THE RELIGION OF THE SAMURAI
A STUDY OF ZEN PHILOSOPHY AND DISCIPLINE IN CHINA AND JAPAN
by KAITEN NUKARIYA (1913)
Professor of Kei-O-Gi-Jiku University and of So-To-Shu Buddhist College, Tokyo
INTRODUCTION
(1) The Southern and Northern Schools of Buddhism
(2) The Development and Differentiation of Buddhism
(3) The Object of this Book is the Explaining of the Mahayanistic View of Life and the World
(4) Zen holds a Unique Position among the Established Religions of the World
(5) The Historical Antiquity of Zen
(6) The Denial of Scriptural Authority by Zen
(7) The Practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their Predecessor, whose Spiritual Level they Aim to Attain
(8) The Iconoclastic Attitude of Zen
(9) Zen Activity
(10) The Physical and Mental Training
(11) The Historical Importance
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF ZEN IN CHINA
1. 1. The Origin of Zen in India
2. 2. The Introduction of Zen into China by Bodhidharma
3. 3. Bodhidharma and the Emperor Wu
4. 4. Bodhidharma and his Successor, the Second Patriarch
5. 5. Bodhidharma's Disciples and the Transmission of the Law
6. 6. The Second and the Third Patriarchs
7. 7. The Fourth Patriarch and the Emperor Tai Tsung
8. 8. The Fifth and the Sixth Patriarchs
9. 9. The Spiritual Attainment of the Sixth Patriarch
10. 10. The Flight of the Sixth Patriarch
11. 11. The Development of the Southern and the Northern School of Zen
12. 12. The Missionary Activity of the Sixth Patriarch
13. 13. The Disciples under the Sixth Patriarch
14. 14. Three Important Elements of Zen
15. 15. Decline of Zen
CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPAN
1. 1. The Establishment of the Rin Zai School of Zen in Japan
2. 2. The Introduction of the So To School of Zen
3. 3. The Characteristics of Do-gen, the Founder of the Japanese So To Sect
4. 4. The Social State of Japan when Zen was Established by Ei-sai and Do-gen
5. 5. The Resemblance of the Zen Monk to the Samurai
6. 6. The Honest Poverty of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
7. 7. The Manliness of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
8. 8. The Courage and Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
9. 9. Zen and the Regent Generals of the Ho-jo Period
10. 10. Zen after the Downfall of the Ho-jo Regency
11. 11. Zen in the Dark Age
12. 12. Zen under the Toku-gawa Shogunate
13. 13. Zen after the Restoration
CHAPTER III
THE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE OF ZEN
1. 1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper
2. 2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen
3. 3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon
4. 4. Sutras used by the Zen Masters
5. 5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World 68
6. 6. Great Men and Nature
7. 7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction
8. 8. The Sermon of the Inanimate
CHAPTER IV
BUDDHA, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT
1. 1. The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon
2. 2. Zen is Iconoclastic
3. 3. Buddha is Unnamable
4. 4. Buddha, the Universal Life
5. 5. Life and Change
6. 6. The Pessimistic View of Ancient Hindus
7. 7. Hinayanism and its Doctrine
8. 8. Change as seen by Zen
9. 9. Life and Change
10. 10. Life, Change, and Hope
11. 11. Everything is Living according to Zen
12. 12. The Creative Force of Nature and Humanity
13. 13. Universal Life is Universal Spirit
14. 14. Poetical Intuition and Zen
15. 15. Enlightened Consciousness
16. 16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind Enlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight
17. 18. Our Conception of Buddha is not Final
18. 19. How to Worship Buddha
CHAPTER V
THE NATURE OF MAN
1. 1. Man is Good-natured according to Mencius
2. 2. Man is Bad-natured according to Siun Tsz
3. 3. Man is both Good-natured and Bad-natured according to Yan Hiung
4. 4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su Shih
5. 5. There is no Mortal who is Purely Moral
6. 6. There is no Mortal who is Non-moral or Purely Immoral
7. 7. Where, then, does the Error Lie?
8, Man is not Good-natured nor Bad-natured, but Buddha natured
1. 9. The Parable of the Robber Kih
2. 10. Wang Yang Ming and a Thief
3. 11. The Bad are the Good in the Egg
4. 12. The Great Person and the Small Person
5. 13. The Theory of Buddha-Nature adequately explains the Ethical States of Man
6. 14. Buddha-Nature is the Common Source of Morals
7. 15. The Parable of a Drunkard
8. 16. Shakya Muni and the Prodigal Son
9. 17. The Parable of the Monk and the Stupid Woman
10. 18. 'Each Smile a Hymn, each Kindly Word a Prayer'
11. 19. The World is in the Making
12. 20. The Progress and Hope of Life
13. 21. The Betterment of Life
14. 22. The Buddha of Mercy
CHAPTER VI
ENLIGHTENMENT
1. 1. Enlightenment is beyond Description and Analysis
2. 2. Enlightenment Implies an Insight into the Nature of Self
3. 3. The Irrationality of the Belief of Immortality
4. 4. The Examination of the Notion of Self
5. 5. Nature is the Mother of All Things
6. 6. Real Self
7. 7. The Awakening of the Innermost Wisdom
8. 8. Zen is not Nihilistic
9. 9. Zen and Idealism
10. 10. Idealism is a Potent Medicine for Self -Created Mental Disease
11. 11. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Objective Reality
12. 12. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Religion and Morality
13. 13. An Illusion concerning Appearance and Reality
14. 14. Where does the Root of the Illusion Lie?
15. 15. Thing-in-Itself means Thing-Knowerless
1. 16. The Four Alternatives and the Five Categories
2. 17. Personalism of B. P. Bowne
3. 18. All the Worlds in Ten Directions are Buddha's Holy Land
CHAPTER VII
LIFE
1. 1. Epicureanism and Life
2. 2. The Errors of Philosophical Pessimists and Religious Optimists
3. 3. The Law of Balance
4. 4. Life Consists in Conflict
5. 5. The Mystery of Life
6. 6. Nature favours Nothing in Particular
7. 7. The Law of Balance in Life
8. 8. The Application of the Law of Causation to Morals
9. 9. The Retribution in the Past, the Present, and the Future Life
10. 10. The Eternal Life as taught by Professor M?nsterberg
11. 11. Life in the Concrete
12. 12. Difficulties are no Match for an Optimist
13. 13. Do Thy Best and Leave the Rest to Providence
CHAPTER VIII
THE TRAINING OF THE MIND AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION
1. 1. The Method of Instruction adopted by Zen Masters
2. 2. The First Step in the Mental Training
3. 3. The Next Step in the Mental Training
4. 4. The Third Step in the Mental Training
5. 5. Zazen, or the Sitting in Meditation
6. 6. The Breathing Exercise of the Yogi
7. 7. Calmness of Mind
1. 8. Zazen and the Forgetting of Self
2. 9. Zen and Supernatural Power
3. 10. True Dhyana
4. 11. Let Go of Your Idle Thoughts
5. 12. 'The Five Ranks of Merit'
6. 13. 'The Ten Pictures of the Cowherd'
7. 14. Zen and Nirvana
8. 15. Nature and Her Lesson
9. 16. The Beatitude of Zen
APPENDIX — ORIGIN OF MAN
PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I REFUTATION OF DELUSIVE AND PREJUDICED (DOCTRINE) CHAPTER II REFUTATION OF INCOMPLETE AND SUPERFICIAL (DOCTRINE)
1. 1. The Doctrine for Men and Devas
2. 2. The Doctrine of the Hinayanists
3. 3. The Mahayana Doctrine of Dharmalaksana
4. 4. Mahayana Doctrine of the Nihilists CHAPTER III THE DIRECT EXPLANATION OF THE REAL ORIGIN
5. 5. The Ekayana Doctrine that Teaches the Ultimate Reality CHAPTER IV RECONCILIATION OF THE TEMPORARY WITH THE REAL DOCTRINE
INTRODUCTION
Buddhism is geographically divided into two schools[FN#1]--the Southern, the older and simpler, and the Northern, the later and more developed faith. The former, based mainly on the Pali texts[FN#2] is known as Hinayana[FN#3] (small vehicle), or the inferior doctrine; while the latter, based on the various Sanskrit texts,[4] is known as Mahayana (large vehicle), or superior doctrine. The chief tenets of the Southern School are so well known to occidental scholars that they almost always mean the Southern School by the word Buddhism. But with regard to the Northern School very little is known to the West, owing to the fact that most of its original texts were lost, and that the teachings based on these texts are written in Chinese, or Tibetan, or Japanese languages unfamiliar to non-Buddhist investigators.
[FN#1] The Southern School has its adherents in Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Anan, etc.; while the Northern School is found in Nepal, China, Japan, Tibet, etc.
[FN#2] They chiefly consist of the Four Nikayas: (1) Digha Nikaya (Dirghagamas, translated into Chinese by Buddhaya?as, A.D. 412-413);
(2) Majjhima Nikaya (Madhyamagamas, translated into Chinese by Gautama Sanghadeva, A.D. 397-398); (3) Sanyutta Nikaya (Samyuktagamas, translated into Chinese by Gunabhadra, of the earlier Sung dynasty, A.D. 420 479); (4) Anguttara Nikaya (Ekottaragamas, translated into Chinese by Dharmanandi, A.D. 384-385). Out of these Hinayana books, the English translation of twenty-three suttas by Rhys Davids exist in 'Sacred Books of Buddhist,' vols. ii.-iii., and of seven suttas by the same author in 'Sacred Books of the East,' vol. xi.
[FN#3] The Southern Buddhists never call their faith Hinayana, the name being an invention of later Buddhists, who call their doctrine Mahayana in contradistinction to the earlier form of Buddhism. We have to notice that the word Hinayana frequently occurs in Mahayana books, while it does not in Hinayana books.
[FN#4] A catalogue of the Buddhist Canon, K'-yuen-luh, gives the
titles of 897 Mahayana sutras, yet the most important books often quoted by Northern Buddhist teachers amount to little more than twenty. There exist the English translation of Larger Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra, Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra, Vajracchedika-sutra, Larger Prajna-paramita-hradya-sutra, Smaller Prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra, by Max M?ller, and Amitayur-dhyana-sutra, by J. Takakusu, in 'Sacred Books of the East,' vol. xlix. An English translation of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, by Kern, is given in 'Sacred Books of the East,' Vol. xxi. Compare these books with 'Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism,' by D. Suzuki.
It is hardly justifiable to cover the whole system of Buddhism with a single epithet[FN#5] 'pessimistic' or 'nihilistic,' because Buddhism, having been adopted by savage tribes as well as civilized nations, by quiet, enervated people as well as by warlike, sturdy hordes, during some twenty-five hundred years, has developed itself into beliefs widely divergent and even diametrically opposed. Even in Japan alone it has differentiated itself into thirteen main sects and forty-four sub-sects[FN#6] and is still in full vigour, though in other countries it has already passed its prime. Thus Japan seems to be the best representative of the Buddhist countries where the majority of people abides by the guiding principle of the Northern School. To study her religion, therefore, is to penetrate into Mahayanism, which still lies an unexplored land for the Western minds. And to investigate her faith is not to dig out the remains of Buddhist faith that existed twenty centuries ago, but to touch the heart and soul of Mahayanism that enlivens its devotees at the present moment.
[FN#5] Hinayanism is, generally speaking, inclined to be pessimistic, but Mahayanism in the main holds the optimistic view of life. Nihilism is advocated in some Mahayana sutras, but others set forth idealism or realism.
[FN#6] (1) The Ten Dai Sect, including three sub-sects; (2) The Shin Gon Sect, including eleven sub-sects; (3) The Ritsu Sect; (4) The Rin Zai Sect, including fourteen sub-sects; (5) The So To Sect; (6) The O Baku Sect; (7) The Jo Do Sect, including two sub-sects; (8) The Shin Sect, including ten sub-sects; (9) The Nichi Ren Sect, including nine sub-sects; (10) The Yu Zu Nen Butsu Sect; (11) The Hosso Sect; (12)
The Ke Gon Sect; (13) The Ji Sect. Out of these thirteen Buddhist sects, Rin Zai, So To, and O Baku belong to Zen. For further information, see 'A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects,' by Dr. B. Nanjo.
The object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view of life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism, which is generally taken as Buddhism by occidentals, to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the spiritual life of modern Japan.
For this purpose we have singled out of thirteen Japanese sects the Zen Sect, [FN#7] not only because of the great influence it has exercised on the nation, but because of the unique position it holds among the established religious systems of the world. In the first place, it is as old as Buddhism itself, or even older, for its mode of practising Meditation has been handed down without much alteration from pre-Buddhistic recluses of India; and it may, on that account, provide the student of comparative religion with an interesting subject for his research.
[FN#7] The word Zen is the Sinico-Japanese abbreviation of the Sanskrit Dhyana, or Meditation. It implies the whole body of teachings and discipline peculiar to a Buddhist sect now popularly known as the Zen Sect.
In the second place, in spite of its historical antiquity, ideas entertained by its advocates are so new that they are in harmony with those of the New Buddhists;[FN#8] accordingly the statement of these ideas may serve as an explanation of the present movement conducted by young and able reformers of Japanese Buddhism.
[FN#8] There exists a society formed by men who have broken with the old creeds of Buddhism, and who call themselves the New Buddhists. It has for its organ 'The New Buddhism,' and is one of the influential religious societies in Japan. We mean by the New
Buddhists, however, numerous educated young men who still adhere to Buddhist sects, and are carrying out a reformation.
Thirdly, Buddhist denominations, like non-Buddhist religions, lay stress on scriptural authority; but Zen denounces it on the ground that words or characters can never adequately express religious truth, which can only be realized by mind; consequently it claims that the religious truth attained by Shakya Muni in his Enlightenment has been handed down neither by word of mouth nor by the letters of scriptures, but from teacher's mind to disciple's through the line of transmission until the present day. It is an isolated instance in the whole history of the world's religions that holy scriptures are declared to be 'no more than waste[FN#9] paper by religionists, as done by Zen masters.
[FN#9] Lin Tsi Luh (Rin-zai-roku).
Fourthly, Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist religions regard, without exception, their founders as superhuman beings, but the practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their predecessor, whose spiritual level they confidently aim to attain. Furthermore, they liken one who remains in the exalted position of Buddhaship to a man bound by a gold chain, and pity his state of bondage. Some of them went even so far as to declare Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be their servants and slaves.[FN#10] Such an attitude of religionists can hardly be found in any other religion.
[FN#10] "Shakya and Maitreya," says Go So, "are servants to the other person. Who is that other person?" (Zen-rin-rui-ju, Vol. i.,
p. 28).
Fifthly, although non-Buddhist people are used to call Buddhism idolatry, yet Zen can never be called so in the accepted sense of the term, because it, having a grand conception of Deity, is far from being a form of idol-worship; nay, it sometimes even took an iconoclastic attitude as is exemplified by Tan Hia, [FN#11] who
warmed himself on a cold morning by making a fire of wooden statues. Therefore our exposition on this point will show the real state of existing Buddhism, and serve to remove religious prejudices entertained against it.
by KAITEN NUKARIYA (1913)
Professor of Kei-O-Gi-Jiku University and of So-To-Shu Buddhist College, Tokyo
INTRODUCTION
(1) The Southern and Northern Schools of Buddhism
(2) The Development and Differentiation of Buddhism
(3) The Object of this Book is the Explaining of the Mahayanistic View of Life and the World
(4) Zen holds a Unique Position among the Established Religions of the World
(5) The Historical Antiquity of Zen
(6) The Denial of Scriptural Authority by Zen
(7) The Practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their Predecessor, whose Spiritual Level they Aim to Attain
(8) The Iconoclastic Attitude of Zen
(9) Zen Activity
(10) The Physical and Mental Training
(11) The Historical Importance
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF ZEN IN CHINA
1. 1. The Origin of Zen in India
2. 2. The Introduction of Zen into China by Bodhidharma
3. 3. Bodhidharma and the Emperor Wu
4. 4. Bodhidharma and his Successor, the Second Patriarch
5. 5. Bodhidharma's Disciples and the Transmission of the Law
6. 6. The Second and the Third Patriarchs
7. 7. The Fourth Patriarch and the Emperor Tai Tsung
8. 8. The Fifth and the Sixth Patriarchs
9. 9. The Spiritual Attainment of the Sixth Patriarch
10. 10. The Flight of the Sixth Patriarch
11. 11. The Development of the Southern and the Northern School of Zen
12. 12. The Missionary Activity of the Sixth Patriarch
13. 13. The Disciples under the Sixth Patriarch
14. 14. Three Important Elements of Zen
15. 15. Decline of Zen
CHAPTER II
HISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPAN
1. 1. The Establishment of the Rin Zai School of Zen in Japan
2. 2. The Introduction of the So To School of Zen
3. 3. The Characteristics of Do-gen, the Founder of the Japanese So To Sect
4. 4. The Social State of Japan when Zen was Established by Ei-sai and Do-gen
5. 5. The Resemblance of the Zen Monk to the Samurai
6. 6. The Honest Poverty of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
7. 7. The Manliness of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
8. 8. The Courage and Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and the Samurai
9. 9. Zen and the Regent Generals of the Ho-jo Period
10. 10. Zen after the Downfall of the Ho-jo Regency
11. 11. Zen in the Dark Age
12. 12. Zen under the Toku-gawa Shogunate
13. 13. Zen after the Restoration
CHAPTER III
THE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE OF ZEN
1. 1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper
2. 2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen
3. 3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon
4. 4. Sutras used by the Zen Masters
5. 5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World 68
6. 6. Great Men and Nature
7. 7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction
8. 8. The Sermon of the Inanimate
CHAPTER IV
BUDDHA, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT
1. 1. The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon
2. 2. Zen is Iconoclastic
3. 3. Buddha is Unnamable
4. 4. Buddha, the Universal Life
5. 5. Life and Change
6. 6. The Pessimistic View of Ancient Hindus
7. 7. Hinayanism and its Doctrine
8. 8. Change as seen by Zen
9. 9. Life and Change
10. 10. Life, Change, and Hope
11. 11. Everything is Living according to Zen
12. 12. The Creative Force of Nature and Humanity
13. 13. Universal Life is Universal Spirit
14. 14. Poetical Intuition and Zen
15. 15. Enlightened Consciousness
16. 16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind Enlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight
17. 18. Our Conception of Buddha is not Final
18. 19. How to Worship Buddha
CHAPTER V
THE NATURE OF MAN
1. 1. Man is Good-natured according to Mencius
2. 2. Man is Bad-natured according to Siun Tsz
3. 3. Man is both Good-natured and Bad-natured according to Yan Hiung
4. 4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su Shih
5. 5. There is no Mortal who is Purely Moral
6. 6. There is no Mortal who is Non-moral or Purely Immoral
7. 7. Where, then, does the Error Lie?
8, Man is not Good-natured nor Bad-natured, but Buddha natured
1. 9. The Parable of the Robber Kih
2. 10. Wang Yang Ming and a Thief
3. 11. The Bad are the Good in the Egg
4. 12. The Great Person and the Small Person
5. 13. The Theory of Buddha-Nature adequately explains the Ethical States of Man
6. 14. Buddha-Nature is the Common Source of Morals
7. 15. The Parable of a Drunkard
8. 16. Shakya Muni and the Prodigal Son
9. 17. The Parable of the Monk and the Stupid Woman
10. 18. 'Each Smile a Hymn, each Kindly Word a Prayer'
11. 19. The World is in the Making
12. 20. The Progress and Hope of Life
13. 21. The Betterment of Life
14. 22. The Buddha of Mercy
CHAPTER VI
ENLIGHTENMENT
1. 1. Enlightenment is beyond Description and Analysis
2. 2. Enlightenment Implies an Insight into the Nature of Self
3. 3. The Irrationality of the Belief of Immortality
4. 4. The Examination of the Notion of Self
5. 5. Nature is the Mother of All Things
6. 6. Real Self
7. 7. The Awakening of the Innermost Wisdom
8. 8. Zen is not Nihilistic
9. 9. Zen and Idealism
10. 10. Idealism is a Potent Medicine for Self -Created Mental Disease
11. 11. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Objective Reality
12. 12. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Religion and Morality
13. 13. An Illusion concerning Appearance and Reality
14. 14. Where does the Root of the Illusion Lie?
15. 15. Thing-in-Itself means Thing-Knowerless
1. 16. The Four Alternatives and the Five Categories
2. 17. Personalism of B. P. Bowne
3. 18. All the Worlds in Ten Directions are Buddha's Holy Land
CHAPTER VII
LIFE
1. 1. Epicureanism and Life
2. 2. The Errors of Philosophical Pessimists and Religious Optimists
3. 3. The Law of Balance
4. 4. Life Consists in Conflict
5. 5. The Mystery of Life
6. 6. Nature favours Nothing in Particular
7. 7. The Law of Balance in Life
8. 8. The Application of the Law of Causation to Morals
9. 9. The Retribution in the Past, the Present, and the Future Life
10. 10. The Eternal Life as taught by Professor M?nsterberg
11. 11. Life in the Concrete
12. 12. Difficulties are no Match for an Optimist
13. 13. Do Thy Best and Leave the Rest to Providence
CHAPTER VIII
THE TRAINING OF THE MIND AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION
1. 1. The Method of Instruction adopted by Zen Masters
2. 2. The First Step in the Mental Training
3. 3. The Next Step in the Mental Training
4. 4. The Third Step in the Mental Training
5. 5. Zazen, or the Sitting in Meditation
6. 6. The Breathing Exercise of the Yogi
7. 7. Calmness of Mind
1. 8. Zazen and the Forgetting of Self
2. 9. Zen and Supernatural Power
3. 10. True Dhyana
4. 11. Let Go of Your Idle Thoughts
5. 12. 'The Five Ranks of Merit'
6. 13. 'The Ten Pictures of the Cowherd'
7. 14. Zen and Nirvana
8. 15. Nature and Her Lesson
9. 16. The Beatitude of Zen
APPENDIX — ORIGIN OF MAN
PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I REFUTATION OF DELUSIVE AND PREJUDICED (DOCTRINE) CHAPTER II REFUTATION OF INCOMPLETE AND SUPERFICIAL (DOCTRINE)
1. 1. The Doctrine for Men and Devas
2. 2. The Doctrine of the Hinayanists
3. 3. The Mahayana Doctrine of Dharmalaksana
4. 4. Mahayana Doctrine of the Nihilists CHAPTER III THE DIRECT EXPLANATION OF THE REAL ORIGIN
5. 5. The Ekayana Doctrine that Teaches the Ultimate Reality CHAPTER IV RECONCILIATION OF THE TEMPORARY WITH THE REAL DOCTRINE
INTRODUCTION
Buddhism is geographically divided into two schools[FN#1]--the Southern, the older and simpler, and the Northern, the later and more developed faith. The former, based mainly on the Pali texts[FN#2] is known as Hinayana[FN#3] (small vehicle), or the inferior doctrine; while the latter, based on the various Sanskrit texts,[4] is known as Mahayana (large vehicle), or superior doctrine. The chief tenets of the Southern School are so well known to occidental scholars that they almost always mean the Southern School by the word Buddhism. But with regard to the Northern School very little is known to the West, owing to the fact that most of its original texts were lost, and that the teachings based on these texts are written in Chinese, or Tibetan, or Japanese languages unfamiliar to non-Buddhist investigators.
[FN#1] The Southern School has its adherents in Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Anan, etc.; while the Northern School is found in Nepal, China, Japan, Tibet, etc.
[FN#2] They chiefly consist of the Four Nikayas: (1) Digha Nikaya (Dirghagamas, translated into Chinese by Buddhaya?as, A.D. 412-413);
(2) Majjhima Nikaya (Madhyamagamas, translated into Chinese by Gautama Sanghadeva, A.D. 397-398); (3) Sanyutta Nikaya (Samyuktagamas, translated into Chinese by Gunabhadra, of the earlier Sung dynasty, A.D. 420 479); (4) Anguttara Nikaya (Ekottaragamas, translated into Chinese by Dharmanandi, A.D. 384-385). Out of these Hinayana books, the English translation of twenty-three suttas by Rhys Davids exist in 'Sacred Books of Buddhist,' vols. ii.-iii., and of seven suttas by the same author in 'Sacred Books of the East,' vol. xi.
[FN#3] The Southern Buddhists never call their faith Hinayana, the name being an invention of later Buddhists, who call their doctrine Mahayana in contradistinction to the earlier form of Buddhism. We have to notice that the word Hinayana frequently occurs in Mahayana books, while it does not in Hinayana books.
[FN#4] A catalogue of the Buddhist Canon, K'-yuen-luh, gives the
titles of 897 Mahayana sutras, yet the most important books often quoted by Northern Buddhist teachers amount to little more than twenty. There exist the English translation of Larger Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra, Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra, Vajracchedika-sutra, Larger Prajna-paramita-hradya-sutra, Smaller Prajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra, by Max M?ller, and Amitayur-dhyana-sutra, by J. Takakusu, in 'Sacred Books of the East,' vol. xlix. An English translation of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, by Kern, is given in 'Sacred Books of the East,' Vol. xxi. Compare these books with 'Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism,' by D. Suzuki.
It is hardly justifiable to cover the whole system of Buddhism with a single epithet[FN#5] 'pessimistic' or 'nihilistic,' because Buddhism, having been adopted by savage tribes as well as civilized nations, by quiet, enervated people as well as by warlike, sturdy hordes, during some twenty-five hundred years, has developed itself into beliefs widely divergent and even diametrically opposed. Even in Japan alone it has differentiated itself into thirteen main sects and forty-four sub-sects[FN#6] and is still in full vigour, though in other countries it has already passed its prime. Thus Japan seems to be the best representative of the Buddhist countries where the majority of people abides by the guiding principle of the Northern School. To study her religion, therefore, is to penetrate into Mahayanism, which still lies an unexplored land for the Western minds. And to investigate her faith is not to dig out the remains of Buddhist faith that existed twenty centuries ago, but to touch the heart and soul of Mahayanism that enlivens its devotees at the present moment.
[FN#5] Hinayanism is, generally speaking, inclined to be pessimistic, but Mahayanism in the main holds the optimistic view of life. Nihilism is advocated in some Mahayana sutras, but others set forth idealism or realism.
[FN#6] (1) The Ten Dai Sect, including three sub-sects; (2) The Shin Gon Sect, including eleven sub-sects; (3) The Ritsu Sect; (4) The Rin Zai Sect, including fourteen sub-sects; (5) The So To Sect; (6) The O Baku Sect; (7) The Jo Do Sect, including two sub-sects; (8) The Shin Sect, including ten sub-sects; (9) The Nichi Ren Sect, including nine sub-sects; (10) The Yu Zu Nen Butsu Sect; (11) The Hosso Sect; (12)
The Ke Gon Sect; (13) The Ji Sect. Out of these thirteen Buddhist sects, Rin Zai, So To, and O Baku belong to Zen. For further information, see 'A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects,' by Dr. B. Nanjo.
The object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view of life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism, which is generally taken as Buddhism by occidentals, to explain how the religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the Far East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the spiritual life of modern Japan.
For this purpose we have singled out of thirteen Japanese sects the Zen Sect, [FN#7] not only because of the great influence it has exercised on the nation, but because of the unique position it holds among the established religious systems of the world. In the first place, it is as old as Buddhism itself, or even older, for its mode of practising Meditation has been handed down without much alteration from pre-Buddhistic recluses of India; and it may, on that account, provide the student of comparative religion with an interesting subject for his research.
[FN#7] The word Zen is the Sinico-Japanese abbreviation of the Sanskrit Dhyana, or Meditation. It implies the whole body of teachings and discipline peculiar to a Buddhist sect now popularly known as the Zen Sect.
In the second place, in spite of its historical antiquity, ideas entertained by its advocates are so new that they are in harmony with those of the New Buddhists;[FN#8] accordingly the statement of these ideas may serve as an explanation of the present movement conducted by young and able reformers of Japanese Buddhism.
[FN#8] There exists a society formed by men who have broken with the old creeds of Buddhism, and who call themselves the New Buddhists. It has for its organ 'The New Buddhism,' and is one of the influential religious societies in Japan. We mean by the New
Buddhists, however, numerous educated young men who still adhere to Buddhist sects, and are carrying out a reformation.
Thirdly, Buddhist denominations, like non-Buddhist religions, lay stress on scriptural authority; but Zen denounces it on the ground that words or characters can never adequately express religious truth, which can only be realized by mind; consequently it claims that the religious truth attained by Shakya Muni in his Enlightenment has been handed down neither by word of mouth nor by the letters of scriptures, but from teacher's mind to disciple's through the line of transmission until the present day. It is an isolated instance in the whole history of the world's religions that holy scriptures are declared to be 'no more than waste[FN#9] paper by religionists, as done by Zen masters.
[FN#9] Lin Tsi Luh (Rin-zai-roku).
Fourthly, Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist religions regard, without exception, their founders as superhuman beings, but the practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their predecessor, whose spiritual level they confidently aim to attain. Furthermore, they liken one who remains in the exalted position of Buddhaship to a man bound by a gold chain, and pity his state of bondage. Some of them went even so far as to declare Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be their servants and slaves.[FN#10] Such an attitude of religionists can hardly be found in any other religion.
[FN#10] "Shakya and Maitreya," says Go So, "are servants to the other person. Who is that other person?" (Zen-rin-rui-ju, Vol. i.,
p. 28).
Fifthly, although non-Buddhist people are used to call Buddhism idolatry, yet Zen can never be called so in the accepted sense of the term, because it, having a grand conception of Deity, is far from being a form of idol-worship; nay, it sometimes even took an iconoclastic attitude as is exemplified by Tan Hia, [FN#11] who
warmed himself on a cold morning by making a fire of wooden statues. Therefore our exposition on this point will show the real state of existing Buddhism, and serve to remove religious prejudices entertained against it.
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