Kiyozawa Manshi and the Renewal of Buddhism
by Alfred Bloom, Professor Emeritus,
University
of
Hawaii
The Meiji period (1868-1912) was a
time of great change as Japanese society encountered Western culture. The
relentless pressure of modernization called for resourceful leaders to
respond to its repercussions
throughout the society and culture. Such a man in Buddhism was Kiyozawa
Manshi (1863-1903).
Japanese Buddhism was strikingly
affected by these changes. It not only had to respond to the challenge of
Christian missions and its
educational institutions, but it also had to counter negative social
criticism and political restrictions which led even to the physical
destruction of temples and images.
Reacting to these challenges, some
scholars promoted nationalistic
interpretations of Buddhism, maintaining strongly that Buddhism had
benefited Japanese society and culture through many centuries. Others attacked Christianity as unsuitable for
Japan, employing resources drawn
from modern, western critics. Yet others, influenced by western critical
methods in the study of religion, engaged in scientific research on
language, texts, translation, and the history of ideas. Another approach
can be seen in Kiyozawa Manshi who sought to revitalize Buddhism as a
living, personal faith.
Kiyozawa graduated in philosophy from the
Tokyo
Imperial
University
where he was a student of Ernest Fenellosa (1853-1908) and learned the
dialectical philosophy of G. W. Hegel. Kiyozawa was greatly influenced by numerous western philosophers such as
Spinoza, Hegel, Fichte, Schelling,
Leibniz, Spencer and Lotze. After
becoming a Shinshu priest, he loyally served the Otani
branch of Hongwanji in various educational roles. Notably, he became the
president of the newly established
Shinshu
University
(later,
Otani
University) where he taught history of philosophy, as well as tutor for
the young Abbot-to-be. He combined the roles of scholar, priest, educator
and reformer.
During his career he attempted to
reform the Hongwanji through advocating the awakening of religious
consciousness, religious subjectivity, and commitment to the teaching of
Shinran beyond institutional forms and rituals. As a leading intellectual
of the time, he also believed that it was necessary for Buddhism to
respond to contemporary, western philosophical currents.
Though Kiyozawa lived a very short
life, pursuing his ideal of reform for some eight years, his seriousness,
determination and insight have influenced generations of
followers far beyond his limited life-span. While he lived, he
advocated high Buddhist ideals which he attempted to fulfill in his own
life. Rather than becoming a cloistered monk, he combined a practical
approach to Buddhism with an active life in society. Awakened to religious
faith, he explored the depth of his own psyche and the field of religious
experience. Not being a person
given to halfway measures, he experimented with extremes of self-denial
and austerity.
Following his death in 1903, his
legacy endured, challenging future Shinshu leaders, as well as other
Buddhists, to take up the
cause of reform by his example. He
stimulated modern interpretations of Shinshu, exemplified by the work of
Sasaki Gessho, Soga Ryojin, Kaneko Daiei and Akegarasu Haya. The impact of his seminal insights extend to our own time.
Kiyozawa’s understanding of
religious faith is relevant not only for Shinshu followers, but for all
Buddhists who struggle to make Buddhism meaningful in modern society. This
is also true for western people who have recently encountered the diverse
styles of Buddhism that have taken root in the West
Kiyozawa Manshi stressed the
fundamental importance of personal religious experience for the survival
of a tradition. He faithfully served the Otani sect in many ways from a
sense of obligation, after being supported by the temple for his
education. However, realizing that he had not attained a living faith
within himself, he set out on a grand experiment to challenge his own
spiritual capacity by living
an extremely ascetic life. He transformed himself from a modern,
intellectual gentleman to a monk like individual with stubble hair, coarse
robes, geta and eating only meager food. Following a self-power (jiriki)
path of “the minimum possible” life, he tried to experience the spirit
of Buddhism. However, he learned the meaning of Other Power when he
reached the end of his physical and spiritual resources through the
failure of his health, tragic family losses through death, and the failure
of his reform movement. In his extremity he had to rely on the Buddha,
which he termed the Infinite, for
the outcome of his life and on the support and care of his friends. He
gave expression to his understanding of Other Power in his Waga Shinnen
(My Faith) written a few days before his death.
While
his efforts for reform did not succeed, he published periodicals,
such as Kyokai jigen (Timely Words for the Religious World) and
Seishinshugi (Spirituality), the publication of his reformist organization
Seishinkai (Spiritual World). In his residence which he named Kokodo
he gathered his disciples and instructed them.
Kiyozawa’s approach to religion
began to take shape as he taught philosophy and religion to students in
the
Shinshu
University
. On the occasion of the World’s Parliament of Religion in 1893, he
wrote The Skeleton of a Philosophy of Religion which was translated into
English and disseminated at the conference. Though the impact of the text
is not known, it is significant for showing
Kiyozawa’s concern to integrate Buddhism into the modern
intellectual and spiritual environment by placing it in a universal
context and interpreting it without using the traditional terminologies
unfamiliar to non-Buddhists.
In this text Kiyozawa
distinguishes sharply between the Infinite and the finite. The
Infinite, which is an abstract term, reflects Amida which also means
infinite. The Infinite or
Absolute is not something separate
from everything else, but as Infinite, it must include and be the essence
of all things. Thus he took
issue with the western concepts of God and theories of monism such as
taught by Spinoza as inadequate for spirituality. The relation of the
individual and the Infinite was based on correlation not identity as in
monism. Further, the subject-object distinction cannot be avoided in
thought but must be accounted for in relation to reality.
While everything is known through a mind, knowledge is subjective
or known by the mind. However, both the subjective realm and the objective
exist in an organic unity within the context of the universal
subjectivity of the Infinite Absolute.
In the process of religious awakening
one moves from attachment to ordinary views of objectivity to awareness of
the subjective, inner realm
and finally transcends both the subjective (small self) to awareness of
the Absolute (large Self) embracing and
transcending the subject-object dichotomy. This process provides a
rational basis for the principle of Other Power. Thus the person cannot
find satisfaction only in pursuing things in the objective world such as
money, possessions etc, but discovers the inner world which is cultivated
through various practices. But the assurance of
salvation and satisfaction is not reached simply through
restraining the self. Finally when one exhausts one’s efforts to attain
the goal, one becomes aware of the Infinite as the source of one’s
satisfaction and spiritual peace. This process mirrors Kiyozawa’s own
experience.
It also means that the individual is
not locked into his own subjectivity, but finds his relation to the whole.
This is important in our modern mass society where people are likely to
feel isolated. It fits well with the contemporary ecological perspective
that we are all connected and we must respect and support each other and
the environment.
Kiyozawa was, in large measure,
reacting to the growing dominance of the
principle of scientific objectivity in the modern world which claimed that
only objective knowledge is true. However, he also rejected any thought
which stressed subjectivity while dismissing the objective world as simply
delusion. Kiyozawa believed that Buddhism could be integrated with
scientific thought. Where science and religion conflicted, religious
thought would have to be revised to harmonize with science. Further, he
held that religious reality could not be verified by appeal to objective
facts, since religious faith is a subjective reality. His effort
anticipates much of modern thought in trying to harmonize faith and
reason, religion and science. His solution provides a basis for a vital
religious faith, while maintaining a critical scientific perspective.
With respect to religious subjectivity
or religious consciousness, Kiyozawa does not mean mere subjectivism in
which only what I experience is true. Rather, beyond the ordinarily
understood subject-object dichotomy, true
subjectivity means the
discovery of the Infinite as my True Self, thereby linking myself to all
other beings. Behind his expression is the Mahayana Kegon philosophy which teaches that we are all one as
the manifestation of the Buddha-mind. Attaining the experience or awareness of this truth becomes the
basis for religious faith and commitment.
This perspective also provided the
basis for understanding true individuality. He was inspired and influenced
in establishing the religious foundation for concrete individuality by the
Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus along with the Theravada Agamas and the
"Tannisho" for which he is credited with the modern revival of interest after centuries of obscurity. His
interpretation of the significance of individual awareness of the Infinite
implied that clergy and lay are equal and the religious life is a matter
of choice. He believed that the focus of religious faith was
on the development of the human spirit as a present subjective
reality and not merely a matter for after death. Along this line he
rejected the dichotomy of eternal truth and worldly truth taught in the
traditional concept of shinzoku-nitai.
Rather, religious morality exhibits the gap between ourselves and the ideal and reveals our need for
Other Power.
Though Kiyozawa was a man of his time,
his thought points forward and remains a guidepost for the contemporary
revival of Buddhism.
