practice are also being demanded by those who look to Shin Buddhism for personal transformation, fulfillment, or heal- ing. All of this is taking place in the context of the development of Western perspectives on institutional orthodoxy and orthopraxy, which are often at odds with those of traditional Shin Buddhist organizations. This symposium featured a number of renowned Buddhist and Shin Buddhist scholars, whose consideration of the role of meditation in American Shin Buddhism placed emphasis not only on historical and contemporary developments in Buddhist meditative practice, but also on propagational, institutional, and spiritual questions surrounding it. In sum, each of the presentations represented a unique and creative approach to the possibility of resituating practice within American Shin Buddhist thought, community, and life. 1 2 Pacific World The Institute of Buddhist Studies wishes to thank the many people and organizations that made this symposium possible, including Socho Koshin Ogui of the Buddhist Churches of America; Dr. Takamaro Shigaraki, Professor Emeritus, Ryukoku University; the Stanford Center for Buddhist Studies; the George Aratani Endowment for the IBS Center for Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies; the Reverend Russell Hamada Memorial Endowment for Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies; the Yehan Numata Foundation; and the BCA Research and Propagation Program. Keynote Address: The Meaning of Practice in Shin Buddhism Takamaro Shigaraki Professor Emeritus, Ryukoku University, Kyoto I. THE FUNDAMENTAL STANDPOINT OF BUDDHISM RELIGIONS GENERALLY SEEK to acknowledge the existence of some kind of transcendent being and bring about persons’ reliance upon or obedience to that transcendent power. The structure of the Buddhist teach- ing is completely different, however. Buddhism encourages us to engage in profound reflection on the reality that we human beings lead lives of ignorance, emptiness, and falsity in our everyday, secular lives. Through a penetrating insight into ourselves, we are subjectively made to negate the present state of our being, which remains buried in the secular world. Buddhism, moreover, focuses on our attainment of true human growth as we search for a higher way of life by awakening supramundane wisdom. One who realizes the fulfillment of such wisdom is called a “buddha,” and Buddhism reveals the path leading to the attainment of buddhahood. Buddhism teaches that, as our minds become purified, we realize a profound awakening to ultimate truth that pervades the universe, just as Śākyamuni did. Hence, it proposes that we cast off the old shells of our ego-selves through the ongoing repetition and deepening of this experience of awakening, and that, as we do, we realize true growth and maturity as human beings. In this sense, Buddhism can be distinguished from religions in general. While constituting the teachings expounded by the Buddha, Buddhism is, at the same time, a teaching through which we are enabled to become buddhas.1 Buddhism clarifies the path by which human beings come to awaken supramundane wisdom. The original Buddhist scriptures explain that the most fundamental path of practice is “the middle path” (Skt. madhyamā pratipad, Jpn. chūdō).2 The middle path expresses our liberation from the extremes of sensual indulgence and ascetic practices. It also points to our engagement in a total self-negation of our own state of being. At the same time, it indicates that Buddhist life involves a whole-hearted aspiration for 3 4 Pacific World the highest ideals of life, as well as our constant directing of ourselves to the supramundane world. It implies, therefore, our subjective engagement in superlative forms of praxis. The middle path involves, moreover, relentless reflection upon our own self-centered and ego-attached manner of existence within the ordinary, secular world. As we transcend and radically overcome this existence, we come to see that the true state of our existence is in accord with the principle of interdependent origination (Skt. pratītya-samutpāda, Jpn. engi). That is, we come to control ourselves by living in accordance with the law of interdependent origination. Many of the early Buddhist sutras describe this middle path in terms of the eightfold noble path (Skt. ārya-astāngika mārga,