A history of the Japanese people

by F. Brinkley; Dairoku Kikuchi

THE TWO GROUPS OF SECTS

In what did the teachings of the early groups of sects differ from those of the later groups, and why did such a long interval separate the two? Evidently the answers to these questions must have an important bearing on Japanese moral culture. From the time of its first introduction (A.D. 522) into Japan until the days of Shotoku Taishi (572-621), Japanese Buddhism followed the lines indicated in the land of its provenance, Korea. Prince Shotoku was the first to appreciate China as the true source of religious learning, and by him priests were sent across the sea to study. But the first sect of any importance—the Hosso—that resulted from this movement does not seem to have risen above the level of idolatry and polytheism. It was a "system built up on the worship of certain perfected human beings converted into personal gods; it affirmed the eternal permanence of such beings in some state or other, and it gave them divine attributes."* Some of these were companions and disciples of Shaka (Sakiya Muni); others, pure creations of fancy, or borrowed from the mythological systems of India. It is unnecessary here to enter into any enumeration of these deities further than to say that, as helpers of persons in trouble, as patrons of little children, as healers of the sick, and as dispensers of mercy, they acted an important part in the life of the people. But they did little or nothing to improve men's moral and spiritual condition, and the same is true of a multitude of arhats, devas, and other supernatural beings that go to make up a numerous pantheon.

*Lloyd's Developments of Japanese Buddhism, "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," Vol. XXII; and Shinran and His Work, by the same author.

It was not until the end of the eighth century that Japanese Buddhism rose to a higher level, and the agent of its elevation was Dengyo Daishi, whom the Emperor Kwammu sent to China to study the later developments of the Indian faith. Dengyo and his companions in 802 found their way to the monastery of Tientai (Japanese, Tendai), and acquired there a perception of the true road to Saving Knowledge, a middle route "which includes all and rejects none, and in which alone the soul can be satisfied." Meditation and wisdom were declared to be the stepping-stones to this route, and to reach them various rules had to be followed, namely, "the accomplishment of external means"—such as observing the precepts, regulating raiment and food, freedom from all worldly concerns and influences, promotion of all virtuous desires, and so forth; "chiding of evil desires"—such as the lust after beauty, the lust of sound, of perfumes, of taste, and of touch; "casting away hindrances;" "harmonizing the faculties," and "meditating upon absolute truth."

Now first we meet with the Buddhas of Contemplation, and with a creed which seems to embody a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. Such, in briefest outline, was the doctrine taught at the close of the sixth century by a Chinese bonze at the monastery of Tientai, and carried thence to Japan two hundred years later by Dengyo, who established the Tendai sect on Mount Hiei near Kyoto. Dengyo did not borrow blindly; he adapted, and thus the Tendai creed, as taught at Hiei-zan, became in reality "a system of Japanese education, fitting the disciplinary and meditative methods of the Chinese propagandist on the pre-existing foundations of earlier sects."

"The comprehensiveness of the Tendai system caused it to be the parent of many schisms. Out of it came all the large sects, with the exception of the Shingon," to be presently spoken of. "On the other hand, this comprehensiveness ensured the success of the Tendai sect. With the conception of the Buddhas of Contemplation came the idea that these personages had frequently been incarnated for the welfare of mankind; that the ancient gods whom the Japanese worshipped were but manifestations of these same mystical beings, and that the Buddhist faith had come, not to destroy the native Shinto, but to embody it into a higher and more universal system."*

*"The Buddhists recognized that the Shinto gods were incarnations of some of the many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas brought from India and China, and then the two faiths amalgamated and for centuries comfortably shared the same places of worship."—Every-Day Japan, by Lloyd.

THE SHINGON SECT

It was not to Dengyo, however, that Japan owed her most mysterious form of Buddhism, but to his contemporary, Kukai, remembered by posterity as Kobo Daishi. The traditions that have been handed down with reference to this great teacher's life and personality reveal one of those saints whose preaching and ministration have bestowed a perpetual blessing on humanity. Here, it must suffice to say that he found no peace of mind until a visit to China brought comprehension of a Sutra which he had vainly studied in Japan. On his return, in 806, he appeared before the emperor and many bonzes, and astonished all by his eloquence and his knowledge.

There are three "vehicles" in Buddhism, but only two of them need be mentioned here—the Hina-yana, or Small Vehicle, and the Maha-yana, or Great Vehicle. The term "vehicle" signifies a body of doctrine on which "a believer may ride to the perfect consummation of his humanity." The difference between these two requires many words to explain fully, whereas only a few can be devoted to the purpose here. "The Hina-yana Sutra is intended for beginners; the Maha-yana for those more advanced in the path of the law." The teaching in the former is negative; in the latter, positive. In the Hina-yana the perfect path is to abstain from four things—women, palaces, beautiful objects, and riches. In the Maha-yana perfect virtue is the presence of four things—the spirit of wisdom, the love of virtue, patience and firmness, and the retired life. By the "spirit of wisdom" is meant the constant desire for the truth; by the "love of virtue" is signified the abhorrence of evil; by "patience and firmness" are indicated perfect manliness as exhibited towards the weak; by "the retired life" is designated humility and self-effacement.